Mario Paint

Overview

Mario Paint is a 1992 art creation video game developed by Nintendo Research & Development 1 (R&D1) and Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Mario Paint consists of a raster graphics editor, an animation program, a music composer, and a point and click minigame, all of which are designed to be used with the Super NES Mouse peripheral, which the game was packaged and sold with. Per its name, the game is Mario-themed, and features sprites and sound effects that are taken from or in the vein of Super Mario World.

Mario Paint sold very well following its release and is one of the best-selling SNES games, with over 2.3 million copies sold. The game was released to fairly positive contemporaneous reviews; critics highlighted its accessibility, features, innovative design, and educational potential, but criticized limitations on creation that rendered it unviable for serious creation. Retrospective reviews have been more positive, praising the game as "memorable", "addictive", "unique", and "ingenious", and it has been deemed one of the best SNES games of all time. Mario Paint's music composer in particular has been used to create original songs, covers, and remixes using the game's sounds and limitations.

A successor game, Mario no Photopi for the Nintendo 64, was released in Japan in 1998. This was followed by a series, Mario Artist, released for the 64DD peripheral starting in 1999; however, only four titles were released in Japan only before the next game was canceled by 2000. Similar titles and game creation systems released by Nintendo since, such as WarioWare D.I.Y., Super Mario Maker, and Super Mario Maker 2, include features from and references to Mario Paint; Super Mario Maker in particular was originally envisioned as a Mario Paint sequel for the Wii U. The game received its first official re-release on the Nintendo Classics service on July 29, 2025.

Official trailer

Gameplay video. Watch on YouTube

Gameplay

Mario Paint (SNES) Random Gameplay [1080p], BLG. Watch on YouTube

Screenshots

Game details

Genres

Music, Puzzle, Simulator

Developer

Nintendo R&D1, Intelligent Systems

Publisher

Nintendo

Series

Mario Paint

Platforms

Super Nintendo

Age rating

ESRB E

Modes

Single player

Yes

Local multiplayer

No

Online multiplayer

No

Co op

No

Age ratings

ESRB

E

Release dates

Editions

Check out the store

Space and patches

Update patchNo patch

DLC

No DLC. Super Nintendo games had no downloadable content.

Playable today

Playable offline todayYes

Single player only, with no online features. The cartridge needs the Super NES Mouse, and the game is on Nintendo Switch Online.

Online

Plays offlineYes

Reception

Critics

Outlet	Score	Scale
Electronic Gaming Monthly	33	40
Game Informer	8.75	10
Computer and Video Games	91	100
Super Play	55	100
Total!	48	100

Staff and cast

Staff

Role	Name
Developers	Nintendo R&D1, Intelligent Systems
Publisher	Nintendo
Director	Hirofumi Matsuoka
Producer	Gunpei Yokoi
Programmers	Noriaki Teramoto, Kenji Imai, Kenji Nakamura, Genji Kubota
Artist	Hirofumi Matsuoka
Composers	Hirokazu Tanaka, Ryoji Yoshitomi, Kazumi Totaka

Notes for collectors

• A paint program, an animation tool, a music composer and a point and click minigame, all built around the Super NES Mouse.
• Came boxed with the mouse, which a complete copy should include.
• Sold over 2.3 million copies, one of the best-selling Super Nintendo games.
• Its sprites and sound effects come from or follow Super Mario World.

Credits

Publisher

Nintendo

Developer

Nintendo R&D1, Intelligent Systems

Director

Hirofumi Matsuoka

Released

1992-08-17

Age rating

ESRB E

Region

US

Time to beat

about 9.6 hours