BAB - Mario Paint
Image: Nintendo Life

Hey folks, and welcome back to another edition of Box Art Brawl!

We had a veritable doozy last week when we checked out Pokémon Yellow Version for the humble Game Boy; truly one of the standout titles in the gargantuan franchise.

It was a good ol' duel in which North America and Europe teamed up against Japan, and we must admit to being slightly surprised by the end results. We adore the Japanese version, but the Western design ultimately won the vote with a resounding 76%.

This week, we're sticking with the duel format with the SNES release of Mario Paint. Launched in 1992 and bundled with the SNES Mouse and Pad, the 'game' wasn't so much a game as it was an art tool. Despite this, it actually sold very well and would go on to provide inspiration for Super Mario Maker and Super Mario Maker 2.

It's North America and Europe vs. Japan once again, so strap yourselves in, and let's make some art.

Be sure to cast your votes in the poll below; but first, let's check out the box art designs themselves.

North America / Europe

Mario Paint - NA/EU
Image: Nintendo / MobyGames

The Western design for Mario Paint will be fairly familiar to most, we would imagine. It features the main man himself doing the ol' thumb trick to determine measurments for his glorious composition.

A load of paint bottles are strewn around and we honestly love the jaunty angle of Mario's cap here; he should wear it like that more often. The 'Mario Paint' logo is pretty cool, and the way that the SNES Mouse advertisement is tucked away in the corner is a nice little touch.

Japan

Mario Paint - JP
Image: Nintendo / MobyGames

Gosh, this looks more like something from Nintendo's 'Wii era', right? It's a clean design with a more modern logo. Meanwhile, the mix of white and blue is incredibly reminiscent of the Wii aesthetic. Maybe Nintendo looked to this very specific box art for inspiration? Hmm...

Otherwise, the SNES Mouse is very much the star of the show here, while Mario's painting is probably a more accurate depiction of what's actually possible within the game itself.

Which region got the best Mario Paint box art? (1,862 votes)

  1. North America / Europe
    North America / Europe89%
  2. Japan
    Japan11%

Thanks for voting! We'll see you next time for another round of the Box Art Brawl.