Originally planned for release in April 1995, the Sega CD version of Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors was completed, but Absolute Entertainment ran out of money before they could publish it, according to programmer Mark Morris on 1UP's Retro Gaming Blog. Absolute went defunct before the PC and 3DO versions were finished.

The two intro sequences in Smoke and Mirrors feature full motion video of Penn and Teller introducing the game to the player. In the standard intro, Penn alludes to the Mario, Sonic, and Mortal Kombat series:

"So, if you're, let's say, looking to goof around with short, immigrant piping engineers with lots of facial hair, or some hyperactive nocturnal insectivorous mammal, or a couple of guys pounding each other's brains out— [Penn and Teller parody a Mortal Kombat fight with action figures] ... If you like any of that sort of stuff, you're playing the wrong video game."

While Penn is alluding to the Mario series, Teller wears a red hat and bushy mustache as he rubs two tools together.