KingBartz ranks the 15 Super Mario 64 stages(WITH WRITE-UP !!).

Tiers

DECENT TIER --- 15 Dire, Dire Docks 14 Snowman's Land 13 Wet-Dry World

GOOD TIER

12 Bob-omb Battlefield 11 Jolly Roger Bay 10 Tiny-Huge Island 9 Cool, Cool Mountain

AWESOME TIER

8 Whomp's Fortress 7 6 5 4

GOD TIER

3 2 1

Ranked 15th - STAGE 9: Dire, Dire Docks

This was very much the easiest stage to rank. Easily the least memorable stage in the game, it feels like they threw this one in at the last minute as an excuse to introduce Bowser's sub. The stars are ridiculously generic and boring. A repeat of the chest sequence, three beat the clock stars(two which are merely "get the cap and get the star" ones), red coin, and a swim through obstacles star.

Also, if I'm not mistaken, this is the smallest stage in the game. Not much reason to play around in this one, and it's probably the most non-linear stage in the game(#14 on my list is right up there in non-linearity). Not to mention that it's a water stage. Ugh.

Ranked 14th - STAGE 10: Snowman's Land

This stage had its moments and I wish I could rank it higher, but I don't think it can stand up to the rest. The snow is fun but bothersome, and they put in a nice effect of making freezing water. Like most Mario 64 stages, the level has a tall area in the middle that the area revolves around. Unfortunately, that is the only stand-out in this stage beside the igloo.

The stars are nothing that stands out. climb to the top, fight a bully on ice(probably one of the more frustrating stars in the game), an easy ice block puzzle thing, another easy one on the ledge, scattered red coins, and using the vanish cap in the igloo. Like DDD, this stage is also very small and non-linear.

Plus getting your ****ing hat blown off is a pain in the butt and just stupid. I hate those invisible bag of coin enemies. This stage would have been great with some linear platformer star(I guess you could count star 1, but barely). Too bad the stage is frustrating more than fun.

Ranked 13th - STAGE 11: Wet-Dry World

I fell in love with this stage when I first saw it; then I tried to navigate it. The shifting water levels is a really cool concept, but lacks something in the execution. When I think of this stage now, the first thing I remember is trying to get back up to the top using those scooper robot things... It's nice that you can determine the starting water level by how high you enter the painting, but good luck figuring that out on your own.

This stage deals with a lot of water, and I am somewhat biased against swimming stages in this game. It's just not that fun imo. The secret city made things interesting, but the stars in the stage are all fairly straightforward, excepting maybe the one where you have to walk on the five places. The stage has no cliffs, so there's no fear of falling, and combined with the lack of enemies scattered around, makes it feel a little too tame.

Still fun times, but not very memorable. That rounds up the Decent tier of SM64 levels.

Ranked 12th - STAGE 1: Bob-omb Battlefield

I'm surely going to catch crap for this one, but I feel there's none other I can rank below this one. BB is great as a first level and really brings you into the game and teaches you how to play. The stars are entertaining and each is there to show you new skills you will need throughout the game.

One thing I have to admire about SM64 is how delightfully smooth the learning curve is. The non-linear layout of the game allows you many choices on which star you want to take on, and there are always several options.

Bob-omb Battlefield is a nice open stage that is easy and fun to explore, but overall not a lot to do there. It seems for most of the activities you go along the same path. Of course it is just the first stage so it cannot be blamed, but objectively there is not much that stands out from this stage.

Ranked 11th - STAGE 3: Jolly Roger Bay

TWO Stars where you have to open chests in a certain order in the same stage! I guess that maybe I don't blame Nintendo for doing that, as there isn't much else to do in Jolly Roger Bay.

The last water stage to be ranked, and I can barely count it better than the others. It has a bright spot in the eel, as that thing was scary as hell when I first played the game. Also the cannon was fun to play around with in that small stage.

I know I am biased against water stages, but imo there was so much potential for the underwater areas that was never realized. Every water level is too small to really get a feel for exploration, which would be very refreshing in a stage of that sort.

