Mario's Adventure

Mario's Adventure is an unreleased video game, apparently built off of Super Mario 64, for the cancelled Special 64 console, theorized to be the similarly cancelled Super Mario 64 2. However, due to said game being intended for the Nintendo 64DD, this theory has been debated. The game was discovered recently when a cartridge was found in a landfill in a currently unknown location, though several screenshots have been sent of the levels. The anonymous reporter of the cartridge has stated that the game does not have the Personalization A.I. However, the game was speculated to exist beforehand due to a tech demo for the movement being found alongside a Special 64.

The story of the game supposedly has Mario getting a letter that tells him that strange glowing purple Power Stars known as Dark Stars have begun to rain from the sky and corrupt people and animals, which inconveniently happened while Bowser was attempting to kidnap Princess Peach again. So Mario goes on a quest to regain the Power Stars, get rid of the Dark Stars and defeat Bowser once again.

Gameplay
The gameplay of Mario's Adventure is very similar to Super Mario 64, with several levels with Power Stars to collect, with the addition of a new type of Power Star called a Dark Star that is obtained through the level's boss fight. There are also several additional moves added to Mario's Adventure, such as the spin jump seen in Super Mario World.

Moves
The movement of Mario in the game remains largely the same as Super Mario 64, though some new moves have been added. The most well documented one is the Spin Jump seen in Super Mario World, the last main Super Mario Bros. game released before Super Mario 64, triggered by jumping and continuously rotating the joystick in a circular motion. While most other moves remain undocumented, two other new moves were mentioned: A "spring jump" by ground pounding, holding A, and then releasing A to be sent skyrocketing into the air, and an unused "quadruple jump" referenced in the coding of the game. These moves were also seen in the tech demo that first lead to the speculation of Mario's Adventure's existence, though it is not known whether or not the unused quadruple jump code is present in the tech demo as the code has not been analyzed.

Dark Stars
One Dark Star is found in each level of Mario's Adventure, and is held by a boss, which is a normal character or creature that has been corrupted by the Dark Star's powers. Upon defeating the boss, the Dark Star will be dropped, and can be purified into a regular Power Star by punching it, sending a purple beam, representing the Dark Star's energy, into the sky and out of the Dark Star. Some have speculated that the Dark Stars are related to Power Ztars or Dark Star seen in Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story due to their similar concept as anti-Power Stars and shared name respectively.

Magic Barriers
Magic Barriers are purple walls blocking off some areas in the hub world or inside of levels that can be removed by obtaining a sufficient amount of Power Stars if it is found in the hub world or if the level's Dark Star is acquired if it is inside of a level. When inside of a level, Magic Barriers usually block off areas leading to more Power Stars inside of the level.

Power-Ups
Despite not being originally elaborated on, some power-ups in Mario's Adventure have been documented. These include the 3 caps from the original Super Mario 64, though they are never used, meaning they are likely a leftover from the original game, as well as a pair of special gloves used to break ice in the Glacial Grotto level. There is also a reference to a Frog Cap in Mario's Adventure's code, though it is never used.

Levels
There are 5 main levels and 3 smaller areas that are found in Mario's Adventure, though more potentially would have been added in at a later date. Each main level has around 5 Power Stars, and a Dark Star that can be turned into a 6th Power Star after defeating a boss holding the Dark Star. The amount of information on a level varies, potentially implying how unfinished some levels or areas are.

Mario's House
Mario's House is the beginning area of Mario's Adventure, and also the hub world of the game. It is described as a large grassy forest that contains a house very similar to the one seen in Paper Mario that cannot be entered, and several pathways with Warp Pipes leading to the other levels and areas in the game. Each pathway slowly changes and adapts depending on the level's theme, such as the path to Glacial Grotto having snow near the entrance to the level. A majority of the levels and areas are blocked off with Magic Barriers.

Flower Fields
Not to be confused with the anomalous Flower Fields level found in Super Mario 64.

Flower Fields is the first main level of Mario's Adventure, and appears to be one of the more unfinished levels. It is described as a large, grassy plane with Goombas and Bob-ombs. Despite no Power Stars being found, the level's Dark Star is referenced to be obtained by defeating an "Evil Flower" in the code of Mario's Adventure.

Glacial Grotto
Glacial Grotto is the second main level of Mario's Adventure, and is an underground cavern made out of ice, with Spindrifts, Scuttlebugs, and a blue Spindel, notably reported as an anomalous Enemy Discoloring in Super Mario 64. Only 2 Power Stars and the level's Dark Star have been documented. One Power Star is obtained by getting past the blue Spindel, and the other is obtained by jumping on top of icy pillars to the top area of the level. The Dark Star is obtained by fighting an ice sculpture of Bowser, notably seen in the Mizzter Blizzard boss fight in Paper Mario: Sticker Star.

