Nightmare Fuel / The Power Star Archives

"Boy am I dying to hear the incredibly helpful and insightful info this random Toad has to drop!"

This series, of course, is strife with horror all throughout, even with the SNES limitations on show.

As this is a moments subpage, spoilers are unmarked. You have been warned!

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Episode 1: Welcome Back!

• Right off the bat, after progressing so far into the level in Episode 1, Wario is surprise-attacked by Buggy, who addresses the player accordingly. We don't see the attack right away in the remake of the episode, as the game pauses before Buggy's message.
• After the Demonic Possession, the screen slowly fades back in as we see Wario uncontrollably shaking, putting a lot of intensity as to what's happening. And then there's The Reveal of what happened.
  • The remake makes it a lot worse. We see Wario moving about in what looks like pain, with pained and crooked screams emitting from his mouth before Buggy fully takes over. After he does, tons of flies come out of his mouth, which can gross out anyone with a phobia for them. And then there's his loud, booming laughter before the level finally continues.
• After "Wario" clears his level, the game bugs out a bit before going to a Game Over screen (the remake prompting the player to exit the game). However, it's not long after this that Buggy makes his presence known, causing some massive Interface Screw. The remake accompanies this with downloading the AI of Mario, Luigi AND Peach into the game, before the game properly closes. Upon a restart, the game's true nature is shown, as "Wario Apparition: Corrupted Data".
  • There's also a bit of eerie Foreshadowing as to what will become of Peach later in said sequence. When her AI is downloaded, the screen stutters a bit prior to it being fully prepared.

Episode 2: A Whole New World

• Episode 2 isn't entirely creepy, though that changes after Toad comes across Luigi, who hasn't had much luck on his end finding Mario. He goes silent for a moment before saying a chilling speech to the player. He leaves afterwards, albeit with no eyes.
  "Don't be afraid, I'm not your enemy. Let's make this quick. Now that you're playing this game, there's no turning back for you. Eventually, you'll experience horrors far beyond what you can imagine. Unless you do as I say, you're screwed. So if I were you, I'd choose to cooperate..."

Episode 3: Burning Memories

• Episode 3 starts out fairly pleasant, with Peach being in a level based around her castle (complete with statues of her and the Mario Bros. adorning the halls). However, in one hallway, Buggy makes known that it has breached the castle walls. And sure enough...
  • It leads into a "boss fight" fairly akin to You Can't Run's from Sonic.exe, with "Wario" using savestates to warp himself between corners of the room, laughing at Peach being unable to hit him. He even takes the motive to attack her whilst the player tries to quit.
  • After enough time, he summons a Fire Flower and uses it to set the halls ablaze! That's when the boss fight starts for real, and it doesn't prove easy. In fact, Peach FAILS to overpower the possessed plumber, taking the brunt of a fireball and burning to death.
• However, the horror isn't done just yet. Peach is respawned with an extra life, albeit in the palette she was in before Buggy set the castle alight. For a bit, she only talks in garbled words, but midway through Buggy's twisted spin on "hide-and-seek", she speaks clearly to the player.
  • It gets worse, with her surprisingly surviving Wario tagging her, leading her to Go Mad from the Revelation that SHE could be the one leading the torment instead. Buggy tries twice to interrupt her, but its efforts are proved for naught when she uses those same savestates to hold it back from getting her.
  • Then there's the transformation from a gorgeous princess to a truly hideous monster. She starts out with a crooked smile, and after her dialogue is over (with her even proclaiming that she is a goddess), she cackles before unnatural arms and legs spawn from where those parts used to be on her body. Well done, Buggy. You ended up creating a monster WORSE than you.
  • Then there's her ending dialogue, all as she stands menacingly in the burning hallways of her castle.
  "BE NOT AFRAID. I'M NOT YOUR ENEMY. HELP ME OVERTHROW THE FALSE GOD. IT'S AFRAID OF ME. I SENSE IT. DO AS I SAY. ALWAYS. (garbled text)^note This has been revealed to be "ANDREW" THAT'S YOUR NAME, RIGHT? THE FALSE GOD CANNOT KNOW THAT YOU KNOW... (garbled text again)"

