I Love The Cover of Mario Smash Football (US)

Being a consumer of games, I ordered two games from amazon.co.uk a few days ago. Since I placed my order on a weedkend, it couldn't be processed until monday. I was very much aware of this, and not disappointed in any way. Things went smoothly, and that very monday, I received a mail from Amazon. My package had been sent. Much to my amazement, I received the package today, wednesday. It only took two days! Amazon never ceases to amaze me. Two days may be exactly the time it takes to send something from the UK to Denmark, but still, I always expect at least 4-5 days to pass.

More to the point; when I opened the package there was a lovely surprise in there. Since I am in Europe and have a PAL GameCube, I also use PAL games for it. Other than the release dates and the whole PAL/NTSC thing, one of the biggest differences between European and American games is the cover art. Usually it's the same, but sometimes there's a huge difference. Mario Smash Footbaal a.k.a. Super Mario Strikers is one of those games where there is a big difference. While both covers (illustrated above, EU to the left, US to the right) are nice, the American cover just does it for me in a way the Europaen one never could. The background, the lightning, the frightened Hammer Bro, and most of all, the drooling Donkey Kong. It is just pure art.

So how is it, that I actually got the cover I wanted and the PAL-version at the same time. Well, a closer look at the cover revealed that the game had been assembled in Australia. Apparently, the Australians decided to use the same cover as the Americans, and I certainly don't blame them.

So in the end, I now have a game that runs on my PAL-Gamecube and at the same time I have a wonderful piece of art lying on my table.

Not bad.