BlackJoystick

BlackJoystick is a Youtube channel that has several videos documenting Super Mario 64 phenomena. They are most commonly known for documenting Floor 2B, though they have also recorded several other anomalies, such as the scrapped Internal Clock. Notably, they have managed to dump their copy into 3 separate ROMs. Similarly to Planet Bobstar, BlackJoystick has claimed their videos are fake, though it is believed this was due to them being threatened by Nintendo. Their channel can be seen here.

Exploring the 4th Floor
This video is a tape of someone exploring the 4th Floor of Princess Peach's Castle on June 15th, 1996. This version of the 4th Floor appears to be shaped much more like a regular floor than many other manifestations of the area, resembling one well-known screenshot in particular. There is a large main room with a carpet in the center with a large hole in the ceiling directly above it, similarly to the beginning of Bowser's Domain. There are several unique paintings along the walls. There is a long hallway leading to a stretched out painting of what appears to be clouds, stars and land, with a nearby Toad that comments on the painting being unable to be entered and the long hallway leading to it. They then say that Princess Peach may not be the best at structuring and designing, before quickly saying not to tell Peach that they said that.

There are a few other rooms branching off from the main room containing more paintings that are also unable to be entered. One has a painting that appears to be of Sunshine Isles, potentially indicating Sunshine Isles was originally planned to be in the original game before being scrapped and later being reused for Super Mario 64 DS. The other room contain a painting that appears to be of a jungle. A second hallway leads to the final room entered in the tape, leading to a room with a warp pipe, sign, and a painting that appears to be of an image of the Eternal Fort. The sign says that the pipe leads to the Eternal Fort, but those who aren't worthy that enter the pipe will suffer consequences. The pipe is then entered, before text saying "YOU ARE NOT WORTHY" appears. Notably, the Eternal Fort music uploaded by The Nintendissident plays while the text appears.

A Closer look at Floor 2B
In this video, a tape of a player exploring Floor 2B is played. It begins in a long hallway leading to a room similar to a well-known screenshot associated with Floor 2B, though there are some differences.

The player first enters the Block Room, and then enters the room that would lead to Boiling Hot Basalt. They then enter the room that would lead to Bowser in the Randomized Realm, before entering the Flooded Hallway and then the room that leads to Dry Bones Desert. Notably, there are 2 doors in this room. One door is not entered, though has a sign saying not to enter next to it, and another leads to an outside area. There is a large gate at the edge of the area, along with a sign claiming it leads to Bob-omb Village. Notably, the first mission in this video says Big Bob-omb's Invasion, though the Bob-omb Village video's first mission is called The Child of Big Bob-omb.

Bowser in the Randomized Realm
In this video, Bowser in the Randomized Realm is explored. It begins in Floor 2B, before entering the room leading to Bowser in the Randomized Realm and then going into the level. The level has several objects from the title screen in this version of the level, the unused Big Boo's Key, as well as geometry from other levels and even a Whomp model as a platform. Notably, some objects do appear to be entirely custom, such as text spelling out BOWSER. Towards the end of the level, the player has to grab a Wing Cap to fly to the last part of the level, that leads to the Bowser boss fight. Upon entering the Bowser fight, Bowser is shocked that Mario managed to get through the level, before breaking the fourth wall and telling the player that they made the level too easy for Mario, potentially due to the player performing poorly earlier in the game. The player briefly fails to throw Bowser into a bomb, potentially due to their lack of skill at the game, though eventually succeeds. Bowser then complains about the player ruining "one of the best ideas i could ever think of in a while," before turning into a key, which is collected before the tape ends.

Bob Omb Village
In this tape, the player explores Bob-omb Village, accessing it from it's entrance in Floor 2B. Much like many other incarnations of Bob-omb Village, this version appears entirely unique compared to others. The player talks to a Bob-omb Buddy, who explains that the Child of Big Bob-omb has taken the power star that functions as the town's power source.

