A recently discovered YouTube video, featuring VHS footage from Nintendo’s 1995 Japanese Space World show, has unveiled what appears to be the first-ever peek at the unreleased multiplayer mode featuring Luigi in Super Mario 64.
As reported by VGC, the Now In Game Channel shared a video where a brief sequence captures Luigi executing a spin jump alongside Mario in Super Mario 64. This discovery is of particular interest as Luigi was not part of the final version of Super Mario 64 for N64. However, he did find a place in the DS version, joining Mario, Yoshi, and Wario.
This particular room may harken back to the early stages of Super Mario 64 development. Shigeru Miyamoto had previously disclosed that Luigi was initially part of the game but was removed near completion due to memory constraints, as revealed in a roundtable interview for two official Japanese strategy guides from 1996 (via shmuplations.com).
“Well… until February, he was in the game. (laughs) Ultimately, due to memory issues, we had to take him out,” Miyamoto shared. “Then we were going to include him in a Mario Bros.-style minigame, but because most users probably only have that one controller when they first buy their N64, for that reason (and others) we decided not to.”
The Mario Bros.-style minigame mentioned could be the context for the discovered room, or more likely, it might be the space where the Nintendo team conducted crucial experiments and learned essential mechanics that contributed to the development of Super Mario 64.
“Well, in the beginning… we were working on something really simple—deceptively simple, even, from the perspective of the team that would go on to finish the huge, final game. (laughs) There was a room made of simple Lego-like blocks, and Mario and Luigi could run around in there, climb slopes, jump around, etc. We were trying to get the controls right with an analogue 3D stick, and once that felt smooth, we knew we were halfway there,” Miyamoto elaborated in an Iwata Asks session from 2009.