Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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You ever heard of this unknown hack called "Super Mario Star Road" for the Nintendo 64? I know I did, and recently decided to take a look at the "Remake" other people did to this one that was popular back then, and uh, yeah, I recorded this entire hack for 2 days, let's see if I consider this a "Remake" or a "Just fine" hack.
I played a bit of 64 recently, Played OG Star Road after a long while without saves, and played B3313 to full completion, so I have some moves on 64.

Hack: Super Mario Star Road Retooled
Author: PyrolluxJay, Skelux (Original Creator)
Difficulty: Hard
Download: romhacking.com/hack/super-mario-star-road-retooled

*First Impression*
Right off the bat there's a major change, No lives, OG had a lives system but that's not here anymore, you can die as much as you want and you won't be send to the white area the OG had. What happened to that area? You'll see eventually

*Course 1: Bob-omb Island*

☆1 King Bob-omb's Sky Fort:
(Original Name: Big Bob-omb's Sky Fort At first glance nothing changed about this one, you just need to get to the top of the fortress and fight the king Bob-omb just like in the vanilla SM64. The changes I can tell it's the star spawn after the fight being in a Pillar instead of the center of the arena, another change compared to OG is that the boss now has 3HP instead of the 5 the OG had

☆5 Smash the Chain Chomp's Rocks:
Another one that didn't change at all from OG Star Road, except for the star number, this used to be Star 6, not 5

☆7 100 Coin star & ☆4 The Salt Sea's 8 Red Coins:
(Original Name: Find the 8 Red Coins) This one is one of the big changes of the levels in general, while 100 coin stars are the same as one can expect, Red coins are another story, while in OG the red coins are scattered around the Map, in this remake for the most part are in a confined area or in a straight line, making them easier to collect. This one Is a change I like, however, in future areas some of these will not even be a part of the levels anymore

☆3 In the Side of the Mountain:
Another one that didn't changed much, as far as I remember the only change is the structure of the area where the star is, may be wrong but that is what my memory can get

*Course 5: Gloomy Garden*
☆Secret Star: Puzzle of the Vanish Cap:
Ok, this one, I'm not gonna talk about Course 5 yet, but I am gonna talk about the changes the vanish cap level got. First, the music change to the Vanish Cap, I do not like it, the old theme wasn't particularly the best but it was catchy, and the new one is just a softer rendition of the "Mad Musical Mess" level, it's a change I really don't like and I don't understand why it was changed. Second, the star objective, in OG the objective was to find 5 secrets with the help of a spotlight switch, it was clever and more quicker than what we got here, 8 red coins, it's another change I question as the reds are a bit more dangerous compared to the spotlight one, another change I don't like. Something I do like is the system of the death in these sub areas, instead of booting you out of the level, you are only sent back to the entrance of said area, just like a Bowser level.

*Course 1: Bob-omb Island*
☆6 Vanishing Dive in the Cage:
(Original Name: Deep Dive in the Cage) Originally Star 5 instead of 6, This one got a change as well, OG had the Vanish cap on top of the cage, here it is all the way to the ship, not a big deal but it makes this star more slow to collect, I get why the change was made, to put some pressure on the player and make the vanish cap not as redundant, but still

☆2 Top of the Sunken Ship
I didn't noticed a change with this one, I did felt like the ship platform got a bit straighten up, it may be just me but overall this is just like in OG, shot to the platform and catch the star

*So Far*
This is a good start to the hack, keeping it simple, even if it's Course/Level 1, the changes for the most part are good, my complains are the Vanish Cap theme and objective, as something this hack aims to do is to, "Fix" problems of the OG and these 2 things didn't needed a change. Let's see if Course 2 had a major change next time

Chapters:
00:00 Title Screen & File Select
00:09 Welcoming surroundings
01:22 Big Bob-omb's Sky Fort
03:09 Smash the Chain Chomp's Rocks
04:04 100 Coin star & The Salt Sea's 8 Red Coins
08:57 In the Side of the Mountain
09:45 Course 5: Gloomy Garden
10:25 Puzzle of the Vanish Cap
13:06 Filler (Searching for MIPS)
14:33 Vanishing Dive in the Cage
16:00 Top of the Sunken Ship