Poll: Box Art Brawl: Mario's Picross

Pretty clear winner here, as damn can the puzzles be tricky

The "Europe #2" one would be a lot better if they did not put that blue label over Marios face and hand.

Tough one. EU#2 is best, except that crap blue thing saying whatever... which compmetlly ruins it.

Sounding like broken record now, but I would've voted for Europe #2 had it not been for the blue box.

All of them have things weirdly covering Mario's face so I'll just go with the one I prefer art wise, Europe #2.

I like the Mario face of the USA version because it fits the theme of a more abstract picture puzzle game better, compared to seeing artwork of Archeologist Mario, which would just make me assume this is some kind of adventure or platforming game with a new powerup, just like how SMB3's art was just Raccoon Mario.

This is a very fun game, glad that they added it to NSO. I’m going with Europe for this one for sure.

I‘m pretty sure that I had a German copy with the #1 design! But maybe it was just the cartridge. Can someone here clarify this?

None of them really convey what Picross is, though. And I didn't pick Europe #2 for another reason: it looks like Mario is dressed as an explorer or something, which can make you think it's an adventure game.

I'm gonna vote Japan, only because I actually have a boxed copy and that's the cover art I'm the most used to see. This was one of my first Japanese items in my overall collection, along with the Japanese version of Pokémon Stadium
(called Pokémon Stadium 2 there) and a Japanese Donkey Kong amiibo.

The gray border doesn't bother me, that's a general design choice for Game Boy box arts in Japan. That'll be like if I had a problem with the American SNES black borders.

Unfortunately, none of the covers convey the idea of what Picross is about, you have to check the back of the box to find out. Maybe the Japanese one could work if Mario's image and the logo were presented as a Picross puzzle.

Cartridge art
North America, shared with Europe (including Germany) and Australia only with different branding.

Japan

@RootsGenoa I think I remember the commercial had Mario exploring with a pickaxe. I could be completely making that up in my mind

@rvcolem1 It's possible, yes. And I admit it's relevant in terms of marketing because it was 'easier' to sell the game that way (making it more exciting), but I still think it's misleading though.

The alternative European one looks like Mario in his explorer outfit from Mario Odyssey!

The NA/UK one looks like the advertisers didn't know how to make the game look exciting or advertise what it was at all so just said, "squares." The other European one is sort of terrifying to me somehow. Japan at least tries to emphasise the conceit of the game and remain at least in a vaguely similar shape to what the game is.

Japan - Mario needs to work on his selfie game.
NA/Some of Europe: The most iconic and at least gets the point across.
Netherlands/France/Germany - My personal pick since it shows a determined explorer Mario with more personality than the other two covers.

Can't say I LOVE any of these though.

Japan has the best logo, the first Western art is second-best, and the second European art with the extreme close-up of whatever the hell we're supposed to be looking at looks more like a Spelunker-style game than a simple puzzler.

@Clyde_Radcliffe That would be because the costume is based on how Mario appears in Mario's Picross. This art from Picross 2 shows the full outfit.

EDIT: They re-released Mario's Super Picross untranslated on Wii U and Switch so I fully expect them to add Picross 2 to NSO at some point. It's an interesting game. Puzzles are divided into worlds and there's an overworld where you move Mario from one puzzle to another. The game kind of assumes you've played the first game since after a short set of smaller puzzles, the rest are all 30x30 puzzles. Or rather, they are 4 interconnected 15x15 puzzles that make a complete image. GB's resolution doesn't allow for larger puzzles.

@Late

Or rather, they are 4 interconnected 15x15 puzzles that make a complete image. GB's resolution doesn't allow for larger puzzles.

Wait, the basic concept of the Clip Picross mode has been around since Picross 2? I didn't know that.

@drypaphmrbro no it’s really not because in my opinion I don’t really like any of them

Europe #2 is by far the worst of the 3 in my opinion, shocked at these results. The Japanese one is the most sensibly designed piece.

I can't support any of these. NA is too abstract. EU retains some of the excess squares from the NA one but without the context to make (some) sense of them. JP one has the benefits of grid patterning, giving at least some sense of the gameplay. However, the tacky 90's cool kid graphic design with the non sequitur border that changes colors 1/3 of the way across and those random extra yellow dots are a no-go for me. And the random "PICROSS" running down the right side of the frame.