The player then explores the bottom part of the level, which has several houses, the unused Dancing Flowers, Bob-ombs, and a yellow box containing coins. The player then traverses up the level, where they encounter Goombas, a Koopa, and more Bob-ombs. They also find another Bob-omb Buddy who says there is a star inside of a cave belonging to a Chain Chomp. A third Bob-omb Buddy at the top portion of the level complains about the Child of Big Bob-omb causing the fountain to drain, because they won't be able to steal coins that people throw inside. Another Bob-omb Buddy who speaks in an accent talks about the hat store they work for, and a fifth Bob-omb Buddy talks about their love for flowers. The player reaches the top of the level, where a final Bob-omb Buddy explains that the building next to them in the Bomb Shrine, the building containing the power star, as well as the Child of Big Bob-omb. The player then enters the Bomb Shrine.

The Bomb Shrine has a large path surrounded by a large bottomless pit, with the walls being very far away. The path then leads to a large area with the Child of Big Bob-omb on top of it. The Child of Big Bob-omb has dialogue about the power star, and not having a fake crown and mustache. The player then defeats Child of Big Bob-omb, who functions identically to Big Bob-omb. The Child of Big Bob-omb has dialogue similar to Big Bob-omb, before exploding into the power star. The power star is collected, and the tape ends.

Paint the Painting
In this video, the player begins in Floor 2B and enters the door with a sign saying not to enter it. The room leads to an area with several paintings, paint all over the room, an empty painting frame, a hexagonal platform, as well as a unique rainbow Bob-omb. The rainbow Bob-omb claims to have created all of the enterable paintings, and asks Mario to help with their next painting for Bowser. The player steps on the hexagon and looks towards the empty painting, and they enter the Painting Creator. They end up painting a painting of clouds with a pipe coming from the clouds, and then enter the Skyhigh Pipelands level, which is notably marked as Course ?, and the first mission is referred to as The Great Pipe of the Sky.

The player falls from the sky onto a platform at the beginning of the level, and the player then looks around. Notably, Whomp's Fortress can be seen in the distance, implying that the 2 courses are connected. The player explores the level, climbing to the top of a pipe, eventually reaching the largest pipe in the level, climbing it, and collecting a star at the top of the level before the tape ends.

Unagi's Tunnel
This tape explores the Cavern of the Unagi level, which is referred to as Unagi's Tunnel. Notably, this is the first tape excluding Exploring the 4th Floor that doesn't start in Floor 2B. The player begins in the Castle Grounds, eventually entering Princess Peach's Castle and then Jolly Roger Bay. Notably, before entering Jolly Roger Bay, they enter the room leading to the Princess' Secret Slide, which has a door with a green L on it, and the Jolly Roger Bay painting is the Japanese version despite a Toad speaking English, implying personalization.

Upon entering Jolly Roger Bay, the second mission, instead of being Can The Eel Come Out To Play?, is referred to as Deep Inside the Eel's Tunnel. The player swims to the tunnel Unagi the Eel would normally reside in, which is now enterable, and leads to Cavern of the Unagi. The player swims through the tunnel, before reaching an area without water. The player explores the cavern, which has Scuttlebugs and Goombas roaming around, as well as Fly Guys and Boos.

The player goes through the level, progressing through a linear platforming segment, a maze, a path surrounded by a bottomless pit, before finding the level's star, and then collecting it. The tape then ends.

Luigi's Adventure
In this tape, the player plays as Luigi and goes through the Big Boo's Forest level, which is referred to as Big Boo's Woods. This tape appears to take place directly after the previous tape, as the previous tape had 106 stars, and the player begins in front of the Jolly Roger Bay painting with 107 stars. The player then goes to the L door seen in the previous tape, then enters it. The screen goes black, and the player then appears as Luigi in front of the door, which now has a red M. Illegible text then appears, and the player then begins walking around as Luigi.

The player then enters the Castle Courtyard, defeats the Boo that drops the Big Boo's Haunt cage, and then enters it. However, instead of Big Boo's Haunt, it leads to Big Boo's Woods, which appears to be an alternate form of Big Boo's Forest. The first mission is referred to as Big Boo in the Terror Tower, which the player selects.

