First off, here's some links to a bunch of videos of Super Mario 64 beta:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bwoy8BKmLvI4dkxpYjFHYTB1Y0U
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bwoy8BKmLvI4RXo0eWhVbFlMZHM
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bwoy8BKmLvI4ekJTdTRuS0lNYzg
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bwoy8BKmLvI4ajdTT3dfNzdENWM
These videos are stolen, but I forget who I stole it from. Whatever. If anybody knows who made the videos I'll credit them.
THE STARTUP SCREEN
In early beta footage, the startup screen looked very different. Here is a side-by-side comparison of the beta and usual startup screen:
Here are some differences.
1. The logo has different colors.
2. The trademark symbol looks 3-D in the beta. It isn't in the final version.
3. The logo appears to be less tilted backwards in the beta.
4. The letters do not look like wood in the beta. Similarly, the '64' isn't designed to look like metal in the beta.
MARIO'S VOICEMario's voice was very screechy and annoying in beta releases of Super Mario 64.
These were most likely placeholder voice clips used with the intention of being replaced.
THE PRESS START SCREENThe press start screen was slightly different in previous versions.
Here is the press start screen in the final version:
And here's the press start screen from a late beta from 1996:
-In the final version, when starting up the screen, Mario starts out looking downwards, and he rotates towards the player as he gets closer. In the 1996 beta, Mario starts out not there. After the transition effect is done, Mario extremely quickly pops up already facing the player.
-Mario doesn't say 'hello!' and is silent when it starts up
Here's the press start screen from a much earlier beta from 1995 (unfortunately voiced over by someone talking about SM64):
-This is much more different. The Press Start text is in a different font (see farther below for more on this font)
-Mario says 'Yah-hah!' in an annoying voice when you start it up. As discussed before, Mario had a very screechy voice in the beta, but in the final version Mario says 'Hello' (or 'Press Start To Play' if you were watching the demo), and doesn't say anything resembling what was shown in the beta.
THE TALL TALL MOUNTAIN SLIDE
Here is the beta footage of the slide:
Here's what's different about it.
1. There are no bouncing blue coins.
2. The yellow coins bounce around.
3. The music is replaced with the music from Bob-Omb Battlefield.
4. The skull that blocks your path and kills you is missing in this beta footage. It is replaced with a stretch of slide that doesn't exist in the usual version. Here's a side-by-side comparison.
5. In this video, it is shown accessed with 0 stars. It can't be reached that early in the final version.
MISSING LAKITU
In the beta videos of Super Mario 64, Lakitu doesn't show up to tell Mario about camera controls. This was probably done to let reviewers quickly preview the game.
DIFFERENT TRIPLE JUMP
In the beta, Mario's triple jump was different. Instead of just jumping higher, Mario also began twirling and falling slowly. Here's a video:
DIFFERENT HUD
In the beta, the HUD was very different. The icons were different. Also, Mario's coin count was shown while he was in the castle. Later in development, they made it so that the coin count wasn't shown in the castle. They replaced the HUD icons with the final ones after this change.
There was also a mini-map displayed in the upper-right corner of the screen. Later builds removed the mini-map, leaving a blank area of the screen.
Also note that the camera icons on the bottom right of the screen are missing. They don't seem to have been added until pretty late in development.
The health meter seems to have gone through various phases during development.
As you can see there's a pie chart with 'POW' written on top. The number of health you have is overlaid on the pie chart, although in some of these images its hard to see.
Now here's a second version:
It is almost identical to the first version, except it says 'POWER' instead of 'POW'.
Here's a third one:
This one says 'POWER' on the top, and has a little chart with red and green ends showing how much health you had, and something like the hand of a clock pointing to how much health you had.
FLY GUY IN BOWSER IN THE SKYThere was originally a fly guy in
Bowser in the Sky around the elevator at the end of the level by the elevators. There isn't one in the final version. It must have been removed late in development because this picture is from a late beta. Here it is:
DIFFERENT CASTLE LOBBY
Very early in development in 1995, the castle lobby looked very different. It had textures with things like stars and the moon on them. The castle stairs were a platform you had to jump on. In addition, there were doors in places they weren't in the final release and Bowser in the Dark World and Princess's Secret Slide doors aren't there. Plus, the locked door doesn't have a lock on it. Here are some pictures illustrating this whole thing.
Some of the differences include:
•After climbing up the stairs, there is just one door. In the final game, it extends farther in both directions and has a door on both sides. But in the beta, there is just one door. In the final game, this door is locked until you get a key, but in the beta it isn't locked.
•There is a door that isn't present in the final game.
•Instead of clouds on the walls, there are pictures of the moon and a star.
•The font on the doors telling you how many stars you need is different.
