Endless stairs

The Endless stairs is an obstacle that is encountered in Super Mario 64 and its remake Super Mario 64 DS. They are an obstacle that prevents the heroes from reaching Bowser in the Sky before collecting enough Power Stars.
== Description ==
The endless stairs is a room with a long red staircase, with portraits of Bowser and Princess Peach on either side, and at the top of the staircase is a corridor with a portrait of Bowser with a hole leading to the final level in the game, Bowser in the Sky.
In Super Mario 64, the whole room has an ominous dark red lighting. In Super Mario 64 DS, the lighting is normal, but if the player comes into this room with less thay 80 Power Stars or with any character other than Mario, the whole room has a very dark lighting when trying to climb the stairs.
== In Super Mario 64/ Super Mario 64 DS==
If Mario has fewer than 70 Power Stars (80 in the remake), he can still enter the Big Star Door, although the endless stairs will be in effect. The illusion of the endless stairs is created by looping Mario back when he reaches a certain point. In Super Mario 64 DS, the player can see this on the map. Once the Power Star requirement has been met, Mario can climb the top of the stairs. In the remake, if anyone else other than Mario attempt to open the Star Door, they will climb the endless stairs, regardless of the number of Power Stars. In Super Mario 64 DS, if anyone other than Mario tries to enter the Big Star Door, they hear Bowser's voice telling them to scram. While they are still able to enter, the endless stairs are put into effect.
== Trivia ==
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* In Mario Party 9, the minigame Growing Up remixes the song while the players are climbing up.
* In Super Mario 64, the player can bypass the endless stairs with less than 70 Power Stars, thanks to the infamous Backwards Long Jump (or BLJ), and thanks to the continuous loop, the player can practice as many times trying to master it until they eventually skyrocket up to the top. However, if the player does that rocketing up the stairs on the left corner, Mario will clip through the stairs and end up in Wet-Dry World instead.
* In Super Mario 64 DS, only Mario can reach the top of the endless stairs however there is a glitch that allows any character to reach the top. More information on this glitch can be found on the video to the right. This glitch also allows for players to beat the game without Mario.
** Should the player try to access Bowser in the Sky with anyone other than Mario via this glitch, and number of oddities can occur.
*** When Luigi, Yoshi, or Wario defeat Bowser and grab the Jumbo Star, they'll sprout wings, but will be frozen in place as Mario spawns behind them, and the camera moves.
**** This is possibly due to the fact that, because the Jumbo Star is programmed to give Mario wings, the game cannot programme any other character using the ability in single-player, only multiplayer.
*** The ending plays out as normal afterwards, but during the credits roll, the character that the player used to defeat Bowser with that is not Mario will spawn in some of the scenes featuring Mario, like the hut in Cool, Cool Mountain and inside the volcano in Lethal Lava Land.
*** Then, after the scene featuring the Rainbow Ride, the credits cut abruptly and the character spawns outside of the Mushroom Castle with a life lost (or a Game Over if on their last life). Most sound effects are also gone, and the second floor is locked again. The only ways to resolve both issues is to restart the game, and complete Bowser in the Fire Sea again respectively.
**** The reason why the second floor is locked again is because there is a code reverted which tells the game that Bowser in the Fire Sea has not been completed yet, because one of the scenes from Dire, Dire Docks shows Mario standing on Bowser's submarine, and for some reason, the first star in Jolly Roger Bay gets added to the Star list if it has not yet already been obtained, because to show that scene, it requires that Star to be obtained. Because of these oddities, it would make sense as to why the credits cut halfway and the player loses a life, as none of these would occur if the player did the final level with Mario. However, the cause for the missing sound effects are still unknown.
*** However, it makes more sense as to why the final Big Star Door does not require any Power Stars to open in this version of the game, and due to all the glitches stated above on what happens when using anyone other than Mario, this explains why the endless stairs are permanently put in effect for them, because of programming issues, to prevent the player from having to unlock the second floor again should they actually manage to beat the game without Mario.
**** Its also worth noting that, none of these glitches occur if the player has less than 80 Power Stars, but uses Mario to enter Bowser in the Sky, and everything will play out as normal afterwards.
de:Unendliche Treppe
fr:Escalier sans fin
it:Scale infinite
Category:Traps and obstacles
Category:Super Mario 64
Category:Super Mario 64 DS