Super Mario 64: 10 Facts Every Nintendo Fan Needs To Know
4. The Game Went Through MASSIVE Changes
Even though Super Mario 64 is the most celebrated game on the N64, it could have turned out so differently. At first, each world was going to have a level-clearing flagpole in the same vain as Super Mario Bros. Ultimately, Miyamoto decided to make the levels objective-based, forcing the player to explore.
Several objects can be found in the game's code that were never implemented including a trampoline springer, a lava-enemy called Blarrg, and a Yoshi egg.
A texture of a Metal Winged Cap was rendered for the game, implying the developers considered combining these power ups. Although you can fuse the Vanish and Metal Cap in Dire, Dire Docks, it's impossible to merge the Winged and Metal Cap since they never appear in the same level.
Early previews showed Bowser was meant to shoot ice from his nose and his vocals sounded more like a tiger. Mario's voice also sounded more screechy in the prototype but this was probably just a placeholder.
The game was also meant to be far larger, contained at least 32 levels. Due to memory limitations, the development team had to whittle it down to 15.