March 1996 Build

This is a sub-page of Prerelease:Super Mario 64 (Nintendo 64).

These screenshots appear to be a bit later than the Inverted HUD Build, as the HUD more closely resembles the final game. This build was shown as part of a press kit released in 1996, and so it can be found in many magazines around that time, for example, Computer and Video Games Issue 175. Nearly all images on this page come from a CD included in the MPEG Special Vol. 1 magazine, which contains these images in high quality without the grain that comes from printing. The July 2020 Gigaleak contains files of the Player's Choice box art of the game, which uses 4 screenshots from this build. The images included are even higher quality than those on the CD and are used when available.

General Differences#

Mario#

Mario is using the Mario_old model with the final's lighting.
Mario's torso tilts when running and sliding, like the final game.
The camera seems to behave like the final game, panning ahead of Mario as he moves.
It appears as if Mario still starts the game with 2 lives instead of 4, like the Shoshinkai '95 demo.

Coins#

'95 Builds	March '96 Build	Final

Coins still use their early designs with rectangular imprints, but are now vertex colored IA16 textures like the final game. The rectangular imprint is missing in one of the frames.

HUD#

March '96	Final

The HUD has the same order as the final, but the positions of the counters aren't quite the same; the coin and Star counters are slightly closer together, and the lives counter is closer to the Power Meter.
The icons still use the '95 designs.
Lakitu's camera icons in the bottom right are missing.

Level Changes#

Castle Interior#

March '96	Final

The aquariums do not emit beams of light, and are blue tinted.

March '96	Final

The Mirror Room lacks paintings.
Mario's reflection doesn't have a shadow.

Bob-omb Battlefield#

March '96	Final

The cannon uses the brighter rock texture seen on the rock bridge.
The white rockface behind the Chain Chomp is shorter.
The floating island is in a different spot, much higher and hovering above the Chain Chomp.
There is a Goomba and Koopa Troopa near the cannon.
The Goomba has a different face texture and a darker head.
The tree next to the cannon is missing.
The mountain looks different. The ledge on the left with the plank is missing, the ledge on the right is thinner, the grassy terrain between ledges is different, and the mountaintop has a spike sticking out of it.
The skybox's cloud pattern is different.

March '96	Final

There is no stake tethering Chain Chomp.
There is no sign near the Chain Chomp.
The white rockface is wider, but shorter.
The path next to the Chain Chomp is wider, reading the cliff's edge.
The trees are farther apart.
The nearer cliffside fence, the one in front of the Chain Chomp, is absent in this build.

March '96	Final

Rolling balls appear to have higher draw distance, as the fourth one in the background can't be seen from this distance in the final game.
The dirt texture in the rolling ball pit area is more stretched compared to the final.
The texture on the mountain wall loops more often.
The white rockface in the background has no shading.

March '96	Final

The camera is zoomed in farther.
The aforementioned spike is here.
The cannon is on top of the mountain instead of the ledge.
The grass atop the mountain has a strange shading.

Cool, Cool Mountain#

March '96	Final

There's a single coin instead of a line of coins.
There's a tree instead of the Snowman's head in the lower left corner.
The fences lack snow.
The path Mario is sliding on uses a different texture for the wall, which is also less stretched.
The snow and green moss textures are mapped differently, scaled up more compared to the final.

March '96	Final

Jumping Mr. Blizzards are absent in this build.
The floating island with the Bob-omb Buddy is absent.
The island lift's draw distance is larger; in the final game, you can't see it from the bridge.
There is no broken bridge leading to the Red Coin. Instead, the ground extends further.
The bridge's textures don't have snow.
Like the previous screenshot, the snow and green moss are mapped differently.

March '96	Final

There are no fences around the edge of the mountain.
The ledge is covered in snow.
The lift ropes are mapped differently, with the rope cord's winding direction flipped in the final game.
Just like the bridge and fences, the lift also doesn't have snow.

Big Boo's Haunt#

March '96	Final

The skybox is all black.
The walls lack torches.
The sign at the bottom left is missing.

March '96	Final

There are no lanterns above the doors.
The Boo uses early face textures that can be found in the gigaleak.
The Boo holds a key. Unused behavior for a Boo holding a key can be found in the final game.

March '96	Final

The railing uses a different texture, and sits closer to the floor's edge.
The window's light beam effect is missing.
The pillar to the left of the door is missing, and the door knobs are using their lower poly models from draw distance.
The boo painting above the door has a frame around it, it also resembles the painting seen in the '95 B-Roll tape.

Hazy Maze Cave#

March '96	Final

In the Metal Cap portal room:

The room has a drastically different appearance, smaller and more circular in shape.
The brick wall texture is different; the bricks are much larger and less blurry compared to the final.
Mario is wearing a Metal Cap here; this is impossible in the final game, as by the time you get here from the nearest Metal Cap box, time would run out.

Shifting Sand Land#

Outdoors#

March '96	Final

The skybox is slightly different; the clouds are more blue tinted than yellow tinted, and it lacks pyramids. The pattern of the clouds is also different.
The pillars are placed closer to the quicksand.
The top of the pyramid is different; it has a square shaped cap, instead of the traditional sloped cap design of the final game.
The giant fence is a brick wall instead, and it's also shorter, not connecting to the pyramid.
A Goomba is seen near the pillar closest to the camera.
The sand dunes in the background are missing; this could be a culling issue.
The star on top of the pyramid seems to be missing; it's unknown where it was placed.
The 1-Up Mushroom near the quicksand is missing.
The sand texture are mapped differently.

March '96	Final

Pokeys have different textures, with a less menacing design. This early design resembles Pokey's promotional artwork from Super Mario World, while the final one more closely resembles his sprites from that game.

March '96	Final

The Tox Box is floating.
The texture used on the Tox Box platform's sides is less stretched compared to the final.
The pillar on the left isn't present, and the right pillar is rotated at a different angle.
The quicksand's dusty haze hasn't been added yet.

Indoors#

March '96	Final

One of the coins for the Pyramid Puzzle star is missing in the flowing sand.
There are fewer coins under the metal grate. At the end, the two coins are placed differently.
The lighting isn't as dark as the final game's.
There's also a crate on top of the metal grate.

March '96	Final

Spindel has a different face texture, with pill-shaped black eyes and white teeth.
There's an extra path in the bottom right that was removed in the final game.

Rainbow Ride#

The Flamethrower has a completely different design, with different rock texture and blue atop.
Most of the distant platforms seem to be missing.
The rainbow curve has a different shape and a more pixelated texture.
The flying carpet lacks animation and shading.
The HUD lacks a coin counter.

Undetermined#

This could either be Wing Mario Over the Rainbow or Tower of the Wing Cap, as the skybox is used for both levels.

There are no coins in this level.
The coin counter is missing, just like in the Rainbow Ride screenshot above.
Mario's wings appear to be shaded, while they are unlit in the final game.