Super Mario 64/Sombrero Build

Perhaps one of the earliest builds of Super Mario 64 known is the affectionately named Sombrero Build, named after the character who wears a large sombrero. This build was likely a testing build for the Ultra 64 hardware, and many of the models associated with the build can be found in Nintendo 64 creation kits such as the infamous Sombrero Man.

Appearance
From the screenshot of the build, it can be seen that the build features much different landscaping to Super Mario 64: the ground is brown and uneven with many hills, there are three trees positioned around the island and the background is a simple picture of a cloudy sky. Mario has been replaced with the stock low-poly sombrero-wearing person with a red and white checkered shirt and there are three Bob-ombs scattered around the island.

Theorising
There is no date associated with this build, but judging by how barebones it is and how it hardly resembles the final game, it is likely a very early version of the game. It is unknown if this game predates the 1995/07/29 build, or actually is this build. Reports of the infamous build says that the game hardly resembles the Mario Universe, which would line up with the Sombrero Build. However, the Sombrero build seems to lack the castle.

Many source the Sombrero build as the first iteration of Bob-omb Village, a supposedly removed level from Super Mario 64. This is evident by the Bob-ombs that appeared to be present within this build. No semblance of a village can be seen within the screenshot.

However, a reporting of an unfinished demo for Super Mario 64, presumably the Sombrero Build, exists. If this demo is the Sombrero Build, a date can be given to the build, which is around August 1994.

Reportings
''Everything in this section should be taken with a grain of salt. These are all unverified claims.'' "I was working at Argonaut from 1992 to 1997. In March 1994, one of my colleagues told me about how he attempted to contact Nintendo and Silicon Graphics and help create a game for Nintendo's upcoming console, the Ultra 64. Within a few days, Nintendo and Silicon Graphics agreed. We put together a small team of programmers (including me) to pitch a game idea. At first we thought it was a great idea but, when we arrived at Nintendo HQ in August 1994, one of the designers from Nintendo showed us a demo on a SGI Indy computer which changed our whole perspective of a good game.

They pitched it as an incomplete Mario game. It had a small low-poly man in an oversized hat roaming around a brown landscape with a few trees. Small bomb creatures which I recognised from earlier games roamed around and, when they came to close to the man, exploded. The game was incredible despite a slightly disturbing tune, like a slightly broken merry-go-round. When restarting the game, a small level select appeared with levels like, 'MEADOW', 'FORT', 'TEST' and even 'BROTHER'. Only the first level loaded which, unsurprisingly, was the one show before.

One of Nintendo's employees told us about getting in contact with an unknown company to add something to the game but when I asked him what they were planning to add, he went dead silent. In a few months, Nintendo decided to remove Argonaut from the credits of the game for an unknown reason."

Trivia

 * The level 'FORT' in the reporting could be either an early version of Whomp's Fortress or Eternal Fort.
 * Once again, the Sombrero Build could be a representation of the supposed myth level Bob-omb Village.