Super Mario 64 big star secret (partially found YouTube screamer video; 2007-2012)

The video's thumbnail as found on a Facebook page.

Status: Partially Found

On August 15th, 2007, a YouTube user by the name of LotusMan17 uploaded a screamer video by the name of "Super Mario 64 big star secret".^[1] It would later be deleted from his channel in early-2012.

During those five years, it had quite a degree of popularity, with the last known archive of the video showing that it garnered upwards of 698,316 views (possibly having even more before it was deleted), and was also shared on many forums to try and trick other users into getting jumpscared.

The Video

The video was edited with Windows Movie Maker 2, containing several scrolling text titles to provide steps on how to unlock Luigi.

In the video, Lotus had recorded the screen of his computer with a flip phone (believed to be a Motorola RAZR V3) to "give it a more genuine look." He had modified the castle with the level editor "Toad’s Tool 64" to add a door to the right wall next to the main lobby’s staircase and to change Mario’s shirt/hat to blue and his overalls to black. A few other changes were made in the level editor, such as the swapping of the castle’s gray brick texture to a black one that Lotus himself created in MS Paint.

The video was eventually muted to avoid copyright but then later AudioSwapped. Before the video was AudioSwapped, it is believed that the songs used were "Whispers in the Dark" by Skillet and "Those Chosen by the Planet" from Final Fantasy VII, Most people recall hearing "Dreamscape" by 009 Sound System; however, after some digging into several comments, it was thought that the actual song that was likely used was "Database" by Alexander Perls, who was also the creator of 009 Sound System. Lotus recalls having been emailed an offer to put a song on his video in exchange for roughly $40, which he gladly took. It also might be “Bring Me To Life” by Evanescence, but we can’t be sure.

The video began in the starting area of the game, with Mario running into the castle. Many recalled that part of the video took place in the level Bob-Omb Battlefield, but after an interview with Lotus, this was confirmed as untrue. The entire video took place inside the castle, with the majority of it being inside the courtyard.

Several text prompts (made with Windows Movie Maker titles) would occasionally show up to provide more steps to "unlock Luigi." Many can recall a step to "kick a Boo." The original uploader (Lotus) recalls a step to run around the fountain a certain amount of times. After a few more minutes worth of steps, a final text prompt shows up, saying something along the lines of "Press A on this wall," which was then followed up with an abrupt cut to the zombie jumpscare from the end of the infamous K-Fee coffee commercial.

Availability

After contacting Lotus himself, he stated that he didn't remember why he deleted the video and that he might have deleted it accidentally; but after finding an updated description of the video on a Facebook page made in late 2011, it appears that the video was most likely deleted purposely due to the large volume of hate and death threats he had received because of the jumpscare fakeout.

The updated description read:

"This video was done out of complete boredom, and yet people still wish to leave hateful comments. Therefore commenting has been disabled."

In any case, Lotus has confirmed that he no longer has the original video.

The Internet Archive admins have also confirmed that the video is not in their archives.

The reaction video titled "Little brother getting scared. Late reaction" contains low-quality footage of the screamer, which shows roughly 8 seconds of the start, and the last 20 seconds of the video.

On May 30th, 2024, new footage was uncovered by users mahvl, SindexMon, and CharmyTheChattyBinks, after contacting a YouTube user who had a privated reaction to the screamer.