Mario Paint — stories left

While Nintendo Power and GamePro suggested that it had enough features and interactive elements to fascinate a person of any age with "even a remote interest" in artistic ventures, other reviews, even from critics who enjoyed the program, suggested the program's limitations made its novelty wear thin to those past its young target demographic and made its high price tag unjustifiable.

Calling Mario Paint "perhaps the most ingenious and inspired idea Nintendo ever came up with for a product", AllGame rated it 5 out of 5 stars.

Honest Gamers stated, "It has very little flaws, if any, is very addictive, and even a child can use it.

It said, "Every single element ... is engineered to make the act of creation fun in and of itself, even if you're just aimlessly doodling.

In 2006, it was ranked the 162nd best game made on a Nintendo system in Nintendo Powers "Top 200 Games" list.

In 2014, IGN ranked it the 105th best Nintendo game in its list of "The Top 125 Nintendo Games of All Time".

IGN editor Peer Schneider cited the game's "smart and playful interface" as a "game changer" and commented that "It effectively erased the barriers between creating and playing, making it one of the most memorable and unique games to ever be released on a console.

In 2018, Complex ranked the game 35th on their list of "The Best Super Nintendo Games of All Time".

In 2022, IGN ranked Mario Paint 22nd on its list of the "Top 100 SNES Games of All Time", noting that the game inspired different variations of popular songs.

Nintendo had commissioned the joint developer Software Creations, who described the game's original 1995 design idea as "a sequel to Mario Paint in 3D for the N64".

Paint Studio has been described by IGN and Nintendo World Report as being Mario Paint "direct follow-up" and "spiritual successor" respectively.

(2004) for the Nintendo DS includes both a microgame set in Mario Paints drawing board and a feature called "Wario Paint", which has players color in outlines of WarioWare series characters in a manner similar to Mario Paints coloring book.

Takashi Tezuka, the game's producer, stated that he "was inspired to bring the fun of Mario Paint into this course editor to make something fun and creative for people to enjoy".

Ultimate (2018) for the Nintendo Switch through an Assist Trophy called "Flies & Hand", where the flyswatter from Gnat Attack attempts to hit both insects and opposing players.

In the "Game Report Card" reader poll run by the magazine Family Computer Magazine,it scored 23.92 out of 30, as shown below.

This score placed it 22nd among all Super Famicom titles (323 titles in total, as of 1993).

In addition, in the "Best 30 by Category" printed at the end of the "Super Famicom All Catalog '93", a special supplement to the 1993-8 information issue of SUPER FAMICOM Magazine, it took No. 18 for value for money and No. 2 for originality.

Mario Paint sold very well following its release and is one of the best-selling SNES games, with over 2.3 million copies sold.

Mario Paint is one of the best-selling SNES games at over 2.3 million copies sold worldwide.

However, as software sold at a price that ordinary households could afford on the premise of an accessible platform in the form of a game console, and which allowed even children to enjoy drawing CG as if it were play, it was the only one of its kind.

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.

The game received its first official re-release on the Nintendo Classics service on July 29, 2025.

The first episode of Homestar Runner in 1996 was animated using Mario Paint.

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.

Mario Paint is one of the best-selling SNES games at over 2.3 million copies sold worldwide.

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.

Super Mario Maker (2015), a level creation suite, was originally envisioned as a Mario Paint title for the Wii U.

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.