List of New Super Mario Bros. Wii pre-release and unused content

It has been requested that this article be rewritten. Reason: most of the text and images are from The Cutting Room Floor

This is a list of pre-release and unused content for the game New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

Early ideas

Opening sequence

During a Q&A session in 2009, Shigeru Miyamoto claimed that he fought with the development team over the tone of the opening sequence, with the team wanting to make it more dramatic. Miyamoto's idea for the opening was to have ships with chains carry a cake on a plate as bait for Princess Peach.

Princess Peach

At one stage during development, Shigeru Miyamoto considered making Princess Peach a playable character, like in Super Mario Bros. 2, but eventually decided against it because of how difficult it would be to animate her dress.

Mega Mushroom

The game was originally going to have the Mega Mushroom power up return from the previous game. It would have transformed Mario and co. into their Mega forms. However, this caused a problem in multiplayer: because the player who used it would be able to destroy everything while also taking up a big part of the screen, limiting other players, the Mega Mushroom was ultimately removed.

Red Toad

An early picture showed Mario, Luigi and Blue Toad in bubbles. However, instead of Yellow Toad, the picture showed a Red Toad, meaning he may have once been intended to be the fourth playable character. Also, the Red Toad is wearing a black vest, while Blue Toad wears a red one.

Early builds

HUD during gameplay

An early version (top), and the final version (bottom).

As seen in early screenshots of the game, the HUD originally appeared transparent during gameplay; additionally, the text appeared very different, set in Arial Black; possibly as a placeholder. Later screenshots and videos of the final build show that the HUD is now solid (only turning transparent if a player goes behind it), certain icons were updated and brightened up, along with the trademark Mario text. Notably, the life box was sized down, while the score and timer stretched out slightly. Additionally, Blue Toad and Yellow Toad's icons were switched in the final release, with Yellow Toad being third and Blue Toad being fourth.

Also, when a Yoshi is ridden, a music note was originally meant to appear on the upper-right side of the screen. Keys were originally going to appear in the game. When obtained, the key moves to the HUD, next to the lives and coins counters.

"Level Clear!"

In the E3 2009 demo, whenever a character completes a stage, the message "Level Clear!" was seen. Later, "Level" was changed to "Course" in the final build for unknown reasons.

Results screen

In demos shown at Press Conferences, after finishing each level a results screen would pop up, showing the player how many enemies were stomped and how many coins were collected, which is only seen in the Free-For-All mode in the final game. However, in New Super Mario Bros. U, once the game is beaten, players have access to a purple Records Toad House, containing the aforementioned information.

Flag and midway flag

The Goal Pole and the Checkpoint Flag were originally going to have an image of a skull on them. This was changed to Bowser's emblem in the final version. The skull flag was previously used in New Super Mario Bros. Additionally, an early image shows the Midway Flag as a circular sign with a skull on it.

"TOO BAD" screen

Originally, this game had a "TOO BAD" screen when the player loses a life, just like most of the 3D Super Mario games. Later, it was replaced with Bowser's emblem fade.

Power-up Panels

In the final game, the "Your Turn" message does not appear in single player mode while playing the Power-up Panels minigame.

Early platform models

The platforms in World 7-4 were normal platforms in one pre-release build. The tracks were black instead of yellow and the end points were red, like in New Super Mario Bros.

A later version of the game had the emblem of the player who was controlling the platforms as the end of the trails, while the platform itself was gray with a bolt all the time, just like when they are off in the final version.

Sound effects and music

Level themes

The underground, desert, castle, and athletic themes and the level clear tunes were ported from New Super Mario Bros., most likely as a placeholder. The snow, forest, lava, and Ghost House songs did not exist.

Yellow Toad's Victory Pose

This was shown in GameStop's E3 demo video. Yellow Toad says "Yay!" and he jumps twice while punching his fists in the air, and it shows that there is no standing animation, so when he stands after his pose, he just freezes for a while.

Sound effects

During the E3 2009 demo, coins had the same 8-bit sound effects as the first New Super Mario Bros. This was later replaced with different sound effects. The Propeller Mushroom's sound effect was also different in one pre-release build.

Mario was originally going to make a sound when flying with the Propeller Mushroom, like the one he made when he dismounts Yoshi in Super Mario Galaxy 2.

Also, the power-up sound effect was originally the sound effect from New Super Mario Bros., but this was changed to a new version.

New Super Mario Bros. leftovers

One-way gate

This gate allows the player to cross only from one direction. The only re-usable ones are "enter from the right" and "enter from the left"; the variety which allows the players to "enter from below" and "enter from above" can only be used once before permanently locking.

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  New Super Mario Bros. one-way gate.

Swinging pendulum platform

There are swings utilizing their design from New Super Mario Bros. in the game's files. They self-rotate (the player does not need to attach them to a rotation controller for them to move), and the level editor can adjust their swing arc, speed, and size.

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  New Super Mario Bros. swing.