•The toad near the front door is missing. Here's a picture of toad not being there:
In the castle lobby, the stairs were originally not actually stairs. It was a big platform that you had to jump up to get to. Here's a video from 1995 beta:
In 1996, the texture was changed and fences were added to it. Here's a video:
DIFFERENT DIRE DIRE DOCKS MUSIC
In Dire Dire Docks, the music was slightly different in beta versions.
DIFFERENT LEVEL ENTRY ANIMATION
In beta footage, the animation when entering a level is different. Here is some video:
As you can see, this is identical to the new triple jump you get from Yoshi after you get 120 stars. For whatever reason, they decided to replace it with the current version. Probably since they had already gone through the work of programming this animation, they didn't want to waste the work and they through it in as a bonus at the end of the game instead of just not using it.
DIFFERENT STAR IN WHOMP'S FORTRESS
Looking at some early footage, there is a star in Whomp's Fortress that isn't there in the final game.
If you go there in the final game, you can see that there is not a star there, and it has been replaced with a red coin:
DIFFERENT CHAIN CHOMP
In the beta, there were a few differences about Chain Chomp. Here is video of Chain Chomp from late in development in 1996. All differences here were changed very close to release.
The most easily noticed one is that there isn't a fence. The fence wasn't there.
Another difference is chain chomp's barking noise not used in any of the final versions. The Japanese version uses this sound except played twice in the Japanese version.
Another difference is that there is no red coin on top of the chain chomp's post.
NOT NEEDING STARS TO ENTER STAR DOORS
In some early demo versions of Super Mario 64, it was possible to enter star doors without any stars. Although this was probably just done to allow reviewers to try out different levels quicker.
DEMON SCUTTLEBUGS
In the beta Super Mario 64, the scuttlebugs were red angry demon looking things. They had a little wind-up crank, like Heave-Hos in the final game. Killing them made the noise that in the final game is played when Mario hits a glitchy wall or tries to go out of bounds. They also gave no coins and made lots of dust when killed. Here is a video:
HMC Metal Cap
In beta versions of Super Mario 64, the metal cap at the beginning of HMC is in a different location than in the final game.
Beta Metal Cap in the middle of the room with the Demon Scuttlebug
Final version Metal Cap in the starting platform with Normal Scuttlebug
In beta versions of SM64, in Big Boo's Haunt, there used to be locked doors. They keys to unlock them could be gotten by defeating a Big Boo.
Beta screenshot showing Big Boo with key.
Some content related to these keys remains in the game's code.
The model for the key is still there:
(Screenshot from tcrf.net)
There is also code for all of the collected keys to show up in the pause menu, similarly to red coins. But the actual HUD icon has been deleted in all versions of the game except for he original Japanese release.
Here is the HUD icon:
At Shoshinkai '95, there was a playable demo for Super Mario 64. The demo was said to be about 50% complete.
It contained a level select for reviewers to select levels.
The level select code has been deleted from the final game, but the text still remains:
つづける？
２ ファイアーバブル
４ ウォーターランド
もどる
ＰＡＵＳＥ
やめる ？
Translated into English (thanks to tcrf.net for this):
Continue?
2: Fire Bubble
4: Water Land
Back
PAUSE
Quit?
Mountain: Whomp's Fortress
Snow Slider: Cool Cool Mountain
Bowser 1: Bowser in the Dark World arena
Debug Level Select
There is another level select that was intended for debugging purposes rather than for reviewing like the previous level select. It remains functional in the games code, but is unused.
(Screenshot from tcrf.net)
Although it remains in all versions, the font has been modified in releases after the initial Japanese one to remove unused letters. So if the level select is activated in other versions, some levels will be missing.
Here is a table (stolen from tcrf.net) summarizing what the different options in this menu mean:
There is a model for a Blargg from Super Mario world, but it is seemingly unfinished. It has no eyes and no textures. It has sleeping and attacking animations. It can be hacked back into the game, but it's behavior has been deleted (or was never programmed)
Here is a render of it (stolen from tcrf.net):
BowserIn the beta, Bowser had blue eyes. The blue eyes texture is still present in the ROM.
When Bowser was defeated in the beta, he did not have a textbox and his animation for fading away was different.
He gave a star, not a key, and lots of coins appeared when he was defeated. Bowser gives coins in the final game, but they are just for visual effects and disappear in midair and are uncollectible.
Stars
In the beta of Super Mario 64, stars were 2D sprites instead of 3D models, similarly to coins.
Trampoline
(Picture stolen from tcrf.net)
There are unused small red and green Koopa shells, which (oddly) are blue on the bottom. They can be loaded into the game with hacking, but are completely nonfunctional.
(Picture stolen from tcrf.net)
