Proto:Mario Kart DS/USA Kiosk Demo/Early Courses

This is a sub-page of Proto:Mario Kart DS/USA Kiosk Demo.

To do: A lot of unused, deactivated Camera intros. The invisi-sun from Desert Hills has a different path from the final. The videos are good to compare gameplay, but more raw assets need to be ripped and compared side-by-side. Add some music ripped straight from the demo for comparison.

Even though only the courses from what would become the Mushroom and Shell Cups can normally be accessed, all of the tracks are present and can be played with the Debug Menu or Action Replay codes. For some reason, using the latter on real hardware will cause many of these courses to either load incorrectly or outright crash the game.

Nitro Grand Prix

Figure-8-Circuit

• Named "Figure-Eight Circuit" in this version, the music is quite different than in the final. Some of the track can be heard in pre-release videos for New Super Mario Bros.

Yoshi Falls

• The giant Yoshi egg in the center of the course is missing.
• The water is animated in the Touch Screen map, whereas it isn't in the final.

Cheep Cheep Beach

Proto	Final

• The grass on the edges of the sand was removed.
• A few textures were also changed on the sand.

Luigi's Mansion

• The paintings in the mansion shake and stretch out from the wall, a little detail that was disabled in the final game but restored in Mario Kart 7.
• Mud appears differently on the Touch Screen map.
• The stage contains an unused camera intro sequence with a view from the moon and the front side of the mansion that was replaced by a view through the door. This can still be found unused in the final version.
• In the mansion just after the entrance, the fences contained no extra collision over them, which can lead to going out of bounds with a targeted jump. It's also possible to do a shortcut this way if the player lands on the basement afterwards.

Desert Hills

• An unfinished intro exists for this course, but is disabled so it doesn't play.
• The Touch Screen map is of an earlier version of the course, with an oasis where the pyramid is in the final.
• Minimap isn't implemented.
• Pokeys aren't present.
• The Angry Sun is invisible, so the Fire Snakes fall out of the sky.
• Fire Snakes looked more like their original Super Mario Bros. 3 version (but without eyes).
  • The fireballs that make up the Fire Snakes use a different texture.
• Music for this course hasn't been made yet, so it uses SEQ_CIRCUIT2 as a placeholder.

Delfino Square

Proto	Final

• An unfinished intro exists for this course, but is disabled so it doesn't play.
• The statue in the fountain was changed from a Yoshi to a Pianta.
• The Touch Screen map is less detailed/unfinished, and the minimap is pushed to the left slightly too far. They also depict an earlier version with a different corner on the second turn after the Yoshi fountain (Pianta statue).
• The Item Box near the fruit stands is missing.
• Boxes are in different places. This detail is leftover in missions 2-1 and 3-2 in the final.
• Bumping into fruit stands causes you to go out of bounds and get picked up by Lakitu.

Waluigi Pinball

• The stage is entirely different, as there are no signs representing the course, nor does it feature any pinballs. This version of the track still exists in the final, however.
• Unique sounds for finishing a lap, speed boosters, item blocks, etc. have yet to be implemented.
• The sound when drifting on iron is from Wario Colosseum in Mario Kart Double Dash!!. This sound actually still exists in the final version, only it was overwritten.
• The intro for this course isn't implemented.
• The Minimap and Touch Screen map aren't implemented.
• The music is also slightly different, as the organ and bass sound different than they do in the final.

Shroom Ridge

Proto	Final

All of the cars on the Touch Screen map appear red in the proto.

• The turn after the tunnel is shorter on the Touch Screen map than it is in-game.

Proto	Final

• The "FRESH" trucks say "FLESH" in this build, likely due to the common misconception between R and L in Japanese. A "FLESH" truck is still visible in the final version's course icon for GCN Mushroom Bridge.
• The cliff walls around the road use a different texture.
• Moving item boxes have yet to be added.
• This is one of the only courses that's not from the Mushroom and Shell Cups to have a proper intro camera. However, it's incomplete.
• The Touch Screen and minimaps use an earlier version of the track with a larger curve after the tunnel. It's still depicted in the third mission in this prototype.
• Near the start, a bit of grass was removed in the final.
• Arrow signs aren't present.
• Bushes and flowerbeds on the grass area before the tunnel aren't present.

Proto	Final

• The start flag uses the Mario Kart 64 "MARIOKART" logo instead of the one used in Mario Kart DS (as seen in several other courses in this build).

