More Terrible Box Art

Press the Buttons has an article up discussing some of his least favorite Nintendo box art. The article is a follow-up to a box art column on Gamespy. From the article: "I eventually did get the game, but it never occurred to me how unexciting this box art actually was until sometime later. How did SNK expect this to sell? 'Mom, Mom, I want the game starring Lee Trevino that's endorsed by the U.S. National Video Game Team!' I hope that SNK's target audience was adults here, because if not then they have only themselves to blame."

Dead on

[Apreche]

He's dead on about Mega Man. Mega Man 2 is probably my favorite game ever. But it had the most terrifying box art you ever saw. It's just wrong.

This box cover?

[antdude]

I find it [tomheroes.com] funny if this is it.

Re:This box cover?

[Johnso]

He's holding a gun??? MegaMan? My favorite ROM is now ruined...

Hey, man.

[Adapt or Die]

That shit is state-of-the-art, and high resolution. Capcom was way ahead of the times!

Re:This box cover?

[DaFork]

No. This [freexbresse.free.fr] is the cover they were refering to.

Re:This box cover?

[antdude]

Wow, that is just worse! Good link.

Re:Dead on

[DavidD_CA]

What's amazing to me is that MegaMan 2 actually had cut scenes and manual artwork that clearly depicted what MegaMan looks like, and even the cartoony aspect of the art.

Not this creepy-looking dude with the hand gun, and psuedo-realistic artwork.

Master System Games

[generic-man]

I just looked at the Gamespy article and was (re)introduced to the wonders of Sega Master System box art. Minimalistic cartoon art against a graph-paper background! Large serif fonts!

Good God, Lotus 1-2-3 looked like more fun than Sega Master System games did.

Re:Master System Games

[Adapt or Die]

I dunno, I always liked that minimalist art. :^)

Re:The end?

[pretentiousPPC]

You spoiling evil bastard... damn you!!

Re:The end?

[syynnapse]

SHIT! I really like harry potter too. well - in Saw, jigsaw is the guy on the floor the whole time! hah!

Planescape : Torment

[chris411]

PST is my favorite CRPG of all time. But the box art. The box art. What were they thinking? That had to contribute to the relatively low sales.

Re:Planescape : Torment

[Wilson_6500]

Wasn't that in a sort of twin-package with Summoner or something? I never had the original box (I bought the disks off my room mate), but I imagine that tacking a bad game together with a good game could drive away a few people.

Re:Planescape : Torment

[Minna Kirai]

Wasn't that in a sort of twin-package with Summoner or something?

No. As I thought was obvious, the twin-packs were bargain versions of older games. What is not obvious (and borders on commercial fraud) is that the game inside that pack is cut down to fewer CDs than the original, meaning that most speech and nearly every cutscene is gone.

Re:Planescape : Torment

[lotsotech]

Even worse the guy on the front was one of the programmers. And yeah, I could see not buying it for that awful cover.

Blaster Master

[superpulpsicle]

This game had by far the worst Art. You have the hottest, arguably the most supreme combat vehicle of all time in Sophia.

Yet Sunsoft put a giant beast on the cover. The ugliest one with a sniper rifle target. There is no sniper rifle in the game.

http://bmunderground.chaosr.com/gfx/02_images/ads/ blsmbxf.jpg [chaosr.com]

Re:Blaster Master

[Poltras]

And the story was the lamest of all...

You lost your toad in the sewer and when you went after it you found a giant tank (don't remember even if there was a reason for it to be there) and go on your journey to find back your toad.

That's what I remember.... man, that was something. I loved the game though.

10 best?

[jgoemat]

here is the 10 best list. What I can't understand is that each of the 10 best has a runner up. Wouldn't that just be "The 20 Best"? [gamespy.com]

wasteland

[Anonymous Coward]

Best box ever = Wasteland for the Apple II:

http://www.mobygames.com/game/wasteland/cover-art [mobygames.com]

The old album-style packaging had it all: excellent cover establishing the tone of the game, ornate illustration of a decimated Las Vegas on the inside panels, and a photo of the game designers in post-apocalyptic gear carrying weapons.

Best ever. No contest. Nothing comes close.

Anticipation

[Dwedit]

Anticipation [ton.tut.fi]
Need I say more?

Re:Anticipation

[CoffeeJedi]

we have teh winnar!!!!!!1

wow, seriously, that's impressively bad. i wonder how embarassed those models would be now if you showed them that (now that they'd all be about 50 years old or so)

Re:Anticipation

[rbanzai]

Looks like Catherine Mary Stewart in the lower right corner, and one of the dorks from "Full House" in the upper right.

Hmmm.

Way to ruin the suspense

[aztektum]

Thanks for linking directly to Gamespy's #1 worst box art and ruin it Zonk!

Super Famicom vs Super Nintendo box art

[PhotoBoy]

Being in the UK I was always importing Super Famicom and US Super Nintendo games back in their heyday. I'd never usually wait for US releases unless the wait was going to be very short or the game was full of Japanese. It never ceased to amaze me when I saw the final US boxart how they changed it compared to the Super Famicom version.

Take a look on Ebay, search for Final Fight, Turtles in Time, Mystical Ninja/Goemon, Actraiser they all look terrible. Even Zelda III had an inferior US box design.

Atari?

[axonal]

What about the covers for most of the Atari games? I remember the cover for skydive wasn't anything like the game. Same with Tank.

Japan v. USA

[LordJezo]

How about the differences between American box art and Japanese box art?

There seems to be a trend to totally ruin the simplistic and quite often wonderful box art that Japan gets when a game comes to America. It's almost as if they (the companies) feel the need to dumb down the art here in order to reach out to a market that just does not understand videogames.

One of the most blaring examples is Ico. In America we get a box with some kid with a stick in his hand and a bunch of other random stuff on

Who looks at the box?

[technopinion]

I read about a new game, usually online. I read a review or two. I look at some screengrabs, sometimes try the demo. And if it looks good, I go out and buy it. Who cares what the box looks like? With so many godawful games out there, how can anyone look at the box and use that in their buy/no-buy decision?

Re:Who looks at the box?

[Servo5678]

Who cares what the box looks like? With so many godawful games out there, how can anyone look at the box and use that in their buy/no-buy decision?

Back in the old days we couldn't look up new games online because there was no online. There were no console game demos. All we had were word-of-mouth, the occassional magazine, and the game box itself.

Not what I expected...

[pnutjam]

I read the title and thought this thread was about tatooed cooters.
Glad I was wrong.

Lee Carvallo's Putting Challenge

[PaxTech]

Welcome to Lee Carvallo's Putting Challenge. I am Carvallo. Now, choose a club.

You have chosen a three wood. May I suggest a putter?

Three wood. Now enter the force of your swing. I suggest feather touch.

You have entered "power drive". Now, push seven eight seven to swing.

Ball is in: parking lot. Would you like to play again?

You have selected "No".

Worst art ever

[macshome]

No matter what anyone else says is the worst box art ever, Cock'in [lemon64.com] has the worst art ever. Ever. Ever, ever.

Must go wash my eyes now...