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Prerelease:Super Mario Galaxy 2

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This page details prerelease information and/or media for Super Mario Galaxy 2.

Hmmm...
To do:

After the critically-acclaimed success of Super Mario Galaxy, a second entry was developed, signalling the first time a Nintendo console had two 3D Mario games. The developers tried out some new ideas, a handful of which, shown in prerelease media did not make to the final cut. In fact, it was called Super Mario Galaxy 1.5 early in development. It received even more critical acclaim than the predecessor upon release.

Development Timeline

Hmmm...
To do:
Finish this.
  • 2009
    • June 2, 2009 - Super Mario Galaxy 2 is revealed at E3 2009 in the E3 2009 trailer.
  • 2010
    • Feb 24, 2010 - - The Nintendo Media Summit trailer is shown and a demo is playable for the first time. Additionally, the game's release dates are announced.
    • March 31, 2010 - The Rock Mushroom trailer is shown.
    • May 23, 2010 - Super Mario Galaxy 2 is released in North America.
    • May 27, 2010 - The game is released in Japan.
    • June 11, 2010 - The game is released in Europe.
    • July 1, 2010 - The game is released in Australia.

Concept

Development

As previously stated, Super Mario Galaxy 2 was originally called Super Mario Galaxy 1.5. Super Mario Galaxy 1.5 began as soon as the first Super Mario Galaxy was released because Nintendo wanted to include their leftover ideas in a game. It was to have all the original galaxies from the first game but with variations to the levels. The development team came up with far too many ideas for a mere "1.5", which prompted them to make a sequel with brand new galaxies instead.

(Source: Miyamoto on Super Mario Galaxy 1.5)

Nintendo originally wanted to include Yoshi in the first game but as development had already progressed far enough, the idea was scrapped. Development director Yoshiaki Koizumi told GameSpot in an interview "[t]here were a couple of Mario abilities or transformations that didn't make it into the final game" and "because there's a really high chance that we'll end up using these eventually in another game, I don't want to say exactly what they are right now." There were going to be Donkey Kong and Pikmin cameos but development producer Shigeru Miyamoto disapproved of the idea.

(Source: Koizumi interview on GameSpot, Planned Donkey and Pikmin cameos)

Concept Art

Hmmm...
To do:
Get better scans and/or get a native speaker to make out the rest of this developer chicken scratch. Also, organize/format the translations better.
SMG2conceptart.png
  • くもマリオ - Cloud Mario
  • デザインは子雲 - Design Includes Cloudlings
  • 雲ブロックと1セットで - Single Set With Cloud Blocks
  • テーマカラーは青?! - Use blue for the colour scheme?!
  • 上方向へ力が働くような感じ。 - Feels like it's moving up.
  • 空気が入ってる。 - Contains air.
  • ダイナミクスで動く。 - Moves with dynamics.
SMG2conceptart2.png
  • くもマリオ - Cloud Mario
  • 雲マリオ改め - Formerly Cloud Mario
  • オニマリオ - Demon Mario
SMG2conceptart3.png
  • ころがし -> 温泉 - Rolling -> Hot Spring
  • まつり通常シナリオクリア・・イベント時?
  • スレスレで。レッドブルーメガネ
SMG2 conceptart4.jpg
  • ゴロ岩マリオ - Rolling Stone Mario
  • エリア1と同じ大木 - Same Big Tree as Area 1
  • 硬質な石 - Hard Rocks
  • ダメージ後 - After Damage
  • ユアの変化
  • ダメージ前 - Before Damage
  • ヒビが入り、硬化する。 - Cracks appear and harden.
  • 壊せそうに見えないようにする。 - Make sure it doesn't look breakable.
  • その絵よりも小さくする。 - Make it even smaller than the picture.
  • 歯 - Teeth
  • 丸みを帯びたシンプルな・とがらせないよ

E3 2009

Hmmm...
To do:
  • The soundtrack includes a later version of the trailer theme. It should possibly be compared to the one in the E3 2009 trailer and either way, it could possibly be used to help isolate sound effects for comparison.
  • Needs more screenshots and comparisons with the final.
  • Add on-page labels to differentiate the screenshots and the trailer frames

This was the first trailer of the game shown and contained the most differences. There was no HUD apart from the air meter for when Mario is underwater and for Blimp Yoshi. This version seems to be closer to the original Super Mario Galaxy than to the final version of Super Mario Galaxy 2.