Episode 4: Execution

• While the screenshot feature of the game is an adorable little touch, there's a brief Freeze-Frame Bonus that reveals another twist on this cold formula.
  "Go to the first level. Once you leave the cave, ULRLDDUR"
• Sure enough, once the player backtracks and goes into the newly-opened cave with Toad, it starts off normal, but at times, Luigi cuts in, his eyes framed in shadow as he stands under a spotlight.
  "It was a mistake. Please turn off the game."
  • As Toad goes further and further into the cave, the framerate gradually gets worse, as if Buggy is trying to actively discourage venturing further. The begging from Luigi gets worse the second time around.
  • Near the exit, Buggy gets to the point where it's THROUGH with asking, throwing the word "LEAVE" all over the screen while flashing it into inverted colors. It doesn't prove to be enough to stop this player's voyage.
• Once Toad is out of the cave, the player attempts to enact the aforementioned cheat code, only to be stopped by a message saying "CHEATS DISABLED".
• That's when Mario is found, who flickers to unnatural colors for whatever reason. However, it's soon revealed that he had been claimed by Buggy, the screen glitching out upon this reveal.
• And before the ending screen, we see Luigi one last time, his face and arms reduced to just a skeleton. By now, Buggy had reached its Rage Breaking Point, burning the poor plumber alive before claiming this player with its mental digitalisation.
  • Watching this after Episode 7 brings with it its own Fridge Horror, in that Buggy's now-unstable nature has costed the life of Andrew permanently by accident.

Episode 5: Wario Apparition

• Right at the start of Mario's run back in "Wario Apparition: Corrupted Data", he's in a Blackout Basement with only a moving spotlight to guide his way. It doesn't help that there are several One-Hit Kill red eye entities he has to avoid constantly.
• After Mario escapes this level, the spotlight finally blacks out, and it (along with the entire HUD) give way and fall off-screen, right as the plumber lands in the halls of Peach's castle.
• Not long into exploring Peach's castle, it's suddenly transformed with some of Buggy's... personal touches. Namely, statues of its non-host form around, and the other statues have only one big eye and those familiar evil grins.
• Mario's attempt to escape leads to him stumbling upon none other than the Wario Apparition. Buggy, speaking through it, dares the player to a Deadly Game; to try and outrun the Apparition and avoid losing all their stars to win. But if they lose, Mario's body will become Buggy's property.
  • The titular chase itself is really nerve-wracking, with the Wario Apparition gaining on Mario quickly and claiming three-quarters of his Power Stars before he can reach the end. The Interface Screw certainly doesn't help the player's case at all.
  • However, it's shown right at the end that Buggy's proposed Hope Spot was a twisted lie. Mario ends up coming to a dead end in the corridor and is attacked by Buggy anyway, causing a softlock.
• The game is restarted one last time after this, with stuff like the warning and the title screen being badly corrupted. Once the player bypasses these, they're treated to an error screen, stating that their save file is outright rendered useless. The cause for it? They AREN'T the 122nd player of this game!
  • Granted, the accompanying lines and Madness Mantra are slightly Nightmare Retardant, but it doesn't take away from how unnerving this sequence is.
  • And it goes From Bad to Worse soon after, with "Mario" revealing he got assimilated, and Luigi and Peach show this soon after.
  • The Wham Line is explained after this; it just so happens that this player is the 123rd player of this game, and that they got the unfinished 122nd build by accident.
  "I have no idea where you got this game... As you're clearly not #122. #122 has already completed their run... Which would make you #123. ... No matter. You've already chosen to enter this small world of mine anyway."
• At the end, there's part of a hyperlink leading to another YouTube video, which Buggy bluntly says NOT to watch, in that the player already knows what it's about, and to simply download the newer build in the "description". The AI then bids them farewell for now, with a menacing "SEE YOU SOON 0)".
  • The video in question is intended for the #122 player, congratulating them on finishing the game, but ensuring they send a brand new build to someone else, preferably a stranger. And if they don't comply? The voice threatens an extended role in the Power Star Project.

