Mario’s Most Creative Game Deserves A Remaster

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System has a large catalogue of titles, including many lackluster time-killers as well as several truly exceptional gaming experiences. Likewise, the Super Mario franchise had its ups and downs on the SNES, but one experimentally creative success outmatches them all still to this day. Nintendo redefined what a Super Mario title could look like with its iconic work of video game art, Mario Paint, and it is high time players see a modernized release of this Super Nintendo classic.

Mario Paint was released on the SNES in 1992 by developers Nintendo R&D1, Nintendo’s oldest development team, and Intelligent Systems, developers of fan-favorites like Paper Mario and Fire Emblem, among other titles. The painting plumber was met with a few high ratings, but the game hovered around “average” among critics at the time.

Some players likely considered Mario Paint to be too limiting, and many reviewers at the time saw little hope in its success beyond the youngest demographics. However, to this day Mario Paint remains a unique title that could improve significantly with just a few tweaks via a Nintendo Switch remaster.

Mario Paint Would Be Perfect on Nintendo Switch

Along with the Mario Paint cartridge was bundled the Super NES Mouse accessory, making the game an individualist before it ever powered on. The mouse gave SNES owners a personal-computer-vibe well before computers were a staple in every household. With the touch-screen capabilities of the Nintendo Switch, a remastered Mario Paint could improve upon the SNES’s model with perhaps a stylus or “brush” that would improve not only immersion, but the autonomy for players to create as if using real tools. This modern rework, bundled with infinite possibilities of new coloring pages, could provide hours of entertainment and even therapy to Nintendo players everywhere.

In addition to the visual arts, Mario Paint gave many players their first opportunities in musical composition. The composing screen showed a music staff on which notes were placed, with sound effects ranging from piano keys and guitar strings to Game Boy beeps and that oddly unique sound a Yoshi makes when Mario saddles up.

With varying time signatures, Mario Paint on the SNES was a fun masterclass in early composition skills. Even the simple additions of key signatures, accidentals (flats and sharps), and just a few more time signatures to a Nintendo Switch remaster would vastly expand the composer’s toolbox, potentially birthing new musical masterpieces one can currently only dream of.

With its multiple artistic features, Mario Paint pioneered a variety of creatively educational titles for the SNES, including Mario’s Time Machine and the Mario’s Early Years! series. With Nintendo Labo’s spotlight fading, the Nintendo Switch running a modernized version of Mario Paint surely has the potential to become any teacher’s go-to device. A remastered version of Mario Paint could serve players of all ages as a no-mess art studio, or as a cheaper alternative to buying an instrument.

The Nintendo Switch has introduced mind-boggling games and interactive triumphs in its short life-span already, and there is no evidence to suggest that Nintendo is finished pioneering. Players likely still have much to look forward to with this console, and Nintendo often strikes a comfortable balance between new material and nostalgic remakes. Perhaps players can count on a Mario Paintremaster someday, and hopefully Nintendo can be persuaded to let Mario don his paint-covered overalls one more time.

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