Starship Mario

SMG2-E32009 screenshot 2.png

Starship Mario had a different design.

  • Namely it was a scale model and exact replica of Mario's head, akin to the Yoshi head planet in Space Junk Galaxy in the first Super Mario Galaxy.
  • There was a 1-Up Mushroom instead of a Yoshi Egg and nest on the ship's nose.
  • There are Star Bits around the ship's eyes and hat rim.
  • It was also revealed at ONM that Starship Mario would've been mushroom-shaped.
  • The background is the same as that of Gusty Garden, from the first game.

Sky Station Galaxy

SMG2 E32009 trailer-frame-SkyIsland.png

Sky Station Galaxy changed tremendously.

  • There was a completely removed large planet that had triple-jumping sections with Twirlips and a Winged ? Block.
  • There was also a planet similar to the Second Sky Fleet Ship at the end of Sky Station's second mission in the final version. The only differences being that there was a Red Koopa which was completely removed from the final game, there were Pull Stars (see screenshot at the right) and there was only one Banzai Bill Cannon instead of being a few.
  • The First Sky Fleet Ship was mostly the same as it was in the final game except for having a different color palette and it had electric fences instead of Amps.
  • The background was also different.

Yoshi Star Galaxy

SMG2-E32009 screenshot 5.png
SMG2 E32009 trailer-frame-YS.png
SMG2 E32009 trailer-frame-Yoshi egg.png

Yet another galaxy that underwent a massive design change.

  • The galaxy was completely different, having a design more similar to Honeyhive Galaxy from the first game. It features pine trees, oak trees, colorful mushrooms and realistic-looking grass, all of which went unused in the final.
  • The Tower Planet (which is from Good Egg Galaxy in the first game) had the Launch Star in a different location. Additionally, the Berries and Blimp Fruit looked more like peaches plus Yoshi could eat a Thorny Flower without having to pull it back with his tongue (like how he can eat a Berry or Goomba immediately without having to pull back with his tongue).
  • The sound effect for pointing the cursor at things Yoshi can eat or lick was different, being more of a zip than a squeak.
  • Yoshi is seen using the Blimp Fruit, which does not appear in the galaxy at all in the final game.

Spin-Dig Galaxy

SMG2-E32009 screenshot 3.png
SMG2-E32009 screenshot 6.png
  • The Diggas' eyes were more separated plus making them resemble more of Bullet Bills.
  • The planet with the 2D section from Spin-Dig Galaxy's second mission had Star Chips instead of Silver Stars.
  • During the Digga-Leg battle, the background obtained a purple hue, the planet also had red light markers in place of yellow construction barriers.
  • The second Spin Drill on the planet did not vanish when Mario is in possession of the other Spin Drill. When Digga-Leg was hit, its Power Star cage did not crack.

Flip-Swap Galaxy

SMG2 E32009 trailer-frame-FS.png
  • There were Giant Used Blocks instead of the different blocks with violet diamond designs and the lone Giant Used Block that the Cosmic Spirit stands on in the final version. The sound effect for the red and blue platforms flipping was not present.

Puzzle Plank Galaxy

SMG2 E32009 trailer-frame-PP.png
SMG2-E32009 screenshot 8.png
  • The H block had a red Ground Pound symbol instead of a grey one.
  • The Wiggler Planet below had tree stumps instead of Ground Pound Switches with one place being taken by a Whittle (Whittles do not appear in this planet in the final game).
  • The Ground Pound Crates Planet's ground pound crates looked different and too had red Ground Pound symbols instead of grey ones.
  • In the Cheese Bridge Area, there was a 1-Up Mushroom in place of the Comet Medal. The Purple Coin Vault had a different color palette, being dark green instead of warm brown.

Hightail Falls Galaxy

SMG2-E32009 screenshot 4.png
  • The Starting Platforms had a different appearance while also seeming to lack the wooden bridge (possibly because it hadn't been implemented yet) and the slope had different textures that were orange and blue instead of being wooden.
  • The Dash Pepper looks more like an orange Berry and Dash Yoshi does not leave behind a red-orange trail.

Cosmic Cove Galaxy

SMG2 E32009 trailer-frame-CC.png
  • The Ground Pound Switch for freezing the lake was on a wooden buoy close to the waterfalls than on the spiral stone structure in the final game. No Penguin dialogue was triggered when Mario freezes the lake.

