More unremarkable and odd places in Mario 64

[@crasyrob]

My favorite part about the Bob-omb battlefield unintended corner space, is that the developers realized its existence as well. They put the little arrow sign in to indicate to the player that "yep, this space exists, but you don't need to be here. Follow this sign to return to the action."

[@Psythik]

I've ran past that sign at least a thousand times over the past 27 years, and never *once* paid attention to its meaning. But at the same time, I've also never gone to that corner, so despite me paying no attention to the sign, it seems to have done its job well.

[@månemannmånemann]

Yeah i was waiting for Austin to say something deep about that sign, but it never came

[@-Terzetto]

@@månemannmånemann Yeah I figured that would be pretty important to what he was trying to convey

[@Barrelrollz]

I know that if they hadn't put that arrow there someone would have been stuck in that corner, unsure of what to do next, forever.

[@-Terzetto]

@@Barrelrollz 😏

[@Irisverse]

What I love about these videos is how often they end up bringing to attention the "seams" of video games, the little bits that only exist out of necessity and don't contribute to the appeal of the games in any way, but acknowledging them just reinforces his love for video games as a medium. Too often I see people complaining about "immersion" every time they're forced to contend with something that reminds them that what they're playing is a simulated experience and not a window into another reality, but here it's those reminders that make the games so fascinating.

[@DmitriDmitri]

13:06 This has made me realize something kind of fascinating about Peach's Castle. It doesn't seem like there's anything that actually provides light inside. The closest it gets is the castle basement, where there are inexplicable balls of fire on the walls. That's probably another thing that makes Peach's Castle so bizarre to look at. All the light is just... There. No natural light or even torches. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[@sesboks]

Never realized it myself, huh. I mean there is that weird beam of light in the lobby coming from God knows where but yeah

[@any_austin]

Torches in the basement but yea. I think about this a lot- next time you play a game pay attention to the light and light sources. Crazy.

[@Kingboo247]

I think the best way I've seen it put in games like this is: The light comes from the same place the music does.

[@illustrious-jaco]

@@Kingboo247 as a sound designer can confirm this is true

[@davidthecommenter]

@@illustrious-jacoso if the music currently being played would be "10 Hours of Silence (The Original)", would there still be light?

[@UsingGorillaLogic]

Because you mentioned it. I think the real thing people want when they ask for games like Mario to be open world is to have more spaces to "goof off". When I was a small child one of my favorite activities in 3d platformers was going to levels that had certain objects with no purpose other than messing around, one of my favorite things being to piss off the bears in Sly 2 and then run away. In Mario 64 you could go to bob-omb battlefield and just koopa shell skate through the level and it was really fun, or fly with wingcap etc.

[@holdingpattern245]

As a kid I used to love running away from the green 1-up mushroom, I would just run around evading that thing and occasionally getting jumpscared by it, and later I learned that this was actually a common thing that people did, which probably resulted from the game's sandbox-like nature.

[@renakunisaki]

The best games are the ones that you can have fun playing in a totally "wrong" way.

[@scorpionwins6378]

I used to love shell skating in Mario 64! I would track all of the worlds that were shell accessible (Bob-omb battlefield, lethal lava land, snow man's land, and I think shifting sand land had one) and challenge myself to how long I can keep going without running into something, or sometimes have a coin challenge. I loved it so much that I took some notepad paper and began writing down ideas for a Mario shell riders game that once it was finished I would submit the ideas to Nintendo (I never did, and even so they wouldn't have considered any of it). But basically a game where you race from point A to point B while traversing different terrains (grass, snow, lava, sand, etc) or even have battles like in Mario kart 64. I was just a kid at the time and I had a ton of free time and imagination so take it easy on the criticism please.

[@muticere]

Koopa Shelling in Lethal Lava Land was one of the most lit activities in all of Mario 64. And it has Zero applicability in game aside from maybe reaching a few areas faster if you're good at it. I'm glad that Mario Odyssey has some areas like this, still. Peach's Castle is a goldmine of hangout and mess around zones, as is New Donk City.

[@IanDerp26]

​@@holdingpattern245you invented the Green Demon challenge as a kid? that's badass.

[@MasterPatrick]

Because you drain the "P-trap" room, you've now unintentionally caused the entire castle to smell like sewage.

[@Levacque]

This also implies that the moat is nothing more than an open cesspool.

[@JoJoZaka]

​@@Levacque>tfw we'll never get to swim in the Peach piss pool why live

[@Levacque]

@@JoJoZaka if you've seen Austin's video on Mario Kart 8, you'll see that he has indeed covered the idea of a big piss pool in the Mario universe. My god, that's not something I ever thought I'd say.

[@TheCow-j1l]

this goes hand in hand with the theory that hazy maze entrance is peach's toilet

[@AChunkyDog]

So... Exactly what he said then.

