Pre-release and unused content

Beta Elements are components of a video game that, for whatever reason, are removed or altered before that game is released. Known info about beta elements usually comes from one of two sources. The first is information released about a game, by its creators, before the game is complete. The second is data found within the coding of a game that serves no purpose, but could have been implemented into the game at one point.

Beta elements get their name from the period at the end of a game's development known as Beta Testing, when the nearly complete build of the game is debugged and playtested by a small group of people. Despite this, most games are complete or nearly complete when beta testing takes place, so most beta elements are scrapped long before this period.

Beta Elements should not be confused with Vaporware, entire games which never see release.

''Super Mario Bros. 2
See also: Doki Doki Panic.

In 2005, a prototype copy of Super Mario Bros. 2 sold on eBay for $350. It was significantly different from the final release version of 'SMB2, making it possibly the biggest single leak of beta information in the history of the Mario series.

The prototype cart has a SNROM-02 motherboard rather than the final version's TSROM-04. This means that it uses CHR-RAM instead of CHR-ROM and utilizes batteries. This was probably changed because SNROM-02's ROM size is 1 Mebibit, rather than TSROM-04's 2 Mebibits.

The title and story screens of the prototype use a different color pallete, which includes tans and oranges, as opposed to the final version's red and blue scheme.

On the prototype version's character select screen, an ellipsis divides the phrase "EXTRA LIFE" from the number of lives remaining. Strangely, the ellipsis returns for Super Mario All-Stars.

The character's sprites are not significantly different between the two versions, but Mario and Luigi lack sclera in the prototype, and the Princess's sclera are pink. This may be because Mario, Luigi, and Peach's sprites have more colors than the NES hardware can normally handle, and so their sclera actually have to be rendered as a separate sprite from the rest of their bodies.

Several other character sprites are slightly different. For example, the princess has more hair in the prototype. One noticeable incongruity of the prototype's sprites is that, although all the "item carrying" sprites are finished, the items being carried float at the height the original Doki Doki Panic characters would have carried them at.

In DDP, players couldn't use the B button to run; this was, in fact, almost exclusive to Mario games at the time. This mechanic hadn't been added when this prototype was compiled.

The prototype used a magic lamp to access subspace, as did DDP. The final version used a magic potion.

For a complete comparison, see The Mushroom Kingdom: Lost Bytes: Prototypes: Super Mario Bros. 2.

''Super Mario Bros. 3
There were going to be two new enemies called Gold Cheep Cheep (a golden version of a Cheep-Cheep), and Green Parabeetles (green colored Parabeetles). The Gold Cheep Cheeps would come in groups and swim faster than regular Cheep-Cheeps and the Green Parabeetle is a green Parabeetle that flies faster than normal ones. The game coding reveals an item-sized Toad icon among some of the game's suits; this is interpreted by several as a sort of "Toad Suit", although it makes no changes to gameplay when granted to Mario. This is likely due to it being scrapped early and never given any purpose. Designers also considered a power-up to turn Mario into a Centaur (half-man, half-horse), although this was rejected (Tilden 1990, 21).

Koopa Troopas and and Hammer Bros. were going to host the mini-games. They were replaced by Toad. However, it could also be possible that they were all around at the same time, but all got scrapped except for one due to memory size. There were also different kinds of mini-games, similar to the ones in New Super Mario Bros..

Finally, fifteen extra levels exist within the coding of Super Mario Bros. 3. Some of these are strange and unique, while others bear much resemblance to levels in the final version and were very likely redone as those. Also, the back of the box of some copies of Super Mario Bros. 3 depicts Mario traversing a hilly grassland stage with tons of Parabeetles and two Note Blocks about. This particular stage is not any of the lost ones present on the cartridge, nor is it in the final game. It could even be a press mock-up from Nintendo. The "special" boxes also feature a beta map of Grass Land.

''Super Mario World
Dinosaur Land was drastically different, possessing an appearance similar to the various kingdoms of Super Mario Bros. 3. Specifically, it was to feature things such as Toad Houses (which could possibly mean that Toads were once considered to populate Dinosaur Land) and more Super Mario Bros. 3-style Fortresses.

SNES test cartridges also exist and, among other things (some of which are Mario-related), they include an early build of Super Mario World. These cartridges reveal that, at one point, Goombas were to be able to be stomped (even earlier test cartridges show that Goombas also once possessed their normal, mushroom-like appearance rather than the Goom-like Goombas seen in the final game and later builds), Koopa Troopas were to walk on all fours, and normal Piranha Plants and even Venus Fire Traps were to have been present. These elements were used in the Super Mario World cartoon. Interestingly, several of these cartridges' beta sprites were merely simple Super Mario Bros. 3 edits. Lastly, the Super Leaf and Raccoon Mario form were both present in early builds. There were also sprites that got scrapped in the final version like the yellow Giant Boo.

There is an unused Switch Palace to the left of Valley of Bowser 3. Since it leads to an "empty" level, it is probable that it was scrapped early in development. Beating the Secret Exit of Valley of Bowser 3 would cause Mario to walk to this switch palace, except that Valley of Bowser 3 has no secret exit, and there is no path for Mario to walk on. This could crash the game, causing the player to be trapped in a glitched Bonus Game.

There was, at one point, a small cloud of dust kicked up when Mario got on Yoshi. This can be seen through a simple hack.

Early screenshots of the Game Boy Advance port (Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2) showed that the HUD wasn't even changed, unlike the final version.

Beta Levels
Among the data on the Super Mario World ROM, there are many levels that did not make it into the released game. The majority of these are not referenced by the game's level pointer table, which means that a standard copy of Super Mario World won't be able to play them, even though their data is present. It also means that most of them don't have names, and those are listed here by their address in the ROM.

Level 0x30200
Probably the most famous of the SMW beta levels, this is also one of the few referenced in the pointer table. Actually, around half of the references are directed to this level. Due to this, this was one of the first beta levels discovered. The actual level is a short plain with TEST spelled out in turn blocks in the sky. At the end is an arrow pointing into a small hole. Mario will die if he goes down this hole. Mario will also receive a 1-up if he either walks to the end of the level, or slides down the side of the first T. He cannot receive both. In the copy that was originally discovered, Yoshi could not enter the level. However, this is specific to that copy. It is not a property of the level as a whole.

Level 0x313E5
This is actually the (used) level Donut Plains 1. However, it appears 3 times in the level pointer table. Once at level number 0x15, the copy used in-game, once at 0x16, a duplicate, and once at 0x17. It is this last that is most likely to be a remnant of beta, as it is paired with a garbled background, and has the name #2 MORTON'S PLAINS. This name is also attached to one of the copies of Level 0x30200

Level 0x382C3
This is a test for a special kind of slope that fixes a bug in the code. It is referenced in the pointer table as Level 0x108.

