Big Boo's Haunt

**Big Boo's Haunt** is the fifth course in Super Mario 64. Unlike most other courses accessed by paintings, it is located in the courtyard and accessed by defeating the Big Boo, revealing a small cage where Mario can enter. The boos will only spawn if Mario has at least 12 Power Stars.

## Course Versions

There are three versions of the course that can appear by selecting different stars. Keep in mind that if there are any blue stars (uncollected) present in the star selection menu, then the last version that can be selected is the first blue star and not the stars after it:

* **Version 1**: Accessed by selecting Star 1. The staircase's steps will be down, and killing each boo will present some text before King Boo shows up.
* **Version 2**: Accessed by selecting Star 2 through 6. The staircase is already up, and boos will be present at the merry-go-round.

## A Press Counts

In the A Button Challenge, all seven stars can be collected without A presses, though completing them is very time-consuming since 30 hours are spent for three of the stars, namely Ride Big Boo's Merry-Go-Round, Big Boo's Balcony, and Eye to Eye in the Secret Room, the latter of which requires a Vanish Cap to complete.

### Entering Big Boo's Haunt *(0x)*

Mario can defeat the Big Boo using combatting options (punching, kicking, slide-kicking, diving, etc), none of which requires jumping with the A button.

### Go On a Ghost Hunt *(0x)*

*Video: https://youtu.be/Z6Azdf3V2rU*
Mario needs to defeat all boos on the first floor and defeat King Boo to collect the star at the entrance to the second floor accessed by a rising staircase.

The main technique that allows Mario to access the second floor without jumping is the use of Vertical speed conservation (VSC) due to Mario's vertical speed not resetting to zero upon landing. Therefore, by making Mario land while he is still ascending, Mario can retain positive vertical speed, and the speed can be reactivated if Mario does not move at all except punching and breakdancing. Therefore, Pannenkoek takes advantage of the rising steps, which allows Mario to store vertical speed, and punch to the edge of the step to reactivate the stored speed, and ledge-grab onto the second floor. There is only one chance to perform this technique, as the steps only rise once.

Later on, this technique is required for the remaining stars except for *Ride Big Boo's Merry-Go-Round* and 100 coin star, and therefore Mario would select the first mission to complete these stars.

The star is 281 units above the floor , barely reachable by dive-recovering.

### Ride Big Boo's Merry-Go-Round *(0x)*

*Main Article: Ride Big Boo's Merry-Go-Round*
*Video: https://youtu.be/6q6e03g2Ic8*
**Version 2** must be used for boos to show up in the merry-go-round. The biggest obstacle is finding a way to reach the star since it is 357 units above the floor. After many ideas trying to go out of bounds to utilize VSC failed, Pannenkoek eventually found a method to use a scuttlebug's bounce to reach the star.

To execute this strategy, Mario first needs to lure a scuttlebug outside the mansion to a specific location via Scuttlebug transportation, and then raise it for many hours (3 hours or 10 hours depending on which method is used). This will place a scuttlebug in a vertical PU (VPU 1). Then, Mario will go outside to perform a specific maneuver to lure the scuttlebug to the specified location as it is falling through floors and ceilings, ending up above a floor in the merry-go-round by snapping it to a wall nearby via scuttlebug wall snapping. The movement is very precise as to not prematurely let it interact with the wrong wall in the VPU and snap into the wrong location.

Once the scuttlebug is in place, snapped down VPU 1, Mario enters the merry-go-round room, beating up boos and proceeding the level as normal, and finishes up by bouncing on the scuttlebug to reach the star.

### Secret of the Haunted Books *(0x)*

*Video: https://youtu.be/hw\_I2yw8AEI*
**Version 1** must be used for the staircase to rise, as the aforementioned VSC trick is required to climb up to the second floor and go to the library. The bookshelf puzzle is solved by pushing the three books in a high-low-middle order, the highest one being fortunately reachable by dive-recovering. After revealing the other side and go through the door, the star can be reached by sliding on the rails and then ground-pound midair to gain enough height to collect the star.

