Poll: Box Art Brawl: Mario Party 3

We return with another installment of Box Art Brawl! Are you prepared to evaluate some cover designs?

Previously, we examined 1080° Avalanche on the GameCube, and the outcome was remarkable. The design for Europe/North America achieved a phenomenal victory, securing 80% of the votes, while the Japanese version garnered the remaining 20%. Oof, a real avalanche.

Today, we are revisiting the past with three visuals for Mario Party 3. This third installment in the beloved plumber’s board game franchise debuted on the Nintendo 64 in 2000 and introduced iconic features like a single-player mode, accessible minigames, and — the most crucial addition — Waluigi.

There are three distinct designs available this week, so roll the dice and let’s get moving.

Be sure to make your selections in the poll below; but first, let’s explore the box art designs themselves.

North America

The North American cover art aligns with the design trend from the prior two entries in the series: a large image of Mario, arms wide open. It adeptly highlights the exciting new features, though. The “70 ALL-NEW mini games” tagline gets straight to the point, and look at ol’ Waluigi almost featured up front.

Europe

The European design mirrors its North American counterpart, although the red stripe has been substituted with the distinct European black border. This modification allows for a clearer view of the essential artwork, revealing extra characters like Shy Guy, Chain Chomp, and the new host, Millennium Star. It’s a subtle yet pleasing touch.

Japan

As always, the Japanese cover art takes advantage of the region’s vertical layout to present the artwork in a refreshing manner. This variant includes a wealth of details with the newly-introduced Daisy and classic foes at the top (featuring an eerily familiar Bowser Jr. design), while the full depiction of Mario and friends is situated below. This also marks our first glimpse of all the characters standing on a board game box — a clear hint toward the gameplay.

Framed against a starry pink and yellow backdrop, the result is quite an attractive visual.

Thank you for participating! We look forward to seeing you again for another edition of Box Art Brawl.