Unused starry world map found in development files of Super Mario World. Curiously, this world map features absolutely no levels (looking more like a level background), and was likely only used as a placeholder, though it is unusually artistic for something designed for that purpose.

The stars create the same slightly tilted mushroom outline that was used for the earliest iteration of the game’s world map, seen in some pre-release screenshots.

Main Blog | Patreon | Twitter | Bluesky | Small Findings | Source: GlitterBerri

In Super Mario Bros. 2, thrown enemies or items become glitched if the player character is hurt while they are flying through the air or ground.

This can be used to defeat the Clawgrip boss with a single rock, when he would normally take five hits to defeat. If the player character throws a rock at the right wall and then touches Clawgrip in the manner shown in the footage, the rock will become glitched and emerge from the ground underneath Clawgrip, continuously hurting him until he dies.

Main Blog | Patreon | Twitter | Bluesky | Small Findings | Source: WhiteHat94

Unique two-page spread from a 1994 Japanese Mario character guide, dedicated entirely to artwork of characters from the back. Some of this artwork is unique to this page and has never been published in any other context.

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According to a 2021 interview with former Retro Studios developer Bryan Walker, who served as Senior Development Director on Donkey Kong Country Returns, Shigeru Miyamoto spent his initial meeting with Retro Studios to discuss the vision for the game talking in Japanese as usual.

However, at the end, he said one line in English: “Please take care of DK. He is my friend.”

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A glitch may occur at the end of the Bowser Kaboom Squad mode in Super Mario Party Jamboree where one of the players may slide away during the victory cutscene, as seen with Yoshi in the footage.

The cause of this is yet unknown.

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Officially licensed 2019 Super Mario boys’ suit.

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Artwork used for a 1991 officially licensed French Super Mario Bros. 3 poster. While based on official art for the game by Yoichi Kotabe, it has been redrawn and the Koopalings for an unknown reason made green.

Main Blog | Patreon | Twitter | Bluesky | Small Findings | Source: VGDensetsu

In Mario Kart 64, the Thwomps in Bowser’s Castle do not merely squash players when they are caught under them on the ground, but also, surprisingly, in mid-air.

In the footage, Wario violently rams into Yoshi and send him flying into a Thwomp, which manages to flatten him in mid-air. This causes Yoshi to lose a large amount of time drifting down in his flattened state, making this scenario even more unfortunate than simply being caught underneath the Thwomp normally.

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The prototype of the game that would eventually become Dr. Mario was called “Virus” and featured this music in the files. What it would have been used for is unknown, though it might have been a loss theme, a cutscene theme, or even particularly low-energy gameplay music.

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Players of Super Mario Sunshine may have tried to perform the “Blooper Surfing Safari” mission of Ricco Harbor without actually surfing on any Bloopers. Doing this by simply getting Mario on top of the wall, running around the starting line, and entering from the other side reveals that this does not count as finishing the race.

However, that does not mean that it is not possible to finish the race this way; only that there are precautions in place to prevent the simplest way of attempting to cheat it. The game sets up two “control zones” that Mario has to touch in order for the act of touching the finish line to count as completing the race (bottom image, highlighted).

As long as the player knows where those zones are, and makes sure to touch them, it is entirely possible to complete the race without riding any Bloopers. The footage shows where Mario must go. This can save up to 20 seconds over doing the race the “intended” way.

Main Blog | Patreon | Twitter | Bluesky | Source: zelpikukirby, 2CPhoenix