Nintendo are very careful about what accessories they release for their consoles. The NES and Super Nintendo were no different. That is why it was so interesting when Nintendo released Mario Paint. With a mouse. For many this was a fun excursion on a console while computer users yawned at what was on offer here. For others, this was the most violent release Nintendo ever made.

With Mario Paint you were only really limited by your imagination. Want to draw something that was cutting edge for you when you were in kindergarten? Don’t worry, we were all there with you. The gaming magazines of the time even got in on the fun by running contests for the most impressive Mario Paint creations. It was a fun time. Then someone cut off Yoshi’s head, rotated it, added plenty of red paint and put a knife in Mario’s hand.

Not just drawing, musicians get some fun too

On the other side of the creation process was the music player. Using familiar characters and sound effects it was possible to create interesting musical compositions. Sure, you were not going to create a Nintendo version of Enter Sandman but well, you could do some really amazing stuff with practice.

Mario Paint is a game after all

Not content with just unleashing gamers onto a canvas of paint and music, Nintendo even packed in a mini game. Since Nintendo realized a mouse with a gaming console is probably a new thing to a lot of fans, they aimed to train us. In GnatAttack you can squash flies that move all around the screen extremely fast. This helped newcomers to the mouse get to grips with it in a fun and entertaining way – even if only for a few hours.

Peripherals were a selling point

Mario Paint was revolutionary and it sold like hotcakes. There were a few games that supported the Super Nintendo mouse too. Not many but a few. Can’t get enough Mario? Check out our coverage of other Mario games.

If you are missing Mario Paint from your collection then hit Ebay or Amazon and correct that mishap.

Carl Williams

It is time gaming journalism takes its rightful place as proper sources and not fanboys giving free advertising. If you wish to support writers like Carl please use the links below. https://www.paypal.me/WCW https://www.patreon.com/CarlWilliams