[@JesseFleyva]

The explanation of the corner that "just happened" was dope man. It actually made me realize that some aspects of design are borne out of the rest of the design. It reminds me of white space in graphic design.. it's a design element, but you can't really manipulate white space directly. Nice job!

[@Cetra29]

It is not technically correct though. Things that are unintentionally created because of something else - in this case two places being aligned - are still created. Missing intention does not matter. So yes, it probably just happened to exist without specific intention and purpose but by aligning two pieces you are the creator of the corner. No one that makes a house would say he didn't make its corners. He was responsible for their existence in the first place.

[@AA-vl3gu]

Isaiah 45:7 kjv

[@davimag2071]

@@AA-vl3gu I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.

[@sludger91]

That corner you can climb up and skip a portion of the path up the mountain, so it does have a purpose. A shortcut.

[@Unimportant]

I actually used to visit the Metal Cap room as a kid because I just loved the way those metallic crystals look.

[@QuarrelsomeLocalOaf]

I just think they're neat! 🥔

[@renakunisaki]

They're in so many games, but do they exist in real life?

[@ViviSectia]

@@renakunisaki Metal crystals like in the metal cap room do exist but they're very small. The more common crystals that look like quartz you see in so many games do exist at that size. Checks out any pictures of crystal caves, especially of the crystal cave in Naica.

[@Faludokner]

@@renakunisakiquartz

[@OtakuUnitedStudio]

​@@Faludokner Quartz isn't metal

[@mitwhitgaming7722]

Probably total coincidence, but the fact you uploaded this just hours after Charles Martinet announced he was stepping down from doing Mario's voice is rather fitting. He has been doing it since Mario 64.

[@runnersdialzero1244]

NOOO HE CAN'T QUIT

[@WatchVidsMakeLists]

He WHAT

[@Zeldarulah]

It feels like Nintendo is doing this more than him but idk why they would

[@mitwhitgaming7722]

@@WatchVidsMakeLists Yeah, they have confirmed the voices in Mario Wonder is a new actor(s).

[@prestong.6391]

​@@Zeldarulahi wanna be optimistic. martinet is getting up there in years, maybe he resigned cause he doesn't feel confident in his ability to perform at a level he's satisfied with. nintendo keeping him on board as a liaison so he can keep getting paid would point to that i think

[@_yatte]

part liminal spaces, part asmr, part college art discussion, part high thoughts, part meditation… this show has everything. 🧑🏻‍🏫

[@NX42]

Your talk of accidental/incidental 3d geometry as a way of a game expressing itself feels like one or two small steps away from really high-end, big-brain intellectual video game thought and I'm here for it. It's an incredibly interesting way to think about 3d design.

[@Nakia11798]

The way he speaks, he should definitely be designing games like these.

[@numburger]

This game feels like one big unremarkable place and somehow that makes it beyond remarkable

[@fletchy40]

The strangest thing is that the worlds are not called "worlds". They are "obstacle courses".

[@clay2889]

8:42 I really loved this part. The way you explained it just made everything click for me, and I had a moment of realization that I had just been going along a pre-determined path every time I play a 3d game. I can't wait to explore some of these areas in other 3d games

[@katiemutschler6040]

You should!! When I played this game as a kid I would spend hours jumping around and trying to clip out of bounds. I probably spent at least 9 hours in wet-dry world just filling up the water and then draining it so I could see every nook and cranny 😂😂 I miss being a kid

[@viscountrainbows2857]

Any time in a 3D game where I made discoveries just by jumping at/running at random things was amazing. From the time I discovered that jumping at the train in GTA 3 would send you to the Shadow Realm for a few seconds before landing you on the street with light fall damage, to the secret whole underdeveloped areas in Star Wars Episode 1, etc. It's just fascinating to interact with games in ways the developers either never intended or could imagine. Like appreciating every minute brush stroke in a painting.

[@tepig2828]

If you notice, there is a dirt path leading to the waterfall outside Peach’s Castle. This means that the princess or the guards would likely go there to relax and listen to the water. I could imagine a bench or two being placed there if there ever was an HD reimagining of this game.

[@Smogshaik]

Austin, your channel is such a breath of fresh air. You're casual about it, but you're basically writing little art analysis papers and present them really well. That is just so cool and enjoyable!

[@PNats-fg4bw]

As a child, the entrance to the metal cap room left me perplexed, because it was the same as the entrance to hazy maze cave itself. Levels within levels? This game is endless! That vibe probably made me want to explore these unremarkable spaces more carefully

[@SuperSniffen]

I think the meaning of this is that it actually takes you back to the Castle area, above the waterfall. If you fall down the water stream in the metal cap area, you end up going down the waterfall by the Castle

[@PNats-fg4bw]

@@SuperSniffen yeah, so most likely in the SM64 Lore, the three areas with the switches are actually real places and not worlds made by bowser

[@manwithnousername4180]

Yume Nikki in a nutshell. Dreams within dreams within dreams.

[@gircakes2]

I think this video is the first time I've ever seen the metal cap room since it's not in the DS version.

