List of Super Mario Galaxy pre-release and unused content

This article pertains to the beta elements of Super Mario Galaxy.

E3 2006 (May 10-12 )
E3 2006 was the first event in which Nintendo publicly showed Galaxy in anything akin to its final form, although it was quite different from the final game. In this prototypical build, attendees were treated to a single-galaxy demo of the game, in which they were given ten minutes to find and collect a star. This build had many differences from the final game, although all the basic principles of the game existed in some form.
 * Some game mechanics eventually changed:
 * Mario had the ability to spin to attract coins to him, which he lost in the final version. He can still do this as Flying Mario and underwater.
 * In this version of the game Mario could spin multiple times in a row. In the final version, a small delay is enforced during Spins.
 * In this prototype, players had to hold B and point at Star Bits to grab them. This was later changed because the developers settled on using the B button to fire Star Bits (which was impossible at this point.)
 * Mario could kick Star Bits around.
 * Mario's Star Cursor was more powerful. It had many of the powers given to the Second Player's cursor in the final game, such as holding enemies.
 * The Life Meter was more like the one in Super Mario 64, having a total of eight health, and changing color more like the Super Mario 64 version.
 * At this point, Musical Notes had an on screen counter, showing players how many musical notes they had collected, as well as how many there were total.
 * Here, if a player wanted to use a Pull Star (or what would eventually be called a pull star,) he or she would need to point at it constantly, as moving the star cursor would deactivate it. In the final game, the pull star will remain active until players release the A button.
 * If a character wanted to talk to Mario, an exclamation point in a thought bubble would appear above its head. When Mario got close to that character, its dialogue would appear onscreen without interrupting gameplay.
 * When the player pulled on a sling pod a white arrow will show the direction Mario is going to go, also if the player pulled too long the arrow will turn red.
 * When the player grabbed a coin, the coin sound effect can be heard on the Wii Remote's speaker.
 * Some graphics were not complete, or were different:
 * The Star Bit Counter said 0/100 in this version. No attendee to E3 achieved the collection of all 100 of the Galaxy's "Star Shards" (as they were then known,) so their purpose is unknown.
 * The Star Cursor was yellow in color, and it had a longer "tail." It flashed red if players were not pointing the Wii remote at the screen.
 * Slurples were colored purple.
 * Speech bubbles had a cloudlike design.
 * The message "You Got a Star!" was white, and written in all caps. The "Too Bad!" text was the same.
 * The HUD effects for using a Sling Pod were different. These can be seen in the Tarantox videos.
 * The Mario head used as a lives counter was captioned "MARIO."
 * The HUD design used the number font from Super Mario Sunshine.
 * One-ups used a simpler, green "1up!" effect when collected.
 * Certain sound effects were substituted out for others, usually because not all sound composition was complete:
 * When a star appeared it used a Shine Sprite appearing sound effect, from Super Mario Sunshine.
 * When Mario grabbed a star, the music was a remix of the goal tune from the original Super Mario Bros.
 * Super Mario Sunshine voices were used as Mario's voice as a placeholder.
 * A different sound effect was used for grabbing Star Bits.
 * A slightly simpler sound effect was used for one up collection.
 * A few things also existed under different names:
 * Star Bits were called "star shards."
 * Launch/Sling Stars were simply "stars." (Pull stars weren't named)
 * Sling Pods were called "Wobble Launchers".

Star World
Star World was the demonstration galaxy created to show off Super Mario Galaxy for E3 2006. It was comprised of many planets taken from other galaxies in the game. It was notably different from any galaxy in the final game in that it was comprised of a "branching" path- choosing different routes on different planets could lead to different stars entirely. It was also notable for its heavy use of asteroids instead of unique planets. The final game ended up using these asteroids only twice, as moons in two galaxies.

This galaxy was inhabited by rabbits and the conjecturally named Cosmic Toads, who were distinguished from normal Toads by the star shaped spots on their caps. They gave players hints and explained the controls. Sometimes, the rabbits could change into Cosmic Toads. Their role was likely replaced by Lumas. They explained various aspects of the game to Mario.

At least three routes through the galaxy were discovered by attendees to the show. The stars were guarded by King Kaliente, Tarantox, and Megaleg (then called Snifit Bot).