DK Pass

• Intro for this course isn't implemented.
• The minimap isn't implemented.
• There are some extra snowmen around most of the turns, which eventually got moved to the very last turn after the massive jump.
  • Because of this, there are no snowmen at all on the turn after the big jump.
• Music for this course hasn't been made yet, so it uses SEQ_CIRCUIT2 as a placeholder.
• Another Super Item Box exists, and the other one is further to the left.
• The sounds that can be heard if the player lands on the ground are different.

Tick-Tock Clock

Proto	Final

• The intro for this course isn't implemented.
• The arrow signs before and after the first clock face were moved up higher in the final.
• The clock hands were changed from blue to red.
• The decorative clock hands in the style of Super Mario 64 DS, resting on top of the giant clock face, were removed.
• The strip of five moving item boxes that follow the one pendulum in the course was changed to a generic row of non moving item boxes in the final.
• The Touch Screen map and minimap are of an earlier version of the course, with a different layout.
• Music for this course hasn't been made yet, so it uses SEQ_CIRCUIT2 as a placeholder.

Mario Circuit

• An unfinished intro exists for this course, but is disabled so it doesn't play.
• The Touch Screen map is less detailed.
• The Piranha Plants around one of the turns on the dirt road were completely removed.
• Two Piranha Plants on the last strip of dirt road were removed.
• The fire Piranha Plants have different animations.
• The sign behind one of the fire Piranha Plants says "Fire Packun DS", which was changed to "MarioKart" in the style of the classic Nintendo logo in the final.

Proto	Final

• This is one of the few courses to have both screens present in the kiosk besides the demo cups.

Airship Fortress

• An unfinished intro exists for this course, but is disabled so it doesn't play.
• The Touch Screen map is an earlier version where the crack before the final turn was smaller, and the blue wall opposite was gray.
• The minimap isn't implemented.
• The music is slightly different, as the out-of-place trumpet was changed to a more fitting violin in the final.
• Bullet Bills lack eyes.
• Bullet Bills lack sound.
• The cannon lacks sound.
• Firebars have a different texture.
• A part of the tower hole you go in after the cannon portion is covered up in the demo.

Wario Stadium

• Intro for this course isn't implemented.
• Start line is a bit too low on the Touch Screen map.
• Touch Screen map is less detailed and is of an earlier version with different boost pad textures and less-curved zigzag in the mud area.
• The minimap isn't implemented.
• Fireballs use a different texture.
• The fireball formation shaped like a + on the second to last turn was removed in the final.

Peach Gardens

• An unfinished intro exists for this course, but is disabled so it doesn't play.
• The minimap isn't implemented.
• Two sets of trees, one after the first flowerbed turn and another shortly after the hedge maze portion, were removed.
• An extra tree at the end of the dirt road portion was removed.
• The dirt road's texture is darker. This detail is still depicted in final version's touch screen map.
• The Chain Chomps in the hedge maze portion have three item boxes behind them instead of two.
• Chain Chomps lack sound.
• There are more Monty Moles that appear after the player exits the garden. The same formation is used in Mission 5-1 in final, but in the main course it has been reduced to four Monty Moles.

Bowser Castle

• An unfinished intro exists for this course, but is disabled so it doesn't play.
• Touch Screen map is of an earlier version with a different layout towards the end.
• The minimap isn't implemented.
• The Thwomp that appears sliding back and forth in the castle's entrance was removed.
• The moving platforms towards the end of the course don't have sprites for the Touch Screen map, and thus uses X's as a placeholder.
• The CPU characters get stuck if they fall off the rotating cylinder, due to the incorrect EPOI ID setting in the CPU recalculation AREA located there. (should be IPOI 60 but is set to IPOI 48, possible leftover from an earlier revision)
• One of the Thwomps after the rotating portion with the Firebars does its "drop smash" behavior instead of the final's "sliding back and forth" behavior.
• Music for this course hasn't been made yet, so it uses SEQ_CIRCUIT2 as a placeholder.

Proto	Final

• Starting banner uses the logo with vertical green-yellow-red gradient (Mario Kart 64 style), whereas the final version uses horizontal red-orange-red gradient (Mario Kart: Double Dash!! style).