[@AncientSlugThrower]

Sometimes the waterfall alone is enough. There doesn't always need to be a treasure chest behind it.

[@GiuseppeGaetanoSabatelli]

Ironically, his last and most insane discovery was that there is in fact something sinister behind that waterfall.

[@morenoh149]

Zelda had something behind the waterfall

[@RaineErasmusWalker]

strangely powerful

[@ThePhantomguy321]

Your p-trap discussion felt like a real version of the wet-dry world brain diagram, that's a cool observation about what the actual purpose of a feature of the castle and might be. And it makes perfect sense that since Mario's a plumber, he'd also have to explore the water systems of the castle

[@elio7610]

"wet-dry world brain diagram"?

[@ThePhantomguy321]

@@elio7610 Please forgive my mario creepypasta brain rot nonsense. There was a story about how a brain diagram was hidden in the structure of the level Wet-Dry World, or in its painting or whatever, that served as the basis for an AI that changed the game to suit the player. It's associated with the whole 'every copy is personalized' mario 64 iceberg thing. It was just cool to see some speculation about an abstract structure in the game that has some basis in reality.

[@BigAssBalls]

@@ThePhantomguy321the hazy maze diagram on the other hand...

[@pacman6744]

@@BigAssBallswe don’t talk about that here.

[@Polydunami]

When I was a kid, I had no idea that you could actually jump into those paintings. I would just jump around, look at the paintings, and be mesmerized that some of them kind of rippled a little when I walked right up to them. I was learning to read by this point, and the instruction manual said that these rippling paintings were gateways to other worlds. I felt like a whole new game just opened up for me! Looking back, I was treating the rooms with the paintings in them as destinations when I was a kid, and they turned from destinations into liminal connecting spaces when I learned about the true nature of those paintings. I discovered Shifting Sand Land for myself this way because the dead end to the left of the Lethal Lava Land painting had that same rippling effect when you walked up to it. I didn't find Snowman's Land because in that mirror room, the non-rippling wall you jump into matches with the rippling painting in its reflection. I thought I couldn't jump somewhere unless it was a rippling surface.

[@FlavorOfTheMonth]

The point of the space outside Peach's castle is to act as a diegetic tutorial for basic gameplay concepts. While it's true that it's not the first 3-D game, it is the debut for its genre and introducing full 3-D to the general public. They start the game by putting you in a wide open space without any stakes or objectives, but a lot of interactable setpieces and some simple vistas so you can learn the basics of handling the then-new 360 degree analog controls and dynamic controllable camera, or how Mario can interact with stuff like slopes, climbable objects, and water, before they start testing your actual skills with more challenging geography and enemies in Bob-Omb Battlefield.

[@anlev11]

So that little triangle space might have a intention. The reason they created that triangle might be to show to the player that there is a fence that blocks Mario, but if you want you can jump over it and land on that little space. From there you can jump back to where you were or you can fall in the water

[@Irockman1]

This is exactly right. The castle grounds is a space for you to learn to control Mario without much danger or pressure.

[@niallmcardle7]

Exactly, nothing wrong with being the 2nd, 3rd, 4th 3D game. Not everything has to be 1st. And that's okay.

[@helloofthebeach]

I have fond memories of Jumping Flash, but I don't think it'd have been possible for it to have playgrounds like Super Mario 64's castle grounds without them feeling like barren test levels. Super Mario 64 wasn't the first, but it was still the _first,_ y'know?

[@funx24X7]

I wish I could capture the feeling of playing Mario 64 for the first time in a bottle. I didn’t even enter the castle I just ran around the courtyard and the sensation of controlling Mario in a 3D space was transcendent. This video gets pretty close to that though and for that I thank you.

[@rgon3t]

I had the same experience when I first played on a demo unit at a Sears video games department in the 90s. After the NES and SNES 2D games, I couldn't get over how you could move in all directions, jump off the side of the bridge, climb trees, etc. I spent a ton of time outside the castle just experiencing something I had never experienced before and didn't know what to expect. It's easy to analyze it now with decades of experience with 3D gaming, to apply modern gaming tropes to it, and spot all the flaws, but that would be anachronistic. Mario 64 was seminal for 3D gaming as much for the developers who created it as it was for those who played it.

[@applepieclub5012]

The closest I came to capturing the feeling of playing it for the first time, was in Mario Odyssey. Odyssey let’s you visit an updated version of the castle. I was blown away because it was my first time visiting, in a long time.

[@CountCraftula]

I find it really really interesting that a lot of the places you’ve shown are places that have unlocked very vivid memories for me. I have stood around in so many strange places in this game as a kid and I can remember just walking around and feeling out every little piece of the map. I don’t think I do it nearly enough in games anymore but this video was what felt like a trip down memory lane in a way. Thank you, this was a good way to start my day

[@Levacque]

Totally! He's here saying that the sand pit we start out in is not pictured when someone thinks of SM64, but that's exactly what I picture! I remember flipping and jumping around that tiny area simply because I was a bored child and the spot was out of the way.

