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Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

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Title Screen

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

Also known as: Super Mario RPG (JP)
Developers: Square
Publishers: Nintendo (JP/US), Hyundai (KR)
Platform: SNES
Released in JP: March 9, 1996
Released in US: May 13, 1996
Released in EU: August 22, 2008 (VC)
Released in AU: August 22, 2008 (VC)
Released in KR: 1996


AreasIcon.png This game has unused areas.
CopyrightIcon.png This game has hidden developer credits.
DevTextIcon.png This game has hidden development-related text.
EnemyIcon.png This game has unused enemies.
GraphicsIcon.png This game has unused graphics.
ItemsIcon.png This game has unused items.
Sgf2-unusedicon1.png This game has unused abilities.
TextIcon.png This game has unused text.
DebugIcon.png This game has debugging material.
SoundtestIcon.png This game has a hidden sound test.
RegionIcon.png This game has regional differences.
Carts.png This game has revisional differences.


PrereleaseIcon.png This game has a prerelease article
DCIcon.png This game has a Data Crystal page

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars is a unique collaboration between Nintendo and Square which gave birth to the first in a line of Mario role-playing games.

A remake for the Nintendo Switch was released on November 17, 2023.

Sub-Pages

Read about prerelease information and/or media for this game.
Prerelease Info
Blank.png
Unused Text
SMRPG-TestMap.png
Unused Maps and Battle Backgrounds
Test maps, early versions of existing locations, and even some completely scrapped areas!
SMRPGBabaYaga.png
Unused Enemies
They didn't bother putting in proper stats for these guys.

Developer Message

Hmmm...
To do:
What is the character floating on the right?

A hidden message from Mitsuo Yoshioka, credited in the game as the menu programmer, which is located at 0x30010 (CPU address C30010) in all versions of the ROM:

JP version US version
JAPANESE VER.   
by M.YOSHIOKA   ‘
大滝秀治命   
ENGLISH  VER.   
by M.YOSHIOKA   ‘
大滝秀治命   

大滝秀治命 roughly translates to "The Honorable Hideji Ootaki".

Debug Menu (Battle)

The Debug Menu

Not only does this game have a debug menu, but it is a very complex one, at that. To enable it, use Pro Action Replay (PAR) code C106AF80, enter any battle, and simply press Start on your turn. The different options it contains are as follow:

  • SCENE - Battle select. Allows you to select any battle/formation in the game, including ones which go unused.
  • OBJ - Allows you to view all the uncompressed sprites in the game!
  • BG - Allows you to change the current battle background.


  • HPMAX - Simply refills your HP to its current maximum. It won't max out your HP to 999.
  • MUSIC - Lets you listen to all music tracks.
  • SE - Allows you to listen to all the sound effects in the game.
  • LINE - Used to measure the CPU usage of what it would use on the SNES, nothing too fancy. Can simply be turned on or off.


  • EFFECT - Used to show the background animation of objects like the Star used for Mallow's Star Rain or the rock from Bowser's Crusher attack.
  • EVT 1 - Leads directly to the first fight to save Peach from Bowser.
  • EVT 2 - Leads directly to the fight with Boomer at Bowser's Keep.
  • EVT 3 - Leads directly to the Smithy fight.
  • TEST - Simply shows the animation used when Smithy transforms into his true form, after which the game hangs.
(Source: SMRPG Secrets)

Spell Effect Test Menu

The Debug Menu

This menu tests several HDMA and translucency effects used in magic attacks. To enable it, add the above debug menu code, in addition with PAR codes C106D2F3 and C106D307. Once that is done, simply enter a battle, and then press Start on your turn.

  • MAGIC - Lets you choose from several spell effects that utilize translucency.
  • LASTER - Most certainly meaning "Raster" given Japanese phonology, this option displays an image of the Big Boo from Bowser's Terrorize special. Pressing Left and Right lets you manipulate the image.
  • BGLASTER - Same function as the one above, but this one tests vertical scaling. Pressing Up and Down scales the image.
(Source: Giangurgolo - Creator of the LazyShell editor)

Debug Menu (Overworld)

Overworld Debug Menu

A different debug menu, this one intended for the overworld, which can be accessed with PAR codes D4AFC100 D4AFC226 DF000001, and talking to the lamp in Mario's Pipehouse (please note that you have to enable the codes before entering the pipehouse).

