Wonder Project J2 is a sequel. You can see the first game in my picture too. It's on Super Famicom and stars a boy named Pino. It's a fantastic game too, but I like the sequel more. I don't know about Josette being a mascot. Wonder Project J2 was kind of a blip on the horizon, although it did get a bit more attention than the average N64 game considering it was the 4th release I think (after Super Mario 64, Pilotwings 64, some shogi game). Nintendo didn't really have anything to do with it either, since it was developed by Givro and published by Enix. Givro disbanded not that long after WPJ2 and the composer died on top of that, so a third game wasn't meant to be. Square Enix did release a mobile port not that long ago, though.

I actually don't have the controller paks in those. I don't know if they were removed at some point or if they were manufactured that way and needed them put in later. The game had completely generic paks, though. No special data, no special design. The only thing special is that the games come with a WPJ2-themed controller pak sticker that you could place on it. All of my copies do have those. I think the copies of Doubutsu no Mori with controller paks are basically the same.

That's strange about Mario no Photopi. Last I heard there wasn't much demand or interest in it. But there's a ton of price gouging going with N64 imports. Since not many people are into it and not many copies of games are put up for sale on eBay, sellers try to take advantage of ignorance and price games sky high. My collection would definitely be built a lot faster if I didn't have to immediately pass on 95% of the listings I see, either because of outrageous BINs or the fact that most sellers just list the same games that got US releases over and over. If a game starts at a low opening bid, I think the majority of N64 imports shouldn't go over around $25. Including Mario no Photopi, to be honest. Last Legion UX is another one where I've come across a couple people that think it's rare or worth big bucks, but I don't buy it. It just rarely comes up for sale on US eBay, which isn't unusual. I doubt it's any rarer than other Hudson releases like Getter Love!! If any Hudson release should be considered rare and valuable, it's Bomberman 64.