Inside the code for the SNES version of Daze Before Christmas are a set of mostly Christmas-related quotes and messages:
Any dramatic game the producers want us to take seriously as a representation of contemporary reality cannot be taken seriously as a representation of anything -- except a game to be ignored by anyone capable of sitting upright in a chair and chewing gum simultaneously. -- Richard Schickel (slightly modified)
... Now you're ready for the actual shopping. Your goal should be to get it over with as quickly as possible, because the longer you stay in the mall, the longer your children will have to listen to holiday songs on the mall public-address system, and many of these songs can damage children emotionally. For example: "Frosty the Snowman" is about a snowman who befriends some children, plays with them until they learn to love him, then melts. And "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is about a young reindeer who, because of a physical deformity, is treated as an outcast by the other reindeer. Then along comes good, old Santa. Does he ignore the deformity? Does he look past Rudolph's nose and respect Rudolph for the sensitive reindeer he is underneath? No. Santa asks Rudolph to guide his sleigh, as if Rudolph were nothing more than some kind of headlight with legs and a tail. So unless you want your children exposed to this kind of insensitivity, you should shop quickly. -- Dave Barry, "Christmas Shopping: A Survivor's Guide"
I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph. -- Shirley Temple
In Super Fall Brawl, one of the many reskins of Jingle Brawl, the new character was intended to be Sheen Estevez from Jimmy Neutron, in promotion for his then-new spin-off series Planet Sheen. However, Sheen was not coded correctly, making him near-impossible to beat in a fight. The game's second update would remove Sheen and his stage completely, and he would never be added back in, making Fall Brawl the only Super Brawl game without any new combatants. Sheen would return in Super Brawl 2, though the House of Pain stage, based on the first episode of Planet Sheen, would be swapped for a Zeenu stage generally based on Planet Sheen instead of a single episode.
Courage the Cowardly Dog: Creep TV has secret codes and levels that went undiscovered until 20 years after its release due to a glitch making them inaccessible. The "daScore" code, which shows a counter of how many ghosts you've zapped; and the "mirage" code, which expands the game map and allows access to secret levels - one where you can acquire glasses, and another that has a sign simply reading Eustace's catchphrase, "STUPID DOG!" - however, if you get the glasses then read the sign, it will instead say "Wee...amazing! You found it! GOOD DOG!"
Q*Bert was originally able to shoot projectiles out of his nose, but this was scrapped in the final game. Co-creator Jeff Lee has said that, while he's unsure if this change enhanced the gameplay or not, he likes how the lack of offensive capabilities gives the character the personality of a "sympathetic plucky noser" who survives "by his wits and dexterity", particularly with the hindsight of how violent video games would become in the decades since.
The racers may have planned to have losing animations for when they reach 5th or lower. In the game's data are Peachette and Pauline's losing voice clips, as well as voice clips from characters that appear in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (prior to the Booster Course Pass).
The final game has the racers appear neutral should the player end up in 5th place or lower.
Since Pauline and Peachette were included as among two of the final four characters in the Booster Course Pass, these unused voice clips may have been a deciding factor behind their inclusion in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
In the game's code is evidence of an unused Event Pokémon. Event Pokémon are exclusive Pokémon throughout the franchise's history which usually have movesets or other unique properties that would not otherwise legitimately occur in normal gameplay.
A code string indicates that Diglett learns the move "Acid" at Lvl. 1, found at the end of Diglett's Generation 1 move pool, as this programming method was the manner in which the programmers ensured Event Pokémon transferred via the Game Pak to Stadium could function properly during gameplay.
To date, a Diglett with Acid being legitimately learned in it's moveset has never been released or distributed by an official Event by Nintendo nor Game Freak.
Among the files included in the Gigaleak, a massive 2020 content leak of internal data from Nintendo, are assets associated with Super Mario 64 depicting a fully-coded enemy named Motos, which is absent from the final game. The enemy is programed to chase Mario, pick him up, and throw him similarly to Big Bob-omb and Chuckya. Like those characters, Motos can be picked up and thrown, but unlike them, it can only be defeated by being thrown into lava, similarly to the Bully and Big Bully. This weakness implies that Motos was originally intended to appear as an enemy in Lethal Lava Land and Bowser in the Fire Sea, which is corroborated by the fact that various other assets associated with the levels feature "motos" in their filenames.
