[Andrex]

While randomly browing today I found the wiki site TCRF.net ("The Cutting Room Floor.") It seems to have a huge depth of content regarding what has been cut from many games (mostly Nintendo, seems like.)

The most interesting things cut have I've seen so far are from Super Mario Galaxy.

To start off, here's one of the planets from the E3 2006 demo, which I noticed was missing in the final game as well:

Some things, like this fortress level, would have been awesome to see (seems the dev team was similarly disappointed when it was cut):

Below are a couple creative planets that were cut:

Yeah, the second is just a star. It apparently had a collision map but no textures made before it was cut.

"Pole Unizone Planet" was almost entirely finished, as you can see from the off-cam screen above. Not much you can do in it, though, aside from jump from pole to pole.

What about the unused characters? This is where most of the weirdness lies.

Those last two, Donketsu and Donketsu King, were mostly finished before being cut, right down to animations and textures. You may notice they're very similar to "Bully" from Super Mario 64, and that was probably the intent.

"Ice Man" was supposedly supposed to be a boss, complete with his own "IceManIce" projectiles. Due to the low poly nature, he probably didn't make it far into development.

This guy is called Kinopi. Want to know something weird? He can also be found in the Super Mario Galaxy 2 ROM, despite not being used in both games. Maybe some kind of test object. Apparently it just hops around.

Some more weirdness:

That last one might have been an early version of King Kaliente, the fire squid boss.

"Starman" might just be a weird one-off enemy with the same name as the traditional Mario power-up. "Iron Goomba" had all animations except for the one for being hit by Mario's spin attack, so it's possible that Mario would get hurt if you tried to use that on that enemy.

Originally, SMG had a set of bug enemies. These all shared a common set of textures that no other models used. Most have animations for the wings moving, or moving around, but it seems they were cut before more interactive animations were made.

This early version of Megaleg had a complete set of animations. You can see this version on the underside of the Fortress planet concept art above.

These two unused Mario models were higher poly than the final version. These seem to be the original costumes for Flying Mario and Ice Mario, respectively.

This "Mario Tank" was the right size to ride in, meaning you may have been able to drive around in the game on certain planets had it been included.

And finally, some random/debug stuff I thought was interesting:

Also included in the ROM are a smattering of Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat characters, complete with animations, that may have been used to test things early on before original content was created. This means SMG probably uses an enhanced version of the Jungle Beat engine (after all, they were both made by Nintendo EAD Tokyo.)

Anyways, I'm just fascinated by stuff like this and felt others would be too. I loved Mama Robotnik's cut content threads (even if this thread can't match those. :P) The stuff discovered cut from SMG2 is disappointing in comparison I feel, but they already had an engine, and assets, and a general plan for that game. Early in development of SMG I bet it was all experiments, all the time, which can lead to a lot of stuff left out of the finished product.

Then again, SMG2 did give us this:



And the Hell Valley Sky People were in the final version of that game.

[Drago]

Wow, excellent find.

Will read through this later. Love reading about game betas and cut content :)

[UnlovedJew]

Very cool. Although I don't understand how flying=brown suit.

[Tagg9]

Nice read. Nothing too surprising was cut, but interesting nonetheless.

[WillyFive]

Would have been great for these concepts to be included in SMG2.

[Andrex]

Very cool. Although I don't understand how flying=brown suit.

Seems the filename for the final version's texture gives it away:

However, the fact that the file for changing Mario's outfit to the black-and-red Flying power colors is called GreenElement makes it likely that this was the original color set for the power, or at least the earlier version of it.

[A Pretty Panda]

Nightmare fuel

Was the flying Red Star Mario thing in SMG2? I forgot.

[Christberg]

That first stage was pretty clearly retooled into Honey Hive Galaxy (not 100% sure that's the right name.)

Regardless, pretty nifty stuff.

[Rapstah]

They've also got the exclusive scoop on a prototype of the original Legend of Zelda and some interesting pointers towards the DLC character for Dragon Age not always having been DLC. I like the site.

[Andrex]

Nightmare fuel Was the flying Red Star Mario thing in SMG2? I forgot.

It's included in the data files for SMG2 (complete with updated music) but doesn't actually make an appearance in the game without hacks.

[Andrex]

They've also got the exclusive scoop on a prototype of the original Legend of Zelda and some interesting pointers towards the DLC character for Dragon Age not always having been DLC. I like the site.

It seems to have a ton more stuff than Unseen 64. I'm really digging it.

It seems like it was originally a non-Wiki site, but became a wiki in February 2010.

