The Castle Maze is an anomalous area found within certain Copies of Super Mario 64. It is accessed by entering a hole in the side of the Castle.
Appearance[]
The Castle Maze is a labyrinth consisting of green and black versions of textures found both in and out of the castle. There also appears to be a blueish fog in the area, making it hard to locate any landmarks, as such making the player rely on mostly pure luck and memory to get around the level. Some players have attempted to draw maps of the stage to mark out areas they have likely explored, but with the fact that most of the towers are not possible to see, and next to no landmarks to locate, Maps don't seem to help that much.
Geography[]
Most of the stage consists of seemingly endless hallways, with no apparent rhyme or reason, and some just lead to dead ends, However, there are small brick towers scattered around the area, Many reports have stated what are contained in these towers, Some saying a Red coin is placed in the tower, others say a secret which has to be found via puzzle solving, and some say it contains a toad who will activate a beam that will point in the general direction of the next tower, until you reach the tower containing a star.
There are a few landmarks that can be spotted in the maze, although they're mostly only there as decoration, and serve no other purpose.
These landmarks can range from being:
- A fountain similar to the one in the Castle Courtyard
- A small brick pillar, with its top fallen off.
- A random painting from the castle that cant be entered
- A much larger tower, Typically being at the center of the maze, and where the Power Star can be located.
- A large spike that usually has the same texture as the ground.
Theorizing[]
Considering how the stage has a much different aesthetic in the castle involving a more black and green color scheme, Some have speculated that this stage isn't even meant to be related to Peach's Castle, and instead is some sort of level, Likely related to Bowser, or some other unknown character.
Also taking into account that the level is a maze, It is possible it was designed with the cut Mini-Map feature in mind.