User blog:ROBLONIUM/February 22nd, 1996 build

This build is very mysterious. It has a ton of differences, and some levels are so different, even down to going as far to being even more different than the inverted HUD build, the Spring 1996 manual build, and the E3 1996 build...

General Differences

 * The game starts off with an early logo.
 * Mario has more moves than he usually does.
 * Coins have a different appearance more reminiscent of the traditional games with the rectaunglar imprint. Red coins, and blue coins have these differences too.
 * Mario does not speak when he punches or kicks, but his feet and hands still grow larger. He does speak when jump-kicking however.
 * The 'It's-a-me, Mario!' voice clip sounds slightly different.
 * When a coin drops, the sound is at a different pitch.
 * The HUD is now like the final game, though the life icon, star icon, and coin icon are still different.
 * The coin and star counters are swapped.
 * The TIME counter is on the bottom of the screen and is missing the ' and ".
 * The power meter is in the final iteration of Mario's head, though a number is in the middle.
 * Mario uses the Mario_Old head with the final's lighting.
 * Mario is voiced by Charles Martinet like the final game, though he has different voice clips for some jumps.
 * Mario also has his 'enh'-like sound when getting on a ledge from SpaceWorld.
 * Mario says 'Yippee!' instead of 'Yahoo!' when he long jumps, performs a backflip or sideflip, or pulls a BLJ (backwards long jump).
 * Mario has his 'YAHOOOOOOOOO!!!' voice clip from Mel Blanc when he throws Bowser or collects a star.
 * Much like the Japanese version of the game, a lot of sound effects are missing.
 * The sound for collecting a red coin is different.
 * Some sounds are incorrect.
 * Some of Mario's animations are different.
 * Stars have a longer texture.
 * Different explosion graphics.
 * The title theme is faster-paced, uses a different drum beat, and has some of Mario's voice clips.
 * The file select theme is very different.
 * The Dire Dire Docks theme has different instruments.
 * The Hazy Maze Cave theme sounds similar to the SMB3 underground theme.
 * Lethal Lava Land's theme plays in Cavern of the Metal Cap.
 * The boss theme does not play.
 * The scrapped Boo dungeon is available as a secret level.
 * The star count is 100.
 * There are no coins in the cap stages.
 * The trees are the same trees from prerelease demos such as the SpaceWorld '95 demo.
 * Lakitu and his camera icons are not present.
 * There is no intro, and Lakitu is already skipped.
 * Bosses immediately get destroyed when defeated.
 * Boss stars spin faster.
 * Metal Mario uses actual metal textures.
 * MIPS the rabbit lacks textures, has a different skeleton, uses a longer hopping animation, and is colored pink.
 * Two scrapped secret levels can be entered: The Room of the Man Dressed in Green, and Bowser's Domain.
 * Yellow ! Blocks are instead ? Blocks.
 * The title screen lacks Mario's 'Hello!' and 'Press start to play.' voice clips.
 * Mario does not say 'Let's-a-go!' when entering a level.
 * Vanish Mario is just a transparent Mario.
 * Waterfalls are completely silent.
 * Green Shiny Shells use the unused early model.
 * Also, the unused red Shiny Shells? Yeah, those are present.
 * The game over theme has the same melody, but completely different instruments.
 * The star dance animation is longer.
 * The HI SCORE jingle has slightly different instruments.
 * The wing cap theme is slightly different.
 * The level entry animation is similar to the animation of Yoshi commiting his death.
 * Mario has an increased sliding distance.

Castle Grounds

 * Signs are not present.
 * Butterflies have yet to be implemented.
 * The castle has the final design, but the windows are slightly bigger compared to the final.
 * The skybox is different.
 * The windows are from SpaceWorld '95.

Vanish Cap Under the Moat

 * The stage feels slippery.
 * ...and it is very different too!

