Super Mario 63/Story

The story of Super Mario 63 follows a plot much different from Super Mario 64 or Super Mario Sunshine.

Introduction cinematic
At the beginning of the game's tutorial, Mario is on his way to Princess Peach's castle, where she and her retainers, the Toads, are planning a surprise party for him. Following this brief cutscene is the tutorial level. Once Mario enters the Warp Pipe at the end of the level, a new cutscene begins.

Bowser approaches the castle
Bowser is shown approaching Peach's Castle in an airship staffed by many Koopas. Kamek, a high-ranking official and Bowser's childhood teacher/caretaker, informs Bowser that his airship is fully prepared for combat. Bowser begins phase 1 of his "master plan", which is to invade Peach's Castle.

Arrival of Mario and Bowser
Meanwhile, Mario is shown approaching the castle. A Toad informs the princess that he had finished hanging banners in the castle for Mario's surprise party. Peach tells the Toads that Mario's cake, which is still sitting in the refrigerator, must be heated up for the party. A Toad runs into the castle to take care of it, telling her that there should be enough time, as Mario must be half an hour from the castle. Other Toads to the left of the princess argue over what exactly is the occasion that they are celebrating.

Mario subsequently arrives, surprising the princess and the Toads, one of whom notes the irony. Peach apprises Mario of his swiftness, then a Toad notices a noise. All turn to the side and notice Bowser's airship, which now has the Bullet Bill Base activated. Bowser orders the invasion to begin. Bullet Bills are shot at the castle, though the castle's force field deflects them. Goomba paratroopers parachute down to the ground. Toads run about, panicking. Kamek flies toward the castle, penetrating the force field with a magic spell that created a temporary hole.

Mario is shown panicking as well, but as soon as Kamek arrives to attack Mario, Mario engages in combat with Kamek, avoiding his spells and summoned enemies. Off to the side, Bowser confronts Princess Peach and breathes fire at her, which she blocks by holding a Toad in front of her, sacrificing him. Bowser then orders Kamek to get rid of Mario. Kamek hesitates, then responds to his order, but instead uses his magic to anesthetize Mario rather than kill him.

Bowser enters the castle
Bowser then enters the castle and finds the Shine Sprite Orb, the entity responsible for guarding the Orb of Power. Upon request, Kamek gives Bowser a status report, stating that the Toads have retreated to safety and that princess has been captured. Kamek tells Bowser that Mario is unconscious and will not awake for a few hours, but announces that the battle was won. Bowser affirms that everything is going according to his plan. By Bowser's order, Kamek destroys the Shine Sprite Orb, releasing the Shine Sprites; Kamek remarks that they will drift around aimlessly until they are eventually lost forever. Kamek asks about Mario, but Bowser tells him that having Mario around will not be a risk to his plan, as Bowser is content with having him as an opponent. Bowser then begins his search for the Orb of Power, which is revealed later in the story to have been successful.

Mario's convalescence
Bowser and Kamek having evacuated, Mario is woken up by a Toad named Eddie after four hours of trying. Eddie remarks that the kingdom is shrouded in darkness, indicating that the Shine Sprite Orb must have been broken. Mario reacts in shock, but notices a Shine Sprite laying in the brush in front of the castle. He picks it up and plays with it as Eddie explains that the Shine Sprites were not destroyed, just scattered. He tells Mario that there is hope to restore the world if the Shine Sprites are brought back to the castle.

Upon entering the castle, Eddie remarks that the castle is also dark inside, but invites Mario to follow him upstairs to the room where the Shine Sprite Orb used to be. Eddie asks Mario to hand the Shine Sprite to him, but it automatically places itself in the correct place and reforms the Shine Sprite Orb around itself. Eddie instead volunteers to stand guard in the room while Mario goes out to collect enough Shine Sprites to override the spells that were placed on the castle, which is revealed later in the story to be 32. Eddie informs Mario that one of the rooms in the Main Hall only needed that first Shine Sprite present to be unlocked. Mario then enters the magical paintings in various rooms to access other places in the world where Shine Sprites may be found, which is the main focus of the game. Each time Mario collects a Shine Sprite, its magic returns him to the castle. As more Shine Sprites are returned to the castle, various spells on the castle that kept certain doors locked are progressively lifted.

The Dark World
After having collected at least 8 Shine Sprites, Mario is able to open a door that leads to a lair Bowser has set up in the Dark World. Mario makes his way to a warp pipe that leads to a platform where Bowser is waiting. Bowser taunts Mario and the two fight. Bowser breaths fireballs and flames and attempts to pounce on Mario. Mario is able to swing Bowser by the tail into bombs beside the arena three times, causing Bowser to leave defeated. He drops a key and Mario picks it up, using its magic to return him to the castle. The key allows Mario to access the castle's basement, but Bowser's voice is heard through the key, warning Mario that he cursed the key to warp Mario far from the castle.

