Super Mario 64 – Mario Stretching Minigame Before Start Screen Explained

super-mario-64

In Mario 64, before the start button screen shows, you have some kind of mini-game where you could strech marios face in many ways.

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Did that mini game do anything? Had any effect on the main game? Or was it just for show/fun?

I think I've heard somewhere that some stretch patterns would be cheatcodes, but couldn't find confirmation anywhere.

Best Answer

As Super Mario 64 was Nintendo's first title for the Nintendo 64, an interactive Mario face served to familiarize the player to the Nintendo 64 controller without worrying about actual gameplay.

Source.

This is the only thing I could find in a quick search. It seems unlikely to be a method for entering cheat codes as there are countless ways and degrees to stretch Mario's face, so there doesn't seem to be a way to put in a precise pre-defined stretch combination.