From The Cutting Room Floor

SNES Test Program
Developer: Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo System(s): SNES This game has unused graphics. This game has unused music. This game has unused sounds. This game has unused text.

The SNES Test Program is one of around four discovered cartridges once used by Nintendo World Class Service to test and diagnose problems with the SNES and controllers (the SNES Burn-In Test Cart being another). The main menu is dated 1991, but the inclusion of functionality for the Super Scope and SNES Mouse suggests a later date.

Contents 1 Earlier Build Leftovers 1.1 Alternate Select Graphics 1.2 Japanese Fonts 1.3 Large Unused Characters 1.4 Burn-In Test 1.5 Set Controller 2 Unused Jingles 3 Unused Sounds 4 Early "Super Mario World" Graphics 4.1 Major Differences and Unused Graphics 4.1.1 Mario 4.1.2 Brick 4.1.3 Coin Bonus 4.1.4 Fire Flower 4.1.5 Goomba 4.1.6 Raccoon Leaf 4.1.7 Spinning Platform 4.1.8 Venus Fire Trap 4.2 Minor Differences 4.2.1 Block 4.2.2 Pipe 4.2.3 Rubble 4.2.4 Dust 4.2.5 Koopa Shell 4.2.6 Bullet Bill Cannon 4.2.7 Coin 4.2.8 P-Switch 4.2.9 Trampoline

Earlier Build Leftovers

Graphics for earlier builds of the test programs are left in the ROM. Nintendo reused the main code for every test cart, updating it every so often for new accessories and the like.

Alternate Select Graphics

A variation of the choose/begin test text using the larger of the two fonts included in the ROM. This was probably changed when the accessories option was added to the menu, as there was no more room.

Japanese Fonts

Since this isn't a Japanese test cart, they wouldn't use Katakana, would they?

The larger font is also stored in the ROM.

Large Unused Characters

Only the &, (, and ) are used by the test program. The others aren't.

Burn-In Test

The version 1.02 Burn-In Test was present in an earlier version of the test cartridge, as is documented here (Warning: embedded MIDI). The Burn-In Test consists of a quick hardware test, followed by graphics and color tests. This continues infinitely.

This advertisement for the Nintendo World Class Service was displayed during the 1.02 Burn-In Test as well.

Set Controller

Text from an earlier version of the Controller Test. Since "set" has been used by Nintendo as a mistranslation of "insert" in the past (the Famicom Disk System's "Please set disk card" message), it's possible that this was an instruction to insert the controller (plug it in).

Unused Jingles

Three unused jingles, purpose unknown.

Unused Sounds

Three unused sound effects which may have been used for Super Scope testing.

Early "Super Mario World" Graphics

SNES Test ROM	Super Mario World

The ROM contains graphics of an early Super Mario World! Most of these graphics match up with pre-release screens of the game.

Note that not all of these graphics seem to be from the same version of SMW. Individual graphics may have been updated along with the Test Cartridge, while others were left alone.

Major Differences and Unused Graphics

Mario

The main difference between these sprites and the final's is the palette, the version here using darker reds and blues than the final. Super Mario's graphics are largely the same, with the only significant change being that his hat was redrawn slightly for the final.

Small Mario, however, looks very different. In fact...

It's the same sprite used with the early Mushroom-shaped map.

Brick

A different version of the standard brick, based off of the Super Mario Bros. 3 brick.

Coin Bonus

Originally, there were objects in the game that gave you coin bonuses. These are still coded in the final (you can get 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25-coin bonuses), but the graphics were removed and the only way to get them without hacking is by bouncing repeatedly on "calm" Wigglers as Mario alone.

Fire Flower

An early Fire Flower, again based off the graphic from SMB3.

This version can be seen in pre-release screens.

Goomba

At one point, the Goombas of SMW would have been squished when jumped on, like in previous Mario games.

Early screenshots of the game showed that Goombas more resembled their SMB3 forms, so the idea to keep them squishable was around long enough to survive the redesign.

Raccoon Leaf

Raccoon Mario was set to return in SMW before Cape Mario was put in.

Two sprites of Raccoon Mario. One is clearly the end-of-level victory pose, but the other is not so certain: it appears to be Mario spinning his tail, although it is more likely to be one of the frames used when punching the flipping nets.

This is another element that was present in the early screenshots of SMW.

Spinning Platform

A version of the circular spinning platform seen in Yoshi's Island 3 and other places, with graphics from SMB3. It can be seen in the Fire Flower picture above.

Venus Fire Trap

Another SMB3 remnant, the Venus Fire Trap was completely left out of SMW with no hint of it ever existing, unlike the Piranha Plant. Strangely, its open-mouthed graphic doesn't fit very well atop the stem, hinting that it was something slightly different than in SMB3.

Minor Differences

Block

SNES Test ROM	Super Mario World

A minor difference in shading. The old block has some additional, darker shading on the right side, two pixels of which remain in the final.

Pipe

SNES Test ROM	Super Mario World

The final pipe lids have a more rounded appearance, while in the Test ROM they're more angular. The actual pipes are also wider in the final.

SNES Test ROM	Super Mario World

The same transformation can be seen with horizontal pipes.

Rubble

SNES Test ROM	Super Mario World

It's possible that the graphics that appear where the rubble would be in the Test ROM weren't used for the same purpose, but it looks similar enough.

Dust

SNES Test ROM	Super Mario World

The final's dust cloud is a lot more interesting than that of the Test ROM, which is based on the one in SMB3.

Koopa Shell

SNES Test ROM	Super Mario World

A slight change in shading for the first three frames. The Koopa's eyes are larger in the Test ROM, resulting in an amusing change from alertness to boredom.

Bullet Bill Cannon

SNES Test ROM	Super Mario World

This starts the trend of the loss of asymmetry. In the Test ROM, the topmost 16x16 part of the cannon uses four unique 8x8 tiles; in the final, this was reduced to two, with the left half being flipped and reused as the right half as well as being reshaded.

This change proved to be completely unnecessary, as the spare tiles were not actually used for anything. In fact, the lower-right tile of the top is still present in the graphics file, but unused.

Coin

SNES Test ROM	Super Mario World

In the final, the asymmetry of the first coin frame is kept, but the second and third frames are stored in VRAM as single 8x8 tiles that get flipped vertically to make the whole coin.

P-Switch

SNES Test ROM	Super Mario World

Another shading difference related to the way the graphic is stored: in the Test ROM it's stored as-is, but in the final it's stored as a single 8x8 tile.

Trampoline

SNES Test ROM	Super Mario World

The trampoline lost the most by the final. The first two frames went from being stored as four 8x8 tiles to being stored as one 8x8 tile that is flipped horizontally and vertically. Said two frames were reshaded as well, but not the third, for whatever reason.