[@RiposteBK]

One other thing to note about the Metal Cap aqueduct - it's pretty much pointless. The waterfall is flowing above the canal, this just serves to divert the water for maybe a minute. How many Toads died for this, Peach?

[@silve2131]

There were 27k working class toads missing from the census last year.

[@helloofthebeach]

It was just as likely ordered by her father who, if I recall correctly, was turned into ceiling fungus by Dennis Hopper.

[@Hawkeye_Gough]

i love this, its basically the opposite of a speedrun

[@MarkFaldborg]

Always thought of the “two pillars” room as the pump room.

[@coreyhilton1225]

I'm surprised you haven't considered the little lobby area for the 30 star door. It was the first thing that came to mind. It fits the definition of this series to a T. they didn't have to add those stairs and that small circular lobby, but they did, and now there's a small transitional area that didn't have to be the way it is, but they made it that way. If you another video on Mario 64 please include it, would love to hear your thoughts. Love the series and your videos in general, keep it up!

[@fonejunky6306]

And then there’s also that tinted blue glass with the slope acting as a one-way exit from the pillar room (or at least trying to lol)

[@rijnder333]

Evolutionary biologists would call the sort of corners you talk about spandrels, after Gould and Lewontin's The Spandrels of San Marco

[@diacosiapentacontahex]

The first spot actually does have a reason to be visited, the third closest tree to that corner of the map contains an extra life when doing a handstand on it. The third also has one if you visit all four corners of where the water lingers.

[@sttlok]

And the second spot is the fastest way to get to the basement from spawn after loading the game.

[@shaun8062]

Liminal spaces are part of what always made playing the N64 so special to me. I am the kind of person who, while in a Disney ride for example, studies every corner and prop, daydreaming about how I'd like to wait until the place is vacant after the crowd leaves so I can explore. Getting locked in a department store or mall after hours would be a dream to me. I thought when I was a child that maybe I would outgrow this, but nope. Being old enough to have experienced depression, loneliness, and nostalgia, only feeds this experience stronger.

[@bubu-]

I was lucky enough to be a Evening-Shift Custodian for Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom back in 2013, and you would have absolutely loved it. It was literally my job to walk around for about an hour after closing, and it was exactly as special as you'd imagine. Something absolutely liminal about hearing the atmospheric music in the distance, usually sitting under a wall of crowd noise, now just kind of bouncing off off empty walls as you walk around immaculate (you're welcome lol) pathways surrounded by the fantastical and nostalgic during a cool Orlando night. There's something incredibly relaxing about just kind of hanging out at a location and immersing yourself into the vibe of a perfectly-curated area while the last remaining guest stragglers make their way to the front.

[@shaun8062]

You're right. I would love it. I often have ventured into areas like that close to closing hours, trying to be the last one. I can very much understand and picture exactly what you're talking about, as I live in Florida and have been to the park more times than I can count. I have purposely straggled behind or strayed into my own corner when able. But I cant imagine how much more of an awesome experience you've had. I wonder why some people are gifted or cursed with feeling such strong nostalgia so often. Thanks for sharing your experience.

[@zeecee9479]

You might like this Backrooms grocery store video then, if you would like getting locked in at night: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n4bYoYN9iNunoLcsi=KsCLhu-ti_UQO17f

[@shaun8062]

@@zeecee9479 Eh... I've seen just about every horror style there is and it kinda peaked about 20 years ago in my opinion. I stopped watching horror films bc everything was just copying something else and i failed to find anything truly scary. The backrooms horror style is just a cheap thrill that just seeks to ruin liminal spaces from a weak minded perspective. Again, my opinion.

[@zeecee9479]

@@shaun8062 I do agree, in general I hate that they have been adding cheap horror/bad plots into liminal spaces for MOST of the vids I've seen, ruining the genre. (besides a few of the originals from Kane Pixel). Much prefer endless corridors with no evil bosses, like Poolrooms Murky waters #3: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jaaVmWilhZ16a9ksi=GgYyB6fVmzNc5M7j

[@jswp5]

When I was younger, I was terrified of the water bombs that would fall on you in the first level, so for the first couple years that I owned the game I would just run around outside the castle, swimming in the water, drowning mario, etc. Such a nice, serene area. I’ll always have such fond memories of that game that have nothing to do with actually playing it.

[@wet-read]

I love to stand next to the cannon on the mountain that fires the bombs out, watching the cannon move different directions and the bombs go up until they disappeared. Also, through the "moon jump" cheat, go up high in the sky, far higher than even the cannons could shoot you up, and use the camera lock to watch the bombs shot out and disappearing long before they come near that point in the air.

[@imaginekudryavka9485]

I love this kind of analysis. Game worlds (especially ones I experienced countless times as a child) feel like actual places in my memories. Dissecting them and making sense of the senseless is tickling a part of my brain that rarely gets action.

