Power Star

Collecting Power Stars is the main objective of Super Mario 64 DS. There are 150 Stars in the game. Most stars are obtainable with any character, while some need a specfic character to collect them because of each character's strengths and weaknesses. 120 of the 150 Stars are found in the 15 main courses, with each course having 7 main stars to collect, and one extra, eighth star for collecting 100 coins in the course. One of the stars in each course is always for collecting 8 red coins, some are for collecting 5 silver stars, some for pressing Switch Stars, while most of the stars are very different in how and where they are found.

The other 30 stars are Castle Secret Stars. These stars are NOT found in the main 15 courses. There are various places you can find Castle Secret Stars, but a good number of them are found when collecting 8 red coins or pressing a switch star. While the 120 'course stars' have names (eg 'Footrace with Koopa the Quick'), and often appear on the map to give the player a hint, the Castle Secret Stars give no hints on how to find them. Castle Secret Stars are found in worlds, inside the castle, and outside.

The game can be 'won' (by defeating Bowser for the third time) with only 80 stars, so it is not necessary to collect the other 70 to see the ending of the game. However, there are some bonuses to find once you collect all 150 stars:
 * The cannon outside the front of the castle becomes unlocked, letting you access the roof of the castle to find a green rabbit as Luigi and a ? block to let you fly with wings as Mario.
 * The penguin in Cool, Cool Mountain becomes fatter and harder to beat in the race.