M&L:SSS (GBA) Beta Spritesheet (FOX!)

[geoprimedonna]

So, I found this beta spritesheet on Spriters Resource from the game Mario and Luigi: Super Star Saga for GBA. In the spritesheet, there are several Mario and non-Mario Nintendo characters: Samus, Link, Wario, Cpt. Olimar and the pikmin, an Exitebike (which is impressive, after years of hiatus), a Sidestepper, a green and black guy which I don't know to what series the belong to and... FOX!!!! Him drinking coffee, his "video watch" ringing and the mugshots of Slippy and Peppy. Does anybody know what these characters were supposted to do in the game? And why other characters (Cpt. Falcon, Ness, Donkey Kong, Pokémons, other protagonists of the type...) weren't on the spritesheet (and, because of this, were probably not planned to be featured in the game)?

[Komenja]

If I remember right, there's a place in the game where you can make coffee. Depending on the brew you make, one of these characters would pop in, snag your mug and give you something in return.

[Pgpaw3]

It's as Komenja said. In the final game every time you make a new type of coffee E. Gadd would come out, steal you brew and give you an item in return. However, originally E. Gadd was only meant to appear once, with Fox, Samus Link, etc. coming around the other times. This was covered in a Did You Know Gaming episode awhile back, but I can't remember which one.

[geoprimedonna]

That explains something. Thanks guys. But I still wonder why these specific characters were chosen to appear in the Beta version and why were they scrapped out of the game.

[The VGM Lover]

My guess is to avoid controversy. Then again, because this was found it could have happened anyways, so...