Since this galaxy was compiled into a build that allowed Mario's Star Cursor to hold enemies, some of its puzzles made use of that.

Snifit Bot was notably different from the final game's Megaleg. It was not commanded by Bowser Jr, and not powered by a Star. The weak point started out blue, and became red once the outer protective layer was broken (In the final game, it starts out white, then turns pink.) Also, the rotating light source is inside the glass dome on top of Snifit Bot, as opposed to on top of it. Megaleg has a small depression on the top of its head, which Snifit Bot did not. Snifit Bot had three coins near each of the two metal patches on its head, and two coins on each leg, making the battle somewhat easier for players. After it was hit for the first time, it guarded its weak point with four unbreakable walls, rather than eight breakable ones. When Snifit Bot is killed, its head smokes, which does not happen to Megaleg. Snifit Bot guarded a normal Star, as opposed to a Grand Star.

Tarantox was also different, though not nearly as much so as Snifit Bot. Attacking any of the fluid filled green sacs on it was enough to flip it over, while in the final game, only the large one on its bottom is sufficient. Once the red sacs on its belly have been destroyed one time each, the final version's Tarantox will regrow all of the green sacs. Not so for Star World's Tarantox. The red sacs on Star World's Tarantox also pulsate more, and with a higher pitched sound effect.

King Kaliente's battle was almost identical to his battle in the released game. The only difference observed is that the flaming projectiles he shot could be batted away with the star cursor. However, not many videos of King Kaliente were released.

All three bosses did not release star bits when attacked, since there were only 100 star bits in the whole galaxy. However, no attendee to the show ever collected all of them, so their purpose remains unknown (they could not be fired at enemies as they are in the final game.)

It is notable that every planet in this galaxy would eventually make it into the final game (although some were modified heavily,) with one exception. The planet players started on, (not officially named, but called "HomePlanet" internally by the game) is totally absent from the final game, although its model data is still present.

The planet just before Megaleg/Snifit Bot's planet originally had a grassy (as opposed to metallic) design. A minor glitch in the released game causes the grassy version of this planet to appear if players stand on top of Megaleg and look at the metallic version. This is caused by an incorrectly set-up culling method. When the planet was redesigned, its low-poly model was not. The series of planets leading up to Tarantox is significantly more decayed than the same planets in the final game. The same is true of Captain Olimar's ship. The first planet from good egg galaxy is shown in a much different form here. Additionally, the planet with rolling boulders and mud from Good Egg Galaxy appears here, but without the mud, or the puzzle that would accompany it in the final game.

Although called "Star World" by fans, this name is taken from the "Welcome to the Star World!" message that appeared when starting this galaxy. Based on the similar message used in the final game, it could just be a mistranslation of "galaxy"

The music that plays in this galaxy is known as "egg planet." It is the theme of Good Egg Galaxy in the final game.

Videos:
 * A trailer shown at E3 (a man and a woman play star world together)
 * Fighting King Kaliente
 * A cosmic toad explains "Stars" and "Star Shards" (later renamed "Launch Stars" and "Star Bits," respectively)
 * "HomePlanet"
 * Battle with "Snifit Bot," showing many differences from the final game
 * Route to Tarantox
 * Tarantox
 * "HomePlanet" appears in the final game's code, but not the game itself

GDC 2007 (March 5-9 )
Although no playable version of Super Mario Galaxy was shown at Game Developer's Conference 2007, a trailer was released, showing a much more complete version of Galaxy.