Inside The Castle Walls

 * The brick texture inside the corridor is different.
 * The corridor is slightly longer.
 * Toads are not present.
 * The fences near the entrances to rooms such as Bob-Omb Battlefield are missing, however, fencing has been added near the Big Star Door.
 * The stairs are two platforms for Mario to jump on.
 * There are fences on the platforms.
 * The coins are missing.
 * Bob-Omb Battlefield's painting is slightly different.
 * Whomp's Fortress's painting is very different.
 * Cool, Cool Mountain's painting is very different.
 * Jolly Roger Bay's painting is from the Japanese version.
 * Tiny-Huge Island's painting is very different.
 * Shifting Sand Land has a painting. It contains a desert with two Pokeys and a Flyguy.
 * Jolly Roger Bay's room has aquariums like the final version...but they do not reflect any light.
 * The mirror room is missing a lot of paintings, and Mario's shadow is not reflected either.
 * The castle basement has different textures, a slightly narrower entrance, and a differently placed arrow with a different appearance.
 * The star doors are the number doors from SpaceWorld '95.
 * The portal to Hazy Maze Cave uses early Metal Mario textures.

Tower of the Wing Cap

 * Mario has no coin counter.

Courtyard

 * The courtyard is a course and has Bowser Room music.
 * The stage itself has drastically different textures.
 * The fountain with the 'L is real 2401' statue is missing and has a ring of coins.

The Star Selection Screen

 * Transparent stars are grey instead of blue. This is also visible in-game.

Bob-Omb Battlefield

 * The wildly different appearance of the stage, and the presence of Thwomps, Whomps, poles, and waterfalls. We will discuss the Thwomp and Whomp changes later.
 * Unused flower graphics.
 * Big blue rock containing a red coin is missing.
 * The cannon rock texture is the lighter rock texture.
 * The cannon is already activated, rotating, and shooting cannonballs for some reason.
 * There is only one Bob-Omb Buddy at the start.
 * A higher-pitched voice clip plays when talking to a Bob-Omb Buddy.
 * Bob-Omb Buddies walk in circles.
 * The crates are placed differently.
 * Koopa the Quick walks like a normal Koopa Troopa.
 * The wooden platform that Mario has to walk on is just ground.
 * Goombas have a different face texture, a darker head that is colored roughly the same as their feet, a 3D stem, and a smaller area of detection.
 * Some Goombas are placed differently.
 * The Koopa Troopa is placed differently.
 * The platforms that go up-and-down are missing.
 * The rock in the Chain Chomp section is shorter. It also extends a bit further.
 * Chain Chomp is absent.
 * The cage holding Chain Chomp's star is missing.
 * Chain Chomp's star is also missing. Thusly, the Chain Chomp star mission is a rematch with Big Bob-Omb.
 * The Chain Chomp section is lacking the sign and the fence.
 * The Bob-Omb next to this section is placed differently.
 * The red coin in this section is placed near the mountain.
 * The seesaw is absent and a dirt path is in place.
 * A good amount of trees are missing.
 * The arrow signs have a smaller head.
 * The mountain is missing the bars.
 * Iron balls are absent.
 * There is a ring of coins and a Bob-Omb on the mountain.
 * The mountain is different, as it is missing the ledge.
 * There is a rock spike on top of the mountain.
 * The placement of the floating island is very different, being higher and above the Chain Chomp section.
 * There is another floating island with nothing on it.
 * A cannon is near the mountain.
 * When Mario picks up Big Bob-Omb, the camera is zoomed in more.
 * Once again, the skybox is different.
 * The missions Footrace with Koopa the Quick and Shoot to the Star in the Sky are swapped.
 * The stage is called 'Bombs Kingdom' in this early version.
 * The stage has orange lighting.

