Oh boy. I’ve been putting this one off for a while because this level is just not fun. Atmospherically speaking, it’s one my favorites. But as far as actually playing the level, big meh.

So, for those of you unaware, I’ve been doing a series of ranking every star in Mario 64 stage by stage. Make sure you read the previous installments after this one. Okay, now let’s get on with the list.

#7 Can the Eel Come Out and Play- When I make my overall ranking, I’ll be interested to see where this one ranks. This star is awful. It’s entirely underwater. You have to lure out an eel and grab the star off its tell. Conceptually, I don’t hate it. It feels somewhat unique compared to the other 120 stars. In practice, I hate it. Yes, there’s a camera angle trick that makes this star easy to grab. But this has got to be one of the 5 stars I die the most on. If you miss initially grabbing the tail, chasing him down can be a pain. If you get hit by his tail, you are almost guaranteed to be a goner. And not to mention, once you grab the star off his tail, it’s not over yet. The star floats away off screen. You better make sure you still have enough air to make it to it.

#6 Blast to the Stone Pillar – This star isn’t much better. There’s just not much to it. The cannon is at the start of the map. Once in, you launch straight to the pillar. Then, you jump from pillar over to the platform. It’s pretty straightforward. However, if you miss with the cannon, you must swim all the way back to the cannon.

#5 Through the Jet Stream– This is another straightforward star. It’s almost too simple. Once you’ve unlocked the metal cap, this one is a gimme. You grab the metal cap and proceed to sink to the bottom of the lake. That’s it.

#4 Jolly Roger Bay 100 Coin Power Star- This is one of the worst 100 coin stars in the game. There’s only 104 coins in this stage. This means that if you fail to grab a single blue coin, it is impossible to get this star. Or you could be stuck trying to find the star rings on the water. Or if you fail to grab the coins from defeated enemies, out of luck. It’s not a super difficult star, but you do have to play nearly perfect.

#3 Plunder in the Sunken Ship- Truthfully, the first part of this level is not my favorite. Traversing the more open part of the lake can be chore. Then there’s the matter of swimming to the bottom of the lake. The worst part, by far, is getting that Eel out of the sunken ship. It is not fun. Once he’s out of the way, the rest of the star is okay. You enter the ship. From here, I lower the water and swim as far up the interior as I can. Now, do some platforming, and you’re at the star. The Eel hurts this one from going any higher. Yet, the slight exploration and platforming help it.

#2 8 Red Coins – Ultimately, I’m okay with this star. I wish the floating ship was a more fleshed out part of the stage. As the ship only hosts about half the red coins. The rest are found littered throughout the course. This one has a nice mix of exploration, platforming, and collecting. On another course, it probably won’t score this high. However, I don’t think super highly of the rest of the stars on this course.

#1 Treasure of the Open Cave – The only star I really like doing on this course. This star is exactly what I’m looking for in a stage. It highly encourages exploration, combat, and collecting. It highlights the unique feature of the stage, the giant lake. It’s not the best star in the game or anything, but I enjoy the cave. It’s the N64, and I’m not expecting a lot. So, for the time period, the cave is sweet. It’s got blue coins, some combat, and a puzzle ending with you snagging a star.

So this is by far one of my 5 least favorite levels in the game. And honestly, has probably my least favorite collection of stars in the game. The atmosphere is a slight redeeming quality, but it doesn’t hold up the subpar selection of stars.

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So thank you guys so much for reading. Have a great rest if your night!