[@MinibossMakaque]

Man, this is great. As a kid i used to spend hours in this game just in the courtyard and the castle, walking around looking at things, and trying to explore every nook and cranny. I spent a lot of time trying to get over the waterfall.

[@voidofnothingmetal]

6:59 despite Mario being a professional plumber, I think this is the first time I’ve heard actual plumbing terminology discussed while reviewing a Mario game

[@Ocarinist_Drew]

One of the coolest things Nintendo does is fill a lot of these unremarkable or liminal spaces with secret rewards. Like there's actually a hidden 1-up you can spawn in the drained p-trap if you touch the four corners of the water. Same with the beginning room of the slide in Tall Tall Mountain. (You know, that room you spend 1 second in before running forward and sliding down?) If you touch the four corners of that room you spawn a hidden 1-up as well.

[@kaponos]

God actually looking at the metal cap rooms riveted walls just gave me the first hit of ‘peach’s castle is a real place’ since I played the game as a kid. For years all the playable space has been in a similar category to mario sunshine’s bonus levels: a series of disconnected dreams. Seeing the rivets in the walls just slotted a ton of facts about hazy maze cave into place and now I can’t stop thinking about the cave and the metal cap aqueduct thing being physically underneath the castle.

[@couchpotato3197]

Im only 25 seconds in but 1996 is flooding back to me and all the core memories of me wandering around in this game just to be in places. I dont think I had many 64 games either so I could never super duper nostalgic from your videos before

[@HiImWonder]

I love how you take fascination down to the very theorized conception of "somebody made this area long ago." Love this. Such an overlooked quality of a game.

[@MacungieSun]

This video kind of ends where it starts with the castle waterfall, which is pretty cool

[@HBMmaster]

"unremarkable" clicks video remarks

[@RaineErasmusWalker]

based

[@onlycoIlect]

Ah, this really reminds me of my childhood. I'm pretty sure that as a kid I saw every inch of this game I could, I just loved exploring 3d games and seeing all the unusual places off the beaten road (I still do!). Mario 64 was definitely the game I did this the most in, I found the Whomp's Fortress 1-UP, I relaxed by the waterfall, I scaled Tall Tall Mountain dozens of times. I think that was the reason why I subscribed to you in the first place, because I felt like I found someone who also understood and shared the appreciation for the little things like that. Thank you for making these, sincerely.

[@NathanofYe]

This video is amazing and bizarre. its like a philosophy video disguised as a videogame video, but its meant to be, but telling it in a metaironic way.

[@Giga_7K]

I interpret the metal cavern area wall texture as more of a moss-covered stone wall, but this is still the first time I'm consciously realizing it's an artificial texture and not just generic cave wall. It's one of my favourite spaces in the game. The crystals are really cool and it's got a really calm and peaceful atmosphere, once the metal cap music stops at least.

[@jabelsjabels]

Dang, this is perfect material for me. I'm a professor teaching a class called "Intro To 3D Game Design" this fall semester, and there's so much in here that I hadn't thought about when introducing my students to the things you have to consider when building a 3D world versus a 2D world

[@MarquisOfHartington]

Have you read The Prose of Things by Cynthia Wall? Cannot believe I just typed this in a KZbin comment (looool) but I have long been thinking about the ways that video games have followed a trajectory similar to novels, in terms of how they render immersive environments. Anyway, solidarity with those watching KZbin videos right now instead of prepping for the school year (if only most student papers were as well-put-together as Austin's videos)...

[@twobitsnick]

Surely somebody pointed this out, but true 3D games such as Descent and X-Wing predate this game by a number of years, and there are surely a number of games that predate those. You might be thinking of 3D platformers specifically.

[@Otakupatriot117]

By this point it's probably the most cliche thing anyone can say in the gaming space, but I can't get over how this game managed to capture the exact feeling of a dream. Which says a lot seeing as how there's an actual PS1 game that was meant to feel like playing a dream.

[@kirbyklamcock3114]

@4:20 when I was a kid and I had to lower the water, it would make me sad. The water somehow added an element of magic and getting rid of it felt like a crime

[@darkjapan]

16:22 Using the working class to build an elaborate artificial water feature to create a natural looking waterfall is actually quite on form for European castles and grand houses.

[@johnmonnig6037]

Yes, love the longer form vids in this series!

[@grim161]

The best part about role-playing in world of Warcraft is the fact that my friends and I would go off on different continents just to search around for really cool places. We searched top and bottom just to find interesting or forgotten places. This is literally the content that I can binge specifically because this is what we like to do in role-playing games. For me, it's literally just the fact that someone designed that place specifically to be like that. And that was literally enough for us to appreciate the area no matter how little.