Whomp's Fortress

 * The quote that is seen when entering the course is the one from SpaceWorld '95.
 * Mario can enter the fortress.
 * The sign close to the first Piranha Plant is missing.
 * The Piranha Plant has a different sound clip for when it bites.
 * Rock texture near the Thwomp area is from SpaceWorld '95.
 * Moving Bars/Bomps use their SpaceWorld '95 textures, unlike the final.
 * The moving platforms are missing, meaning Mario has to long jump to get to the Thwomp area.
 * Thwomps use their SpaceWorld '95 textures.
 * The Thwomp area has the same line of coins and sloped surfaces of the SpaceWorld demo.
 * The Thwomp area lacks the secret teleporter, sign, and Metal Box.
 * The Thwomp's grunt is a deep, thunderous "thud" sound.
 * The Piranha Plant area near the Thwomp area lacks a fence.
 * Whomps use their SpaceWorld '95 textures.
 * The pole is at the same position as the SpaceWorld '95 demo.
 * There is another pole that replaces the up-and-down platforms leading to the fight with King Whomp.
 * King Whomp also uses the SpaceWorld '95 Whomp textures.
 * The top of the fortress has triangular steps.
 * The floating islands are missing, with the exception of the island made of bricks.
 * The skybox is also different, being a darker blue.
 * The stage is called 'The World of Rocky Mountain'.
 * Butterflies are missing.

Secret Slide

 * Placeholder textures.
 * Yellow ! Switch is present.

Jolly Roger Bay

 * There are water particles on screen when Mario swims underwater.

Cool, Cool Mountain

 * There are so many changes to the layout, like the ledge having snow, and Mr. Blizzards being missing that I cannot even bother listing them all here.
 * The level looks more like a castle than a mountain.
 * The Headless Snowman is in a different position.
 * The brick texture for the house is very different.
 * The racing penguin, Mother Penguin, and Tuxie, all three of which are penguins, use the SpaceWorld penguin model.

Big Boo's Haunt

 * The skybox is pure black.
 * Some signs, objects, and Boos are missing.
 * Scuttle Bugs strangely do not appear.
 * Boos appear, but their face textures are from SpaceWorld. They also drop normal coins.
 * Big Boo contains a key inside of him.
 * The fences look incredibly different.
 * The Mad Piano is missing.
 * Killer Chairs use a slightly different model with no textures.

Bowser in the Dark World

 * The room where the painting is has a different brick texture.
 * The ground in the room already collapsed.
 * The stage itself has a more blueish skybox.
 * The area with the Goombas and the block has a slightly orange ground.
 * Bowser's priority is higher than the HUD. He has a shadow though.

Hazy Maze Cave

 * The map at the beginning is missing.
 * The Metal Box is near the sign.
 * The sign at the beginning is missing too.
 * There is a Swooper on the left near where the map is supposed to be.
 * Scuttle Bug has a fully 3D modeled, brown-colored, mahogany body with very large, bushy eyebrows and 'rainbow melons' for eyes.
 * Speaking of Scuttle Bug, he does not have the sound that plays whenever a Monty Mole, Mr. I, or Spindrift gets defeated.
 * At one of the turns, a Swooper and a jumping Scuttle Bug are present.
 * The textures for the boulders are hardly any different, though they were moved a bit in the final.
 * The lifts basically use the texture used in the final game for the lights.
 * The Metal Cap portal room: is smaller, is more compact, has different textures for the walls, and has a Metal Box near it.

Cavern of the Metal Cap

 * The stage is entirely different, as it is bigger, lacks most Snufits, and has Goombas, Bob-Ombs, and Amps.
 * Podoboos are also present.
 * There is red water in the stage.
 * The switch is placed further, and is also on a smaller platform.

Lethal Lava Land

 * Blargg appears in the stage.
 * Bullies and the Big Bully have one horn.
 * Mario starts in a different position.
 * Once again, some textures are different.
 * Big Bully's model is also different. He is fully 3D, and his body is slightly larger.
 * Flamethrowers are missing their top half.

Inside the Volcano

 * Placeholder textures in place of volcano platforms.

