29 replies to this topic

[BillyHW]

What do you think is the best classic game box art? Here's my first nominee:



I have to admit, I bought this game just because of the box art. I didn't even know what it was about. Same for this one:



Oh yeah. In these two cases at least, judging a book by it's cover actually worked! Two great games!

[atari181]

I am very partial to any of the Tigervision Releases for the 2600. The artwork is very colorful and catches the eye.

[BillyHW]

atari181, on Wed Jan 11, 2012 6:21 PM, said:

I am very partial to any of the Tigervision Releases for the 2600. The artwork is very colorful and catches the eye.

Post some of them!

[Ransom]

It's hard for me to decide, but the first one that came to mind was this:

[Curious Sofa]

Just some personal favorites there...

[TwinChargers]

Atari was always really good at one thing, and thats box art. Heres my favorite-

[Reaperman]

Edited by Reaperman, Wed Jan 11, 2012 8:32 PM.

[high voltage]

Best box art is the one with actual screen shots on the cover, eg Boing!

[Eltigro]

I've always loved the NES Castlevania box art.

[jaybird3rd]

The Atari boxes are among my favorites, too. The "montage" paintings they used for their Warner-era releases always had all kinds of interesting things going on inside them, and as I said in another thread about them, they "served as a visual aid to prime my imagination, giving me a mental image that I could impose on the more primitive audiovisuals of the actual game as I was playing it". Some people like to criticize them because they don't reflect what the game really looks like, but in my opinion that criticism misses the point.

My favorites among the Atari 2600 boxes are the Berzerk, Defender, Missile Command, Star Raiders, and Vanguard boxes. I also have a soft spot in my heart for the Brain Games, Breakout, and Super Breakout box art, even though the latter two in particular seem to get a lot of criticism. Aside for a plain old screenshot, how else would you visualize what's going on in the Breakout games?

[ledzep]

I have a soft spot for the Atari 400/800 black box game series artwork. The New Gamer site has a few listed under Gamephemera and I had no idea that Scram had such cool cover art. I bought a copy of that game recently just to have it and its massive game manual.

[Cebus Capucinis]

No, this is not a joke, either:



I love that boxart, it's just so crazy.

[mbd30]

Is that William Shatner?

[IntellivisionDude]

[Syntaxerror999]

Ransom, on Wed Jan 11, 2012 6:36 PM, said:

It's hard for me to decide, but the first one that came to mind was this:

Holy Crap! Its The Empire vs the Aliens from Stargate!

[IntellivisionDude]

[The Usotsuki]

BillyHW, on Wed Jan 11, 2012 6:11 PM, said:

Is it me or does that dragon look like Shenlong from Dragon Ball?

(Granted, the game DID have Akira Toriyama character designs.)

[7800Lover]

These Atari 2600 covers were pretty cool. This was a personal favorite.

[high voltage]

The Usotsuki, on Sun Feb 19, 2012 11:33 PM, said:

BillyHW, on Wed Jan 11, 2012 6:11 PM, said:

Is it me or does that dragon look like Shenlong from Dragon Ball?

(Granted, the game DID have Akira Toriyama character designs.)

Makes a change when the 'westernised' box looks better than the original:

[BillyHW]

high voltage, on Wed Feb 22, 2012 6:34 AM, said:

The Usotsuki, on Sun Feb 19, 2012 11:33 PM, said:

BillyHW, on Wed Jan 11, 2012 6:11 PM, said:

Is it me or does that dragon look like Shenlong from Dragon Ball?

(Granted, the game DID have Akira Toriyama character designs.)

Makes a change when the 'westernised' box looks better than the original:

That doesn't happen too often.

[Skarrj]

It isnt pretty, but it makes me laugh

Edited by Skarrj, Wed Feb 22, 2012 10:43 AM.

[high voltage]

unbeatable:

[gliptitude]

[gliptitude]

jaybird3rd, on Thu Jan 12, 2012 11:55 PM, said:

The Atari boxes are among my favorites, too. The "montage" paintings they used for their Warner-era releases always had all kinds of interesting things going on inside them, and as I said in another thread about them, they "served as a visual aid to prime my imagination, giving me a mental image that I could impose on the more primitive audiovisuals of the actual game as I was playing it". Some people like to criticize them because they don't reflect what the game really looks like, but in my opinion that criticism misses the point.

That's exactly how i feel about game art. The disparity between the fabulous images and the actual game is a huge style point in my opinion. As long as there is some sort of payoff, I don't mind if the art offers way more than the game could possibly live up to. It makes it seem like magic, like rubbing two sticks together to produce fire, or like Sea Monkies heh.

[IntellivisionDude]