Super Mario Sunshine Beta Analysis and Secrets

Research: tcrf.net
Various videos

Super Mario Sunshine! Woohoo!

Super Mario Sunshine is the greatest summer video game in existence. Its tropical setting and bright and colorful visuals bring the game to life for me. However, as good as this game may be, there's so much more it could've been, and I'm here to show you everything. This is the first "Nintendo Alliance Beta Analysis"!

Super Mario Sunshine was first shown at SpaceWorld 2001.

 

At first glance, the core gameplay is the same. However, there are many differences from the final version. First of all, Delfino Plaza looks completely different. It's actually much bigger, and connects to several different islands. The Heads-Up-Display is different as well, in the top-right corner you'll see a sun. It has been said to measure your health as well as how much water is in FLUDD. Speaking of FLUDD, it is different as well, being much skinnier than the final. There also isn't any indication on switching nozzles, so that was probably added later. In the bottom-right corner is the counter for Sol Coins. These were replaced by regular coins in the final game. Also, a human is shown at 0:12. There aren't any humans in the final game other than Mario and Peach.

One notable thing from this trailer is the giant...thing stomping through the plaza. Often referred to as "Tramplin' Stu", the game's files refer to it as "Hinokuri". The reason we know this is because Hinokuri is actually on the final game's disc, and can be accessed through Action Replay. It has an outer shell, and you are supposed to fill it with water. Once the outer shell is popped, you stomp on its head. Here is a video of a Hinokuri's outer shell being popped:

 

Hinokuri would also use masks at one point. Here's a picture of one:

 

Super Mario Sunshine was shown off again at E3 2002, looking more like the final game.

 

Here's a picture of an early Bianco Hills. This screenshot could've been taken in between SpaceWorld 2001 and E3 2002, as FLUDD is still skinny.

However, there are still some differences from the final game. First, the Heads-Up Display is still different. The Life meter is just a sun with the number of hits you had left before you died, and Yoshi's Juice meter would go up the longer he went without food instead of going down, and the text on the meter displayed "Hungry" instead of "Juice". Speaking of Yoshi, all Yoshis were meant to be green, as seen in the trailer. Other than, it's just minor aesthetic differences like boos having no fangs or long tongues, and the Delfino Plaza theme being slightly different. Oh, and there were originally going to be bouncing Piranha Plant heads in Bianco Hills. What?!

Then, the game was released, and there were many leftovers and beta remnants on the disc. First off, there was a test level on the disc of the NTSC/PAL releases. There were originally 20 test levels, but all of them were deleted. This one was added back in by the localization team for Super Mario Sunshine. You can access it yourself with the Action Replay code "JKGN-DDJZ-D58XJ FYUM-N4P3-QJUPC". It actually has a Hinokuri in it without its outer shell. Here's a video of the test room:

 

Next, there is an unused sky model. It is actually grouped with the files for the test level.

 

  

Some unused audio is also on the disc. You can listen to the audio here. The first is technically not unused. It was used in the game demo that plays at the title screen if you leave the controller idle. The second is unused because Yoshi does not appear in Noki Bay. The third was intended to be used when the game was booted up, but it was never used for unknown reasons.

There is an unused enemy on the disc, known as Kug, a paper-thin Goomba. Jumping on it electrocutes Mario for some reason.

The model for Kug.

Kug can actually be seen in the final game under Pinna Park through hacking. It's quite a mystery why he's under Pinna Park, but hey, it's pretty cool. Here is a video of Kug.

                                      

Super Mario Sunshine also has quite a few unused objects.

Replaced with durians and baskets.

A Yoshi Egg Generator, found in the files for Episode 5 of Pianta Village. The purple one is called "bad_gene_egg_model1".

A strange white hemisphere known as "ball.bmd". It is only 2 cm in diameter.

Yes, Il Piantissimo is in the game, but normally his face can't be seen. By hacking the game you can view his face. Strangely enough, he seems to resemble the Running Man from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and the Postman from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.

The Eely-Mouth Boss's insides normally can't be seen. So that's why it has so many polygons!

The Strollin' Stu generator was originally supposed to be animated. The left one is the animation for when it is hurt, the middle one is for after it's hurt, and the right one is for when it dies.

Just a removed cloud layer that stretches the ENTIRE SKY. It's invisible in the game.

This is actually visible in Episode 3 of Noki Bay, "Red Coins in a Bottle". It is said to be a remnant from a Beta level in which you retrieve a book from the bottle instead of collect red coins.

There is a pier off-screen of the File Select area. What's strange is you can actually walk on it.

A copy of the Delfino Airstrip waiting room is high in the sky of Delfino Airstrip. This copy goes unused because instead of having to load a separate room when going into the room on the ground of the airstrip (like for example, the game will load a separate room when you go into the Blue Coin trading hut in Delfino Plaza), it's part of the main map, so the copy goes unused. However, the copy is more detailed than the one on the airstrip for some reason.

Super Mario Sunshine has strange goop test maps as well.

This goop map is for the test level. It has two Hinokuri on it. The one on the right is the overwritten texture, which seems to be a silhouette of Kug.

This is the goop map for Bianco Hills. ...I'm not getting any sleep tonight. On the right is the texture used for the goop in Bianco Hills, which can be seen in the screenshot I used earlier.

