The 'Shroom:Issue XXII/Beta Elements

Beta Elements by

In honor of Blitzwing's retirement as director, we'll look at: Super Mario 64/DS, featuring Snufit ball!

This issue will be a bit different, because it covers two games, so we'll start off with beta elements from the original:

1. The oringinal title was to be Super Mario FX, referencing to the use of an FX Chip. Luigi was said to be playable in the original, but was oddly removed.

2. Two removed enemies, a tan Cheep-Cheep and a Blargg, were seen in beta screenshots. But they never appeared in the final game for uncertain reasons.

Now we'll look at some of the newer elements of Super Mario 64 DS 1. In the beta version, screenshots prove that all four characters were to fight Bowser at the exact same time. Others show that every character could utilize the power of wings, not just Mario.

2. A mysterious purple rabbit was shown in a beta screenshot. The purpose was unknown, and why it was removed is unclear.

3. A co-op mode was planned for the game, which allowed two players to use Wi-Fi connectivity to play the normal star-collecting mode together.

Now those were some interesting elements (at least I think so.) But the truth and speculation behind them is just as interesting as the elements theirselves.

Element 1 (SM64). Well first of all, it's not all too significant that the game would use and FX Chip or be called Super Mario FX, but Luigi as a playable character? That is what is important here. Being a natural Luigi fan, I would buy this game in a heartbeat on the Virtual Console. But he was taken out of the game probably due to memory restraints. Thankfully, the sequel allowed him and two others to be playable characters.

Element 2 (SM64). Now two removed enemies isn't much, but why they were removed is really unclear. They probably wouldn't take up much data space, so why exactly were they taken out? My belief is the fact that they may have been hard to avoid enemies that take your life away faster. Having Blargg swallow you or a Cheep-Cheep on your tail wouldn't exactly be easy to avoid, right?

Element 1 (DS). All four characters could battle Bowser? I wonder how that would work. Maybe you'd have to alternate characters while beating him, or maybe it's just a fancy way of making a character select. But either way, it would be pretty easy using Luigi with his super-backflip-helicopter move to get through the last level. As for all four characters flying, that'd make the game all too easy. With already cheap moves like Luigi's backflip, having all four fly is just not right. But the spirit of this element lives on in Multi-player mode.

Element 2 (DS). One word, Waluigi! No, probably not, but the idea behind it is fascinating. I, personally believe it's just a neutral rabbit, somewhat like the silver rabbit idea; find all of them and you get a star. But why would it be purple? Well readers, what do you think? Element 3 (DS). Like New Super Mario Bros, (ironically was my last beta element subject.) the idea of co-op play was removed due to data restraints. But it would've been epic to play the game with another person, am I right? The multi-player idea was able to stay with the game, and their were actual in game areas used. But that's nothing compared to getting 150 stars with your best friend.

Alright, enough talk, let's get to buisness. So for the original game, both elements seem tempting and interesting. Luigi as a playable character is always awesome, and those removed enemies would be really cool to see. I still wonder on the Cheep-Cheep, though. A replacment was done though. As for the remake, option 3 is the only good one to me. Every character battling Bowser would be tough, and all characters flying would be too cheap. And who cares about some purple bunny? But co-op play is always epic, and this game would be no different. So that's all for now. And thanks to Blitzwing for suffering through all this time as director!