65 replies to this topic

[JayWI]

BillyHW, on Fri Jan 13, 2012 2:42 AM, said:

Quote

Anyway, here's another terrible SMS box.

This makes no sense. Why is this man wrestling his own head?

Actually that is what is so good about it. It makes the customer wonder "what's going on here?" Then they buy it and realize it's a pretty bad game but it's to late at that point.

[Emehr]

Did Sega hire failed Mad Magazine artists to do their cover art?

[high voltage]

But also like the awful NES blocky box art, Sega changed from the grid art to better cover art very quickly. Check out the cool European SMS covers.

Edited by high voltage, Fri Jan 13, 2012 8:34 AM.

[TwinChargers]

high voltage, on Fri Jan 13, 2012 8:33 AM, said:

But also like the awful NES blocky box art, Sega changed from the grid art to better cover art very quickly. Check out the cool European SMS covers.

I like how they kept the grid though for the Genesis. Switching from the white to black grid was a significant upgrade I think-



From some of the worst box art to some of the best. I was sad when Sega went away from the grid look.

[BillyHW]

Genesis box art was an order of magnitude better, and probably a big reason why the Genesis dis so much better than the SMS.

[A_Locomotive]

BillyHW, on Fri Jan 13, 2012 9:39 AM, said:

Genesis box art was an order of magnitude better

Well not always lol. Great game but man does the boxart look dumb, its pretty much all the fault of the dude in the center, if he actually looked the dude you play it wouldn't be so annoing to look at.

[BillyHW]

I will never understand why Sega didn't go with Wonder Boy to be their mascot character. Wonder Boy was actually cool.

[high voltage]

Nah Sonic was cooler, even more so than Mario

[BillyHW]

I meant before they had Sonic.

[Desfeek]

Out of all the EGM I read as a youngster, and out of all of Seanbaby's "The Rest of the Crap" articles, the 'review' for this game was the most memorable. He wouldn't even review the game, simply due to the terrible boxart. In fact, here is a link to that article: http://www.seanbaby....arnaajrally.htm for your entertainment.

[jaybird3rd]

Yikes, that is bad. Judging from the "Karnaaj Rally" and "Rival Turf" box art, it looks like Jaleco's art director (or whoever was responsible for their terrible boxes) deserves a firing squad.

[high voltage]

JayWI, on Fri Jan 13, 2012 6:53 AM, said:

BillyHW, on Fri Jan 13, 2012 2:42 AM, said:

Quote

Anyway, here's another terrible SMS box.

This makes no sense. Why is this man wrestling his own head?

Actually that is what is so good about it. It makes the customer wonder "what's going on here?" Then they buy it and realize it's a pretty bad game but it's to late at that point.

That'll scar a kid for life.

[Lentzquest]

What makes no sense? It's merely a game about the exploits of Zangief's father. Particularly his misguided attempts to breast feed himself in public. The children in school used to taunt Zangief about this without mercy, thus fueling the rage that enabled him to become one of the best fighters of all time.

[7800Lover]

Reaperman, on Wed Jan 11, 2012 8:05 PM, said:

well there's always the immortal classic:

Curses! You beat me to it!

Oh well - at least someone else agrees with me. Since when is Pacman some frisbee-eating, buck-toothed marathon runner living in a castle?

[7800Lover]

Just remembered this one a short time ago...



Rival Turf from the SNES - a localization of the game Rushing Beat. Seriously, it look like Jaleco just took two kids off the street and said "Hey, wanna make some quick dough? Pose for our game box cover!"

[Midnight Synergy]

Metrocross and Tower Toppler (Nebulus) in the US.

I mean, the UK versions are so nice looking! Why go ahead and ruin them?



See attached Exhibits A and B. Click for larger versions - if you dare!

Attached Thumbnails

• 
• 

[BillyHW]

LOL Midnight!

[Cebus Capucinis]

I like all the SMS box art, and I also like the A8 Pac-Man box a lot.....

[so_tough!]

All European Megadrive and Genesis artwork, compared to the Japanese versions.

[7800Lover]

How about the cover to the SNES port of Street Fighter 2?

Those renditions of the characters look quite cheesy. In fact, that was a common criticism I heard from SF fans. Many didn't like the cheesy art used for localization and preferred the anime style art that was used for the Japanese promos. This was around the time that anime/manga started to go mainstream in the USA after all.

[Rex Dart]

Did somebody order some ARMPIT?


No? Nobody did back then, either.

[so_tough!]

Why in the 8bit/16 bit era did they change the artwork and box style for American and European markets? Why?

The Japanese artwork is always way better.

Edited by so_tough!, Mon Jan 16, 2012 1:59 PM.

[BillyHW]

so_tough!, on Mon Jan 16, 2012 1:57 PM, said:

Why in the 8bit/16 bit era did they change the artwork and box style for American and European markets? Why?

The Japanese artwork is always way better.

I also never understood why we didn't get all those great Japanese RPGs...the excuse was always, 'These games won't be popular in the North American market."--Bull$hit!

[7800Lover]

Funny we should mention Japanese vs. North American/European box art. It may have been more of a matter in those days that anime/manga as a style was all but unknown here in the USA. Anyway, here's a comparison of superior Japanese cover art to its Western counterpart. Case in point - Phantasy Star 2 for the Sega Genesis.



Get a load of what we got here in the West...



That girl with the horns looks absolutely nothing like Nei from the game. And that middle aged guy with the laser gun? Is that supposed to be Rolf, the hero of the game? Does that dude look anything like the fascimile in the Japanese art above?

[Vic George 2K3]

Definitely some real doozers. Atari 8-bit Pac-Man? NES Mega Man? Gamespy had an article about the worst ten game box arts.