Super Mario 128

Mario has been a gaming icon for decades and has been in more games than can be counted. Although no year in recent memory has gone past without some type of Mario game being released, series fans will remember the nearly decade long drought of original Mario platformers.

From 1997-2005, there was only one new Mario platformer released: Super Mario Sunshine. During the second part of this drought (after Sunshine's release), the mysterious Super Mario 128 was the main focus of the fanbase.

No concrete information was given on the game and, eventually, series creator Shigeru Miyamoto claimed it had simply been a series of test concepts that were never intended to be an actual game.

The mystery faded from memory as the Mario drought finally ended and most people forgot about the game that had once been the center of every Mario fan's imagination.

The Mario drought corresponded with a bad era for Nintendo in terms of console sales. The Nintendo 64 and GameCube did not have the financial success of the earlier Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Nintendo, or the later Wii.

For a very proud company that relied solely on video games to make money, this was quite upsetting for the higher ranking employees that were attached to the company and felt its success or failure reflected on them personally.

Nintendo started working on a sequel to the 1996 Super Mario 64 shortly after the game was released, but during the late 90s it became clear that Nintendo was not winning the console war. The Super Mario 64 sequel was restarted from scratch, since the company believed that it was not a substantial enough improvement over the original to turn the tides of the market battle.

Seeing the generally more realistic and violent games on Sony's Playstation, the market leader, Nintendo considered making a Mario that was closer in tone to what the public seemed to want. There was quite a bit of internal ocnflict over how far to go with this new direction and the new mario was clearly not going to be ready until Nintendo's next console, the GameCube.

The only hint of this that was released to the public was a comment by Miyamoto that he thought Mario and Luigi should act "more like grown ups" in their games for the (then soon to be released) GameCube.

The new Mario project was ultimately split into two games: Luigi's Mansion, which reflected the darker tone that many felt the series should turn to (although it was still toned down quite a bit compared to what some Nintendo executives and developers wanted), and Super Mario Sunshine, which went in the completely opposite direction.

Both were released within a year of the GameCube and Nintendo felt confident that their new system and Mario games would return them to their former glory as market leader.

As those familiar with gaming history know, they didn't. The GameCube did even worse in market share than the Ninendo 64 and the mass market's taste shifted even more toward violent, realistic games.

During this period, the somber mood at Nintendo intensified and the darker Mario project was revived, this time code named "Super Mario 128." It isn't clear exactly what happened at Nintendo during this period. As we know, nothing called Super Mario 128 was ever released or publically shown.

The source that revealed the internal strife at Nintendo during the later N64 era refused to discuss what was happening during the time of the GameCube's failure, but released a prototype of Super Mario 128 online that can be played on the Wii homebrew channel.

The following is a recollection of my time playing it.

The game was clearly an early beta; the title screen was nothing but white text saying "Super Mario 128" against a black background. There was no options menu or save file selection, either. After the title screen, the game started. Bowser's laugh from Super Mario 64 looped in the background while a plain text box displayed this dialogue:

Mario,
I have taken Princess Peach and she will not live to see the sun rise tomorrow unless you take her place. You know what to do and where to go. Do not try to stop me unless you want to hasten her death.

The game certainly was going for a darker tone. After I made the text box go away, I was thrust right into gameplay. The first thing I noticed was Mario's character model. His body was as detailed as in Super Mario Galaxy (although a little more realistically proportioned), but his head was taken from his SM64 character model. Obviously his design wasn't finished yet.

The setting was a sky level. There were some simple platforms floating in the air. The rest of the area was just blue sky with several clouds scrolling in the background. The clouds seemed more realistic than the usual cartoony puffs in Mario games. They were quite graphically impressive.

There was no music or full voice samples from Mario, but there were sound effect/grunts when he jumped. The jumping was more subdued than in other Mario games. Mario didn't jump as high as he usually did and had little control over his movement in the air. The different types of jumps in every 3D Mario weren't present.

I played through the level. There was nothing especially notable about the gameplay - enemies didn't seem to have been added yet. I just jumped from platform to platform and it wasn't very challenging.

As I went through the level, I noticed the graphics gradually changing. The sky became more and more cloudy until it was entirely composed of clouds, and the cloud background gradually turned to a dark gray.

After this, it started to rain. I reached a small platform with a Toad on it. It looked like the Super Mario Galaxy model. When I landed on his platform, dialogue appeared.

We don't want you any more, Mario. You don't belong here. Just give Bowser what he wants. Die.

After the text box went away, I no longer had control of Mario. Mario just stood there for a while, then turned around and walked off the platform. His body seemed to go limp as he fell.

Eventually, it was revealed that there was a realistic, modern city under the sky. The buildings looked neglected, but there were people on the street.

Mario hit the ground with a realistic-sounding thud, but he didn't explode or show any visible wounds. He just lay there. The people in the city just kept walking by, ignoring Mario, although I thought I saw a few glance at him with cold, somewhat angry expressions.

This went on for a few minutes and eventually, people stopped appearing. Mario got up - I was back in control - but he couldn't jump at all and had a reduced walking speed.

The large buildings of the city didn't appear to be interactive, so I just kept walking down the street for a while. Eventually, I found a small house that seemed out of place among the larger buildings.

When I approached the door, Mario opened it. The screen went white and some black text appeared.

House of Torn Memories

This seemed to be the level title. When I pressed a button, the screen faded back to Mario. He was inside the house from before. Everything seemed bigger than it should. It wasn't gigantic, but scaled as if Mario was a very small child.

The house was filled with normal object covered in dust and signs of neglect. There were no people on the ground floor, just things like broken lamps and rotting food. I found a door that opened to a set of stairs going down, leading to a basement.

In the basement, I found a dilapidated couch and a broken TV. However, what really caught my attention was what was on the couch: two skeletons that appeared to be children, judging by their size. Due to the scale of the house, they were still larger than Mario.

I was starting to get really disturbed by now. How had a Mario game containing this been programmed to this extent?

I went up to the skeletons and tried pressing buttons to interact with them or the TV, but nothing seemed to happen. I was about to turn around and look elsewhere when i was nearly scared to death by a deafeningly loud crash coming from the game.

What appeared to be Bowser seemed to have broken through the floor from below and landed in front of Mario. I say "appeared to be" because this was nothing like the way Bowser is usually rendered.

The reptilian monster in the game had Bowser's basic brownish-yellow and green color pattern, but looked far more threatening than any Bowser model I had seem before.

It was not proportioned like the Bowser I knew. Its arms and legs were far longer in relation to its body and ended in razor-sharp claws. The green shell didn't look like it had spikes glued on; they were more jagged and organic looking with the same dark green color the rest of the shell had.

The face had small but intense pur black eyes and a mouth full of jagged teeth that took up far more of the face than it should have. Mario was cowering in fear from this thing. A dialogue box appeared.

You've kept me waiting long enough, Mario. I will taste flesh soon. Will you finally surrender, or does Peach have to die?

I still didn't have control. Mario just stood there, shivering for several seconds before nodding his head. Bowser impaled Mario with his claws. There was no blood, but it was clear from the animation and sound effects that the sharp digits of Bowser's hands had gone through Mario's body.

In one swift motion, Bowser dragged Mario up to his face and bit his head off. Again, there was no blood or graphic details left behind on Mario's neck - just Mario's character model being destroyed.

The screen faded to black. In white text, another level name appeared.

Mario's Eternal Home

Mario's character model was whole again when the level started. It was the only thing on the screen besides the black background. It was floating, as if in space. I could somewhat control it, but it felt more like I was deciding the general direction in which Mario would tumble than fully controlling him.

As I drifted towards no apparent destination, voices faded in. They were echoing, deep voices telling Mario that he was worthless...that the world no longer had any use for him and everyone would be better off if he was dead.

High pitched crying was layered onto the voices after a bit. It sounded like it was supposed to be Mario's cries. This really disturbed me and I found myself fighting back tears. For reasons I couldn't understand, this was effecting me on an emotional level.

The voices and aimless wandering went on for several minutes until I spotted a light grey speck in the distance. I moved towards it. It took a very long time to reach, and grew closer at a much slower rate than it should have.

When I was close enough to make it out, I saw that it was a tombstone. It was a very plain one with cracks in several places. When I got right next to the tombstone, I could see writing on it.

I turned off the system right after reading it. I'm not going to play the beta or hack or whatever this was again.There was a single word written on the tombstone.

Innocence

(This story is credited to a person called KI Simpson.)

Modified

Most of the stories you read about haunted video games involve someone getting the game from a yard sale or from eBay. However, this is something I brought upon myself.

I love and collect Nintendo 64 games. I usually get them in boxes with other games I bought online and then takes the ones I want to keep and put them in my collection. The ones I don't put in, I mod. I've gotten kind of good at it, so I sold a few to some friends of mine.

About a month of time, one friend wanted me to hack a copy of Ocarina of Time for him. He told me he wanted it for a creepypasta he was writing. Personally, I like some of those sotries, but I didn't understand why he wanted the game for it.

I asked him why he couldn't just do the story without a game. He said he wanted to do a video of him playing it to make the story more "real." I just kind of laughed at the idea. At least I was going to get paid for it.

The story he sent me was nothing special. He gets a copy of Ocarina of Time from eBay. He plays it and odd things happen - pallate swaps, strange sounds, backwards music, bleeding eyes, jumbled text, and other cliches found in these stories.

