Mario Superstar Baseball

Prototype Info Prerelease Info Notes Unused StadiumsUnused stadiums Mario and friends never got to play on. Unused GraphicsUnused graphics, icons, and textures. Unused ModelsUnused models with a Super Smash Bros. Melee-esque artstyle...and other Namco stars! Regional DifferencesDifferences between the Japanese, American, and European versions of the game. OdditiesWhat do you mean Namco "borrowed" a screenshot from IGN for the final game?!

Debug Mode#

To do: Find a way to get the text from the .rel file to load in the menu and provide more info Provide codes for loading the debug menu in the European version, US and Japanese demos

The aaaa.dat file includes three .rel files, one for the menus, another for the game, and one unused one for a debug menu.

The debug menu appears somewhat functional, as text for the menu options doesn't appear but can still be selected. Various modes that are accessible in the debug menu include a stadium viewer with a controllable free-camera, a model viewer that can be selected with different rendering effects, a sound effect player that plays all of the games' sounds, a bat physics tester which drops a bat in a 3D space and can have it's length and gravity adjusted, and a movie player that plays the cutscenes.

The following code boots the game straight into the debug menu:

040E738C 40058794
040E7390 0014F800
040E7394 00026D54

040E8AAC 4005912C
040E8AB0 00150000
040E8AB4 000271C0

Unused Animations#

To do: Early pitching animation for Peach named p_p_test.

Mario#

m_p_test	test_tr

Two unused animations for Mario located in the unused moto animation container file for his animations. The first animation m_p_test, is a pitching animation taken directly from Family Stadium 2003 seeing how Mario moves his head to the side and down like in that game. Though the animation is intended for Mario, this animation is also present in the animation files for Yoshi, Monty Mole, Pianta, Noki, Toadsworth, Magikoopa, King Boo, Petey Piranha, Dixie Kong, Goomba, Paragoomba, and Dry Bones.

The other animation test_tr, is an early version of Mario's trophy celebration animation in Challenge Mode.

Mario can be seen doing the early pitching animation in a screenshot from the 2004 reveal, and the early build screenshots.

Bowser#

Kuppa_B_bant	Kuppa_B_bant_hit	Kuppa_B_bant_modosi	Kuppa_B_miokuri

Kuppa_B_modosi	Kuppa_B_swing	B_taiki	Kuppa_B_takeback

Bowser has a set of early realistic batting animations located in his unused moto animation container file, taken directly from Family Stadium 2003. These set of animations are also present in the files for Luigi, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Daisy, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Koopa, Toad, Boo, Toadette, Shy Guy, Birdo, Bowser Jr., Paratroopa, and Hammer Bro.

Just like Mario, Bowser is seen doing the early batting idle animation in a screenshot from the 2004 reveal. These animations and their presence in these screenshots likely meant that animations from Family Stadium 2003 were ported over to the characters in this game at the start of development before unique animations were created for them.

Dry Bones#

Dry Bones has an early hit by pitch animation located with his batting animation container file named b00_de_000, where Dry Bones would've reacted to getting hit by the ball by jumping then falling on the ground. The final game has Dry Bones break apart when hit by a pitch, which is achieved by quickly swapping the playable Dry Bones model with an identical model that plays an animation for breaking apart.

Unused Sounds#

To do: Unused crowd cheering sound meant for Mario Stadium?

Lakitu#

Ground-Rule Double Call#

English and Japanese voice lines for Lakitu calling a "Ground-Rule Double!" which normally doesn't play whenever a ground-rule double occurs during a play.

Mario Super Sluggers later used newly recorded voice clips of Lakitu calling a ground-rule double, which he utters out when one happens in that game.

Family Stadium 2003 Leftovers#

It's no suprise that some unused sound effects were leftover from Family Stadium 2003, given how the vast majority of sound effects during gameplay are lifted directly from said game.

Batting Hit Sound

The sound of a bat hitting the ball heard in the game's boot-up screen and while batting. This sound effect was later used in Mario Super Sluggers for doing a normal swing.

Out Umpire Call

A voice clip of the umpire yelling "Out!" present with Lakitu's voice clips in the Japanese version.

Unused Music#

star_03_h.adp#

Located inside of snd/my_snd_h is an unused song named star_03_h.adp, being a techno-styled version of the Superstar theme. It's filename indicates that multiple versions of the Superstar theme were created before getting scrapped for the one used in the final game named star_01_h.adp.

Letters (Hikaru Utada)#

Inside of ZZZZ.dat is the song [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIy2VKQS7os&list=RDtIy2VKQS7os&start_radio=1|Letters by Hikaru Utada] as an .adpcm file. The song appears to have been included as a test recording and was ultimately left unused in the final game.

Development Related Text#

Gameplay Settings Text#

A development related string loaded in various places in memory for the main menu which lists a set of toggleable settings for batting order, batting and fielding arms, accessing the debug menu, hiding and starring players on the character select, a flag for accessing Bowser Castle in Challenge Mode, accessing different difficulty levels in Challenge Mode, and setting both human and CPU players during a game.

BAT FIRST
BAT LAST
FL
PC
RR
RL
LR
LL
OFF
ON
SELECT DEBUG MENU
HIDE CHARA SET
STAR PLAYER SET
KOOPA STA FLAG SET
CHALLE LEVEL FREE 
SET
1P >
COM1>
2P >
COM2>
3P >
COM3>
4P >
COM4>

Stadium & Challenge Mode Text#

Another string loaded in the main menu listing all of the playable stadiums and the Challenge Mode difficulty levels. Intrestingly, Toy Field is listed as YAKYUBAN, in reference to the real life Japanese table-top baseball game of the same name that it was likely based on.

MARIO   STA
KOOPA   STA
WARIO   STA
YOSHI   STA
PEACH   STA
DONKEY  STA
YAKYUBAN
KINOKO
FLOWER
STAR  
SPECIAL
MIRACLE

Build Date#

The main.dol executable has a build date for the game in all versions.

Internal Project Name#

The games internal name is referred to as my, as seen in the my_snd_h folder holding all of the games streamed music. my is possibly and abbrevation for "Mario Yakyu", with "yakyu" being the Japanese word for baseball. Additionally, the save data's internal name refers to the game as MarioBaseball, which was the name used during pre-release.