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Tiny-Huge Island is an island surrounded by cliffs and an ocean in Super Mario 64 and its remake Super Mario 64 DS. It is the thirteenth main stage of both the games and is located on the second floor of the castle. This level has many Coins, with 192 total, many of which come from ground-pounding on the Big Goombas for one Blue Coin each.

Strategically placed around the island are special Warp Pipes called Shrinker Pipes that can alter the size on the entire level, a feature reminiscent to Level 6 of Giant Land in Super Mario Bros. 3, where there are Magic Doors that change the enemies' sizes. The main creatures in the level are Piranha Plants that shoot fire, Koopas, Lakitus, Koopa the Quick, Boss Bass, and Goombas. All can change in size and be replaced. When in the huge version of the island, two Boss Bass are in the water, Goombas and Piranha Plants are huge, Koopa the Quick is present, and a cannon is available. There is a cave with eight Red Coins, a windy valley known as Windswept Valley where only Mario can race Koopa the Quick once again. Depending on the level's current size, Mario can change the level to the opposite size, big or small when he goes down a Warp Pipe. There is even a giant portrait in plain sight when the door to the stage is entered, or a small portrait to the left. The corresponding painting sizes affect the level's size. The size even affects most of the enemies. There is also a Bubba in the area which has the ability to swallow Mario to make him lose a life. If Mario smashes the top of the mountain when the island is small, he can access Wiggler (the boss of this level) when the island turns big. Some of the entrances can only be accessed when the stage is big.

Tiny-Huge Island is similar to several other stages in the Mario series. A unique feature of this level is the option to choose how the level first appears. It is also unique in that it can be entered via two paintings, one small and one large, located to the left and right, respectively, of a central painting, which Mario cannot enter. The entrance room employs forced perspective, which gives the illusion that all three paintings are the same size. Entering the small painting causes the island to begin "tiny" (Mario thus beginning significantly larger than everything else in the level). Entering the large painting causes the island to begin "huge" (Mario thus being extremely small compared to other objects and enemies throughout the level). The Supermassive Galaxy in Super Mario Galaxy 2, which was released several years after Super Mario 64, is similar to Tiny-Huge Island because everything is sized the same was as in Super Mario Bros. 3's world.

Levels[]

Star 1: Pluck the Piranha Flower[]

To get this Star, Mario must enter the small painting, arriving in the "tiny" island. There are two islands in line with the island where Mario sets out his adventure in the level. Mario must long-jump or swim to the first island then jump/swim again to the next island. Mario must then jump through the pipe, to make the island huge. In the spot, there will be many big Piranha Flowers in place of ordinary Fire Piranha Plants on the island now. To get the Power Star, Mario must dispose of them all, most easily by punching them. In the DS version, it is also possible to use the Super Mushroom to deal with the Piranha Flowers. This does not work on the "huge" side because the islands are too far away to long-jump to and too tall to reach by swimming.

Star 2: The Tip Top of the Huge Island[]

For the next Star, Mario must again enter the small painting. Then he should get up to the third island, but this time, Mario must go to a small platform just next to the small island and press the Switch that is on it, revealing a bridge which Mario must walk over to where the bridge turns, then get off onto a platform. He must jump up to the next platform, avoiding the Big Steelies before jumping through the pipe, making him small. Mario should then make it up to the top of the Island from there, where he will find a ! Block which contains the Star.

Star 3: Rematch with Koopa the Quick[]

For this Star, Mario must once again enter the small painting and get to the third island. He needs to enter the green pipe to make the island large. Next, he should pass through the Windswept Valley bridge. Up on the next platform, Mario will find Koopa the Quick. Mario must then race him to Windswept Valley where a flag is seen. If Mario wins, he will be awarded the Star.

Mario may also choose to enter the large painting and find Koopa the Quick from there. If he does this, he should go through the hole after passing the Big Goombas, swim across the lake and reach the other side where the cannon is, then long-jump across to the other island and let the wind carry him to the area with the Yellow ! Block. Then he should walk on the narrow wooden bridge, then fight the wind to cross the wider one. Then, he should climb the island avoiding the Big Steelies. Then, he should then walk down the path, as if he exited the Warp Pipe from the tiny island, and then he will be able to find Koopa the Quick. Like the previous match in the DS version, he will only race Mario. Other characters must grab a Mario Cap in order to race him.

Star 4 (N64 only): Five Itty Bitty Secrets[]

For this Star, the player must again be on the small island. The mission involves finding five openings all around the tiny version of the island. The openings are found at the following locations. As with all the Stars that require secrets to be activated, the order in which they are activated in is immaterial.

  • At the top of the island, in the entrance to Wiggler's cave;
  • At the other side of the island, in the hole that Mario uses when starting on the huge island;
  • At the cannon;
  • At a small alcove (the entrance to the Red-Coins cave) near the sand area;
  • At the stone ground hole (in the huge isle, Big Steelies fall thence).

