Super Mario Strikers datamine reveals unused team of "generic Mario style humans"
Not something I expected to see today.
A recent dive into the files of the original Super Mario Strikers has revealed a rather unusual set of unused characters, including a team of "generic Mario style humans".
Twitter user Dogon McBanana decided to go rootling about in the files of Nintendo's GameCube title. What they found was a host of unused, slightly unnerving (see the T-posing, scarecrow like horror below), character models.
"It seems like at some point each captain was going to have their own unique team of sidekicks," wrote McBanana.
"DK has a team of other Kong-like characters, for example. Luigi also has a dupe of himself for his sidekick, likely placeholder. They all have textures, but they're in a weird format."
There were also homages to the Paper Mario series found within Mario Strikers' files. Presenting, Dull Bones the 'medic'.
Finally, a Goomba model was unearthed, and it appears to be wielding a sceptre and a love heart. I don't know about you, but I immediately pictured the aggressive playing cards from Alice in Wonderland when I first saw this chap.
According to Dogon McBanana, this Goomba guard "gives a small window into the theming of the cut peach_palace stage".
The newest entry in the Mario Strikers series - Mario Strikers: Battle League Football - will release on 10th June. As with its GamesCube predecessor, this game is being developed by Next Level Games. I wonder if any of these previously scrapped ideas have pathed the way for something new this June.