Proto:Super Mario Kart/mkart

This is a sub-page of Proto:Super Mario Kart.

This article is a work in progress. ...Well, all the articles here are, in a way. But this one moreso, and the article may contain incomplete information and editor's notes.

To do: More graphics and sound differences More screenshots Post a patch to fix the lack of hazards on certain courses in Grand Prix mode. Check for more unused content Duplicates of certain track tiles can be found, that were overwritten in later builds. Also check if these are unused. Checkpoint zone oddities are present. Ex. Bowser's Castle 3 has an leftover extrusion for a STOP seen before the three paths in the Oct 1991 map.

mkart is a Super Mario Kart prototype dated April 13, 1992. The ROM was discovered in the July 25th, 2020 gigaleak.

To get the ROM working, change FF FF FF FF FF to 30 05 09 01 00 at 0x7FD5 to correct the header. To get Vanilla Lake 1 working, apply this patch.

General Differences

• The small demos shown after the title screen are absent in this build.
• The ability to navigate the menus with Select has not been implemented yet.
• The 150cc class is not present at all.
• The Staff Roll is absent.
• The Special Cup is unlocked from the start.
• All trophies for 50cc and 100cc are obtained from the start.
• Almost all of the text is different.
• Coins, Boos, and Lightning don't appear in the item roulette.
• The Bullet Bill (the moving ball enemy from Match Race) appears as a green shell.
• The player starts out with 5 lives instead of 3. It's impossible to have 5 lives in the final game.
• No extra lives are given out.
• The player doesn't start with any coins.
• Computer opponents don't use character specific items yet. They only lay bananas and don't throw them in front of you yet either.
• The AI appears to be locked at full speed throughout a majority of the race, making it difficult to pass them. They also don't move out of the player's way when near them
• The player always starts the next race in 8th place (7th for player 2), regardless of what place they came in during the previous race.
• The timer appears in Battle Mode.
• Monty Moles don't attach to you like in the final. They will spin you out instead.
• Cheep-Cheeps and Piranha Plants cause you to lose coins when you touch them, unlike the final.
• The animation for getting crushed by a Thwomp is longer.
• Cheep-Cheeps have an unique behavior when shot by Koopa shells. They will stand still shortly and cause the shell to bounce off with much lower speed.
• Getting hit by an item such as a Green Shell or Banana has a shorter animation for spinning out.
• The drivers who don't have at least 1 point spin out in the tally screen.
• Racers who didn't make it to the finish line in time are labeled as "Out" in the ranking screen.
• There is no "Retry" and "End" options when losing a race. It will show the times for each lap and advance into the ranking screen, and restart the race afterwards. There is also no red "Ranked Out" text that bounces down. The "Retry" and "End" options do appear if you pause and select "Yes" however.
• The "ゲームオーバー" (Game Over) text doesn't bounce down when giving up a Grand Prix race with zero lifes; it just simply appears with no effect. Losing a race with zero lifes will make the text bouncing down like in the final however.
• In Battle Mode, the loop for the character's losing animation is shorter.
• Some of Lakitu's animations are either different or missing. His entrance when completing a lap is longer and he doesn't sway back and forth in one place when you go the wrong way. If you quickly turn back the right way, he will simply disappear rather than exit out.
• The timer doesn't stops at 09'59"99.
• The rival order is always the same: Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Donkey Kong Jr., Peach, Yoshi, Toad, Koopa. However, they have the same speed, so it can be changed.
• The secret screen swap trick doesn't requires any button combo yet and can be simply done by selecting a 1 Player Game with Controller 2.
•  ? panels don't reset after all are passed through.

Controls

Proto
Final

• The rocket start and burnout is absent.
• Hopping is not possible.
• Slight drifts (Hopping and then holding Left/Right) are not possible.
• Sharp drifts (holding L/R while drifting) are slightly buggy and can cause inconsistent rates of acceleration and can even slow you down.
• Automatic drifting isn't implemented yet
• To end a drift, you need to steer against the drift direction, otherwise you get another slow down. Ending a drift is done with a jump in the final.
• When ending a drift, you get a small boost like the Mini-Turbos from later Mario Kart games.
• Bananas can't be thrown forward.
• Green shells can't be dropped.
• It's possible to get the Star in 1st place. Unlike the final.
• Driving out of the water gives you a big jump with a speed boost.