Shitfing Sand Land

 * The skybox is different, being darker, having different clouds, and lacking pyramids.
 * There is only one Tox-Box.
 * The Tox-Box area's stone platform texture is brighter.
 * The four pillars surrounding the pyramid are taller and spikier.
 * There are more palm trees present, and the palm trees also have different graphics.
 * Strangely, there is a Grindel on the Tox-Box area.
 * The top of the pyramid is more cube-shaped.
 * An unused cutscene is shown showing the top of the pyramid exploding.
 * Keronpa Ball close to two pillars is missing.
 * Grindel has a different face with bushy eyebrows, whiter teeth, black eyes, and a slightly different smile.
 * Klepto is placed differently.
 * Klepto has a different texture for his eyes.
 * Out of the four Pokeys, one Pokey is sitting on the quicksand.
 * Pokey has a very, VERY different face and body texture that looks less menacing. But mario can still kick him, punch him, or give 'im a stomp.
 * The pyramid has a Goomba on it.
 * One of the pillars is missing and another is tilted a good amount.
 * There is grass next to the pyramid and has a regular tree on it.
 * After the top of the pyramid gets destroyed, Grindel will take place of that top.
 * The large fence is a wall.
 * The structure with Goombas inside is yellow.
 * Grindel does not have Thwomp's grunt.

Inside the Pyramid

 * Spindel has the same early face as Grindel.
 * The quicksand is just normal ground.
 * The orbs that guide the elevator platforms are Monty Mole's rocks.
 * The entrance to Eyerok's battle is longer.
 * A ring of coins is present near Eyerok's battle.
 * Eyerok has red eyes.
 * Some textures are different.

Dire, Dire Docks

 * Bubba is seen swimming underwater.
 * There are water particles on screen when Mario swims underwater, much like Jolly Roger Bay.
 * From stars 3-5, Unagi the eel is swimming.

Bowser in the Fire Sea

 * Blargg is present, again.
 * Some textures are different, some even being the placeholders.
 * Bowser jumps higher to tilt the arena.

Snowman's Land

 * The early penguins are seen again.
 * Small Chill Bullies are present.
 * Bob-Ombs are present.
 * The stage uses a modified version of Shifting Sand Land's model.
 * There are Spindrifts in the water.
 * The stage is named 'Sno Man's Land' as well.

Wet-Dry World

 * The pushable boxes use very different textures.
 * The stage also looks very different and some details are different.
 * All the Keronpa Balls except for topmost one are submerged into the water level.
 * Chuckya is not in his usual spot.
 * Heave-Ho has a single change compared to the final game. He has 3D tires, as opposed to 2D tires.
 * Some platforms are missing.
 * Bubba is just hangin' out in the downtown area.
 * Skeeter is fully 3D modeled, his antenna is oranger and his head is grey.
 * The background is darker.
 * The ground is the SpaceWorld rock texture.

Tall, Tall Mountain

 * The stage is drastically unfinished. There are checkerboard patterns everywhere.
 * Presence of Thwomps in the stage.
 * Ukiki that steals Mario's hat is missing.
 * Speaking of Ukiki, he is textureless, but everything else is virtually the same (for the final version).
 * One Fly Guy is missing.

Tiny-Huge Island

 * Presence of the unused flower graphics.
 * Goombettes and Big Goombas use the same early Goomba face and model.
 * Drastically different appearance of both islands.
 * Unique music plays inside the Wiggler fight room and Wiggler's home.
 * Wiggler has different, more childish dialogue.

Tick-Tock Clock

 * The rod of the pendulum is yellow rather than wooden.

Rainbow Ride

 * The platform near the rainbow curve is missing.
 * Lots of other platforms are missing.
 * The rainbow curve is different.
 * Flamethrowers shoot red fire, rather than blue fire.
 * Like TotWC, Mario does not have a coin counter.

Bowser in the Sky

 * Bowser in the Dark World's skybox is used.
 * There is a Fly Guy present in the area.
 * The battle area is the same as BitDW, with the addition of parts of stages like TPSS and TotWC.
 * Bowser is not rainbow either like in BitDW, but still takes 3 hits and also tilts the arena like in BitFS

Wing Mario Over the Rainbow

 * Blargg is strangely present again.
 * Lakitu appears.