What I think is a good piece of graphic design

Here is a picture of one of my all-time favorite cartoon heroes - Mario.  This is a Nintendo Power magazine cover for Super Mario Bros 3 for the NES.  This looks to be about 20 or so years old.  What draws me to this is, obviously, the central figure Mario.  But it's not just his presence.  He is also drawn particularly well.  Take his figure for instance:  his colors are radiant and he shines as if he were metallic.  Although he is two-dimensional, he is drawn with great depth and use of various saturations, giving a three dimensional illusion.  That is some definite 20th century animation right there - no computer generated 3D animation, what we remember from our childhood - a selling point for me.  Then there's that he takes up most of the page and yet, he is such a diminutive figure that it just makes you want to play with him, and he is at the very front of all the action on page, which is something we would want.  There's also his enemies that he must face in the background on this also well-animated cliffside, giving the readers the urge to play the game and defeat them, and if the racoon ears and tail do not make you want to be Mario for pretend, what would?  By the way, does anybody else like the red cover with the golden "Nintendo Power" title in contrast?  Seems like a good choice to me...