CH6 - E1: Good and Evil

The Robot Master:
This episode was originally going to have a very different cast of newcomers. Originally Mike Jones from StarTropics and Zeke from Zombies Ate My Neighbors were going to join the fray against Sigma from the Mega Man X series. The episode would start with Mike saving PaRappa's group from thugs and having Radec team up with Sigma to use his robots. Mike and Zeke were removed since it didn't make much sense for either character to be there. They were replaced with Ryo and Jade. Sigma was replaced with Skull Face since I wanted to give an imposing figure like Sigma more screen time, and putting him in one of the very last episode didn't seem right for him.

CH6 - E2: Rising Sun

The Demon Lord:
All of the changes in this episode revolve around Ganondorf. The first big change was the addition to Zant, as he originally wasn't going to appear in the episode. I decided to add Zant to add another challenge to the heroes, especially since Zant is one of Ganondorf's most well-known minions. The other big change is that Ganondorf originally wasn't going to die. There were plans to bring Ganondorf back in New Game Plus, but I thought a battle against Ganon's true form was a fitting end to Ganondorf's character.

CH6 - E3: Risky Waters

Riskier Waters:
This episode went through a large amount of changes. Strangely enough, Gruntilda is the only character in every version of the episode. The original idea had either Captain Syrup from the Wario Land series or Risky Boots from Shantae (I hadn't decided) taking Croc hostage to lead them to a treasure in Gruntilda's lair. During this, Big from the Sonic the Hedgehog series would be messing around in the ship. Croc would find Yoshi trapped in an egg in the lair and save him, and it would eventually lead to the battle against Gruntilda on the ship with Big piloting it. Big and Yoshi were eventually scrapped from this episode due to there already being a lot of representation from both series, as well as the idea they would be better elsewhere.

Not Tooty:
The second idea I had for this episode included Coco From the Crash Bandicoot series. The episode would have Gruntilda stealing Coco away for her beauty. This would lead to Master Higgins and Big to go rescue her from her lair, similar to the final episode. Coco was replaced with Shantae before I began writing since Shantae fit well with the episode, and I felt a reunion between Crash and Coco needed to feel more deserved than them meeting up in the episode she debuts in.

CH6 - E4: Gears of War

Total War:
This episode went through a very drastic change since its inception. It always included Marcus Fenix, but he was planned to be joined by Duke Nukem, Raiden from Metal Gear, and Andy from Advance Wars. The episode would've had the four teamed up in a destroyed city, fighting off robotic enemies from throughout the series. This was scrapped in favor of an episode bringing multiple teams together.

Cortex and Niece?:
I also had a difficult time deciding on a villain for this episode, as it was originally going to be a giant fight between the heroes and an assortment of enemies. I ended up deciding to bring Cortex back alongside Nina since Cortex was the only series villain who wasn't planned to make an appearance. I also brought the Sweet Mech back in to give it more time to shine.

CH6 - E5: Hard Boiled

Automations:
This episode had multiple scrapped characters meant to fight against Eggman. The first version of the episode included both Spyro and Jak and Daxter. There weren't any plans for either of them in the episode, so they were moved to earlier episodes that they worked better in. The next planned character was 2B from NieR: Automata, since she was a character known for fighting robots. However, I thought if I was going to include her, it should be in an episode where she can fully show her abilities, and she was replaced with Metabee.

Villains Never Die:
Similarly to Ganondorf, both Dr. Eggman and Dr. Wily were planned to survive and become villains in New Game Plus. I thought that they had both gotten a good run though, so I decided to kill them off in favor of new villains in New Game Plus. Dr. Wily also wasn't originally going to be in this episode, but a team up of the mad doctors seemed like a fun idea.

CH6 - E6: Koopa Road

Royal Guard:
This episode had many characters who were planned to help defeat Bowser. The first idea I had was to include Frog from Chrono Trigger. While he still cameos in the episode, I removed him for the same reason I removed Robo. The next planned character was Pepper from Clockwork Knight, but I removed him since it wouldn't make much sense for him to be there. I went with Uberhero to include the Patapon in the episode and give another reason to go after Bowser.

Bowser's Fury:
This episode had a few small changes for the Koopa family. First, this was intended to be Bowser Jr.'s first episode in the series, with him fighting against the other heroes alongside Bowser before retreating to the Halberd. I decided against it so that the heroes wouldn't fight him twice, and it was better for him not to know the fate of his papa. I also initially planned to use the Giga Bowser form again, but then Bowser's Fury came out with a giant Bowser form, so I used Fury Bowser instead.

CH6 - E7: Meta Knightmare

High Flyers:
Similar to last episode, this one also has its fair share of cut characters, all of whom have the ability to fly. For a long time, the decision was between Opa Opa from Fantasy Zone and Buck Bumble from Buck Bumble. Neither of those really made sense to go against Meta Knight, so I ended up figuring out a third option: Sparkster. Dr. Wily was also going to join Meta Knight and Bowser Jr. in this episode, but I put him in the Hard Boiled episode instead.

Finale: Mind Over Matter

Sequel?:
For the longest time, New Game wasn't intended to have a sequel. It was meant to stand alone as its own story with heroes defeating Master Mind at the end. However, I still had a large amount of episode ideas and characters I wanted to include, so I started making ideas for a sequel. Originally, the name of it was going to be New Game: Mind Over Matter, until my friend Austin, who also made New Game's main theme, came up with the name New Game Plus. And the rest is history.