Level 0x30263
This is a short level set in the sky. It contains a sprite not found anywhere else in the entire game, which behaves like the platforms from Forest Secret Area, but with no vertical movement. Due to a glitch in the way the level was originally coded, it is rendered unplayable, but fixing this is straightforward. Due to the nature of the glitch involved, it seems this was a very early level design. This, coupled with the fact that it appears before any other level in the ROM save the "TEST" level, suggests that it was the first level created for Super Mario World.

Level 0x302BD
This level contains the mushroom scales from Butter Bridge 1. However, they aren't functioning correctly. It also contains Super Mario Bros. 3 style Piranha Plants, something found nowhere else in the entire game. However, they have slightly glitched graphics, which causes them to have a dead fish instead of a stem.

Level 0x30338
A long hall with doors leading to each of the game's bosses. It is interesting to note that they are out of order from their appearance in the game, and that Reznor is not differentiated from the Koopalings. Big Boo is absent.

Level 0x304EB, 0x30464
A shot and quite glitchy underground level. It makes use of a falling layer 2 effect, which is familiar from the end of Chocolate Secret.

Level 0x3059C
A small room with two stone cubes, two Hot Heads, and two sparkys.

Level 0x305AB, 0x30701
A beta version of. It differs little from the final version.

Level 0x3073D
An area with one pipe and a long stretch of ground. Due to the music, it is likely that it was supposed to become an underwater stage. However, it's not possible to know.

Level 0x30875
It's similar to the exit of a Ghost House, but never used in-game.

Level 0x38218
A totally empty level. At six bytes, it has the distinction of being the smallest level in the game.

Level 0x38260
Another unused Ghost House exit. This one has some cloud decorations.

Level 0x38281
A level in which 3 bushes float in a black void.

Level 0x30584
A castle-themed level in which an enterable pie lies adjacent to a large hole. For some reason, this level is 5.5 times longer than the accessible portion.

Unused Level Components
In some cases, some objects were left in the game's code that were never used in a level. In addition to the above, it appears that the game was intended to have translucency effects in use on some levels. These can be seen in some beta screenshots, and accessed by hacking the final game. Otherwise, they are never used.
 * 1) A platform that was never used in the game, it can have one of two functions. Normally, it acts much like the stone platforms from Forest Secret Area, but without the vertical movement.  If it works in conjunction with another sprite, it will cause the background to scroll.  However, if a certain property of the level itself is changed, it will act like the floating platforms from Yoshi's Island 3.
 * 2) An object that generates a cloud of bats akin to the cloud of ghosts from Donut Ghost House. Because they were scrapped early in development, one of their animation frames is incorrect.  Additionally, they lack the correct sound effects.
 * 3) This object floats along and follows the trajectory of a P-Balloon. If collected, it is worth one extra life.
 * 4) Identical to the above, but worth 5 coins.
 * 5) The Piranha Plant from Super Mario Bros. 3. Similarly to the bat object, its stem appears as a dead fish because its graphics were never finished.
 * 6) A flying key. For some reason it can hurt Mario.
 * 7) Purple coins. They act like regular coins, but the "blocks" they create when a P-Switch is in effect can be collected as if they too were coins.
 * 8) Several unused decorative grass objects also appear.
 * 9) Doors that can be entered only by Small Mario. Both normal and P-switch-activated versions exist.
 * 10) There is a type of Turn Block that never stops turning.
 * 11) A small, glitchy object that has the appearance of a piece of the Midway Gate. Mario cannot interact with it.
 * 12) An empty Turn Block. If Mario hits it, it becomes a Brown Block, but gives no item.
 * 13) A Prize Block with a Koopa Troopa inside. When it first comes out, it will be trapped in its shell.
 * 14) A turn block that acts like a note block when hit from the side. There is also a version of this that releases a feather when hit.  It's graphics are incorrect.
 * 15) A turn block that acts like a cement block.
 * 16) A very large, very glitchy bush. It doesn't have any use, as it fills the entire screen with glitchy bushes.
 * 17) A cage which would be used on an autoscrolling level. Mario would be held inside, and would have to dodge obstacles.
 * 18) An invisible object that would initiate a level that had both horizontal and vertical components. This is never seen in the final game, in which all levels must be either horizontal or vertical, but not both.
 * 19) A different version of the floating skulls from Vanilla Dome 3. They are much harder to use than the skulls of the final game.

Unused Map Screen Sprites
On the Map Screen, there were four sprites that were never used in the final game.
 * 1) A lakitu which circles around Mario's head on the overworld map.
 * 2) A Blue Jay, which flies around Mario's head like the Lakitu, but will follow him to the submaps.
 * 3) An animated Piranha Plant.
 * 4) A Koopaling that doesn't look quite like any of the real koopalings. It can force Mario to enter a level, like the Hand Traps of Super Mario Bros. 3.  It ambushes Mario on the overworld.  Because it was not finished, it corrupts Mario's position on the overworld map, and thus makes the game unplayable.

Debug Functions
Using the Super Mario World ROM and a hex editor, players may access debug functions that were left in the game. These include:
 * 1) The ability to cycle through Mario's different forms using up+select.
 * 2) The ability to exit any level using start+select.
 * 3) The ability to fly from a standstill.
 * 4) The ability to place Mario anywhere in a level using L+A.
 * 5) The ability to play in slow motion.
 * 6) The ability to walk to any level on the overworld, even without beating them.
 * 7) The ability to follow the warp from Yoshi's House to the Special Zone backwards.
 * 8) The ability to view any of the cutscenes played after defeating a boss.
 * 9) The ability to cycle through the different Yoshi colors on the overworld.
 * 10) Infinite invincible star timer.
 * 11) The ablity to use a double jump.

''Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
This game was going to have more forms Yoshi could turn into: a Mushroom, a Tree, and a Plane (most likely replaced by the helicopter form). There are Tweeter sprites present in the game's coding that looked identical to the Tweeters of Super Mario All-Stars, and a Super Mario All-Stars Shy Guy is also present within the game. There are also some Bob-Ombs using the wrong palette. It is possible that the programmers were merely using these sprites as references for enemy sprites that they were remaking, and either didn't use the Tweeter or it was never meant to be used and taken from Super Mario All-Stars by mistake. There is also a frowning, rock-like block present in the game's coding, and, perhaps even more oddly, a hulking, barrel-throwing, tie-clad Grinder that seems to deliberately resemble Donkey Kong. It is possible that this gorilla-like Grinder would be a Kamek-strengthened Grinder boss and clever reference to Mario's first enemy.

