Happy Mario Day! Today is March 10, or “Mar10,” and marks the official annual celebration of Nintendo’s iconic Mario franchise. There have been many Zelda cameos and references in the Mario games (and vice-versa) over the years, but today I’d like to highlight one that many have never seen before. This time, it’s not a case of it being difficult to find, but because it never made it into the final game.
We’re talking about Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, one of my absolute favorite Mario RPGS, which I loved even more after finding a lost Link cameo.
The Starbeans Cafe is an establishment in Superstar Saga owned by Professor E. Gadd, the eccentric scientist who first appeared in the Luigi’s Mansion series. Mario and Luigi can bring the professor various beans to use in the Beanbean Machine, creating new types of Bean Juice and expanding the shop’s menu. There are seven different flavors in total, and each time a new blend is discovered, the player unlocks a new cutscene featuring E. Gadd, followed by a special item.
Originally, however, Professor E. Gadd was only planned to appear once. In his place, various other Nintendo characters were intended to make a cameo at the cafe, including Wario, Samus Aran, Fox McCloud, Captain Olimar, an Excitebike Racer, and most excitingly, Link.
The Cutting Room Floor found many leftover sprites and unused text that indicate that this was the case, such as the many animations of Link below. The kanji symbols (“仮”) in the top corners translate as “temporary”, suggesting that the sprites weren’t finalized.
In an earlier version of Superstar Saga, when Mario and Luigi made the Teeheespresso blend, Link would appear in the Starbeans Cafe and request a drink. Presumably, as Link is known as a silent protagonist, he would have used the aforementioned animations to tell his story, during the following dialogue from the cashier (also found in the game’s code):
“Whoa! Link! The Hero of…what is it, now? Anyway, long-time, no see, buddy! What are you doing here? Did you get lost in a dungeon again? What? You’re having trouble finding the fairy fountain? Oh… It’s game over, and your bottles are all empty? Are your hearts filled now, kiddo?”
Despite the removal of this content, fans of Superstar Saga may recall that there is still one small Zelda reference that survived the final cut. The Great Force is a special accessory item in the shape of a golden triangle, gifted to Mario and Luigi when they brew a fourth unique coffee blend at the cafe. More unused text suggests that the game was originally going to make the reference even more obvious, with the Great Force simply named the “Triforce.”
In fact, almost all of the cafe gifts, with the exception of the Excite Spring, had their names changed during development, as you can see below in The Cutting Room Floor’s handy chart.
The 3DS remake, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser’s Minions, however, changed the Great Force’s single-triangle icon to resemble the complete Triforce. When Mario and Luigi obtain it, a jingle plays that is identical to the one used in the Zelda series whenever Link obtains an item from a big treasure chest.
Another Zelda reference in the original and remade versions of Superstar Saga can be found in the Winkle Colosseum. Here, the brothers can participate in Chuckola Bounce, a mini-game where they must deflect rocks back at enemies known as Chuckoroks.
The name, along with the fact that they shoot rocks from their snouts, are clear references to Octoroks. (Source: Super Mario Wiki.)
It’s not clear why all of these cameos were removed, especially as they appear almost complete. It’s possible that developer AlphaDream was behind the idea, but couldn’t get approval from Nintendo to use their other characters. Perhaps expanding Professor E. Gadd’s role was simply favored over introducing characters outside of the Mario universe.
It’s a shame, but then, who wants to give Link an expresso, anyway? He breaks enough pots without a caffeine kick — no one wants to see Starbeans reduced to dust.