Mario ends up in the Mushroom Kingdom Outskirts, where the second tutorial takes place. Here, the player will learn about how to use the other two F.L.U.D.D. nozzles, allowing them to be unlocked in each level. Upon collecting the Shine Sprite, Mario is returned to the castle.

Peach's Garden
After having collected at least 10 Shine Sprites, Mario is able to access the backyard. In the backyard is Princess Peach's garden, where Kamek is located. He discovers Mario and proceeds to fight him by summoning hordes of enemies. As the battle progresses, Kamek creates warp pipes to bring in more enemies. Eventually, Kamek grows tired and summons Goomboss to deal with Mario. This allows Mario to take the offensive, and upon defeating Goomboss with three ground-pounds, a unique Shine Sprite is freed and Mario collects it.

The Ancient Fortress
After having collected at least 20 Shine Sprites, Mario is able to open a door that leads to another lair Bowser has set up in the Ancient Fortress. Mario makes his way to a warp pipe that leads to a platform where Bowser is waiting. Bowser tells Mario that he had to retrieve something from this lair and was just about to leave, but now that Mario is here, he will fight him. Bowser admits that he was worried that Mario had caught onto his plan, but asserts that he is elated to see Mario having fallen for his trap, and proceeds to attack Mario. Bowser uses his prior techniques but changes up the timings, and also gained the ability to create shockwaves after jumping. After being hit by the bombs three times, Bowser drops a second key. Bowser, tired, explains his Master Plan to Mario.

A cinematic plays as Bowser speaks. Bowser tells Mario of his Master Plan, which is to bring about the Apocalypse by summoning a meteor using magic from the Orb of Power. The meteor will be set to impact the planet exactly where Peach's Castle sits, and will destroy the world, including the Mushroom Kingdom, and every living thing within. Bowser's castle will be protected from the disaster because he has set up a defensive force field around it, protecting it. Once civilization and nearly all life is extinguished, Bowser will send out the Koopas in his castle, whom he calls "his Master Race", to repopulate the world and rule over it, with himself as the absolute monarch of the world.

The cinematic ends, and Bowser taunts Mario about his demise. Mario attempts to attack Bowser, but he uses the Orb of Power to teleport away. The Ancient Fortress begins to collapse, but Mario grabs the key in time for it to teleport itself and him back to the castle before he is crushed by a sile.

Mario reappears outside the castle. Eddie, accompanied by another Toad, rushes to welcome him, telling Mario that he was worried about how long Mario was away in the Ancient Fortress, and how overjoyed he is about his return. Just as the Toad with him notices Mario is exhausted, a new Toad runs up and accurately surmises what had happened between Mario and Bowser. Many more Toads arrive on the scene to discuss the situation, one of them making the argument that the second key will provide access to a room that may house the princess, only to be countered by another Toad.

Suddenly, the ground shakes as Bowser's voice is heard from the sky. He introduces himself to the Mushroom Kingdom as King Bowser, Lord of the Koopas, and soon-to-be Supreme Ruler of the World. He tells them that they will all die in two days, and though he has only captured Princess Peach and her castle, he has yet to do the same to the entire kingdom. Bowser also attempts to fool the Toads into believing that Princess Peach has switched to Bowser's side and intends to stay with Bowser in his safe castle. He gives the inhabitants of the Mushroom Kingdom an ultimatum, to join or die.

The Toads, many of whom are panicking, discuss their options, eventually deciding on shooting Mario into the sky using the directed Sling Star, over the gates, into the grounds of Bowser's Castle.

Kamek's Castle
After having collected at least 24 Shine Sprites, Mario is able to access another room in the castle. Mario uses a directed Sling Star within to reach Kamek's Castle, located in the outskirts of Bowser's Castle.

Upon entering the level, Kamek is seen venting to a Parakoopa, presumably a brass hat. It is revealed to the player that Kamek was the true spearhead of Bowser's Master Plan. Kamek also states that Bowser had to borrow magic from him to create the Airship and to command his forces. He also reveals that Bowser could not find the Orb of Power on his own; rather, Kamek was able to ascertain its location himself and instead directed Bowser to where it was.

Bowser is revealed to have demoted Kamek from his high rank as an officer, who emphasizes that, in doing so, Bowser essentially fired his teacher. Kamek affirms his suspicions that Bowser would not be able to handle the power given to him by the orb. He suspects that the Orb of Power somehow possessed Bowser, based on the fact that Bowser believes the meteor will merely extinguish the current biosphere sans Bowser's Castle and leave behind a new land for Bowser to colonize, which is not the case, as the meteor he is summoning will end up destroying the entire planet. Kamek expresses the betrayal he feels, considering he raised Bowser from infancy. He makes the decision to turn his back on Bowser as he had done to him, and vows to defeat Bowser himself, becoming a hidden third party.