The trailer


 * A pull star was used to climb on top of the house in Good Egg Galaxy. The house also lacks the orange pipe, and the launch star fires Mario to the Egg planet, rather than the tropical planet.
 * The volcano in Melty Molten Galaxy has a different design, reminiscent of volcanic glass.
 * The Launch Star on top of Good Egg Galaxy's tower is lower, and the planet it leads to lacks the pools of mud and Star Chips that it has in the final game. (This is also the design of this planet that was featured in Star World)
 * A second design of the health meter was used, this one identical to the first except with the green and blue colors swapped.
 * A few planets from Gusty Garden Galaxy were in Good Egg Galaxy at this point, including the apples. It is possible that they were one galaxy at this point.
 * Honeyhive Galaxy had a space themed background.
 * For an unknown reason, a certain launch star leaves a red trail, although the launch star is the normal color. It could be that this was an early design for the transformed Lumas' launch stars.
 * Both of the Starshrooms at the beginning of the Space Junk Galaxy are red.
 * The star cursor is still designed like the one in Star World era builds. However, it has the shorter tail of the modern star cursor.
 * The Life Mushroom has not yet been added into the area of Melty Molten Galaxy with miniature suns, for obvious reasons.
 * Melty Molten Galaxy features topmen, as well as some other elements of Dreadnought Galaxy
 * In this trailer, a Launch Star actually fires Mario through one of the hardened lava structures in Melty Molten Galaxy. Much to Mario's relief, this never happens in the final game.
 * Topmaniac appears, with a much different design.
 * An area appears in the video in which there are many sinking platforms above lava. Though this area has many coins in the video, they have all become star bits in the final game.  The final game's Luma Shop is also missing.
 * A crate is in front of the cave in which Beach Bowl Galaxy's Eel lives.
 * The Star Bit counter is still of the format 0/100
 * The air meter has a different, bubble-like design.
 * Mario can still spin to attract coins.

E3 2007 (July 10-13 )
Since E3 was downsized to the E3 Media and Business Summit in 2007, less Galaxy info was released than in 2006. The first Galaxy related content was a press conference video, which was very close to the final game.


 * This is the first video to show Mario with a three wedge health meter.
 * The star cursor now has its final design, and co-op mode is first seen. However, the two star cursors are not labeled P1 and P2, as they are in the final game.
 * The fly meter has a bubble-like design.
 * An area of the Honeyhive Galaxy is shown in which two rings of Star Bits float above purple flower platforms. In the final game, these are coins.
 * The Star Bit counter is now of the format 000 (It shows all three digits, even when they are zeros.)
 * Players no longer needs to hold B to collect star bits.
 * Shrinking green platforms (from the Hurry-Scurry Galaxy) do not have a silver border.
 * The vault room in Ghostly Galaxy has Star Bits, rather than coins.

Later on, attendees were allowed to play a demo of the game, from which they had access to Good Egg Galaxy, Honeyhive Galaxy, and Space Junk Galaxy. It should be noted that the press conference video above is not from this demo, but from a very slightly earlier build of the game. Some videos taken by attendees reveal differences from the released game.


 * There are scuff marks from the boulders in the final game.
 * The ? Block is a Question Coin in the final game.


 * Here we can see early names for several things.
 * The "Space Junk Galaxy" was called "Star Dust Galaxy." This is also the galaxy's name in the Japanese version.
 * The first star of that galaxy was called "The Beam Star Trail" ("Pull Star Path" in the final game.)
 * Thus, "Pull Stars" were known as "Beam Stars."
 * In the opening movie to a galaxy, the name of the current star is printed at the top of the screen, while the galaxy's name is at the bottom. In the final game, both are at the top, with the star's name below the galaxy's name.
 * Here, the message "Point at the screen with [the Wii Remote]" is aligned with the left side of the screen, rather than centered. "Aim at [the beam star] and press [A]." is similar.
 * One coin featured in this demo version is missing from the final game.


 * Matt Casamassina (the man playing the demo) refers to the galaxy as the "Honeybee Kingdom." However, this is not seen on-screen.
 * Once again, there are star bits above the purple flowers.


 * The Luma on top of the tower says "My comrades are ahead... Hurry!" In the final game it says "My friends are ahead. Hurry!"
 * The text is also vertically centered in the final game, which is not true here.
 * The Luma who explains coins is not present.
 * Mr. Casamassina refers to the Star Chips as "little triangles," suggesting that they players weren't given their true name.


 * Captain Olimar's ship does not have crystals holding coins on its windows.
 * One of the asteroids flanking the Beam Star trail is flatter and thinner than in the final game. (The round asteroid with green gems in it.)


 * Mr. Casamassina says that player 2 uses the B trigger to hold enemies, but in the final game, the A button does this.
 * The red plant next to the Piranha Plant in the video is not in the final game. Instead, the Pirhana Plant is surrounded by green stretchy plants.

GC 2007 (August 23-26 )
A demo of Galaxy was featured at Games Conference 2007. It is believed to be the same as the demo from E3 2007.