Below is a tree showing the page flow in the debug menu. Options shown in bold are blanked out in the English version:

  • Next
    • Next
      • Next
        • Next
        • Booster Hill, Booster chase
        • next page-->
          • Next Booster Hill, beetle chase
          • Booster Hill, flower search
          • Booster Hill, beetle chase no box*
      • Moleville from minecart
      • Midas River waterfall
    • leads to Sky Bridge
    • leads to Land's End Desert
  • next page-->
    • Next
      • Next
        • Next
        • INTRO: Jumping on Wiggler
        • INTRO: Bowser troops at Moleville
      • INTRO: Bandit's Way
      • INTRO: Booster Hill, Snifit chase
    • INTRO: Midas River tunnel
    • INTRO: Midas River Barrels
  • Option
    • Next
      • Next
        • Next
        • Moleville, Item Trade Shop
        • restart from first menu
      • 99 flowers
      • Max level up
    • 500 coins
    • 1 level up

Debug Room

Debug Map

This game contains not only two debug menus, but also a debug room, found at map 00, which plays the Mushroom Kingdom theme and uses the standard grassland tileset. The map itself is quite large, though all relevant objects are only found in the first part, leaving the rest of the map completely vacant. To access this map, enable PAR codes 7FF40400 7FF40501 and walk through a loading zone.

Upon entering the area, the following message will be displayed:

    The World Map
   Talk to the person of the place
           you wish to go to.


All the NPCs in this map bring up different functions, with the only exception being Mario, who is a useless NPC:

  • Toad (top-left) - Saves your game, enables all party members and world map locations, gives you a Signal Ring, and brings you directly to the credits.
  • Toad (top-center) - Warps you to Nimbus Land.
  • Toad (top-right) - Warps you to Barrel Volcano.
  • Toad (center) - Warps you to Bean Valley.
  • Toad (bottom-center) - Warps you to Monstro Town.
  • Toad (bottom-right) - Warps you to Land's End.
  • Bowser - Warps you to Bowser's Keep.

All of these locations appear late in the game, suggesting that these were the last ones the developers tested.

(Source: Map originally ripped by Peardian from The Spriters Resource)

Unused Cutscenes

There exist two unused alternate versions of the scenes where Princess Peach is trapped in Booster Tower. Both of these scenes can be viewed through the aforementioned debug menu, the first one being found under BG:11 SCENE:150, and the second under BG:11 SCENE:151.


First Scene
The scene that plays after Mario arrives at Booster Tower for the first time, with Princess Peach overhearing him from the top of the tower. Namely, the early version of this scene is a bit more emotional, as well as being longer.

Early Scene Final Scene
Peach on the ground, shaking and crying.

I'll never get out...

Shakes and cries for a bit and then gets up.

Did I just hear voices?

Looks left and right.

Could... could it be Mario?...

Walks up to the balcony, then looks down and jumps in surprise.

Mario!! You did come to save me!

Excitedly sends kisses Mario's way.

Mario! I'm up here!

Peach standing up, crying.

Oh?

Stops crying and looks left and right.

Did I just hear some voices?

Jumps and looks toward the camera.

It couldn't be...!

Runs toward the balcony, then looks down and recoils in surprise.

I can't believe it!
It's Mario!

Reaches out with her arms and jumps a few times.

Mario~!!!
I'm up here!


Second Scene
The scene that plays after Mario first tries to access the balcony area of Booster Tower. Namely, the early version of this scene is shorter and has less dialogue from the Princess.

Early Scene Final Scene
Mario looks through the door's window, Peach recoiling with surprise upon seeing him.

Mario!! You did come to save me!

Peach runs toward the door.

Thank you so much, Mario.

Nods and then looks left and right.

But the door's locked...

Mario looks through the door's window, Peach jumping with excitement upon seeing him and then running toward the door.

TOADSTOOL: Mario!
You DID come to rescue me.
I was so frightened and lonely.
But now that you're here...

Mario shakes his head.

TOADSTOOL: The door won't open?
I think we need Booster's spell
To undo the lock on it.
Oh, what should we do?

Unused NPC Data

The exterior of Grate Guy Casino is located on the same physical map as Seaside Town. While this in itself is not particularly unusual, there are some NPCs on the Seaside Town portion which are loaded with the Casino but cannot normally be seen, nor interacted with:

  • Male Toad - Is assigned the string used by this map's Geno NPC. Is programmed to bob up and down repeatedly, for some odd reason.
  • Geno - Walks back and forth repeatedly. When interacted with, he'll exclaim "Come on! Let's get this show on the road." before resuming his endless walk cycle.
  • Terrapins – Two Terrapins which are stationary but play their walking animation nonetheless. Touching them triggers a battle against two Goombas, with the battle background used being the Mushroom Kingdom one.

