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It's-a Mario World: The Lost Premises


Being a solitary Mario fanatic is rewarding in its own right, but when the obsession is affirmed by other people, gaming geekery reaches new heights. More cultural icon than game character, Mario has inspired everything from an animated television series to an extremely lengthy scarf. And probably a couple of other things in between, like cakes and stuff. Most recently, though, we've become infatuated with the thriving community over at VGBoxArt.com, a website dedicated to all kinds of game box artwork, both real and imagined.

Barring occasionally subpar Photoshop skills, voluntary contributors to the site's public database have created an interesting collection of box art. Whether it be a reinterpretation of an existing cover or a completely new idea for a game, box art in the Wii category is worth checking out. Of course, the Mario-themed works take precedence in this humble feature, and we've assembled a new gallery showcasing the finer of the bunch. Click on and imagine the Mario games you'll likely never see.

It's-a Mario World is a weekly feature in which the ubiquity of Nintendo's flagship character is celebrated: We'll incessantly ruminate about mustache wax, debate the curious whereabouts of the princess and covet the luminous power stars strewn about the galaxy. Check back here every Friday to find out what strange and wonderful thing has got us tipping our caps.