Rainbow Road

• An unfinished intro exists for this course, but is disabled so it doesn't play.
• The Touch Screen map is an earlier version with one pipe (instead of three) and different curves.
• The minimap isn't implemented.
• Speed boosters are larger.
• There is no special lighting.
• Fog isn't present. Also the case in mission 7-1 in the final.
• The loop and corkscrew are not animated and use the same texture as the road, resembling test1_course's version.
• The decorative pipes have brighter colors.
• Unique sounds for drifting, falling out of bounds, speed boosters, etc. have yet to be implemented.
• The replay camera has yet to be implemented.
• Music for this course hasn't been made yet, so it uses SEQ_CIRCUIT2 as a placeholder.

Proto	Final

• The starting banner uses the logo with vertical green-yellow-red gradient (Mario Kart 64 style), whereas the final version uses horizontal red-orange-red gradient (Mario Kart: Double Dash!! style).

Retro Grand Prix

SNES Mario Circuit 1

• The multicolored blocks had more detail and were darker. This detail still appears in final version's preview picture.
• The street had a dark gradient. In the final, it got a uniformly shaded street to look more like the SNES original. Like the multicolored blocks, this detail also appears in final version's preview picture.

GCN Luigi Circuit

• Luigi's blimp as seen in the original track was removed, yet the path it follows is leftover in the course's .nkm file.

SNES Donut Plains 1

• The multicolored blocks had a somewhat brighter color scheme.
• This is one of the only courses not from the Mushroom and Shell Cups to have a proper intro camera, almost complete in this case, but different.
• The music is slightly different.
• Water appears differently on the Touch Screen map.
• The minimap has yet to be implemented.
• The mountains in the background texture are an almost direct replica of an earlier version of the original game's Donut Plains background found in the July 2020 Gigaleaks. This uses a fourth color for the mountains, which was interestingly lost in Super Mario Kart's development files, while the final version uses a newly created set of mountains.

Proto
Super Mario Kart Leak
Final

N64 Frappe Snowland

• This is one of the only courses that's not from the Mushroom and Shell Cups to have a proper intro camera, almost complete in this case.
• The Touch Screen map is less detailed and may be incomplete.
• The course uses a different lighting effect that isn't used anywhere in the final.
• There is no snowing effect.

GBA Bowser Castle 2

Proto	Final

• The Touch Screen map only uses one tile where the lava is.
• Music for this course hasn't been made yet, so it uses SEQ_CIRCUIT2 as a placeholder.
• This is one of the only courses not from the Mushroom and Shell Cups to have a proper intro camera, complete in this case.
• Ramps are far less useful, as you lose most of your momentum when you land.
• The Thwomps are very small in size, as in Mario Kart: Super Circuit. They're kept in mission 5-4 in final, but upscaled to their size in Bowser Castle in the main track.

GCN Baby Park

• This is one of the only courses not from the Mushroom and Shell Cups to have a proper intro camera, albeit incomplete in this case. It's also different.
• Item Boxes are in rows of six instead of five.

SNES Koopa Beach 2

• The multicolored blocks had a somewhat brighter color scheme.
• This is one of the only courses not from the Mushroom and Shell Cups to have a proper intro camera, almost complete in this case.
• The tide is not animated on the Touch Screen map.
• The Touch Screen map belongs to an earlier version where the grass was different.
• The minimap was changed to look more like the actual course.
• Water slows you down dramatically more than it does in the final.

N64 Choco Mountain

• The minimap isn't implemented.
• The cobblestone walls are darker.
• Boulders don't show up on the Touch Screen map.
• Signs and adverts use their Japanese versions as opposed to the international ones.

Proto	Final

• The course intro is simply taken from an early version of another track (presumably N64 Frappe Snowland), as with GCN Mushroom Bridge and SNES Choco Island 2.

GBA Luigi Circuit

• An unfinished intro exists for this course, but is disabled so it doesn't play.
• The Touch Screen map is less detailed. It might be of an earlier version due to different grass texture there.
• Water puddles slow you down far more than they do in the final.
• No rain effect is present.

GCN Mushroom Bridge

• This is one of the only courses not from the Mushroom and Shell Cups to have a proper intro camera but it might belong to an earlier version of another track.
• The minimap and Touch Screen map aren't implemented.
• Cheep-Cheep trucks have FLESH written instead of FRESH.
• Cars use a different model, which still exists in MR_stage4 in the final game.
• Cars and trucks appear as glitched sprites mostly consisting of black X's on the touch screen map.

