A Brief Look At Terrible Video Game Box Art.

I may have mentioned this in the past: Some odd things give me the best feelings of nostalgia.

Firing up my copy of Super Mario All-Stars feels pretty damn good. Hell, even the simple action of dusting off my Super Nintendo carts makes me feel alright.

One of the things I love the most is video game box artwork. When you think about it, that was basically the only thing the companies had to get someone to buy their game. It was a make-or-break sort of deal. If the artwork didn't work out, sales probably suffered. Some companies caught on quick, like with Nintendo's Black Box series of games. The Black Box games were the initial launch titles for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and each one had some awesome sprite artwork on the front. Those boxes are instantly recognizable as being for a video game, and they played an important role in advertising: There was no bullshit about them. You basically knew what you were getting into. In-game, Super Mario Bros. looked nearly identical to the cover, as did 10 Yard Fight, Clu Clu Land, etc...

Nintendo knew what the hell they were doing. It's a damn shame that other companies didn't.

Here is a look at a few terrible boxes, mostly from the Super Nintendo.



This was the cover art used in another release of the game. I know my copy of the 3DO version had it.

Look at that. It's gorgeous. It perfectly represents the game as a whole. Seriously - play the game. I'm pretty sure that it's on Steam and GoG. You'll find that this artwork is pretty much 1:1 with the game. It shows off everything: The redhead protagonist, his alien companion, and the vast world that the game takes place in.

This particular artwork is probably my favorite piece of video game art.

Why the HELL couldn't they have used this for the Super Nintendo version?

These are kind of fun to talk about. I may look at more bad box art in the future.

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