Further analysis of the source code indicates that Motos were intended to be connected to Bullies, which are labeled "Otos" in the source code and use sound effects that are also associated with Motos. Additionally, the code contains a filename for an "icemotos" miniboss in Snowman's Land, and the "Bully the Bullies" star in Lethal Lava Land is internally named "bigmotos," implying that at least two variants of Motos were conceived as minibosses before being replaced with Big Bully and Chill Bully in the final game.
Additional data in the Gigaleak indicates that at some point in development, Motos was reconfigured into a boss version of the Chuckya enemy, labeled "Katsugikun" in the source code, before being scrapped altogether. Unlike Motos, no assets for Katsugikun exist other than a filename and behavior code.
Like Pokémon Diamond & Pearl, Pokémon Platinum contains the unused Azure Flute item, which triggers a battle with a level 80 Arceus in the otherwise inaccessible Hall of Origin atop Spear Pillar. The event is almost identical to how it appears in Diamond & Pearl, with the sole difference being a redesigned sprite for Arceus. The Azure Flute was intended to be given out to players as an event item, but was scrapped due to concerns that it would be too confusing for players. Instead, Arceus was directly given out as an event Pokémon.
The music for the Hall of Origin and the battle against Arceus, which are carried over from Diamond and Pearl, go unused here too, but the latter song would be reused for the Sinjoh Ruins event in Pokémon Heart Gold & Soul Silver, where players can obtain a Dialga, Palkia, or Giratina if they have an Arceus at the front of their party. This event additionally contains code allowing it to be triggered by an Arceus from the Hall of Origin, indicating that Game Freak still considered distributing the Azure Flute this late into Generation IV. Spoiler:The Azure Flute and Hall of Origin would eventually be implemented in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, where players can access both if they import Pokémon Legends: Arceus save data after catching Arceus there.
An item called the Azure Flute is present in the game's data, but can't be legitimately accessed. Hacking the flute into one's inventory triggers a battle with a level 80 Arceus in the Hall of Origin, an otherwise unused area hidden above Spear Pillar. Both the Hall of Origin and the battle with Arceus feature unique themes, which also go unused in the normal course of play.
The Azure Flute was intended as an event item to be given out to players, much like the Event Card and Oak's Letter (which allow the player to fight Darkrai and Shaymin, respectively). However, Game Freak scrapped the idea upon concluding that it would be too confusing for players. Instead, Arceus was directly given out at events.
Arceus' battle theme would later be used for the Sinjoh Ruins event in Pokémon Heart Gold & Soul Silver where players can obtain a Dialga, Palkia, or Giratina if they have an Arceus as the first Pokémon in their party. This event additionally contains code allowing it to be triggered by an Arceus from the Hall of Origin, indicating that Game Freak still considered distributing the Azure Flute this late into Generation IV. Spoiler:The Azure Flute item and its corresponding event would eventually be implemented in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl, where players can access both by importing save data from Pokémon Legends: Arceus after catching Arceus there.
This game originally started out as a racing game for the Wallace & Gromit series, called "Wallace & Gromit: The Grand Tour". Unused graphics and codes relating to Wallace & Gromit can still be found within the game's data, such as codes describing the main characters' appearance, as well as pictures of Wallace, Gromit, Preston & Wendolene.
There is a questline that was accidentally left out of the final game due to a misnamed file. "A Test of Determination" is a questline for the Vampire Clan where the given objective is to confront a Daedra in the local dungeon where it lives over the control the player's bloodline has in a given region. The binary file is named P0B1XL08.QBN and the text-file is named P0B10L08.QRC. As a result of this oversight, the player can never get this quest unless you change the name of one file so that it matches the name of the other.
Two unused pigs that may have been planned to be playable at one point can be found in the data, one being a minion pig, and the other a “Moustache Pig.” It’s unclear how they were planned to be programmed into the game.