• Going into obstacles such as Pipes, Thwomps, Piranha Plants, Monty Moles, and Cheep-Cheeps with a star makes you feather jump, instead of knocking the pipe over.

Bugs/Issues

• Colliding with a wall while underwater or driving into the water with a star active causes you to regain acceleration as if you were on the track.
• CPU opponents who are rescued by Lakitu can sometimes levitate in the air for the remainder of the race.
• Lakitu sometimes appears on the bottom map screen when the CPU fall into lava or water
• If you feather jump out of bounds or fall off the track, both with a star active, makes it possible to "drive" when Lakitu is rescuing you, giving you control to drive anywhere, especially when picked up outside the track, though you may go faster or slower depending on the direction you are facing
• Lakitu doesn't turn you in the right direction sometimes.
• Red shells thrown at CPU opponents often go through them without hitting them.
• When driving behind a CPU opponent while it lays down a banana, the banana will go through the player.
• The edges from the bumps on Choco Island aren't programmed properly and can throw the player sideways.
• The engine sounds from the computer opponents can still be heard after a race.
• Attempting to load Vanilla Lake 1 normally crashes the game due to a problem with the track's checkpoint data.
• The animations for the water and mud splashing continue to play even when the player remains idle.
• In Battle Mode, the characters will constantly turn their head.
• Drifting in circles in off-road sections will cause the player to spin out indefinitely until they release the gas or exit exit the off-road.
• If the player hits something that will cause them to spin out, and pause to restart or exit to another course in the duration of the camera spin, it's possible to race around with a different camera angle. The camera resets when the player hits something again.
• After a few minutes, the player moves a little bit to the upper right, which could cause you to clip through walls.
• After the timer reaches 99'59"99, the timer loops back.
• It's extremely difficult to rank in the top 4 in Vanilla Lake 2, due to the aggressive AI, broken item distribution, and the inability to jump over gaps. The reason for the fast AI might be that the individual speeds for their target points weren't set yet and were set to the default value, which is the fastest one.
• If you hit a wall while falling off or in the lava, you can drive while Lakitu is grabbing you, which can cause a lot of glitchy results.
• If you feather jump into the lava when finishing the race, the animation for being rescued will be glitched.

AI/Checkpoint Related Bugs

• The checkpoint data for Vanilla Lake 1 appears to be unfinished and the AI can't complete the race. The AI struggles to get past a striped wall (Though they may break past if the hit an item laid in the same spot), then they continue to the lower left section of the map at the final turn where the checkpoint data abruptly ends, causing them circle that spot indefinitely, since the last few zones are missing.

• The AI struggles to get over the bridge in Donut Plains 2 and 3 for the most part.
• The AI appears to swerve around a bit in certain parts due to the messy target placements.
• In Bowser's Castle 3, AI opponents who take the path with the zipper will go too fast and drive into the removed STOP located at the final bend, They tend to lag far behind as a result.
• Mario Circuit 3's checkpoint data is completely broken, and the CPUs indefinitely ram into the walls beside the checkered line. Most of the targets seem to be pointing in the wrong direction and Lakitu will think the player is going the wrong way in some areas.
• In Koopa Beach 2, the AI rams into the wall in the upper left corner of the map and into the deep water next to the shallow water section. This is due to the track's checkpoint data being reminiscent of an earlier version of the track presumably predating this build.
• In Donut Plains 3, the AI sometimes don't take the right curve at the down right corner of the map and instead drive to the left into the grass, then trying to drive back. This is possible due to a misplaced AI target point.

Graphical Differences

To do: There's more!

Characters

Proto
Final

Several character sprites received minor tweaks. Mario and Luigi eyes always looked straight forward and Koopa didn't have squinting eyes from some perspectives. Bowser's jaw is slightly sticking out and Yoshi appears more closer to the final international version.

