Small Mario Findings

Unused parameters in the files of Paper Mario: Sticker Star show that 5-Coins were originally meant to be red before being made the same golden color as all other coin denominations.

Note that in Super Mario 64, the most prominent game where different coin denominations used different colors, red coins were worth 2 coins instead, while blue coins were worth 5.

Source: HunterXuman

In Super Mario Galaxy 2, there is a planetoid in the Supermassive Galaxy that is populated by three Giant Koopas (the only instance of these enemies in the game), which have to be defeated via a Spin Drill to hit them from below.

The internal name for the planetoid is "SmallBigMetboZone", with "Metbo" being the Japanese name for the Goombeetle enemy. This suggests that the planetoid was originally meant to feature Giant Goombeetles instead (which do not exist in the finished game).

This would also explain why a Spin Drill is used; normally Koopa Troopas are vulnerable to jumps while Goombeetles aren't, so it would be more logical to have the enemies also be giant versions of something that would not be defeatable by jumping to make the necessity of the Spin Drill more evident (though of course, obviously the intention of the finished game is that the Giant Koopas are simply too large to be bothered by Mario's jumps).

Top: in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, the Boomerang Bros. were given unique designs to match the Beanbean Kingdom location (left) that differentiated them so much from the regular Boomerang Bros. that they were given a new species name in the Nintendo 3DS version: "Beanerang Bros." (right).

Bottom: however, the opposite happened to the Hammer Bros. during development. The earliest design, seen in the prototype version of the game (left), was also made to be Beanbean Kingdom-inspired, but was changed to merely a stylized take on the regular design in the finished game (middle). In the Nintendo 3DS version, this was then completely standardized to an on-model depiction of the regular design (right).

Source: Tailikku

Officially licensed 1996 Mario Kart 64 pullback kart toys from Japan.

Source: blacktangent

Officially licensed 2022 children's Peach-themed gown.

Source: solvethepuzzle

In Super Mario Maker 2, sideways trampolines are a type of object from which Roy will not emerge, while POW Blocks are an object from which he will. As such, if all ground on the screen is covered with sideways trampolines and there is a single POW Block, he will be forced to emerge from the latter.

Since a POW Block is portable, this means that Mario can wait until Roy hides into the POW Block, pick it up and carry it to a different spot in order to create a "portable Roy", as seen in the footage.

Source: SmashyYT

Promotional 2026 Yoshi popcorn bucket for the Super Mario Galaxy Movie.

In World 3-6 of Yoshi's New Island, there are Tree Guys (tree-carrying Shy Guys) that pick up trees and try to carry them off-screen.

If one of them is eaten with proper timing so that the tree is exactly the same distance from the edge of the screen as in the footage, a minor graphical glitch will occur whereby getting onto the tree and touching the edge of the screen will make Yoshi vibrate and the tree produce an infinite fountain of leaves.

Source: ivanfranco120

Officially licensed 2015 Super Mario Bros. pixel art figurines included with toppers on cans of specific brands of coffee in Japan.

Source: tinycartridge

2012 Mario and Peach thank you cards included in packages containing Club Nintendo rewards.

Source: VGArtAndTidbits

Extremely rare 1993 Yoshi's Cookie store display. Note that the cookie making up the background behind Yoshi and Mario does not actually correspond to any type of cookie seen in-game.

Source: cake_hoarder

The final planetoid of the first mission of Yoshi Star Galaxy in Super Mario Galaxy 2, "Saddle Up with Yoshi", is a big striped vertical wall with various platforms jutting out of it.

Interestingly, on top of the wall in the top left of that segment, there are two coins buried in the ground (the kind that require shooting them with a Star Bit to produce them), despite the fact that this spot is not actually reachable without exploits.

The footage shows the "infinite Yoshi flutter" exploit (when Yoshi is almost finished fluttering, release A and press Z, then release Z and press A quickly), which is one of the ways to get up onto that wall.

This is conceptually similar to Super Mario Odyssey later hiding piles of coins on top of tall walls most players are not expected to reach, although in that game all such locations are in fact reachable with standard moves instead of relying on unintended mechanics.

Source: cometobservatory

Officially licensed 2021 Donkey Kong plush with notably darker fur than his usual design.

Top: in the cutscene after defeating Bowser in Super Mario Sunshine, Mario is seen from behind looking down at the broken FLUDD. During this, his neck is visible, which is a slightly different color from the rest of his skin and does not blend naturally into his head, standing out visibly.

Bottom: interestingly, this problem appears to have persisted for at least 15 years after this, since in Super Mario Odyssey Mario's neck is also not designed to blend into his head (visible in-game whenever Mario needs to look up at a very tall NPC like Pauline next to him).

Source: GamerMaxChannel

An unused model for a scrapped stadium found in the files of Super Mario Strikers, called "DK_Daisy_Stadium". This would have been the only time in the history of the Mario franchise where a location would have been themed after specifically the pairing of Donkey Kong and Daisy. One may wonder what kind of commonality of the two such a concept would have been based on, such as e.g. Donkey Kong's jungle theme and Daisy's flower theme resulting in a jungle/flower-themed location.

(Note that "DK" here does in fact refer to Donkey Kong and is not an abbreviation for something else; another unused stadium has the same naming scheme, being "Peach_Toad_Stadium".)

Unfortunately, nearly nothing recognizable remains of the stadium that would reveal what the theming would have been like. The textures are all missing and load a single orange image as a placeholder, and the model itself is nearly unrecognizable as a location.

Source: Tetrabitgaming

Officially licensed 1990 Super Mario Bros. storage box featuring artwork that is a slightly redrawn version of official Super Mario Bros. artwork.

Source: ZeroCool Collectibles

A commonly seen slightly glitched interaction in Donkey Kong Bananza is Donkey Kong getting caught on ledges and remaining in a falling animation in mid-air indefinitely until he is moved from the spot.

A rarer form of this can be seen with moving platforms where if Donkey Kong gets caught on an edge that is moving away from him while in a rolling state, he will also remain in a rolling animation until either the player ends it (e.g. by jumping) or the platform itself becomes inaccessible by moving into a wall or otherwise despawning.

Source: Quartz_-_