[@imaginekudryavka9485]

“Some places just exist” Really makes you think

[@uwuifyingransomware]

I love what you said about 3D sort of encouraging pointless spaces to exist by geometric necessity. It’s a lot like how holes (for example in Swiss cheese) are physically nothing, but still inexplicably part of the object

[@Ares_gaming_117]

Accidental or incidental spaces are so cool because they are so mundane and random that they look like abstract places someone would rarely come up with just from creativity. Like itd be a waste of their time or theyd be crazy to purposefully design this little random space with no remarkable purpose from scratch. Im so glad we have them from video games and this is why vg preservation is important

[@JMFSpike]

Early 3D games are just fascinating. The blocky look of those graphics give them a lot of charm, and the weird little level design quirks this guy likes to point out in those games just add even more charm. One of the saddest things to me about modern gaming is that all of that magic and wonder games used to have is gone. When the limitations disappeared, games got a whole less less interesting in my opinion. Indie games are pretty much the only exception.

[@Ares_gaming_117]

@@JMFSpikeCouldnt agree more. Hopefully these retro low poly styles make a comeback the more nostalgia and demand grows for them

[@DollarTaco]

I always love the way you talk about these things, and you pay attention to things and give thought to things that nobody else ever bothers to think about, that's a big thing I appreciate about you and your videos. Your mentions of incidental geometry was so interesting, that sort of thing makes me sit and think about that sort of stuff when I never really would have otherwise. I think I ought to pop in some n64 games and go look around at places where you normally dont pay attention to. Keep up the fantastic work, Auston. Love these vids so much

[@tbirddddd]

9:27 I'm surprised you never pointed out while describing this weird spot that some designer thought to put that arrow sign in a desperate attempt to not make us think about that fascinating area too much.

[@Solanaar]

That first one is an eye opener for me. I make video games as a hobby and when I design levels I tend to fall into the habit of only designing what's necessary because if it wasn't I would just make it background. But that destroyes the seedling to exploration right of the bat. This has taught me a valuable lesson I probably never would've come across otherwise.

[@TheShadowcreator]

Miyamoto was inspired to make Super Mario 64 watching his hamster run around in his cage. This series makes me realize that while the levels in SM64 feel like big open spaces, they are surrounded by invisible walls, much like a hamster is surrounded by its cage. However, due to the fact that there are so many interesting things inside of those walls, it never feels like you're trapped so you don't attempt to get outside the bounds of the level. You want to keep your hamster inside the cage so they don't get hurt, and you don't want your player going outside the invisible walls for similar reasons.

[@HMMadsen]

The part about the corner in Bob Bob Battlefield is something I would expect from a Media/Game Studies paper that I would read at University, not a KZbin video that I would just randomly come across

[@gavinwilson5324]

Wow. I had no idea the waterfall at 15:20 went up so high. I barely even noticed there was a waterfall there at all, and yet you can just look up and see it stretching up into the darkness. Evidently, there's no ceiling on that tunnel either, since otherwise you wouldn't be able to see the top of the waterfall from that angle.

[@nyperold7530]

Come to think of it, I rarely notice electricity in Mario games. I think the Beanbean Kingdom has it, if only because of that sequence in Mario & Luigi where you use water to knock mechanical rodents into spaces in broken wiring to complete the circuit.

[@Levacque]

It shows up in almost any game EXCEPT the actual Super Mario titles, funny enough. Paper Mario features electric appliances like TV and lightbulbs. There are tons of Mario Party minigames set in factories or literal powerplants. Luigi's Mansion has electric lighting and even a fuse box that turns the house's power on and off. And in Mario Kart, Wario has a hydroelectric dam.

[@TARDISES]

@@Levacque Odyssey does stand out as an exception to the general rule though, being a Super Mario title with electricity. There's those wires that Mario can travel through with Cappy's aid, and there's Metro Kingdom. We even see that the kingdom's powered by a seemingly endless supply of moons being fed through a generator.

[@comicrandomness3289]

Mario Kart.

[@DitDotDan]

It's always a treat when you upload, Austin, especially with your deep and thoughtful insight. Keep up the good work.

[@kieranbrown6352]

I think the fence zagging off is because each segment of fence is a specific length. The only way to avoid clipping the grass wall was to zag the fence diagonally 1:35

[@xebatansis]

As a kid I would often let Mario stay near the waterfall and left the game running: It was really relaxing with the sound of the water and the birds chirping. I never knew video games could be like that.

[@renakunisaki]

I kinda love how there's only one way from the starting area into the castle, but a few ways back to it. The Metal Cap exit, the submarine door, falling from the rainbow course...

[@RipVanFish09]

I mean… the basement door… but you don’t have access to it until you’ve gone inside… yeah, it is kinda neat.

[@DeadweightLKS]

Something I appreciate about Mario 64 DS is that it found some of these spaces and put a thing in it. And it gives a unique feeling. Like, there wasn’t supposed to be something here. Now there is. Some good examples are the star at the top of the Metal Cap switch waterfall, another one on the other side of the large room in the secret under the moat, and the little hedge maze in the castle grounds

[@pinkpools]

I love commenting when there's no possibility of having watched the entire video already

[@j2c695]

who'dathought

[@GodChaos333]

The timing with Charles retiring and hearing his voice in here briefly. Is very nostalgic and meaningful. Probably more then what AnyAustin intended. A interesting coincidence, but welcome one. Got to appreciate the iconic mario voice again.

