Super Mario 64 Levels Ranked

[Greninja The Mario Karter]

In this thread, I will rank all twenty-four Super Mario 64 levels.
24th: Wing Mario Over the Rainbow
This is easily the worst level in the game because the Wing Cap is frustrating to control, and if you fall down, you have to climb up the entire caste just to try again. You have to do all of that for a measly Power Star.
23rd: Tick Tock Clock
This is the worst painting world because the clock is miserable to climb up despite being a nice concept, and falling is a death sentence if you are in the wrong position. The Stars are also insufferable here.
22nd: Rainbow Ride
This is a boring level because you spend most of the level waiting on platforms, and the theme is pretty bland, with textureless blocks and a few rainbows.
21st: Tower of the Wing Cap
This one suffers because of the Wing Cap's controls, and if you miss any Red Coin, you have to exit the level or die just to get another shot. At least you don't have to climb all the way back up the castle.
20th: Vanish Cap Under the Moat
This level is on the boring side because it doesn't really do a good job of showing us what the Vanish Cap can do.
19th: Dire Dire Docks
I dislike water levels, and this is the worst one in the game. The Stars aren't very interesting, and the level itself is tedious and boring.
18th: The Secret Aquarium
This level is just a huge room filled with water, and it's kind of boring.
17th: Wet-Dry World
This isn't a bad world, as the water changing mechanic is nice, but it's somewhat boring and has an uninteresting design.
16th: Shifting Sand Land
This world is very open, and going into the pyramid can be a blast, but the quicksand is extremely annoying, and it is aesthetically a boring world, even for Nintendo standards.
15th: Tall Tall Mountain
This is basically Tick Tock Clock, but less annoying and harder to fall off of. Then again, you're just climbing a mountain for each star.
14th: Snowman's Land
This level is pretty decent, though it's a bit empty to explore for its own good. If the level was smaller or had more things to do, it would be higher.
13th: Tiny Huge Island
The concept of switching between the two islands is cool, but only one star utilizes this mechanic, so this is where it stays.
12th: Jolly Roger Bay
This is a good example of how to do a water level right. The level is open to explore, and it's easy to recover health that you lose underwater.
11th: Hazy Maze Cave
While this level can be confusing to navigate, the level itself has plenty of locations to visit and is fitting for an underground level.
10th: Bowser in the Fire Sea
While all of the Bowser levels are good, this one is the least impressive.
9th: Cavern of the Metal Cap
This is the only cap course that is any good, since it demonstrates the abilities of the Metal Cap really well, and it isn't annoying or boring to complete.
8th: The Princess's Secret Slide
There isn't a lot to it, but this level is iconic, and is one of the parts of Super Mario 64 that everyone remembers.
7th: Lethal Lava Land
This is a really good level to explore, especially when risking shortcuts by performing the Long Jump.
6th: Big Boo's Haunt
While this house isn't scary, the rooms are fun to traverse, even with the Boos flying around. Also, it has an angry piano that wants to eat you alive.
5th: Bowser in the Dark World
Being the first Bowser level, it is a test of the player's skills up to this point, and the design, while linear, constantly challenges the player in a good way.
4th: Cool Cool Mountain
Despite not being the easiest course to get around in, heading down the mountain to find wherever you can go is a breeze. Also, the slide in the cavern is interesting.
3rd: Bob-omb Battlefield
This is one of the best opening stages of any 3D platformer. The stage is simple and has a lot of space for you to adjust to how the game controls.
2nd: Bowser in the Sky
This is the best of the Bowser stages. While it goes on for a while as the final challenge before you fight Bowser, it does its job very well.
1st: Whomp's Fortress
This level combines the best exploration, linearity, openness, and platforming in the game. All of the Stars are unique, and no space here is wasted.

 

[LeftyGreenMario]

This level is just a huge room filled with water, and it's kind of boring.

I like the idea of being trapped underwater, and you're put in a timer to get all red coins (and grab a few precious coins if you really need them) before you drown.

This is the worst painting world because the clock is miserable to climb up despite being a nice concept, and falling is a death sentence if you are in the wrong position. The Stars are also insufferable here.

Eh while I remember taking heavy damage from falls there but I don't think I've ever got ohko from fall damage there. It is pretty hard to gauge before you land because the camera freaks out. Either way, there's a heart at the bottom of the stage, but I agree, it is a pain to climb all the way back up, but it's not a very long climb up.

 

[Ray Trace]

lgm the 64 version has a much bigger pit than the ds version

 

[Alex95]

Tick-Tock Clock is my favorite, tbh. Yeah, it's an absolute pain to navigate with 64's clunky controls (and DS's just makes it even harder), but the idea of a platforming challenge going up an insanely large, moving clock is just very appealing to me.

 

[Flygon64]

I'd just put Tiny Huge Island as 24th just because of the 100 coin star
but in all seriousness

23rd: Tick Tock Clock
This is the worst painting world because the clock is miserable to climb up despite being a nice concept, and falling is a death sentence if you are in the wrong position. The Stars are also insufferable here.

tick tock clock is my jam, I like its whole gimmick of how you can adjust time depending on when you jump into it
The platforming in it was pretty fun

 

[PaperMario77]

I posted it already and i'll say it again.

Tick Tock Stock

Tick Tock Clock and Rainbow Ride are both gimmicky, but adding the sliding to the wall jump and fixing other stuff automatically makes them better.

 

[LeftyGreenMario]

tick tock clock is my jam, I like its whole gimmick of how you can adjust time depending on when you jump into it

oh dude, I completely forgot that gimmick. yeah, it was a fun gimmick.

and I don't remember ever dislike Tick Tock Clock. Rainbow Ride, on the other hand, is just a forgettable course overall. I'm not sure why I barely remember this one, probably because it's barely coherent.

 

[Flygon64]

oh dude, I completely forgot that gimmick. yeah, it was a fun gimmick.

and I don't remember ever dislike Tick Tock Clock. Rainbow Ride, on the other hand, is just a forgettable course overall. I'm not sure why I barely remember this one, probably because it's barely coherent.

Rainbow Ride was forgettable, I think I remember two stars I liked, that's it.

 

[zel]

i think my favorites while i was playing ended up being wet dry world, big boos haunt and hazy maze cave. but they all still had some Moments alright
on the contrary i didnt even bother with rainbow ride and wing mario over the rainbow, and i didnt like shifting sand land and the other wing cap course. i dont like how wing mario controls at alllll

 

[Flygon64]

The wing cap was a pain in stars based around it, Like the red coin star in the red switch level

 

[LeftyGreenMario]

The problem with Wing Mario is that Mario just loves to dip down before he flies again, like he's some stalling airplane. He'll slowly lose height this way, so you have pretty much one chance to get all those red coins in the spot light. But he controls like crap in the bathroom course too, the one that leads you to the moat if you misfire from the cannon.

It's really too bad that seen more use compared to the Red Star that gave us Flying Mario. Mehhhhhhh.