The most involved star in this level imo is the 100 coin star, as that forces you to cover pretty much the entire stage to collect them all.

Ranked 10th - STAGE 13: Tiny-Huge Island

This is a great stage. Whenever I think of this one I always think of the Giant world in SMB3... but this stage probably isn't as fun as that game was. Although they implemented an amazing idea in this level, Nintendo could have done so much more with this. Instead they based the level around the tired CLIMB-THE-MOUNTAIN-IN-THE-CENTER format after which half of the game's levels take. There are good entertaining puzzles here, but this level always feels like there just isn't that much to do.

Even so, Tiny-Huge Island is a fun experience. Trying to figure out how to navigate that windy gap had me scared to death when it didn't have me amazed. And I won't forget the first time Tiny Mario got eaten by the giant fish. This level has a lot of obstacles for its small size, making it more of a challenge then many of the other stages.

The cave had me excited when I first entered it, until I realized there wasn't much more than grabbing the red coins and killing wiggler. I would have liked more exploration inside the cave.

Ranked 9th - STAGE 4: Cool, Cool Mountain

It was difficult to rank this stage so low, but from here on out, I absolutely love every stage that follows. I really like CCM, but there are a couple flaws that force me to place it lower.

First, the snow gets old after a while. The fact that it protects Mario from falling damage makes falling from the top pretty harmless(of course they had to put in the hip-drop no damage trick in the game, making all long falls survivable). It's a nice gimmick, put I don't appreciate all of the traction and momentum issues that snow and ice cause. Maybe it's because I'm a kid from the desert or something.

Second, the penguins piss me off; the fat racing penguin that always pushes me off the slide and the whiny babies who always runs away. Of course, I got kicks from tossing those thing off the edge, so I guess the penguins aren't all bad. That's enough about that one.

Besides those two problems I have, this stage is outstanding. The slide is fun and great preparation for that other slide later on, and there are two stars to be gained there. It's the only mountain stage where you start at the top as opposed to the bottom, and there is no way to climb up the mountain the way you go down. Of course the teleport spot ruins that, but I guess you can't have everything.

The last star is a nice challenge at the beginning of the game, I believe the first one to use wall jumping. I just wish they didn't have those flower-head things at the top to float your way down and cheat.

This is the last "good" stage, and I love SM64 for having even the worst stages be okay. With half of the stages being outstanding, I consider the minor flaws in this first half forgivable.

Ranked 8th - STAGE 2: Whomp's Fortress

I was surprised at how much hate WF has gotten in this topic. I remember hating this stage when I first played the game, but only because it poses such challenges that are unique to the 3D Mario world. Besides Tick-Tock Clock, I don't remember a stage that frustrated me as much as this one when I first tried it.

I was a 9 year old boy who got WAY too emotionally involved into the games I played, and this stage scared the crap out of me at first. It's the first stage to feature the bottomless cliff, and the stage starts with running across a series of obstacles that will push you or drop you off said cliff. Having been raised on 2D video games, adjusting to moving in 3D was a difficult process and resulted in countless plunges off those cliffs. These cliffs, coupled with the fear of heights I experienced at that age, made me scared to death of this level.

As I became I little older I started to appreciate how well built this stage is. It's small, but the climb is challenging and there are plenty of opportunities to fall. The atmosphere that is established here is solid; nothing seems out of place in this stage. The owl is a nice little toy they threw into the level and provided a lot of fun. Funny story about that owl... I didn't know how to control it at first and didn't think it could be used to reach the star in the cage, so I figured you needed the cannon to reach that star. It took several tries, but i actually got the cannon to shoot me up there.

The main reason that I enjoy this stage so much is because it is solid platforming. Almost all of the stars require you to jump along shifting, spinning, or moving platforms, and that requires some precision. I know I am biased towards the platforming stages a little bit, but that is what I feel that Mario is all about. I really love this stage and some of my fondest SM64 memories come from this one.