Besides the music creator and Gnat Attack mini-game, Mario Paint is just a glorified Windows paint program.
THE GOOD
-Fun Gnat Attack mini-game
-Creating music is a blast
THE BAD
-Making animations is awkward
OVERVIEW
Mario Paint is Nintendo's somewhat enhanced version of Microsoft's default paint program for Windows. This game lets you paint pictures, script animations, and compose music. Now Mario Paint is pretty difficult to play with a controller which is why it comes boxed with a Nintendo brand mouse. Aside from the music composition and Gnat Attack mini-game, Mario Paint doesn't really offer to much more value then what you can do on a normal computer.
GAMEPLAY
Alright so I'm going to break the gameplay section down into its separate features which include the paint, music and animation sections, plus the mini-game.
The paint section lets you pretty much do everything that Microsoft Paint does. You'll be able to draw lines, circles and other shapes with about 15 colors to choose from. You also have a spray paint can, stamp tool and a free hand tool with three different line sizes. The stamp tool lets you create your own graphics pixel by pixel to use at anytime. This is great if you want a little more detail. There are a few default stamp icons to use like Mario's head, Yoshi, and other Mario World graphics. All in all, painting in Mario Paint is fun for a while but can get boring pretty quickly because the features are limited.
The animation tool gives you the ability to draw up to nine different still portraits and bring them to life; just like a flip book. There is a steep learning curve with this tool and the amount of time you put into this doesn't fully payoff. The controls are jerky and even though it is a great idea it's just poorly executed.
Now let's discuss some of the better things that Mario Paint has to offer; like music composition. You can actually create somewhat complex scores and even recreate some old Nintendo classics. If you need some help there are three example songs that you can look at. You can change the time signature between 3/4 and 4/4 while being able to load up to three different sounds per beat. There are a whole slew of different instruments to choose from like a piano, trumpet, bass, and xylophone. You also have the option to incorporate your masterpiece in with your animations.
The Gnat Attack mini-game, which is also called "Coffee Break", is a great distraction from the frustration this game tends to offer after a few short hours. In this mini-game your mouse pointer turns into a hand with a fly swatter. The objective is to swat about 100 different types of bugs, per stage, and then defeat a boss. There are three stages with the same setup; the only difference is that the bugs move faster. If your hand gets stung by one of these pests you'll lose a life. You start off with three lives but you can gain extra lives throughout the game. The Gnat Attack mini-game proves to be a highly addictive diversion from the main game.
GRAPHICS & SOUND
Well, it is a glorified paint program so most of the graphics are dependent on how well you can draw. Aside from that the tool bars and other visuals are decent. The Gnat Attack game has a bland background but the enemy design has a good bit of detail.
The music, like the graphics, are what you make of it. This game does offer a catchy main theme that's fun for a while but its repetitive nature does start to creep in some nausea while you're painting. The sound effects work well in Mario Paint. When you click on and use different tools like the pen or spray can, it'll almost sound like you're actually using that utensil for real.
CONCLUSION
Mario Paint is a glorified Windows paint program with a music creator and additive mini-game. This game may seem appealing on the outside and it will be for a few hours but once you realize that you won't be able to create that masterpiece the replay value takes a huge dive. With that in mind you're really only getting a good, but limited, music simulator and a fun mini-game. I would recommend a rental here but that's about it.