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Super Smash Bros. Melee

Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001)

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Hideo Kojima had requested that Metal Gear Solid's Solid Snake be in the game, but due to time constraints he couldn't be added to the game's roster. Sonic the Hedgehog also nearly made it into the game. Sonic's creator Yuji Naka stated that Sonic was going to be in Melee, but he also was cut due to time constraints. Both characters later made it into the sequel, Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

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Super Mario Bros. 3

Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988)

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The box art for the game shows images from earlier stages of the game's development. The image of word 1 has different paths when compared to the final version, and the second image doesn't represent anything seen in the game's final build.

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Super Mario Bros. 3

Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988)

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It was once planned for Mario to have a power up that turned him into a Centaur. This isn't as outlandish as it seems; the Tanooki suit was also inspired by the legendary Tanuki.

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Metal Gear Solid

Metal Gear Solid (1998)

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Solid Snake's design in Metal Gear Solid was inspired by the body of Jean Claude Van-Damme and the face of Christopher Walken.

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Franchise: Sonic The Hedgehog

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Sonic's shoes were inspired by Michael Jackson's boots and the color scheme of Santa Claus. Sonic's personality was inspired by Bill Clinton.

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Platform: Dreamcast

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There was a motion controller planned to release for the Sega Dreamcast. It would have been used for 'Air Nights' a sequel to 'Nights into Dreams' and was also rumored to have involved with the creation of the Sega's Super Monkey Ball series. The motion Sensing technology was eventually used for the maracas in Samba De Amigo.

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The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1991)

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Miyamoto had originally planned for "A Link to the Past" to have a party system where you could switch between three characters and utilize their individual abilities. The characters would have been a mix between an elf and a fighter, a magic user, and a girl.

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Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong (1981)

subdirectory_arrow_right Kirby (Franchise), King Kong (Franchise)

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When Donkey Kong became popular, Nintendo was sued by American film company Universal Studios over allegations that Donkey Kong was plagiarizing their 1933 film King Kong. Lawyer John Kirby, defending Nintendo, pointed out that Universal was aware of and had previously argued in court that the story of King Kong was in the public domain due to the film's novelization, which came out before the film and marked the first non-promotional appearance of the character, failing to have its copyright notice renewed. As a result, Universal lost the case. Nintendo lavishly awarded Kirby by taking him, his wife and some associates to dinner at a fancy Manhattan restaurant, giving him a sailboat named "Donkey Kong" and the exclusive rights to the name Donkey Kong for sailboats as a strange show of gratitude.

In a 2011 interview with Game Informer, Shigeru Miyamoto stated that "Kirby" was one of many candidates on a list of names that were proposed for the then-in development video game character, and upon seeing it, he recalled John Kirby and felt that a connection between the two would be amusing. However, the name was picked not as a tribute to the lawyer, but rather because the harsh-sounding nature of the name was a comedic contrast to the character's soft, cute design.

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Original DidYouKnowGaming blog post:
http://didyouknowgaming.com/post/32069456462/donkey-kong

2011 Game Informer interview mentioning Kirby's name origin:
https://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2011/06/17/miyamoto-wii-amp-wii-u-are-colored-white-for-all-ages-appeal.aspx

[Below links provided by Rocko & Heffer.]

Legal files:
https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/615/838/1515073/

Sail boat:
David Sheff - "Game Over: Press Start to Continue: The Maturing of Mario" (1999). Wilton, Connecticut: GamePress. (Page 126 in the book):
https://archive.org/details/0966961706/page/26/mode/1up

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (1993)

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Part of the trading sidequest involves returning a fishook to a fisherman in exchange for a mermaid's necklace. The player then returns the necklace to the mermaid who gives Link a scale from her tail in return. In the Japanese and some European versions of the game however, Link receives a pink bra instead of a necklace. This explains the mermaid's shy and anxious behavior around Link. The pink bra, most likely deemed inappropriate, was changed to the necklace in the American version and later European versions of the game.

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EarthBound

EarthBound (1994)

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In Mother 2 (the Japanese version of EarthBound), the cultists of Happy Happyism appear with the letters HH on their forehead (for Happy Happyism). In EarthBound, a pom pom was added and the HH was removed, presumably to try to make the cultists look less like members of the Klu Klux Klan. Also, possibly because HH on an already Klan-like sprite could be construed to mean "Heil Hitler". The city "Threek" was renamed "Threed" in EarthBound. Like the cultists, this may also be to avoid any link to the Klan, as Threek could be seen as Three K's, or KKK.

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Fallout: New Vegas

Fallout: New Vegas (2010)

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The weapon Fat Man and its mod Little Boy are named after two atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima (August 6th) and Nagasaki (August 9th) in Japan during the end of the World War II. In the Japanese version, the name Fat Man is changed to "Nuka Launcher," yet the Little Boy Kit kept its name. The changes were made to avoid offending the people of Japan, though Japanese gamers generally didn't approve of the change.