As you know, modding can take a while. I finally finished two days ago and sat down to test it. I had everything set up to record my playthrough. Why? Because I wanted to see how it looked after I finished testing it.

I turned it on and everything was working fine. The game started with some static, but it was supposed to do that. Like I wanted it to, the game started up a file instantly. Link was standing in the middle of Hyrule Field at night.

Link's tunic and eyes were black. There was some low moaning and some thunder sound effects. The game played just like I wanted it to; it made me feel proud of my work. That's when things started to get weird.

I was walking through Kakariko Village when there was a high-pitched scream, followed by a strange animation from Link. He quickly looked from side to side, like he was in some kind of panic, and drew his sword. This freaked me out. I didn't program that animation, nor was the sound effect anything I had put in.

I sat down the controller and went over to my computer. I didn't remember programming any new animations and wanted to see what the problem was. I looked through my programs for a specific one.

Not that long ago, I got a program named Lace. It allows me to make custom animations for Link. According to the information on it, it was last used a few days earlier. Maybe I did use it, but forgot about it. But...what about the scream? I didn't have anything like it in any of my sound files.

Suddenly, there were noises coming from the game. I went back and Link was surrounded by ten Cuccos in a circle. They were just sitting there, looking at Link. I had made their eyes red to make them look creepy, and it sure did work.

As soon as I moved the analog stick, they all swarmed him and he was dead in an instant. If that wasn't enough, the Running Man (the guy you sell the Bunny Hood to) ran up. A dialogue box popped up for him.

"YOU POOR THING. IF ONLY YOU HAD MINDED YOUR OWN BUSINESS. YOU WILL LEARN. THEY ALL LEARN."

That's when the game froze. I didn't program any of that stuff. In a panic, I turned off the game and went to my computer. I looked at the video to confirm what just happened. None of what I had seen was on the video. The scream, panicked Link, the Cuccos, the Running Man...none of it was there.

It was just Link standing there for a while befor ethe game froze. I went through the game's programming and played it a few times again. I could never get that same thing to happen.I told my friend about it, but he thought I was just messing with him. I'm glad I no longer have that cursed thing.

I even got paid for it.

Black Wind

I don't think a lot of people particularly awaited the release of Wind Waker, seeming as it had cartoon-like graphics. I did. I didn't care about the graphics, if it was a Zelda game, I was going to get it. I wasn't able to buy Wind Waker as soon as it came out due to monetary issues. I would walk by the game in stores over and over and drool on myself for it.

I was driving home from work at Walmart, and I noticed a few yard sales, I didn't stop at any of them, just gawked at them as I drove by, like most people do. I saw the dark and creepy house that I drove by twice daily. I never liked that house. It had spray-painted black windows, and the outside paneling was a faded white color. The house was an old two-story house, one of those that if it was refurbished, it could have been a sight to see.

There was only one table in the front lawn, with only one item on it, and a sign that hung on the table said: "Take what you want". I don't know why I pulled over and walked up to the table for, but once I set my eyes on the item, I had happy butterflies in my stomach. There, on that table, was a retangular item with ducktape on it, and it said: Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker in black sharpie across the tape. I ran to my car and pulled out of the drive way and continued my drive home. I probably should have known better than to take that game.

I got home, parked in a hurry, and ran inside, turning on my TV, and my Gamecube. I struggled with getting the tape off the game case, but once I did, I could behold the glory of the casing, just like those at Walmart I'd seen countless times. I opened the case, and it surprised me that the disk was only a black disk, no title, nothing on it. There was a memory card in the card holder, too. I slid the game and memory card into my Gamecube, and the title screen came up.

You could see immediatly this was not the correct Wind Waker opening, even though I never played it before. The sky was pitch black with nothing dotting the black wall. When the animation went down you could see the sea was a sickening red color, just like blood. Where it supposed to say 'Wind Waker' it said 'Black Wind'

Needless-to-say, I hit start as fast as humanly possible, and there was one other save file called "Evra". I erased it so that I could have the File 1 save slot, and I started my adventure naming Link Usagi. I usually kept Link's name, but this time I didn't. The little beginning story popped up, and I read it with excitement, temporarily forgetting the weird title screen. When the story was over, and the animation to take you around Outset Island came up, it definitely wasn't normal.

The sea was red just like in the beginning, the terrain was just red dirt, and burnt-down houses, there was no bridge, no pigs, no crabs, no nothing. No one was there, and there wasn't even the canoes on the shore. When the game moved to your grandma's house, all you could see apart from the ruins, was an arm that was barely visible underneith all the rubble.

The game immediately switched from that island to Windfall, where, I persume, our hero had escaped to by a canoe, since there was one floating a few feet off the shores of the island in the red sea. I could freely control Link around, and this town seemed undamaged from my point on the docks, but the music was not that of Windfalls, but it was a creepy tune.

I ran into the bomb shop that sat on the upraised part of Windfall overlooking a cliff, inside was an open coffin, and when I walked up to it and looked in it, I immediatly wished I hadn't. It was Medli, her eyes were open, but all that there was was two empty eye sockets, and dried up tear stains that had run down her cheeks from when she was still alive and had eyes. Her beak was bent and broken, and her body was torn and bloody.

I ran out of there, feeling sick to my stomach, and ran to where the grave was supposed to be where the Elvis-impersonator was supposed to be dancing. There was no grave or Elvis-like person. Just the Killer Bees. As you got closer, you could see that one was missing and they were standing over something. They were standing over their dead leader, who had a huge chunk of his stomach missing, and his blood was soaking into the other's clothes, as they had blood stains all over them. I ran out to that cove where the King of Red Lions was supposed to be, and found only the old man that would chase you and try to tell you of his missing daughter.

When spoken to, all he said was:

You better run... run... run... HE'll get you... Evra will...

I tried to head his warning, but to no advail, there was no way off this island. After a few more minutes of wildly running around, and trying to ignore dead bodies and people without eyes constantly trying to stare at you, the game seemed to freeze and went to a black screen.

Before I had the chance to push the power button on the Gamecube, a screen popped up, and you were at the Forsaken Fortress, with huge gusts of wind blowing everything around. The enemies would go flying out into the blood red sea. The wind wasn't shown with the normal white curly lines, but with black lines, and a huge cyclone started to head towards the fortress.

I ran into the interior of the fort, and to my intense dismay, there was a person hanging from the cealing, with stab wounds that were steadily dripping blood on the floor. The person was not one that should have ever been in the game. It was a white man, with only pants on, he had longish black hair. The stab wounds on his chest said 'Evra'. and the man who I had presumed was dead, opened his eyes, and the rope holding him to the ceiling snapped.

Link bounced and landed on the floor, trying to recover from falling, the man advanced apon my character, and I was unable to control Link, who just watched as the man walked to him.

The man I persumed to be the 'Evra' the man had talked about, drew out a knife, and the animation cut off to black, and an ear-splitting scream came from the TV. I turned the game off, and I threw the game into a garbage can, and set wood into the can, and set it on fire. I will never forget this hacked and twisted version of Wind Waker.

The Flood

Why did Hyrule flood? Was it the Gods, as Wind Waker claims, or was it something more?

After Link defeated Ganon/Ganondorf in Ocarina of Time, he was given the choice to either stay as an adult or go back to enjoy his childhood. If he decided to go back to his childhood, he would eventually go to Termina. Because Termina is a parallel universe to Hyrule, the Gods had created an exact replica of Link just in case Ganon was to return, as if they had no idea where Link was.

This brings up another question. Are there different gods in Termina? One could assume that after Link left Hyrule, he was brought out of the Gods' reach. If so, this explains why the Triforce wasn't depicted or spoken about in any way.

The Terminian gods may actually be the four giants. Although they appear to be in an eternal slumber, waiting to be asked forth in using their godly might, the giants are considered to be guardians (not deities); however, they have been told to have created the world.

However, if one considers the term deity, it may bring to mind the form of which Link takes from wearing the Fierce Deity's Mask. The physical attributes Link acquires in this state could only be put as that of a god's. He gains a huge stature, tribal markings, an enchanted sword, and near-invincibility.

The reason you would think he was too powerful is that the mask is only able to be worn during boss fights. The only way to counter this is to perform a glitch or enter a Gameshark cheat that allows you to wear it outside battle. When these requirements have been met, you can easily compare the drastic changes in the green hero's size to that of a normal Terminian.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, you have Majora. Was the beast from which the mask was carved considered a demonic being? All the factors explaining his malevolent personality point toward this.

The mask was sealed for eternity after being carved because of its extraordinary powers. At the end of the game, the Happy Mask Salesman gets his mask back, but its power is apparently drained. After this, he vanishes out of sight forever.

Now, take a look at Wind Waker. It's based several hundred years after the events of Ocarina of Time. The prologue explains that the hero had saved Hyrule from darkness and left Hyrule in peace. However, it then details an evil coming back to Hyrule, for which the hero didn't appear.

Maybe this hero was too busy somewhere else. Maybe he was in Termina. This could support the theory of Link returning back to his childhood and visiting Termina soon after, leaving Hyrule off-guard to dark forces.

But what exactly are these dark forces? One theory claims that the Happy Mask Salesman went back to Hyrule and used Majora's Mask to take over the kingdom.

From this brings an even more realistic idea. In the events of Majora's Mask, Link has to stop the moon from crashing into Termina. If this were to happen again in Hyrule, what would be the consequences? Could the moon have smashed into Lake Hylia or a bigger body of water to create a flood? Or was it someone else...someone who wanted to gain revenge for meeting his terrible fate? Someone who drowned?