### Seek the 8 Red Coins *(0x)*

*Video: https://youtu.be/yBvptqoQ6w4*
In order to access all coins, using **version 1** is required. Four coins are located on the first floor and should be collected first, two of which locating on top of the bookshelf which requires careful manipulations of two boos and a flying book to bounce on them. Afterward, Mario activates the rising staircase by defeating all boos on the first floor and then using the rising steps to perform VSC. Mario then picks up the remaining four coins on the second floor to spawn the star and then collects it.

### Big Boo's Balcony *(0x)*

*Main Article: Big Boo's Balcony*
*Video: https://youtu.be/OLmxy5cYfdk*
**Version 1** must be used. The star is located on the roof, which can be accessed from the third floor of the mansion. The biggest obstacle is going to the third floor of the mansion without pressing A. Under normal conditions, the crazy box does not go high enough to reach the roof (to meet Big Boo), and jumping from the second floor to the third floor requires an A press. Therefore, the solution is to transport and raise the scuttlebugs and place them inside the mansion.

Pannenkoek raises three scuttlebugs for 13 hours to place them in Vertical PU (VPU 2) in order to have enough time to perform the maneuver outside to induce a lunge, moving them into the mansion and snapping them onto the library on the second floor. Then, Pannenkoek raises them for another 8 minutes to isolate their heights so that Mario can bounce on them.

The raising of the scuttlebugs is all done before Mario even begins beating the boos to access the second floor (via VSC). Afterward, Mario enters the roof and goes up the slopes to go on top of the item block. Finally, he defeats the Big Boo by performing many breakdances and collects the star.

### Eye to Eye in the Secret Room *(0x)*

*Main Article: Big Boo's Balcony*
*Video: https://youtu.be/rIYFGYXtNwA*
The same maneuver is performed so as to reach the third floor, except it is even more difficult. The secret room, where the star is located, is only accessible by putting on a vanish cap, and therefore Mario has a strict time limit to reach the third floor without the cap running out. The only route fast enough for this is to navigate from the second floor to the third floor, instead of taking the detour outside the mansion to reach the roof.

Therefore, Mario enters **version 1** and begins placing the scuttlebugs into vertical PUs. He manipulates them in the same location as used in *Big Boo's Balcony* (13 hours are spent in this phase), and then he navigates up the mansion with VSC and scuttlebug bouncing while picking up a vanish cap during the process. He rushes into the secret room in time, defeats Mr. I swiftly, and finally collects the star.

### BBH 100 Coins *(0x)*

*Video: https://youtu.be/ApIxdRirfOk*
There are fortunately enough coins to collect on the first floor and basement of Big Boo's Haunt. **Version 2** is used here, using the coins from Boos and Mr. I as primary sources. The version later than Star 2 is used as otherwise the merry-go-round would not have boos flying out. The red coins on the bookshelf are the trickest ones the collect since Boos and flying books need to be manipulated.

## Other Challenges

In a CCC Challenge, excluding coin missions, all stars can be collected, with *Eye to Eye in the Secret Room* being impractical for real-time play due to hyperspeed walk-kicking being required to clip through the wall without vanishing cap.

There are no stars that can be collected in No Buttons Allowed challenge and No Joystick Allowed challenge due to complex course geometry, as well as due to buttons unable to advance text.

## References

1. ↑ SM64 120 Star ABC Route: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wVD60DYcPPjWmfObqwV-1Kb0ic478dsL9znCMqM2X4M/edit?usp=sharing
2. ↑ Star Heights: https://youtu.be/xE7hrQ8sHhU?t=1m54s
3. ↑ Star Heights: https://youtu.be/xE7hrQ8sHhU?t=3m1s
4. ↑ Video explaining the two strategies of raising a scuttlebug: https://youtu.be/ZZ\_rNnt0ImI
5. ↑ Explained in BBH Vanish Cap during Scuttlebug Bouncing: https://youtu.be/p4-z4qogSC0

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