Have you ever wanted to experience a beloved children’s game as a work of horror? Now you can, in the demo of a new game based on Super Mario 64. Developed by CM9_Animation, a self-described “SM64 Machinimist,” “Another Princess is in Our Castle” is a horror mystery game that turns Peach’s Castle from Super Mario 64 into a haunted house. Set in first-person perspective, you play as a version of Mario who “decides to come back to Peach’s castle a few years after the princess’ death, but something isn’t quite right.”
The demo has you collecting eight statues hidden around the castle and trying to unravel the mystery. All the while, you’re being chased by the ghost of Princess Peach, who has been tweaked from her cute original sprite into a bleached, ghostly figure that is legitimately horrifying. The castle has the same layout as it does in the original game, but doors that once opened seamlessly are now locked, and you can hide in chests to escape Peach’s watchful eye. Jump scares abound, and there’s a new soundtrack that gives sneaking around the castle an extra creepy weight.
Super Mario 64 has a long history of being modded, including ROM hacks and versions that let you play levels of subsequent games in the series, like Super Mario Odyssey, inside of 64. Other mods have recreated the game inside other games, like this unreleased Minecraft mod that put Super Mario 64’s engine into the popular sandbox crafting game.
While the game isn’t yet complete, CM9 has promised the demo will eventually be built out into a full game. For now, you can play through the demo yourself on itch.io.