Re: Super Mario 64 Character Mods
Chara Fiebig
A modder and their team are quickly making headlines with their in-depth mod of the Nintendo 64 classic GoldenEye 007, with their version of the game replacing the entire film cast with various characters from the Super Mario franchise. While mods usually tweak or add in some zany type of element to the game they're being used in, this one in particular completely overhauls the iconic shooter with Mario, Luigi, plenty of Koopas, and more.
Originally released in 1997, GoldenEye 007 is a first-person shooter made exclusively for the Nintendo 64. Often considered to be one of the best video games of all time, the title was recently announced to be coming to modern consoles. Somewhat surprisingly, however, is the fact that online multiplayer for GoldenEye 007 is exclusive to Switch, with the Xbox version seemingly lacking the important modern-day feature.
The wonderfully weird mashup comes from a modder who calls themselves StupidMarioBros1Fan, who went much further than merely replacing enemies with Koopa Troopas. In addition to swapping in the core Super Mario cast in the campaign, the dialogue has been humorously re-written to reflect the newly implemented characters, like actor Sean Bean's famous, "For England, James?" line replaced by Luigi saying "For-a Brooklyn, Mario?" In addition to the revamped story content, the GoldenEye 007 mod includes restored beta content, recreated content, and new cheats.
Some of the content the modders were able to put into their version of GoldenEye 007 include jungle weapons, explosives, and full automatics in multiplayer from the 2005 total conversion GoldenEye: Source. The mod's additional maps include an unfinished pair discovered in the game files, a few from GoldenEye: Source, and several from the canceled GoldenEye Xbox Live Arcade Remaster that leaked online early in 2021.
While this particular mod may have brought Super Mario to GoldenEye, other modders have brought GoldenEye to Super Mario. A viral video shows a full run-through of a GoldenEye level, except that level happens to be Princess Peach's castle from Super Mario 64. The clip bears many similarities to the one above, with Koopas featuring as foot soldiers with Bowser as the ultimate big bad. Although Nintendo would almost certainly never create a dedicated shooter featuring Mario and company, the various mods mashing the two together show that a substantial level of interest is there.
Gamers interested in trying out the Mario-modded version of GoldenEye can download it from ModDB, or grab it from Google Drive if the site is too busy. Installation requires the GoldenEye Setup Editor and a clean GoldenEye 007 (NTSC-U) ROM. With plenty of funny things to do in the regular GoldenEye 007, the Mario mod version should prove to be even funnier.
One of the most memorable characters in Super Mario 64 is Mad Piano from the Big Boo's Haunt course, and the iconic haunted musical instrument has made his way into the original Super Smash Bros. thanks to a crafty group of modders. While Mad Piano may not seem like the most conventional of fighters to be selected for a Smash Bros. title, the official addition of Pirahna Plant proved that anyone can make it into Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros. modding community has grown substantially over the past few years with some very creative projects being completed as a result. Mods come in many shapes and sizes such as reskinning existing characters with a character model from a different game or adding stages and music. Players have managed to add Tyler "Ninja" Blevins, Among Us Crewmates, and even Marvel's Thanos to the game's roster via mods. While these are all just simple reskins, one team of modders has worked to build new characters for the original Super Smash Bros.
Smash Remix is a team of modders dedicated to adding new content to Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64, and in the latest update, players now have the ability to play as Mad Piano. Unlike other mods, Smash Remix builds new characters from scratch with unique character models and move sets. Smash Remix's Mad Piano looks as if he were pulled directly from Super Mario 64, and he is equipped with the same nightmare-inducing teeth he had 24 years ago.
Smash Remix isn't just another mod that is used with a shoddy emulator, it actually works with the original Nintendo 64 console. With the release of Smash Remix Version 0.9.5, the mod adds nine new fighters and 54 stages to the original Smash Bros. The nine characters added are Ganondorf, Young Link, Falco, Dr. Mario, Dark Samus, Wario, Lucas, Bowser, and now Mad Piano. Mad Piano may not have been anyone's first choice for a new Smash fighter, but seeing him in action may cause some to reconsider.
With the ongoing feud between Nintendo and the Smash Bros. community, it's cool to see new content in the works from Smash modders. Especially with Nintendo recently targeting Super Smash Bros. modders. Hopefully, Smash Remix will continue to add wacky content like Super Mario 64's Mad Piano to the original Super Smash Bros. without fear that Nintendo will attempt to rain on their parade.
This is a classic skin mod that should be mentioned whenever Ultimate mods are mentioned. It essentially makes Fox look how he appears in Melee, pixels, sharp edges, and all. This is for annoying Fox mains that wish they could wave dash just as effectively in Melee as well as nostalgic nerds who prefer Melee over Ultimate.
This Bowser skin mod adds multiple variations of Dry Bowser to play as. The glowing red pupil and skeleton form are super hype, making Bowser even more sinister. This variation of Bowser is also voiced by the mod creator himself.
Similar to previous mods, this skin mod turns Sonic into the beloved sarcastic edgelord from the same series. It has become one of the most desired mods for Ultimate thanks to how well it works and the badassery of Shadow.
Sheik turns into Spider-Man in this action-packed skin mod. Sheik works perfectly for Spider-Man thanks to her nimble agility and her ledge grabbing that looks a lot like web swinging. Watching Spider-Man aggressively crawl around the map in Ultimate is definitely entertaining.
Since the first trailer for Super Mario Bros. Wonder, the world has been contemplating a single, horrible question: what does elongated Mario really look like? Well, folks, we now have an answer, and it's every bit as horrifying as you might've imagined.
There's a level in Super Mario Bros. Wonder called Sproings in the Twilight Forest where everything appears as a dark silhouette against a colorful background. Picking up the Wonder Flower in this level will turn your character - and many of the stage's enemies - into an elongated version with an uber-long torso. A brief glimpse of this stage appeared in the game's very first trailer, and ever since then I've been wondering - nay, forced to wonder - what that long Mario would look like in normal lighting.
Well, none of us have to wonder anymore. A player by the name of RedStoneMatt has modified the game to remove the silhouette effect and reveal elongated Mario in all his glory. It didn't take long for other players to use the mod to reveal elongated Luigi, Peach, Toadette, Toad, Yoshi, and Nabbit, too, and I've been mesmerized by this tweet from Supper Mario Broth as I try to figure out which of them is the most horrifying.
Yeah, sure, there's a certain horror in Mario and Luigi just looking like human tree trunks, but there's something about Nabbit's inhuman proportions that's deeply upsetting. Peach gets the benefit of a super-long skirt to hide whatever's going on with her, and Yoshi honestly just looks like he's having a good time.
It's really Toad and Toadette that I'll never be able to get out of my mind. They both look like Eldritch horrors, breaking the bounds of Euclidean geometry with their terrible angles. Good luck sleeping tonight, folks.
Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator."}), " -0-7/js/authorBio.js"); } else console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); Dustin BaileySocial Links NavigationStaff WriterDustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.
Gameplay modification, often shorthanded as mod, is a blanket term for unofficial hacks and code alterations that change one or more aspects of the original, or "vanilla" version of a game. The term "vanilla" comes from a common terminology featured in the computing world. Mods range from simple cosmetic changes to total engine and gameplay overhauls that result in the game functioning completely differently.
The first attempts at modding involved Brawl, with such projects generally being viewed as novelties, such as palette swaps for characters and UI changes. Outside of this, forcing the Wii to load such mods was considered difficult, requiring use of the now-inoperable Twilight hack. The increasing complexity of game play mods and the discovery of the Smash Stack exploit, however, caused mods to develop considerably more attention with observers.
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