Honeybloom Galaxy

SMG2 E32009 trailer-frame-HB.png
  • Honeybloom Galaxy had slightly different textures. The Bee Mushroom was in an octahedral crystal like in the first game but these crystals go completely unused in the final game.

Cloudy Court Galaxy

SMG2-E32009 screenshot 1.png
  • Yoshi was present in Cloudy Court Galaxy and the Cloud Flower was nowhere to be seen.
  • Cloudy Court Galaxy had a different color palette such as the cymbals having a checkered pattern and the drums being red. Also, the Cymbals had no Launch Star on them.
  • There were green grassy mushroom platforms which go unused in the final game.
  • The 2D section with the Cloud Flower which is at the end of Cloudy Court Galaxy in the final game appeared to be a 3D section and had Flower Grapples for Yoshi to use. This concept was used as the final planet of Yoshi Star Galaxy's first mission in the final game.

Freezy Flake Galaxy

SMG2-E32009 screenshot 10.png
  • The Snow Field Planet had a different level design and there were more mountains. Sorbetti's planet had crystals instead of snow mounds.

Bowser Jr.'s Fearsome Fleet

SMG2 E32009 trailer-frame-FF.png
  • The two Airships coming out of wormholes seem to occur in a cutscene rather than during gameplay in the final version. The wormholes also have different textures. The Galaxy also had a different background.

Supermassive Galaxy

SMG2-E32009 screenshot 9.png
SMG2-E32009 screenshot 7.png

Supermassive Galaxy's level design was different.

  • There were Giant Warp Pipes smaller than the ones in the final version, Giant 1-Ups that were scrapped completely, Giant Coins that seem to be collectibles instead of platforms and were much smaller than the Giant Coin platform in the final game, and a moving Giant Used Block.
  • The Blooming Garden Planet was made of dirt instead of being green and had Goombas.

Space Storm Galaxy

SMG2 E32009 trailer-frame-SS.png
  • Topman's Tower, which is based on Buoy Base Galaxy from the first game, had a different color scheme.
  • There seems to be shallow water instead of lava at the bottom of the tower (look at the bottom right of the screenshot).
  • A unique clock-like switch, which was activated by spinning it, was used for slowing down time rather than the timed blue Ground Pound switches in the final game.
  • Space Storm Galaxy's background was Good Egg Galaxy's background, which goes unused in the final game.

Boo Moon Galaxy

SMG2 E32009 trailer-frame-BM.png
  • The Starting Planet had a different color scheme. The planet looked closer to the Maze Planet from Space Junk Galaxy albeit with Boos and dark lighting.

Battle Belt Galaxy

SMG2 E32009 trailer-frame-BB.PNG
  • There was a single big Silver Chomp that was possibly a boss and it was on a smaller planet with a different design. The big Silver Chomp's file is still present in the final game but it has no models and sound data. The Galaxy also had a different background.

Unknown

SMG2 E32009 trailer-frame-UnknownWater.png
SMG2 E32009 trailer-frame-Unknown.png
SMG2 E32009 trailer-frame-Unknown2.png

This planet appears to be an early version of either the Cosmic Clone planet in Fluffy Bluff Galaxy or the starting planet in Starshine Beach Galaxy.

Another unknown galaxy had a slide which is similar to Tall Trunk Galaxy's tree slide in the final game, the only difference being that the slide is made of stone instead of wood. As with Space Storm Galaxy, this galaxy used Good Egg Galaxy's background.

The beginning of the trailer had Mario flying past some asteroids and a green planet. It is unknown if this was Bowser Jr.'s Fearsome Fleet (which is documented above) or a different galaxy.

Nintendo Media Summit

This was the second trailer shown. By now, the game had a HUD and was nearly identical to the finished product apart from a few differences.

Yoshi Star Galaxy

SMG2 NMS YS.PNG

A Piranha Plant was in place of an Octoomba in the blue flowers patch near the Starting Planet's pillar. The Marble Blocks Planet was smaller, the Launch Star was in a Launch Star Fruit instead of in a cage, and there was a Twirlip instead of a Lakitu and a Spiny. When Giga Lakitu was defeated, all of Yoshi Star Galaxy in its entirety could be seen behind the arena Giga Lakitu was fought on.

Hightail Falls Galaxy

SMG2 NMS HF.PNG

The ? Coin on the Starting Planet generated a line of Star Bits instead of a line of Coins.

Bowser Jr.'s Fearsome Fleet

Megahammer was originally called Malletoid.

