These Canceled 'Mario' Games Were Close to Releasing—Here's Why They're No Longer in Development [EG DEC 29]

Throughout the years, the "Super Mario Bros." franchise saw unprecedented success, which made it one of the most enduring franchises in the industry, with hundreds of games already made public.

However, there have been many "Mario" games that Nintendo and other developers have already worked on but never made it to a public release, according to ComicBook Gaming.

'Super Mario 64 2'

One of the oldest games in this list is the planned successor of "Super Mario 64," which was believed to be called the "Super Mario 64 2."

And while it was not the most creative of names, it was said to be a potential game that would have continued the success that the original enjoyed. It was initially planned to be exclusive to the Nintendo 64 console.

The legendary "Mario" producer, Shigeru Miyamoto, previously talked about his excitement for this "Super Mario 64" sequel, with this next game meant for the 64DD or the disc drive attachment to the N64 console.

That said, the 64DD did not take off as well as Nintendo envisioned, and this also led to the "Super Mario 64 2" game getting scrapped.

Many believed that the "Super Mario 128" footage leaked before was believed to be the sequel game, but it too suffered the same fate and was only released as a demo for the GameCube.

'Super Mario's Wacky Worlds'

Another canceled game is known as "Super Mario's Wacky Worlds," and this title was developed for the Philips CD-i as part of a licensing agreement between the Dutch tech company and Nintendo.

The game was supposed to be a direct follow-up to "Super Mario World," and both companies hoped to replicate the game's success with "Wacky Worlds."

However, the problem was with the poor performance of the Philips CD-i device, which eventually led to it flopping in the market. Because of this, "Super Mario's Wacky World" never made it to public release.

That said, the game existed in demos and was distributed in the past. Some of these demos still exist, and one copy was auctioned off before.

'Mario Artist: Sound Studio'

"Mario Artist" was a sub-series under the franchise that focused on honing creative experiences among fans and players, with "Mario Paint" kicking things off under the SNES console.

The company planned to follow it up with the "Mario Artist" series on the N64, which already kicked things off with the "Mario Artist: Polygon Studio." Next in line would have been the "Mario Artist: Sound Studio."

This sequel game was also meant to launch as a disc via the 64DD add-on to the N64, but because of the device's poor performance in the market, "Mario Artist: Sound Studio" was eventually canceled.

'Super Mario Spikers'

A developer called Next Level Games pitched a new title to Nintendo under the "Mario Sports" sub-series meant for the Wii consoles. This game was called "Super Mario Spikers," which is a volleyball-focused sports game featuring the characters of the iconic franchise.

A football game which was released earlier for the Wii, "Super Mario Strikers," already saw massive success, and Next Level Games looked to follow it up with a volleyball version.

However, the game featured other elements like wrestling, physical combat, and stepping into a ring, which Nintendo did not like.

Despite releasing its concept art online and garnering attention from fans, Nintendo did not budge and rejected the pitch as it is "off brand" and violent.

Originally published on Player One