The player begins in the Big Boo's Haunt level, though it is missing the mansion, as well as any other parts of the map except for the cage. However, there are 2 large signs with arrows pointing to an opening in the cage. A sign next to the opening says it leads to Big Boo's Woods, and warns that some who enter the woods never come back. The player then enters the opening, which leads to the main part of the level.

The first part of the level has several Scuttlebugs, Boos, a Mr. I, and unique trees. It leads to a large area that branches off into several other areas. This central area has a large tree in the center, and branches off to 3 other areas: Big Boo's Tower of Terror, the Giant Sign, and the Underground Cave. The Underground Cave area has a pipe that shoots out Scuttlebugs, and a sign points to the next area. The Giant Sign area has the titular giant sign with a question mark on it, as well as a sign pointing to the next area.

The area surrounding Big Boo's Tower of Terror branches off into 3 other areas: The entrance to Downtown Mushroom Kingdom, an area with a pedestal containing the Ghoul Medal which is connected to a "restricted area", and an area with a large statue of a Boo known as the Boo Statue which is connected to a "forbidden path". The Ghoul Medal area is connected to the Underground Cave, and the Boo Statue is connected to the Giant Sign.

The inside of Big Boo's Tower of Terror is a large and dark area containing several Boos and pathways. One path leads to a large pedestal with a Big Boo on it. The player defeats the Big Boo, and collects the star it drops. The tape then ends.

Unused Title Screen
In this video, an unused title screen that would appear in place of the Mario head screen is shown. It has gameplay footage from several levels, including Vanish Cap Under the Moat, the Castle Grounds, Cool, Cool Mountain, the Basement, the First Floor, the Princess' Secret Slide, Jolly Roger Bay, the Castle Courtyard, Whomp's Fortress, Lethal Lava Land, and Tower of the Wing Cap. It notably also has anomalous levels including Skyhigh Pipelands, Bowser's Domain, BlackJoystick's version of the 4th Floor, Floor 2B, Big Boo's Woods, Greenio's version of the 4th Floor, Bowser in the Randomized Realm, and Blackjoystick's version of Bob-omb Village (which notably has the rainbow Bob-omb from Paint the Painting in the background in place of a regular Bob-omb Buddy). At the end, it shows the player entering the pipe to the Eternal Fort through BlackJoystick's version of the 4th Floor, before displaying a screenshot of what appears to be the Eternal Fort. The video then ends.

Downtown Mushroom Kingdom - Early Level Testing
In this tape, the anomalous Downtown Mushroom Kingdom level is explored. It starts in Big Boo's Woods, in front of Big Boo's Tower of Terror, before the player, still playing as Luigi, enters Downtown Mushroom Kingdom. Notably, the Goombas surrounding Big Boo's Tower of Terror have become purple and blue, taking their appearance in the Downtown Mushroom Kingdom level.

Downtown Mushroom Kingdom begins with a small room with a few Goombas, with a path leading to a large bottomless pit surrounding the path to the main part of the level. The path leads to a gate at the entrance of the main level, with a Toad next to it. Notably, the usually white mushroom head with red spots on the heads of the Toads in Downtown Mushroom Kingdom become black with blue spots, though a white spot still remains. The Toad claims that Downtown Mushroom Kingdom is ruled by "Princess Subterranea".

The main part of Downtown Mushroom Kingdom is a round area with a fountain in the center. It has a path to a landfill referred to as the Junk Passage, a path to Princess Subterranea's Castle Grounds, several houses, and a building known as the "Tiny Tower", along with several Toads dotted around the area. There are also several blue mushrooms similarly to the ones seen in Tall, Tall Mountain throughout this area, along with the entire level.

A Toad next to the Junk Passage explains that the junk in the Junk Passage is destroyed by a robot named the Trashbot, but a power star fell into it's chamber causing it to go haywire. The player then explores the Junk Passage, before obtaining a Vanish Cap and entering an area right before the camera footage cuts off. However, audio remains, and what sounds like a boss fight with the Trashbot occurs, before the footage returns and the player collects a star.