Episode 6: ULRLDDUR

• Like with the previous even-numbered entries, the video starts out with gameplay in the unnamed Mario search game, this time in a lava-based level. Once the player finds a safe spot, however, they try to re-enact the titular Cheat Code again. However, midway through their inputs, Buggy, knowing what they're up to, interferes, proclaiming "OH NO YOU WON'T!" before kicking them into a void, having likely used mental digitalisation on this player too.
  • As it turned out, this first attempt at mental digitalisation failed, as Buggy's attempt at stopping the unthinkable.
• In said void, Buggy takes the attack on the player and Toad via the possessed Mario, who gives chase with a Wing Cape. Fortunately, Toad escapes this, but it's still quite nerve-wracking.
• After this escape, he comes across the hallway Peach was last seen in. And sure enough, Peach, in a disfigured state (which most likely came from the following episode), reappears. However, she's weakened too much to continue the job alone, telling Toad to consume her vessel, ensuring they can finally put an end to this together. He does so, granting himself the corrupting powers Peach had, as she proclaims that they shall make the "false god" suffer.

TEASER

(This is only for moments exclusive to the teaser, not those linked to Episode 7)

• As before, Luigi is seen in the relatively normal forest stage. However, he soon comes to a stop, hearing a voice speaking the now-infamous Cheat Code to him. He tries to enact it, only to be snatched away by Buggy.
• After this, he's brought to a twisted alternate world filled with beta assets (most of which restyled to fit Buggy's tastes) as the Wario Apparition shows up, saying that Luigi forgot a very important part of an agreement they made, though remarks that they can look back at the past in return for this attempt at betrayal. The ending of the teaser shows Luigi getting released before getting punched.

Episode 7: Sentence

• As the longest episode thus far in this series, nightmare fuel is quite strife here. Right from the beginning, there's a Content Warning warning about flashing lights, disturbing imagery, and footage of mental digitalisation (most likely for the information of whoever found the tape in-universe).
  • The beginning of the tape explains the date of this particular tape being recorded on 20th January 2022, when the second recorded case of this "mental digitalisation" would occur. The player in question (Andrew Anderson, born 29th July 2001) was found dead two days after.
• The Checkpoint Quiz early on into Luigi's run is all fun and games until the fourth question, of which the lights suddenly go out. Once they come back on, the screen is tinted red, and Toadette seems to have been stuck under the singular-eye curse as well. It doesn't help that the question asks how many eyes Toads normally have, forcing the answers to "A" (one eye), which ends up being incorrect.
  • The lights are fully restored after this question, and it just so happens that it was just a mask someone put on Toadette while the lights were out. She throws it off promptly before the quiz reaches its conclusion. However, one can spot Buggy sitting on one of the audience members, implying that may not have been true.
• Then there's the first actual level of the run. Partway through it, however, Buggy interrupts, mainly to warn Luigi and Andrew about what they're walking into. He decides to help the duo out this once by creating a savestate after the no-background section.
• Once they reach the end, they find Princess Toadstool/Peach herself awaiting them, who asks Luigi to come closer, due to having something important to say. However, a familiar line is there to remind us of Peach's now-true nature.

  "WHAT'S WITH THE HESITATION? HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN? I'M NOT YOUR ENEMY. YOU SHOULD ALWAYS DO AS I SAY."

