New Super Mario Bros. Wii (lost early builds of Wii 2D platformer; 2009)

The box art for the retail game.

Status: Lost

New Super Mario Bros. Wii is a 2D platformer game released in 2009 for the Wii. The successor to New Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo DS, the game introduced new features such as simultaneous multiplayer for up to four people, the "Super Guide" feature intended to help less experienced players, and the introduction of Yoshi to the series. The game was also a critical and commercial success, selling over 37 million copies and becoming the fourth-best selling game on the console.^[1]

Much like its predecessor, New Super Mario Bros. Wii had several early builds that were shown off at various events and websites. While these builds have many videos and images proving their existence, they have not been dumped in any form and are considered lost.^[2]

E3 Trailer Build

Status: Lost

A screenshot of the game's third level as featured in the build.

The earliest build of New Super Mario Bros. Wii known to the general public is featured in a short trailer released in relation to the game's announcement E3 2009.^[3] This build is most likely earlier in origin compared to the more well-known build featured on the show floor of the event, as it features more documented differences.^[4]

Important distinctions in the trailer include:^[4]

The numerous differences in the HUD, including the simpler font used and always being transparent, which only happens in the final game if the player is close enough.
The designs for course elements such as brick blocks, ? blocks, pipes, and coins, which are generally more rough compared to the final game.
Differing backgrounds and tilesets for the various worlds.
Sound effects such as those for collecting coins are closer to that of the original game, with sound effects generally being much less present in the build.
A Red Yoshi is present in the trailer, yet there are none in the final game.
The graphic for the checkpoint flag differs, using a white flag with a skull instead of a black flag with a Bowser emblem.
Graphics for points are color-coded by their numerical value rather than color-coded by character.
There are different designs for the Toad Ice Flower suits, the Bramballs enemy, and Piranha Plants.

It is not clear if this specific build was used in any other capacity outside of the trailer.

The E3 2009 trailer for New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

E3 2009 Build

Status: Lost

The game being revealed at E3 2009.

The second and much more well-known build of the game was featured in various capacities at E3 2009.^[4]^[3] Unlike the build featured in the trailer, it was directly featured at the event, first being shown during the official announcement of the game during Nintendo's press conference on June 2nd, 2009.^[5] This was supplemented by a public demo on the show floor featuring ten playable levels, each showing off new elements to the series such as the multiplayer mode. Ten minutes were provided to each person or group to play,^[6] with an event staff member standing aside to give advice and point out unique aspects of the game. A private room was also set up where news publication GameSpot documented gameplay.^[7] This demo would eventually be used at events such as Gamescom and PAX later that year.^[6]^[8]

While the game was shown to be farther along in development than what was shown in the trailer, there are still several notable differences from the final version:^[7]

Many sound effects and voice clips are still either borrowed from New Super Mario Bros. or completely different.
The HUD now acts as it does in the final game, however it still uses the simpler font.
Animations for powerups are very static.
The wipe translations are slightly different.
Tilesets and backgrounds more closely resemble the final game, but some objects still differ in appearance.
The Propeller powerup is a letter P with a propeller on top, rather than resembling a mushroom. This is likely a placeholder.
The flagpole looks more like how it does in the first game.
When collecting coins on out of ? Blocks, there are no particle effects unlike when they're collected by touch.
Camera movements are more snappy and do not affect the background, only the terrain.
A screen for the scores of each player being tallied is shown when in multiplayer mode, however in the final game it is only present in Coin Battle and Free-For-All.
The message "Level Clear!" can be seen after a character completes a stage.
Some boss fights and rooms differ in their appearance and gameplay.
Fireballs and Iceballs differ in their appearance.

These differences were primarily discovered through footage taken from the demo and by various gaming publications.^[7] Due to the demo being publicly playable at various events, it has the most documentation of any other build of the game.^[3]

GameSpot's gameplay of the E3 2009 demo.

Live demonstration of the game at Nintendo's E3 press conference.

Gameplay of Yoshi stage.

Gameplay of ice stage.

Gameplay of castle stage.

Gameplay of desert stage.

Gameplay of dark stage.

Gameplay of underground stage.

Gameplay of grassland stage.

Varied gameplay of several stages.

Unknown Build

Status: Lost

Screenshot of the unknown build being played.

Another publicly playable demo of the game was shown off at an unknown event in mid 2009. Little is known about the specifics of this build, however it is shown to be quite similar to the demo at E3. Despite this, it is not exact, featuring a different looking HUD with the text being positioned closer in proximity.^[9]^[10]

The only known documentation of this build is two videos uploaded by YouTube user NOBillySpleen featuring single and multiplayer gameplay at an unspecified convention known as "Nintendo Games Event" in the title. These were uploaded on June 9th and June 10th respectively, with the footage containing people speaking German in the background. However, the major German gaming convention Gamescom (of which the New Super Mario Bros. Wii E3 demo was shown) did not take place until August 19th. This means this specific build was likely only present at a smaller, private event.

Single player gameplay of the unknown build.

Multiplayer gameplay of the unknown build.

PAX Trailer Build

Status: Lost

A near-final build of the game was shown off in a trailer created for PAX 2009,^[11] which took place from September 4th-6th.^[12] The gameplay featured within the trailer is nearly identical to the final game, with the final HUD, tilesets, and sound effects being present.^[11] Some textures such as those for the fireball and stone platforms still differ from the final version. World 7-4 also slightly differs in design as featured in the footage.^[11]

This is the last build of the game known to the public before the final game.

The PAX 2009 trailer for New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

Availability

While many of the builds have lots of screenshots and videos proving their existence, the builds themselves have not been leaked or dumped in any form online. It is also believed that press-only prerelease screenshots and videos are also long lost. These builds have a low chance of ever leaking in full, as Nintendo is well known for protecting early builds of games.