Prerelease:Mario Kart: Super Circuit

This page details prerelease information and/or media for Mario Kart: Super Circuit.

To do: Add actual sources (e.g. press kits) for the screenshots and make it clear when the screenshots are frames from a video Get higher quality copies of the screenshots (again, from press kits) 1 2

July 2000

Unknown circuit track

Prerelease	Final

An early version of a circuit track, with numerous differences from the final:

• The character sprites are very different. Most notably, they had very large heads.
• The trees are different, and there are more of them than in the final.
• "LAP" and "TIME" are in a more cartoony looking font than the final.
• The track layout is different from any other track from the final, according to the minimap.
• There are no coins.
• The grass off the track has a smoother transition to the sand.
• Mugshots and current place in the race are missing.
• Only 4 players were present in a Grand Prix.

Unknown Ghost Track

An unknown ghost track that resembles Boo Lake and Broken Pier.

Player Select

Prerelease	Final

A completely different player selection screen, with no random option.

Unknown Date 2

A short clip of another very early build was shown in the german TV show "Sat.1 Frühstücksfernsehen". Although it ran on TV on July 2001, the build shown is actually similar to the one above with a few differences. You can see the clip at 1:29.

• Mugshots were added, showing all 8 drivers as opposed to 4 drivers in the final. It doesn't seem to represent the current position however.
• There are 3 timers, two of which possibly notes the times from previous laps. For some reason the second and third times are the same.
• The umbrellas from Shy Guy Beach were not visible from a distance and simply pop up when near.
• Bowser's Castle 1 used different and more greyish graphics.
• The game looked a lot more smoother.
• The camera was closer.

September 2000

The video footage is from a Nintendo Game Boy Advance / GameCube Demo (9/22/2000) Internal VHS and the screenshots are from a french website, along screenshots from other builds and the final game , and a spanish website . They appear to depict the same build (?).

• Big heads aren't present anymore and mugshots were added.
• Most sound effects and the title screen/menu music were borrowed from Mario Kart 64.
• The title screen was different, as shown below. It had an animation of Mario driving to the screen.
• The game selection screen didn't have Quick Run, and the icons were square instead of circles.
• The mushrooms were more 2D in the CC selection screen, and there was an unknown 4th option. The text on that option seems to say 1UP Pleaer (?), and all options except 100cc seems to be grayed out.
• The player selection screen was different, as shown below, and there was the "Choose your player" sound effect from Mario Kart 64.
• In the Map Selection screen, there was no Lightning Cup, the 4th race of the Kinoko Cup was grayed out along with the Flower Cup, which is impossible in the final as only the Special Cup and the Extra Cups are locked. This could maybe indicate the fact that the track in this slot wasn't implemented yet.
• The track names were different: Big Tree Circuit was renamed to Mario Circuit and moved to the first track of the Flower Cup, Heyho (Shy Guy's japanese name) Beach didn't change, and Koopa (Bowser's japanese name) Castle, was changed to any Bowser Castle track, potentially Bowser Castle 1.
• There was Course Records and Best Lap time in Grand Prix, you could select individual tracks and Best Lap was misspeled as Best Rap.
• The course intro is different.
• Mario Circuit had entirely different music that has a mildly connection to Cheese Land's theme.
• Lakitu had different animations.
• The position sprites had different colors, and faded out.
• The transition from sand to road was smoother.
• The colorful blocks used the graphics from Super Mario Kart.
• The minimap was larger.
• The branching path near the finish line wasn't present.
• The Lap Time was under the total race time instead of flashing on the total race time.
• The Item Boxes were smaller.
• Stars, Boos and Triple Mushrooms weren't present.
• The mugshots were smaller.
• The mushroom sound effect was different.

Title Screen

Prerelease	Final

Almost all of the title screen is different, having a different logo, a different render of Mario on a background showing an island with a castle, and a pyramid. The copyright year is "1996-2000" instead of "1992, 2001", and Intelligent Systems is credited.

Player Select

Prerelease	Final

A slightly later version than in the July build, the bubbly text isn't present anymore and the player number is shown on the cursor, like in the menu shown in the video footage. The background colors for the mugshots are also different.

Bowser Castle 1

Prerelease	Final

The graphics are different, and there seems to have no Thwomps. The mugshots don't seem to represent the position, as Bowser is first but the mugshots are showing him in last, and there seems to only have 4 players..

Shy Guy Beach

Prerelease	Final

The colors are different, and Lakitu is more on the middle of the screen. The Shy Guys are bigger on the boat as well.

Award Cermony

Prerelease	Final

The award ceremony is on a circuit in the final, instead of being on a picture.

January 2001

A later build of the game.

Boo Lake

Prerelease	Final

• The graphics are very close to their final versions.
• The HUD has not yet changed.
• The character portraits have been added and are very similar in style to the final portraits, but noticeably different. They were completely redrawn for the final game.
• The road is lighter and more saturated.
• The sky is a bit brighter, while the trees are a bit darker.
• The rows of wood planks are offset by 1 tile, leading to the planks being cut in half along the edges. As a result, the Boo and its light spot are closer to the edge.
• The layout is slightly different as shown on the minimap. One of the curves is longer in the prerelease than the final.
• The dots on the minimap that show the racers' locations are bigger.

May 2001

A near final build of the game, was shown in footage released during E3 2001. See 11:05 in the video.

• The Boo graphic is different.

• The coin counter is more in the corner.
• The A and P letters from the LAP graphic are the same size as the L unlike the final where they are shorter.
• The timer display 2 digits for the minutes.
• The title screen is different.
• The game was called Mario Kart Advance, like in the japanese version.
• Peach Circuit had different music.
• Mario Circuit had a skinnier map and had different grass.
• Ribbon Road had some star/toy sound effects, probably if someone collided with the unused Star object.

Unused Battle Arena

A completely unused arena, that looks like a placeholder.

June (?) 2001

The coin's font was originally much more thinnier.