Also, Luigi uses his own body graphics, whereas in the final, he uses Mario's body graphics as a way to save memory. His seat is also blue and his shading looks partially unfinished.

Proto
Final

Peach and Donkey Kong Jr.'s ranking icons were redrawn. With Peach having a narrower face than the final.

Proto	Final

Donkey Kong Jr. is missing the letter on his shirt during the Award Ceremony and the shading and pixel placement was slightly tweaked.

Item Slot

Proto
Final

Before getting the first item, The item slot will display the player number. In the proto there is a "P" for player added next to the number.

Lakitu Flags

Proto	Final

The yellow reverse flag was missing the X and some pixels were moved.

Proto	Final

The edge of the flag was changed slightly.

Cheep Cheep

Proto
Final

Cheep Cheeps flop upside down in the proto.

Audio Differences

Here's the cheat to manipulate the audio: 000e0a:?? (where "??" can be any value). Enable the code, the game will go silent, and then disable the code. The song or sound effect will play.

Title Screen

Proto	Final

Completely different song. The early music is slower and softer in sound compared to the more upbeat final version.

Select Screen

Proto	Final

It's missing the organ instrumentation on the last several channels.

Race Start

Proto	Final

Peach/Yoshi's kart engine is in a higher pitch.

Battle Mode

Proto	Final

An early version of what would eventually be the music for 2P Battle Mode, with slightly different instrumentation and no intro. This doesn't actually play in Battle Mode at this point, but rather in Ghost Valley, Bowser Castle, and Mario Circuit. Some of the background instrumentation is slightly louder.

Donut Plains

Proto	Final

The first half of the music is in a different key/pitch than in the final version.

Vanilla Lake

Proto	Final

An entirely different song, which is actually different from the other Vanilla Lake theme shown off in this currently-undumped prototype.

Starman

Proto	Final

It uses a removed guitar sample for the main melody. Other than that, it's mostly identical to the final.

Mario's Theme

Proto	Final

Mario's ranking theme has lighter bass.

Peach's Theme

Proto	Final

Opposite of Mario, Peach's ranking theme was heavier on the bass and uses a guitar sample not present in the final game's sample set. A xylophone heard on channel 8 is missing.

Yoshi's Theme

Proto	Final

Yoshi's theme uses a loud, shrill instrument, is slower, and lacks the second half.

Toad's Theme

Proto	Final

Toad's theme is slower and missing half of its instrumentation.

Donkey Kong Jr.'s Theme

Proto	Final

Uses an entirely different melody with an upbeat song.

Koopa Troopa's Theme

Proto	Final

Koopa Troopa's theme lacks the piano and uses a slightly different percussion beat.

2nd-4th Place Ranking

Proto	Final

The track for placing 2nd-4th in a race is different.

Coin

Proto	Final

Taken directly from Super Mario World. The final game uses a more unique rendition.

Other Sound Differences

To do: Upload and compare some of these sounds

• Lakitu makes a different sound when going in reverse or rescuing the player. A very similar sound was later used in Mario Kart 64.

Proto	Final

• The "Goal!" sound that plays when finishing is absent in this build.
• Yoshi and peach use a different sample for their kart engine, which was replaced later on.

Proto	Final

• The computer opponents have much higher pitched engines than when controlled by the player.
• Many unique sounds for skidding on different surface types like planks and bricks are missing, so they default to the regular skidding sound.
• There's a slightly different noise when crossing the bridge in Donut Plains.
• Choco Island plays Koopa Beach's music, as the music for Choco Island wasn't added in the game yet.
• The Podium music is absent in this build, so the title theme plays instead.
• The character themes don't continue into the ranking screen, so the menu theme plays there instead.
• The jingles for completing a race in Grand Prix doesn't play in Time Trials, so it skips straight to the character's victory theme.
• The engine sound is silent during the countdown in Time Trials and Battle Mode
• When getting an item from the item roulette, it's sound is a higher pitch.
• The sound when hitting an enemy with an item is absent in this build.
• There is no jingle that plays when getting a Game Over.
• There is no pitch variation with certain sound effects, like hitting a wall for instance.
• In Time Trials, the course themes start a second or two earlier, cutting off a portion of the last beep in the countdown as a result.
• Hitting an ice block in Vanilla Lake plays a low pitched sound and an entirely different sound when touched with a star active, that sounds more like a splash.
• Music doesn't fade out when you quit a race.
• Driving to the goal while drifting causes the drift sound to erroneously continue play for a while.
• If you pause and quit a race while going backwards, the "Wrong Way" noise will continue to play. Additionally, if you are off road and you pause and quit, channel 6 will be muted.