Unused Battle Formations

Group ID Pack ID(s) Enemies Notes
010 08 K-9 Part of an unused, easier version of the K-9 enemy pack in Bandit's Way.
03F N/A Sparky x4
040 20 Goomba
Shy Ranger x4
Packs 20 and 21 were intended for the Pipe Vault, which instead uses the Goomba packs from Bandit's Way.
041 20, 21 Goomba x2
Shy Ranger x2
042 20, 21 Goomba x2
Piranha Plant x2
043 21 Goomba
Piranha Plant x2
Sparky
054 2A Lakitu Part of an unused, easier version of the Lakitu enemy pack in Booster Pass.
06B 35 Lakitu Part of an unused, harder version of the Blaster enemy pack in Booster Tower.
06C 35 Torte Both packs are unused. Either you were intended to fight chefs in Marrymore, or Torte replaced a different enemy.
06D 35, 36 Torte x2
06E 35, 36 Torte x3
06F 36 Torte x4
08B N/A Bandana Red x2
Dry Bones x2
Straw Head
This is an easier version of another unused enemy group that is part of a pack.
08C 46 Bandana Blue Another two enemy packs that are never seen. Bandana Blues are only seen with Johnny.
08D 46, 47 Bandana Blue x2
Greaper
08E 46, 47 Bandana Blue x4
08F 47 Bandana Blue x2
Straw Head
Greaper x2
09B 4D Greaper
Gorgon
Straw Head x2
Part of an unused, harder version of the Greaper enemy pack in the Sunken Ship.
09C 4E Drill Bit Two unused enemy packs with four unused enemy groups populated by an unused enemy.
09D 4E, 4F Drill Bit x2
09E 4E, 4F Drill Bit x3
09D 4F Drill Bit x4
0A8 54 Chomp Chomp Part of an unused, easier version of the Chomp Chomp enemy pack in Bean Valley.
0BC 5E Bluebird x2 Part of an unused, easier version of the Chomp Chomp enemy pack in Nimbus Castle.
0BE 5E Bluebird x4
0C3 61 Pinwheel x3
Sling Shy x2
Part of an unused, easier version of the Pinwheel enemy pack in Nimbus Castle.
0DF 6F Terra Cotta x2
Gu Goomba x2
Forkies
Part of an unused, harder version of the Terra Cotta enemy pack in Bowser's Keep.
0EB 75 Big Bertha x2
Terra Cotta
Part of an unused, harder version of the Big Bertha enemy pack in Bowser's Keep.
0EC 76 Magikoopa
Terra Cotta x4
An interesting set! Either the Magikoopa once behaved differently or it replaced a different enemy. Since the Magikoopa is coded as a boss, the other enemies don't show up. Perhaps the Magikoopa was once a regular enemy.
0ED 76, 77 Magikoopa
Malakoopa x2
Tub-O-Troopa
0EE 76, 77 Magikoopa
Gu Goomba x2
Star Cruster
0EF 77 Magikoopa
Forkies
Star Cruster
0F5 N/A Springer
Ameboid
Ninja
This was likely intended for pack 7A, which has two copies of the "Spring, Glum Reaper" group.
0F8 N/A Ameboid Intended for packs 82 and 83, which instead contain 3 copies each of the 5x Ameboid group.
These are old enemy groups, and Gunyolk and Boomer replaced whatever the original enemies were.
0F9 N/A Ameboid x2
Gunyolk
0FA N/A Ameboid
Gunyolk
Boomer
104 7C, 7D Mad Mallet x2 Mad Mallets were supposed to appear in large groups as random enemies.
Only the 3x Mad Mallet group is used in the game, but it's used in a different pack.
106 7C, 7D Mad Mallet x5
107 N/A Mad Mallet x4
Clerk
Another old group, likely intended for pack 7D. Clearly, the Clerk wasn't part of the game's earlier design.
108 7E, 7F Pounder Unlike the Mad Mallet packs, none of these sets are used.
109 7E, 7F Pounder x3
10A 7E, 7F Pounder x5
10B N/A Pounder x4
Clerk
Like group 107, but with Pounders.
111 N/A Axem Rangers An odd group. Whatever this one enemy was, the Axem Rangers enemy now appears in its enemy ID slot.
117 A5 (Croco #3) A third battle with Croco. The Croco in this battle doesn't have an action script and only has 10 HP.
11A N/A Right Eye, Bandana Red Another coded-over boss. The Right Eye clearly wasn't supposed to be in these groups...
11B N/A Right Eye, Bandana Red x2
11C N/A Right Eye, Bandana Red x4
120 N/A (Belome #3) A third battle with Belome! Like Croco #3, he only has 10 HP and no action script.
123 N/A Microbomb A very intense boss battle against...oh, a Microbomb. More boss overwriting!
128 N/A Axem Yellow Yet another boss battle with a boss that's no longer in the game.
12C N/A King Bomb, Mezzo Bomb This boss duo was overwritten with the two largest Bob-ombs. They sure get around.
140 80, 81 Poundette Sick of unused hammer enemy groups yet?
141 80, 81 Poundette x3
142 80, 81 Poundette x5
143 N/A Poundette x4
Clerk
Like group 107, but with Poundettes. Yep.
160 BE Super Spike x3 Possibly used to test the game's random group code.
161 BE Super Spike x4
1FD N/A Bundt, Raspberry, Terrapin x2 A very strange set that appears right before the Bowser battle's ending group.