As I scrolled down, I thought to myself, this has to get better as it goes. And it just never did. This week started bad, and ended bad. These are terrible. The first one with the disembodied face I think is the worst of the bunch. The second one at least has a more realized Mario drawing. But it's still too zoomed in and the logos detract from things(a problem for the first cover too). The Japanese cover is no better as the extreme close up is just not a good concept in my opinion. The best feature of the Japanese cover may just be the border. So my pick for least bad is Europe 2.

Gotta vote to the Europe #2 cover, but that's not the very best, because Mario's face is too close. Although I have the game with that German cover.

I immediately knew Japan would be a distant third and that I had to vote for it. It’s too trippy not to be my favorite, and I’d pick it off the shelf knowing nothing about the game.

Why do people pretend to enjoy these games?

@Uncle_Franklin Because picross puzzles are fun to solve, I'd say?

@JimNorman

The possibly best cover for Mario's Picross is not in the poll, the cover for the Netherlands and France:
https://www.retroplace.com/en/games/33633--marios-picross
https://www.ebay.fr/p/70431887

"Europe #2" is presented as "the Netherlands, France and Germany", but it's actually just the German cover. Well, the background image is indeed the same, but the cover does have at least one important difference: The horrible blue label covering Mario is missing. Some other differences: the title is not in an angle and there is some new info text underneath the title.

Mario's Picross was also released in Australia - according to Wikipedia.org and Mariowiki.com:
JP: March 14, 1995
NA: March 16, 1995 (Wikipedia.org) March 14, 1995 (Mariowiki.com)
AU: July 25, 1995
EU: July 27, 1995
https://www.mariowiki.com/Mario%27s_Picross
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario%27s_Picross

Not sure what the Australian cover looks like. Tried to find it online without any luck. I can think of 3 reasons:
1. Maybe it looks the same as alterantive 1, and thats the reason I did not notice it while searching.
2. It's very rare and there are few or no photos online.
(Does not seem to be many photos of the cover version from the Netherlands and France either.)
3. It was never released in Australia for the Game Boy, it's just an error on Wikipedia and Mariowiki.

All of them look messy and crammed, but Japan slightly less

Europe #2 for the win.

Europe # 2 easily-- Utilizing the archeologist in-game image of Mario gives far more direction that just Mario's face.

@Lofoten An Australian version does exist and it has the same cover as North America/Europe #1, only with a white G rating.

Normally, I try to use MobyGames for variations on the cover arts and most of the Cartridge Arts I post.

@Uncle_Franklin Granted you have to be very visual and have a thing for math/logical thinking to enjoy Picross. If you do, this is a good way to spend some time. Of course if you don't, you're not gonna enjoy it.

I tested it with my students, I taught them the basics and some simple printed puzzles. Some understood it, others didn't, but among those that didn't some showed genuine interest on them.
My sister also tried a hand at Mario's Picross and couldn't understand it.

Box Art Brawls Current Total:

Europe: 96

Japan: 90

North America: 111

Australia and New Zealand: 1

I went with NA/EU1. To me it told the most about the genre with all the boxes.

The 2nd one makes me think Mario’s going mining.

The Japan one looks like one giant picross box… not quite as obvious in what the game is vs #1

I actually managed to play and beat all the puzzles and I put in 12 hours into the game and honestly it’s pretty great. Also I picked the NA/EU#1 cover, mainly because I like it’s aesthetic.

@Uncle_Franklin I ain’t pretending to enjoy picross. These games are very satisfying to clear.

I'm going to go with Japan because I like the Mario face in a picross box and also it features stuff that is there for no other reason than the designer clearly just thinking hey I'm going to stick that there because I can.

Other than that I've got to say all three covers are really good this time so it's hard to choose. Maybe the adventure mario one is less impactful and imaginative but it's still good.

For anyone interested, the text in the much-maligned blue box on the German cover, 'Das Knifflige Bilder-Rätsel!', means 'The tricky picture puzzle!'