Supermassive Galaxy

SMG2 NMS Sm.PNG

The Blooming Garden Planet was still made of dirt, although the Goombas on the planet had been removed.

Upside-Dizzy Galaxy

SMG2 NSM UD.png
SMG2 NMS UD.PNG

The Comet Medal had no eyes. There was also a springboard in place of the Used Blocks row. The "beep beep beep" sound that alerts the player the gravity is about to change was not present.

March 31, 2010

This was the third trailer shown. The only pre-release content featured in this trailer was Freezy Flake Galaxy's Snow Field Planet had a snow-covered coniferous tree instead of a leafless deciduous tree near the top where Mario lands. All subsequent trailers and game footage seem to have no differences with the final version of Super Mario Galaxy 2.

US Manual

The US manual (or at least the downloadable version of it) features some pre-release screenshots.

Super Mario Galaxy 2-prerelease-USA manual-Yoshi Star Galaxy.png

Page 16 features some pre-release screenshots of a section of Yoshi Star Galaxy. They seem to take place during the second mission, Spiny Control. Only one is embedded on this page as the screenshots are very similar. There is a lack of pebbles and grass sprouts around the mud circle, something also seen in the environment map used on the magic barrier surrounding the Yoshi Egg in the final game. In place of the teleporter to the bonus room in the final game is a Launch Star. Yoshi's aiming arrow is also green, like in the model used in the final game with the shaders disabled.

Super Mario Galaxy 2-prerelease-USA manual-Sweet Mystery Galaxy-1.pngSuper Mario Galaxy 2-prerelease-USA manual-Sweet Mystery Galaxy-2.png

Page 18 features features two pre-release screenshots of a section of Sweet Mystery Galaxy. Similar to when the shaders are removed from the final game's model, the red portions of this platform are blue in the pre-release version.


(Source: CometMedal)

September 2021

"Production Planning System" Online Seminar

https://www.nintendo.co.jp/jobs/recruit/event/planning_online.html

Some screenshots of the presentation taken by ObsoleteNikki: https://twitter.com/ObsoleteNikki/status/1436717809774456836

Early Yoshi Star Galaxy Screenshot

This screenshot is of the Yoshi Star Galaxy level, specifically the starting planet, at a very early stage of development.

  • The entire planet itself is generally lower in polygon quality, probably because the developers were still testing out the level design at this stage in development as to not waste time throwing away model work on the stage when something needed to be changed or moved around.
  • There are no teeth or bone platforms in this version, although that might be because the planet's level design is still being tested, as mentioned above.
  • The starting section of the planet is much wider. In the final game, it's more tighter.
  • The starting section of the planet also has no barrier surrounding the abyss. Because of this, the Luma that Mario encounters in this area is instead on a short block.
  • The location where Yoshi's egg is first found in is radically different. In particular, it has a ramped pedestal, some tilted blocks, and a berry.
  • Boxes are present on the planet. In the final game, there are no boxes.
  • There's a second capsule hill to the right of the screenshot; there's only one in the final game.
  • The second section of the planet leading up to the volcano is missing. Instead, there's a large hill with a pedestal on it.
  • The Tower Planet and the Fossil Planet should be visible from this angle, but they aren't, so either they're not implemented yet, or they're somewhere else.
  • There's no springboard leading up to the upper area of the planet. This suggests that the mission shown could be the Spiny Control mission, which has no springboard. However, Yoshi's egg is still on the center platform and there is no obvious spiny problem, so it's more likely than not that the mission shown is Saddle Up with Yoshi instead.

Yoshi Star Galaxy Concept Art

Some concept art for Yoshi Star Galaxy.

  • There's a planet that didn't make it to the final game - it's a giant Dry Bones skull with some grass growing on it, and a star. The launch star on the Fossil Planet leads here. Presumably, this is where Saddle Up with Yoshi would've ended, instead of on the Fossil Planet instead.
  • The tower planet is a bit different in design and looks more shorter. Also, the tiny dirt planet with a launch star on it appears to not be spherical and looks more closer to a platform.
  • The fossil planet has an end section involving climbing up one of the peaks to a launch star that leads to the cut skull planet and has much less drops in design. In the final game, the star for Saddle Up With Yoshi is just located at the end of this planet, there are more places to fall instead, and the player never goes up the peak to a launch star.
  • The starter planet would've had Mario land on top of a skull when he first entered the planet. Also, the starter planet has no capsule hill located on it and is considerably simpler in design.