This sorta insane Mario 64 guide book oddity is available online now

I love the nonchalant Yoshi on the top of the castle

There’s nothing like a good comprehensive guide book to get you in the mood to play a game. Whether you’re like me and use them on your second clear, or need help for your first, well-done guides with beautiful art, screenshots, and extras are a perfect “one-stop shop” out-of-game vice. And this Mario 64 guide book definitely hits the spot, even decades later.

Scanned by Comfort Food Video Games and added to archive.org in all its glory, the “Super Mario 64 Complete Clear Guide Book” is now available. While the guide might be “infamous,” I love pretty much everything about it. The cross-sections of stages remind me of those rad Stephen Biesty books, the models are utterly adorable, especially the enemies (which are well done), and there’s even some humor injected in.

It’s also a tome in a sense to all things Mario 64. Enemies have bios (even the minuscule ones), there’s a full control guide, and it shows you where stars are located. As one user points out, it’s possibly even the origin of the “BLJ,” otherwise known as the “backwards long jump.”

The ability to just flip through a game world and see every level is still a wild disconnect for me. When you’re playing a game like Super Mario 64 it feels like it could go on forever, until it doesn’t. But clocking in at 152 pages, this high-effort guide sure does add to the game’s mystique that I felt as a child, and still feel to an extent. Everyone involved in this guide deserves a golf clap all these years later.

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