2003 - 2004

This is a sub-page of Prerelease:New Super Mario Bros..

With the Super Mario Advance series of games wrapping up development and the Nintendo DS being on the horizon, New Super Mario Bros. started humble in 2003.

Mid to Late 2003, Early 2004#

The idea of a new side-scrolling Super Mario title for the Nintendo DS happened after the release of Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3. People wondered if there would be a fifth entry, but Hiroyuki Kimura decided to make a completely new Super Mario title during development of the Nintendo DS, with inspiration from the Super Mario Advance series of games¹.

Early on in development, the development team set a goal to implement more engaging and functional ways of using 3D models in a 2D platformer. The usage of 3D models wasn't only seen as a natural change, but also as an evolution when New Super Mario Bros. released in 2006².

The reason why there hadn't been a major Super Mario sidescrolling title since Super Mario World in 1991 was due to Rare filling them in with the Donkey Kong Country series of games around the mid-1990s, which were 2D platformers. Nintendo EAD had gone on to develop 3D platformers like Super Mario 64³. Despite that, Nintendo R&D1 would also develop the sidescrolling Super Mario Land and Wario Land sidescrolling games throughout the 1990s.

May 2004#

On May 11th, 2004, New Super Mario Bros. (sometimes stylized as NEW Super Mario Bros.) was revealed alongside the reveal of the Nintendo DS at E3 2004⁵. The game was not playable at the event, with the press only providing information from a fact sheet, b-roll footage and screenshots.

Pictured on the right is a portion of the fact sheet given to the press, mentioning New Super Mario Bros. by name.

Trailer#

Watch on YouTube

This b-roll, dated May 6th, 2004 on Nintendo's E3 2004 B-Roll DVD was widely distributed online during E3 2004. At this point, the game appears to have been nothing more but a tech demo to showcase potential gameplay scenarios⁶. The version of the trailer seen on the right was sourced from Famitsu Wave: E3 Tokuhou! 2004, a DVD featuring the same b-roll at a higher frame rate⁷.

Reportedly, a longer version of this b-roll footage was shown behind closed doors at E3 2004. In the extended b-roll, Mario would've entered pipes and shown Bowser running through the level like Mario, after which he jumped on top of the flagpole at the end of the stage⁸.

General#

• No HUD is present (on the top screen at least).
• None of these tilesets and backgrounds appear in the final game.
• No music plays.

Player#

• Physics are looser and slightly buggy.
• Mario uses different animations, reminiscent of ones in Super Mario 64 DS.
• Mario can perform triple jumps without much speed, like in SM64DS.
• Mario can sideflip and backflip like in Super Mario 64 DS.
• Mega Mario...
  • grows without touching a Mega Mushroom. The growing sound effect is also missing, and Mario's voice line is Ha-haaa!, rather than Here we go!
  • can run (can only "jog" in the final game). This ability is re-introduced in New Super Mario Bros. 2.
  • isn't just limited to the standard jump - he can sideflip.
• Mario speaks when performing normal jumps like in 3D games.
• Mario uses different voice clips, taken from, again, SM64DS.
• Different sound effects are used for shooting fireballs. The fireball shooting sound effect is a lot similar to the one from Super Mario World, albeit lower-pitched.
• The sound effect for breaking bricks is different.

Objects#

• The ? Blocks use different graphics and don't do anything when hit.
• Pipes use different graphics, the green pipes are more tinted and a little closer to blue.
• Coins use different graphics and the sound effect is straight from the booting-up of Aging Card NTR.
• Goombas and Koopas use 3D models and the "enemy defeat" sound is the Spindrift defeating sound when shot by fireballs, and the normal enemy defeating sound when squished (by Mega Mario in the video), both from Super Mario 64 DS.
• Mega Goomba...
  • is smaller and has different model and animations, straight from Super Mario 64 DS.
  • grows after touching a mushroom that uses a tinted version of the Super Mushroom graphic from Super Mario 64 DS. The Super Mushroom in SM64DS makes the player giant, rather than acting like it usually does.
• Mario can move during the Mega Goomba growing cutscene.
• Bowser uses a standing pose, doesn't move, and appears in an overworld area.

Levels#

• None of these areas resemble anything seen in the final game.
• Coins are never seen in such large blocks, other than in World 1-2.
• Bowser is just standing, out in the open.
• Bricks are not seen in this layout.

Screenshots#

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: Via which means did Nintendo release these screenshots? No press sites have been found so far that have copies of these screenshots.

These screenshots, which were shared via one of Nintendo's press sites, appear to be from a later build than the one seen in the video. The first four screenshots seem to have been taken from an analog source, whereas the last one seems to have been taken from a digital source⁹. Curiously, the temporary logo on the bottom screen uses the ComicReggae font by Fontworks. Nintendo used their fonts in various games¹⁰.

General#

• Mario now gains 100 points for trampling or shooting Goombas. This value was doubled for the final.
• The mushrooms on the touchscreen seem to rotate and move back and forth. They might be decorations or an early inventory - and maybe something to do with Mega Mario.
• The last two screenshots show a level not seen in the trailer. Both screenshots appear to show the same part of the level.

References#