Mickey's Speedway USA (Nintendo 64)

Notes Bugs Unused Text

Debug Mode#

A simple debug mode can be enabled by entering the following button sequence on the title screen (directions refer to the D-Pad):

Right, Up, B, B, Up, Left, B, Z

Alternatively, this GameShark code will also unlock the feature:

After the code is enabled, DEBUG TOGGLED will appear momentarily. Whatever "rub bulbz" is supposed to mean, the game will now display various details about player 1's position on the track: exact X, Y and Z coordinates, and the angle (A) their kart is facing.

Debug Map Objects#

Applying the below GameShark code will display various debug objects in the current map, normally unseen.

Crash Debugger#

If the game crashes without the debug mode enabled, it will display a basic crash debug screen with a version number.

If the game crashes with the debug mode enabled, it will display a more complex crash debugger. A and B change pages, R zooms in and out, C buttons allow you to view different addresses on page 2, and Z views the different memory regions on page 6. The first page states the type of crash and the registers, pages 2 to 5 is displays the stack trace, and page 6 displays the memory contents. This same crash screen was also used for Jet Force Gemini.

Unused Areas#

All tracks can be seen in this video. Furthermore, all unused tracks use Speedway's "Malibu" music as a default. All of the unused areas and animations can be seen by using one of the below GameShark codes. Watch on YouTube

Replace ?? with one of the below values, enable the code after the character selection screen and choose the practice track.

Early "White House" Track#

Value: 07

There is an early version of the White House battle track. It is titled "maze" in the ROM. The collision is intact. There is an unused Token Dispenser on this track that shoots out a total of 20 "Oomph Tokens". The dispenser has no collision and can be driven through. The animation is intact and appears on the two unused battle tracks. This map contains 12 item boxes around the perimeter with 3 of them on each side. The final version only has 5 of them in the center.

Battle Tracks#

The first two tracks are textureless and contain the unused Token Dispenser.

Battletest#

Value: 09

The first battle track is named "battletest" in the ROM. The track features two towers at opposite ends, each with an entrance. The entrances go to an underground area, seen in the third screenshot. This map contains no item boxes.

Cascade#

Value: 15

The second battle track is named "cascade" in the ROM. The main feature is that it has three height levels, cascading downwards. This map contains no item boxes.

Practice Track Battle#

Value: 2C

There is also a carbon copy battle version of the Practice stage. It's identical to the original Practice stage, with the exception of any seagulls or chickens in their respective locations. Apart from having no AI programming, this map is mostly functional. It contains spawn points for the second, third, and fourth players as well as six item boxes with two of them in each area.

Test Map#

Value: 06

A very empty test map exists. Its file name is "mushcan". There is a large empty space in the middle of the map. Some of the hole is actually transparent track.

There are also seven boost pads but they're all placed underneath the map, so they never show up in-game.

xxFrontend#

Value: 00

A large empty cube. Each of its six faces are a different color. This "front-end" cube also appears in Diddy Kong Racing and Jet Force Gemini.

xxFrontend2#

Value: 01

An identical copy of the above map.

Leftover Tracks from Other Rare Games#

These maps are bare and do not contain any objects, unless specified.

Mizar Racer#

Value: 02

The first leftover track is Mizar Race from Jet Force Gemini. All collision data is intact. The map may have been used for testing. Two object placeholders appear on the track: "Bomb Collect" and "Upside Down Collect".

Greenwood Village#

Value: 04

The second leftover track is Greenwood Village from Diddy Kong Racing, specifically the version from Jet Force Gemini which removed the well shortcut near the start. Collision is intact and this map may have been also used for testing. Unlike the Mizar Race track, this one can be completed and even has a path for the AI to follow.