The player then appears in Princess Subterranea's Castle Grounds, which takes the appearance of a recolored Castle Grounds with several Goombas and Bob-ombs around. The player explores before finding a Toad in front of the entrance, who introduces Luigi (who they believe to be Mario) to Princess Subterranea's Castle, before the text suddenly turns into "-Placeholder Text-", until the Toad asks Luigi not to enter the basement. The player enters the castle, and the tape ends.

Star Road - The Eternal Prize
In this video, the anomalous Star Road area is explored. It begins with a black screen and audio, similarly to the Trashbot boss fight in Downtown Mushroom Kingdom - Early Level Testing, though it is believed the level being played is the Eternal Fort, as the Nintendissident's Eternal Fort theme is playing. Around a minute into the video, footage begins as the player falls into what appears to be part of Princess Peach's Castle in greyscale. There are several doors, though only one is entered. The room the door leads to is a long hallway with several paintings, and ends with a door leading to an entirely gray room with a star inside. A sign in the room says the player is worthy, and asks them to take the star. Text then appears on the screen saying "YOU ARE WORTHY".

The player then appears on top of what appears to be Princess Peach's Castle, though it may potentially be the Eternal Fort. There is a path of rainbows going from the roof to a see-through platform with a star on it. Standing on it teleports the player to Star Road.

In this video, Star Road takes the appearance of a star with a pipe on each end. There are also several other objects in the distance, as well as a Toad on the main platform with stars on it's head instead of spots. The Toad says that the player is the first person to survive the Eternal Fort, and that the Super Mario 64 development team has worked hard on making 5 extra challenges for the player, and that beating them all would result in a special reward.

Signs label the 5 pipes that presumably lead to 5 small levels, referred to as "Challenge Courses". The levels are Slippery Slide Mayhem, Moonlight Sanctuary, Deep Dark Abyss, Tubular Tower, and The Champion's Road, which appears to function as a final challenge, as the other 4 challenge courses need to be finished to enter the level. The player enters the Champion's Road pipe, though text saying "COMPLETE THE OTHER FOUR" appears and the player is sent back to Star Road.

The player then stands at the edge of part of Star Road, and is teleported to a floating island that was seen in the distance earlier in the level. They briefly explore, before finding an entrance to what appears to be a secret level, with a sign next to it saying not to enter it and go back to the challenges. The player enters, and the video ends. It is believed that this secret entrance leads to the greyscale castle seen in the next video.

Chroma Tundra
In this video, the player explores Chroma Tundra. The video begins with text saying "Welcome Back", before the player appears in a greyscale version of the castle that looks similar to the area seen at the beginning of Star Road - The Eternal Prize. The player enters the Cool, Cool Mountain room, but the paintings are replaced with a painting of Chroma Tundra. They enter, and several notable things can be seen on the mission select screen. There is no course number, the second and fifth missions aren't collected, and the mission names are Belle in the Blizzard-Lands, Ascend the Frozen Citadel, Secret of the Snow Town, Red Coins in the Citadel, the fifth mission's name is not shown, and the final mission's name is I'm So Sorry... The player selects Ascend the Frozen Citadel.

The player jumps from a series of wooden platforms to a mountain, with Goombas and Mr. Blizzards on top. Notably, the large snowman from Cool, Cool Mountain is also there, though the player does not interact with them, and instead goes over a broken bridge to another mountain. They run through the mountain, which has several Goombas, until they reach the top and find a platform similarly to the one that teleported the player to Star Road in the previous video. The player steps on it, and is teleported to another mountain.

The player climbs the mountain, and finds the entrance to the Frozen Citadel alongside several Goombas. The Frozen Citadel begins with a long hallway that leads to a blocked off room with a false floor right before it. The area the player lands in has what appears to be acid, with platforms leading to another hallway with a jail cell containing a Penguin alongside a baby Penguin. The hallway leads to a large area with a Whomp, as well as what appears to be a glitched Chain Chomp connected to a glitched Whomp in the center of the room. It is defeated when it is circled, similarly to a Mr. Blizzard and/or Mr. I.

