Editing Endless stairs

{{item infobox

|image=[[File:Endless Stairs.png|200px]]<br>In ''Super Mario 64''<br>[[File:SM64DS Endless Stairs.png|200px]]<br>In ''Super Mario 64 DS''

|latest_appearance=''[[Super Mario 3D All-Stars]]'' ([[List of games by date#2020|2020]])

{{quote|To open the [[Big Star Door|door]] that leads to the "endless" stairs, you need 70 [[Power Star|Star]]s. Bwa ha ha!|Bowser|Super Mario 64}}

The '''endless stairs''' (also stylized as '''"endless" stairs''') are an obstacle within the [[Peach's Castle|Mushroom Castle]] in ''[[Super Mario 64]]'' and ''[[Super Mario 64 DS]]''. They are behind the final [[Big Star Door]], which leads to [[Bowser in the Sky]], the final [[level]] of the game. If the player has fewer than 70 [[Power Star]]s in ''Super Mario 64'' or fewer than 80 Power Stars or is not playing as [[Mario]] in ''Super Mario 64 DS'', they can still enter the Big Star Door, but they endlessly climb this flight of stairs, seemingly gaining no ground, though they can easily exit through the entrance. Once the player manages to collect 70 Power Stars (80 and Mario in the [[Nintendo DS]] remake), the endless stairs finally end, and Mario is able to access Bowser in the Sky when he reaches the top.

The "endless" stairs illusion is created by warping the player back once they reach a certain point.<ref>Blaf Snarten Burg (January 12, 2019). [https://youtu.be/gBHwF4kfMYY?t=453 Off Camera Secrets Super Mario 64 Boundary Break (REUPLOAD READ DESC)]. ''YouTube''. Retrieved January 19, 2021.</ref> This can easily be seen in the DS remake via the minimap, as well as the fact that the ceiling at the top of the stairs is actually slightly visible in this version due to lighting changes. In either version, it can easily be seen if the player manages to get the camera in front of the character.

 

The audio track that plays seems to be based on the {{wp|Shepard tone|Shepard tone audio illusion}}.

|file1=SM64-Looping Steps.oga

|title1=''[[Super Mario 64]]''

|description1=Looping Steps

[[File:SM64 Notendless.png|thumb|150px|[[Mario]] at the top of the endless stairs with fewer than 70 [[Power Star]]s]]

*There is [[List of Super Mario 64 glitches#Backwards long jump|a glitch]] with which the player can bypass ever needing to collect at least 70 Power Stars, but this works only for the original [[Nintendo 64]] version, as this glitch was patched in the [[Super Mario 64#Super Mario 64: Shindō Pak Taiō Version|''Shindō Pak Taiō Version'']], which carried over to ''[[Super Mario 3D All-Stars]]'', as well as ''Super Mario 64 DS''.

**However, [[List of Super Mario 64 DS glitches#Fall through the stairs|a different glitch]] can be used to access Bowser in the Sky with any player character aside from Mario and/or with fewer than 80 Stars in the DS remake.

*The endless stairs are similar to the {{wp|Penrose stairs}}, which are also endless stairs, except the latter stairs are formed in a loop to produce the endless illusion, while the former ones follow the more traditional fashion of stairs by going up.

[[Category:Super Mario 64 objects]]

[[Category:Super Mario 64 DS objects]]