SNES Choco Island 2

• The multicolored blocks had more detail and were darker.
• This is one of the only courses not from the Mushroom and Shell Cups to have a proper intro camera - complete in this case - but the course intro itself is wrong.
• The minimap and Touch Screen map aren't implemented.
• The whistle from the original SNES version heard in the music isn't set in the final's music bank, so it doesn't play there.
• Mud slows you down far more than it does in the final.
• The dirt road's texture is different and had a dark gradient. In the final, the road got a uniformly shaded street.
• The spot with two item boxes in the final was originally three item boxes.
• The spot with four item boxes in the final was also originally five item boxes.

N64 Banshee Boardwalk

• This is one of the only courses that's not from the Mushroom and Shell Cups to have a proper intro camera, almost complete in this case.
• Water is just a single shade of blue on the Touch Screen map.
• The Swoopers bring you to a complete stop, as opposed to slowing you down in the final.
• Swooper crates lack sound.

GBA Sky Garden

• This is one of the only courses that's not from the Mushroom and Shell Cups to have a proper intro camera, that was taken from an earlier SNES Mario Circuit 1 in this case.
• Music for this course hasn't been made yet, so it uses SEQ_CIRCUIT2 as a placeholder.
• Ramps are far less useful, as you lose most of your momentum when you land. They're also unanimated and lack sound.
• The blimp moves clockwise instead of counterclockwise.

GCN Yoshi Circuit

• The Touch Screen map is less detailed.
• This is one of the only courses not from the Mushroom and Shell Cups to have a proper intro camera, complete in this case.
• The last row of item boxes consist of five instead of four.
• Bushes aren't present.
• Yoshi's arm shortcut is slightly different; it also has a jump after the arm. The final version has the jump only before the arm shape.
• As this course was the first track to be created for this game, all tracks without a Touch Screen map/minimap use an early version of GCN Yoshi Circuit's ones.

Battle Mode

This page or section has one or more broken YouTube links. Please find an archived version of the video(s) or a suitable replacement.

N64 Block Fort

Course value 2A. An early version of N64 Block Fort.

• Uses SEQ_CIRCUIT2 as a placeholder, since the battle theme hasn't been created yet.
• The walls and forts have different color schemes.

GCN Pipe Plaza

Course value 2B. A very early version of Pipe Plaza.

• It uses a red sky with white clouds along with different graphics.
• The collisions in this stage are glitched, allowing you to climb up the ramp's walls.
• The player can't enter the pipes because of a missing object.
• It's easy to get stuck in the edges of the course due to the lack of invisible walls.
• Much like Block Fort, the course uses SEQ_CIRCUIT2 as a placeholder.

Nintendo DS

Course value 2C. An early version of the Nintendo DS battle stage.

• It has the DS logo instead of the Mario Kart DS logo, and a green/orange sky background.
• This course also has respawns, and you can drive on the sides like on donkey_course.

Twilight House, Palm Shore, and Tart Top

Course values 2D, 2E, and 2F are all same.

Those three stages don't exist yet, and as placeholders they're an earlier version of mini_block_course, lacking balloons and shine sprites due to them not being defined in the NKM.

Compared to mini_block_course, this course has two more item boxes on top-right and bottom-left corners on the map. They're replaced by shine sprites. Some of the other itemboxes are also placed differently.

Similarly placed itemboxes appear in the unused Big Bully boss in mini_block_course.

Other sections of the NKM (EPOI, KTPJ, etc.) are the same, through.

Disabled Camera Intros

Some courses mentioned above have camera intros which don't play.

Leftovers from earlier versions

To do: There might be more

Much like the tracks in the final version, tracks in this build also have leftovers from earlier versions of each track, which some of them don't appear in the final.

Airship Fortress

There are three paths (IDs 1, 2 and 3, highlighted here in white) for the flame sticks, and the objects are placed accordingly to them. The objects, however, follow paths 10 (front) and 9 (back) instead, leaving those three unused. This suggests the track originally had three flame sticks moving back and forth, rather than two of them moving left and right. This change was likely made as it was too difficult.

The paths are nowhere to appear in the final game, however.

SNES Mario Circuit 1

CAME 8 (5th replay camera) in the NKM has a leftover path speed setting (65), despite not using a path. It's instead a fixed camera. Suggests it originally used a path.

Also the case in the final game.

