10 GENIUS Ways People Beat Video Games

10. 0 Stars - Super Mario 64

Super Mario 64 is one of the most revolutionary games of all time. In part due to the star collectibles that dominate the game.

Each level has approximately seven stars; to progress through Peach’s castle, you need to obtain an ever-increasing amount of them. There are 120 stars total, but you can reach the final level with only 70.

However, even though stars are the meat and bones of Mario 64, clever speedrunners have discovered that it’s possible to beat the game without collecting a single star.

As it turns out, the classic title has a lot of unintended bugs and glitches, particularly in Peach’s castle, where various corners and doors will cause Mario to clip through and go out of bounds if approached just right. From here, it’s just a matter of clipping through each Bowser level to obtain the key necessary to advance through the castle properly. Then, you can reach the final level and promptly beat the game without collecting a single star.

A lot of time and dedication went into discovering these glitches, and even more, time was put into practice to execute them. Making something that was once thought to be impossible into reality.