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Mario Paint is now on Nintendo Switch

07/29/25

Nintendo just kind of dropped Mario Paint onto Switch Online yesterday. If you've got a Switch, you can plug in a USB mouse to your dock and get running in seconds. It's kind of ridiculous that it's not playable in portable mode but that's life. Switch 2 owners are able to play in portable mode, since that console has a mouse built into one of the joycons. I presume that's why this was released to begin with.

I spent untold amounts of time playing with this thing growing up. Combined with the Game Boy Camera and a VCR, I'd create some wierd ass shit. I don't think I have anything left though. Those of you that didn't get a chance to paint with Mario as kids can be assured that while it's not the most versatile paint program, it's great to see just how much they got right so early on. The UI is still very usable, and aside from the lack of a zoom function, the program has aged wonderfully.

For a company that goes out of it's way to piss me off, Nintendo does nice things occasionally. Of course, this is no reason to bother buying Nintendo Switch Online if you don't already have it. If you're American, just spend the $11 on a used copy of the game, dump it, and run it on your computer.