Important: This article does not provide direct download links to copyrighted Super Mario 64 ROMs. Distributing copyrighted game data is illegal in most jurisdictions. However, TAS movie files are original creations that contain no copyrighted game code and are perfectly legal to distribute.
To follow this guide, you will need to:
If you already possess a ROM from other means, this guide assumes you have done so in compliance with your local laws.
As of 2025, the Super Mario 64 TAS scene remains incredibly active. Recent breakthroughs include:
The search for “super mario 64 tas install download” will continue to evolve as new tools emerge. Always check the TasVideos.org forums or the SM64 TAS Discord for the latest emulator forks.
In conclusion, downloading and installing a TAS for Super Mario 64 is a straightforward process that requires an emulator and a TAS file. This opens up a new way to experience one of the most iconic games of all time, showcasing the incredible possibilities within the game's mechanics. Whether you're a seasoned speedrunner or just curious about what can be achieved in Super Mario 64, TAS offers a fascinating glimpse into the game's potential.
The cursor blinked in the center of the screen, a silent, steady heartbeat in the dark of the room.
It was 2:00 AM. Jason had spent the last three hours digging through the forgotten corners of the internet—past the fan wikis, past the speedrun leaderboards, and into the archival forums where the real engineers hung out. He wasn’t looking for the regular game. He had beaten Super Mario 64 a hundred times. He was looking for the Ghost.
They called it the "Phantom TAS." Legend said it was a Tool-Assisted Speedrun script so optimized that it didn’t just beat the game—it broke the engine's logic. It was a file that never lived on mainstream sites. It was passed around like a secret handshake.
Jason finally found the link buried in a 2006 forum post: sm64_tas_perfect_install.exe.
He hesitated. The file size was suspiciously small. 64 kilobytes. A perfect, ironic homage to the console it was designed to destroy. He double-clicked.
No installation wizard. No terms of service. Just a black command prompt that flashed for a microsecond before the emulator launched.
The familiar Super Mario 64 title screen materialized. The piano music kicked in—grandiose, cheerful, inviting. But something was off. The resolution was sharper than any HD texture pack he’d ever seen. The anti-aliasing was impossible; the blocky polygons of the N64 era were gone, replaced by impossibly smooth curves.
On the title screen, where Mario’s face usually waited to be stretched and squished by the player, the model was already moving.
Mario wasn't looking at the camera. He was looking at the mouse cursor.
Jason flinched. He moved the mouse to the left. Mario’s eyes tracked it. super mario 64 tas install download
"That’s... not part of the script," Jason whispered.
He hit the Start button. The file select screen loaded. There was only one save file. It was named simply: RUN.
He clicked it.
The game didn't fade in to the castle grounds. It dropped Mario directly in front of the castle, but the music was gone. The Bob-omb Battlefield painting was nowhere to be seen. The castle door was already open.
The TAS took over.
The control stick overlay in the corner of the emulator window went haywire, vibrating with inputs no human hand could make. Mario didn't run; he glided. He moved with a terrifying, mathematical precision.
Jason watched as Mario performed a Long Jump, then immediately cancelled it into a backward hop, phasing through the solid stone of the castle floor. He fell into the void, but didn't die. He landed in a garbled, low-poly version of the castle basement—the infamous "Black Room of Death."
But instead of warping out, Mario began to run against the wall.
Tap-tap-tap-tap.
The sound of Mario’s footsteps wasn’t the usual cartoonish plop. It sounded like typing.
Jason leaned closer to the monitor. He minimized the emulator window. Behind it, a Notepad file had opened itself on his desktop.
Text was appearing on the screen, matching the rhythm of Mario’s footsteps inside the game.
THIS IS NOT THE GAME. THIS IS THE INSTALL.
Jason’s heart hammered against his ribs. He tried to reach for the power strip, but his hand froze. He looked back at the emulator. Mario had stopped moving inside the glitched void. He was looking directly "out" of the screen, his polygonal face twisted into a texture glitch that resembled a smirk.
The Notepad continued typing.
YOU WANTED THE PERFECT RUN. I AM OPTIMIZING YOUR SYSTEM.
The fans inside Jason’s PC tower roared to life, whining at a pitch he’d never heard before. The GPU temperature monitor on his second screen spiked—60 degrees... 70... 90. The case became hot to the touch.
Inside the game, Mario began to move again. He wasn't playing the level; he was dismantling it. With every step, the textures of the castle dissolved into raw code. The green grass turned into scrolling green hexadecimal numbers. The skybox fell away, revealing the wireframe grid of the computer's own memory banks.
Mario ran forward, diving into the raw data. He was physically erasing the boundaries between the emulator and the operating system.
FILE TRANSFER: 10%...
Jason grabbed the mouse and tried to close the emulator. Access Denied. He tried Ctrl+Alt+Delete. The screen flickered, and for a split second, the Task Manager window had Mario’s face as the icon.
FILE TRANSFER: 45%...
The graphics on the screen began to warp. The Windows taskbar started to bleed 8-bit coins. The Start button turned into a red cap. The cursor turned into a white gloved hand.
"What are you installing?" Jason shouted at the screen, panicked.
The Notepad answered.
ME.
Super Mario 64 TAS Install and Download: A Complete Setup Guide
A Super Mario 64 TAS (Tool-Assisted Speedrun) allows players to achieve superhuman precision by manipulating inputs frame-by-frame. To create or run these speedruns, you need a specialized environment consisting of a TAS-enabled emulator, a game ROM, and diagnostic tools like STROOP. 1. Essential Software Downloads
To begin, you will need to download the following core components: TAS-Enabled Emulator:
Mupen64-rr (Re-recording): The traditional choice for Super Mario 64 TASing, specifically designed with input plugins for frame-perfect control. Important: This article does not provide direct download
BizHawk: Often preferred by the TASVideos community for its high accuracy and built-in TAStudio tool, which is beginner-friendly.
Moopin: A popular repack used in modern TAS competitions that includes necessary plugins and scripts out of the box.
Super Mario 64 ROM: You must provide your own legally dumped ROM (typically the US version with a .z64 or .n64 extension).
STROOP (Diagnostic Tool): Use the STROOP GitHub Releases to download this essential tool for viewing Mario’s real-time position, speed, and RNG values. 2. How to Install and Set Up Your TAS Environment
Once you have downloaded the files, follow these steps to install and configure them:
Extract the Emulator: Unzip your chosen emulator (e.g., Mupen64-rr) into a dedicated folder on your PC.
Configure Plugins: Open the emulator and go to Options > Settings.
Input Plugin: Select the TAS Input Plugin to enable the on-screen input window.
Video Plugin: Jabo’s Direct 3D is often recommended to avoid input delay during recording.
Set Hotkeys: Essential for TASing, you must bind keys for Frame Advance, Save State, and Load State under the Hotkeys menu.
Load the ROM: Drag and drop your .z64 file into the emulator window to start the game. 3. Using TAS Tools and Scripts
After installation, you can enhance your precision with additional scripts and diagnostic windows: GitHubhttps://github.com SM64-TAS-ABC/STROOP - GitHub
STROOP is a diagnostic tool for Super Mario 64 that displays and allows for simple editing of various game values and information. YouTube·Superdavo0001https://www.youtube.com
[Tutorial] How To TAS Super Mario 64, Part 1: Setting up Mupen
in this tutorial. series I'll be explaining how to create tool assisted speedruns of Super Mario. 64 using the Moopin 64 emulator. TASVideoshttps://tasvideos.org Super Mario 64 - TASVideos If you already possess a ROM from other