A path at the edge of this area leads upwards around the chamber to the top. The player reaches the top, but fails to wall jump to the next room. Eventually, text appears saying "It seems that you're having quite the trouble progressing, correct? I think I can help you with that." And the player appears in the next room. This next room is connected to a large water area with several ice cubes. The player progresses upwards in the room, and eventually finds a large staircase leading to the end of the level.

This final area is a balcony with a pathway extending forwards towards the star. The player looks around the balcony briefly before collecting the star. Notably, parts of the balcony cut off allowing access to paths to other areas, though the player does not go towards them and instead collects the star. The tape then ends.

Internal Clock Real-Time Alterations
In this video, the scrapped Internal Clock system is showcased during night-time. Special music is played, the Castle Grounds skybox is changed to be night-time, and the waterfall is removed. Notably, in Princess Peach's Castle, the star Toads seen in Star Road are present, as well as the Third Floor wall texture being on every floor. The most notable difference is in Wing Mario Over the Rainbow, which has become an entirely new level, referred to as Wing Mario Over the Starry Sky.

The level has several stars around the level in place of clouds, and also has a night-time skybox like the Castle Grounds. There are also some towers around similarly to the middle tower seen in Tower of the Wing Cap, which has Goombas roaming around on top of them, as well as the surrounding towers from TotWC. The star is the same as Wing Mario Over the Rainbow, being 8 red coins. The player collects the red coins, and then collects the star before the video ends.

Skyhigh Pipelands - High Quality Music Upload
In this video, BlackJoystick displays the music from Skyhigh Pipelands ripped from their copy. Not much is worth noting, except for the fact that there is a painting shown in the video but not seen anywhere else. This could mean that their personalized copy had created a new version of the painting after BlackJoystick had created it in the Painting Creator, or this was extracted from a personalized copy that had Skyhigh Pipelands in a regular painting.

Copy Oddities
Several oddities can be found in BlackJoystick's video, as well as their ROMs containing levels from their copy. These appear to indicate that BlackJoystick isn't lying when they claim that their videos are fake, though some arguments can be made to justify these oddities.

Missing Rooms
Found in one of the 3 ROMs are 2 rooms that replace Bob-omb Battlefield and Whomp's Fortress that do not appear in any video. The Bob-omb Battlefield replacement is a grassy room similar to the Internal Garden, which has several Goombas. At the edge of the room is the Goomba painting from Bowser's Domain. It is unable to be entered. The Whomp's Fortress replacement has the Pokey painting from Bowser's Domain, and a desert room with quicksand. It is not entirely known what these room's purpose are/were and why they aren't in a video yet, but they could potentially have lead to levels before BlackJoystick dumped them. It is debated if they were part of the 4th Floor or Floor 2B, or potentially an entirely new floor that has not yet been documented.

Level Replacements
In the ROMs BlackJoystick has released, the levels and areas replace regular levels, such as Bob-omb Village replacing Bob-omb Battlefield in one ROM. It is believed that this is due to an issue from dumping their copy, so they simply placed the levels in place of regular levels. This issue also appears to be why there are 3 ROMs instead of just one.

Recolors
This oddity can be found in all 3 ROMs. The Castle Grounds in the ROM with a playable Luigi takes the appearance of Princess Subterranea's Castle Grounds seen in Downtown Mushroom Kingdom - Early Level Testing, and the Goombas, even if they are not in this area or Downtown Mushroom Kingdom, are purple and blue, and the Toads follow the same rule in both this ROM and the ROM with Star Road. Also, the second ROM with Bob-omb Village and Floor 2B have the Bob-omb Buddies recolored to appear as the rainbow Bob-omb seen in Paint the Painting. It is believed that this is due to the Personalization A.I. failing to create entire new objects, and simply recoloring others to fit it's needs. Some of these recolors can be seen in the actual videos as well.

