Just wondering if anybody else has any interesting examples, aside from the ones I'm just pulling out here.
Crash Bandicoot, Stormy Ascent was supposed to be the last level before Cortex but was cut for being too difficult. It's still on the disc, just not accessible.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Death Egg was supposed to be an entire level, but was cut down to just the boss fights due to time constraints, exactly like how they cut Hidden Palace. Ignore the fact that Death Egg Zone uses Chemical Plant graphics with a different color scheme.
On a different note, Donkey Kong 64, Fungi Forest was actually a cut Banjo-Kazooie level.
Someone pointed it out to me earlier, but is this the only Zelda game where we can go into Gerudo Village without needing a disguise or completing a questline? Because we're playing as Zelda, who is a girl, and thus has free access.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVx8L7a3MuE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBlx1JffMQ4
My fan theory is that these songs are about the same woman.
"Brandy", it talks about a woman named Brandy who is deeply in love with a sailor, maybe a captain, but he's often gone for very long periods of time, because he belongs on the sea. It includes the lyrics, "At night when the bars close down, Brandy walks through a silent town, and loves a man who's not around, she can still hear him say", followed by the chorus.
"Captain of Her Heart" is about a woman who gives up waiting for the sailor that she loves to return to her. He's simply been gone too long and she has to move on. It includes the lyrics, "... This night the dream was leaving, she tried so hard to keep, ..., she felt it drifting away, not only for a cruise, not only for a day, ..., too long ago, too long apart, she couldn't wait another day for the captain of her heart.".