Glitch

I wanted to replay my old N64 games. I love The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, so there was no question as to what I wanted to play first. After a few minutes of plugging my Nintendo 64 console into the TV, I blew the dust off and popped in Majora's Mask.

The game started as normal, so I picked a slot and started a new game. The intro started normally, with Link and Epona in the woods. It continued normally with Skull Kid appearing and stealing Epona. Link was dragged around while trying to hold onto that horse, but when he was thrown off, he died as soon as he hit the ground.

I sat there, surprised. How could that happen? It was playing the death music and showed the Game Over screen. Curious, I pressed continue and ended up back at the forest where you chase Skull Kid.

The health bar was gone and my inventory was full of Ocarinas. Every slot, instead of being empty as it should, was an Ocarina.

I began to feel uneasy, but kept moving forward until I reached the scene where Link was transformed into a Deku Scrub. The scene ended with Link dying again, which made me want to shut off my console. I didn't, however, and continued playing. Nothing of interest happened while on the way to Clock Town; everything was normal except for my inventory.

I reached the scene where Link enters Clock Town and meets the Happy Mask Salesman. When the scene ended, Link died again. I continued on, exploring Clock Town. Oddly, everything that used a text box caused Link to die. Clock Town was relatively fine; nothing was deranged like in other stories. I just died when something happened. There was no health bar and way too many ocarinas, but I kept dying.

I eventually reached the Great Fairy. I ran towards the fountain and she sprang up. Unfortunately, all she said was "000000000000000000" and scrambled words. I proceeded past the gibberish and got the magic bar, but Link died afterward. The scene repeated enlessly and I couldn't do anything, so I shut off my N64.

As of today, I still have the cartridge and my N64. Both work great. I think what happened was some sort of cartridge glitch that happens when the cartridges get old. This happened only once and a few years ago at that, so I have no pictures or video to support my claims.

Oh well...back to playing Majora's Mask.

The Dying Soldier

Has anyone heard of the dying soldier from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time?

Many simply pass by him in Back Alley of Hyrule Castle's Market Town, but in the finished game he appears right after you get the Ocarina of Time and tells you to go to the Temple of Time. After telling you this, he stops moving and is presumably dead.

However, in an early build of the game he played a very different role and led you to a different place.

Just like many who played the finished version, many testers passed over the dying soldier. Those who found him were treated with a surprise. For finding him, they were given a key to Hyrule Castle. Some testers thought this key would lead them to the Triforce, as the key had the Triforce symbol engraved upon it.

They followed the tip the soldier gave and entered the path leading to Hyrule Castle. When they entered, they noticed something was off. There were no guards protecting the grounds from tresspassers. The gate was open. The sound was mute.

As this was an early build of the game, the testers thought this was a simple glitch or bug.

They eventually found their way into an all-new section of Hyrule Castle and continued until they ended up at a locked door. They used the key given to them by the soldier to unlock this door.

Link opened the door very slowly after unlocking it, as if he didn't want to enter, but eventually the door was open and Link walked into the darkness.

A new environment opened up; it was the hall you could see through the window when you first met Zelda. Ganondorf wasn't present and guards were nowhere in sight. But there was...something...that the testers would never forget:

On the other side of the room, they saw the bloody remains of the King of Hyrule. Most testers screamed and some even stopped playing. It was quite a horrific sight. They assumed the king was dead, but when Link walked up to him, a text box opened up.

"He said he would bring help, not a child..."

Banjo-Kazooie

I remember when I was younger; I was about eight or nine, you know. The innocent life. Not a care in the world, so I spent a good amount of my childhood playing video games. Yes video games; it's nothing to be ashamed about. I made friends with other kids who played it, too.

I knew a kid back then who went by the name of Tony. He told me a story about some strange thing that happened to him while playing Banjo-Kazooie. He gave me specific instructions of what to do and what would happen. He spoke of Mad Monster Mansion and the portrait of Gruntilda that was in there. He spoke, saying if I crashed into the portrait using the fly-pad it would summon up a monster. As a frightened little child, I believed him, till one day I summoned up the courage to try what he told me years ago.

Nothing happened. It was just a little lie he told me, a little story he believed. So I did it again and again countless times, knowing that it was all fake with nothing to worry about. I found it amusing - I'm not sure why - so I would crash into it over and over again going to that same place where the monster would show up. It never did; that lone pipe outside the mansion you could fit into as a pumpkin was always empty. There was never anything more or anything less.

Of course, not everything is predictable; not everything follows the same routine. I tried it again one day not too long ago. About a week or two, well let’s just say things took a turn for the worst. You hear these stories and don't think anything of them; "Oh, they are just stories. It doesn't matter. It'll be alright," they say. Of course, this time I did it I almost broke a tear from how terrified I was.

I went into the room where Napper was, empty and quiet with nothing but a huge table and some chairs. I climbed on top of the table got aboard the fly pad. I mashed the B button facing Gruntilda’s portrait. The bear and bird duo flew into the portrait with a big crash as expected, but this time a different noise I heard was there. It sounded like someone had broken a bone or something, almost as if there was literal pain. I didn't think anything of it, so I left the room as normal.

Heading towards Mumbo’s skull, I came across that pipe with the Jiggy inside, but the oddest thing happened. Banjo seemed to have fallen underneath the level. I thought I had glitched the game or something - something new & exciting that I hadn't seen before. That was till I realized his legs were crawling through that small hole where the pipe was; he was clawing at the ground not making a noise - not even music - and he just flailed his arms wildly as he slowly got dragged inside. Frightened, I dropped my controller and backed away from the TV.

Next thing I know, it shows the inside of the pipe; Banjo looked fine. He was just standing in the middle of that pipe, looking around. The music, although back, was a little distorted as if played in reverse...but it couldn't be more than a freaky glitch, right? I slowly reached for my controller when I saw a giant dark hand fall slowly from the ceiling. I screamed and Banjo followed suit. It dragged him up to the ceiling, almost like the Wallmasters from Ocarina of Time.

The sounds of bones cracking was heard. Banjo screamed in a voice as if his throat was filled with blood and unspeakable true pain. The music slowed itself and turnd to static. The hand pulled him up slowly and painfully. As it got closer to the screen, I could just see the hand gripped around his neck nearly tearing Banjo in two; it was as if his head would pop off at any moment. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Banjo flailed around as the hand dragged him up to the darkness by Banjo's face till eventually the screen went completely dark.

Next thing I know, the game over transition occurred, but the black background with the witch's face was read. Surely this couldn't be real. I had to be dreaming, but somehow I knew I wasn't. I was frozen in my place with beads of sweat falling down my face. Then it happened to start the game over cut scene. Tooty, Grunty, and Klungo were all together, except it was definitely different.

Tooty was strapped into a chair with Klungo standing at her side. Grunty was slowly cutting into Tootys arm, dissecting her like fresh piece of meat. The screams from Tooty were to painful to hear while her head shook violently in agony. Grunty held up the knife and continued to pierce through her arm. After it was cut off she threw it to Klungo and he started to gnaw on it. Gruntilda's eyes were filled with madness - wait, no, madness isn't the word for this. This was a true pleasure from causing pain. A fantasy fufilled. She enjoyed herself with a wicked and sadistic grin.

With the knife she carved into Tooty's stomach, letting the blood flow out and the organs drop to the ground, splatting in a way too realistic for a game to recreate. No way could this be real; I kept telling myself it wasn't, but it was and I knew it. I just couldn't accept it. Grunty held the knife up to her mouth and licked fresh blood off of it. Satisfied but still eager for more, she violently stabbed Tooty in the eye then threw the eye across the room. She leaned into Tooty, smiling and chanting quietly as she slowly slit the blade across Tooty's neck; the knife began to slowly drip with the blood of her victim.

It faded out to a soundless black screen; the TV was definitely on, but there was nothing on the screen. I stood in place, still too scared to move. I still cannot believe what I had witnessed. After a couple days, I decided to try it again. Surely, no one could sell something like that to the public, right? I went through and crashed into the picture; I was nervous but I slowly walked up to the pipe.

There was nothing. I stood, waiting, but it didn't happen. Everything played as normal. I tried multiple times but it wouldn't work. Why would it work that one time but not any other? What came over my game and made it insane? I wish I could've moved, gotten a picture or a video. Anything I could've gotten as a shred of proof. I'm not asking you to believe me; I just want to share my tale with whoever it may interest.

I'll keep trying it, this time prepared and maybe, just maybe, I can get a single photo of what happened that night.

(This story is credited to a person called JC4R.)

"Everybody, Stalfos."

Hyrulian History

There was a long time ago when the Golden Goddesses still walked amongst their people. After the creation of the world, each deity fashioned a race to serve and glorify their names.
Din created the Gorudo, the mountain tribe. They lived upon the slope of the great Mt. Via, where they thrived by mining the mountain for precious metals. Din dwelt among her people and they gave praise to her as she instructed them in the way of the hammer and the blacksmith.

Farore created the Dekiri, the forest tribe. They lived within the depths of the Fairy Woods, living off of the land and profiting off of its bounty. Farore dwelt among her people and they gave praise to her as she instructed them in the way of the bow and the woodsman.

Nayru created the Hylians, the plains tribe. They built villages and lived off of the fruits of the fields and the sea, as well as through trading with other tribes. Nayru dwelt among her people and they gave praise to her as she instructed them in the ways of the farmer and the fisherman.