Unused Items

There are a few unused items present in the game, though they're less proper ones and more along the lines of developer items to quickly test status effects on characters. They are as follow:

  • Bomb (ボム) - Deals 255 damage to a single enemy.
  • Debug Bomb (デバッガーボム, "Debugger Bomb") - Deals 255 damage to all enemies.
  • Doom Bomb (ころしボム, "Kill Bomb") - Deals 255 damage to targeted ally.
  • Bane Bomb (どくボム, "Poison Bomb") - Causes "Poison" status on targeted ally.
  • Fear Bomb (きょうふボム) - Causes "Fear" status on targeted ally.
  • Sleep Bomb (ねむりボム) - Causes "Sleep" status on targeted ally.
  • Mute Bomb (ちんもくボム) - Causes "Mute" status on targeted ally.
  • S.Crow Bomb (カカシボム) - Causes "Scarecrow" status on targeted ally.
  • Secret Game (ひみつのゲーム) - It appears that the Beetle Mania game was also supposed to be an item. Its description is "A super popular video game!", and it sells for 999 coins. In the final game, Beetle Mania adds itself to the menu, rendering this item unused.

Note that the used bombs also use a different Japanese term, which more directly translates to "ball".

(Source: SMRPG Secrets - Bombs info, Liliana - Secret game info, “LiThL” - Japanese)

Unused Attacks

There are a few unused enemy attacks, as well. The first four can be seen in action here.

  • Toxicyst (どくきのこのほうし, "Poison Mushroom Spore") - Throws green spores at the party. Causes Poison status.
  • Dahlia Dance (フラワーダンス, "Flower Dance") - Turns one character into a mushroom.
  • Chain Saw - Same as the Corona attack. Name isn't displayed.
  • Knock Out (いしきふめい) - Deals 9999 to all party members.
  • Royal Flush (ロイヤルストレート. "Royal Straight") - A physical attack, and the only attack with an 8× modifier in the game. Based on his other moves (Full House and Wild Card, which are 2× and 4× respectively), it was almost certainly intended for Jester, but removed due to being a bit overpowered.
  • Sickle (かかしのかま, "S’crow Sickle") - Turns one character into a scarecrow, has a 1.5× modifier.
(Source: SMRPG Secrets, Liliana, “LiThL” - Japanese)

Unused Battle-Related Code

Under the hood rests unused code.

Unused Status Ailment

There exists an unused status ailment which, when cast on an ally, will cause the player to lose control of said character, with them continuously physically attacking random targets, including other party members and themselves until the ailment is cleared. May have been intended as a sort of "Confused" or "Berserk" status ailment, both of them being standards in RPGs. Interestingly, when cast on an enemy, they will also lose control and select random targets, including themselves, but the attacks will miss 100% of the time. In addition, if both the enemy and an ally character have this status effect on them, enemies will use "Scream" and "Hammer Time" randomly with a 100% miss chance, but it is unclear as to why they use these attacks in particular.

Other noteworthy tidbits are the portrait does change to an unused index, sequence 6. If the ally attacks themselves and they fall/are wounded, they will revert back to their standing position when transferring back to their original coordinates. The byte for this status ailment is 10.

This status would reappear, still unused, in Paper Mario.

(Source: Yakibomb)

Unused Item Behavior

All items (weapons, armors and consumables) are made up of 18 bytes. Consumable items are the only ones to make use of byte 17 for Attack Flags. Setting this to 03 will enable an unused string of code to add stats to a character upon use. Stats that can be modified are Speed, Attack, Defense, Magic Attack, and Magic Defense.

The code can be found at C2:C074 - C2:C0B1.

(Source: Yakibomb)

Unused Equipment Parameters

Weapons, items, armors and accessories are akin in that they are all made up of 18 bytes for parameters for various functions, with byte 1 setting the type of item or equipment it will be.