[@maddieshubeck]

Gotta say, just randomly stumbled across this video and this is honestly a really smart and refreshing artistic take on the game. It makes me so happy there are people like this out there that really appreciate primitive 3d media. Super interesting video, I enjoyed every second.

[@ZeDrMedic]

I resonate with this series, because it's a similar feeling like when you just decide to stand in a spot in your house, that you never frequent. Everyone goes to the bathroom, but have you ever stood in one of the corners and felt like "Never been in this corner before..yupp it is here."

[@armathyx]

These areas serve no purpose related to completing the game, but they do serve a psychological purpose in making you feel more free. People who like open worlds like exploring, finding these places is it's own reward.

[@waxknucklebearingjuice5592]

I'm assuming Austin has definitely listened to that really old episode of "radiolab" about memory and forgetting.. it literally changed my worldview.

[@CreeperFino]

One odd thing I know about the space in 6:11 is that if you walk into each of the 4 corners down there, it spawns in a 1 up

[@lior_haddad]

That corner is quite a convenient way of getting up to the path up the mountain, I recognized it instantly! I can't believe I never realised that HMC's wall was supposed to be pipes...

[@ddnava96]

4:44. Tbh as a kid I would often use the moat door when I wanted to go directly to Hazy Maze Cave, Shifting Sand Land or Lethal Lava Land upon loading the game. I would often go back to that place but only as a funky hallway towards those three levels. I actually foond it faster than going through the main doors of the castle

[@Doom_Slug]

Final area has got to be one of my all time favourite crack smoking spots. I also STRONGLY suggest an area that's only in the DS version - in the mirror room, if you go through the mirror as Luigi and then go through the door in the back you'll enter a completely white void with a single star in it. Got to be another one of my favourites.

[@Doom_Slug]

i know almost nobody has played the ds version but please tell me someone knows exactly what room I'm talking about lol

[@neo_void_star]

@@Doom_Slug I've actually played the DS version way more than the original (despite the 64 being my first game console) and I can distinctly remember that empty void. It's funny to me because it's as if the castle's magic, and by extension the game's developers, refused to keep rendering things so they said "Just take this Star and get out 😒".

[@_baller]

Funny how with video games, developers make certain things “remarkable” to make you go in that direction, to sort of lure you along the way, meanwhile in real life, things we have to do, like get a job, pay rent, pay taxes, are some of the most unremarkable things… no wonder we need video games

[@Franzeco333]

An odd place I used to visit often was the roof of the lowest part of Peach's Secret Slide. With a good jump, you can reach that giant, empty platform. It was crazy the first time I went there to find out the floor was very slippery

[@blake_n]

An addendum regarding the metal pool (close up @14:10), which is definitely "Did You Know Gaming" material, but also odd and (un?)remarkable, is that the texture used for the pool (and metal Mario) is a real-life photo of pink flowers. This embedding of something from our reality in a hidden sort of way, distorted so much that we need to extract textures to even realize it, is odd to me. Just as is the well-known Wet Dry World skybox in your Skybox Appreciation video. Except in this case it's more deeply distorted than that skybox, which for me expands my curiosity whenever I see any suitably deformed texture in games from this era, and I have to ask myself, "I wonder if that abstract effect is actually something more grounded and real, like a bunch of flowers".

[@daniel_361]

Fun fact: The "Hazy Maze Juice" is actually supposed to be quicksilver. It was stated in the game's manual. I remember that fondly because I was a kid, and in around 3rd to 4th grade it blew my mind that this liquid from Mario 64 actually exists in real life.

[@any_austin]

Whoa I should get the manual

[@gormo7748]

hey austin, i know u probably wont see this but i just wanted to say ive been watching ur content for a long time now (since eggbusters :D) and i just wanna say it still remains some of my favorite to watch on this platform. i love how calm and friendly ur content has been and still is. really feels like im watching a friend show me things he thought was cool in his favorite games, and im all for it. thanks man

[@any_austin]

You’re welcome thanks for telling me

[@mitchellboyce9853]

One of the trees in the castle grounds near the first location in this video has a 1-up in it for those who did bother to go over there, which is a little remarkable for me, but also I think I might've just been so emotionally invested in SM64 as a child that I have inherent lingering interest in even the most trivial details

[@webrunner42]

An interesting thing about the hazy maze cave ceiling lights is that that room is at least partially directly below a few of the upper pathways - a few of the lights are 'roughly' in the same place as pits from those, but if that's on purpose it means those lights aren't daylight but from the in-cave installed lightning

[@yosefu5009]

I love that P-trap and metal cap stage details because they're the sort of deep analysis you'd only see in something like game theory otherwise but it's way too inconsequential for game theory to care, exactly the kind of thing I come to your channel for

[@Populon993]

As a kid I spent hours just running around the castle and trying to climb every tree, hill or whatever other geometry I could reach. It was just fascinating how big and weird this world seemed. Also, you never knew if there isn't something hidden in some random corner. Now as an adult I listen to some random dude rambling about the philosophy behind these very corners I ran around back then...odd turn of events, but I love it. Sometimes I even learn some new details here. I also never realised these pipe-textures on the walls. Overall I never realised how many "possibly plumbing-related" details this game has.