''Super Mario Land 2
Early screenshots of the English version showed that there was a different, less detailed title screen.

''DK Jungle Climber
In several screenshots, there are some beta levels such as a foggy area that was possibly the beta Panic Factory, also there's another screenshot which shows an underwater level in the sea with a Lockjaw. There were originally swing-like objects that were in the game. Also some objects and backgrounds had different pallettes.

''Donkey Kong 64
Beta-screenshots of Donkey Kong 64 showed that Donkey Kong's Treehouse originally had a shower stall in it with a poster of Banjo and Kazooie on it. Also, the boss Mad Jack was originally known as "Junk-in-the-Box" and was also drastically different in appearance. Mad Jack/Junk-in-the-Box was also originally a mini-boss fought in the R&D Room in Frantic Factory instead of being a full boss fought at the area's end.

Also, the weapons the Kongs wielded in the early screenshots looked like real-world weapons instead of the wooded, somewhat cartoonish ones seen in the final version of the game. Donkey Kong's Coconut Shooter resembled a double-barreled shotgun while Diddy Kong's Peanut Popguns resembled actual pistols. This was most likely changed for the E-rating.

Another factor is that Army Dillo originally was able to hover in the air and shoot fire in the air in Jungle Japes, which he was able to do in Crystal Caves in the final version of the game.

''Donkey Kong Country
In an old Scribes page on the Rareware website there was mention of there once being a Giraffe Animal Buddy planned to appear in Donkey Kong Country; this Giraffe character was dropped for unknown reasons, though one of his mentioned abilities was that he would allow Donkey Kong to crawl up his neck and reach high items and secrets.

It is debated whether or not the plans for this Giraffe buddy were actually real though, as Rare could have simply been making a joke at the expense of fan who had made a rather odd request for a Giraffe to appear in an upcoming Donkey Kong game.

''Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
The Rare Witch Project website once had previews of several upcoming enemies and characters for Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. Among these enemies was a sinister looking character (or perhaps generic enemy) simply dubbed "Mr. X". Mr. X was a white (or perhaps skeletal) Kremling wearing a large black jacket covered in army medals, he also possessed two small hooks for hands. Despite his status as a beta element, Mr. X somehow managed to be included in the official German player's guide.

''Donkey Kong Land
Several creatures and characters who were originally going in this game were abandoned for unknown reasons. These creatures and characters included a fish enemy named Pucka, an unnamed Kong who wore a hat and a what appears to be a baby ram named Ram Bunkshus. All these unused characters were first advertised in an old issue of Nintendo Power magazine, which included pictures of them.

''Donkey Kong Land 2
Donkey Kong Land 2 originally had the sub-title "Diddy's Kong Quest", this was later removed, probably because it would cause people to think the game was an exact port of the game it was based on, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest.

Game & Watch Gallery 4
A few pre-release screenshot showed that the characters had different sprites. The "Game Select" screen was completely different. The Game Data also contains a few more unused sprites.

''Donkey Kong Land III
Donkey Kong Land III originally had the sub-title "The Race Against Time", it was later removed, presumably due to the fact that the other two installments in the Donkey Kong Land series did not possess, so it would seem slightly pointless to give Donkey Kong Land III one.

''Luigi's Mansion
Luigi's Poltergust 3000 was originally supposed to have a heat meter. If Luigi kept his vacuum on for too long, it would burst into flames, causing Luigi to lose HP. There also originally was a pink ghost that would scream behind Luigi causing him to lose 50 HP. The orange ghosts originally were blue, and had a big nose. The pink prototype ghosts closely resembled the final version orange ghosts albeit pink. There was also supposed to be more interactivity, such as Luigi sliding down a stairway, and a lamp breaking. Originally, the Boo Radar was supposed to show you where ghosts were, but not Boos. Also, the Game Boy Horror was supposed to show the player what Luigi is seeing without going into first-person view. Originally the mansion also had an RPG type of quality which included real-time changes of rooms and also an underground dungeon-like basement. There were also other cutscenes such as Luigi looking back and seeing all of the items in the Hallway move. The Game Boy Horror also had a clock. In a Nintendo Power Magazine, it was stated that Luigi had to save Mario in 24 hours or else he would be turned into a ghost. The clock is probably there to show Luigi how much time he has left.

There also was a lost graphic. In the first picture below shows the beta parlor. In the room, it had an extra side-table in front of the china cabinet.

''Mario's Tennis
The character list in this game's coding features the name "CASSARIN", which is notable for, unlike the other characters, not having any sprites. "Cassarin" happens to be Japanese for "Catherine", which is Birdo's Japanese name; it can therefore be assumed that Birdo was initially planned for playability in Mario's Tennis.

''Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
Another early screen shot shows the gang using a Mix Flower on two Boo Guys in Hollijolli Village, while Boo Guys were not present in this area in the final game. Finally, it may be notable that Baby Mario's initial artwork erroneously depicted him as having red shoes rather than his normal blue ones (this mistake was eventually changed and the artwork was re-released), although his shoe coloration would appear to have always been consistent throughout all of the actual game's programming.

A certain beta screenshot depicts Mario, Luigi, and their baby selves fighting two red shoe-clad Blooper foes in the Vim Factory. Almost nothing is known about this Blooper creature, which was unused, although the timing of the taking of the screen shot featuring them (which depicts Luigi, upon being thrust by a Trampoline, stomping one) conveniently shows fans both its normal and pained poses.

A certain enemy name in the ROM, Scoot Bloop, was totally unused. In all versions of the game excepting the Spanish release, it has been translated.

''Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Wario, Fox McCloud, Captain Olimar, Samus Aran, Link, and even an Excitebike Racer were going to show up in the Starbeans Café after Mario and Luigi made coffee, instead of E. Gadd (who was only scheduled to make one appearance). The Bean Fruits were also going to be multi-colored, and a few unused items include Neon Beans, a Game and Watch, and an item known as the "Spiritual Bros.", which may have been intended to be a badge, interestingly a badge named Soulful Bros. does exist. Therefore, Nintendo may have attempted to rename this item. One of this game's more interesting Beta Elements is that the name "Sharkbone" appears alongside names for enemies found in Gwarhar Lagoon in the game's coding, and "Sharkbone" is presumed to be an alternate name for the ???? enemies that are actually found in the final game (these enemies actually can come in a bony shark form, although they are also found in a living, Cheep-Cheep-like variety). Even more interestingly, a Nintendo Power guide actually referred to the ????s' undead shark forms as "Sharkbones" and their living Cheep-Cheep forms as "Puffer-Cheeps", which were actually completely different Cheep-Cheep varieties present in the final game; it is presumed that Nintendo based this naming off of beta material (and it may be worth noting that the German version of Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga replaces "Sharkbone" with "Sand-Cheep").

