banner1.jpg

Beta Pictures

Here are some early release shots from Nintendo Power of the game, or other sources.

 

I was so surprised when I saw this screenshot because it includes LUIGI!

Now I'll list the characters from the top left to top right, going to the bottom left to bottom right. First person seems to Princess Toadstool's Grandmother. There also seems to be a spot for Peach next to her, but since she isn't there.

Next is what seems is the OLD Queen of Nimbus, with the OLD King next to her. These are just commonfolk in Nimbus Town, so possibly placeholders for the Queen and King.

After the King, it appears to be the Alpha Chancellor of the Mushroom Kingdom (look at the other screenshots below). This sprite is now used as the Shop keeper in the Mushroom Kingdom. And last on that side is just Mario, fatter in this version.

Now on the bottom left we have what appears to be Raini. I say Raini because next to her is Raz. These two are from the Mushroom Kingdom if you remember. They get married and head off to Yo'ster Island. I suppose they got invited or something to this dinner.

After Raz we have a Mole child from Moleville. She might be there because perhaps her mom and other female Mole people are making the dinner and being servants.

Next up is the same sprite as Princess Toadstool's Grandma. The closest I could think that would be an important person is Monstermama from Monstro Town. I say this because she's an important character in the game.

After the double Grandma, we have Luigi. A very odd pose for Luigi indeed, like I said before, they might have tried to make him thinner or maybe he's moving or something, I don't know, it's hard to make out. After him is Mallow. And finally on the farthest right is Valentina. She seems the same, nothing changed.

Now for the background. This is indeed in the castle in Nimbus Land before the total remake. Notice the pinkish-redish carpet and the white walls. And those really weird doors. Actually looking at the video closer, I see that the it might just be rooms that look like this because in the video, it has a very close resemblence to the final version, just with green carpet and an unused area.

Oh, and something else, that table is nowhere seen in the game. There is a small square table with a cloth on top, but nothing this long. Judging by the design, they used the square table with the cloth, then made a table completely covered in cloth, and left the corner's hang down. That's why there's corners for some reason hanging down in the middle of the table.

 
This is the same picture, but with sprites from the game so it's easier to see.  Note that since this carpet and walls don't exist in the final game, I had to obviously leave it like that.  Since I made this picture look more square, I covered up the space that was covered by the other screenshots with some copy and pasting.  I also had to cover the old sprites with carpet so the carpet isn't exactly the same but it's close enough where you wouldn't notice.
 
This picture has the "what it should be" from the final game.  I replaced the Grandma on the left with Monstermama, I replaced the King and Queen with the final versions, and same thing with the Mushroom Kingdom Chancellor.

 

This picture is just an idea of what it might have looked like in the final game.  Since the original screenshot seems to have been stretched a little, I had to rotate the whole background so it would make up with the table so whenever I look at it, I get a awkward slanted feeling...well...because it is lol.  And yes, this room is made from scratch and so are the doorways because you won't find those without the yellow carpet.  Anyway I replaced a lot of characters and I'll just name them from top left to right to bottom left to right: Princess Toadstool's Grandma, Chanceller, Queen, King, Princess Toadstool, Mario, Seaside Mayor, Frogfucious, Monstermama, Bowser, Geno, Mallow, and Valentina.  I also replaced the Mole people with Nimbus Land servants.  So everything in this screenshot uses the final game sprites and backgrounds.  One thing I forgot to add was the doors.
............................................................................................................................................

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
This is from an old SNES promo video.  While watching the video, I saw this little 2-3 second clip of SMRPG and saw something was strange about it.  Nothing is known about why the clip had these strange numbers and sprites floating around but it's probably assumed that its used only for developer purposes.
........................................................................................................................
Image hosted by Photobucket.com
Here is an early version of Booster's Tower from Nintendo Power.  As you can see, this room doesn't exist in the final game.  For one thing, there are no Boo's or Dry Bones in Booster's Tower.  Also there's a painting of a Booster person on the left wall and top.  Also there's a Magikoopa by the top entrance.  That's kinda odd.
Image hosted by Photobucket.com
This seems to be from the Midas River waterfall.  To me this looks like a small cutscene of Mario falling.  You can see Mr. Kipper (fish don't fly) and the Paratroopa flying too.  If you notice the Paratroopa looks different and green.
Image hosted by Photobucket.com
This looks to be pretty much complete of the forest by Rose Town.  This pic shows Mario jumping on a Wiggler to get coins.
Image hosted by Photobucket.com
This looks like a battle over in Bean Valley.  Mario is fighting Arachne and  Shy Away.  The Shy Away seems to be a bit out of place in the battle alignment.
Image hosted by Photobucket.com
This place you might not recognize but its an early idea for the entrance to the castle in Nimbus City.
Image hosted by Photobucket.com
This looks just like the same area in the Mushroom Kingdom.  Meaning that was very much complete during this picture.
Image hosted by Photobucket.com
This picture looks like Mario is heading down a tree stump in the Forest.  Also it looks like the Wigglers are freaked or something.
Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
This is a early picture of Bowser's Poison magic attack.  What it shows is that instead of 1 poison cloud poisoning the enemies, they're were several poison clouds floating by and the screen gets a light dim green effect.
Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
This is an early look at Geno's Geno Flash magic attack.  Probably the first thing you'll notice is the flash or sun or explosion with the eyes.  The eyes are different from what they are in the final version.  Also Geno doesn't move to back of the arena as shown in the picture, he's in his regular spot.  Also the cannon sprite got touched up in the final version as well