Super Mario All-Stars

From The Cutting Room Floor

Super Mario All-Stars
Also known as: Super Mario Collection (JP) Developer: Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo Platform: SNES Released in JP: July 14, 1993 Released in US: August 1, 1993 Released in EU: December 16, 1993 This game has unused areas. This game has hidden development-related text. This game has unused enemies. This game has unused graphics. This game has unused items. This game has unused text. This game has debugging material. This game has regional differences. This game has revisional differences. This game has anti-piracy features. This game has a notes page

Super Mario All-Stars is a collection of the four main NES/Famicom Super Mario Bros. titles, upgraded to take advantage of the SNES' improved hardware. Unlike most SNES games, all of the graphics data is uncompressed.

In 2010, a completely-unchanged port was slapped on a Wii disc for Mario's big 25th Anniversary.

General

Content not specific to any particular game.

Debug Mode

To activate debugging features for all four games, either use the code 008C1E01 or set SRAM address 700007 to 01 in a debugger.

All Games

• L: freeze/unfreeze
• R: advance one frame (while frozen)

Super Mario Bros./The Lost Levels

• A: become Super Mario
• X: become Fire Mario
• Select: free-roaming mode/invincibility

Super Mario Bros. 2

• A: free-roaming mode
• X: invincibility

Super Mario Bros. 3

• A: free-roaming mode
• X: change powerup/suit
• Select: invincibility

(Note that this does not activate the debugging features left over from the NES version; the "new" method of changing suits is glitchy, does not apply the correct palette, and does not allow you to toggle Kuribo's Shoe!)

Placeholder Text

Some image banks in the ROM have placeholder text that marks where graphics will be loaded in-game.

Before	After

The black text box is プレイヤー, translated as "Player", marking where the Player graphics are stored in VRAM. The three orange tiles are パワ床 (POW Block), スイショウ (Crystal), and フラスコ (Flask).

Before	After

Taken from the Battle Mode tile bank. Again, the black box is プレイヤー (Player), marking where Mario and Luigi's graphics are stored.

Before	After

From the Super Mario Bros. 3 tileset, this text translates as "Mario, Luigi", and denotes the location of the player graphics.

Before	After

This text block appears in both Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 2. ＢＧカキカエ　エリア　 translates as "BG Transfer Area", and is used to indicate the location of animated background tiles in VRAM.

Before	After

Hopefully this doesn't need translating. "PLAYER" marks the slot for player graphics in the Super Mario Bros. ending sequence.

Unused Pause Screen Option

Found in all versions of Super Mario All-Stars, this text is located with the rest of the pause menu graphics. またもうやめ translates as "Take a Break". What this would actually do is unknown.

Anti-Piracy

As a means of copy protection, all versions of Super Mario All-Stars perform a check to see how much SRAM is present: the game writes a value to $702000, then compares it with the value at $700000. If the values match (due to address mirroring), it means 8 KB of SRAM is present and the cart is likely genuine...but if the values are different, it means more than 8 KB of SRAM is present and the game is likely running on a copier. If the latter scenario occurs, the game stops and throws up a warning message.

The message text differs between versions, but the location of the routine is always the same; to trigger it, use Pro Action Replay code 1180508F and choose Super Mario Bros. 2/Super Mario USA from the game menu.

Super Mario All-Stars (US)	Super Mario Collection (JP)
Super Mario All-Stars (EU)	Super Mario All-Stars + World (EU)

Super Mario Bros.

The game that started this whole mess.

Unused Graphics

Yes, even this port has unused graphics.

Ending text graphics appear after the Princess Toadstool sprites. This is supposed to be for...well, The End.

This is probably supposed to be animated. This is what it would look like.

The use for this is obvious. This might have appeared on screen before the save menu was implemented.

This page appears to have been used as a "scratch pad" for testing multiple variations of some common Mario poses. None of these graphics are used by the game itself. The red and blue sections of the palette are swapped compared to the final version.

An early Mushroom Retainer. Oddly enough, when he jumps, it appears that his pants fall off. These sprites do in fact differ from the final Mushroom Retainer graphics used in-game.

Early graphics of Toadstool. She's quite short here, much so like her original Super Mario Bros. counterpart.

16-bit renditions of the original 8-bit Super Mario Bros. tiles.

Super Mario Bros. 2

Also known as Super Mario USA and "Doki Doki Panic Romhack".

Unused Graphics

These slot graphics are based off of the NES version, but the 7 is brand new! These were discarded for the larger slot icons.

This tomato is supposed to appear in Wart's boss chamber, as it does in the NES version, but it's replaced by the cabbage-looking thing found in World 2.

Via the Debug Mode, it's possible to see a wall of otherwise-unused colored bricks placed to the right of Wart's chamber. These are styled after the bricks used in the NES version, and were replaced with a completely different design in the remake...though evidently not completely replaced.

Unused Music

This fanfare, not found in the NES version, is unused. Possibly intended for a slots win?

Suicide Cheat

Carried over from the NES version, just without the need for a second controller. In all versions, pause the game then hold L + R and press Select to cause the player to lose a life.

Super Mario Bros. 3

Since this was essentially a direct port of the NES game, this has the most unused content! For more information, see the Super Mario Bros. 3 article.

Sub-Pages

Unused Levels They're still in the game!

Unused Graphics Some new, some updated, some unchanged.

