Super Mario RPG 2 (lost pre-release version of "Paper Mario" Nintendo 64 role-playing game; late 1990s)

Logo for the game.

Status: Lost

Super Mario RPG 2 (also known as Super Mario Adventure in the United States) is a game planned for the Nintendo 64's Disk Drive that was first previewed at Nintendo's Space World 1997 event.^[1] The game was developed by Intelligent Systems and was originally going to be a sequel to the 1996 Super Nintendo game Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, which was developed by Squaresoft Ltd. (now Square-Enix).

The game was later reworked into Paper Mario due to legal problems with Square and development was later moved to the Nintendo 64 due to the 64DD's failure and discontinuation in 2000.

Gameplay

The gameplay has been said to be similar to its predecessor and what would eventually be turned into Paper Mario.^[2] It would have involved Mario characters being 2D cut-outs in a 3D environment to resemble a comic strip/puppet show.

Availability

Though the game was later released for the Nintendo 64 as Paper Mario, no prototypes/betas of the original iteration of the game has been released to the public and there is minimal information on the game and how it would be different from the final game.

Gallery

Footage

Footage of the game from Nintendo Mania in 1997.

Videos

Yuriofwind's video on the subject.

Images

An early title screen for the game.
French magazine page with various screenshots from the game's early build.
A screenshot of Mario on top of a rock with Poochy on the left.
An early beta level for Dry Dry Desert.
Concept art for the game, using sprites from Super Mario World.
A screenshot of Nintendo Power issue 104, where a reader asks a question about sequels to Super Mario RPG, Super Mario 64, and Donkey Kong Country for the Nintendo 64.