Look at your shelf. If you own a physical copy of Super Mario Odyssey, you’re looking at a piece of marketing that went through a surprisingly public identity crisis. It’s one of the most successful games on the Nintendo Switch, selling over 28 million units, yet the Mario Odyssey box art we see today isn't what Nintendo first showed us.
Nintendo is usually a vault. They don't typically let the public see the "rough drafts" of their branding unless it’s in a high-end art book released five years after the fact. But with Odyssey, the change happened right in front of our eyes. One day, Mario was wearing a poncho and a sombrero. The next, he was snorkeling.
It's weird.
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Most people just popped the cartridge in and started collecting Moons without a second thought. But if you're a nerd for box art design or the weird nuances of Nintendo’s corporate decision-making, that swap is a rabbit hole. It reveals how the company balances cultural sensitivity, gameplay marketing, and the "rule of three" that defines almost every Mario cover since the NES days.
The Sombrero Controversy That Wasn't Really a Controversy
When Super Mario Odyssey was first revealed, the box art featured a montage of Mario’s transformations. In the bottom-left corner, we saw Mario in his "Tostarena" outfit—a traditional Mexican sombrero and poncho. He looked great. It was a nod to the Sand Kingdom, a world clearly inspired by Mexican culture and the Day of the Dead.
Then it vanished.
Before the game hit store shelves in October 2017, Nintendo updated the Mario Odyssey box art to replace the sombrero-wearing Mario with a version of him wearing a snorkel and goggles. Naturally, the internet did what the internet does. People assumed Nintendo was "bowing to political correctness" or feared cultural appropriation backlash.
Honestly? That’s probably giving the internet too much credit.
While there were a few scattered tweets about the outfit being a stereotype, the reality is likely much more boring and practical. Nintendo of America and Nintendo Co., Ltd. in Japan often have different ideas about what sells. In the case of the Sand Kingdom outfit, Mario’s face was partially obscured by the brim of the hat and the guitar he was holding. On a retail shelf, you want Mario’s eyes to pop. You want that "Cappy" connection to be unmistakable. The snorkel outfit, pulled from the Lake Kingdom or Bubblaine, shows more of Mario’s face and leans harder into the "exploration" theme that the marketing team was pushing.
The Rule of Three and Visual Hierarchy
Nintendo's box art philosophy for the Switch era is actually pretty consistent. If you look at Breath of the Wild or Splatoon 2, there’s a focus on "The Big Vibe."
For the Mario Odyssey box art, the layout follows a collage style that dates back to the Super Mario 64 Japanese box or Super Mario Sunshine. You have the central hero figure, then a series of vignettes showing what you actually do in the game.
The final layout is a masterclass in composition, even if it feels a bit "busy" compared to the minimalist Breath of the Wild cover. You have the New Donk City skyline—the most "un-Mario" thing in the game—taking up the top right. You have the Odyssey ship. You have the T-Rex.
The T-Rex was a stroke of genius.
Putting a photorealistic dinosaur on the cover of a Mario game was a massive "Wait, what?" moment for parents and kids alike. It signaled that this wasn't just New Super Mario Bros. 58. It was something weird. Something new. By placing the T-Rex directly opposite the snorkel Mario, Nintendo created a visual balance that highlights the "Capture" mechanic without needing a paragraph of text to explain it.
Why the Snorkel Version Won
- Color Palette: The original art had a lot of reds and tans. The Sand Kingdom is, well, sandy. By adding the snorkel Mario, they introduced a bright, refreshing blue to the bottom corner. This contrasts perfectly with the red of Mario’s hat and the yellow of the game’s logo.
- The "Cappy" Factor: In the sombrero art, Cappy (the hat) is just a hat. In the snorkel art, Cappy is transformed into goggles. It more effectively communicates the idea that your hat can become anything.
- Retail Visibility: Red on white is the Nintendo Switch branding. If the box art also has too much red/tan, it blends in. That splash of blue from the water-themed vignette makes the box "vibrate" a bit more on a crowded Target shelf.