Old Debug Mode

While a new debug mode was put into the game, the old NES debug mode can still be accessed. It can be enabled with the code 7E016080, although this unfortunately doesn't seem to activate the level select.

Press Select to cycle through Mario's forms. Press A / B / X / Y and Select to toggle the Kuribo's Shoe power-up.

Unused Spade Game Behavior

Just like in the original game, the Spade game has an unused counter variable which controls how many times you get to play. Setting the value at address 0x7E1019 to any value besides 00 during the game will allow you to keep trying until either you win, or the counter reaches zero (whichever comes first). Simply press A, B, or Start to spin the reels again.

Unused Enemies

Like in the original Super Mario Bros. 3, two enemies remain unused in the remake.

A gold version of the Cheep-Cheep enemy. These only appear in the seventh unused level, and always come in groups of three. They swim faster than normal Cheep-Cheeps, in a wave-like motion.

A faster green version of the Para-Beetle enemy. These enemies only appear in the ninth and tenth unused levels. They can only be generated by the otherwise unused Para-Beetle spawner.

Unused Text

This text is found near the Super Mario Bros. 3 graphics. Probably development text that was left in the ROM.

NAK1989 S-CG-CADVer1.23 9b0 26

Regional Differences

To do: European version info. And other stuff.

Title Screen

Japan	International

In Japan, Super Mario All-Stars was Super Mario Collection, and the title screens reflect the regional releases. In Collection, the logo characters offer a broad flashing palette, whereas in the international versions the title logo is rather bland, still flashing albeit less frequently.

Pressing Start before the lights turn on causes the game to go to the menu straight away, rather than the lights turning on first (as is the case in the international versions). A glitch can be performed in the international versions where the title music still plays by timing the Start button just right before the light switch transition.

Oddly, the "in the dark" chatter is also different between the Japanese and international versions:

Japan	International

Main Menu

Japan	International

The Japanese version, as you may expect, uses their original box art for the main menu. Versions outside of Japan used the North American box art. The shadows were also made larger in the English version, the arrow's border changed to white, and the colors of the text and backdrop were made brighter.

Japan	International

In the case of the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2, which was unreleased elsewhere, Nintendo simply took the Famicom Disk System box and edited it to say Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (with part of the original black text being moved down below the logo) while removing FDS mascot Diskun. The European version doesn't list a year.

Japan	International

Further, the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 is referred to as Super Mario Bros. 2: For Super Players on its title screen, a subtitle that would later be used for the Super Mario Bros. 2 mode of Super Mario Bros. Deluxe. The international versions also added a TM icon.

Japan	International

Japan	International

The American Super Mario Bros. 2 is referred to as Super Mario USA in the Japanese version, with both the original 1988 and later 1992 release dates; its title screen uses both of these and the 1993 release date which was appended to all four games.

Japan	International

The level cards were also changed.

Japan	International

The Super Mario Bros. 3 date was also changed (1988 for Japan, 1990 for America).

Japan	International

The file select for each game uses pink text for the "FILE" icons, which were made red elsewhere. As you may expect, the American version uses the purple and lavender colors of the SNES buttons.

Revisional Differences

To do: There are likely other changes. Maybe they got rid of some unused stuff from the original four games and/or World?

In December 1994 (1995 for Europe), Super Mario All-Stars was reissued as Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World. As this edition was not released in Japan, Super Mario World is based on its American release featuring slight changes.

Title Screen

All-Stars	All-Stars + World

Aside from the addition of "+ Super Mario World", the title screen's background was changed to orange, "All-Stars" to blue, the floor to pink, and the copyright info to light red with a dark red outline. Birdo was moved to a sitting position in the front, pushing the Spiny towards the center, and Yoshi was put in Birdo's former place. Bowser's snout was shifted slightly to the right, and the shading on Peach's crown was fixed.

Main Menu

All-Stars	All-Stars + World

The menu was of course updated to add the Super Mario World box and info. As a result, the other four games were positioned closer together, and the shadows underneath the boxes were reverted back to their smaller Super Mario Collection versions.

The boxes themselves were rescanned and resized, though for some reason Nintendo opted to use the European "NES Version" boxes (note the extra text at the bottom of the Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 3 boxes).

All-Stars	All-Stars + World

Oddly, the Lost Levels box replaced the black text below the logo with a much larger "stamp" graphic, which clarified that it had not been released in America (Europe in the PAL version). The "1986" graphic was also removed.

All-Stars	All-Stars + World

When selecting Super Mario World, the controller settings at the lower-left corner is replaced by a picture of Yoshi with "YOSHI!" below it, as World uses its own distinct control system. Pressing Select to change controls plays the same error sound heard when trying to change worlds in a new file. Selecting a file causes Yoshi to wink, while deleting one causes him to lick his lips.

Super Mario Bros. 2

Pausing and exiting the in-game menu takes one second longer, for some reason.

Super Mario World

Super Mario World	All-Stars + World

Super Mario World itself was altered a bit, most notably to give Luigi a set of unique sprites based on his distinct Super Mario Bros. 2 appearance (although certain sprites, such as ducking on Yoshi or running sideways using a triangle ramp, weren't altered). In addition, a fourth save file was added, the unique "96 exits" completion marking was removed, and the player can return to the All-Stars menu by pressing Select on the map screen and selecting the option.

Unlike the other All-Stars games, there is no uniform pause menu and 1-Player/2-Player modes are not "locked" into the save files.