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Super Mario 64: Cool, Cool Mountain Stars

Alex Donaldson avatar
Guide by Alex Donaldson Assistant Editor
Published on

The fourth course of Super Mario 64 follows another classic level theme - this time the Snow level.

Cool, Cool Mountain has penguins, snowmen, and a frustrating icy slide. It's found on the main castle lobby on the left hand side, behind a 3-star door. It's a strangely challenging stage despite being early in the game thanks to a few stars that force you to reckon with some instant death bottomless pits...

Cool, Cool Mountain Star 1: Slip Slidin' Away

Where you start there's a house with a chimney - you can jump down the chimney to get inside. There's a slide here - take it down and make it to the bottom. Keep in mind there's a handy shortcut through a hidden wall - where there's a line of coins seemingly hidden straight into a wall, that's actually a false wall you slide right through. Reach the bottom and then grab the star.

Cool, Cool Mountain Star 2: Lil' Penguin Lost

At the start of the stage, sometimes near the roof of the slide house, there's a little baby penguin. You can pick it up with the punch button. You need to carry it all the way down the mountain - just follow the main path of the course. Be careful not to fall off the edge or drop the baby. Once you get the baby to the bottom, take it over to the mother Penguin and she'll reward you with a star.

Cool, Cool Mountain Star 3: Big Penguin Race

Now we need to return to the slide, so hop down the chimney again. This time you're racing a penguin on the slide. If you use the hidden shortcut or try to take a shortcut by dropping off the side of the slide and landing on a lower level, the penguin will act like Koopa The Quick in Bob-omb Battlefield and tell you that you cheated. This one can be a frustrating one - but keep in mind that you'll speed up on the latter section of the slide, so don't get sloppy if the penguin is ahead of you. It's more important to stay on the slide to avoid dying.

Cool, Cool Mountain Star 4: Frosty Slide for 8 Red Coins

The red coins this time are just generally placed all around the level, despite the name suggesting they might be more specific. Here's where they all are:

  1. Atop a tree right at the start of the stage.
  2. At the bottom of the slide - by which we mean the outdoor slide, not the one from star 1 & 3. It's in a little angled nook of the mountain, right before the snowman head and bridge.
  3. To the right of the bridge near the snowman head, before you get on the bridge, there's a ledge where there's a rope elevator that carries you across a big gap. The coin is on this ledge.
  4. Atop a tree near Mama Penguin.
  5. Past Mama Penguin and around the corner - right to the edge of the stage.
  6. On the broken wooden bridges between the previous two coins.
  7. Stand on the edge of the broken bridge from the last star to teleport. Once you teleport, drop down the incline to find the red coin behind a pillar of transparent ice.
  8. Drop down from this coin again to find another broken bridge - the coin is right at the bridge edge.

Cool, Cool Mountain Star 5: Snowman's Lost His Head

In this version of the stage, a snowball will spawn at the top of the mountain. Push it down the slide, right the way around the mountain. Eventually momentum will carry it. Get down to the Snowman head and wait for the ball to come down and join the head to create a full snowman - who will then gratefully give up the star.

Cool, Cool Mountain Star 6: Wall Kicks Will Work

There's a cannon at the bottom of the mountain - talk to the pink Bob-omb to activate it and then get in the cannon near Mama Penguin. Aim at the ledge cross from the cannon, below the path up the mountain - you want to catch the tree to stop yourself from flying to your death. Follow the narrow path here avoiding or defeating the enemies, and long jump across the larger gap where coins make an arrow. Keep following the path - you'll need to wall kick twice, once off a successful triple jump, to reach the top of the stage and the star.

Cool, Cool Mountain Star 7: Collect 100 Coins

This stage has a solid 154 coins in total, including 105 yellow coins - so it should be quite easy to grab the amount needed to get the star. Be careful not to pick up your 100th coin on the slide, as it'll just make picking up the star difficult once it spawns.

Next up, you're swapping chilly weather for chills up your spine in Big Boo's Haunt.

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