Byte 5, Bits 4-7: These bits, dedicated for the elements (Ice, Thunder, Fire, and Jump respectively), set a weapon's damage type to that element if applied to a weapon, armor or accessory. Judging by how weapons, armors and accessories are applied to the character, it was definitely intended for weapons to use elements at some point, but for whatever reason, it was never used. It even has a byte on the character's RAM dedicated to it: 7E:004B, which can be set to 10, 20, 40, or 80 to get that element's effect.

Unused Spell Damage Parameters

Spells are made up of 12 bytes for parameters, using bits to enable/disable certain functions. Interestingly, Byte 1, Bit 0: Uses atk/def of caster/target to calculate final damage, instead of using mg.attack/mg.defense. This completely ignores adding the spell's power.

Unused Party Member Leftovers

There are leads within the code that point to what may have been an ultimately cut sixth party member. At a glance, there are unused specials commands and coordinates for the ABXY buttons on the battle screen if said character were to exist. All named "DUMMY" (ダミー), these unused specials are most likely leftovers from how the game writes to a character's specials pool, however, they still function as any ally special would. The animations themselves are actually incorrectly read pointers, due to how the code is organized. The animation code is placed just after the pointers, so when the code reads the pointers to play the animation for the dummy specials, the game is actually reading the beginning of the animation script used by Mario's Jump special. Also noteworthy, these dummy specials all share the same timing as the specials Jump, Therapy, Crusher, HP Rain, and Shocker, because the timings themselves (located at C2:CACB) are all read by the same code.

The coordinates for the ABXY buttons for the battle screen do have bytes dedicated for the X/Y position for one more character. The coordinates are the same exact as Mario's. It is loaded at C2:3461 (with the coordinates themselves at C2:3685).

(Source: Yakibomb)

Mushroom Ailment Oddities

The Mushroom ailment is meant to immediately pass the character's turn if they are afflicted with it, however, disabling the turn skip by pointing the ailment to do something else reveals that it disables the three action commands for attacks, items and specials. Seeing how it leaves the defend/run command enabled, this could suggest the player once had some control over the Mushroom, though this could also simply be a leftover that has no significance whatsoever.

Additionally, the game checks to see if Mushroom or Fear are set to calculate final damage. If either are set, damage is divided by 2.

Unused Bowyer Behavior

Bowyer's battle script (as well as the one of his Machine Made counterpart) has code that re-enables all buttons if the Carbo Cookie is used on him. In the final game, the Carbo Cookie is an event item that cannot be used in battle, so this is likely leftover code that was meant to target a different item that got cut from the game.

Unused Graphics

Unused Palettes

Sprite Palettes

Red, Green, Blue, Yellow...

It seems that every item graphic was given a red, green, blue and yellow palette. A few items, such as bombs, made use of all four palettes. Most items, however, did not. Not a single one of the above item palettes are used.

SMRPG-RedHammer.pngSMRPG-BlueHammer.png

Unused red and blue palettes for the hammer. These may have been intended as elemental hammers, or just as a way to distinguish the various hammers in the game.

Unused Used
Smrpg unused noknokshell redpalette.pngSmrpg unused noknokshell orangepalette.png
Smrpg Used NokNok Shell Palette.png

Two unused recolors for the NokNok Shell, one red and the other orange.

Unused Used
Smrpg unused troopashell palettegreen.gif Smrpg Used Troopa Shell Palette.gif
Smrpg unused troopashell paletteorange.gif

Two unused recolors for the Troopa Shell, one green and the other red.

Unused Used
Smrpg unused lazyshell palettegreen.gifSmrpg unused lazyshell paletteorange.gif Smrpg Used Lazy Shell Palette.gif

Two unused recolors for the Lazy Shell, one green and the other orange.

SMRPG-BlueCymbals.png

An unused greyish-blue palette for Mallow's Cymbals.

(Source: Yakibomb)

SMRPG-axem teleport yellow.pngSMRPG-axem teleport pink.pngSMRPG-axem teleport black.pngSMRPG-axem teleport green.png

Individual palettes for the teleportation animation used by the Axem Rangers, who in the final game inexplicably all use Red's red teleportation palette. The Switch remake rectifies this and gives the Rangers their own teleportation colors.

(Source: Mattrizzle)

Background Palettes

SMRPGVolcanos.png

A darker, unused alternate palette for the caves tileset.

(Source: The IT)
SMRPGMKBattlefield.png
SMRPGMKBattlefieldScreen.png

An early palette for the Mushroom Kingdom castle which could be seen in the game's 1995 V-Jump Festival presentation.

(Source: The IT)

SMRPG-Unused Menu Palette.png

This layer 3 palette is loaded into CGRAM indices $08-$0B on the menu screens, but isn't used.