Mario & Luigi RPG 3
In the ROM, various unused sound files can be found. These include Yoshi's voice clips from Yoshi's Story, and some of the music from Mario & Luigi Partners in Time. The PiT music won't play correctly, although the Yoshi voices will.

''Mario Kart 64
A Magikoopa was going to be in this game playable, but got replaced by Donkey Kong. Also note that the Character select screen was going to have the racer face towards the player. The working title was Super Mario Kart R. In certain gameplay screenshots, the Feather Item, which appeared in Super Mario Kart, was going to be included in the list of items of the game.

''Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
The models of the characters are from Super Smash Bros Melee, and Mario and Luigi are seen in this game's only known beta trailer driving separately and each having a simple, blue kart. It was originally called Mario Kart for Gamecube, and it is likely that this early build of Mario Kart: Double Dash!! was completely scrapped and redone for the final game, as it looks nothing like it.

A screenshot for the actual Double Dash build showed different textures, speedometer HUD, and racer pictures.

''Mario Kart DS
This game's Retro Grand Prix was going to include a few more tracks, such as Mario Circuit from Mario Kart: Double Dash!!(Dismantled for the new Mario Circuit), Koopa Troopa Beach (under the name "Nokonoko Course") from Mario Kart 64, and Mario Kart: Double Dash!! ' s Block City battle area. There was also an mysterious "Dokan Course" stage with no textures and Moo Moo Farm music Source, as well as a simple, circular test area smaller than even Baby Park; both of these (and the latter one for sure) could've been debugging stages not planned for inclusion in the final game. These areas can still be accessed using Action Replay DS. Waluigi Pinball was also slightly different (mostly in texture and music, the latter of which was strangely from Yoshi Falls, and the slot machine seen near the end of the lap was part of the course for players to drive over.) in betas, albeit probably a programming error.Source Demo copies of the game actually showed it with quite a few object differences (such as more bumpers and a less direct launch towards the beginning). The demo version also depicted DK Pass with (perhaps more thematic for its eponymous character) a grassland theme rather than a snow one, with a lone Thwomp near the finish line, as well as many other small differences mostly regarding walls and jumps.Source Finally, demo version guides released for stores by Nintendo depicted the Chain Chomp (which could not actually be retrieved in the demo version itself) as an item; it is presumed that this Chomp munition would work in a manner similar to that of the Chain Chomps in Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, making it likely that Chain Chomps were removed from the game in favor of Bullet Bills (although the listing of the Chain Chomp in these beta guides may have been a simple mistake, though this is unlikely).

''Mario Kart Super Circuit
Early Nintendo Power screenshots showed that the character had different, "Super-Deformed" sprites. Said screenshots also showed that the HUD was different. Some tracks also had more detailed background.

''Mario Party DS
Wiggler's Garden was originally called Petey's Greenhouse, with Petey Piranha needing help as a member of Petey's army (aka Piranha Plant) had betrayed him and was destroying his greenhouse. Also Toadsworth was going to appear in the item house, but was replaced by a Monty Mole. However, he is not totally absent, as he is mentioned in the item gallery a few times, just never seen.

Another thing is that the players used to have their own boxes at the top screen that have the "X" in the Coins storage and the Stars storage. In the final version, it was removed possibly because Coins can reach over two hundred. It was also going to have Wi-Fi, but scrapped possibly due to memory constraints, lack of time, or because other Mario Party games didn't have Wi-Fi.

''Mario Power Tennis
In the intro of the game where Wario and Waluigi are drawing on the scorechart in the left the player can see Toad and Toadette's heads. It is unknown if they were going to be playable and Nintendo forgot to take their faces off the score chart.

''Mario Strikers Charged Football
Screenshots shown that during matchs, there were no music, both in the classic stadiums and the new fields arenas. The aesthetic of the gadgets located on the top of the screen, would have a more futuristic design, featuring the captains' emblem of the teams, while the items appeared in other gadgets. Later, gadgets had a rusted appearance, still showing the captain's emblem of the team, which they were replaced by the faces of the captains lately. The Super Abilities of the captains were rendered as particular icons for each one (e.g.: The Super Ability of Mario, Super Mario! was shown as a red letter M; Bowser's Fire Storm! was shown as a fireball).

''Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis
The top screen looked different. It was always outside on the top screen. Also, Cool Kongs used to wear spiked helmets, had purple goggles, and were darker, along with the "C" on their ties being a "W." The sprite used for when a Mini-Mario hanged onto a Cool Kong's tie was also different, with the Mini-Mario facing forward as he did so. Hearts were also present (apparently as collectible items) for unknown reasons. Mini-Shy Guys were dark red instead of the red-pink color used in the final game. Wall Jump bars were also originally red, being reddish-pink (much like Mini-Shy Guys) in the final game. Falling poses were the same has unactivated poses as well. Additionally, Gold Mini-Marios were going to appear in every level, by looking at the top screen of screenshots.

''New Super Mario Bros.
The working title for this game was Super Mario Bros. DS. Also, during early stages of production, Mega Goombas were going to be a generic species (the result of a Goomba colliding with a Super Mushroom and powering up) rather than an individual boss. (It is possible that other enemies were to be compatible with this situation, too, considering the giant enemies like Super Dry Bones and Super Piranha Plant that remain in the game in generic, already-large forms.) There was also supposed to be a Mario and Luigi co-op mode at a time. Interestingly, an illustration of beta map icons still exists as a screenshot on page twelve of the final game's manual. There were originally three item reserve spots rather than one. There also was an underwater stage which also featured Manta Ray in VS. Mode. Spindrift was also supposed to be in the game, but got replaced by the blue spinning platforms in World 1-3 and other levels.

In another image, it's possible to obtain the Blue Shell by first defeating a Blue Koopa Troopa. Then when the player Ground Pounds on the shell, the player gets in the shell and becomes Shell Mario. This feature is removed possibly because the designers wanted a power-up that can be obtained from a ? Block, however it survives in Vs. Mode. Mega Mushrooms were also originally intended to be red. The advertisement accenting the Vs. mode revealed some levels that were not available on the final release, including a desert stage, an underwater stage and a few others. The Mega Mushroom was going to look like a large Super Mushroom rather than a chubby-looking mushroom that was yellow with red spots.

It was possible to kick and punch in the game but is also removed.

And in the beta version the player can hold three items in storage on the bottom screen but in the final version, it only can hold one item.

The game contians among its minigame data sprites and graphics from Wrecking Crew. The file names suggest that these sprites were intended to be in both a single and multiplayer minigame. There is also data to support a single player snowball throwing minigame (which was actually used in Multiplayer Mode), that was probably scrapped due to the DS's inability to support sophisticated enough AI.