The goop map for Ricco Harbor.

The goop map for the underwater portion of Noki Bay. Goop underwater? That doesn't make sense! The Japanese translates to "stupid". That is correct, developer.

The goop map for Sirena Beach. It's...just Kug.

A goop map for Delfino Casino, even though there isn't any goop there.

A goop map for the final boss.

Lastly, Super Mario Sunshine also has some other unused oddities in its files, including the most mysterious scrapped thing in Super Mario Sunshine, but we'll get to that.

An unused level select banner for Corona Mountain since it doesn't have a level select screen.

This unused text translates to "Dolpic", which is the Japanese name for Isle Delfino.

Translates to "cancel".

Some unused graphics for sunglasses that belong to Piantas. The one on the right was intended for the options menu, with it being named "option_sunglass".

A blue door with goop painted across it. In the final game, it's a yellow squishy substance.

An early graphic for FLUDD on the Heads-Up-Display. This was changed to "WATER" for E3 2002.

Most likely a placeholder logo.

This image is really interesting. It was probably taken around SpaceWorld 2001, with the Skinny FLUDD design, early bloopers and different lighting and textures. Believe it or not, this image is used as a texture for one of the Eely-Mouth boss's eyes.

This image is used as a texture for the water in Bowser's bathtub during the final boss.

A placeholder for the "Press Start" on the title screen.

A silhouette of Mario's head...what?

A silhouette of an early title screen.

Here is some unused and placeholder text in Super Mario Sunshine.

"I wanna be loved by you. Just you nobody else but you. I wanna be kissed by you alone. I couldn't aspire" This appears to be an excerpt from the 1928 song "I Wanna Be Loved by You".

"Stand by me"
"When the night has come"
An excerpt from 1968's Stand By Me.

"Good morning
Hello!
Good morning
Hello!
Good morning
Hello!"
I have no idea what this is, but it's pleasant, I guess. :)

Here is a file known as "title.blo" which appears to be an extended level select, with cut levels in it. Some say that the cut levels are shown in the SpaceWorld 2001 trailer, so if you like, you can scroll back up to the SpaceWorld trailer and look for them. The cut levels are in bold. Many thanks to tcrf.net for translations.
-Airport (Delfino Airstrip)
- Dolpic Town (Delfino Plaza)
- Ricco Harbor
- Bianco Hills
- Mamma Beach (Gelato Beach)
- Sirena Beach
- Hotel Delfino
- Pinna Parco (Pinna Park)
- Hotel Lacrima (Hotel Tear)
- Mare Village (Noki Bay)
- Monte Village (Pianta Village)
- Erto Rock (Steep Rock)
- Warship Island
-  Fire Shrine
- ex map (The internal name for FLUDDless missions)
- Corona Mountain
- Test Map 
- Test Map 2

Now it is time for the most interesting and mysterious cut thing from Super Mario Sunshine, referred to as the Delfino Express. Basically, it was going to be your main method of getting around to levels. Here is some text for the Delfino Express, from files found in the Japanese version of the game, "message.szs", "station.bmg" and "system.bmg".

"station.bmg" This appears to be a list of stations the Delfino Express would take you. There are islands on this list, which doesn't make sense unless there was a bridge connecting to them. The items on the list in bold are my edits. As for the items on the list that say "TEMPORARY"...I got nothin'. Also, I wonder what Lighthouse Island is?
- Dolpic Town Station (Delfino Plaza Station)
- Ricco Harbor Station
- Bianco Hills Entrance
- Mamma Beach Station (Gelato Beach Station)
- Sirena Beach Station
- In front of Hotel Delfino
- Pinna Parco Station (Pinna Park Station)
- In front of Hotel Lacrima (Hotel Tear)
- Mare Village Harbor (Noki Bay Harbor)
- Monte Village Station (Pianta Village Station)
- Erto Rock Station (Steep Rock Station)
- Battleship Island (TEMPORARY) Harbor (or Warship Island)
- In front of Flame Temple (TEMPORARY) (or Fire Shrine)
- Lighthouse Island (TEMPORARY) Harbor
- Corona Mountain Entrance

"system.bmg" Lines of text mentioning how the Delfino Express would work. Once again, thanks to tcrf.net for translations.
"Will you be riding with us today? (Yes, No)"
"Please let me see your ticket!"
"Now departing for ___!"
"See you next time!"
"Right now, highly acclaimed travel stamps to ___ are on sale!"
"Right now, highly acclaimed travel stamps to this station are on sale!"
"Will you be purchasing a travel stamp? (Yes, No)"
"Thank you for travelling with us!"
"Bound for ___"
"___ bound for ___ on sale now!"
"The price comes to ___ Sol Coins!"
"Cancel" (happens twice for some reason)
That quote mentioning Sol Coins seems to hint at when the Delfino Express was scrapped, because SpaceWorld 2001 was the only point we saw Sol Coins. Personally, I'm glad the Delfino Express was scrapped because I like jumping around and exploring to get to where I need to go.

That's all of the beta bits I could find for Super Mario Sunshine. It was a lot of fun analyzing the beta and I hope to more beta analysis stuff in the future for Nintendo Alliance.

For more news and updates on everything Nintendo, be sure to keep up to date with Nintendo Alliance!

(And other stuff, we're doing other stuff now too I guess)