List of Super Mario 64 beta elements
This article pertains to the beta elements of Super Mario 64.
Early ideas
32 courses were initially planned for the game, but only 15 of them made it into the final product. In some sketch-ups of the game's early development in Super Mario History, Mario is seen jumping on a piano. He is also seen climbing a ladder, swinging around a pole, pushing a door and a block of ice, and crushing a rock with his head.
During a interview between Satoru Iwata and Shigeru Miyamoto regarding New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Iwata stated that there used to be a multiplayer function that was scrapped from Super Mario 64, likely due to hardware limitations. It was also stated that one could see Mario and Luigi meet in the corridor. This, apparently, inspired the multiplayer function of New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
Iwata: Ever since Mario Bros., you've had your heart set on making a multiplayer Mario game. You've tried each time, but it's never quite come together… Even with Mario 64, it started with Mario and Luigi running around together, didn't it?
Miyamoto: That's right. The screen was split and they went into the castle separately. When they meet in the corridor, I was incredibly happy! (laughs) Then there was also the mode where the camera is fixed and we see Mario running away, steadily getting smaller and smaller.
Iwata: Yes, that's right.
Miyamoto: That was a remnant of an experiment we did where Mario and Luigi would run away from each other but you could still see them both. But we were unable to pull it off...
During a more recent interview between Iwata and Koichi Hayashida regarding Super Mario 3D Land, it was mentioned during a discussion about the Flagpole that it was once considered to be incorporated into Super Mario 64.
Iwata: The impression the goal pole makes has a big influence over the impression that the game makes. I suppose he thought this was an area that deserved effort.
Hayashida: Later, I asked (Yoshiaki) Koizumi-san, and he said that they tried a goal pole once for Super Mario 64.
Iwata: Oh, is that so.
Hayashida: But at the time, when they thought about what was the most fun about playing in 3D, it was going to all sorts of places and looking for something, so they decided on players getting a Star.
Early builds
Mario was originally voiced differently, possessing a screechy, childlike voice rather than his current Italian accent. Bowser sounded more tiger-like. Big Boo held a key instead of a Power Star inside of him. The purpose of the keys were to unlock a variety of the various doors in Big Boo's Haunt; there was even a "key counter". The upgraded Triple Jump Mario receives after talking to Yoshi in the final game is the same animation used for when Mario enters any level in earlier builds.
Unused data
Items and objects
Water mines (with graphics identical to spike bombs) were going to be in a water level. Yoshi Egg graphics are stored in the game's code, along with a yellow ! Switch. The presence of Yoshi Eggs implies that Yoshi was originally going to play a more prominent role in the game. There are some unused platforms in the game, such as a flat, checkered platform, resembling the two elevator platforms in Whomp's Fortress. This platform however, does not do anything other than let Mario stand on it. Another beta platform is like the previous one, except it rotates after every couple of seconds. A Cactus was found in the data for Shifting Sand Land,and frames of a flower can also be found in the Lethal Lava Land textures. It seems like both would have been used as background objects. Question Switches were originally going to appear, but they were dropped from the final version for unknown reasons. File:Question_Switch_(Original_Version).jpg|The unused Question Switch. File:Mario_on_the_tower,_on_the_left_of_the_Question_Switch..jpg|Screenshot of the unused Question Switch.
Enemies
There was originally going to be a Blargg, which is still in the game's data, that was to appear in the Lethal Lava Land, Bowser in the Fire Sea, And Wing Mario Over the Rainbow courses. In the game, there are small and large bullies, using two models; a related species called "Chill Bully" appeared in Course 10: Snowman's Land. It too had a small and large model, but only the large model was used.
Textures
Some unused textures found in the game can be extracted. One of the textures found among the castle paintings is a classic NES painting. This could have been from one of the scrapped levels. Another texture in the game is found in Cool, Cool Mountain. It is much like the ice texture that is used, but it has cracks in it. VL-Tone, the creator of Toad's Tool 64 (a Super Mario 64 level editor), found textures of what looks like a red, black and white trampoline, with a yellow "?" painted on the side. It would most likely have had the same effects as its predecessors.
Miscellaneous
A debug function stored in the game is the "level select". In the menu, some of the courses have different names and some symbols can only be seen in the Japanese game. Eg. Whomp's Fortress is simply called "Mountain".
Gallery
Artwork
- Super-mario-beta-key.JPG
The unused Key.
Sprites and models
This unused flower was found in the graphics to Lethal Lava Land. Notice its similarity to the Power Flower from Super Mario 64 DS
- Betacactus.png
This unused cactus looks like it would have been a background object for Shifting Sand Land.
A fan-made model of what the unused trampoline could have looked like.
Screenshots
Early screenshot of Super Mario 64. Also notice the early HUD. It seems to resemble Mario's head from Paper Mario.
The unused Blargg found in the code.
- 64 Beta 001.jpg
A screenshot of the early Penguin.
- 64 Beta 002.jpg
A picture of the original Pokey graphics.
A screenshot of the early Princess Peach's Castle. The text says "Welcome to Mario Wonderland. People who like adventures, go ahead to the castle right up ahead."
Early version of Lethal Lava Land. Note that the Power Star had a similar design to those that appeared in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Its texture is stored in the ROM.
The original, meaner looking Thwomp.
Early Lethal Lava Land.
Early version of Dire, Dire Docks.
An early Bomp, with an early Whomp Fortress.
Another early of the Whomp Fortress with a Bullet Bill.
Mario collecting a key, with the "key counter" on the screen. (The "key counter" is stored in the game code, holding up to 6 characters, however, the key symbol is only in the Japanese version, in the PAL, it is replaced with a "Ü" symbol)
The Ü replacing the key symbols.
The early Yoshi Egg in Wet-Dry World and still remains in the game's code.
Beta Shells.
Trivia
- It is frequently rumoured that Super Mario 64 was born out of a cancelled SNES project titled Super Mario FX, which would have been a 3D platformer using the Super FX chip. However, reports of "Super Mario FX"'s existence seems to have been born out of a misinterpretation of a statement Shigeru Miyamoto made in an interview with Nintendo Power, in which he stated that he had the idea of making a 3D Mario game during Star Fox's development. There is no actual proof that a Super FX-using Mario platformer was in development in any point and furthermore, Dylan Cuthbert, who contributed to the development of the Super FX and worked with Miyamoto on Star Fox, claims that "Super Mario FX" was actually a codename for the Super FX chip itself.[1].
- Hotel Mario reused both the Beta Coin texture and SFX while Paper Mario just reused the SFX.
External links
- A video showing some of the beta elements
- Another video showing the unused trampoline
- Another video showing the working early flower
