Tower of the Wing Cap

The Tower of the Wing Cap is a castle tower in the sky that contains the Wing Cap's ! Switch, appearing in both Super Mario 64 and its remake.

Entry
The entrance is located on the first floor of Princess Peach's Castle. Once Mario has collected ten Power Stars (fourteen in Super Mario 64 DS), sunlight will be shining down from the ceiling. If Mario stands in the sunlight and looks up, he will be transported to the level. The cloud pattern on the ceiling can also be seen on the second floor in normal paintings that Mario can't enter, and even later in the entrance holes of Rainbow Ride and Wing Mario Over the Rainbow.

Although the sunlight will disappear once the ? or ! Switch has been activated, Mario can still return to the level by standing in the same spot and looking up. This is useful if one has not yet gained the Red Coin Star from the level.

Layout
Upon entering the level, Mario will immediately be granted a Wing Cap which he can use to fly around with. Upon landing on the tower, Mario will be able to press the Red ! Switch, which in turn will make all the Red ! Blocks solid. A Power Star can also be found here after the player collects the eight Red Coins. This is the only level that Mario enters the stage flying with the Wing Cap. On the other levels, he must triple jump to take off.

In Super Mario 64 DS, the area was simply retitled '''? Switch, though it is also called the ? Switches of Rainbow Tower''' when the course is entered for the first time. The ! Switch was also changed to the ? Switch, which activated all of the ? Blocks in the game. However, the feel of the level more or less stayed the same. In addition, only Mario is granted with wings upon entering; if any characters other than Mario access it, they still flip as they normally do during a level intro, but plummet into the abyss which immediately transports them back into the castle.

Star
There is only one Power Star to collect in this area. Using the wings that he is granted upon entering the level, Mario must fly around the area and collect the eight Red Coins floating in the air in the four compass directions. The Red Coins are found in groups of two. Due to the fact that Mario slowly loses altitude while flying, he'll have to reenter the level and try again if he drops below the point the coins are at.

References in other games

 * Noki Bay in Super Mario Sunshine is accessed in a similar way; by standing on a similar pattern on the streets of Delfino Plaza and staring at the real sun.
 * The tower the Sand Bird flies around in Super Mario Sunshine vaguely resembles the Tower of the Wing Cap, due to a similar layout.
 * Mario's Rainbow Castle from Mario Party also resembles the area. Mario's Wing Cap even appears on a tower on the board.