Functionality Issues
Notably, most warps in the levels, such as the path to Princess Subterranea's Castle Grounds in Downtown Mushroom Kingdom, do not work. It is not entirely known why this occurs, though it could potentially due to issues when dumping the copy. Notably, the door that switches Mario to Luigi does not work, and Luigi is in a separate ROM.

Corrupted Floor 2B
In the ROM containing Floor 2B, Floor 2B's textures have become very corrupted and glitchy. This is potentially due to faulty dumping of the copy, which is attributed to several other oddities, or the Personalization A.I. destroying the level during the dumping process through unknown means.

Missing Trashbot
In the Downtown Mushroom Kingdom video, the Trashbot boss fight isn't shown, and the screen instead turns black. However, in the dumped copy, Trashbot appears to be missing for unknown reasons.

Missing Levels
Notably, in the ROM containing Cavern of the Unagi, Jolly Roger Bay is not replaced with Cavern of the Unagi, with the entrance to Cavern of the Unagi present despite the teleport failing to function, rendering the level inaccessible. It is also noted that the Eternal Fort appears to be in BlackJoystick's copy, though it does not make a full appearance in the ROMs, instead having the room before Star Road be present, as well as it's entrance in the 4th Floor. It is currently unknown why the Eternal Fort is missing, though it is potentially due to BlackJoystick removing it from the ROMs or the A.I. removing the Eternal Fort itself.

Changing Missions
In the tape showcasing Floor 2B, the first mission of Bob-omb Village is labeled Big Bob-omb's Invasion, and the second mission is seen, being Footrace with Koopa the Quick, with Big Bob-omb's Invasion being collected. However, in the Bob-omb Village tape, there is no visible second mission, and the first mission is labeled Child of Big Bob-omb, and it is now no longer collected.

Mission Names
In the ROMs, in the Eternal Fort room labeled as The Place, the first mission name is "What" and the second mission name is "-". Also, Star Road's only mission is labeled as "Epic Gamer Moment". The 4th Floor's first mission is labeled "Mario if he Real", and the second mission is Footrace with Koopa the Quick, likely left over from Bob-omb Battlefield. It is believed that the mission name oddity is due to BlackJoystick requiring a name for the missions when putting them into levels. Notably, the second Skyhigh Pipelands mission is named "House of the Pipe Maze", implying that this mission would have been in the video as it is unlike many other unused mission names.

Course Labels
In the Bob-omb Village tape, the course is labeled as course 1, despite the fact Bob-omb Battlefield is course 1. In the Paint the Painting video, Skyhigh Pipelands is labeled as course ?. In the ROM it appears in, it replaces Jolly Roger Bay, which is course 3, and the 3 number appears to have been replaced by the ?. It is unclear why this oddity occurs. Star Road's name is "You're Worthy, Epic" in it's ROM, potentially due to BlackJoystick needing to label it, and the Eternal Fort room is labeled as The Place.

Princess Subterranea's Basement
In the ROM with Princess Subterranea's Castle Grounds, the inside of the castle appears identical to Princess Peach's Castle, except for recolored toads. However, a door to the basement is removed, instead having a Toad that appears to have the default Toad dialogue. It is currently unknown what the basement contains, as there are not enough obtainable stars to access Bowser in the Dark World in the ROM to obtain the key to the door.

Warped Towers
When Star Road is entered in the ROM it is in, the area before Star Road has several towers around the area. However, upon close inspection, these towers appear warped and strange. It is currently unknown why they look this way.

Corrupted ROM
In the ROM containing Star Road, Big Boo's Woods and Unagi's Tunnel, a sign said the ROM had to be recreated due to it being broken. It is believed this is another result of BlackJoystick's faulty dumping of the copy. However, an alternate theory suggests this is a cover-up for the removal of the Eternal Fort from this ROM.

Bob-omb Battlefield Painting
In the ROMs, when a star is collected or the player dies in a level, they are sent out of the Bob-omb Battlefield painting no matter what painting was entered. It is unknown why this occurs.