There was a boy who lived among the Hylians. His nets would not bring in fish, nor would his fields yield crop. “Who is this boy,” the Hylians would ask. “Who is this child who cannot hear what Nayru teaches?” Because the boy could not do these things, they cast him out. “Go and live with the Dekiri, in the Fairy Woods. Surely they will have use of you there.”

So, the boy left the villages of Hylia and joined the Dikiri in the Fairy Wood. He lived with them for some time. His arrow would not fall game, nor would his axe level trees. “Who is this boy,” the Dekiri would ask. “Who is this child who cannot hear what Farore teaches?” Because the boy could not do these things, they cast him out. “Go and live with the Gorudo, on the mountain slopes. Surely they will have use of you there.”
So, the boy left the Fairy Wood and joined the Gorudo on Mt. Via. He lived with them for some time. His hammer would forge no steel, nor would his pick break stone. “Who is this boy,” the Gorudo would ask. “Who is this child who cannot hear what Din teaches?” Because the boy could not do these things, they cast him out. “The Hylians and the Dekiri before us have passed you by. Truly, you are a useless boy.”

So, the boy left the slopes of Mt. Via and began to wander the land. “The Goddesses have rejected me,” he would cry. He truly was alone, a boy without friends. Now, this boy was clever, cleverer than most would dare to imagine. That very night, he hatched a scheme. “The people adore the Goddesses for the skills they preach, so I shall make their power my own!”

The boy climbed to the top of Mt. Via, where sat Din, the Goddess of Power, Fire, and the Earth. “Great Goddess of Power, it is said that your strength is beyond compare,” began the boy. “but I have heard talk from some of the Gorudo that not even you have the strength to hoist this mountain on your back and carry it across the land!”

Din rose up in a prideful fury. “Who speaks as this, doubting the strength I possess? I shall life this mountain upon my shoulders and carry it far into the east!” So the Goddess placed the mountain on her shoulders and began her march.

Within the mountain, the blood of the earth began to seep into the caverns, liquid fire bubbling as Din’s ire fueled it. Where the goddess stepped, the land was scorched, leaving a desert in her wake. She reached the edge of the Hylian Plains and stopped before setting the mountain down on the eastern side of the grasslands.
“Let done doubt my strength again,” came the voice of Din.

“Oh, surely none are as strong as you, Goddess, but what of your people? The men of the Gorudo are within the mountain yet, and the bubbling blood of the earth threatens to burn them alive! The hot sun beats down upon their wives, waiting in a land turned wasteland for their husbands to return to them!”

Din was shocked to see what she had done. She entered the mountain and hardened the skin of the men until it was as rock, so that they might withstand the scorching heat of the magma. She entered the desert and darkened the skin of the wives so that they might endure the sun, raising great cliffs to provide shade.

When the men came out of the mountain and returned to their homes in the desert, their wives screamed in fear at the hardened skin of their husbands. “What curse has Din laid upon us,” they cried. “What provoked her to remove us from our mountain and our men?” They cried this for the mere sight of their husbands caused them to recoil in horror at their grotesque appearances. “We shall have no more of men,” they cried, driving the men from the desert. They settled in the cliffs and named themselves the Gerudo, turning their backs on the Goddess.

The men cried out from the mountainsides. “What curse has Din laid upon us? What has provoked her to remove from us our wives and our homes?” Their anger fueled their strength as they tore into the mountain, carving out caves and vast hollows. So great was their fury that the mountaintop exploded in a rain of fire and rock. They settled in these caves and named themselves the Goron, turning their backs on the Goddess.
Seeing her people reject her, Din fell into despair. In the depths of her grief, the boy came to her and stole her power away, claiming it for himself. “Now none are as strong as I,” he proclaimed. 

The boy then left the mountain and entered into the Fairy Wood. He climbed to the top of the tallest tree in the forest, where sat Farore, Goddess of Courage, Wind, and Nature.

“Great Goddess of Courage, it is said that when you play your flute, the world dances. Yet there are those among the Dekiri who say that not even your music would give the trees reason to lift up their roots and join in the reel.”

“Is that so,” asked the Goddess. “Then perhaps I should play a tune for them.” She raised a flute to her lips and played a jig. The notes wafted through the forest and the trees stirred in their plots. The Goddess increased the pace and roots sprang from the ground as the trees rose to give motion to the lively tune. The Dekiri, who had made their homes in the trees, cried out in fear as they leapt from their homes and avoided being trampled by the reeling trees. They fled to a nearby clearing, where they believed themselves safe.

The Goddess noticed this and stopped playing, but the trees began to hum the tune themselves and continued to dance. The homes they housed in their limbs were torn to pieces as the trees swayed their many arms. In a panic, the Goddess led the trees deeper and deeper into the forest, where she bound them. The trees were dubbed Deku, and the area was named the Lost Woods, as the continuous dancing of the trees made it impossible to navigate. To this day, you can still hear the trees singing the song.

The Dekiri cried out, “What curse has Farore laid upon us? What has provoked her to destroy our homes and possess our woods?”

The Goddess heard these words and was angered. “I did my best to save you from my folly and this is how you respect me? You call yourself cursed, so cursed you shall be! You whine as a child whines for a lost toy, so children you shall remain for eternity!” And so, the Goddess laid the curse of youth upon them, allowing them to never grow old and yet die young with life unfulfilled. To guard over these children, she appointed a guardian spirit to the tree upon which she sat. The Dekiri, in their spite, took the name Kokiri and turned their backs on the Goddess.

Seeing her people reject her, Farore fell into despair. In the depths of her grief, the boy came to her and stole her power away, claiming it for himself. “Now none are as cunning as I,” he proclaimed. The boy then left the wood and journeyed to the great lake of Hylia, where resided Nayru, Goddess of Wisdom, Love, and the Sea.

“Oh Goddess of Wisdom, your knowledge knows no bounds and your word is respected by all. Yet, I have heard some talk among the Hylians that not even your words could tame the seas. Surely if you proved them wrong, they would be grateful to you for easing their lives!”

Nayru smiled, for she had seen through the boy’s scheme and had prepared for this. She stood and raised her hands above the waters. “Be still,” she called out, and the waters became flat and level, with only wind ripples disturbing the surface. The Hylians marveled at this and exclaimed to one another, “Look! The seas have been made calm! No longer must we pray for our safety as we cross the waters in search of fish to eat and goods to sell!” The Hylians began to lose faith, but Nayru fell not into despair.

As the boats set sail, monstrous creatures stirred within the deep. One ship was swallowed whole by a giant fish, one splintered by tentacles of water, and still a giant eel crushed another. The sailors prayed to the Goddess to protect them from these leviathans. Nayru, hearing these prayers, created a race to govern and control these creatures, and named this race the Zora.

Nayru then spoke to the Hylians, “Because you did not turn from me in your time of need, you will be blessed among nations. Your power will grow to encompass the others and you shall rule over them with wisdom and justice.” Nayru then spoke to the Gerudo. “Because you were the first to turn away from your protector in your time of need, despite what she had provided for you, you will be cursed among nations. For a thousand generations, you and your people will remain confined to the desert. Because you have forsaken men, so shall men forsake you. Only once in a hundred years may one of your wombs bear a male, and he shall govern you with fear and cruelty until his death.”

Nayru then spoke to the boy. “Child, why have you caused these terrible things,” she asked. The boy stood and spoke back angrily, “Your people reject me for I cannot learn what you teach! If I could gain the powers and skills that the Goddesses possess, then they would be sure to accept me!” The boy fell into despair as he realized he would not be able to obtain Nayru’s power.

The Goddess of Wisdom came upon the boy, and, in his despair, took the powers which he had stolen and returned them to her sisters. She then spoke again to the boy. “You truly are a lonely and miserable boy, but you have done many terrible things and punishment comes to all. You know of power and courage, but you will never receive from us the gift of wisdom. To you we give the curse of immortality, to live forever and watch all about you wither and die. However, so as you will not bring harm to our land and our peoples once more, we shall imprison you.”

The Goddesses rose into the air in a triangle pattern and surrounded the boy, gesturing towards him. In a spectacular flash of light, the boy disappeared and in his place was a mask. The mask was heart shaped, with two large, yellow eyes peering out above purple lines of darkness, spikes glistening on the edges.

“Your name is no more,” spoke Din. 

“We give you a new one here and now,” spoke Farore.

“You are Majora, meaning trickster,” spoke Nayru.

“But Majora has another meaning,” came the voice of all three. “It also means ‘One who is alone,’ for no matter where you search or how far you travel, you will never find friendship or love.

Din spoke to the others, “My sisters, we cannot allow this evil to remain in our world, for his hatred and despair will surely leak out and corrupt the land!”

Farore sang out in agreement, “Then we shall make a new world to serve as his prison, so that ours is not tainted by his malice.”

“Do what you will,” Nayru said. “but know that I will not lend my wisdom to such a world. Let him craft the order as he sees fit.”

So Din, with her strong, flaming arms cultivated the land and created the red earth. Farore, with her rich soul, created all life forms that would tend the earth. After all of this, Nayru approached and said, “I give but one law for this world. Should all life within it one day extinguished, the prison will collapse and the spirit within set free.”

“Why do you do this, sister,” asked Din. “Why do you allow this window for one who has wrong us so greatly?”

“Because,” Nayru replied. “I pity him.”

Super Mario 64

I always liked Super Mario 64 when I was a kid. I remember playing it at my aunt's house all the time.