 * In this video, the bee says "Welcome to the Honeybee Kingdom ! / Our queen rules this land." The text is not vertically centered.  In the final game, the bee says "Welcome to the Honeyhive Kingdom ! / Our queen rules this land."
 * Later, a different bee says "New Bees must greet the / Queen Bee !" In the final game, she says "New Bees must greet Her / Highness, Queen Bee !"
 * The Bee Mushroom has a slightly different design.
 * There is no music when Mario becomes Bee Mario for the first time.
 * The text box that informs players of Bee Mario's flying ability is a lighter shade of blue, and the font is different.

Prima Official Game Guide
The official Prima Game Guide for Super Mario Galaxy was released in two editions: the Premiere Edition and the Collector's Edition. Among the features included in the Collector's Edition were six pages of concept art and beta info from the game's developers.

Rosalina was intended to be related to Princess Peach. They have very similar appearances, reflecting this. Bonefin Galaxy was intended to be much darker, as was Deep Dark Galaxy. These were changed in the interest of playability. Guppy was originally a dolphin, and a friendly character. Some art of the Sea Slide and Beach Bowl Galaxies suggests that they were conceived as a single galaxy, with beach bowl's main planet in the center of Sea Slide's ring. A piece of concept art labeled only "fortress" is captioned as a piece that is very memorable to the SMG development team, since it was one of the earliest drawings of Galaxy. Ironically, the planet shown in the art is nowhere in the final game.

In all versions of the guide, readers are advised to look for a "unicorn-like horn" on the floor of the Bonefin Galaxy's main planet, since there is a red shell near it. The guide even shows a picture of the aforementioned. However, it is totally absent from the final game, suggesting that some modifications were made to the game even after it was given to the guide's writers.

Release Game
In the final build of Toy Time Galaxy, a train set is hidden beneath a platform in the first mission, probably because it's easier than just getting rid of it (although it could be an Easter Egg.)

HomePlanet, from Star World, still exists in the game's code. Star World itself has not been discovered, and is probably no longer accessible.

Some unused models were found in the game. These include the following:
 * A fake inflatable Toad balloon enemy.
 * Two different Bullies.
 * A blue and yellow genie's hand (much like Master Hand).
 * A Red Switch. Its filename is flagsaveswitch, suggesting that it was used as a checkpoint of some type.
 * Mario's model from Super Mario Sunshine. It only has his running, swimming, and waiting animations, meaning it may have been an early placeholder before Mario's Galaxy model was finished.
 * A creature composed of torimochi with a face.
 * The Party Monkey from Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat.
 * Ticojii, a character resembling a blue star with a mustache. Its name is probably a derived from the Japanese words チコ tiko, meaning "Luma" and お祖父さん ojīsan, meaning "grandfather" or "old man".
 * Onitsutsu, which would appear to be a type of Tox Box. It has the Japanese character 鬼 oni on one face , referring to the Oni from Japanese folk lore. The second half of its name is probably from the word 筒 tsutsu, meaning tube.

The low-polygon model for the house in Ghostly Galaxy has two chimneys that the high-polygon model lacks.

If a player uses cheat codes to leave the cave in Deep Dark Galaxy's Purple Coin star, they will find that the objects outside the cave are mostly gone or misplaced. These oddities include:


 * The entire Toad Brigade is present, even though they are also in the cave with the purple coins.
 * The Red Toad is on the beach, and he says the Green Toad's normal message (Nope, I don't see any Purple Coin(s) hidden in the dirt.)
 * The Yellow Toad is also on the beach, standing on top of a blue structure only found on some levels in the Sea Slide Galaxy. He will create an empty text box if spoken to.
 * The Green Toad is dancing where the Blue Toad stood during star 2.
 * The Blue Toad is inside the titular box of the "Boo in a Box" star. He floats above the ground and does not have glasses.  If Mario gets too close to him, he will create an empty "small" text box.
 * The Purple Toad is standing next to the Red Toad, and he gives his normal message for that star, which makes no sense when read out of context.
 * There is a green pipe on the beach next to the Red and Purple Toads. It is connected to another green pipe next to the Blue Toad.  This could be an early route to the "Boo in a Box" star, or it could simply be an aid for testing.
 * Next to the Green Toad there is a series of climbable poles. One of these is tilted at an odd angle an does not lead anywhere significant.
 * Also next to the Green Toad is an Amp, not present in any other star.