Super Mario All-Stars/Unused Graphics

This is a sub-page of Super Mario All-Stars.

Super Mario All-Stars has a lot of unused graphics for Super Mario Bros. 3, most of which are leftovers from the NES version.

General

Mario & Luigi

The unused animations of Mario walking left/right and up on the map were unused in the NES version, but were updated for All-Stars. Again, the first frame from each is used during the game over sequence, but the final frames aren't.

Updated Luigi versions of the unused map sprites. Curiously, while Luigi does have the same game over sequence as Mario, his unique sprites are not used for some reason, instead using recolored Mario sprites like the NES version.

An alternate version of the small Mario sprite used for the mini-game intros. This is in the NES version too, but it's been updated here.

This graphic of Hammer Mario sliding can only be seen in one place: the bonus room of World 6-10. If you're sliding while grabbing the Hammer Suit power-up, you'll continue sliding as Hammer Mario.

NPCs

This Super Mario World-styled Koopa Troopa appears after the 2-player mini-game graphics, but it isn't a straight port! The shading is more detailed in this sprite compared to the World version, and the arms have been redrawn.

Super Mario Bros. 3	Super Mario All-Stars

The original Spiny Cheep-Cheep graphics are still in the ROM. It was later changed to a blue color and then redrawn in All-Stars.

A second frame for the Fire Snake's tail. While the equivalent frame was used in the NES original, All-Stars only uses the first frame, horizontally flipping it to "animate" it.

Unused	Used

An unused alternate head graphic for the Fire Snake, found alongside the graphics for the Fire Chomp and Parabeetle. Compared to the used graphic, the unused one is more faithful to the original NES sprite.

Graphics for Princess Toadstool that are slightly different have slight differences to the ones used in-game: the shape of her arms, torso, and hair; the color of her crown being pure white; and the walking animation which has her hair swaying and her arms moving.

Misc.

The chest you get after beating the Hammer Bros. but it's differently shaded than the one used in-game.

A very simple and flat version of the spade card icon in the world map.

Four of the six end-of-level outlines still exist in All-Stars, they're just unused. Unfortunately, the Plains and Clouds outlines have been overwritten with other graphics.

The other unused map graphics from the NES version have been removed. The map tileset was definitely cleaned up the most.

A wooden board? It doesn't fit with any palette, nor the game's graphic style.

Princess Toadstool image from the letters you get after beating each world, ported from the NES version and left unused in favor of a revamped, colored new graphic.

Tiles that are only slightly different from each other. Mostly noticeable when giving all of them the same palette, as they get different colors. There are several duplicates of these in the graphics data.

A more square donut block. Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 would later utilize these in some World-e levels.

Despite its appearance, this block is not the same as the blue blocks used in the 2-player battle minigames. This graphic uses only one shade for the light blue outline, whereas the used block has two shades, making it look less flat. Curiously, this block is found among the graphics for the Toad Houses, and it looks a lot like the walls and floor in the same areas in the NES version.

Animated flowing water. The waterfall is different from the ones seen in-game, and looks a lot like the waterfalls of the NES version. The water tide can only be seen in one place: Unused Level 8.

Most of the graphics from the cut bonus games are still in the ROM, unchanged, though the Koopa Troopa and Hammer Bro hosts are not present.

These graphics were unused in the NES version and still remain in the All-Stars ROM, unchanged and unused as well.

Unused "PAUSE" text that was likely used before the save menu was implemented. While the P and U are used for the "TIME UP" message, the A, S, and duplicate E are not used anywhere.

Earlier versions of the "TIME UP" and "PAUSE" messages, which appear to be simply reshaded from the NES version. The palette used in the final doesn't appear to fit these older graphics too well.

Backgrounds

This is found among the tiles for the underwater background. Looks like sand, could've been used on the bottommost part of the background, like some other unused background parts.

These 8×8 tiles are supposed to go on the bottom part of the Fortress background, but the pillars reach down to the lowest part of the screen, leaving no room for it to be seen in-game. It can be seen in promotional footage, though.