When the palette is applied to the top left corner tile of each red border, a visible shine can be seen:

Used Mockup with unused palette
SMRPG-Menu.png SMRPG-Menu Border with Unused Palette.png

Said tile is clearly drawn with this palette in mind and looks rather out of place in the final game, so this palette going unused was probably a mistake.

(Source: Mattrizzle)

Unused Graphics

+ marks the spot?

A generic placeholder which appears several times in the debug menu.

Use code C1121CBD to display them.

SMRPG unused numerals closeup.png

These are located in the same bank as the other digits. They are just different numbers, likely intended for the battle UI. These are actually very similar to the numbers used for the in-battle page scrolling number display.

SMRPG unused numerals 2.png

Even more unused digits, alongside some other tiles, located just above the rest of the battle UI GFX. Curiously, after the 9 are two tiles that are just two 1, except one is solid and the other is hollow.

Poor lad...

Unused graphics which are found right under the chandelier graphic in Bowser's Keep (at 01C000 in yychr). They appear to lack a proper palette, and depict a Shy Guy idle, sitting, and knocked down, alongside a star and an unknown object. These graphics are rather intriguing, as they don't match the final game’s art style, indicating that they must have been made rather early on in development.

Caution: Slippery!

A banana peel with eyes, not unlike the ones seen in the Mario Kart games. It could probably have worked just about anywhere, although the most likely place would have been Booster Hill (probably while chasing Booster himself).

Caution: Spiky!

A small sea urchin, which appears to be based on the Urchin enemy from Super Mario World. Probably intended as a trap of sorts for the Sea or Sunken Ship areas. Oddly enough, two instances of this object are actually loaded up in-game, being found out of bounds during the scene where Mario has to gather Peach's belongings during her makeshift marriage with Booster.

Unused Used
SMRPG-unused mario doll front.pngSMRPG-unused mario doll back.png SMRPG-used mario doll front.pngSMRPG-used mario doll back.png

There are two versions of the Mario doll in the game, with only the one on the right being used in-game. The unused variant is pretty much only a miniature version of Mario's regular sprite, while the used sprite conveys a more toy-like aesthetic.

Smrpgpipe left.pngSmrpgpipe right.png

How the wall pipes look when placed in-game.

Pipes that go into walls, which actually have metatiles defined for them in an unused version of the sewer tileset (L1/L2 tileset setting 59 in Lazy Shell). The used version of the tileset replaces these with the gargoyles from Belome Temple.

Smrpg unused bouquet.png

Found in the Marrymore tileset, these are just two bouquets of flowers which never get used anywhere.

Smrpg unusedbelomestatue.png

A Belome statue, unsurprisingly meant for Belome Temple. Due to the statues always being placed on the left walls, this right-facing sprite ultimately went unused.

Smrpgearly blackjack table.png

An early version of the blackjack table from Grate Guy's Casino, this one is a lot less detailed and has a more curved shape. Seeing how this sprite is only found in the lobby, this could either mean that the main area of the casino once used the same graphics, or that this room was the main area at one point.

Smrpgunused ship.png

Within the game's data, there lies graphics for an early version of the Sunken Ship. There, the full ship is present, instead of just the mast, sails, and crow's nest. The ship also faces the opposite direction (top-right instead of bottom-left), and the crow's nest doesn't look like a pipe opening. The latter point is interesting, as it could mean that early in development there must have been another method of entry, or that the ship wasn't originally intended to be explored.

Interestingly, this ship design can be seen in the ending parade, with the early crow's nest fully intact.

SMRPGGraphics.png

Two graphics for the Sunken Ship. The shark is likely a placeholder sprite for the Bandana sharks, while the "30" is a developer's marking.

(Source: The IT)

SMRPGUnusedDirtMountain.png SMRPGDirtMountains2.png

What looks like smooth stone structures that may have belonged to a different style of cave tileset.

(Source: The IT)
SMRPGCloud.png

A rather crude drawing of a typical Mario-styled cloud. Most likely an early version of the clouds from Nimbus Kingdom's sky.

SMRPG-Hollow Sign Left.pngSMRPG-Hollow Sign Right.png

SMRPG-NimbusEarly.png

Signs saying "HOLLOW" which were once used in Nimbus Land, and can be seen in early game screenshots.

SMRPGTrophyStands.png

SMRPGTrophyStandsScreen.png

An early version of the trophy stands found in Nimbus Castle. The grey one can be seen in early game screenshots.

SMRPGUnusedYo'sterIsleEndingGraphic.gif

An animation for the flowers which only appear during the ending sequence on Yo'ster Isle. They are completely stationary during said sequence, rendering this animation unused.

