Yes, even Mario has had games canceled. It must be shocking to hear that even Nintendo’s mascot can get caught in the crossfire from time to time. There are some well known examples that have been reported on before, but there are also a few others on here a bit more in the shadows.
Just what exactly did the red clad plumber have in store before his days were numbered on the N64? Or what about the lost potential in Nintendo’s partnership with Philips via the Philips CD-I? Unless otherwise mentioned, all materials, if there are any like concept art and video footage, can be found via Unseen64.
10 Super Mario RPG 2
Super Mario RPG was wildly successful for both Square and Nintendo on the Super Nintendo so naturally a sequel for the RPG was greenlit. It simply went by Super Mario RPG 2 and was planned for the N64.
However, since Square decided to ditch Nintendo in order to make use of the PlayStation’s disc technology, the project was scrapped. Completely? It’s not known if Nintendo was able to use any of that project for their spiritual successor, Paper Mario.
9 Super Mario 64 2
Most Nintendo consoles, up to this point, received multiple mainline Mario games. Super Mario 64 was the blueprint for how to make platformers in 3D so of course Nintendo was working on a sequel.
They would have been crazy not to. It was planned for the 64 DD, but since that add-on was ultimately scrapped before any real use came out of it outside of Japan, it, and many other projects, were canceled.
8 Peach’s Castle
In the planning stages of the GameCube, Nintendo presented a tech demo for others to check out at trade shows. It was based on Peach’s Castle from Super Mario 64, which had eight interactive stages.
Again, this was presented as a tech demo, but even so those that played it expected it to become the long awaited Super Mario 64 2 in spirit. Unfortunately for those hopefuls the game really was just a demo and Nintendo thought further outside the box for its premiere GameCube Mario adventure, Super Mario Sunshine.
7 Super Mario Spikers
After the success of their soccer spinoff, Super Mario Strikers, Next Level Games was working on a sequel, well, of sorts.
It was going to involve a combination of wrestling and volleyball. There is some concept art out there and very early footage, but it ultimately didn’t get made because Nintendo thought it looked a bit too violent.
6 Mario/Rabbids Crossover
Prior to Mario + Rabbids on the Switch, Ubisoft tried to get a crossover game made during the Wii era.
It would have involved the Rabbids being more of the villains, as they kidnapped Bowser and wreaked havoc on the Mushroom Kingdom. Besides concept art, this project presumably didn’t get far off the ground with Nintendo. This video dives in deeper.
5 Yoshi Racing
After they made Star Fox on the Super Nintendo, Argonaut Games pitched Nintendo the idea of a Yoshi themed racing game. Not only was the idea rejected, but their work on Star Fox 2 was scrapped even though the game was basically done. Of course that game eventually came out via the SNES mini.
The Yoshi racing concept then became the basis for the console exclusive on PS1, Croc: Legend of the Gobbos. It would also see a handheld port on the Game Boy Color just to clarify. This interview on Eurogamer dives into this along with the making of Star Fox.
4 VB Mario Land
The Virtual Boy was seemingly dead as soon as it hit the shelves. It launched in August of 1995 in the West and was discontinued that following March.
It should come as no surprise then that quite a few games were canceled including a Mario Land game. The system did at least get Wario, which might be the system’s most playable game.
3 VB Mario Kart
There really isn’t much to say about this. The only evidence Nintendo was making a Super Mario Kart game for the Virtual Boy was due to a retailer listing under the name, VB Mario Kart.
There are no mockups or anything out there at this point. Racing in 3D would have been something though. Oh what could have been.
2 Super Mario's Wacky Worlds
As a refresher for those unaware, Nintendo broke ties with Sony and decided to partner up with Philips instead. This led to Sony making the PlayStation and Nintendo’s decision eventually led to the Philips CD-I.
In collaboration with Nintendo, Philips made three games made under The Legend of Zelda umbrella along with one Mario game, Hotel Mario. Super Mario's Wacky Worlds was a canceled follow up to that and plus have been a more traditional entry in the series.
1 Mario Takes America
Why was Super Mario's Wacky Worlds canceled? The same reason another game was, Mario Takes America. It was because all three Zelda games, and the Mario title, were received poorly.
Their creation still haunts Nintendo to this day via countless memes and articles recounting their worst mistakes. As for Mario Takes America, it would have had a Who Framed Roger Rabbit type of approach in style in that Mario sprites would be overplayed on top of real world locations shot on film.