Unused Modes#

Capture The Flag#

The unused battle tracks have proven that there is an unused multiplayer mode in which players must collect Oomph Tokens and bring them back to their personal hub. This mode appears in the "maze", "cascade", and "battletest" maps. In the "cascade" map, all four player hubs are next to each other. Once the player drives over their hub, the tokens disappear and more tokens are shot out of the Token Dispenser. "Maze" allows for a total of 20 tokens on the map at one time, whereas "cascade" and "battletest" limit this to 8 tokens.

Helicopter#

Present in the game is an unused mode where the player takes control of Dewey in the rescue helicopter. Up and down on the Control Stick move forwards and backwards, left and right turn, and the A button increases altitude. This mode can be enabled with one of the below GameShark codes. This mode only works properly in Time Trial and Practice.

Unused Textures#

Early Logo#

The most noticeable difference is that Speedway is blue instead of yellow. This is identical to the logo shown in the E3 2000 demo. The USA lettering is also missing white stars on the blue border.

Early Track Previews#

There are four preview images that suggest the game was originally going to be a world tour instead of just the United States. The tracks appear to be The Great Wall of China, Hawaii, Niagara Falls, and Washington D.C. respectively. These textures are used on the stack of wooden blocks in the main menu but are overwritten with the various mode selection textures, so they're never visible in-game.

Hawaii and Washington D.C. are tracks in the final game, but their preview images are quite different.

Early Trophies#

The flag and plate textures for each trophy. 2nd and 3rd place are somewhat obscured when viewed in-game due to the forced camera angle.

Options Menu#

When entering the options menu, a device quickly opens to display the settings. There are two outer textures that can barely be seen every time.

Underneath the Gone to Lunch note is an embossed Von, similar to the one on Von Drake's PC.

This is the cover of the book underneath the options device. The cover is mostly obscured in-game, but this texture reveals that it's the 1995 revision of The Art of Walt Disney.

Jet Force Gemini Leftovers#

The infamous skybox seen in all of the unused tracks.

Textures for Mizar Tokens are in the game, despite not appearing on the actual Mizar track.

It's Mr. Pants! He made a cameo appearance in Jet Force Gemini.

Controller button graphics.

The blood/oil graphics.

The weapon icons from the racing mini game.

The widescreen graphic displayed at the startup.

Unused	Used

The Dolby logo which was also displayed at the startup. Mickey's Speedway USA uses a smaller Dolby logo.

Redesigns#

There are various textures with early designs.

Hollywood Sign#

The popular Hollywood sign in LA was replaced with a dinky street sign.

Early	Final

N64 Controller#

The N64 Controller used to have no Nintendo logo.

Early	Final

Time Trial Page Flag#

A bumper image between Time Trial pages.

Early	Final

Time Trial Page Mickey#

A pattern texture that didn't match itself well.

Early	Final

Difficulty Fonts#

An alternate font, featuring uppercase letters.

Early	Final

Television#

A slightly different version of the image used on the TV in the main menu, with the only noticeable changes being a different reflection.

Early	Final

Miscellaneous#

A texture intended for the Los Angeles track.

The Token Dispenser texture.

A bunch of development related graphics that appear when the level models are viewed in a level editor. These are loaded into memory during gameplay but are always invisible. The "bomb collect" and "upside down collect" graphics can be seen in the unused Mizar racetrack.

Three crosshair graphics.

A font used in the crash debugger.

An animation of a push pin.

One of the fonts used throughout the game has a full set of number graphics. Only the 1 and 2 graphics are ever used. The 3 graphic was used in the E3 2000 demo version of the game.

Unused Animations#

Mickey's Head#

Watch on YouTubeValue 03

Internally known as "Mickeys Head" is an animated version of the image used on the TV in the main menu. It was likely meant to be a title screen or menu.

Mickey's Head Short Tune#

Value 13

A seemingly identical copy of the above animation.

Detailed Trophies#

Watch on YouTubeValue 05

These trophies are never seen in the game. The gold trophy continually rotates on a horizontal axis and the silver & bronze trophies stay still. There are sparkle effects on the trophies. The flags and plates can be seen more clearly in the textures section above. Its internal name, "Level Select", indicates that it may have been a difficulty select at one point.

