Super Mario 64 Beta Assets 🆕

Over the years, various Super Mario 64 beta assets have surfaced, giving fans a glimpse into the game's development. These assets include early character models, level designs, and even prototype gameplay footage. Some of the most interesting beta assets include:

Lakitu, the cameraman, has several unused color palettes in the assets: a black shell, a gold shell, and a rainbow shell. Data miners believe these corresponded to different "camera modes" that were scrapped, such as a first-person mode or a cinematic replay mode. super mario 64 beta assets

In the final game, Princess Peach reads a letter over a black screen. In the beta audio files, the voice actress recorded a much longer, melancholic message: "Mario... Bowser has stolen the castle's heart. Not the power stars... the heart of the castle itself. You must find the 30 pieces of the heart before he..." The audio cuts off. This suggests that the "Power Stars" were originally "Pieces of the Castle's Heart." Over the years, various Super Mario 64 beta

Perhaps the strangest beta asset is a kite. Found in the object data folder, this item would have allowed Mario to glide across gaps. While the Wing Cap eventually filled the flying role, the kite was different—it was slow, wind-dependent, and required no cap switch. Screenshots from a 1995 Nintendo Power preview show Mario holding a wooden kite above his head in what looks like an early version of Bob-omb Battlefield. Data miners believe these corresponded to different "camera

Mario has a complete tuck-and-roll animation sequence. It’s not the slide (which requires a slope) or the dive. This is a forward roll, akin to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time . It would have allowed Mario to dodge attacks. The code even includes a "roll-jump" that launches Mario higher than a normal jump.