Prerelease:Super Mario World (SNES)

Super Mario World had an interesting development, starting out in 1989 with a very different overworld and closer connections to Super Mario Bros. 3. Indeed, the artwork used for the final game's initial Japanese release uses the subtitle Super Mario Bros. 4.

1989 Build
While some elements are pretty much done even at this early point, others were changed – some significantly. Various remnants of early development, including some elements shown below and some that aren't, are present in the final game and/or the SNES Test Program.

Title Screen


The logo is pretty much exactly the same as the Japanese final, albeit entirely blue, as is the wood border. Behind the logo, however, is a brown map-style drawing of the mushroom-shaped island used as the overworld at this point in development.

Overworld
Very different than the final, aside from the border and Mario's overworld sprite. On the top side of the border is Small Mario walking (albeit using very different sprites), the lives counter, the stage number (using a World-Level style similar to the pre-Super Mario Bros. 3 games), and (for whatever reason) coin and score counters.



There are four "Worlds", at least three of which have a Fortress (seemingly no different than the final) at the end. The domed house is clearly a starting point, not unlike the START tiles of Super Mario Bros. 3, with World 2 to the right and World 4 downward.

Assuming the World above the house also ends with a Fortress, that would mean there were 17 levels at this point in development, although whether all of them could be entered in this build has been seemingly lost to time.



Interestingly, the prologue cutscene of Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 ends with a shot of the first world as it appears in the in-game overworld before fading to a brown map-style drawing of it, after which the logo appears.

HUD, Powerups, and Backgrounds
The backgrounds of the outdoor areas look to be an early version of ones used in the final, although the most notable difference is the use of circular "donut" clouds.

The HUD has nearly all the elements of the final (only the Bonus Star counter is missing), with the coin counter in its place rather than above the score and the lives counter being right-justified rather than centered.



The Dragon Coins are large coins at this point, and the Fire Flower resembles that of Super Mario Bros. 3. The top of the spinning platform uses graphics from Super Mario Bros. 3, and is unused in the final.



Again, the Fire Flower is different, but this shot also shows a ? Block. There's also a wood block from Super Mario Bros. 3. The diagonal rope at the far right may or may not have been animated (conveyor belts using animated rope tiles exist in the final, unused).



The Raccoon Leaf of Super Mario Bros. 3 was present at this point, as is Raccoon Mario. The diagonal ramp looks more mechanical than in the final.

Grassland


Mario getting hit by a Winged Goomba from Super Mario Bros. 3, which also shows that the reserve item box works the same way it does in the final. The pipe also uses a slimmer design that still exists in the SNES Test Program.



The Koopa Troopa looks more like the one in Super Mario Bros. 3, although they tend to not appear underwater in the final. The larger floating platform is unused in the final, but only acts like the smaller floating platforms if Sprite Buoyancy is enabled in the current level, which along with the Koopa suggests that the "rising and falling water" mechanic was already in place at this point.

Ghost House


The Big Boo looks pretty much like he should, as do the Jump Blocks. There's no background at this point, though, and the level design looks amateurish. This may indicate that it was merely a test level, and not a Ghost House proper.

Castle


The floor and background are slightly different.



Again, the floor and background are slightly different, and Super Mario Bros. 3-style Brick Blocks are used instead of the final's Turn Blocks. Magikoopa looks like he does in the final, as does his attack. Note the dark-blue discoloration of his robe, the result of a palette bug that still exists in the final game.



Same floor and background differences, along with a somewhat out-of-place wood block.

Other Scans


The only new picture here is at the bottom-center, which shows more ? Blocks.



Several new shots, all along the bottom:
 * The first has a Big Boo in what is likely the same Ghost House as the other Big Boo screenshot.
 * The second shows a "classic" Piranha Plant (unused in the final) and midway point, and overall seems to resemble the midway point of Yoshi's Island 1 a bit.
 * The third shows an early Koopaling "tilting platform over lava" battle, although the platform is never that long, flat, or low in the final. The Koopaling also seems to more clearly resemble its Super Mario Bros. 3 style.
 * As the arrow indicates, the fourth is the victory score tally following a boss battle. Next to "MARIO" is the cleared course number, "COURSE" is missing its R, and Raccoon Mario is doing the victory pose (only done in the final after clearing normal levels via the Goal).

Early US Logo
At one point, the American version used the same logo as the Japanese one, albeit with "Super" above "Mario" and "SUPER MARIO BROS. 4" next to it. Super Mario Bros. 4 was the subtitle for the Japanese version (or was Super Mario World meant to be the subtitle?) and appeared on the label art, and the graphics look pretty much identical to it.

The first early title screen not only doesn't show the 4, but also doesn't have the copyright info. Given that the later "SUPER MARIO BROS. 4" shot has both of these, it's possible that neither was ready at that earlier point or a bug prevented them from appearing on the title screen.

Interestingly, not only are the graphics still present in the US ROM (but not the Japanese one), but the game select menu of the Japanese Super Mario Advance 2 actually uses the formatting of the early US-style logo!