Seasonal Sanctuary

Seasonal Sanctuary is a supposed course found in some personalized copies of Super Mario 64. The level is usually described as a forest or meadow with a design corresponding to a certain season. The level consistently has the unique property of allowing the player to change the level's season, either through activating a secret warp to the other versions of the level or via the use of the Internal Clock anomaly. The exact method for accessing Seasonal Sanctuary is inconsistent, though it consistently appears early in the game if the Internal Clock is present.

Description
Seasonal Sanctuary's appearance is not entirely remarkable at first, simply being a forest, meadow or other similar location taking place during a certain season. This season can either be randomized or the current season where the player is located, depending on whether or not the Internal Clock is present. Enemies appear to be inconsistent, and dependent on what season it is, with several unconfirmed unique enemies being reported as well. However, some of the most common enemies appear to be Goombas, Koopas, Fly Guys, Piranha Plants and Whomps.

If the season is not decided by the Internal Clock, several methods can be used to change the level's season, usually through a hidden warp, activating a switch, or some other method. Changing seasons can be either simply for decoration and changing the scenery, or have season-specific stars, with the latter being more common. The main level design changes with each season are usually simple recolors of the level, potentially due to limitations of the A.I., though some unique events can occur such as a lake being frozen over if one is present during winter, several flowers of various sizes during spring, or floating leaf platforms during fall.

Stars
Several stars have been reported to appear in Seasonal Sanctuary, and all appear to be season-specific except for an 8 red coins star and 5 secrets star if they are present. If a lake is present, several have reported a star at the bottom requiring the Metal Cap to access in any season except for winter as it would be frozen over, except for instances when the players have reported to be able to break the ice with varying methods. Other stars include reaching a star in the sky using leaf platforms in fall or large flowers if they exist in spring, or simple stars that only appear in certain seasons without use of any level changes, such as climbing a tree to the star in summer.

Theorizing
It is believed that Seasonal Sanctuary was created to test the Internal Clock's season-changing mechanics, due to the level's connection to seasons and common usage of the Internal Clock in order to change seasons. This may also explain why it reportedly appears earlier in the game, due to the length between seasons and the game potentially being much larger when this level was created. In instances where Seasonal Sanctuary appears without the Internal Clock and uses special warps, it is likely due to the Personalization A.I. having to recreate the level's mechanic through other means.