These appear right after the graphics for the dark mountains background used for the tank/battleship levels in World 8. It's hard to make out what the tiles on the left are meant for; there's a round shape and some rock or wood texture, but they don't really fit anywhere. The tiles on the right are for a gradient, possibly the sky.

Plains

This starts a trend that shows up in the other tilesets: the removal of foreground scenery. The big clouds seen in the NES version have been totally removed from the Plains levels, but they've been updated with new shading!

Bizarrely, the double-layered bushes, unused in the NES version, were updated for All-Stars! Whoever was in charge of redrawing the graphics must have thought these tiles were used in-game.

The original big bush design from the NES version, revamped for All-Stars! It looks oddly blue in the regular big bush palette, but it looks good if you apply the smaller bushes' murky green colors. Maybe they were intended to use the same palette?

Grasslands

The small and large clouds still appear in the tileset, updated but unused.

The corner pieces that weren't used in the NES version are still in the tileset. They haven't been updated at all, and still use a 4-color palette!

Higher Plains

The neat spiral clouds of the NES version were updated for All-Stars, along with the unused cloud platforms. The original hills were changed to a different design, but the original tiles were updated and are still in the tileset.

Slopes on water surface.

A small version of the platforms found in athletic levels.

Two frames for an animated cloud platform. The first frame is identical to the other regular static cloud platforms.

These tiles are stored along with two bush designs in the game. The bottom one, however, doesn't transition well to the shading in its corresponding bush type. Compare below how the bushes would look like if these were used:

Used	Unused

Caves

No more small clouds for the cave levels.

Some unused slope tiles. One is a slope for the upper part of cave levels, such as the outside area in World 1-5. The other four tiles are underwater slope tiles. Only steep slopes are found underwater. Along with the underwater cave tiles, there are some slopes made for the water surface tiles. Steep slopes on water surface are used, but for some reason two extra steep slope tiles exist and remain unused.

Desert

The foreground pyramid has been redrawn. Doesn't mean it's used, but there it is.

The multitude of unused desert tiles in the NES version still linger, unchanged in the tileset.

Ice

A big cloud. Think it appears in the SNES version? Please check previous sections for answer.

Sky

The cloud corner tiles of Unused Level 15 remain in the tileset, and remain used in the All-Stars version of the level, although they're glitchy because they still have a 4-color palette.

Castle

This mysterious unused border/frame was never deleted when the tileset was ported over. Odd.

Airship

8×8 tiles for the crossbeams in airship levels. A few of these are not actually seen in an airship level.

World 5

The tower map icon for World 5. How is it different than what you see in-game, you ask? This unused graphic has the grass texture around it and is probably what you were meant to see, whereas the used tower graphic has those spaces completely blank. And this oversight was carried over to Super Mario Advance 4 as well!

Used	Unused

World 8

The "air force" on the map should have fire coming out of its back for one frame.

The skulls that decorate the World 8 map, straight from the NES version with few modifications.

Bowser's Castle in the world map, but this one is differently shaded in some parts than the one that appears in-game and it's missing the terrain texture on the blank areas. This one also uses different colors for the tower roofs, making them look miscolored when the castle's palette is applied. It looks fine in some other palettes, though.

More unused graphics on the World 8 map! These are the walls and towers that surround Bowser's Castle, except they are more closely based on how they looked in the NES version. In the final game, the big towers were redesigned to look more simple and the rest of the graphics got minor touch-ups. None of the existing palettes seem to match these unused tiles well.

The unused wheel, spikes, and propeller were updated as well.

This particular ? Block was originally used in World 8 of the NES version for the tank/battleship levels. Due to the restructuring of graphics in VRAM, it goes unused in All-Stars. Note the kinder, gentler look the updated block received.

An animated water body that doesn't look too bad on a brown palette. Could be an early sprite for the foreground water used in the battleship level in World 8.

Title Screen

A spiral cloud, found in the graphics for the title screen, it's different from the used cloud graphic in that this one has outlines and no shadow behind.

Tiles for shadows cast by the decorational bushes, like in the NES version. Below is a mockup of how it would look in-game:

Unused	Used

They were used at one point in development, as seen in a magazine picture.