Paper Mario
Early screenshots of this game showed that Poochy was going to play some sort of role in the game. Another screenshot showed that Nep-Enuts were going to be in this game also. Also the early version of Forever Forest showed that it would be much smaller, with all the forest's trees having sinister faces. Paper Mario was also originally going to be named Super Mario RPG 2, though due to complications involving Square Enix, the makers of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, the name was changed to Super Mario Adventure and later Paper Mario. Also, it was originally in development for the failed Nintendo 64DD. However, it was released in cartridge. A screenshot had also shown a strange, beta Whale.

The release version of the game contains some scrapped Badges that can be accessed with a gameshark or similar. A fully functional Dark Paratroopa enemy exists in the ROM, as well. Finally, Goombaria's name and icon are both present in the game's list of partners for Mario.

Mario has a different look in the beta version, having the kind of eyes he has in Super Mario Bros 3, instead of the final black dot.

Debug Rooms
Debug rooms are areas in a game that facilitate testing. They sometimes can be considered beta elements. Some leftover debug rooms were found in the Paper Mario ROM. As with most debug rooms, they are accessible using an exit modifier gameshark code.


 * 1) In this debug room, the text 'MARIO RPG' is written on the floor and the blocks give mushrooms. If Mario talks to Goompa, or if he attempts to talk to the Star Rod, the game freezes.  There is a hammer in the chest and an unknown door with the number 0.
 * 2) Here, there is a POW Block which is unused in the real game. If Mario hits it, it will just shake and nothing will happen.
 * 3) In the third room, if Mario goes through any of the doors, he will reappear in the same place. This may mean that  puzzles based on this principle were intended to be included in the game but were not used.  It could also mean that these doors were assigned to different exits at different points, and that this room allowed developers to quickly reach areas that were troublesome to reach normally.
 * 4) This is an area with a Mario clone, a useless switch, and Goompa (who says nothing.) This may have been used for testing purposes.
 * 5) In a strange unused area, there are Koopas who have the ability to transform into Mario's partners.

Unused Items
These unused items were found in the code of Paper Mario. Most of their names and descriptions were never translated officially.

Unused Badges
These Badges can be found in the game's coding and are never seen during the game.

In addition to the above, the following images were found within the game's ROM. Though they have no assigned item, they are likely to be unused item sprites. The key items are on top, badges are in the center, and normal items are on the bottom.

''Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
This game was initially going to simply be called Paper Mario 2 and feature a far different logo, one reminiscent of the original Paper Mario ' s logo.

All of the partners from Paper Mario were going to appear but were cut-off as well. Bow and Parakarry were the only ones left. There was also a strange robot creature and two palette swaps of Screamy. Bobbery also had a prototype sprite, which depicts him wearing army gear. There was also going to be a probable mini-boss called Dark Atomic Boo. Dark Atomic Boo would be a Dark Boo version of Atomic Boo, and some have theorized that it may have been a more powerful Atomic Boo fought in the Dark Boo-inhabited Poshley Sanctum.

Also, in the original trailer, one can see a HP Plus badge that is located on a ledge beyond a moving platform which has a wall over it in mid course (and assumedly could be reached with the help of Vivian). None of this made it into the final game (except the area where these things are, minus the things themselves of course). The trailer also showed that Item Shops would be labeled with Mushrooms rather than the Fire Flowers seen in the final game. Red Bones was initially named "Red Koopa Skeleton". In the same trailer you can see that "Tornado Jump" was initially called "Hurricane Jump". The status element Slow had a different icon, a snail instead of a sad purple face.

Aside from scenery, there are also two songs that were unused in the game. One sounds like a theme used for an introduction of a character, and the other sounds like a boss fight. This may mean that another character was going to be in the game but was written out of the final version like these songs.

First song: Unknown Theme
 * It should be noted that this song is somewhat similar to the introduction of a new Pixl in Super Paper Mario.

Second song: Beta Boss Theme
 * This song however can be heard in the demo version's starting screen.

Strangely, the officially site depicts KP Pete as a red Koopa Troopa and a trash-talker. This may be a Beta Element. A status element called Sick was going to appear, but was deleted midway through development. All that is known about it is its effect, that no items can be used at all.

''Super Mario 64
This game was originally to be called Super Mario FX, using the FX Chip and was also being planned for the Super Nintendo. Luigi has also been said to been playable in the FX, but was scrapped for unknown reasons. In the Beta version, it would've had a numbered health bar instead of the pointed one. Many stages and bars would be different. The Thwomps would also have a scarier look and Mario would have a different jump (one that let him spin around after a triple jump in a way similar to the result of being hit by a Tweester in Shifting Sand Land). Early screenshots also show a tan Cheep-Cheep, not found in the final game. Mario was voiced differently (possessing a screechy, childlike voice rather than his current Italian accent), Bowser sounded more tiger-like. There was also going to be a Blargg that would appear in the Lethal Lava Land stage. Also, in the beta, Big Boo held a key instead of a Star inside of him. What purpose the key was for is unknown. Thirty-two levels were planned for the game, but only fifteen of them made it into the final product.

''Super Mario 64 DS
The working title for this game was Super Mario 64x4. Also, several beta screenshots were released for the game. One of these screen shots show an unused background. Originally, all four characters could fight Bowser at the same time, and fly. This feature was removed, as the four characters can only fight Bowser by their own (with Yoshi utilizing hats to be able to swing Bowser).

At E3 2004, there was a demo called Mario's Face, where the user could use the stylus to mess around with Mario or Wario's face, and have them be 3D or outlined like a cartoon. This could have possibly been the beta Mario Mini for Super Mario 64 DS.

The caps the player uses were originally enclosed in boxes labeled M, L, and W. The boxes can still be found in the test level. Also, early screenshots depicted Wario with his original long shirt sleeves before adopting the shorter ones for the final product. The game was originally supposed to have a co-op mode but was canned probably due to memory constraints. There was also supposed to be a purple rabbit. A picture of this rabbit can be found on page 30 of certain version of the instruction booklet for the game. There is speculation that this rabbit, as well as other things in the final game such as Purple spots in the Rec Room, may suggest that Waluigi was originally supposed to be a playble character, but was dropped from the final game.

''Super Mario Advance
In addition to Super Mario Bros. 2, a remade version of Super Mario Bros. was also meant to be available, but was cut.

''Super Mario Advance 4
Found among the game's internal data are some uncompressed Super Mario World graphics. This is odd, as graphics in modern Video Games are almost always compressed, since they can consume a lot of space. The probable reason for their decompression is that Super Mario World's graphics are 3-bit, making them fairly "light" on space requirements. The graphics found were the following.