[@RaineErasmusWalker]

are you me lmao

[@justinmoore6543]

I feel like I would've been best friends with this dude if I ever met him.

[@muticere]

He's that kind of friend that you're happy to just sit and listen to him ramble because you know he's going to randomly come up with some really interesting thoughts and observations.

[@BlackRaven6695]

Thank you for this upload I really enjoy these types of video. I especially appreciate the scanline-style filter I feel all N64, PS1 and Saturn game capture should have it. Funny that you bring up Mario Galaxy 2 because I was thinking that the Green Stars in that game kinda feel like Nintendo turning our habit for finding unremarkable, out of the way places into a game mechanic/feature. However, in acknowledging and rewarding us for finding those places, the places lose their odd auras that we've become familiar with in these series. And that's interesting to me.

[@superlink3389]

This is a fitting upload for the day

[@Spaceroast]

As kids in the 90s, we would visit every inch of every world in games like SM64 and Ocarina of Time, and even tried to get to places the game didn't want us to go. Part of it was just the sense of wonder that 3D console gaming brought, but really, we did it for no reason other than because we could. Plenty of fond memories there.

[@kevanwright3657]

This could be a channel on Interdimensional Cable

[@latenteaparente]

its so beautiful how you talk about the in-between places on "my corner"; as an architecture student I feel about this on the empty areas of designed spaces, they are, ironically, the most important aspect of an architecture just because they are the place that Things Happen. accidentaly incidental. beautiful thought

[@brendanchild1653]

Feeling melancholy, time for an odd places marathon 😌

[@mr.ripley3846]

12:57 Speedrunners actually jump through one of this quadratic open spaces that provides light from above to collect the star on the little Island.

[@gnbman]

Is the filter you use in the emulator or added in the editing process?

[@any_austin]

Editing. Can’t stand looking at uprezzed old games.

[@gnbman]

@@any_austin Ok. I wish there was a filter like this we could use while playing.

[@Totallyking]

I absolutely loved that first spot by the waterfall. I used to go there when i was a kid and just chilled because i love the sound of waterfalls and waterfalls in general. So relaxing!

[@tdif3197]

In honor of the release of Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, I would love to see an Unremarkable and Odd Places video for Jet Set Radio Future. That game is like the epitome of odd places to me.

[@numburger]

I need to, like, find an og xbox emulator because I've always loved the first jsr, and while I like that games look more overall, jsrf looks super cool and I wanna try it out

[@tdif3197]

@@numburger There is one called CXBX that I've used specifically for JSRF haha. It works!

[@perks6292]

Another thing about the p-trap room, is if you touch all four corners, a 1-up appears

[@whomgod420]

Man listen to Mario's voice, sure glad Charles is still doing his thing!

[@Levacque]

Sadly, he announced literally today that he's retiring. We had many good years of his work though!

[@CrisHaasbro]

I played this game as a kid, I remember would turn on my Nintendo 64 and waste a lot of time in liminal spaces and just jump around and dive around those ramps in the castle basement.

[@dasutin]

I would love an episode of this about Ape Escape, I spent SO much time wandering around those levels as a kid. Also, it's got some truly kick ass music.

[@norfairaffair]

8:36 Back in 1996 I would use that corner to infinite ride a koopa shell just so I could hear that wonderful wing hat music continuously.

[@Mr_Spaghetti]

1:54 Waterfalls don’t have perfectly uniform flows, they change with the seasons. The fence zagged inward for heavier rain seasons, it’s a known safety measure within the Mushroom Kingdom, and a smart one at that. Stopping here, not gonna watch the rest of the vid of someone who doesn’t do their research

[@DamaniDonDada]

Damn bro why you so mad????

[@Mr_Spaghetti]

@@DamaniDonDada i mean i was joking, i was being hyperbolic and pretending that the reason was justified by real world waterfall safety measures. but also the exaggerated nature of the comment got towards the truth that im annoyed when people say game devs or any creative types do something “because they felt like it”. whether it was a coding quirk, inspired by real life or another game or movie or painting, or was a mistake that wasn’t fixed in time, there’s always intentionality in media and its especially annoying when someone makes a quirky niche topic like this video and still has that dismissive, anti-art point of view

[@TransistorBased]

I literally never considered that Bob-omb Battlefield was a battlefield. Like my brain registered the word but the meaning just didn't exist, and I never considered the layout of anything in the level.