Last month, Nintendo brought Mario Paint to the SNES Nintendo Switch Online Library, finally unlocking the Mouse Mode experience we had all been dreaming of. It was a neat addition, no doubt, but there was something missing in diving back in on our shiny new Switch 2s, something that could only be achieved by playing a second-hand copy of the game on its original hardware: save files.
By playing on NSO, our games were all squeaky clean, with no sign of any pre-existing blast-from-the-past artwork. We're not claiming that we used to be 'artists' on the SNES back in the day, but there's something sweet about looking back over old drawings, right? It gives us a peek into a different time, where abilities and priorities couldn't get in the way of putting virtual pen to virtual paper. Ah, to reminisce...
The lovely Zion over on our video team obviously felt the same way and took on the behemoth task of collecting a whopping 100 copies of Mario Paint on the SNES, just to search for any hidden gems on the cartridges. It was a serious undertaking (like, $500 and a lot of time 'serious'), but the results were... well, you'll just have to watch the video to find out!
Above, you'll find Zion's journey to reaching the big 100 (accompanied by some sweet art by @Guppies), and get a look at what he uncovered along the way. It's a long one, so grab yourself a brew and settle in for some cosy nostalgia.