 * One of the animation frames for Bowser's Clown Car.
 * Three frames of Koopa Troopa's walking animation.
 * Two frames of Goomba's walking animation.
 * The Nintendo Presents logo from the beginning of the game.
 * The font used for the HUD, used to write out this text string: 0123456789:VER./

It's probably worth noting that none of these graphics are anywhere near each other in Super Mario World, although they are right next to each other in Super Mario Advance 4. It's not known whether these are a true beta element, or random data that was compiled into the game by mistake, possibly while coding something else.

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 could also do that underwater.
 * In this version of the game Mario could Star Spin multiple times in a row. In the final version, a small delay is enforced during Star 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.
 * 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.
 * Swoopin' Poinks were colored purple.
 * Speech bubbles had a cloud like 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 64 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. [[Image:SMG_betalife.PNG|right|thumb|The second beta Life Meter]]
 * 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 an fake inflatable Toad balloon enemy, two different Bullies, a blue and yellow genie's hand (much like Master Hand,) a Red Switch, Mario's model from Super Mario Sunshine, a creature resembling a blob of goo with a face, and the Party Monkey from Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat. The switch's filename is flagsaveswitch, suggesting that it was used as a checkpoint of some type. The model of Mario only has his running, swimming, and waiting animations, meaning it may have been an early placeholder before Mario's Galaxy model was finished.

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 not normally present anywhere in the game. 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.

High above the galaxy, on any mission, there is a launch star that will shoot Mario into space, where there is nothing for him to land on. This will cause him to fall and eventually die. Once the level reloads, Mario will begin in space and be killed again soon after. This will eventually lead to a game over.

Similarly, players who use an out of bounds glitch to get inside the main planet of this galaxy will be able to find a crate with a coin inside, which can not be accessed without using glitches.

''Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Looking into the coding of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars reveals several unused enemies (most of which seem to be unused sub-species), including a notorious one known as the Drill Bit. In fact, Drill Bit appears in the game, but does not fight in any battle like a normal enemy. Harlequins were jester-like enemies that never made it into the final game. There is another unused enemy called a Baba Yaga, it looks like a blue colored Fautso. There is an unused (and unnamed) enemy, tentatively called Boshumutt, that resembles a purple Bahamutt with sunglasses and is probably named after Boshi. Source A creature similar to a red Spiny called Super Spike was originally going to appear. White versions of Carroboscis named Raddish were discovered in the game's coding. An unused enemy named Lumbler was a blue version of Stumpet and Lumbler has a move set (which points to it probably being taken out later in production). If it made it into the game, it is known that it would have the moves Crystal and an egg shooting attack it shares with Birdo.

Material from an early Nintendo Power shows that the Chancellor was once designed differently, being a more elderly-looking, gray-spotted Toad with a beard. It also showed that at least one Buzzer would be in Mushroom Way, and that Frogfucius's island at Tadpole Pond would be closer and therefore accessed differently. A fishing variety of Lakitu would be a helper in Booster's Tower, which possessed Magikoopa door guards. (It is notable that no fightable Magikoopas other than the red one thought to be Kamek would appear in the final game.) Mario would also encounter Bowser at an unknown time in Bowser's Keep, and would be pitted against two Shy Aways during this scene. Other material shows that Booster's Tower would also feature Boos, Dry Bones, and less organized pictures.Nimbus Castle would have a longer walkway and more plants.

A beta version of Super Mario RPG was also seen at a 1995 V-Jump Festival, which also focused on the game's programming and therefore showed off several features and various other things not meant to be accessible by normal players even by the game's release. The presentation of this beta showed that Nimbus Land (which was seen in entirety, even including the Nintendo Power beta Nimbus Castle, at the presentation's opening) would have differently styled doorways, being simple open holes labeled with a word seeming to be "HOLLOW" or "HOLLOH" rather than the curtains seen in the final version. The V-Jump presentation also featured an animation of a normal, blue-colored Magikoopa attacking and showed Mario running through Mushroom Way (or perhaps Bandit's Way, as a K-9 was visible) and being chased by several Buzzers, indicating that they would indeed be found en masse in that area in the beta Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. The presentation also briefly showed a beta Yo'ster Isle, which was much larger and oddly seemed to feature no racetrack. The beta version seen in the presentation also gave Moleville a cloud-filled foreground and removed the blue static seen in the Factory's foreground. The majority of Nimbus Castle's interior seen in this beta would appear to simply be more green than that of the final version, although the room where Dodo cleaned Valentina's statues was depicted as different shades of pink (or perhaps red with pink walls), looking nothing like it did in the final version. This room was also completely flipped horizontally for the final version. Melody Bay's composition area also seemed to be longer, and Mario's Pad was depicted as much larger, and Mario's house itself even changed in appearance–– Much like it was in the final version of Super Mario RPG ' s intro, the V-Jump beta depicted Mario's in-game house as being labeled "Pipe House". A Treasure Box was also seen in the beta Mario's Pad; upon being hit by Mario, this box produced a green, 1-Up Mushroom-like mushroom that in itself was not present in the final game. A pair of Terrapins were also seen guarding an exit from Mario's Pad in this beta. Lastly, the beta even featured three unused battlegrounds, one of which was a dark, musty castle similar in appearance to Belome Temple, A underwater Battle Stage (which appeared to be from in the Sea Area), the other being a star-labeled circle that may have been a simple testing area.Source

Two unused cutscenes regarding a distressed Princess Toadstool on the balcony of Booster's Tower were left in the game's coding, but did not make the final cut. Interestingly, both were very similar to (but longer than) scenes in the final game. Source

Finally, Luigi was believed to be in, as he appeared in a screenshot.

''Mario Smash Football
Beta videos and beta screenshots showed that there would be no items in the game. Also in the beta version, Donkey Kong wouldn't hit the ball with his feet but with his fists. The costumes were very different as well and Donkey Kong would have another voice. Mario's voice would also be different, making it possible that all characters as well had different voices.

''Super Mario Sunshine
In Super Mario Sunshine, Delfino Plaza is the main plaza of the game. However, in movies before release, it showed that there was going to be a different plaza (or possible prototype for Delfino Plaza), with a giant Strollin' Stu-like creature walking all over the place, and many more different things. It was allegedly called a Tramplin' Stu. The beta also reveals that Humans were intended to be citizens of the plaza. FLUDD was going to be skinnier and Gooper Blooper was going to be dark blue and fought on top of the bridges of Ricco Harbor instead of in the market and helicopter area.