Yoshis

While the game was still in development, Nintendo confirmed that a Red Yoshi was able to be ridden and an artwork was made. However, as seen in a later trailer, Red Yoshi got replaced with Pink Yoshi and the artwork was changed. Blue Yoshi was also set to appear, but was replaced by Light-Blue Yoshi. If a Yoshi was being ridden, then a musical note was going to appear next to the time counter.

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  Artwork for Blue Toad riding Red Yoshi.

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  An early screenshot of a level in World 1-3. The early Red Yoshi can be seen being ridden.

Bosses

Changes

An early version of the Morton Koopa Jr. tower battle.

In the first battle against Larry Koopa as presented in the E3 2009 demo, whenever he goes into his shell, he barely covers any ground. Also, the first battle with Morton was held in World 1-Castle in the demo, not in World 6-Tower (as that level was not featured in the demo). In the demo, Morton does not have Skewers stabbing the platforms to the side; instead, there were Lava Bubbles jumping out of the lava. Also, the geography of the arena was different, as it was using the castle tileset, instead of the tower tileset that would later be used in the final build.

In the E3 demo, Mario and co. drop from the top of the screen after they enter the boss door, like they did in New Super Mario Bros. In the final version, they simply appear on the floor of the boss room.

Blocks and Objects

Early Roulette Block

The Roulette Block was supposed to look like the ones in New Super Mario Bros. They had different item icons too.

Conveyor Belt Spikes

Spikes were to be on Conveyor Belts, but were taken out for unknown reasons.

Gray ? Blocks

At E3, it was shown that there were originally going to be gray ? Blocks in the ice levels, but they were scrapped for unknown reasons. Also, gray Brick Blocks were shown with the gray ? Blocks.

Yoshi Cookie

Yoshi Cookies were going to appear in the game, serving the same purpose as a fruit.

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  Unused Conveyor Belts with Spikes

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  Unused magenta ! Switch

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  Unused gray ? Block

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  Unused gray Brick Blocks

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  Unused Yoshi Cookie

Level Designs

• World 1-1 had the first Star Coin in the level on the overworld area. The underground area with the second Star Coin was shown differently, and the Red Coins and Red Rings were absent; they were replaced by Coins.
• World 1-Tower had a different background, and the walls were light green and made up of small blocks.
• World 7-5 had the World 1 background.
• World 5-3 had the World 1 background.
• World 3 had cyan stripes instead of brown. The desert background had a green sky.
• World 8-7 was going to be an autoscroll level. This was changed because the screen moved too fast and the Spine Coaster could not keep up with the screen.

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  World 3-1 in the E3 demo.

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  World 7-5, with World 1 background.

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  World 5-3, with World 1 background. The Bramball can be seen with brown feet here.

Enemies

Enemy Changes

The Bramballs in the E3 trailer had brown feet instead of yellow feet.

Mini Goombas were able to be defeated by running into them. They acted like the ones in New Super Mario Bros., but were changed to the Super Mario Bros. 3 style where the Mini Goombas would stick to Mario and hold him down.

King Bills were able to be defeated, but this was changed in the final version. The animation was later used in New Super Mario Bros. U, where the player can defeat them using the Boost Star in Boost Mode.

Power-Ups

Unused Power-up

While never revealed or used in the game, a power-up that appears to be a "chicken suit" was originally intended to be in the game. Concept art of the suit had been discovered, though its purpose or effects on the characters who were to use it is unknown. The idea was eventually changed into the Penguin Suit. The chicken suit appears in volume 44 in Super Mario-Kun.

Propeller Mushroom

The orange Propeller Mushroom was originally a Propeller Suit, with a red letter "P"-like suit with a propeller at its top. It is unknown why it was changed.

Fire Toads

Originally, the Fire Toads had mushroom caps which had their respective colors reversed with white spots on them, similar to Super Toad from The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! (this would later be used for Toad's Small form in Super Mario 3D World). However, in the final version of the game (and later trailers prior to its release), the Toads' fire forms instead have them with caps with reversed colorations of their respective colors, and with red spots instead of white ones.

Additionally, the early Fire Blue Toad and Fire Yellow Toad had their vests of the same color while their pants remained a maroon like color. However, in the final version of the game, the Toads received a reddish/maroon color for both their vests and pants.

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  Concept art of the unused power-up that resembles a chicken suit.

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  Early Propeller Suits: red and blue "P"s.

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  Early versions of Fire Yellow Toad and Fire Blue Toad.

Icons

The early power-up icons were very simple. In the final version there was no Mini Mushroom, as it got replaced by a 1-Up.

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  Early icons.

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  Final icons.

Unused data

Yoshi

As seen in this video, Yoshi has a somewhat unfinished animation not seen anywhere else in the game. Since this animation is only viewable by 'hacking' Yoshi into a Castle/Tower Level, it further hints at the theory that Yoshi was originally planned to be able to be used in boss fights.