A few months ago, an ad popped onto my screen out of nowhere as I was watching gameplay footage on Youtube. It was one of those generic ads for online stores. I was about to close the window when I realized it was showing a mint condition copy of Super Mario 64 for sale.

There was a picture of it and everything. It looked legit. I usually don't trust these things, but the feeling of nostalgia overpowered me. I definitely wanted to buy it, but why wouldn't I? It was my favorite game as a kid.

The whole business was peculiar. The owner of the game wanted the buyer to send an envelope containing ten dollars to an address listed on the site instead of using something like PayPal. What made things stranger was when I tried to gain access to the website after encountering...problems with the game. Even though I had bookmarked the page (so I KNOW I didn't get the URL wrong), the link led to a 404 page.

A few days after the money was mailed, however, I got a package containing the game. The first thing I noticed was that the 'official sticker' with Mario flying in the air was missing. In its place was a piece of duct tape with 'Mario' crudely written on it in permenent marker. I felt a bit ripped off, but as long as the game worked I didn't care.

I got out my Nintendo 64 and put the cartridge in. The screen turned on with the familiar Mario head you could stretch and twist aimlessly. I remembered laughing all the time at the results, so I decided to mess around for old times' sake.

I moved the cursor over to Mario's ear and pulled it to Elven proportions. I was going to do the same to the other ear when the TV suddenly produced loud static. The model for Mario's head started twisting in ways I didn't even know possible. Random sound effects from the game started playing, too. I could also hear a faint voice whispering in what I think was Japanese. The voice was stammering and whimpering.

I immediately shut off the game and tried again. I didn't bother with the Mario head this time. I just selected a new file and started playing.

When I selected the file, the game skipped the opening monologue with Peach and the courtyard outside. Mario was just placed right inside the castle. Bowser didn't say anything, either.

I tried to ignore it and continued playing, but I eventually noticed there was no music...just dead silence. There weren't any Toads around to talk to, either. The only door I could enter was the one that led to Bob-omb Battlefield. The other doors wouldn't respond to anything I did.

The portrait to Bob-omb Battlefield wasn't the usual picture. It was a stark white canvas. I was still trying to convince myself that these were just minor glitches and wouldn't affect the gameplay at all.

When I entered the portrait, the image changed from a blank canvas to the Lethal Lava Land painting. You know, that slightly unsettling image of the flame with the evil smile? That's when I started getting really suspicious.

The mission menu came up and yet another weird detail was present. Instead of the first mission being "Big Bob-omb on the Summit," it was "TURN BACK." I have no idea what drove me to press A, but I did.

The level seemed fairly normal. Everything was how I remembered it. I thought I could finally enjoy my favorite childhood game, but then I saw him...Luigi. I was absolutely shocked. He was never in this game. His model wasn't even a Mario palette swap. He had a completely original model.

Luigi just stood there until I tried to approach him, then he started running away at unexpected speeds. I followed suite and went through the level. Strange things happened as I pursued him.

Each time I would pick up a coin, the enemies and music would get slower and the scenery would look darker in color and more morbid. It kept gradually getting worse until I collected a fifth coin. That's when the music stopped. The enemies lay down on the ground like they were dead. I was freaked out, but kept chasing Luigi.

I went up the hill and no cannonballs rolled down trying to knock me over. I really wasn't surprised at this point. Luigi was always just at the edge of my sight as I ran. Once I reached the summit, I saw yet another object out of place.

It was a small cottage. That's all there was on top of the hill. Luigi was nowhere to be found. The cottage was odd-looking for a Mario game. It was old, plain, and broken down. Regardless of my fears at that moment, I had Mario enter the cottage.

As soon as the door closed, a disturbing picture of a hanged Luigi popped up along with a very frightening scare chord. It sounded like a violin screech accompanied by a loud piano banging. Mario fell to his knees and sobbed for roughly five minutes before the screen irised out.

I returned to the castle. Mario just slumped out of the painting. The image switched from the Lethal Lava Land portrait to the image of Luigi hanging himself. The room was different this time. It was now a small hallway. Toads with blank expressions and white robes lined the sides.

There was another painting at the opposite end of the hallway that completely and utterly scared me. It was a picture of my family. It wasn't a photo from the time Super Mario 64 was released, either. It was a very, very recent photo. I remember posing for it the weekend before.

I reached for the on/off switch on the N64. There was no way I was going to play any longer. However, the game was still on even after I flipped the switch. I flipped it back and forth, to no avail.

I tried unplugging the entire system, but the game never left the screen. I was still able to control mario, too. I couldn't just leave it on forever, so I kept playing. I went to the photo of my family and jumped in. Only one mission was available. It was called, "Run, Don't Walk." I selected the mission. Let's-a-go!

The level started in a flooded hallway with platforms floating on the water. Mario landed on one of these and the camera turned to show what was behind. A silent black voice was slowly approaching Mario. It didn't look like anything, not even finished graphics. It was a giant, blocky, black blob.

I started jumping from platform to platform. With no goal in sight, I kept running, the darkness slowly but surely gaining speed. This kept going on for what felt like hours and I began to doubt there would ever be an end. Mario was going in circles.

Finally, the black blob/void/thing caught up with Mario and enveloped him in darkness. He didn't scream or resist at all. It simply consumed him.

Mario fell out of the painting and back into the castle. One my three lives was gone. The room was different now, too. Some of the Toads were gone and the painting looked different. My family and I were in the same positions, but our bodies were partially decomposed. It looked too real to be photoshopped. It looked like someone took our dead bodies and posed them.

Regardless, I jumped into the painting again. There was still only one mission available. It was called, "I'm right here." I selected the mission and prepared for the worst. Mario landed in a small, dark room. There was no visible way out. The room was empty except for a piano in the corner.

I knew what that meant. I was stuck in there with the Mad Piano. I approached it and it started chasing me. There was no way to damage it, so I had no choice but to let Mario take damage.

When he lost all his health, the usual death animation didn't happen. Mario was simply mauled by the piano. He fell as his two dimensional blood and blocky guts spilled onto the floor.

The camera panned to a top-down view of his corpse. A distored version of the merry-go-round music from Big Boo's Haunt played as the screen slowl transitioned from the in-game shot to a sketch of Mario's dead body in the same view. It was very unsettling. I was crying softly as I gazed upon the image. I lost another life.

The photo of my family was shown again. We were even more rotten than before. The view zoomed into the painting, as if I was warping again, but I was greeted with a shot of Peach's Castle from the outside.

It was crumbling in ruin. The fields were on fire. The sky was pitch black. Bowser's laugh played on a loop in the background as children mockingly chanted, "You couldn't save her!"

This went on for a long time until a close-up of Peach's face, accompanied by an extremely loud screech, interrupted the loop without notice. Peach's mouth was wide open in a scream and her eyes were empty, black holes.

Mario fell out of the painting again. All of the Toads were gone. My family and I looked positively repulsive. Maggots were wriggling around in holes in our flesh. Guts were spilling out of our bodies. My dad's eye was hanging loose from its socket. It as too much to bear, but something still urged me to trudge on. I jumped into the painting, only one life remaining.

This time, there no title for the mission, just a blank space where the title should be. I selected the mission and Mario landed on a very small island in the middle of the ocean. There was a solitary sign that read, "DIVE." I did just as it said and entered the water.

The ocean was dark and empty. There were no fish and I wasn't able to see anything besides Mario. I swam downwards and, even though I kept going for a long time, Mario never ran out of breath. I counted roughly ten minutes of swimming before I decided to go back up.

Just as I turned Mario around, it came. A huge Unagi the Eel came out of nowhere and swallowed Mario whole. It went by so fast I wasn't sure what I saw. The Game Over screen didn't appear. All that happened was a fade out.

The photo of my family and I was shown again. We were skeletons at that point. Once again, it looked very real. I couldn't move the camera, either. It stayed focused on the picture. I pressed reset and chose my file, but it went back to the skeleton photo of my family.

I tried this about three more times before giving up. I desperately wanted to stop, but some force kept me from walking away. With nothing else to do, I decided to select the only other save file. The camera once again focused on the skeleton picture, but this time they were in a different position.

It was almost as if they were a different family.

Earthbound

The room leading up to Giygas is a vagina and the Devil's Machine is a cervix. Giygas' dialogue was based on rape; its lines come from the victim. You went back in time to when Giygas was more vulnerable. You went to abort a fetus. Giygas wasn't evil during that fight.

"You cannot comprehend the true form of Giygas' attack!" This isn't because it is immense evil, but because it was only attacking to protect itself. It showed Ness in the Devil's Machine to try and tell him they could be friends. Pokey calls it pure evil, but every word out of his mouth in the entire game is a lie.

Left: Devil's Machine. Right: Giygas, possibly after winning the battle.

Broken Cartridge

A few months ago, I noticed a small classic video game store that had seemingly popped up out of nowhere on a street I walk by quite often. I'm always on the lookout for a variety of older, hard to find games so, naturally, I went inside.

It was a very small shop - about the size of a bedroom - with wooden walls that were bare except for several video game posters on them. They looked like the kind you got in issues of Nintendo Power, but weren't exact matches. There was an Earthbound poster of a frightened Ness staring at the background that shows when you fight Giygas, a poster of Sonic in the drowning position in a very dark underwater city, and several others.

Sadly, the selection of games wasn't very good. They covered systems going all the way back to the Atari 2600, but only had about 10-20 games for each. Most of them were either common ones everyone had or crappy ones nobody wanted. I didn't find anything I was interested in and was about to leave when something caught my eye.