Smrpg effect spiderweb.gif

An unused battle effect which depicts a spiderweb expanding and then disintegrating. While it's not really clear what this may have been intended for, it's possible this was meant for Arachne and/or Spinthra, both of them spider-like enemies.

Smrpg effect unknown.gif

An unused battle effect which isn't easily seen listed in the game, instead needing a little digging. To view this animation in this game's main editor, Lazy Shell, change the Image to 131 and Animation to 198. While it's not really clear what this may have been intended for, it's possible this may have been intended to be used for Mallow when he uses his cymbals.

SMRPG-Lakitu.gif

An unused animation for a Lakitu using an air pump.

SMRPG-Unused Toadofsky Conduct.gif

An unused animation for Toadofsky, the conductor character in Tadpole Pond.

SMRPG-Animation.107.Mold.12.png

An unused sprite of Carroboscis, an enemy in Booster Pass.

SMRPG-ShysterUnusedBounce.gif

An unused variant of the Shyster's bounce animation.

Smrpg unused elder1.pngSmrpg unused elder2.png

These are found paired with the rest of the elder graphics and would have been used during Bowyer's reign on Rose Town.

Smrpg unused genoanimation bonk.gif

An unused animation of Geno holding his head. A similar animation plays when Geno first comes to life and bonks against the staircase, though there he is seen from the back.

Smrpg unused peachanimation cry.gif

An unused animation of Princess Peach crying profusely on the floor. This animation is used in the early version of the cutscene where Mario first arrives at Booster Tower, the final one instead using the animation of Peach crying while standing up. Moreover, the first frame of this animation is actually used during Peach and Booster's wedding after Peach gets knocked down by Mario and Bowser's impromptu entrance.

Smrpg unused peachanimation fakecry.gif

An alternate, equally unused version of the aforementioned Princess Peach crying animation. This one is rather interesting, as at the end Peach is seen poking her eye out as if to see if whoever she was beside saw that she was crying. It's unknown where this "fake cry" animation would have been used.

SMRPG-UnusedCzarDragonSpin.gif

An unused variation of Czar Dragon's spell casting animation. Was going to be used for a charge up animation, akin to Valor up, or Vigor up.

Smrpg unused leuko attack.gif

An attack which would have been used by the enemy Leuko, as well as its palette-swap Muckle. Due to them only using magic, this physical attack animation goes completely unseen.

SMRPG-ChesterAttack.gif

The Chester enemy, from the end of one of Bowser's battle doors, has an attack animation which goes unused as this enemy does not physically attack, it only uses spells and summons a Bahamutt. The attack animation reveals that an Ameboid is inside the chest. This also means that this enemy's impressive Attack stat (220, the highest out of all enemies in the game) goes completely unused.

SMRPG-RightEyePeepLeftUnused.gif

An unused animation of Exor's right eye looking to the left.

SMRPG-RightEyePeepRightUnused.gif

An unused animation of Exor's right eye looking to the right.

SMRPG-LeftEyePeepLeftUnused.gif

An unused animation of Exor's left eye looking to the left.

SMRPG-LeftEyePeepRightUnused.gif

An unused animation of Exor's left eye looking to the right.

SMRPG-SmithyHeadSmall.pngSMRPG-SmithyHeadSmall.gif

A small version of Smithy's head. It is actually used in the transformation cutscene, in which this head morphs into the full-sized head, but Smithy is completely obscured by the beam of light, so it is never seen.

SMRPG-Smithy head attack.gif

An attack animation for Smithy's normal head, which never attacks. It does play repeatedly during Smithy's death animation if the player somehow defeats him before he changes his head.

SMRPG-UnusedSmithyTankSpell.gif

A spell casting animation for Smithy's Tank head form. While we can't be sure, it's likely it was for spell casting, as it plays when it uses a spell, if given one.

Smrpg unused graphic pokeball.png

Unlike most graphics seen in this game, this is one is certainly the most bizarre. Having seemingly no place anywhere to be shown in the game, this graphic, featuring Mario's primary colors, is curiously placed just before Smithy's graphics, whose graphics are just before Mario's!

(Source: Yakibomb, The IT, LightsJusticeZ)

Regional Differences

Intro

Japan US
SMRPGIntroBowserJ.pngSMRPGIntroPeachJ.png SMRPGIntroBowserU.pngSMRPGIntroPeachU.png

During the intro cutscene, "King Koopa" was appropriately changed to "King Bowser", while "Princess Peach" was renamed "Princess Toadstool".

Title Screen

Japan US
SMRPGTitleScreenJ.png Smrpg title us.png

The banner under the game's logo was extended to fit the localized subtitle, and the copyright date was updated.