Title Screen

Proto	Final (Japan)

Mario’s mouth is closed on the prototype title screen. Aside from that, it's pretty much identical to the final Japanese version.

Debug Features

At the title screen, some debug features can be used by pressing a certain combination of buttons. These features are very buggy and read the menu choices (class, mode, driver, and track) that were selected before, so it is sometimes required (depending what debug feature you want to access) to select some choices on the titlescreen before, otherwise the game may crash or give different results when using them. (To make it easier, select your choices on the titlescreen up to the driver select and then hold Y+B+Start+Select to go back to the titlescreen to access the debug feature.)

Press Select and one of the following buttons on the title screen to access a debug feature:

Select + R

Loads a track selection screen. It uses a variant of the Time Trial one and Mario is set by default as the character for the player. If the player didn't access the driver select menu in Time Trial before (using the main menu), the selected track crashes as soon Lakitu's countdown finishes or when one of the players starts to accelerate (it may glitch and allow another player to participate).

If Battle Mode was accessed before, the game will send you to the battle arena selection instead.

Final choice before starting the race

Track Select	Time Trials

Select + Y

Starts a Match Race with the last selected drivers and track, if Match Race was selected before. If Battle Mode was played before, it will start a battle.

By default it will start a glitched Match Race on Mario Circuit 3 that makes the game crash when it finishes, with Mario (Player 1) against an invisible character (presumably Luigi) for Player 2. The screen is almost blackened because the game is put in a "game over" state, but the players can move and sometimes even Mario can be invisible.

Any other mode that was selected before will crash the game or start a 1-Player solo race that crashes the game as soon the start countdown finishes.

Select + B

Starts a Grand Prix with the last selected driver and cup. The Mushroom Cup with Mario set as Player 1 will load by default.

If Battle Mode was played before, it will start with a glitched battle on the first track of the last selected Cup. The players appear to have no balloons, their speed is faster than normal, and laps don't work. When the battle is completed and you go to the driver or track selection, everything will be set back to normal Battle Mode.

If a Grand Prix in 2-Player was played before, it will start a 2-Player Grand Prix instead of a 1-Player one.

If Match Race was the last choice, the game will crash.

Select + X

After the screen becomes black, the game softlocks or crashes. In the earlier uncompiled Feb proto, it will open up EDIT2, which is the object overlay editor.

Select + Start

Crashes as well. In later prototype builds it will load a Debug Menu.

Any other button combination won't do anything.

Select Screen

Driver Selection

Proto	Final

Everyone except Mario, Yoshi, and Toad was rearranged.

Cup Selection

Proto	Final

An orange border and a heading with the selected cc class was later added to the Cup selection. All trophies are obtained from the start.

Course Selection

Proto	Final

• The text for inactive choices is white instead of red.
• There is no spacing between the course name and the number.
• The text placement is shifted slightly.

Results Screen

Results

Proto	Final

• Slightly different layout
• The Cup's icon is absent
• The cc class isn't shown
• The player's selected driver doesn't blink
• Some racers have sometimes corrupted tiles on them.
• Sometimes, one or more racers are slightly turned in the wrong direction
• Racers who didn't make it to the finish line in time are labeled as "Out" in the ranking screen.
• The racers who don't have at least 1 point spin out, while in the final, the drivers who didn't make it into the first four places spin here.

Standings

To do: Upload screenshots to compare

• There was no animation of the point counter
• It looked pretty barebones

Track List

The tracks are in a different order than the final game and the later prototypes, and some have different layouts. Notably, this build lacks Rainbow Road, instead having a third Choco Island course.