It was a gold Ocarina of Time cartridge. I already had the game, of course, but had to examine this cartridge because of how beaten up it was. The cover was almost entirely torn off, the plastic was cracked and chipped in my places, and there was something that looked like a burn mark on it.

The cart was only $1.99 and for some reason I felt drawn to buying it. The clerk didn't say a word to me; he just took my money and I left with the cartridge.

After leaving the store, I started to wonder why I had bought a copy of a game I already owned, especially one in such horrible condition. Since I had it, though, I decided I might as well see if it actually worked. I put it in my N64 and when I turned it on I was immediately greeted by ReDead shrieks against a solid red screen.

I turned the system off, pulled the cart out and put it back in, and tried again. This time, I saw Zelda's character model lying face-down, slowly rotating, while Ganon's laugh played. I tried once more and actually got the intro screen. It had a slowed down version of Hyrule Castle Town's music playing and the game wouldn't respond to the controller.

Cartridges were capable of some rather odd effects when they were broken or tampered with while a system is turned on. I had heard about cart tilting with N64 games and since I wasn't going to be able to play the game anyway, I decided to try messing with it.

I put the game in once more, getting some glitchy character models while what sounded like cymbals crashed repeatedly. I started slowly tilting the cart and, to my amazement, this actually made the game start the intro screen with normal music and response to the controller.

Two of the files already had saves on them, so I selected the third and started the game. The game started with the Deku Tree's monologue, but the text was different.

"Death is the only thing this cursed land is good for. The cruel goddesses created life only to toy with it and laugh at the the pain of those they gave it to. I wish for death.

The last sentence repeated itself several times, filling up six text boxes. The game finally switched to Link, who was in the middle of having a nightmare. It happened normally, more or less (Ganon had Zelda's face). Link woke up with a scream. There was no Navi, so he got up on his own.

I had control of him, so I exited Link's house. There were no other characters in Kokiri Village. I couldn't go into houses, either, and the hole you crawl through to get the Kokiri Sword was missing. Since Mido was there, I went directly to the Deku Tree without any problems.

No cutscene played, but the dungeon was open and I went inside. The dungeon looked nothing like the one in the normal game. It looked more like the inside of a castle. There were no enemies and I didn't have any items, so I explored. As I went from room to room, I could hear children's laughter as it got louder and louder.

When I finally found a sword, it was sticking through the ribcase of a skeleton, as if he had used it to kill himself a very long time ago. I picked it up and a text box appeared. "You got the Hero's Sword! Will you be wise enough to use it for the right purpose?"

At that point, a Majora's Mask style Wizzrobe (the old man type) appeared. He didn't move as fast as the ones in Majora's Mask and I was able to kill him easily with the sword. He slumped over instead of exploding or fading, as you'd expect a Zelda enemy to do. Instead, he said something.

"You have taken my life, but I will be avenged. My pet will deliver my vengeance."

The doors to the room locked and I began to hear growling and the sound of heavy feet running. This went on for at least twenty minutes. I was becoming more frightened than I should be for a video game character. Finally, a gigantic Wolfos burst into the room.

I tried to fight it, but my sword had no effect. The wolf mauled Link to death, leaving a bloody corpse behind. The game froze on that shot and there was no Game Over screen. I attempted to play the game again, but it never displayed anything except that final shot no matter what I did.

(This story is credited to a person called KI Simpson.)

Zelda 64 Beta

When I was a child, one of my favorite games was the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Anyone who's played it can probably figure out why, even if they don't particularly find it their favorite. Naturally, as a very popular game, it spawned a lot of rumors and legends - especially back in the day when communication through the internet wasn't as common. Most of these legends are false, but sometimes a surprising amount of truth can be found in them.

A while ago, I had read an article about early versions of Zelda 64 (as it was called in development). Apparently, these early versions were incredibly different than the released version. It was modeled after the original Legend of Zelda, rather than a Link to the Past, and as such was a lot freer roaming and adventurous than the one we got. At the time, it sounded awesome; I even found myself wondering why they had abandoned the project.

I concluded that it was probaby due to the technical requirements of such a feat. Still, one thing that expecially struck me were the pictures. Some were nondescript - nothing special. However, one showed a large expansive desert environment. There was just a palm tree and a small oasis near a much more primitive looking Link, as well as some enemies. Past that, however, was just sand stretching to the horizon. The thoughts of what might lay behond that desert seemed to stick the image to my mind.

Skip several years. The article was only a vague recollection. Nothing important. I was hanging out at the local game shop with one of my friends. He's telling me about his day and gets into a story about how some guy came to sell his missing son's old video games. He got them out and showed them to me; they looked like normal games, actually. There were a few Wii games, some Gamecube games, and a lot of Nintendo 64 games. The only one that really caught my eye was a red cartridge with no label except for a piece of tape with the word "ZELDA??" written over it in marker.

Naturally, this got me curious. My friend didn't share my curiosity and mentioned that he didn't think he could sell the game, so he let me take it home for free so I could indulge myself. Excitedly, I took it and went home as soon as I could.

The moment the game started, I realized this wasn't the same Zelda I was used to. The title screen was comprised of nondescript text that said, "The Legend of Zelda." There were no subtitles or fancy font - not even music. It was just those words in black-bordered, white text. The background wasn't from Ocarina of Time or Majora's Mask, either. It was an overhead view of what could only be called ancient ruins. They looked very sinister and grotesque - similar to something from Majora's Mask, only without any hint of the mystical atmosphere that usually accompanied Zelda games. They were really unnerving.

Still, this didn't stop me. It only kept me going. As soon as I pressed start, the game began. It skipped over any file screens and dumped a blocky-looking Link into an empty black environment. Though, when I say black, I mean BLACK. There was nothing separating the ground and the sky. There was only blackness. The only thing that let me know the game even worked was what looked like a temple in the distance. From what I could tell, it was similar to the one in the opening. Moving still seemed to work fine, suggesting that something glitched with the textures of the environment. Still, it seemed strange that nothing happened to any other textures. Entering the "temple" was my only choice, since I couldn't see to get anywhere else, so I took it.

One thing worth mentioning is that the game started with no music, only deathly silence. The closer I came to the temple, however, the more music was availble to hear. It wasn't really music, though. It sounded like moaning, similar to the ReDeads in Ocarina of Time, but tinnier and badly recorded. Every once in a while, some sobs could be heard, but they were quickly stifled.

Entering the temple made everything seem more like a Zelda game, but something strange caught my eye. Rather than the textures being worse than those in Ocarina of Time or Majora's Mask, they were better. There was more detail in everything, but it was all dingy and rotten-looking. Extra polygons only served to make things look more grotesque. The random blood spatters didn't help anything, either.

It didn't take long for me to realize that the entire "dungeon" could hardly be called Zelda-like. Puzzles usually only consisted of pulling a lever or pressing a switch. In fact, there weren't even any sliding blocks. There were no enemies, either, but the blood spatters on the floor and walls soon served to be warnings of traps. Some became inescapable and sent you back to the darkness again. Others were escapable, but were extremely creepy and depressing.

The dungeon was riddled with low-polygon remains of old adventurers, and sometimes they even had items on them. The items could be picked up, but the game only auto-equipped the first three items picked up since there was no accessible inventory screen.

After several gruesome deaths and retries, I found my way to a door marked with a scratched-on eye similar to the ones on the Lens of Truth and various other objects. Entering this door reveals a boss battle. The music, by this point, as changed; I only realized it by the last room. The moaning had never looped once, but seemed to change according to the mood. A discordant violin melody began to play, but the res to fthe sound remained nothing but moans, sobs, yells, and strange scratching. It was never enough to rise past the level of background noise, but it still remained unnerving. It was almost as if it wasn't music at all, but monsters that were wandering somewhere in the temple.

You know, when I said entering the door revealed a boss battle, I was not entirely honest. It could only be called a boss battle by the most generous standards. It featured an empty room that looked similar to the rest of the temple in every way. The only out-of-place aspect was a giant face on the other side of the room that was about the same color as the surrounding walls. Its skin seemed stretched over its head and lined up with the wall, so it looked as if the wall was growing a face. Moss seemed to be growing over its closed eyes and cracks were apparent everywhere on it.

The door to go back was locked, so the only thing I could do was approach it. I did so, carefully, making sure nothing was waiting for a surprise attack. I walked up to the point where I was nearly in contact with the face. Nothing. It was still there, with its sunken eyes and cracked lips. I attacked it with my sword. The sword went through and made an incredibly vulgar flesh-ripping sound, but nothing else happened. The face remained there. I attacked some more, then more, and still more.

Soon, the cacophony of violin music became even louder and the moans started up even stronger. After that, the face's eyes opened, staring at me with its dry, soulless gaze, and then...nothing. I continued to attack the face with no reaction until it had enough. It went to shreds before falling away in fire - the typical Zelda fashion - and revealing a door. The music had stopped. There were no more moans or screams...nothing at all. I went through the door.

What a fool I was. That was only the tutorial.

The screen turned white, followed by a moment of extremely loud static. I jumped, but it was over almost instantly. What faded in was an endless desert - the one from that image from so long ago. I was in shock. By that point, I was creeped out enough to turn the game off. That respite didn't last long. I had dreams about the game...sometimes even nightmares. They showed me what I hadn't even realized while playing the game, something that scared me: the game changed each time I started over. When I tried to take the same path through the labyrinth, I always ended up lost and confused. By the time I got to the end, I was relying only on instinct.