  • Hearing this, Andrew promptly gets Luigi to turn tail, even trying in vain to quit the game. Peach can only express Stunned Silence before remarking that she'll handle this alone, transforming into her massive form as she begins to chase Luigi.
  • Thankfully, Buggy's savestate comes in handy to give the green plumber a much-needed head-start, but it's still a close call as he rushes back to the beginning, with Peach almost catching up to him before he enters a ghost house.
• Inside the ghost house is a lone blue Toad, who reveals that he was the lone survivor of Peach's massacre after she was Driven to Madness. Worse, he was the only one to have had a bad feeling about things, but wasn't listened to until it was far too late. As such, he and Luigi are the sole survivors in the Mushroom Kingdom.
• As Luigi scales the ghost house to track down Peach, we finally get to see the mental digitalisation take place, with flashing colors occupying the moment. Once it fades in, we finally see exactly WHAT this digitalisation is; it was Brain Uploading, and Andrew had just become a victim of it. In fear, he ends up passing out, only re-awakening at 2:07 PM to continue, forced to adjust to his new moves as a result.
  • Let's think about this for a second. Gameplay of the grass level started at 12:45 PM, and it's around 10 minutes later that he passes out from shock of his new predicament. That means he was out cold for 1 hour and 12 minutes. Thank God nothing happened whilst he was unconscious.
• Once Andrew finds Peach, she is FURIOUS with him for not complying, citing that he's now as good as dead, beginning to chase him back through all the hallways of the ghost house.
  • Once he finally reaches the trap the Toad discussed in the basement, Peach is snared, being painfully impaled and burnt alive with blue flames. It can count as Catharsis Factor for those who didn't like her change to evil, but it's still not easy to see.
• Andrew soon returns to the Toad, who is relieved that the evil is gone, but he asks... And Then What? With them as the only ones left, what future is there to seize? However, he proposes the unthinkable; a fight to the death, with the victor being the one to rebuild the kingdom.
  • It's after this that the singular eye shows up on this Toad. It promptly vanishes, however, as the Toad's natural colors return. It's right after this that something bursts through the poor guy's stomach, killing him as Andrew is Forced to Watch. Thankfully, the resulting gore is mostly censored.
  • Looking back at the Checkpoint Quiz, the moment where it briefly goes Off the Rails served as some clever Foreshadowing to this moment.
• Right after the above point, Buggy emerges from the corpse, transforming into its Adult form and proclaiming "LET'S HAVE SOME FUN 0)". However, the creepiness of this dialogue is taken up to eleven, with the emoticon gradually turning into a horrifying face.
  • Cue the big "fight" between Adult Buggy and Andrew, which, while heralded as one of THE most Awesome Moments in the series (complete with a genuinely banger soundtrack), proves to be drastically one-sided, with Andrew only escaping the twisted AI for the time being.
  • Adult Buggy's last-seen attack is using a Cape form and utilising a jump GREATER than those before it, knocking the chandelier from the ceiling and causing the music to go into a low grumble. Nothing Is Scarier is evoked until Buggy comes crashing down, propelling Andrew into a free-fall as the music returns to full swing again.
• In the ensuing depths of the ghost house, Andrew stumbles upon a strange-looking Toad, who says some garbled dialogue before the entire floor vanishes below the guy, making him fall into the lava and burn alive as Buggy taunts him. Fortunately, he had another life to spare, and he ensures not to repeat that mistake again. This very moment serves as the page's image.
• At the very end of the place, Andrew finds Buggy Wario standing idle over toggleable blocks. He takes the opportunity then and there to drop the monster into the lava, seemingly killing it. However... wasn't it too easy a feat?
  • Turns out it was, as not long after, Buggy re-emerges from the lava, knocking the "COURSE CLEAR!" text off-screen as it reappears as the Wario Apparition, complete with that booming, sadistic laughter. The Apparition then proceeds to inhale Andrew inside it, sealing the poor guy's fate.
• However, it's still not over, as Andrew is sent to a level dubbed "the Looping Room". This room is the equivalent of an endless purgatory, and it changes and evolves with every loop. As the "Buggy Block" explains, the only way Andrew can get back out is by facing himself, fittingly a corrupted version of Luigi's face.
  • The whole sequence hits harder whilst accompanied with "Deeper Into Ness's Subconscious" from Earthbound, hitting home that Andrew's mission for survival has ended. Not with a bang, but with a whimper.
• Once he gets back out, he emerges into darkness. However, suddenly, we hear something being swallowed, and it causes Andrew to hold his stomach in utter pain. Not long after, Buggy bursts out of Luigi's stomach, sealing Andrew's fate and ending his run on a Downer Ending.

Other

• "CANNOT MOVE" depicts Toad in a horrible softlock situation following Peach granting him his powers, and it's explained that Buggy had to do this, then go in hiding for now, therefore locking the conflict in a stalemate.
  • In a tweet connected to this, Peach, however, doesn't admit defeat, proclaiming that she WILL return one day, therefore ensuring the stalemate ends. The tweet can be read here.