After all the five holes have been found, the Star appears on a small floating island near the start. To access it, the player must hit the ! Switch behind the pipe near the entrance to the course, and must follow the bridge it creates to the island. In Super Mario 64 DS, this mission is replaced with the following mission.

Star 4 (DS only): Klepto the Condor[]

This Star appears in Super Mario 64 DS, replacing Five Itty Bitty Secrets. In this Star, the player will find a Klepto flying around the stage. Like In the Talons of the Big Bird in Shifting Sand Land, in order to collect the Power Star, the player must track the Klepto down. When the player gets close enough, he should then hit the bird and collect the dropped Star. The Star will then fly over to where the Star for Five Itty Bitty Secrets was.

Star 5: Wiggler's Red Coins[]

This time, Mario must go through the large painting. He must go through the opening at the start and swim across the lake, going into the cannon to shoot himself on the platform with the tree and wooden bridge connected to it. Mario must then walk on this narrow bridge. At the end of the bridge, there is an opening into a cave. When Mario is inside, he must jump on the various platforms and collect the eight Red Coins. The Star will then appear on the Star Marker at the entrance to the cave. In the DS version, the bridge leading to the cave is a lot wider than it was in the original version.

Star 6: Make Wiggler Squirm[]

For this Star, Mario must go through the small painting. He must get to the top of the island, where he will find a pool. Mario must ground pound the pool, making the water flood through a small opening. Mario must then make his way back the way he came until he gets to a pipe. He must then jump through the pipe into Huge Island and then get back to the top of the island again and jump through the opening. Mario will find himself in Wiggler's Cave, where a Wiggler will say that it is really angry because Mario flooded its house. Mario must then Stomp it three times on the head to make it give up the Star. If one is to look through the grate in the floor using the first person camera-mode, a miniature of the Wiggler can be seen. The player can also see this small Wiggler in "Wiggler's 8 Red Coins" if one returns to that level after defeating Wiggler. This does not happen in the DS version. Also, Wiggler turns red after taking damage twice (as shown in the screenshot).

Star 7 (DS): Switch Star on the Island[]

In Wiggler's Cave, the player must hit the Switch Star and find a way over to the Star before it disappears. Mario or Luigi are best suited for getting this Star. The best route is either a jump to the next ledge followed by a long-jump (this is best suited for Mario) or instead of a long-jump, a backflip (Luigi only).

Enemies[]

Statistics from Super Mario 64[]

  • Total Number of Coins: 192 (158 in the Huge island, 34 in the Tiny island)
  • Caps Found: (none)
  • Spinning Heart: (none)
  • Cannons: 1
  • 1-Up Mushrooms (10):
    • Homing Mushrooms : #1 In the only tree near the entrance to the red coins cave in the Huge Island.
    • Static Mushrooms : #2 In the Huge Island, underwater by Boss Bass right near the start point. #3 In the Red Coins cave, on a pillar.
    • Triggered Mushrooms : #4 Triggered by collecting the two Coins on the beach in the Huge Island.
    • Box Mushrooms : #5 In the Tiny Island, To the left of the starting point on the platform by a Kuromame. #6 The corresponding location of #5 on the Huge Island. #7 In the Huge Island, on a ledge by the Windswept Valley.
    • Butterfly Mushrooms : #8 Obtained from one of the butterflies near the only tree in the Huge Island. #9 Obtained from one of the butterflies in the fenced area near where Koopa the Quick starts. #10 In the Tiny Island, from one of the butterflies near the starting point.
  • Warps : From the small floating island while in the Tiny Island, the player can warp to near the Fire Piranha Plant and the ! Switch. This warp is one-way only.

Two of the Coins in the tiny island are underground near the box that releases Big Steelies, forming a Coin slope that disappears into the narrower slope that forms the ground.[1] The first one's hitbox is a little above the ground, allowing Mario to collect it just by passing above it. The second one was thought to be impossible to get for a long time. However, it was recently discovered that Mario can retrieve the Coin by diving into the summit of the "tiny" island, where he would find himself swimming, and then jumping out of the "water" and diving towards the Coin.[2]

On the huge island, near the box that releases Big Steelies, there is an invisible object used to spawn a line of five Coins, which is used in various other places in the game. However, because of how it is placed under the ground, one of the Coins ends up spawning in an illegal location. As such, it is immediately despawned. Though this Coin does exist in the course, it is completely impossible to obtain.[3]

Trivia[]

  • On the island in the center of the lake when on Huge Island is a log post, along with a sign that reads "I take no responsibility whatsoever for those who get dizzy and pass out from running around this post" (or "It's not our problem if you run around this spike and get dizzy" in the DS remake.) No Coins will emerge from running around the log, though they will emerge if the player has come out from the cave.

References[]

  1. "Super Mario 64." The Cutting Room Floor. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
  2. "SM64 - Collecting the Impossible Coin" - pannenkoek2012. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
  3. "A New Impossible Coin" - pannenkoek2012. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
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