Super Mario World (SNES)

Super Mario World is the first Mario game on the Super Nintendo, rushed and hacked together in time for release.

Layer 1 horizontal into Layer 2 vertical
Sprite ID: EC

When this object is put into a level, the level will start out with a horizontal Layer 1 section, then transition into a vertical Layer 2 section. It only functions in levels with the layout mode set to 05 or 06.

Translucent Levels


Level modes: 1E and 1F

The game contains two translucent level modes: one for horizontal layer 1/background levels (1E), and one for horizontal layer 1/layer 2 levels (1F). Both modes are fully functional. Their position at the end of the mode list suggests they were "hacked in" somewhat later in development.

Early screenshots showed a flooded grassy area using mode 1F, with water on one layer and ground on the other. It may have been abandoned due to the obvious lack of a background layer when using this mode, and may have prompted the later addition of a non-transparent layer 3 water mode.

Unused Background and Sprite Graphics Indexes
Object graphics indexes: A, E

Graphics-wise, index A (Switch Palace 2) is identical to index 4 (Switch Palace 1), except it uses tileset 3, which is normally used by underground levels and castles. As a result, all tileset-specific objects are scrambled, making the index mostly unusable.

Index E (Underground 3) is identical to indexes 3 and 9 (Underground 1 and 2), except it uses a forest/mountain background GFX bank. This would have allowed for above-ground rocky levels, similar to those of World 6 in the New Super Mario Bros. series.

Sprite graphics index: F

Index F is identical to most of the other sprite indexes, save for the SP4 GFX bank (14), which only appears in one other index (B, Switch Palace). GFX bank 14 contains the pipe, block, Bullet Bill cannon, and Yoshi Coin graphics seen in every background tileset, none of which are used by any sprite in the game. It's possible that a set of sprite graphics existed in this bank at one point during development.

Unused Graphics and Objects
A gigantic number of unused graphics and objects can be found hidden in the ROM. Even more stuff from earlier builds of Super Mario World can be found in the SNES Test Program.

Classic Piranha Plant


Sprite ID:

A classic Piranha Plant. If you've ever played a Mario game you should know how this works. Its vine tile has been replaced in memory with one of the frames of Cheep Cheep flopping around on land. Note that the upside-down variation of this is used in Vanilla Dome 3, but its stem has been made tileset-specific to the Cave object tileset, and since both piranha plants share their stem tilemaps, this explains why the stem of this has been moved.

There is in fact code in the game to make the stem use the same tiles as the upside-down variation, but due to a bug, it doesn't work properly. There is an IPS patch to correct this problem.

Floating Platform


Sprite ID:

This platform will move to the right constantly once Mario lands on it. If Sprite Buoyancy is enabled in the current level, this object will act like the smaller floating platforms found in levels such as Yoshi's Island 4.

Flying Coin


Sprite ID:

A red coin that continuously moves to the right like a P-Balloon. Collecting it will give the player five coins. Note that these are the same wings which make Yoshi float up to a bonus level, but in a different sprite state.

Flying Mushroom


Sprite ID:

Similar to the above object, this floating golden mushroom gives the player an extra life.

Flying Cage


Sprite ID:

This graphically-glitched flying cage can be put into the game. Mario is automatically placed inside the cage when the level starts, and if used in conjunction with an autoscroll object will make the cage move across the level on a set path.

Interestingly, the tile numbers and proportions used to draw the wings match up with sprite graphics found in the SNES Test Program (at least for the larger tile), making this an old leftover.

Unused Chargin' Chuck
Sprite ID:

This is a duplicate of the normal Chargin' Chuck, used nowhere in the game.

Swooper Spawner


Sprite ID:

This object will create many blue Swoopers at whatever Y position it's placed, acting much like the Boo spawner found in Ghost Houses. These Swoopers cannot be defeated and will hurt Mario if he tries jumping on them. Note that one of their two flying frames has glitched graphics, hinting that Swoopers had a tilemap change at some point in development, and the fact that jumping on them deals damage hints that they may have once been something completely different.

Blue Coin


FG Object ID:

This acts just like a normal coin, but it's all...blue.



Hitting a P-Switch will turn these blue coins into pink blocks. They can still be collected like coins, since the code that makes regular coins solid does not apply to this particular object.

