Previously, I have posted about how in the prototype version of Mario Artist: Paint Studio for the Japan-only Nintendo 64DD add-on, crashing the game shows a bizarre “You’ve been DINGLED…” screen with a British school crossing patrol officer, colloquially known as a “lollipop man” (included since the game being mainly developed by Software Creations, a British studio).

Interestingly, this is barely visible in the game itself as the actual “You’ve been DINGLED…” screen appears for only 2/3 of a second before being replaced with the crash debug information. As such, it appears that even during the prototype phase this was intended to be a sudden moment of surprise that requires viewing it multiple times to fully process the image, and was likely inserted as a prank between the British programmers.

Top: how the crash appears in-game.
Bottom: the “You’ve been DINGLED…” screen, isolated.

Source: Yakumono, Upwader

Main Blog | Patreon | Twitter | Bluesky | Small Findings

A relatively obscure music track in the Paper Mario soundtrack is “Happy Sun” (unofficial name given by the community since the track does not appear on the official soundtrack CD).

When the Sun Tower is visited during Chapter 6 while the Sun is being prevented from shining by the clouds created by Huff N. Puff, a sad song (commonly called “Sad Sun”) plays in the area. After destroying the source of the clouds, the player then sees the Sun ascend in a cutscene, and has absolutely no completionist reason to ever go back to this area since it is barren and has no collectibles.

However, if the player does go out of the way to return to the Sun Tower after completing the chapter, this original “Happy Sun” music will play. It is bizarre that the developers decided to dedicate two unique pieces of music to an area that has nothing in it except an NPC that needs to be talked to exactly once.

Source: DaintiiMusic

Main Blog | Patreon | Twitter | Bluesky | Small Findings

Officially licensed 1992 Super Mario Kart jigsaw puzzle from Japan. While the drivers’ poses are based on official artwork for the game, they have been slightly redrawn for the image.

Source: wesofthedead

Main Blog | Patreon | Twitter | Bluesky | Small Findings

An extremely rare and bizarre bug that has currently only been documented once in Mario Kart World results in Rainbow Road’s course geometry not loading, while its collision remains.

This results in the track becoming essentially invisible except for objects like coins, item boxes, etc. As seen in the footage, it is still possible to race on the track if the player remembers the layout.

Source: NocturnalBunuy

Main Blog | Patreon | Twitter | Bluesky | Small Findings

Various early concept art for Mario’s design in the 2023 Super Mario Bros. movie.

Source: Travis Ruiz

Main Blog | Patreon | Twitter | Bluesky | Small Findings

Clay models of a variety of creatures from Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, used during the game’s development for conceptualization purposes. This photo was shared in a 2026 issue of the Nintendo Dream magazine.

Source: ninpatentswatch

Main Blog | Patreon | Twitter | Bluesky | Small Findings

In Super Mario World, if Yoshi eats two Pink Berries in the same level, gameplay will briefly stop as he lays an egg that hatches into a Smiling Cloud which will drop ten special coins, followed by a 1-Up Mushroom if all coins are collected.

If Yoshi dies on the frame he would have laid the egg, the next Yoshi that spawns in this level will spawn in a slightly glitched crouching state. If Mario then mounts that Yoshi while flying, he can fly on the crouched Yoshi (appearing to sit in mid-air above the Yoshi), as seen in the footage.

Source: octavesmw

Main Blog | Patreon | Twitter | Bluesky | Small Findings

Extremely rare officially licensed 1993 British Bowser figurine.

Source: krke_8

Main Blog | Patreon | Twitter | Bluesky | Small Findings

A video recorded at Nintendo Japan during the creation of Super Mario Bros. shows an early version of Super Mario’s idle sprite, which has some differences such as a different color scheme and suspenders.

However, the most noticeable difference is the change to his eye, which despite being only a single pixel, makes his eyes look unnaturally large. No classic Mario sprite would go on to make Mario’s pupils 2x2 pixel squares, instead opting for 1x2 pixel rectangles, 1x1 pixel dots, or the finished sprite’s L-shape instead.

Source: KrispyBaf

Main Blog | Patreon | Twitter | Bluesky | Small Findings

An extremely obscure detail in Super Mario RPG is that there is one inn in the game that allows Mario to stay even if he cannot pay for it, being the Seaside Town inn. Since it is encountered in the latter half of the game, it is unlikely Mario would not have the 15 coins to pay for it, and a player with no money left would likely simply rest at Mario’s house for free instead.

This is the only inn that normally costs money that allows Mario to stay even if he cannot pay; the Rose Town and Monstro Town inns are free by default, while every other inn will not let him stay if he does not have enough money.

Source: pidgezero_one

Main Blog | Patreon | Twitter | Bluesky | Small Findings