Additionally, Yoshi does interact with certain enemies differently from Mario, Luigi, Blue Toad, and Yellow Toad, which can only be spotted by hacking the game. For an example, Yoshi cannot safely jump on a Cooligan or a Mechakoopa, but he can eat them. Similarly, Yoshi can defeat a Wiggler by ground pounding it. Another oddity is that Yoshi can defeat a Big Wiggler by eating it, or by spitting a fireball at it.

Enemies

Information for a Big Buzzy Beetle exists within the game. However, it was not used in any level. The Big Buzzy Beetle can be used as a platform, and will only move continuously in one direction; it does not fall while airborne. It does, however, change direction when it hits walls or collides with certain enemies. Finally, it is immune to every known attack method, apart from throwing a POW block. The enemy concept was revisited and used in later installments.

There is also unused data for the Banzai Bill Cannon, which can enable it to fire Bull's-Eye Banzais.

It is also likely that Fishing Boo was intended to be in the game at one stage, since an empty object is called 'EN_GHOST_JUGEM'.

Para-Beetles and Heavy Para-Beetles have unused behaviors where they can fly to the right, or stand still and face the background or the screen.

Big Eep Cheeps exist in the files of the game. They later made their first appearance in New Super Luigi U.

Unused data for Mini Goombas that act similarly to the ones in New Super Mario Bros. exists in the game. Unlike the Mini Goombas in New Super Mario Bros., they cannot defeat Mini Mario by running into him.

Music

The only unused track in the game is "cheepfanfare_lr.ry.32".

Sound Effects

In the games files, unused voice clips from New Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario 64 DS can be found; these voice clips may have been used for the demo versions of the game.

Items and objects

Platforms

There were unused platforms. These include four rotating platforms (similar to the ones during the Reznor battle from Super Mario World), Seesaws, and controllable platforms like the one from World 7-2 in New Super Mario Bros. Trampoline platforms that bounce the player to the opposite direction are also seen. These platforms were simply long gray blocks.

Arrows

Arrows that were used in New Super Mario Bros. were found in the game through hacking methods. They do the exact same thing as they did in said game.

Broken Warp Pipe model

Within the game's code, "obj_dokan.arc" contains a broken Warp Pipe model. This could be linked to the planned Mega Mario appearance.

Event Switch

A magenta ! Switch can be found in the game files, but is never used in the game. This ! Switch is an Event Switch. The Event Switch allows an event to activate one of up to four event IDs specified and do something else. It can be used by hacking the game.

Key

An unused key in the shape of a club suit (♧) can be found in the game's files. They may have unlocked doors on Airships.

Larry Koopa model

A shorter version of Larry Koopa exists in the game's code. Compared to the used model, this Larry has shorter eyes, shorter hair, and shorter stature.

Snake Block texture

The green Snake Block found in New Super Mario Bros. was supposed to be used in the game, but instead Ice Snake Blocks replaced it. The only area Ice Snake Blocks were found was in Lemmy's Castle.

Toad balloon

Toad balloons are referred to as Green Coins. The name of the object is "EN_GREENCOIN". "obj_coin.arc" also contains a model and texture for a Green Coin, but is never used in the game. The object was later used in New Super Mario Bros. U.

? Bubble

An object that slightly resembles a Magic Ball appears in the game's data.

Gallery

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  Unused Snake Block.

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  The unused Big Buzzy Beetle.

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  Screenshot of the unused Big Buzzy Beetle.

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  The unused arrows.

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  The unused platforms.

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  Unused broken pipe model, probably leftovers from the similarly unused Mega Mushroom when a Mega player walks into a Pipe.

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  A Para-Beetle facing the screen.

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  A Heavy Para-Beetle facing the screen.

World Layouts

In the World Map folder on the disc, left behind is an unused configuration file for the "Collected Star Coins" screen ("CollectionCoinCourseSort.arc"). From it, early level layout can be assumed.

• World 1 did not have 1-6.
• World 2 had a Ghost House and lacked 2-6.
  • However the Ghost House of World 2 and the lack of 2-6 was later done in New Super Mario Bros. 2.
• World 3 had two Ghost Houses just like Donut Plains in Super Mario World.
• World 4 had 4-7 and did not include the Ghost House and Airship.
• World 5 had 5-6.
• World 6 had 6-7, and no airship.
  • This was later done in New Super Mario Bros. U.
• World 7 had 7-7 and did not have the Ghost House. It could have included a cannon.
• World 8 had a second tower, marked as "Secret".
• World 9 did not yet exist just like New Super Mario Bros.

Miscellaneous

Concept box art

The concept box art (top middle)

A proposed box art for the game featured a hand-drawn sketch depicting Mario, Luigi, and the Toads facing Bowser and the Koopalings. This concept box art was included as part of a recruitment kit for prospective Nintendo employees.

External links

• YouTube - New Super Mario Bros. Wii Testing n' Stuff
• YouTube - New Super Mario Bros. Wii Unused/Beta stuff