In Super Mario Galaxy, menu screens and text windows contain placeholder text in their layout files, which is mostly fitting for its purpose (describing what kind of text would go in that window) but is occasionally more bizarre. The placeholder text for the icon selection when creating a new file has the prompt translate to "Please choose your favorite face" instead of "Select an icon", and the…
In Donkey Kong Country 2, a rare glitch can happen to Kutlass enemies in the Gusty Glade level whereby they will turn around and extremely rapidly run off backwards, ignoring ledges (which may result in them running off a cliff into a pit), as seen in the footage. It is unknown why this occurs; the level features a unique wind mechanic that adds directional momentum to the Kongs that works…
In the ScareScraper mode of Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, if a Greenie spawns in a corner, there is a chance for it to become stuck and vibrate rapidly instead of floating towards Luigi, as seen with the one in the rear left corner of the room in the footage. The Greenie will become unstuck after being flashed with the Strobulb. Source: Balgehaktkruiden Main Blog | Patreon | Twitter | Bluesky |…
The prototype version of Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga contains a segment in the intro where Luigi actually talks in a speech bubble (as himself), which would not appear in the finished version or any other games in the series. In the final game, he only talks while disguised as Peach, and in Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, his thoughts are seen as text in the Dream’s Deep area, but at no point…
In Super Mario Bros. 2, Birdos spit eggs exactly every 4.26 seconds, or 256 frames. An expert player who is trained to be able to count these intervals would be able to pause the game strategically shortly before the frame in question, which would cause the Birdo to not spit the egg. Compare the clips of the same game state with no pausing on the left and pausing at the correct time on the right.…
An obscure interaction occurs in New Super Mario Bros. Wii with the Circling Boo Buddies that appear in only one level, 5-Ghost House. These are actually vulnerable to Propeller Mario’s drill attack, as seen in the footage. It is unlikely for players to discover this during regular gameplay because regular Boos are not vulnerable to this move and instead hurt Mario if he attempts it. As…
Earliest known prototype of Super Mario Kart, recovered from development files surfaced in 2020. At this point in development, the characters were generic racers instead of Mario characters, and Mario Circuit 3 was the only track implemented. You may have noticed that Mario Circuit 3 appears more times in the Mario Kart series than any other track, appearing in Super Mario Kart, Mario Kart: Super…
Original 3D animation from a 1994 Hong Kong commercial for the Game Boy, promoting Super Mario Land 2. While it features various characters like the Buzzy Beetle-like Noko Bombette enemy and the Bomubomu pig enemy from that game, some characters are included here who do not appear in that game at all like Luigi and Toads. Note also that the yellow flying enemies are, extremely bizarrely, multiple…
Top: in the ending sequence of Donkey Kong 64, after King K. Rool is defeated in his boxing match, Candy Kong appears in order to distract him so that Funky Kong can shoot him from the other side of the ring. When King K. Rool sees Candy Kong, he performs an exaggerated take whereby his face seems to get very close to the screen. Bottom: looking at the scene from the side using external tools to…
Top: in World 8-4 in Super Mario Bros., there is an underwater section in a castle, the only one of its kind anywhere in the game. Normally, the player would simply emerge from the entrance pipe and continue to the right. However, if the player attempts to interact with the pipe, Mario will become hurt or even killed by something seemingly invisible. Bottom: if Mario is Fire Mario, shooting a…
Collection of all types of items retrievable from dedicated Yoshi’s Island claw machines, available in Japan in 1996. Note that the two Baby Marios have different expressions and arm poses. Source: blacktangent Main Blog | Patreon | Twitter | Bluesky | Small Findings
In Super Mario Galaxy 2, crouching at the edge of a mud puddle will cause Mario (or Yoshi) to walk if the crouch button is continued to be held, although still at crouching speed (internally, he is in the crouching state, merely with a walking animation). This results in “phantom mud” where Mario appears to be stepping into invisible mud even on clean surfaces as long as the button is…
In Super Mario World, the secret Soda Lake level is a unique location in that it is the only place to feature the Torpedo Ted enemies. These enemies were evidently designed to only be used in this very specific scenario and as such do not have proper interactions with even some of the most common items programmed. Due to the fact that there are no Super Stars in Soda Lake, it is normally not…
In Mario Kart: Double Dash, the place where the drivers emerge from after going inside the Warp Pipe on the Peach Beach track is supposed to be an open window above the pipe (the only open window on the track, making it clear this was the design intent), but this is nearly impossible to see in-game. Top: the closest this can be seen is in two-player mode if one player turns around to look at the…
Top: artwork used on a rare officially licensed 1986 Famicom game case, depicting the cast of Super Mario Bros. riding a car. Bottom left: this artwork would later be used for the album cover of a 1986 Super Mario Bros. Japan-only vinyl record. Bottom right: the place this artwork was most famously used was the cover of All Night Nippon: Super Mario Bros., a limited-edition retool of Super Mario…
A preview article in a 2002 issue of the Brazilian Nintendo World magazine featured a bizarre edit of the Super Mario 64 official artwork of Mario displaying a victory sign where he was made to extend four fingers instead. A comparison between the original artwork and the edit is provided. Source: vitorio.neocities.org Main Blog | Patreon | Twitter | Bluesky | Small Findings
Unused goalkeeper model, named simply “Goalie” internally, found in the files of Super Mario Strikers. In the finished game, the goalkeepers for all teams are Kritters (the one for the robotic Super Team is a robotic Kritter). Whether this design was at one point actually seriously considered to be a new original character to appear in the finished game, or was simply a placeholder, is…
World’s first photograph of both of the extremely rare Big Ol’ Mario and Big Ol’ Donkey Kong plushes in the same place at the same time. The two 3-foot-tall Big Ol’ plushies were featured in a 1997 Nintendo Power catalog and retailed for $100 (ca. $200 adjusted for inflation); however, so few units were produced that for decades it was assumed that none of them actually…
In Super Mario World, whenever Mario completes a level, the path to the next level is revealed in a rather slow tile-by-tile manner. It is easy to assume that the effect is deliberate, to lend cinematic weight to the achievement of having beaten the level. However, it turns out that the game is actually trying to perform the animation as fast as possible but is legitimately encountering slowdown…
Unique illustration of the Super Mario Bros. cast reimagined as a Zelda-like action game, used for a 1987 calendar in the Japanese Wanpakku magazine. Source: its.a.me.scanio , historyofhyrule Main Blog | Patreon | Twitter | Bluesky | Small Findings
Collection of officially licensed 2026 Mario, Peach, Yoshi and Bowser Crocs. Source: reinodocogumelo Main Blog | Patreon | Twitter | Bluesky | Small Findings
Here are the two most powerful attacks capable to be inflicted by enemies in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, both in terms of most damage in a single attack (top) and most total damage in a multi-hit attack (bottom)*. Top: the highest single-hit damage can be dealt by Marilyn in the Chapter 8 battle, where she can deal 48 damage after being made Huge by Beldam, applying two Charges, and Mario…
