Updated
Updated · Nintendo Everything · May 23
New Footage Reveals 2 Nintendo 64 Prototypes, Including Canceled Kirby Bowl 64
Updated
Updated · Nintendo Everything · May 23

New Footage Reveals 2 Nintendo 64 Prototypes, Including Canceled Kirby Bowl 64

1 articles · Updated · Nintendo Everything · May 23

Summary

  • Now In Game Channel posted newly surfaced footage from Spaceworld/Shoshinkai 1995, offering fresh looks at prototype builds of Super Mario 64 and the canceled Kirby Bowl 64.
  • Super Mario 64’s early version shows several changes from the retail game, including larger chest hitboxes, two fish types in Whomp’s Fortress, cannon differences and altered environments.
  • Kirby Bowl 64 appears to mix Kirby’s Dream Course-style play with a mode resembling Kirby Air Ride, linking it to Nintendo’s later GameCube release after both N64 projects were canceled.
  • The video also includes a brief glimpse of a Mario Kart prototype, adding to a rare record of how major Nintendo 64 projects evolved before release.

Insights

Why did Nintendo cancel Kirby Bowl 64 despite having a playable version ready to show the world?
What other 'lost' N64 prototypes from Nintendo's golden age might still be waiting to be discovered?
How did Nintendo's willingness to scrap ideas lead to innovation, rather than just wasted development time?