Regional Variations: Why Japan Always Gets the Cool Stuff
If you think the US Mario Odyssey box art is good, you should look at the internal promotional materials used in Japan.
Nintendo often uses a "White Space" approach in Japan that they’re afraid to use in the West. In the US, retailers like Walmart and GameStop historically pressured publishers to "fill the box." They worried that "empty" space looked like a lack of content.
In Japan, the focus is often on the silhouette. Some of the alternate posters for Odyssey featured Mario leaping through a completely white void, with only a few floating purple coins or a single Capture target. It’s minimalist. It’s classy. It treats Mario like a fashion icon rather than just a video game character.
We saw a bit of this in the US with the "Traveler's Guide" edition, which came in a larger cardboard sleeve. That version gave the artwork room to breathe. It’s the version most collectors hunt for now, purely because the standard red plastic case feels a bit cramped by comparison.
The Legacy of the Odyssey Design
It’s been years since the game launched, but the Mario Odyssey box art still holds up as a turning point for the franchise's visual identity. It moved away from the "rendered 3D model on a plain background" style of the Wii and Wii U eras and back toward something more illustrative and chaotic.
It tells a story. You see the globe. You see the different kingdoms. You see the weirdness.
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When you compare it to the Super Mario Wonder box art, you can see the evolution. Wonder is much cleaner, focusing on the "Wonder Flower" transformation. But Odyssey had to do more heavy lifting. It had to prove that Mario could exist in the "real world" of New Donk City without it looking like a total disaster (looking at you, Sonic '06).
The box art was the first piece of evidence that Nintendo knew exactly how to blend these disparate art styles. Mario looks perfectly at home next to a realistic taxi and a prehistoric predator.
How to Spot a "First Print" or Variant
For the hardcore collectors out there, the Mario Odyssey box art change isn't just a bit of trivia; it’s a way to date your copy.
Technically, the "Sombrero" version was never released to the public in a retail capacity. It only existed in early digital assets, E3 banners, and mock-up boxes sent to stores for pre-order displays. If you find a "retail" box with the sombrero on it, you’re either looking at a very high-quality bootleg or a rare piece of "not for resale" store signage.
Actually, checking the back of your box is more interesting for identifying prints. Later prints of the game include updated "Awards" or slightly different legal text. But the front? The snorkel is king. It’s the definitive version.
Actionable Tips for Collectors
- Check the Spine: If you’re buying used, look for the "spine" alignment. Some early Switch games had slightly off-center titles.
- The "Guide" Edition: If you want the best version of the Mario Odyssey box art, look for the Super Mario Odyssey + Traveler's Guide bundle. The outer slipcase uses a higher-quality matte finish that makes the colors pop way more than the standard plastic insert.
- Preservation: If you have an original 2017 copy, keep the insert away from direct sunlight. The red ink Nintendo uses for the Switch "header" is notorious for fading into a dull pink over time.
- Digital Alternatives: If you're a digital-only player, you can actually find high-resolution versions of both the original and the revised art on sites like The Spriters Resource or Nintendo's Press Site. They make for killer phone wallpapers.
The box art did its job. It sold 28 million people on the idea that Mario could go anywhere, be anything, and wear anything—even if he had to swap his sombrero for a snorkel at the last second to satisfy the marketing gods. It’s a snapshot of a company at its peak, confident enough to change its mind in public because they knew the game was good enough to handle the scrutiny.
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Next Steps for Your Collection
If you're looking to dive deeper into Nintendo's design history, your best bet is to track down the Art of Super Mario Odyssey hardcover book. It’s massive. It contains hundreds of pages of concept art, including the early sketches for what eventually became the final Mario Odyssey box art. You'll see dozens of rejected layouts that emphasize different kingdoms, providing a rare look at what the game could have been if they'd focused on the Moon or the Bowser's Kingdom instead of the urban sprawl of New Donk City.