Big Boo's Haunt

For a tutorial on speedrunning this star, see the RTA Guide

For a tutorial on RTABC for this star, see the RTABC Guide

Big Boo's Haunt, also known as BBH, is the fifth course of Super Mario 64. It is accessed by defeating the Big Boo in Castle Courtyard, then jumping into the Haunted Cage that it drops. Big Boo's Haunt is only accessible if Mario has at least 12 Power Stars, as the Boos in the Courtyard do not spawn until then.

Big Boo's Haunt
Course Info
Abbreviation	BBH
Terrain	Spooky
Setting	Dark
Water	Small
Course Items
Coins	52 (  ×16  •   ×8  •   ×4)
Enemy Coins	99 (  ×14  •   ×17)
Stars	×7
Caps	×3
Star Navigation
Overview

Course Versions

There are two course versions that appear depending on the selected star.

• Version 1: Accessed by selecting Star 1. The main room's staircase is embedded in the floor, and killing each Boo will present text before Big Boo appears.
• Version 2: Accessed by selecting Stars 2 through 6. The staircase is present, and Boos will be present at the merry-go-round.

Coins

Big Boo's Haunt's coin total is 151. Of this number, 105 come from the 21 Blue Coins in the course, the most out of any course. Big Boo's Haunt does not have any known Infinite Coin Glitches, so its coin limit is 151.

Location	Count
Yellow [!] behind mansion	10
Two cork boxes near shed	6
Crazy Box outside	5
3 Scuttlebugs (outside)	9
8 red coins	16
Blue coin block (attic)	20
11 Boos	55
3 Mr. I's	15
3 Bookends	15
Total	151

A Press Counts

In the A Button Challenge, all seven stars can be collected without A presses.

Note that previously, it was believed that the only way to go to the second floor (in 0x A) is by selecting version 1, and use VSC while the stairs are raising. However, now it is discovered that it is actualy possible to climb the last step with the stars already raised by using negative VSC to fall precisely so that a quarterframe is in the right location to preform a glitchy ledge grab (other steps can simply be reached by using a misalignment).

Star	A Presses	Minutes
1	0	1
2	0	3
3	0	<1
4	0	2
5	0	33
6	0	123 (2 hours)
100	0	2

Entering Big Boo's Haunt (0x)

Video: https://youtu.be/mlHzqJn2SMs?t=1m10s

Mario can defeat the Big Boo using a multitude of moves (punching, slide-kicking, diving, sliding), none of which require the A button.

Go On a Ghost Hunt (0x)

Video: https://youtu.be/YjY5K65Yi44

Mario needs to defeat all boos on the first floor and defeat Big Boo to collect the star at the entrance to the second floor accessed by a rising staircase.

The star is 281 units above the floor , barely reachable by dive-recovering.

Ride Big Boo's Merry-Go-Round (0x)

Main article: Ride Big Boo's Merry-Go-Round

Video: https://youtu.be/x-Ry122OOuA

Version 2 must be used for boos to show up in the merry-go-round. The biggest obstacle is finding a way to reach the star since it is 357 units above the floor. After many ideas trying to go out of bounds to utilize VSC failed, Pannenkoek eventually found a method to use a scuttlebug's bounce to reach the star.

To execute this strategy, Mario first needs to lure a scuttlebug outside the mansion to a specific location via Scuttlebug transportation, and then raise it.

On the old, slower strat, Scuttlebug is being raised for many hours (3 hours or 10 hours depending on which method is used). This will place a scuttlebug in a vertical PU (VPU 1). Then, Mario will go outside to perform a specific maneuver to lure the scuttlebug to the specified location as it is falling through floors and ceilings, ending up above a floor in the merry-go-round by snapping it to a wall nearby via scuttlebug wall snapping. The movement is very precise as to not prematurely let it interact with the wrong wall in the VPU and snap into the wrong location. Once the scuttlebug is in place, Mario enters the merry-go-round room, beating up boos and proceeding the level as normal, and finishes up by bouncing on the scuttlebug to reach the star.

On the new, faster strat, after setting the HOLP, Scuttlebug is raised for only 2 minutes, until it reaches the shed's roof. Then, a hat in hand glitch is preformed, and Mario grabs the crazy box. On the last bounce, the bouncing is interrupted by hitting a raised scuttlebug, which drops the crazy box (on the HOLP laterally, but at Mario's heihgt). After beating up the Boos, Mario reactivates the crazy box and grabs it before it falls on the floor and disappears. The crazy box is used to reach the star.