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Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (2007)

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Angeal's hair is a remnant of an initial design for Cloud. Cloud was originally planned to have slicked back black hair in Final Fantasy VII to contrast Sephiroph's long white hair.

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Final Fantasy VII

Final Fantasy VII (1997)

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Cloud's hair was originally supposed to be black and slicked back to contrast with Sephiroth's long white hair. The developers also thought it would be a good way to render less polygons on screen. The idea was eventually ditched for his iconic spiky hair. The idea was later used for Angeal, the original wielder of the Buster Sword and Sephiroph's close friend in Crisis Core.

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Franchise: Mario

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Shigeru Miyamoto wanted Mario to have a dinosaur companion ever since Super Mario Bros. but it wasn't thought possible at the time due to the limitations of the NES. He wanted to implement Yoshi in Super Mario Bros. 3 but again could not. Two power-ups were created to fill the gap - raccoon and frog Mario. Co-worker Takashi Tezuka once speculated that Miyamoto's love of horse riding had influenced Yoshi's creation.

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Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)

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In issue 260 of Nintendo Power, Yuji Naka revealed that the initial concept for Sonic the Hedgehog's gameplay came from playing level 1-1 of Super Mario Bros. over and over again as fast as he could, since you always had to play the level first regardless of whether you used warp zones or not.
"I always tried to get through the level as fast as I could. And that inspired the initial concept for Sonic the Hedgehog."

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Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance (2002)

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You can find a giant skull with several holes in it, used as a ramp. This is a reference to the mini-boss "Crocomire" from Super Metroid. It's thought to be a way of paying tribute to the Metroid series, as Super Metroid heavily influenced the Castlevania franchise.

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Punch-Out!!

Punch-Out!! (1984)

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The Russian fighter Soda Popinski was originally named Vodka Drunkenski. They changed his name to avoid controversy. Most of his dialogue still makes it out as though he is in fact supposed to be drunk.

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The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (1993)

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In the original Japanese version, the Hippo from the Animal Village had what appear to be breasts. This was changed during its localization to remove the breasts and any suggestion of clothing to cover up its naked body.

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The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (1993)

subdirectory_arrow_right The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX (Game)

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When Link sprinkles Magic Powder or uses a Mystery Seed on a Buzz Blob, it will transform into an enemy called a Cukeman who Link can talk to and hear several short phrases. Each localization of the game features completely unique Cukemen phrases, often making vague references to real-life people or things.

In the Japanese release, the Cukeman's dialogue string is a series of catchphrases that ends with "…That concludes this collection of R-Moto-isms. It has absolutely nothing to do with the game!"
"R-Moto" is most likely a nickname for the game's character designer Masanao Arimoto, suggesting that the Cukeman's dialogue originally consisted of phrases he commonly used during development.

In the English release, this dialogue is changed, causing the Cukeman to say nonsensical phrases like the stereotypical Jamaican greeting "Hey Mon!", as well as "It can display millions of polygons!" immediately followed by "I definitely need it, as soon as possible!".
These last two lines are most likely a reference to the Nintendo 64 which was in early development stages at the time of the game's release.

In the original German release, the Cukemen will say more suggestive or vulgar phrases courtesy of Nintendo of Europe localization translator Claude Moyse. Two of the phrases include "Gib Mir Deinen Saft, Ich Geb'Dir Meinen" which translated from German to English means "Give me your juice, I'll give you mine.", as well as "Nie Ohne Kondom!" which translates to "Not without a condom!"
The "Gib Mir Deinen Saft, Ich Geb'Dir Meinen" line is most likely a direct reference to the 1992 song "Saft" by German hip-hop group Die Fantastischen Vier, of which that line is its hook, and peaked at #19 on the German singles chart the year prior to Link's Awakening's release. Because the song openly promotes the sexual exchange of bodily fluids, the "Nie Ohne Kondom!" line was presumably added by Moyse to jokingly riff off it while promoting safe sex to older players.
The Link's Awakening DX release in Germany removed these references and phrases and instead changed them to in-game hints.

In the French release, the dialogue is changed once again to more nonsensical phrases before ending the dialogue string with "Lots of kisses from Kyoto! VERO". This last line features the name "VERO" and a unique heart sprite tacked on at the end as a signature, most likely from the localizer of this dialogue.

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The Cutting Room Floor article:
https://tcrf.net/The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Link%27s_Awakening_(Game_Boy)/Version_Differences#Cukeman_Dialogue

Original DidYouKnowGaming post:
http://didyouknowgaming.com/post/26291135666/links-awakening

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)

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When starting development on Ocarina of Time, Nintendo weren't sure how large of a game they'd be able to make with the Nintendo 64's memory restrictions. Miyamoto even considered structuring the game in a similar fashion to Super Mario 64, with Ganon's castle being the hub. The Forest Temple with Ganon's doppelganger jumping in and out of paintings was an idea carried over from that period of development.

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