Endless stairs
| Endless stairs | |
|---|---|
 In Super Mario 64  In Super Mario 64 DS | |
| First appearance | Super Mario 64 (1996) |
| Latest appearance | Super Mario 3D All-Stars (2020) |
- “To open the door that leads to the "endless" stairs, you need 70 Stars. Bwa ha ha!”
- —Bowser, Super Mario 64
The endless stairs (also stylized as "endless" stairs) are an obstacle within the 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 Stars 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.[1] This can be easily 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 be easily seen if the player manages to get the camera in front of the character.
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | はてしない かいだん[?] Hateshinai Kaidan |
Endless Stairs | |
| French | L'escalier sans fin[?] | The endless stairs | |
| Italian | Scale infinite[?] | Endless stairs |
Media
The audio track that plays seems to be based on the Shepard tone audio illusion.
 Super Mario 64 - Looping Steps | File info |
Trivia
- There is 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 Shindō Pak Taiō Version, which carried over to Super Mario 3D All-Stars, as well as Super Mario 64 DS.
- However, 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 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.
References
- ^ Blaf Snarten Burg (January 12, 2019). Off Camera Secrets Super Mario 64 Boundary Break (REUPLOAD READ DESC). YouTube. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
