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The data of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door contains an image of an early version of Mario jumping (middle) that provides insight into how the design evolved, being an intermediate stage between his design from the original Paper Mario (left) and his finished design (right).
The Japanese official guide for the puzzle game "Yoshi" for the NES/Famicom contains a joke segment that talks about how Yoshis look different in various countries. It gives examples of Indian Yoshis (left), American Yoshis (middle) and Japanese Yoshis (right).
2007 concept art for Rayman Raving Rabbids, depicting Rabbids as pop culture characters, including Mario. The B on the hat likely stands for "bwah", the sound Rabbids make. Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, released 10 years later, actually contained a character called Bwario.
Official artwork of Sonic congratulating Mario on the 20th anniversary of Super Mario Bros., released by Sega in 2005. Note that this predates the friendly relationship between the franchises established by the Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games series.
Level 2-5 of Donkey Kong Country Returns is decorated with barnacles. Most of them are ordinary; however, after the giant octopus appears, some of them have googly eyes, likely being shocked at the octopus. This is very hard to see at the game's native resolution (left, circled).
When Mario visits a shop for the first time on a save file in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, the shopkeeper mentions this. The story forces Mario to visit a shop before Chapter 3; if this is skipped with cheats, the later-game shopkeepers will have an incredulous reaction.
In the Sunshine Airport track in Mario Kart 8/Deluxe, veering to the right during the second glider section shows oddly-shaped rocks in the distance (left, circled). A model viewer reveals these are Koopa Troopa rocks, likely a reference to Koopa Troopa Beach from Mario Kart 64.
The Art of Super Mario Odyssey book reveals that in addition to the fork-like Volbonans, the Luncheon Kingdom was intended to feature a second teapot-like species called Temple Guardians. They, along with the temple they were supposed to guard, are not found in the finished game.
The North American version of Yoshi's Island has two versions: 1.0, available at release (left), and 1.1, introduced several months later (right). Unlike usual revisions, which fix glitches, this one contains only one change: the font in the message boxes was made thicker.
Behind-the-scenes photo taken during the filming of the North American commercial for Super Mario Advance 2 in the U.S. Virgin Islands.