Super Mario 64 Brings Back Unused Enemy Via ROM Hack

Despite being almost 25 years old, it looks like Super Mario 64 still has some secrets up its sleeve. After a Nintendo leak spilled the Mario 64 source code, fans have found some surprising things hidden in the game--first Luigi, and now a previously unseen enemy.

The new enemy is called "motos" in the game files, similarly to the bullies, who are referred to as "otos" in the source code. With the same big bulbous body as bullies or bob-ombs, the motos is distinguished from both of them by virtue of having hands, or rather claws. It also has a small, robot-like head with glowing eyes, instead of large eyes in the center of its body.

Behavior-wise, the motos has more in common with chuckyas, the boxing-gloved purple enemies with the ability to pick Mario up and throw him. Unlike the chuckyas, however, the motos seems to go out of his way to throw Mario off the edge of the platform.

As YouTuber Arthurtilly describes in the video desciption, a few code tweaks were required to make the motos functional--implementing the previously unused "falling over" animation, adding the "lava death" and blue coin reward from other enemies in the level, making him faster and changing his throw velocity slightly.

Now all that's left to do is wait for someone to release all the extra Mario 64 content as a complete ROM hack--maybe this time with Luigi as the protagonist.