Super Mario 64: Every Level Ranked From Worst To Best
13. Lethal Lava Land
A mixed bag of a level, Lethal Lava Land contains a couple of cool mechanics. The red coin star is obtained through a shifting blocks puzzle as you might get from a museum gift shop, which is deceptively simple. The final two stars of the world require you to hurl Mario into a volcano, unlocking a couple of nicely challenging pure platform stages.
Elsewhere, though, the world is somewhat repetitive. Two of the stars require you to defeat a number of Bullies, cannonball-like enemies who attempt to shunt you off a platform and into the lava, while you do the same to them. This requires seriously good timing, and is enjoyable to complete once, but not so much the second time.
Repetition is what lets Lethal Lava Land down on the whole, as the colour palette is seriously one note. It’s a fun level to navigate as there are risks everywhere that necessitate crisp jumps, but it’s not the kind of word you really want to spend a lot of time in.