[Apenheul]

Nightmare fuel Was the flying Red Star Mario thing in SMG2? I forgot.

Feed me Seymore!

[Rapstah]

It seems to have a ton more stuff than Unseen 64. I'm really digging it.

That's mostly because of their hard rules on only including stuff that is actually still in the game as it is released. I feel that is a healthy rule when you're dealing with subjects that are this easily speculated about in great length.

[KittenMaster]

The Cutting Room Floor is a great site. I was browsing it last night in fact.

[UnlovedJew]

Wow, I completely and utterly forgot about the flying red and black suit from the first Galaxy. I though the brown was an early version of the Bee suit. :P

[EulaCapra]

Cool, neat find OP. How did I not stumble upon this site earlier?

The fortress planet looks amazing although I can see why it got cut. Seems to contradict the planet hopping.

That Ice Mario costume is superb though. Shame they used this color scheme for the New series instead:

[To Far Away Times]

I love these types of threads.

[EatinOlives]

I don't know what it is about cut elements from games are fascinating and mysterious. Finding half-things finished in games is sometimes more interesting than the things that did make it in.

The fortress level, for instance, is more interesting than a couple of levels of the final game. I wonder why it got cut. I'm thinking the geometry was too complex or something?

[Andrex]

Cool, neat find OP. How did I not stumble upon this site earlier? The fortress planet looks amazing although I can see why it got cut. Seems to contradict the planet hopping. That Ice Mario costume is superb though. Shame they used this color scheme for the New series instead:

The final version was pretty cool (heh):

[BlackJace]

That fortress level looked fantastic. Would've loved to scale that beast.

[Myriadis]

Ah yeah, tcrf. Super Mario galaxy's article is indeed pretty huge, as well as the Ocarina of Time one and some others. Personally, I think that the stuff that was left out of Super mario Sunshine is also incredibly interesting. Train Stations? Fire Temple? Battleship Island?

Also, look at the Minish Cap and Wind Waker articles. It's insane how much unused stuff is left there. I think Minish Cap easily has another unfinished dungeon or two left in there.

[GimMick]

Thanks for this thread ! I noticed last week that first level that was left out and I wondered if it was still in the disk...and now I see there was more to that !

The fortress planet looks amazing although I can see why it got cut. Seems to contradict the planet hopping.

There's a level that is fairly similar to this one, with what was more of a tower instead. Don't remember the name though. I guess this is what became the fortress in later development.

That Ice Mario costume is superb though. Shame they used this color scheme for the New series instead:

I'm sure they purposely put the red pants on the NSMBW Mario so that you can distinguish him easily when playing in multiplayer. Otherwise we would probably have seen this beta model instead.

Ah yeah, tcrf. Super Mario galaxy's article is indeed pretty huge, as well as the Ocarina of Time one and some others. Personally, I think that the stuff that was left out of Super mario Sunshine is also incredibly interesting. Train Stations? Fire Temple? Battleship Island? Also, look at the Minish Cap and Wind Waker articles. It's insane how much unused stuff is left there. I think Minish Cap easily has another unfinished dungeon or two left in there.

Gonna check this out now. Sound exciting !

[Cramoss]

Love that website.

[Marche90]

It's been ages since I last checked the website. Guess it's time for a new archive binge, then.

[Andrex]

There's a level that is fairly similar to this one, with what was more of a tower instead. Don't remember the name though. I guess this is what became the fortress in later development.

Buoy Base Galaxy was similar, but not the same. For Fortress Galaxy, you would have been able to run on the underside of the planet, instead of swimming through it.

And Buoy Base was, well, a base. Fortress Galaxy sort of looks like a residence or hotel a little. It seems like there was stuff you would have been able to do on each of the levels (in a self-contained way) as opposed to BB, where the tower was an obstacle course to get to the top.

[Venfayth]

Damn thought I was in a mama robotnik thread, very interesting.

[Currygan]

Brown overalls Mario looks ace

[Haunted]

Cool stuff!

[Galang]

Thanks, great finds! The concept artwork for the galaxy games must be amazing I'd imagine.

[Snowden's Secret]

The planet in the second image is clearly the Honeycomb Galaxy.

[Andrex]

The planet in the second image is clearly the Honeycomb Galaxy.

Parts of the level design were reused yeah, but that's the way things go for most cut content. The full model for the cut level was included in the ROM alongside Honeyhive's.

[Raw64life]

This thread made me realize this game is almost 5 years old. Fuck.

