Official Nintendo Playing Cards - All Of The Mario & Zelda Decks Available Now
Nintendo got its start as a playing card company back in 1889, so it's pretty cool that you can still find traditional and Hanafuda cards featuring Nintendo characters
Released back in 2011 to commemorate The Legend of Zelda's 25th anniversary, this charming 52-card deck features a mix of character and item artwork spanning from the original NES game to Skyward Sword. If you're wondering who nabbed spots on the face cards: Link is the Jack, Zelda is the Queen, and Ganondorf is the King. The Triforce can be found on Aces, and Tingle is the Joker, which feels like the perfect choice.
Each card has a green back with a Triforce pattern, Hylian Crests, and a large Triforce in the center featuring four different versions of Link through the ages. Note: The image shown above is how the back of the cards look; the image on Amazon is brighter and overly saturated.
See at AmazonThis 52-card deck features the modern designs of well-known Mushroom Kingdom characters. Mario himself is on the back of the cards. The red and gold color scheme includes a border of Super Stars. Unfortunately for Bowser, he is the Joker in this deck, while Mario is the King. That probably doesn't make King Koopa too happy.
See at AmazonNintendo's Game Stage 52-card deck has a checkerboard design on the back featuring retro and modern artwork of Bowser's underlings, power-ups, and coins. Each full-color card features a section of a level from the original Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, or New Super Mario Bros. U.
See at AmazonFor retro gaming enthusiasts, this 52-card deck is one of your best options if you want Super Mario Bros. playing cards. Mario's character model from the original Super Mario Bros. game for NES is on the back, and each card has 8-bit artwork of characters or items/objects such as power-ups and warp pipes. And yes, Mario is always king, and Bowser is once again the Joker.
See at AmazonThe artwork on the front of these cards is very similar to the "Standard" deck listed above, while the backs of the cards have vibrant neon Super Mushrooms, Fire Flowers, Super Stars, bricks, and coins set against a solid black background. Mario's 3D character model is jumping in triumph (wahoo).
See at AmazonThe other ideal option for retro Mario fans is this 52-card deck. This is one of two Super Mario decks with full-color backgrounds on the front of the cards. You'll find character art from the NES era, with an emphasis on Super Mario Bros. 3. The King, for instance, is Mario with his Frog Suit. The back of each card shows Mario mid-sprint, with his hat fluttering above him, against a multi-colored background.
See at AmazonNintendo also created an appropriately colorful deck of Splatoon cards. The back of cards is splattered with paint, while the fronts have gray backgrounds featuring characters from the Splatoon franchise, including Judge Kun, Anemo, Atarime, and the squid logo.
See at AmazonSmaller and thicker than the playing cards you're probably used to, Hanafuda (Flower Cards) are designed to play a variety of traditional Japanese card games.
Nintendo's Super Mario-themed Hanafuda deck features unique character artwork you won't find on the 52-card decks listed above. Each card has a different character or object from the Mushroom Kingdom and a floral background. Along with various cards featuring Mario wearing his classic suits, you can admire cards with art showcasing Bowser Jr., Yoshi, Princess Peach, Rosalina, Daisy, Toadette, and more characters. There are even Yoshi's Island cards with Baby Mario and Kamek as well as Donkey and Diddy Kong.
See at Amazon (Red) See at Amazon (Black)Though also manufactured by Nintendo, this particular deck features scenic landscape art, rivers, and vibrant foliage. You won't find video game characters on these cards, but they still look great.
See at AmazonThis Hanafuda deck ditches the clear plastic case in favor of a more traditional storage case. Like the other two sets, each card features scenic nature artwork.
See at AmazonAll of the traditional playing card decks above were manufactured by Nintendo, but they aren't the only card games themed around the publisher's hit franchises. There are officially licensed Mario and Zelda editions of UNO as well as various matching games.
- Super Mario WHOT: Matching Card Game -- $14.11
- Ravensburger: Super Mario Memory Game -- $18.56
- Kirby Match Board/Card Game -- $30
- UNO: Super Mario Edition -- $11.87
- UNO: Zelda Edition -- $8
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This story originally appeared on: GameSpot - Author:UK GAG
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