Proto	Final
Mushroom Cup
Donut Plains 1	Mario Circuit 1
Choco Island 1	Donut Plains 1
Ghost Valley 1	Ghost Valley 1
Bowser Castle 1	Bowser Castle 1
Mario Circuit 1	Mario Circuit 2
Flower Cup
Koopa Beach 1	Choco Island 1
Choco Island 2	Ghost Valley 2
Donut Plains 2	Donut Plains 2
Bowser Castle 2	Bowser Castle 2
Mario Circuit 2	Mario Circuit 3
Star Cup
Ghost Valley 2	Koopa Beach 1
Vanilla Lake 1	Choco Island 2
Donut Plains 3	Vanilla Lake 1
Bowser Castle 3	Bowser Castle 3
Mario Circuit 3	Mario Circuit 4
Special Cup
Vanilla Lake 2	Donut Plains 3
Koopa Beach 2	Koopa Beach 2
Choco Island 3	Ghost Valley 3
Ghost Valley 3	Vanilla Lake 2
Mario Circuit 4	Rainbow Road

Track Differences

Note that when playing in Grand Prix some tracks have their objects (like pipes, Thwomps, and Monty Moles) in a different position or lack them completely. When playing the tracks in Time Trial or Match Race, the objects will appear in their correct positions.

Donut Plains

General

• In Grand Prix mode, only one Monty Mole is visible at a time, but it jumps out of different holes.

Donut Plains 1

Proto	Final

• The bridge is slightly broken.
• The ? Blocks are before and after the bridge.
• The lake is much larger than the final.
• There are more bush tiles than the final.
• There is no walls that cover outside of the bridge. There's also an additional shortcut at the bottom of the track.
• The road at the bottom is straight and littered with Monty Moles, rather than the large bending road in the final. The final track replaces the Monty Moles with pipes.

This early track was featured in various prerelease screenshots from just before the game was released.

Donut Plains 2

Proto	Final

• Has a diverging road that passes through the lake, as well as a straight path at the bottom of the track.
• It contains a bridge that doesn't appear in the final.
• The lake is smaller.
• There are more bush tiles than the final.
• The Monty Moles have been moved.
• There is a shortcut at the bottom left of the track. In the final the hole was filled in.
• There is a misplaced Monty Mole in the (0,0) cordinate of the track.

Donut Plains 3

Proto	Final

• Top-right is a much narrower bending road than the final game's.
• The bridge is shorter. It also lacks the top bridge straightaway.
• After the bend following the bridge, the path is straight rather than bending like the final.
• The bottom-right turn is much wider, and then the road is a straight narrow path as opposed to bending like the final version.
• There are more bush tiles than the final.
• There are substantially more Monty Moles in the bottom part of the course.

Choco Island

General

• There are no choco puddles in the tileset yet.
• Piranha Plants are absent in Grand Prix.

Choco Island 1

Proto	Final

• There is no mud at the bottom of the track and no bumps on the top part.
• The top-right inner wall is not diagonal, but straight walls
• The ? Blocks are in a completely different position.
• There are a few more rough patches of dirt than in the final version
• The wall at the middle was shifted down where it is in the final

Choco Island 2

Proto	Final

• The big mud puddle is split up into smaller sections of offroad.
• There are unused oil slicks that do not appear in the final version
• The top-right and bottom-right inner walls are not diagonal, but straight walls
• There are a few more rough patches of dirt than in the final version
• The placement of the piranha plants differs a bit from the final version

Ghost Valley

General

• The falling animation for the frail blocks doesn't exist yet so the blocks simply disappear when touched.
• There are no darker wood planks in the tileset yet.
• The only items that are obtainable are feathers, mushrooms and rarely stars, possibly to test shortcuts.

Ghost Valley 1

Proto	Final

• The coins, ramps, and ? Blocks are in different positions, and there are fewer of them compared to the final version.
• The big jump bar after the fourth turn is missing.
• Some tiles on the edge of the track are missing.
• The shortcut is slightly longer, making the shortcut easier to use.
• The bottom left straightaway is shifted down from where it is in the final version.