GCN Baby Park

The course has a leftover camera path setting: CAME 2 (third camera in replay) doesn't use a path, yet its route speed is set to 110. It would have used PATH 0, which is unused here. This is not the case in the final version.

SNES Koopa Beach 2

PATH 0 and 2 are unused. Judging by their placement and the cameras near them (CAME 2 and 4) having leftover route speed settings (110 and 140), the two paths are likely meant for these two cameras.

No leftovers from this appear in the final.

N64 Banshee Boardwalk

The track's data contains a course_model.nsbtp (texture pattern) file with the material name hyu_ike1 and texture names hyu_water1 to hyu_water15. However the model has no such material and textures, and judging by the texture name, the water was probably meant to be in the model, rather than as a seperate object.

Judging by the fact it has 15 different textures and palettes, this was changed likely to save VRAM.

The file also exists unused in the final.

Leftovers in missions

GCN Yoshi Circuit (mr01)

Mission	Main Track

• There are 38 CPOI (checkpoints) instead of 47, and first CPOI is misplaced; the lap counts slightly before the finish line. They also go in reverse.
• There are ten respawn points instead of nine, and they're placed differently.
• Piranha plants aren't present. Also the case in Mission 6-6 (mr40) in the final.
• Water isn't present, might suggest it was originally a part of the model, rather than an object.
• NKM background color is 248:248:248 (white) like in unused tracks instead of 0:0:0 (black).
• There're three KCL colors (248:248:248, 192:192:192 and 128:128:128), instead of two (248:248:248 and 165:165:165).
• NKM format is slightly earlier: 0x20 instead of 0x22.

N64 Moo Moo Farm (mr02 and mr06)

Mission	Main Track

• There are 16 CPOI (checkpoints) instead of 20.
• There is only one respawn point instead of five.
• There are more monty moles and they all pop out at once.
• There are no trees and all cows are objects, whereas the model has some trees and most of the cows as part of the model. Might suggest the model had no cows and either the trees were missing or were part of the model.
• NKM background color is 248:248:248 (white) like in unused tracks instead of 0:0:0 (black).
• NKM format is slightly earlier: 0x20 instead of 0x22.

Shroom Ridge (mr03)

Mission	Main Track

• Everything is placed on y=100 base instead of y=1000, suggests the model was previously placed much lower.
• There are 40 CPOI (checkpoints) instead of 43.
• The curve after the tunnel is wider; it matches that from the bottom screen maps.
• There are three respawn points instead of nine, and different placement.
• There's a moving item box that doesn't appear in the main track. (it does in the final, however)
• NKM background color is 248:248:248 (white) like in unused tracks instead of 0:0:0 (black).
• No yellow KCL color is present for inside the tunnel.
• NKM format is slightly earlier: 0x20 instead of 0x22.

Peach Gardens (mr04)

Mission	Main Track

• There are 30 CPOI (checkpoints) instead of 33.
• Respawn points are placed differently.
• Monty moles all pop out at once.
• No Chain Chomps are present. (of course except the one the player will race against)
• Water and the Mario statue aren't present, might suggest they were originally a part of the model (as in final), rather than objects.
• NKM background color is 192:192:248 (light blue) instead of 0:0:0 (black).
• NKM format is slightly earlier: 0x20 instead of 0x22.

SNES Mario Circuit 1 (mr05)

Mission	Main Track

• There are 19 CPOI (checkpoints) instead of 23, and three key checkpoints instead of five. The order is also wrong; CPOI 0 (lap counter) is on the third left turn instead of starting line, so the lap counts on the said turn instead.
• There's one respawn point instead of three.
• NKM background color is 248:248:248 (white) like in unused tracks instead of 0:0:0 (black).
• NKM format is slightly earlier: 0x20 instead of 0x22.

Tick-Tock Clock (mr07)

• The speed gear on the left at the end is half the width of the other one.
• NKM background color is 248:248:248 (white) like in unused tracks instead of 0:0:0 (black).
• NKM format is slightly earlier: 0x20 instead of 0x22.

Airship Fortress (mr08)

Mission	Main Track

• There are three key checkpoints instead of four.
• There's one respawn point instead of six.
• KTPC (end of cannon point) is placed differently.
• No gray and red KCL color for inside the ship are present.
• NKM background color is 248:248:248 (white) like in unused tracks instead of 0:0:0 (black).
• NKM format is slightly earlier: 0x20 instead of 0x22.