Small Door


FG Object ID: (Extended object)

Half-sized doors that can only be entered by Small Mario. Both normal and P-Switch versions are coded in the game.

Question Mark Block: Shell


FG Object ID:, (Extended object)

Question Mark Blocks that contain Koopa shells are fully coded in the game! Well, not just a Koopa shell. The actual Koopa is still inside, and it will get back up if you wait too long.

Bounce Block


FG Object ID: (Feather - Extended object)

Block with "Nothing" not defined as an object but is in Map16 at 

These blocks aren't activated by Koopa shells or jumping, but by running into them from the side. They are finished, but the object part of this block uses the wrong graphics (hinting that something else other than the P-Switch and Springboard was here). Two versions of this block are coded: one with nothing in it, and one with a feather, the latter turning into the former when hit. Similar blocks appeared in Super Mario Bros. 3.

Seaweed


FG Object ID: (Extended object)

An object-ified version of the seaweed commonly seen in underwater backgrounds. This is only found in the Ghost House tileset, and was likely intended to appear in the Sunken Ghost Ship.

Grass


FG Object ID: where X is the object length (Plains tileset only)

In the tileset-specific object set, Bushes 4 and 5 are considered unused; however Bush 5 is finished and works fine – the graphics for it are also finished, available in the forest tileset.

Conveyor Ropes


FG Object ID: (Flat),  (Diagonal) (Mountain tileset only)

These are completely functional conveyor belts using special animated rope tiles. They can go either left or right, and the diagonal ones can face either direction, giving a total of 6 different unused ropes.

Lakitu
This Lakitu will follow Mario around on the main overworld map, but he won't appear on any submaps (i.e., Vanilla Dome). Lakitu can be activated by hex editing a save state and changing address from 00 to 01.

This was most probably meant to appear on levels with Lakitus in them, but it was never coded to do such. Besides that, the only Lakitus in the game appear in submaps.

Blue Jay
This odd-looking bird also follows Mario around on the overworld map, but it will also appear on submaps (except Vanilla Dome). Like the Lakitu, it can be activated by changing address in a savestate to 02.

It has been suggested that the bird was used around levels that contained the flying cage, since the mysterious winged objects holding up the cage use a blue palette.

Piranha Plant
The Classic Piranha Plant really got shafted in this game. This is a sprite meant to go on the overworld as decoration, but it's never used.

Koopa Kid


Three Koopa Kids are actually present on the overworld map, but are never visible; the path tiles that were originally supposed to make them appear were changed into oddball corner tiles and used in the Star World. Unlike the rest of the overworld sprites, these actually had a purpose – they were to drag you into levels, much like the hands in World 8 of Super Mario Bros. 3.

The positions of the sprites (visible in Lunar Magic's overworld editor) suggest a vastly different overworld layout at the time of their "removal" than what was seen in the final.

Hills Background Star


An animated star tile found in the hilly and Ghost House background tilesets. It's not used in either. In the final game, a different tileset is used for starry nights.

Early Yoshi Berry


This rounder, shinier, non-animated version of the Yoshi berry is loaded into VRAM at the beginning of each level, but is immediately overwritten with the animated version, which looks much different. In fact, three different versions of the berry graphic exist in the ROM, as shown below:

Fire-Spitting Dino Rhino




Dino Rhino was supposed to have an actual attack! These frames and the vertical version of Yoshi's fireball appear in the Dino Rhino tileset. In the actual game, Dino Rhino just walks back and forth; only the smaller Dino Torch actually attacks.



Interestingly, one of the transformed kings in the Super Mario All-Stars version of Super Mario Bros. 3 uses a scaled down, differently-colored variant of the horizontal frame with a crown tacked on top.

Yoshi Dust
This dust is supposed to appear when Mario hops on Yoshi, but it's unused in the final game. The Game Genie code will enable this feature.

Iggy's Hair
In the game, Iggy and Larry both have the same hairstyle.

(Images tinted for clarity)



However, in Super Mario Bros. 3, Iggy had a significantly different hairstyle. Graphics for this hairstyle do exist in Super Mario World, but are unused:



If used, it would look like this:



This seems to have been a mere oversight as Iggy has his proper hair style during the ending. The tilemaps used during the ending are separate from the in-game ones, hence the discrepancies.



