When Super Mario Odyssey was shown off at E3 a couple of months ago, we saw some interesting new builds for Mario and his friend Cappy that could take us in some bold new directions in the Mario universe. That said, Nintendo decided to make a change with one of them, so it’s not so prominently featured on the box art anymore.
According to GameZone, the publisher recently touched up its box art so that it removed the Sombrero-based Mario that was introduced in the game some time ago. Now, if you take a look, that image has been replaced by an underwater Mario, as part of a new level that was introduced for the game. You can see the images below with the change clearly noted.
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A Twitter user by the name of Nibel was the first to spot the change, and though the general image of Mario remains the same on the rest of the cover, it’s easy to see the differences between the two.
The publisher hasn’t made a note as to why the image was changed, but it could be possible that the company got complaints from concerned gamers why an Italian plumber would resort to dressing up in a sombrero. That said, the character is likely to still be in the game, but maybe Nintendo felt that its underwater world deserved to get some notice instead.
The change in box art has been notable across the board, with companies like Amazon, Target and GameStop already changing their listings with the new image, though Wal-Mart only has a plain one instead of this new one.
We’ve reached out to Nintendo to see what it has to say, but, for now, mum’s the word, but it’s more than likely a change to, again, please certain audiences. Some folks have already freaked out over the fact that is the first Mario game that doesn’t have an E for everyone rating, so Nintendo may just be trying to cool a few jets. Still, we’re interested in seeing what Sombrero Mario can do.
Super Mario Odyssey releases on October 27th for Nintendo Switch. Amazon Prime members can save 20% when they pre-order.