Secret of the Haunted Books (0x)

Video: https://youtu.be/rrSdI57l2O4

The bookshelf puzzle is solved by pushing the three books in a high-low-middle order, the highest one being fortunately reachable by dive-recovering. After revealing the other side and go through the door, the star can be reached by sliding on the rails and then ground-pound midair to gain enough height to collect the star.

Seek the 8 Red Coins (0x)

Video: https://youtu.be/yBvptqoQ6w4

Four coins are located on the first floor, two of which locating on top of the bookshelf which requires careful manipulations of two boos and a flying book to bounce on them. Afterwards, Mario picks up the remaining four coins on the second floor to spawn the star and then collects it.

Big Boo's Balcony (0x)

Main article: Big Boo's Balcony

Video: https://youtu.be/CLksdecIacA

The star is located on the roof, which can be accessed from the third floor of the mansion. The biggest obstacle is going to the third floor of the mansion without pressing A. Under normal conditions, the crazy box does not go high enough to reach the roof (to meet Big Boo), and jumping from the second floor to the third floor requires an A press. Therefore, the solution is to transport and raise the scuttlebugs and place them inside the mansion.

Pannenkoek raises three scuttlebugs for 13 hours to place them in Vertical PU (VPU 2) in order to have enough time to perform the maneuver outside to induce a lunge, moving them into the mansion and snapping them onto the library on the second floor. Then, Pannenkoek raises them for another 8 minutes to isolate their heights so that Mario can bounce on them.

The raising of the scuttlebugs is all done before Mario even begins beating the boos to access the second floor (via VSC). Afterwards, Mario enters the roof and goes up the slopes to go on top of the item block. Finally, he defeats the Big Boo by performing many breakdances and collects the star.

The faster strat uses star dance clip, as it allows raising scuttlebug while staying in only one room.

Eye to Eye in the Secret Room (0x)

Main article: Big Boo's Balcony

Video: https://youtu.be/80-X66pVv5k

The same maneuver is performed so as to reach the third floor, except it is even more difficult. The secret room, where the star is located, is only accessible by putting on a vanish cap, and therefore Mario has a strict time limit to reach the third floor without the cap running out. The only route fast enough for this is to navigate from the second floor to the third floor, instead of taking the detour outside the mansion to reach the roof.

Therefore, Mario begins placing the scuttlebugs into vertical PUs. He manipulates them in the same location as used in Big Boo's Balcony (13 hours are spent in this phase), and then he navigates up the mansion with VSC and scuttlebug bouncing while picking up a vanish cap during the process. He rushes into the secret room in time, defeats Mr. I swiftly, and finally collects the star.

The faster strat uses faster Scuttlebug raising, which makes Scuttlebugs preserving lunging speed while turning towards their home.

BBH 100 Coins (0x)

Video: https://youtu.be/ApIxdRirfOk

There are fortunately enough coins to collect on the first floor and basement of Big Boo's Haunt. Version 2 is used here, using the coins from Boos and Mr. I as primary sources. The version later than Star 2 is used as otherwise the merry-go-round would not have boos flying out. The red coins on the bookshelf are the trickiest ones the collect since Boos and flying books need to be manipulated.

Other Challenges

In the Coinless Challenge, excluding coin missions, all stars can be collected. The same stars can be collected in the CCC Challenge, with Eye to Eye in the Secret Room requiring Hyperspeed Wall Jumps to clip into the room.

In the Capless/Cannonless Challenge, all seven stars can be collected.

In the No Buttons Allowed Challenge, no stars can be collected.

In the No Joystick Allowed Challenge, no stars can be collected, as they all require entering doors.

In the Pacifist Challenge, Secret of the Haunted Books and Seek the 8 Red Coins can be collected in isolation. However, they cannot be collected in a full-game run because Big Boo's Haunt requires killing a Boo to enter.

In the B Button Challenge, the entire course is possible in 0 B presses.

In the Z Button Challenge, the entire course is possible in 0 Z presses.

In the UBER Challenge, Secret of the Haunted Books can be collected in isolation. However, Big Boo's Haunt cannot be entered at all in a full-game run, because it requires killing a Boo to enter.

There is an unsolved challenge in this course, to get more coins than intended.