Ghost Valley 2

Proto	Final

• Apart from a different number of objects and their positions being different, many tiles on the edge are not present.
• The ? block that's closer to the hole has been moved closer to the finish line. Also, an zipper and ramp were added before the ? block.
• The track is colored uniformly rather than having a dark-colored portion.
• The shortcut is missing.

Ghost Valley 3

Proto	Final

• Coins and ? Blocks are in different positions, and there are fewer of them compared to the final version.
• The track is colored uniformly rather than having a dark-colored portion.
• The shortcut is missing.

Bowser Castle

General

• The arrows have different graphics.
• In Grand Prix Mode, no thwomps are visible.
• Thwomps always move during the 1st lap. In the final, they start moving in the second lap.

Bowser Castle 1

Proto	Final

• The arrows are slightly positioned differently.
• There are more zippers and less ? Blocks.
• The coin formation is wave-shaped instead of crown-shaped like in the final version, and there are no coin lines scattered through the course.
• The top straightaway is shifted down from where it is in the final version.
• There are many more lava bubble tiles than in the final version.

Bowser Castle 2

Proto	Final

• An additional STOP is placed halfway through the track.
• There are less coins and ? Blocks scattered around the track.
• There are many more lava bubble tiles than in the final version
• The zipper is in a different position.
• There are additional ramps with lava pools in the top and bottom section
• The diverging turns were shifted slightly.
• Arrow tiles have different graphics, and some arrows are missing

Bowser Castle 3

Proto	Final

• An additional platform is on the left side of the track, and as a result the platform following the previous platform's ramp is wider.
• The track also contains a STOP that is not present in the final version.
• The arrows are shorter, with a few arrows missing.
• There are many more lava bubble tiles than in the final version
• Top slim section is much shorter than in the final version
• There's no item boxes in the middle fork.
• Bottom right after the fork paths was made wider in the final version
• The first row of thwomps were placed a little further to the right

Vanilla Lake

General

• The destroying animation for the ice blocks doesn't exist yet so the blocks simply disappear when touched.
• It was not possible yet to jump against the ice blocks to keep the speed, due to the lack of jumping controls.

Vanilla Lake 1

Proto	Final

• The middle is an inverted T-shape rather than the final's large box. This results in a wider road near the starting line and on the right side of the track.
• There are three barriers located on the right side of the track. The final version only has one.
• Exposed water was added in the final version.
• Center area contains patches of snow not present in final version, addition to the ramp as well. This means that the center area was originally drivable.
• The ice block patch in the bottom contains a much denser packing of ice
• There are three extra colored walls on the right
• Ice barriers on the right are fully blocking the path, as opposed to spaced out in the final version
• There is an additional barrier on the bottom left side of the track.
• The Top-right quadrant is changed drastically

Vanilla Lake 2

Proto	Final

• The ice blocks on the left are together, forming one giant block. The final version split them into three groups.
• Ice block patch on the bottom-right is much denser than in the final version
• The ? Blocks are in different positions.

Koopa Beach

General

• The water palettes are slightly different

Koopa Beach 1

Proto	Final

• A zipper, not present in the final version, is present.
• A lonely coin can be found on the top-right part of the map, probably left there by mistake.
• The patch of plants at the bottom is thicker.
• The ramps are positioned differently.
• There are additional deep water holes on the right side of the track.
• The ? Block on the small island on the right of the track is not added yet.

Koopa Beach 2

Proto	Final

• The barrier on the bottom-left is horizontal, rather than diagonal like in the final version.
• The ? Block near the center of the track was removed in the final version.
• The wall edges on the top part of the track are sharp instead of smooth in the final.
• The patch of plants throughout the track is much thicker.
• The small island on the left of the track with the ? Block is slightly bigger.

Mario Circuit

General

• In Grand Prix mode, only one Pipe is visible at a time, but it's misplaced where it shouldn't be.

Mario Circuit 1

Proto	Final

• Contains an oil slick that was removed in the final version.
• Coins were bunched together.
•  ? Blocks have been moved slightly.