Kamek tells the Parakoopa that Bowser has always treated him without respect or due decency. A recreation of a scene from the end of Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island is shown to the player, wherein Kamek demands Yoshi hand over Baby Mario (not depicted). Kamek's shouting awakens Bowser (as a baby), who begins throwing a tantrum and knocks the panicking Kamek unconscious.

Kamek finishes his rant, when the Parakoopa notices Mario far off in the distance. Kamek shouts and Mario that although they share a common enemy, they are still enemies themselves. Kamek then proceeds to summon waves of enemies as he did in Peach's Garden, only this level is an auto-scroll level. Once again, Kamek grows tired eventually and summons a Big Bully to kill Mario so that he is free to leave. Upon defeating the boss by pushing it into the lava three times, Mario can collect another unique Shine Sprite to return to the castle.

Bowser's Castle
Once Mario has collected 32 Shine Sprites, the last spell on the castle is lifted, which had caused the staircase in the highest chambers of the castle to become endless, preventing the top from being reached. Mario is able to ascend the staircase and reach the Sling Star directed at Bowser's Castle.

After making his way to the entrance, Mario must collect the four Bowser Keys in the castle to reach the upper levels. Bowser is found in his Koopa Clown Car. He taunts Mario again, then begins attacking Mario by crushing him with his Koopa Clown Car, breathing fireballs and flames, and casting spells.

After jumping on Bowser's head three times, the Koopa Clown Car explodes, as well as Bowser, who is revealed to have not been the real Bowser, but a robotic decoy. Bowser announces to Mario that the meteor is fully charged and ready to launch. A Sling Star appears, propelling Mario into the upper atmosphere where the top of the tallest tower of Bowser's Castle is. After making his way up to the tower by traversing through floating debris and using more Sling Stars, Bowser reveals to Mario that he is elated about his arrival. He tells Mario that the meteor is minutes from launch, and that using magic from the Orb of Power and from Kamek, he will finally defeat Mario.

Bowser alters the local gravity field, forcing Mario to fight him on a platform upside-down. Bowser retains his abilities from the second battle, and Mario must again thrice launch Bowser into floating bombs, though this time in an anomalous gravity field. After the third impact, Bowser falls down beside the tower, and the gravity anomaly is undone, returning Mario to the top of the tower. Peach's cage is unlocked, and she thanks Mario for saving him. Peach tries to talk to Mario about saving the Mushroom Kingdom, but is interrupted by the meteor beginning to launch.

Kamek flies up to Mario and Peach, apprising them of the true nature of the situation. He says that Bowser would only ever intend to rule over the world, not destroy it, and that the destruction of the world was the intention of the Orb of Power, which had possessed him. Kamek states that there is no way to stop the meteor this close to the launch time, but suddenly realizes that if he reverses the force field on Bowser's castle, the explosion of the meteor will be trapped inside. He casts a spell to do so, and urges Mario and Peach to escape. He offers the two a ride on his broomstick back to the castle, but a meteoroid slams into the tower, knocking Mario off. Kamek escapes with Peach, forced to leave Mario behind. Mario regains his footing and finds a F.L.U.D.D. Hover Nozzle to aid his escape from Bowser's Castle. He must race the meteor, reaching the Sling Star directed at Peach's Castle before the meteor reaches the lava field and explodes.

Ending
Mario lands in front of the castle, where Peach and Kamek are. Kamek tells Mario that while he has helped him save the Mushroom Kingdom, the two of them will remain enemies. Kamek bids Mario farewell and flies away. Eddie and other Toads appear and propose to Princess Peach that they have the party immediately. Mario looks out into the distance, but Peach calls out to Mario to invite him inside.

After the cutscene ends, the credits roll, and the title screen is displayed.

Removed introduction
The game used to start with a long scrolling text wall with animated images that is only seen in the complete edition of the game, the same as the one labeled as Super Mario 63 (Complete) on SheezyArt; versions that are the same as the final edition, known as Super Mario 63 (Final) on SheezyArt, do not contain the removed introduction.

The Mushroom Kingdom is stated to have been ruled by tyrants in ancient history, who used magic to commit war crimes against political dissidents. An unnamed "ancient hero" was able to defeat the tyrants and locked all of their magic into an orb called the Orb of Power. The subsequent and current ruling dynasty, the Toadstools, guard the Orb of Power deep within the kingdom's castle from potential abusers. To do this, they used the power of the Shine Sprites, magical devices that they stored in the Shine Sprite Orb, in the room containing the stained glass mosaic of Princess Peach, the current ruler of the kingdom.

Over the long history of the Toadstool Dynasty, the location of the Orb of Power was eventually forgotten, and eventually, its existence. No one, not even the current ruler, Princess Peach, is aware of its existence, except for one person (Bowser), who is not revealed during the introduction.

Following this text wall was the introduction found in the final edition of the game.