I kept playing the next day, stopping only to eat and to go to the bathroom. When I turned the game on, I was still at the desert despite the lack of a file screen. This time, it was night. I walked. Sometimes I would walk for twenty minutes, only to find a half-sunken obelisk or the ruins of what looked like some village hut. Other times, I would see great expanses of oases and tropical forests.

This is where I found the first enemies I had seen in the game. They were similar to Tektites, with larger bodies that mostly contained their large eye. They had thin, long legs and would still attack by leaping, but if they hit you they would pin you to the ground.

Soon, the sun rose and I continued on. Sometimes, I would find small tombs. These were almost always similar in style to the first dungeon, only without the moaning and with no bosses. However, I would also find information. Runes were scribbled ono the walls and could be read. The descriptions were always vague, with phrases like "...and knowledge shall guide...way to heavens..." Sometimes they would be followed by other comments, but most writing seemed glitched and unintelligible. However, it seemed to be a sort of history. The maps I'd sometimes find confirmed it.

I simply explored and, after a while, I learned to let instinct guide my way. I soon found the next dungeon: a large pyramid rising out of the desert...upside-down. Over it, straight to the sky, was another large upside-down temple. It stretched so far I couldn't see to the top, but I couldn't keep going. I needed sleep again.

The next day came and I entered the dungeon. It was like all the small tombs I would find, just a bit more perilous. There were more bottomless pits, chasms, spike traps, and monsters this time. Long arms would grab you from out of the wall, similar to Wallmasters; these simply threw you into traps and killed you, though. They were probably what used to be ReDeads and Skeletons.

At the end of this dungeon, I found a large spiral staircase. I followed it up and up until I reached what seemed to be the top. It took two hours of climbing, but the time seemed to fly by. The top was merely a platform with a large ornate arrow pointing off an edge. Since there was nowhere else to go, I jumped off. The screen flashed white again and I was in a new area.

This routine went on for the next few weeks. There were many places to visit and, at times, I could find the borders of where one locale met another. I started to name the locations I had been to but, although I started knowing all the places intimately, there never seemed to be an end for new locations. There were even times where I would go through one door and come out on the other side of the world.

Places didn't behave by constant rules of space, but it became easier to find my way regardless. Each time I revisited a place, it was rearranged in a different, more navigable setup. From every corner, however, I could see the tower in the distance. I quickly realized that I had not reached the top, only fallen into one of the many traps. To this day, I still have not reached the top.

In the few times I took a break from the game and went about the real world, I could tell the game was different. It changed itself. It seemed to react to me. I was sure that a game like this should not - COULD NOT - be able to be created, but they WERE going for a free-roaming experience more similar to the original Legend of Zelda. What if they succeeded? What if they created a world one could always roam? I think they really did create that world.

I had learned of the many gods in that land: the three goddesses, who had created such a perverted physical world, and the the god He Who Sees, who decided to cleanse it. I still did not know my own role, but I felt that if I simply followed my instincts, I could find my goal.

This is why I'm writing this now. My instincts still tell me where to go, but not here. It's not in the game. I have to leave, and I will, but before I go, I feel that I have to leave this message for someone to find.

I should warn you. It may be a game, but it knows you are playing.

GameShark Code

I don't know if you guys are too young to remember GameSharks. I'm not even sure if they make them anymore. They were a cool little device you could plug into a game console and use to cheat in video games. My buddy still has one for his Nintendo 64 and we still like to mess around with it sometimes.

I found a used copy of Majora's Mask the other day and I realized we'd never tried to cheat in it, so I dropped five bucks on the cartridge. Last night, I called up my friend, grabbed a case of beer, and went over to his house for some sweet drunken retro gaming.

We were having a great time, making Link fall through floors and walk through walls and all that good stuff. We even found a code that caused a huge number of those annoying little dogs to spawn, swamping the map and generally causing chaos.

After the standard cheats got boring, we decided to run the code search on the GameShark again. Oddly enough, it came up with a brand new code sequence, one we'd never seen before. Being slightly buzzed from the beer and bored at throwing infinite bombs at unsuspecting enemies, we punched the code in and fired up the game.

GameSharks have a tendency to cause minor glitches, so neither of us was very surprised when the game completely skipped over the menu screens and jumped directly into the action. We were outside and the clock was stuck at a couple minutes to midnight on the third day.

The moon was leering at us from the sky, ready to crash into the ground. Other than the frozen time, the game seemed to be functional, so I pushed forward on the control stick and sent Link off in exploration of the world as it teetered directly on the brink of apocalypse. There was a distinct lack of enemies and strange patterns of pixels would randomly appear and disappear.

Naturally, we were starting to get bored. There was absolutely NOTHING to kill! I decided to shut the console down and try another code, but I figured I'd look up at the moon one more time.

To my surprise, it was much larger than it had been before. We realized it was still approaching the earth, despite the fact that time was stopped. It was ready to crash down, so we decided to see if anything cool would happen in the end game cutscene.

Oddly enough, the cutscene never triggered. Instead, the moon just kept getting closer and closer. I could barely make out movement on it and realized that the spinning Majora's Mask from the opening scene was appearing on the surface in a flurry of oddly shaped pixels.

The spinning mask continued to get clearer and clearer until it completely hid the moon's evil grin. Something seemed very wrong with it, however. It seemed too well-animated for an image on a Nintendo 64.

The lines and details were very clear and the colors were too vivid. As the mask spun around, the eyes seemed to follow me and stared directly at me. I was hypnotized by it and sat there, beer in one hand and controller in the other, unable to look away from the screen.

Extremely disturbing images began to flash across the TV as the moon continued to approach. Everything appeared to be on fire and quick glimpses of the poor, innocent animated characters of Clock Town showed them dying extremely gruesome deaths.

Majora's Mask completed one final rotation and stopped, staring directly at us. A gnarled hand came up, slowly pulling the mask away. Underneath was Skull Kid, a horrible expression of agony and pain burned on his face.

He opened his mouth and, with a sickening groan of cartridge-era video game sounds, uttered the words that have been haunting me all night since. "You lost the game."

The screen went black and the Nintendo 64 shut off. My friend and I looked at each other, unsure of what whe'd just seen. He claims it was just an alternate ending the producers didn't use in the actual game, but the whole thing seems way too paranormal to be that easily explained.

Link's Awakening

For me, the defining Zelda experience was Link's Awakening. It was the first Zelda title I played and definitely the most challenging. It took me longer to clear than any other game (I was pretty young, however). That said, it's clear why this has bothered me so much.

A few months ago, I was helping a friend of a friend move. After a few hours of heavy lifting, we took a break. I noticed a box of old Game Boy cartridges and my eyes lit up. I like the new systems out these days, but I still dig busting out that little 8-bit handheld. At least I used to.

The guy we were helping saw me and asked if I felt like buying any. I picked out a couple before noticing it: Link's Awakening. I lost mine (the original, not the DX version) and was looking to replace it. He looked confused when I asked how much he wanted for it, like he forgot he owned it. I paid him, pocketed the games, and went back to work.

I should stress this: there was nothing wrong with the cartridge itself. The label was fine. The cartridge wasn't cracked. I probably wouldn't have bought it otherwise. The game started normally, too. There was nothing off about the music, color, or animation. I was really stoked to play it again...then I went to start a new game.

Something was wrong. First off, there was no music, just this barely audible thumping noise every other second. Next was the top right screen: the knight statues had been replaced by two Stalfos. It was different from what I remembered.

The thing that convinced me it was a defect (or glitch, actually) was that there was only one empty file. The other two files were gone. Non existent. At this point, the thumping noise was starting to annoy me, so I started a new file and entered the name "Link." The game was faulty, sure, but I was curious to see how.

The game started with Link tossing and turning while Marin watched. There was no music, but the thumping noise was gone. When Link awoke, Marin said, "The wait is over." She then mentioned something about "making preparations" and left. I tried to leave, only to be stopped at the door by a dialogue box that read, "...", which prompted me to speak with Tarin.

His friendly tone was gone. He was pleading with me, offering my shield and asking me to leave. He begged, saying he'd tell me where the sword was. The usual sound effect for text was replaced by something duller and strangely paced. His wording and tone made it sound like Tarin was crying, too. He insisted I must be hungry, promising to make mushroom stew before rushing out as well.

The game wasn't defective; it was hacked! Realizing that made the sequence with Tarin kind of interesting. I started exploring the village. The physical layout was the same as I remembered, except for one thing: all the human characters that lived outside of the village were now in it, save the witch.

Richard and the Cucco Keeper were standing near the Cucco Statue. Crazy Tracy was at the center of the field of bushes. The second fisherman was beneath the first. Mr. Write was beside the library.

The music was the same track used for the village in the original game, but slower and a bit scratchy. Second, the crane game was gone. In its place was an area fenced off by lit torches. Inside was a large collection of bone piles (the same used in caves and dungeons). In that area, there was no music. Just a low pitch broken up by sharp, awkward breaks.

Every villager laughed and said I couldn't be "him" because I had no sword. The one except was Ulrira. His sprite changed to show his eyebrows were lowered angrily. The sword comment was an obvious hint, so I headed toward the beach.

I made my way down, the music fading to silence. Oddly, there were no monsters. I was more confused than bothered by it and went for the sword. The owl flew down when I got near it. He cackled and talked about how glad he was to fulfill his role.