Additionally, Mario's health bar would simply be a sun with a number in the middle indicating his health. The water meter was originally placed in the center of the "sun" life meter. The F.L.U.D.D. pack was actually Nintendo's 3rd favorite choice, with many other forms of water-pump functionality suggested. One other notable device in the top 2 was a water gun but was abandoned deciding that some players may render it too violent. There were some abandoned sprites as well, including Yoshi vomiting any water he may have swallowed. There was also going to be a brown Pokey, and they were going to have white flowers. Source

A test level is playable through an Action Replay. There the player can see Rock Blocks that were edited out, possibly in favor of Watermelons. Also, a small book can be found in an alcove of a cave in the bottom of the bottle in Noki Bay's third episode. Source.

''Super Paper Mario
This game was originally intended as a Nintendo GameCube game. While on the GameCube, it would appear that all characters' special abilities would be activated with the R-Button rather than the different buttons they had on the final Wii version. Most Pixls (initially "Fairens") would be activated with the X-Button, and all Pixls but Tippi seemed to be one Pixl who would morph into others to use "Fairy Abilities" (such as Fairy Toss, Thoreau's predecessor, and Fairy Hammer, Cudge's predecessor). It is unknown what button would activate Tippi in the GameCube version.

The game was eventually moved to Wii exclusive (as it is now), although it at times was (as aforementioned) considered to be only for GameCube and even for both consoles, a la The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. By summer of 2007, Super Paper Mario was moved to Wii.

An early version of the game had a different looking version of the Whoa Zone from Chapter 4, and Mario is still wearing a helmet, when he wasn't supposed to be. Also, an early screenshot shows Mario under the effects of the Mega Star, but is colored very differently (giving his current colors rather than the initial ones seen in Super Mario Bros.). Oddly, he is shown in his proper colors in the official trailer that was released at the same time, which may imply that the screenshot's release way simply delayed. Also Yoshi was going to make an appearance but it was scrapped.

In a screenshot featuring Big Blooper, there's an odd Pixl that is shaped like a ladder. It never actually appears in the final game. This could be an early version of Carrie. Also, in the same screenshot, Tippi is present, but she was kidnapped by Francis at this point in the game, and by the time she is rescued, Big Blooper cannot be fought again. Finally, the scene depicting Bowser and Peach's wedding at the beginning of the game was also slightly different in beta versions; the ceremony would appear to have once taken place in more of a room than an open area, there were no flowers decorating the columns, the rising of the Chaos Heart was surprisingly light, and Count Bleck raised his cloak up earlier than he did in the final version. Plus, in the screenshot, Peach is standing instead of having been knocked over, and Bowser looks normal rather than shocked.

''Super Princess Peach
The Koopalings were originally going to be in the game, but were taken out for unknown reasons. All of the Koopalings' lost sprites have been discovered by now. Oddly enough, Morton's sprites were spread around the internet long before those of his siblings. Also, Roy was given a green shell instead of a pink shell. This may have been either a design change or a mistake. Lost sprites of Glad and Calm Goombas have also recently been discovered. In the game, only Mad and Sad variants appeared. The Glad Goomba (which was a bronze or yellow color), based on its sprite, could be able to bounce or dance around (as the glossary says most Glad Enemies do), and the Calm one (which was green and rather sickly-looking), based on the Calm Enemies, it would probably be sleeping and act like a normal Goomba when Peach is too fast. Finally, a very early screenshot shows the "Peach's face" screen, which ended up on the bottom screen, to be on the top screen and totally devoid of Heart Panels and also having a bright green, solid background and a different design for Peach. The fact that the Heart Panels, which were used to change Vibes in the final game, are lacking from this screenshot suggests that Super Princess Peach was once planned to not use Vibes and be a more average side-scroller.

''Super Smash Bros.
Super Smash Bros. was initially developed by Masahiro Sakurai and Satoru Iwata in their downtime, in a form titled 格闘ゲーム竜王 (Kakuto-Gēmu Ryūō, or Dragon King: The Fighting Game), which lacked Nintendo characters. Sakurai, however, felt that the game could not provide the proper atmosphere on a home console without Nintendo characters, and they were soon added and the game was renamed.

In the final game, two beta Kirby stages are only playable with a GameShark. The stages have strange elements, such as invisible barriers. A working Dream Land stage can be viewed in the "How to Play" tutorial, which itself can be seen by waiting on the title screen. Also, in the character select, the question mark boxes were supposed to be colored and Saffron City also had pink with purple on the rooftop. Also Princess Peach, Bowser, Mewtwo, Meowth, Pit and King Dedede were supposed to be playable in this game. Also, Final Smashes/Smash Balls were originally planned for this game, but cut for unknown reasons. Masahiro Sakurai has recordings of the character's voices during Their Final Smash. These are still used in Super Smash Bros Brawl unedited.

''Super Smash Bros. Melee
Through an Action Replay, a large, gray stage with the background appearing to be some kind of pub, is accessible. The music is the same as used on Fox and Falco's stage Corneria. This is assumed to be a test stage because of its name, which on the debug menu is TEST. There are also four stages, named AKANEIA (a possible predecessor to Castle Siege from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, a homeworld for Fire Emblem), 10-2, IceTop (a possible precursor to the Summit stage from the sequel, which belongs to the Ice Climbers), and Dummy, a test stage that freezes the game when opened. In addition to this, the entire Debug Menu, which was used in pre-release testing, can be used when the game is hacked, allowing for complete editing of anything in the game. Giga Bowser, both male and female Fighting Wire Frames, Master Hand, Crazy Hand, and even Sandbag are all playable (to a limited extent) via the Debug Menu.

The Japanese version actually had an entirely different Motion-Sensor Bomb; it is actually a Proximity Mine from Perfect Dark rather than the Motion-Sensor Bomb from "TOP SECRET" (actually GoldenEye 007) that appeared in the international version. The Proximity Mine's trophy can be viewed in English due to the language option, and this screenshot shows that (in an almost cheap manner) the text in the Proximity Mine trophy was only tampered minorly (with only a few removals of references to Perfect Dark) for the final Motion-Sensor Bomb trophy. Why the Perfect Dark Proximity Mine was changed to a GoldenEye 007 Motion-Sensor Bomb remains unknown to this day and is rather ridiculous, especially considering that the games from which the items originated were even made by the same company, although the fact that Nintendo hides the Motion-Sensor Bomb's trophy's debuting game entry with the words "TOP SECRET" in the international versions suggest that the item change may very well have had to do with censorship (however light). Another important graphic change was the Topi enemies in the Ice Climber stage - in the Japanese version, they were seals, but this changed to yeti creatures in the international versions. The "Temple" stage originally had an elevator that led to the bottom of the stage, and had a fixed appearance. Players could also walk through the laboratory in Great Bay. Stages Yoshi's Story and Mushroom Kingdom I had different designs altogether. Onett's music also sounded different.

''Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Some of the game world icons were initially the same as in the previous two games, but they were revised as time went on (Mario's Mushroom icon was refined and given spots, the Poké Ball icon has the top half colored in to properly represent how it is usually red, etc.). Also, the description for the My Music options originally said, "Adjust how often a song will appear on this stage." It has since been revised in a general tone to say, "Adjust how often songs appear on stages." Solid Snake was also meant to be more muscular, and was to have a gray suit rather than blue. The original Snake was less modernized and his down smash was going to be a more realistic bomb. Wario Bike, Drill Rush, Trophy Base, Summit, Halberd, Rainbow Cruise, and "The Flowers That Bloom in the Echoes" were originally called Wario Chopper, Triple Dash, Trophy Stand, The Summit, Battle Ship Halberd, Rainbow Ride, and, "Flowers Bloom on the notes" respectively. It's unknown why they changed these names, however, they likely changed Rainbow Ride because it was a Melee stage, in which it was misnamed Rainbow Cruise (although it remains Rainbow Ride in the PAL regeions, mostly because it was called Rainbow Ride on the PAL version of Melee). Lastly, there were scenes taking place before the events of the Subspace Emissary where the Subspace Army takes over the Halberd and King Dedede unintentionally stalls Meta Knight from preventing it from happening. Masahiro Sakurai confirmed that he decided to cut this out and an update was made to confirm this together with how various events and characters in the Subspace Emissary comes together. Also Mario instead of Kirby was the one seen fighting Petey Piranha in one of the Super Smash Bros. Brawl TV spots, also Sonic was meant to be on the game earlier since the Sonic Joins the Brawl trailer shows sonic teaming up with mario battling monsters but he did not appear in the game until the very end.

Also, unused files for Dixie Kong, Toon Zelda, Toon Sheik, and "Pra_Mai" (speculated to be Plusle & Minun of Pokémon fame) were found as scrapped newcomers. There were also files for Dr. Mario, Mewtwo, and Roy, possibly meaning that they were planned to be brought back at one time, or that their data was imported for some reason. A scrapped Assist Trophy for Ridley was also found. It was most likely scrapped in favor of a Boss version of Ridley. The full list of files can be seen here: Source Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong had a early trophy before they had the one in the game. Source

''Yoshi's Island DS
As stated below, Yoshi's Island DS (which was initially referred to as Yoshi's Island 2) was originally going to be compatible with Nintendo Wi-Fi. Also, one early screenshot showcasing a battle with Big Guy the Stilted seems to suggest that Big Guy was once going to be organic, as he had no patches on him in that picture (although one patch was visible near his right foot, which may merely mean his graphics were slightly incomplete). Finally, one screenshot of an unknown origin shows a Black Yoshi traversing a flowery area with Baby Peach. The particular event illustrated in the picture doesn't seem to be left in the final game. Baby Peach's cry was also going to sound more adult- like. The level "Donuts and Eggs" wasn't themed in the mid-west, as shown in an early trailer.

Although never used in the game, graphics for Wario and Bowser Baby Coins exist. Similarly, graphics exist for at least two different title screens, and at least one of them was entirely complete when it was scrapped. It's also worth noting that all were static images, unlike the final game's rotating shot. Two of the scrapped title screens have a "Yoshi's Island 2" logo.

It's possible that the scrapped WiFi functions were to include some sort of level editor, as there is a file in the ROM called "objeditor.arcz." However, it is filled with junk graphical data, suggesting that it was quickly deleted for some reason.

''Yoshi's Story
It seems as if Flowers were going to appear in the game, which was once called by Yoshi's Island 64.Also, Big Guys were going to appear and Bone Dragons would be purple, flesh-covered dragons rather than bony, undead ones. Finally, Stage 4-2: The Jungle Puddle was known to be much scarier, with strange bubbles and a Bone Dragon. There was also going to be a playable Brown Yoshi and Purple Yoshi.Source In a manner not unlike the various rumors of unlocking Luigi in Super Mario 64, there are rumors of unlocking and playing as a Purple Yoshi. All of these rumors, however, are false. Also, the Bone Dragons' from the beta version of the game were instead fleshed purple dragons, however they were changed in the final version.

''Diddy Kong Pilot
Diddy Kong Pilot was originally the sequel for Diddy Kong Racing, but with flying as the only means of transport. Donkey Kong characters would be playable, and a new Kong, who looked like a hillbilly, would have been introduced. However, after Rare was sold to Microsoft, Nintendo recieved the trademarks for the Donkey Kong characters, so Rare converted the game into a series it owned, resulting in Banjo-Pilot.

''Diddy Kong Racing
Some tracks were left out of the game. One track is unfinished. The screenshots below will show the unfinished beta track.

''Mario Party Advance
Early screenshots showed that Shroom City would be really different from what it looks like in the final version. Also, the die is replaced by a Mushroom.

''Mario Superstar Baseball
Mario Superstar Baseball was originally known as only Mario Baseball and had a different logo from the current one.

''Mario Kart Wii
The game's original name was going to be Mario Kart X when it was still in development. Also, the designs for Standard Kart S, Standard Kart M, and Standard Kart L were different, as well as the HUD. Also, Boo was supposed to be in the game, but King Boo replaced him.

''Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
Birdo was originally going to be a playable character in the game but appears to have been cut out for unknown reasons. Note that because her model wasn't finished properly, Birdo looks odd in the screenshot. Silver the Hedgehog from Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 was seen in the intro of the game, making fans believe that Silver was meant to be playable. Donkey Kong and Jet the Hawk, from Sonic Riders, have also been found to have been planned for the game.

Super Mario Bros. movie
In a recent interview with Mark McCoy, designer of the movie, McCoy released an early script of the movie-the original script was much different from the one that remained. The unused script has a character known as Doug that doesn't make the final cut and the scene where Mario and Luigi meet Daisy was changed. There is also another unused script from 1991 written by Tom S. Parker and Jim Jennewein. This 1991 script is more fantasy based and is closer to the video game, having more elements from the game than the actual version. The copy of this script can be bought of Scriptfly.com.

Nintendo Wi-Fi
Many Mario games were originally going to have Nintendo Wi-Fi; however, it was taken out of some. Mario Hoops 3 on 3 and Yoshi's Island DS (known as Yoshi's Island 2 back then) were the two games that were going to have Wi-fi however got it removed. Most likely the Wi-Fi in Mario Hoops 3 on 3 was going to be, facing off in a basketball match with another internet user. It is unknown what the Wi-Fi in Yoshi's Island DS was going to be for, possibly a Co-op mode. Mario Party DS was also supposed to have Wi-Fi.