File Select

Japan US
SMRPGFileSelectJ.png SMRPGFileSelectU.png

The file select screen was completely reworked, probably so that long location names such as "Mushroom Kingdom" could fit in there.

Menu Screens

Japan US
SMRPGMainMenuJ.pngSMRPGEquipMenuJ.png SMRPGMainMenuU.pngSMRPGEquipMenuU.png

The borders of some menu boxes were widened so they could fit more text, as seen with the main menu as well as the Equip sub-menu.

Battle Buttons

Japan US
Super Mario RPG JP Battle Buttons.png Super Mario RPG US Battle Buttons.png

In the Japanese version, the battle menu buttons, as well as the ones in Bowyer's boss fight, reflect the Japanese Super Famicom controller with the colored buttons. In the US version, the buttons on the controller are all purple, so this change was also reflected in-game.

Geno's True Name

Japan US
Super Mario RPG JP Geno True Name.png Super Mario RPG US Geno True Name.png

Interestingly, Geno's true name is different between the Japanese and localized versions. The original release uses unique characters that are only used here, while the localized build went with standard characters seen all throughout the game.

Bowser's Victory Pose

Japan US
Super Mario RPG JP Victory.png Super Mario RPG US Victory.png

Bowser's victory pose was changed for the American version to not resemble the offensive Iberian slap, also known as bras d'honneur.

Easter Egg

Japan US
Super Mario RPG JP Peach Easter Egg.png Super Mario RPG US Peach Easter Egg.png

In Princess Peach's bedroom, interacting with the right side of the fireplace will cause Mario to find one of the princess's hidden belongings, prompting her to scold Mario and ordering him to put the item back where he found it. Originally called "Toadstool's XXX", this mystery item was renamed "Toadstool's ???" in the localized versions, likely to reduce any dirty connotation.

Bowser's Poem

Japan US
Super Mario RPG JP Bowser Poem.png Super Mario RPG US Bowser Poem.png

The poem Bowser composes in Smithy's factory is different between versions. The original is a poem, which translates to "Why does everyone say 'Mario, Mario'? My heart is very sad.". Meanwhile, the localized version replaces it with a self-congratulatory haiku where Bowser praises his undeniable intellect and undisputable musculature. Also worth noting is how the Japanese version ends the poem with Bowser's name, while the localized version ends it with "~Haiku".

Secret Code

The Japanese version features a secret button combination, which, once inputted, will trigger a short humorous scene with Toad. Upon opening the menu, after pressing Down, Up, Right, Left, Select, Start, Select, Start, B, Toad will show up and take you to your status screen, showing that none of your stats have changed. He then discourages you from looking for other cheats, and afterwards the game resumes as usual. This entire scene was inexplicably removed in the American version, but is restored in all versions of the Nintendo Switch remake. Here is a translation of the dialogue spoken by Toad in this scene:

Secret code found!

Now, let's take a look at your Status.


...Wow! 

Nothing's changed at all.

But, what about your experience points...


Nope, nothing's changed.


There's no point in looking for other codes,

and the result will always be the same.

I'll play with you as many times as you like, though... 

Secret Code END
(Source: Legends of Localization)

Psychopath Thoughts

In the Japanese version, all of the Psychopath thoughts consist of various 90's Japanese pop culture references, likely meant as an easter egg for explorers. For various reasons, this did not get through the translation, and the localized version has some completely generic lines instead, with the sole exception of the Goombette enemy, which had a reference to United States history added for the localization.


(Source: Legends of Localization)

Script Behavior

Some of the text boxes behave slightly differently between the Japanese and American releases. For example, the lines after Exor crashes into Bowser's Keep and before Mario jumps into the Bowyer battle are automatic in the Japanese version. In the American release, they last until the player pushes the A button.

Exor

For reasons still unknown, Exor's mouth, which is simply known as "Mouth" in the Japanese version, was inexplicably renamed "Neosquid" in the localized version.

(Source: A special thanks to themushroomkingdom.net for a majority of this section.)

Virtual Console Changes

  • Certain spell animations, such as Static-E! and Flame Wall, were toned down due to them originally featuring bright flashing colors that could potentially cause epileptic seizures.
  • For unclear reasons, the rocky floor and cliffs in Moleville, Booster Pass, and the beginning portion of Land's End was darkened significantly for the Virtual Console versions.
  • The European English VC release alters one line spoken by Croco early on in the game, changing the word "bugger" to "pest", as "bugger" is a vulgarity in British English. The Nintendo Switch remake uses the European English version of the line in all regions.
(Source: BlazingMan11)