Mario Circuit 2

Proto	Final

• The objects are arranged differently, with fewer coins than in the final version.
• Only one ramp is present after the zippers.
• The visibility areas for the pipes are messed up. One is placed in the zippers.

Mario Circuit 3

Proto	Final

• The coins and ? Blocks have been moved.
• There are no oil slicks.
• A row of 4 pipes are placed on the road before the sharp curve.
• The pipes after the sharp curve were placed closer together.

Mario Circuit 4

Proto	Final

• The oil slick and coins were moved.
• The wall after the second turn is thinner.
• The wall after the eighth turn is farther.
• The extra wall with the shortcut has been removed in the final.
• A misplaced coin can be found in the top-center part of the track.

Battle Courses

General

The starting points were placed on the down-left and down-right side of the track with both looking straight ahead, while in the final its usually the upper and lower middle of the track with both players looking at each other.

Battle Course 1

Proto (Battle Course 1)	Final (Battle Course 4)

Equivalent to the final's Battle Course 4. Prototype has a Donut Plains theme rather than Mario Circuit.

Battle Course 2

Proto (Battle Course 2)	Final (Battle Course 3)

Equivalent to the final's Battle Course 3. The smaller ice enclosure was later split into four walls in the final and the larger ice enclosure was removed and replaced with spaced diagonal ice blocks. Player 2's starting point is placed in the yellow wall blocks.

Battle Course 3

Proto

Unique Choco Island themed battle track with no direct equivalent in the final. It contains eight center barriers with jump bars connected to them.

Battle Course 4
Equivalent to the final's Battle Course 2. The water surrounding the track, and inside the blockages isn't animated.

Cut Track

Choco Island 3
A unique course layout not seen in the final. It has a few similarities with Choco Island 2, notably the similar routing with almost the same starting position and the idea of the curve with the shortcut through the mud after the starting line (although the curve is longer, which makes it faster to use the shortcut without an item instead of driving the curve along).

This track is known as dart01 and D1 in the source files, so this may have been the first Choco Island track to be created.

Proto

Perhaps the most notable thing about this track is that it was scrapped in favor of Rainbow Road. Mostly likely the developers wanted a new track.

Award Ceremony

The proto has several unique endings for ranking in the top 3. Two of which are not seen in retail. The fourth place ending is also absent in this build. The player is taken back to the cup select screen afterwards, unlike the final, where the player is taken back to the title screen.

1st Place

Similar to the final, a giant inflatable Cheep Cheep hovers above the podium, except this time, it doesn't spit out a trophy and has a slightly different path when shot out by the champagne bottle's cork.

2nd Place

When finishing 2nd, four Koopa Paratroopas fly above the podium, with the fourth one walking away after being shot down by the cork.

3rd Place

When finishing 3rd, a Super Koopa enters the scene and makes a loop above the podium, which then gets shot by the cork on its way out.

Other Notable Differences

• The background uses the generic oval clouds seen in Mario Circuit, whereas in the final, the clouds change depending on the cup. The sky is also yellow instead of blue.
• There is no proper text for congratulating the player on their victory, so it will display a bunch of 1s instead. Most likely a placeholder.
• The special award song doesn't exist yet so the early titlescreen theme is used here.
• Donkey Kong Jr. is missing the letter on his tanktop.
• Some of the characters' animations for cheering with the bottle differ from the final.
• The characters in 2nd place and 3rd place cheer throughout the whole cutscene in the build. In the final, They cheer once the trophy lands on the road.
• No confetti falls from the sky.
• No sound effects.
• The podium itself is placed lower on the screen.

Unused Graphics

Coin

A coin sprite with graphics for different distances can be found among the item graphics. This could mean that the coins were originally supposed to be standing on the track rather than laying flat, an idea that would be revisited in Mario Kart 7 and 8.

The used coin can be found among Lakitu's graphics.

Unused Font

A fully small font found among the Item Storage and the Race Time numbers, that was most likely used for debugging purposes and such.

The first row can still be found in the final.