There were three levels planned and almost finished for the game but cut: The first was a level in the Episode I chapter which has the player playing the scene where Anakin accidently attacks and destroys a Trade Federation ship in the space above Naboo. The second one was for the Episode II levels and featured a playable version of Anakin and Obi-Wan's chase of Zam Weasel in a speeder throughout Coruscant like in the beginning of the movie. The third was the scene in Episode III where Obi-Wan chases General Grevious around Utapau on a Boga creature.
The first level was cut because the developers thought that it bloated its Episode's level count, and they wanted the number of levels between all of them to be mostly even. It is unknown why the Speeder chase was cut, but the Boga chase level was cut due to the developers thinking it clashed with the game's co-op multiplayer feature. Nonetheless, the Trade Federation ship level and the Zam Weasel Chase would eventually be realized in LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga. However, the Boga chase level didn't appear in that game at all.
An unfinished boss resembling a cowboy rabbit can be found in the game's data. This boss has an unused animation depicting it firing its gun. According to an early sketch of the game's cover art by Hideyuki Suganami, this boss was named "Lambda Bunny".
An unused boss resembling a hand can be found in the game's data and can be fought in Stage 13 through hacking. This boss was featured in pre-release screenshots of the game, and was named "Love Penguin".
Seven Force, a boss from Gunstar Heroes that appears in this game as the boss of the Underground Mine stage, was originally intended to have two extra forms: Harpy Force and Nemesis Force. These forms were never finished due to time constraints, but voice clips of the game's announcer saying each form's name can be found in the Voice Test, and their idle sprites can be found in the game's data.
In the game's code is evidence of an unused Event Pokémon. Event Pokémon are exclusive Pokémon throughout the franchise's history which usually have movesets or other unique properties that would not otherwise legitimately occur in normal gameplay.
Among the files included in the Gigaleak, a massive 2020 content leak of internal data from Nintendo, are assets associated with Super Mario 64 depicting a fully-coded enemy named Motos, which is absent from the final game. The enemy is programed to chase Mario, pick him up, and throw him similarly to Big Bob-omb and Chuckya. Like those characters, Motos can be picked up and thrown, but unlike them, it can only be defeated by being thrown into lava, similarly to the Bully and Big Bully. This weakness implies that Motos was originally intended to appear as an enemy in Lethal Lava Land and Bowser in the Fire Sea, which is corroborated by the fact that various other assets associated with the levels feature "motos" in their filenames.
Like Pokémon Diamond & Pearl, Pokémon Platinum contains the unused Azure Flute item, which triggers a battle with a level 80 Arceus in the otherwise inaccessible Hall of Origin atop Spear Pillar. The event is almost identical to how it appears in Diamond & Pearl, with the sole difference being a redesigned sprite for Arceus. The Azure Flute was intended to be given out to players as an event item, but was scrapped due to concerns that it would be too confusing for players. Instead, Arceus was directly given out as an event Pokémon.
An item called the Azure Flute is present in the game's data, but can't be legitimately accessed. Hacking the flute into one's inventory triggers a battle with a level 80 Arceus in the Hall of Origin, an otherwise unused area hidden above Spear Pillar. Both the Hall of Origin and the battle with Arceus feature unique themes, which also go unused in the normal course of play.
This game originally started out as a racing game for the Wallace & Gromit series, called "Wallace & Gromit: The Grand Tour". Unused graphics and codes relating to Wallace & Gromit can still be found within the game's data, such as codes describing the main characters' appearance, as well as pictures of Wallace, Gromit, Preston & Wendolene.
Sprites for an unfinished dragon boss can be found in the game's data. This boss has no working code and cannot be activated in-game.
An unfinished boss resembling a cowboy rabbit can be found in the game's data. This boss has an unused animation depicting it firing its gun. According to an early sketch of the game's cover art by Hideyuki Suganami, this boss was named "Lambda Bunny".
An unused boss resembling a hand can be found in the game's data and can be fought in Stage 13 through hacking. This boss was featured in pre-release screenshots of the game, and was named "Love Penguin".