[Lijik]

This is conjecture, but I'm assuming since Kinopi shows up in SMG2 and given its slightly personifed appearence that its the mushroom test object that was used in place of Mario to test out the controls and stuff. They talked about it in an Iwata Asks but im not sure which one

[User33]

Too bad that fortress level got cut. SMG really needed more vertical platforming levels than just Buoy Base.

[Andrex]

Too bad that fortress level got cut. SMG really needed more vertical platforming levels than just Buoy Base.

They should have included it instead of Gold Leaf Galaxy (aka Honeyhive: Fall Edition.) One of my few complaints of SMG1.

[qq more]

This thread made me realize this game is almost 5 years old. Fuck.

...Wow, has it really been that long? Fuck.

EDIT: And Brawl dojo hype started 5 years ago too. FUCK.

[Silent_Ocarina]

Cut content is always intriguing. It normally invites more questions. Wind Waker's cut content was also interesting.

[RoadHazard]

Nintendo always seems to leave a whole bunch of unused crap in their games. Do other developers do this as well?

[big_z]

Nintendo always seems to leave a whole bunch of unused crap in their games. Do other developers do this as well?

nintendo games tend to be a lot cleaner in terms of unused stuff. a lot of the time the left overs are things they used in test levels to try out certain mechanics.

in comparison a lot of companies leave massive chunks of unused game in there. look at sega titles or stuff like kotor 2 or vampire bloodlines.

[24FrameDaVinci]

It's hard to improve upon perfection. Be happy you got what you got, because SMG is a wonderful, wonderful game.

So many posters these days spit upon Galaxy because they feel it's not a "true Mario". Absolute clowns, this is such a brilliant, fresh take on an aging series that was desperately in need of a console revamp.

[JAYinHD]

Nice to see some of the things that didn't make it in the final game.

[Andrex]

It's hard to improve upon perfection. Be happy you got what you got, because SMG is a wonderful, wonderful game. So many posters these days spit upon Galaxy because they feel it's not a "true Mario". Absolute clowns, this is such a brilliant, fresh take on an aging series that was desperately in need of a console revamp.

I don't know anyone on GAF like that.

For me, Galaxy is nearly perfect. In fact it may be my favorite game, it nails so many things as a platformer and bundles everything great about the entire Mario series together so neatly that it's a very tight experience.

[big_z]

It's hard to improve upon perfection. Be happy you got what you got, because SMG is a wonderful, wonderful game. So many posters these days spit upon Galaxy because they feel it's not a "true Mario". Absolute clowns, this is such a brilliant, fresh take on an aging series that was desperately in need of a console revamp.

i didnt know people shit on the galaxy games. i dont think they're bad, far from it, but they are definitely not a fresh take on the series. the galaxy idea gave the designers much more freedom but it was still the mario 64 formula. hopefully nintendo comes up with something new for the next game.

[YoshiRider123]

Reminds me of Eldstar from Paper Mario and Mario Party 5, or the Millenium Star from Mario Party 3.

[Nocturnowl]

That fortress level looks great, especially the concept art version, shame it didn't make the cut. Though it looks more like a stage tailored to the SM64 or Sunshine style so perhaps that's why it was dropped.

Damn, i'm off to play some SMG right now.

[Andrex]

That fortress level looks great, especially the concept art version, shame it didn't make the cut. Though it looks more like a stage tailored to the SM64 or Sunshine style so perhaps that's why it was dropped. Damn, i'm off to play some SMG right now.

I know right? Now I want to replay them both. :P

I think I'll just do Super Mario Galaxy 2.5 though, been meaning to give that a shot.

[Mama Robotnik]

This is a brilliant post, thanks Andrex. I like the pole zone!

tcrf is a brilliant website, learned a lot from them.

[Andrex]

This is a brilliant post, thanks Andrex. I like the pole zone! tcrf is a brilliant website, learned a lot from them.

I wish I could interview some of the designers and ask about this stuff.

Thanks, I didn't do nearly as much work as you did for your threads. :P I'm thinking I'll do this again though and do more research for whatever game it is next time.

[djtiesto]

Amazing site, I loved reading about all the unused stuff in SaGa Frontier. We know that game was rushed, since Lute's scenario was relatively barren and there was supposed to be a final scenario with another character (Fuse). Even when I played it I was always wondering about all those weird passages you could never get to. I love stuff like this.

[Andrex]

I totally agree.

Mama Robotnik, I've been trying to find that game/story where some dudes finally found a completely new level or something after walking into the back of a random house, do you know what I'm talking about? That wasn't cut content but it was similarly interesting.

Reminds me of Eldstar from Paper Mario and Mario Party 5, or the Millenium Star from Mario Party 3.

Yeah, I got a major Paper Mario vibe from him too.