User blog:64DD5063/SM642 Cancellation

I am a former Nintendo employee that worked from 1988 to 1999. I played a major role in the development of Mario Kart 64, Mario Kart Super Circuit, Mario Party 1, Mario Party 2, Super Mario 64, and Super Mario 64 2.

I was informed about this wiki by a friend, and I am here to explain the cancellation of the aforementioned project, though I am likely breaking the law by doing so.

We started development in late-1996, led by Miyamoto, with a goal already set in mind: A multiplayer-compatible adventure platformer with 15 regular levels with 8 stars each and 5 boss levels with 2 stars each. The game would bring back Tatanga, who would team up with Bowser to steal the power stars to take over the Mushroom Kingdom, and, if Mario got a Game Over, the whole world.

There would be better graphics and an engine overhaul, along with a more complex version of the Personalization AI, which would be able to do things such as create brand-new models, levels, and textures. The game was scheduled to release early-1999, but we had to delay its release to mid-2001, as it wasn't finished at that time.

At this point, our visions for the game wouldn't be able to run on real N64 hardware, and as such, we had to port it over to the 64DD. Luckily, we had access to an early version of the 64DD, and we started experimenting on how to port the game (which now was called 'Super Mario Land 64.')

During Late-1999, we were successfully porting the game over to the 64DD, or at least we were, until various files were leaked online (in an event now known as the 'Oman Leak'), including the source of a beta build of SML64. After this, the leak was wiped from the face of the internet, the leaker was arrested, the game was cancelled, and the majority of the employees working on the project (myself included) were laid off for no known reason.

It has been 30 years since then, and I have rarely heard anyone mention SML64 again, though the last time I hear a mention of it, it was a report by my friend of somebody using the code of the personalized AI on their (open-source) game.

Oh dear.