Daring Desert
Daring Desert is the third main level of Mario's Adventure, and, as the name suggests, is a desert level, notably said to use the unused Cactus object from Super Mario 64. The only enemies said to be in this level are Pokeys, and unique tumbleweed enemies that hurt the player on contact known as Tumblers. No descriptions of Power Stars or a Dark Star have been attached to this level.

Flaming Factory
This level appears to be of a factory with several machinery using fire. The enemies found in this level are Chuckyas, Bob-ombs, Heave-Hos, and unique Mechakoopas functioning exactly the same as they were seen in Super Mario World. A Power Star in this level can supposedly be accessed by deactivating the level's machinery, and no Dark Star has been mentioned. This level has been theorized to be loosely based off of the unused Motos Factory level from Super Mario 64.

The Black Tower
The Black Tower is the final main level of Mario's Adventure, taking place in a large, black tower. Entering the tower itself crashes the game, though analyzing the code implies that there would have been rematches against all of the previous bosses, and then a fight with a corrupted Bowser with a "Grand Dark Star," Speculated by some to be a corrupted Eternal Star.

Toad's Shop
Toad's Shop is the first smaller area found in Mario's Adventure, and contains a Toad who sells Mario items such as Power Stars to the player in exchange for coins collected throughout the game. There is also a platforming segment that leads to a smaller warehouse area of the shop, where an extra Power Star resides. Toad's Shop reportedly shares the theme with the shops found in Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Warp Pipe Junction
The Warp Pipe Junction is the second smaller area found in Mario's Adventure, rarely accessed when jumping into a Warp Pipe to access a level. It appears as an underground cave with several intersecting Warp Pipes, with a puzzle segment to repair the pipes to spawn a Power Star. Some have compared this level's pipe them to the anomalous Skyhigh Pipelands level in Super Mario 64, though due to the level potentially being created through Dynamic Level Arrangement, this theory is unconfirmed.

The Jail
The Jail is an unused, third smaller area found in the code of Mario's Adventure. It takes the appearance of a basic jail cell that cannot be escaped, with an outside hallway leading to nowhere. There are no references to it in the game's code. Some have speculated this would have been an anti-piracy measure, similarly to the unused Anti-Piracy Screen of Super Mario 64.

Story
The game's story begins with Mario having a letter delivered to them from an unnamed messenger, explaining that strange, purple Power Stars named Dark Stars have begun to appear throughout the land, corrupting several characters. Bowser also happened to get their hands on some while kidnapping Princess Peach, releasing several Power Stars out into the world in the process, causing Mario to jump into action to stop the Dark Stars, obtain the lost Power Stars, and rescue Princess Peach from Bowser.

In the final level, the Black Tower, Bowser, using a "Grand Dark Star" made up of the energy of the Dark Stars released by Mario on his adventure would supposedly be fought, though this was not added to the game. Upon defeating him, the Grand Dark Star would be sent skyrocketing into the air with Bowser holding on before it explodes in the air, sending Power Stars flying throughout the world as the Black Tower collapses, with Mario presumably escaping the area. The fact that Power Stars would be scattered implies that more Power Stars would appear throughout the levels, though this does not occur in the game due to the Black Tower crashing upon entry.

Discovery
Mario's Adventure was technically first discovered when a Special 64 was sold on eBay alongside a peripheral and 2 tech demos, one being known as the "Mario's Adventure Physics Engine," consisting of a grassy plane with trees recycled from Super Mario 64 with a playable Mario that functions exactly like the Mario in Mario's Adventure. The name appeared to imply the existence of Mario's Adventure, though it was not discovered until an anonymous user reportedly found a Mario's Adventure cartridge in a landfill near their home, who then documented all the current knowledge of Mario's Adventure after closely inspecting the game.

Theorizing
Mario's Adventure appears to have been unfinished due to the cancellation of the Special 64, which is also a mystery, as no documentation of the Special 64 exists that would hint at it's cancellation. Mario's Adventure also appears to use the same engine as Super Mario 64 and recycle several unused assets from Super Mario 64, leading some to believe that Mario's Adventure was meant to be an expansion of Super Mario 64 that reuses these unused assets.

The theory that Mario's Adventure was meant to be Super Mario 64 2 has been heavily debated, as Luigi does not make an appearance, who would have played a major role in Super Mario 64 2, and also the fact the Super Mario 64 2 was meant to be for the Nintendo 64 Disk Drive instead of the Special 64. Some have argued that Luigi would have been added in at a later date, and that Mario's Adventure would have been ported to the Disk Drive after development on the Special 64.

Super Mario 64 Manifestations
Several assets from Mario's Adventure have been reported to appear in Super Mario 64, implying that they were unused content from Super Mario 64 and recycled into Mario's Adventure, such as Toad's Shop appearing somewhere in Princess Peach's Castle, Dark Stars appearing as an instance of Star Discoloring, or similar levels manifesting in Super Mario 64. These reports have been debated, with some claiming they are simply coincidences created through other anomalies such as Dynamic Level Arrangement.