Disney Castle Logo#

Watch on YouTubeValue 0D

Please elaborate. Having more detail is always a good thing. Specifically: What exactly does "brute force" mean in this context?

Internally known as "Castle", this is the well known Disney Castle Logo rendered in 3D, and the Disney/Pixar variant of the Walt Disney Pictures logo, which was meant for the beginning credits. The resolution changes depending on how it's accessed. If brute forced, it'll be rendered at 446 x 331 pixels. If accessed using the below codes, it'll render at 320 x 237. If the player brute-forces their way into this scene, it doesn't render the fireworks effect or the Disney logo. To see this scene as intended, use the following codes and press L and R simultaneously.

Disney Castle Awards Ceremony#

Watch on YouTubeValue 0E

This castle appears to resemble Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant, the castle present at Disneyland Paris. There's a short animation and song here. Once the song is done, a cartoon *bang* sounds. There appears to be a transparent gold award falling from the top of the screen. The animation is internally known as "sb_Castle", which is shorthand for "Sleeping Beauty Castle", the castle present at Disneyland in Anaheim.

Unused Music#

Unused Ceremony Song#

A short song that plays during the Disney Castle Awards Ceremony. It can still be listened to in the sound test as tune number 7.

Malibu (Early Version)#

An early version of the song for Malibu. It can still be listened to in the sound test as tune number 8.

Unused Dialog#

Broken Records in Time Trial#

Each character (except Goofy, Donald, and Dewey) has dialog for breaking a course record. The final game uses one of three "New record!" lines from the nephews.

Item Delivery#

There are some alternate takes for certain items.

There are also a handful of item delivery lines that match Ludwig's final dialog for the ImpervoShell.

Other#

A couple of unused voice clips indicate that four and five lap races were possible at one point.

A couple of unused menu sounds that were used in the E3 2000 demo version.

A couple of unused engine revving sounds.

A bunch of random sound effects. It's unknown how they would've been used.

Unused Models#

A camera that is used in cutscenes to represent where the actual camera is. It's never visible in-game because it's always offscreen. This is also used in Diddy Kong Racing and Jet Force Gemini.

A multicolored arrow.

Test models.

An unused character select frame. This was used in the E3 2000 version of the game.

Leftover models from Jet Force Gemini.

Unused Starting Points#

The New Orleans Track contains six starting points at the starting line. However, since the track never appears in any of the grand prix cups, only the first four are ever used.

Unseen Track Details#

Los Angeles#

To do: GameShark codes to display these.

The Los Angeles track contains the famous Hollywood sign just before the tunnel which can be seen in an editor but for whatever reason was set to always be invisible when in-game. This may be due to the sign's questionable copyright status.

Also in the Los Angles track is this tower with Mickey ears and "Rareware" text on it. Like the Hollywood sign, it can only be seen in an editor.

Malibu#

Malibu contains a small section of invisible collision (the purple object at the bottom of the image) placed just outside the track.

Regional Differences#

Title Screen#

Europe/North America	Japan

The logo was redesigned in the Japanese version. As a result, Mickey isn't covered by the logo in the Japanese title screen. The Japanese version also uses a different font for English text.

Indianapolis Tire#

Europe/North America	Japan

The text on the giant tire in the Indianapolis track was changed from Speedway to Speedy. This was most likely because the Japanese game title doesn't have the word speedway in it.

The time trial preview image was also changed accordingly.

Options Menu Typo#

Europe	North America

Triple is misspelled in the European release. This is peculiar, because the European version was released after North America.

Unlocking Huey#

In the North American/European release, Huey can only be unlocked when booting up the game with the GBC release plugged into a connected Transfer Pak. Since the GBC version was never released in Japan, Huey is unlocked when the player gets their first time trial Ghost Token. However, because the Transfer Pak hooks are still encoded in the Japanese version, connecting to the English GBC release will still unlock Huey.

References#