A screenshot of the scenery (as of Mar 23, 2008) viewed from about 6500 feet above ground in very early development.
| Feature | Free edition* | Full edition | Screensaver edition** | Likelihood of adding†† |
| Scenery features | ||||
| 3D effects | Low resolution only | Fine resolution | Fine resolution | > 99% |
| Antialiasing | up to 2x*** | up to 16,384x | 256x only | 60% |
| Fog color | 3 preset colors only | 16,777,216 fully customizable | 1 (unchangable) | > 99% |
| Fog quality | Fine | Fine | Fine | 40% |
| Ground quality | 20-50 | 1-50 | 1-50 | 100%‡† |
| Urusu Valley quality | 20-50 | 1-50 | 1-50 | 100%‡† |
| Cirrostratus clouds quality | 20-250 | 1-250 | 1-250 | > 99% |
| Pathway quality | 20-100, medium | 1-100, high | 1-100, high | > 99% |
| City quality‡‡ | 20-50, medium, and merge‡‡ | 1-50, maximum, and merge | 1-50, maximum, and merge | > 99% |
| Water wave quality | Low and medium only | Low, medium, high | Low, medium, high | > 99% |
| Water color | 3 preset colors only with 2 preset opacity values† | 16,777,216 fully customizable with full opacity control | 1 setting only (unchangable) | > 99% |
| Other customization | Visibility only | Clouds and visibility | Visibility only | 40% |
| Landscape | 5 to 15 miles sample area (10 miles more likely)*** | 90 miles unrestricted | Completely undecided | > 99% |
| Decals and other objects | Foreground only | Yes | Yes | 99% |
| Special features | ||||
| Frame advance mode | One full frame only | Fractional frames | Variable without control | > 99% |
| Time control | 1/4 to 4x as 9 presets only*** | 1/100 to 100x fully customizable*** | Variable without control | > 99% |
| Game demo | No | Yes | Always on (cannot be disabled) | 90% |
| Resolutions | 512x384, 640x480, and 800x600 only | Anything from 512 to 1920 wide and 384 to 1440 high (oddballs for windowed mode only) | Completely undecided | > 99% |
| Interactive tutorial | Yes (for what is available) | Yes | No | > 99% |
| Horizon indicator | off, 12.5% and 25% only | Fully customizable | Variable without control | 100%‡† |
| On-screen information | verbosity restricted, visibility fully adjustable | Fully customizable, including rearranging the elements | Completely undecided | > 99% |
| Terrain map side view | Only 2 or 3 set sizes available*** | Fully customizable, including colors | Completely undecided | 99% |
| Video recording | up to 10 seconds (20 fps maximum), cannot save | limited only by disk space and up to 720 fps | Not present | 80% |
| Classified feature 0001 | secret | secret | secret | 98% |
| Classified feature 0002 | secret | secret | secret | > 99% |
| Special abilities | ||||
| Walk/run | Yes | Yes | Yes | > 99% |
| Float run | Yes | Yes | Yes | > 99% |
| Jumping | Yes | Yes | Yes | > 99% |
| Flash attack | Yes (8 directions only) | Yes (any direction) | Yes (any direction) | > 99% |
| Stomp | Yes, no pound stomp shockwave emitted | Yes, pound stomp shockwave emitted | Yes, pound stomp shockwave emitted | > 99% |
| Fall-glide | Yes | Yes | Yes | > 99% |
| Glide | Yes (cannot be used to gain altitude) | Yes, no limits | Yes, no limits | > 99% |
| Bounce | Yes | Yes | Yes | > 99% |
| Leviburst | Yes, cannot go up | Yes, unrestricted | Yes, unrestricted | > 99% |
| Speed blast | 400 mph max blast off speed*** | Yes, unrestricted | Yes, unrestricted | > 99% |
| Insta-teleport | Yes, for challenges only | Yes, unrestricted | Yes, unrestricted | > 99% |
| Swimming | Yes† | Yes | Yes | > 99% |
| Special effects | ||||
| Planet curvature | No | Yes | Yes | > 99% |
| Space effect | First stage of low quality | Yes | Yes | > 99% |
| Cloud fog | Yes | Yes | Yes | > 99% |
| Pathway texture blending | Low and medium | Low, medium, and high | Low, medium, and high | > 99% |
| Ground texture blending | Yes | Yes | Yes | 100%‡† |
| Water splash | Yes† | Yes | Yes | > 99% |
| Underwater darkening | Yes† | Yes | Yes | > 99% |
| Puffs | Yes | Yes, with hot puffs being a different color | Yes, with hot puffs being a different color | > 99% |
| Flare effect | No | Yes | Yes | > 99% |
| Supersonic atmospheric distortions | No | Yes | Yes | 40% |
| Flash attack flash | Yes | Yes | Yes | > 99% |
| Speed blast distortions | No | Yes | Yes | 92% |
| Shockwaves | No | Yes | Yes | 98% |
| Tournaments and challenges | ||||
| Challenges available | Don't know (limited by terrain limitations) | at least 48, 56 very likely | None | > 99% (for 48; 97% for 56, and 30% for 64) |
| Ranks | 0, 1, and 2 only | All 9 (0 to 8) | None | > 99% |
| Tournament mode | No | Yes | No | > 99% |
| Practice mode | Yes, only for the challenges and ranks available | Yes, unrestricted | No | > 99% |
| Exploration mode | Yes | Yes | Always active | > 99% |
| General | ||||
| Logos | 2 (5 seconds each) | 1 (1 second) | 2 (2 seconds each) | > 99% |
| Watermark | Yes | No | No | > 99% |
| Easy-to-use menus | Yes | Yes | Menus not used | > 99% |
| Autosave | No | Yes | No | > 99% |
| Updates | Free, but delayed | Free and fast | Free, but delayed | Too variable†‡ |
| Upgrades | Free, delayed a lot | 50% off normal price, but fast | 50% off normal price, but fast | Too variable†‡ |
| Game manual | Optional separate download | Included | Doesn't really apply | > 99% |
| Free tech support | Yes | Yes | Yes | > 99% |
| Download size | 15 MB (estimate) | 25 MB (estimate) | 23 MB (estimate) | X% |
| Price (maximum, expected)‡ | $0.00, $0.00 | $6.95, $5.95 | $4.95, $3.95 | X% |