He ordered me to take the sword and go to the Mysterious Forest, then flew off. I grabbed the sword (not that there were enemies to fight with it) and headed back toward the village/forest.

Near the village, the owl appeared again. Walking toward him caused him to scream about how you can't go...that they can't know and they don't deserve to. The game was forcing me into the forest, the layout of which had been changed.

From the first screen, I could only go right, where I found the witch's hut. The dull thumping noise started again. When I entered, it became faster. Speaking with the witch made it louder and even faster.

The witch insisted there were "other ways to make it" and offered power for "a way out." The game shot out this brief, high pitched screeching noise. Syrup's sprite stopped moving and no further text could be prompted. I left the hut and headed right.

The next screen was more familiar. It was the one with Tarin in his raccoon form. The crying sound from earlier began looping, louder this time. Tarin charged at me and began doing damage, crying as he did. The shield kept him off of me, letting me pull up my inventory.

The magic powder had been added. I threw some onto him, thinking it would cure him. His sprite movements became faster and text appeared as he screamed about how his skin was burning. A new animation played and the game released another of those high-pitched screeches.

This one lasted for the whole animation mixing different sound effects. Lines of darkness began to cover Tarin's sprite until he was covered. The arms fell off, his eyes disappearing as the ground was stained with what appeared to be his blood. The game was making sure I heard Tarin's suffering. I was horrified.

He hit the ground, a pile of blood and guts. The crying sound looped softly. The owl flew in and marked how excellent it was. I had done it almost to the letter. He screamed at me to put the thing out of its misery. I had no idea what to do. A new dialogue box popped up: Tarin whimpering about the sword. I turned the game off.

A few minutes later, I turned it back on. I was annoyed at the idea of the hacker getting one over on me. The file name had changed from "Link" to "Black." I was intimidated, but determined. It brought me to the point I had just left.

The fact that I hadn't saved made me nervous. Everything ws the same except Link's clothing. I couldn't tell if it was meant to be red or black, but the filename gave me a hint.

I cut at the Tarin sprite. The panels above and below Tarin became dark and the game made that horrible screeching noise. The owl flapped its wings and laughed, complimenting me. He ordered me deeper into the forest before saying, "two down." Hearing that, I went to the previous screen and into Syrup's hut.

There was crudely drawn blood everywhere. Syrup's head was on her table. The rat was hopping up and down beside it, probably feasting. I searched around and found nothing until I reached her cauldron. Text appeared. "Still a few bones in here. What'd you think magic powder was made of?"

I saw it as a taunt and resolved to keep going. There were still no enemies or music, just screen after screen of forest, with a soft, high-pitched screech in the background. Eventually, I had to go north and traveled a few more screens before finding it.

At the center of the screen was a black sword. To either side were two treasure chests. The right contained the Fire Wand, the left the Ocarina. Taking the sword summoned the owl, who proceeded to teach me the "Lullaby of Longslumber." It didn't sound like music, just hisses and scratches like a series of audio errors.

He then asked me to try the wand. Trying to leave caused, "...afraid?" to pop up. I used the wand, trying to defy it. The screen flashed white for a second followed by every tree on fire. The owl giggled, flapping his wings and screaming about how "they" can be given no quarter.

Everything in the forest was on fire, including some floor panels. Eventually I was out, the high-pitched noise ringing the entire time along with the sound of burning. I decided to talk to the villagers to see if there had been a change in their dialogue. I started with Madame Meowmeow.

It was similar to the witch. The thumping noise started again as soon as I entered the screen she was on. Meowmeow starts pleading and the audio for her text sounded like crying. She apologized, saying they were just too hungry. The same screeching noise plays before her sprite freezes.

When I left her house, Bow-wow was gone. I went back inside to see what happened. Madame Meowmeow was in pieces with blood all over. Bow-wow was moving from piece to piece. Interacting with him brought up a box that talked about how happy he seemed. How hungry.

Leaving the house, I saw the owl again. He was eager to keep going. He told me to play the lullaby. It would speed things along. The prospect bothered me, but getting through this insult to my childhood faster sounded good.

Playing the lullaby led me to a room like the ones you'd find at the end of each dungeon. There was a treasure chest and two full heart pieces. A plaque on the wall read that for every "one you carry out," you'd receive new treasures. I took the items, one of which was the Roc's Feather, and left through an exit at the rear of the room that brought me back to Marin's house.

Trees blocked off the plains and beach, the forest by fire. The select glitch brought me to a black screen and I was forced to reset. There was no way out of the village.

It was an odd, cruel cycle. I approached a villager, they said something, that horrible screeching noise played, and I came back to see something horrific and disturbing. I'll post the dialogue and how I found them here.

• Crazy Tracy: "Before you do it, tell me I'm pretty." || A bloody pile with what looked like skin to the right.
• Richard: "You silence only a symptom. I was merely the first." || His hands and tongue formed a triangle around him. He was in a pool of blood.
• Ulrira: "You actually let me think I'd go to old age. How unkind." || He was lying sideways with the telephone where his head would have been. The blood scattered on the floor made it look like his head had been smashed apart with the phone.
• Ulrira's Wife: "I won't hide. I won't give you the pleasure." || I never saw her, but when I tried to interact with one of the cabinets, it said, "She's finished bleeding out. Leave her in there."
• Cucco Keeper: "Ha ha, I'll find a way out!" || Impaled on the Cucco Statue.
• The Fishermen: "The funniest part? I don't regret it." "Me either." || Their fishing poles are by the pond. If you interact with them, it reads, "No more bubbles. You'd reel them up, but it would just tear it off."
• Papahl, Wife, and Child: "Anything! Name it, it's yours! I can get it! I can get anything!" "Mercy. The one thing I couldn't get my hands on." "Why?" || Found them hung by what appears to be the hookshot chain.
• Shopkeeper: "Everything I've got, here and back home. Information, powders, weapons. Just lemme sail away. You'll never hear from me again." || Found him in pieces with arrows in his torso. The fact that the bombs and bow were missing suggests that's what was used.
• Mr. Write: "I Never stopped, you know. Here's the key. You'll need a magnifying lens." || He was sitting at his desk, black pixels around where his mouth was and his hands cut off. I didn't catch on to what the pixels were about until later.

When I killed the last victim, the owl appeared. He thanked me for helping him to fulfill his role. He said I'd find Marin in front of the library.

I found Marin, who said it was almost time to go. She gave me the magnifying lens and told me to take my time. Inside, there were more books out than in the original, with one blank bookstand near the entrance. Each was a profile organized by crime and sentence. From top left to bottom right:

• Richard staged a coup against the Hyrule royal family. He was left to bleed to death publicly after having his hands cut off and tongue removed as punishment.
• Ulrira, a former advisor, betrayed the throne as Richard's informant. His skull was caved in with the medium that represented communication.
• Ulrira's wife hid criminals and rebels in support of her husband and Richard. She was given a small but mortal wound and bound before being left to die in a small, confined space similar to the ones she used to hide others.
• Mr. Write wrote slander during the coup. His hands were cut off to rob him of his favorite pastime before being force-fed enough ink to burst his stomach.
• Papahl and his family were thieves. They were hung facing one another so the last thing they could steal was a look at their suffering loved ones.
• Crazy Tracy was a man who skinned women and wore their flesh. He would wear the face as a mask and hide within what looked like a seat, the body stuffed to appear as though it was sitting. That's why the body seemed so much smaller. He was skinned alive.
• Syrup kidnapped and sacrificed a child to the black arts. She was forced to watch the bones from her arms and legs be used in making magic powder before being beheaded.
• Cucco Keeper was a felon who escaped every prison in Hyrule. He was impaled on a statue that represented freedom.
• The Fishermen were pedophiles. They were drowned with their genitals attached to fishing hooks.
• Madame Meowmeow killed her children and fed them to her pets. She was diced into pieces and served to animals.
• The Shopkeeper was a powerful criminal drugs and arms dealer. He was killed with his own wares, with magic powder forced down his throat.
• Tarin was a serial rapist. He was transformed into a literal beast and executed.

At this point, I felt sick. That low thumping in place of music wasn't helping. It grew slower and duller, as if the sound were trudging along. I spoke with Marin and she explained the rest of it.

Koholint is a prison island. The worst of Hyrule's criminals are sent there before receiving their death sentence from the judge, the owl. He had been waiting for an executioner, someone to carry out his will. Link was sent from Hyrule to enact the wishes of the throne, leaving their carcasses as a warning to the next group.

Marin was innocent. She had been wrongfully sentenced for a gruesome crime she had no part in. She accepted that she would be killed by the executioner, but refused to give Hyrule the satisfaction of fearing it. Nor would she let her name be passed around in horror stories. She saved Link so he could tell them they had failed to break her.

She asked if I was ready to end it. I was given the option of "Yes" or "No," but choosing "No" just let me explore the village again. When I said "Yes," the screen faded to white.

It came back up to an animation of Link (or rather, Black) sailing away. He looked satisfied. Happy, even. It cut to a drawing of the library. Marin was lying propped up against the wall with her eyes rolled back. Her throat and stomach had been cut open and a huge slash was across her face. A lot of care was given to the blood and guts. It was disturbing. The picture stuck with me long after I turned off the game.

Bold text appeared in front of her that read, "CONGRATULATIONS." Beneath that, in smaller print, was "You're the hero of Hyrule!" It faded to black and white text appeared on the screen.

"And no one will ever know you volunteered for it."