Morton and Roy's Attack


It seems that Morton and Roy were intended to have a secondary attack! This makes sense, since both of them have the same appropriate frames as Ludwig, who has a fireball attack.

Placeholder Block Graphics
These placeholder graphics for the on/off and spinning blocks are loaded before the animated versions are. "ブロック転送" means "Block transfer".

Super Mario Bros. 4


These graphics appeared in an early version of the U.S. title screen, and are still present in the ROM. Strangely enough, they are not present in the Japanese ROM, even though the official Japanese label art did have the subtitle of "SUPER MARIO BROS. 4".

AND


Just the word "AND". Was probably supposed to appear in the copyright line, e.g. "TM AND &copy; 1991 Nintendo".

Older Level Layout Leftovers


A Buzzy Beetle can be found at the very end of Donut Plains 2, stuck inside a wall. Because the screen slowly autoscrolls at that point, it can never be seen, and even if it could be seen, it would just fall through the floor.



There's a pipe in Vanilla Secret 1 that leads to a secret exit. In the screen right above that one, there's warp data that would take the player to the same exit! However, the pipe is not warp-enabled, and even if it was, there's no way to enter the pipe, since there's no place to stand.

Unused Red Switch Palace
Another instance of the Red Switch Palace map tile is coded into the Valley Of Bowser. There's no way to reach or activate it without hacking the game. Trying to enter this level leads to Level 112, which points to the Test Level. The actual level ID of the Red Switch Palace is 11B.

Interestingly, Valley Of Bowser 3 has its Enable path on secret exit value set to Left, whereas all other single-exit levels have it set to Up, implying that there was a path there at some point. Nintendo probably figured the player would have little need for red Switch Blocks by this point and (wisely) decided to make the Palace accessible from Vanilla Dome 2.

Unused 5-Up




This graphic of a 5-Up is stored in the game, and never used...well, never used correctly.

It's possible to get a 5-Up by either bouncing repeatedly on calm Wigglers, or with a Game Genie code. It's fully coded, but the actual way the graphics are displayed is incorrect, due to their properties being pulled from code after the table with the score palettes. The 8x8 tiles used are incorrectly flipped horizontally and vertically.

The Game Genie code will make 3-Up Moons give you a 5-Up instead.

Boss Door


The door on the left is how the boss door appears in the game. The door on the right represents how the different 8x8 tiles stored in VRAM comprise the boss door. Each color is a different 8x8 tile. Interestingly, the graphics for the orange, purple, and green tiles are identical, but are stored as separate tiles. This suggests that the door once had a much different appearance, and the purple and green tiles were originally used for something else, like doorknobs or hinges.

Overworld Paths
There are some blank tiles in the overworld graphics banks, which are drawn over the pathways Mario takes. These tiles were once used by the developers to indicate where the unrevealed pathways are.

This feature can be enabled with this patch:

Reserve Starman
At one point, it was possible to have a Starman in the reserve item box (though exactly how it would get there is a mystery). There is even a routine that specifically checks for the Starman item ID and cycles the colors appropriately, though it appears to use incorrect palette values. Shifting each value left by one bit fixes this.

The PAR code will force a Starman to appear in your reserve item box.

Free Movement/Instant Flight Mode
The Game Genie code enables a free movement/instant flight mode. Hold L and press A once, and you'll be able to fly (provided you have a cape) as soon as you start running. Hold L and press A again, and you will be able to move Mario anywhere in the stage. Hold Y to speed up Mario's movement, or press L and A again to return to normal gameplay.

Boss Defeated Scene Select
The Game Genie code will give you special controls during boss defeated scenes. After the scene has ended, press L + R to repeat the scene, or press Up + L + R to view the boss defeated scene from the next world.

Additionally, if you go past the seventh and final defeated Koopa Kid scene, you can view the credits.

Power-Up Select
The Game Genie code enables a power-up select not unlike Super Mario Bros. 3. Hold Up and press Select to switch between Small, Big, Cape, and Fire Mario.

Yoshi Select
The Game Genie code will let you choose what Yoshi you want on the map screen. Press Select to cycle through the different Yoshi colors (None, Yellow, Blue, Red, Green).

Instant Level Completion
The Game Genie code +  allows you to instantly complete any level, even ones you have not already beaten. Press Start, then Select to complete the level via the "normal" route. Press Start, hold A, then press Select to complete the level via the secret goal, if the level has one.