Your favorite artwork from game box covers?

[PDorr3]

I tried putting together a video today of my top 20 favorite game box covers (found HERE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5gDLUKJYE8)) by going through my collection and trying to rank them in order, and it got me thinking that I probably missed out on some really great cover art from across all systems. Anyone here have any particular favorite artwork from covers of games they just find too awesome? (to limit page loads lets try and keep it at 1-3 images per post I guess?)

[SpaceHarrier]

#1
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v233/jlcscrackhouse/phalanx.jpg
that is all.

[mrmark0673]

I liked the artwork on the cover of Panic Restarant so much that I had someone (Uncletusk, famous for his SMB/DH boxes) blow up the image 24" x 36", framed it and hung it in my room.

http://i113.photobucket.com/albums/n223/mrmark0673/nintendo/100_0779.jpg

Kick ass box art right there.

[Aussie2B]

Off the top of my head, I like the Super Famicom cover for Brain Lord (too small to see the insane detail on the armor, though):

http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/7/563527_4535_front.jpg

And the Super Famicom version of Dracula X:

http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/4/563534_3921_front.jpg

[jcalder8]

Those are some pretty cool looking box covers. I'm going to have to think about what my favorites would be.

[Famidrive-16]

Probably cheating but:

http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/4835/cddarkseeduboxbu6.jpg

Dark Seed, sorry bout the small image.

[Aussie2B]

My avatar just made me think of another:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/49/Getterlove.jpg

The cover for Getter Love!! It's such a playful, clever cover. So the game is a dating sim and you see what you think is a sexy girl on the cover, but upon playing the game, you realize it's the beast you can see in my Christmas avatar. :P The game's got such a great sense of humor. :)

And since I'm thinking of N64 imports, here's Wonder Project J2:

http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/1/199321_14024_front.jpg

Nothing overly fancy, but it's very cute and like Getter Love!!, it's clever because there are a lot of elements of the plot represented with actually spoiling them.

And because it blows the pants off the US release, here's the Japanese cover for Radiata Stories:

http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/3/924323_58393_front.jpg

It so much better captures the style, feel, and purpose of the game than the lame action pose on the US cover.

I feel kinda bad that I'm only showing Japanese covers, haha. Although, since you mentioned it in the video, I do much prefer the US Chrono Trigger cover to the squat, goofy-looking line-up against a solid white background on the Japanese version.

[AllP0werToSlaves]

Not my personal favorite, but I found this one hilarious:

http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/776/776279/top-25-tuesday-most-awesome-covers-20070327025741870.jpg

Anyone actually own this? Lol.

[savageone]

There are sooo many box arts that are great for different reasons..

One that has always impressed me is the original Metal Slug 3 box art by Shinkiro.

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff25/maxchainsplendid/December/MS3.jpg

[poloplayr]

...

And since I'm thinking of N64 imports, here's Wonder Project J2:

http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/1/199321_14024_front.jpg

Nothing overly fancy, but it's very cute and like Getter Love!!, it's clever because there are a lot of elements of the plot represented with actually spoiling them.

That Wonder Project J2 cover is just....stunning!!! Love it.

[mrmark0673]

There are sooo many box arts that are great for different reasons..

One that has always impressed me is the original Metal Slug 3 box art by Shinkiro.

http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff25/maxchainsplendid/December/MS3.jpg

I have one of these in transit to me as we speak. Funny how much this one cost compared to my MS4 and MS5 posters, its worth it though.

[grolt]

I always liked the oil paintings used for many of the later Master System releases like Altered Beast, SpellCaster, Golden Axe Warrior and, my favorite:

http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/8315/golvellle6.jpg

[savageone]

I have one of these in transit to me as we speak. Funny how much this one cost compared to my MS4 and MS5 posters, its worth it though.

Were you the winner on that particular auction that went on eBay for $305? You, sir, are insane.

I have the MS3 artwork in english form (which is a bit smaller, forget the actual measurement it's an off size) and english standard flyer size (never seen another!).

English version=
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s205/tartongue/ms3frame.jpg

They can be yours for the low low price of $1000! X_x

[Kid Fenris]

Off the top of my head, I like the Super Famicom cover for Brain Lord (too small to see the insane detail on the armor, though):

http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/7/563527_4535_front.jpg



Trivia: This and the rest of the illustrations for Brain Lord were drawn by Sachiko Kamimura (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=3547), best known for the character designs from The Heroic Legend of Arslan anime series. Brain Lord's box has nice art, but it's an uninspiring cover. It tells me nothing about the game other than that it contains a pretty-boy swordsman (though it's debatable as to whether the art matches what's in the game; other 16-bit RPGs also hired well-known artists to design characters that were never more than tiny sprites in the actual games).


I have the MS3 artwork in english form (which is a bit smaller, forget the actual measurement it's an off size) and english standard flyer size (never seen another!).

English Metal Slug 3 flyers are rare? I have one for the PlayStation 2 version, which was never actually released in America.

[mrmark0673]

Were you the winner on that particular auction that went on eBay for $305? You, sir, are insane.

I have the MS3 artwork in english form (which is a bit smaller, forget the actual measurement it's an off size) and english standard flyer size (never seen another!).

English version=
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s205/tartongue/ms3frame.jpg

They can be yours for the low low price of $1000! X_x

I was bidding on that auction and after it hit $180, I ran as far away as possible. My brother put up a WTB over on the NEO forums and a member sold one to us for $85. Obviously not a cheap poster, but it is pretty sweet looking and it will go nicely with the other 2 and my cab. I think arcade shock may have some of the smaller American sized ones if anyone was interested.

[Tempest]

Xenophobe for the 2600:

http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2003/all/boxshots2/585276_38207.jpg

Tempest

[Steve W]

Most Psygnosis games for the Amiga (at least pre-1993) were incredibly nice. My favorite being Blood Money and Aquaventura.

[TheRealist50]

its not my most favorite, but when I first saw the video I automatically thought of Grandia 3. Especially since the cover is shiny and glossy which the picture doesn't do that part of it justice.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b4/Grandia_3.jpg/256px-Grandia_3.jpg

[PresidentLeever]

http://www.trekstersdomain.com/Amiga/Gameboxes/ShadowOfTheBeast.jpg

I like this one a lot. Too bad the game itself looked nothing like it :P

[Pantechnicon]

Anything by Mythicon. Craptacular games, but their artwork was wonderful. It reminds me of something you'd see on the cover of the sci-fi/fantasy paperbacks published by DAW Books in the 1970's.

http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2003/all/boxshots2/584729_37689.jpg http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2003/all/boxshots2/585144_38081.jpg

http://www.atariguide.com/minics/c3/322.jpg
(Couldn't find a box scan on this one, but it's the same art as the box)

[Gapporin]

Most Psygnosis games for the Amiga (at least pre-1993) were incredibly nice. My favorite being Blood Money and Aquaventura.


[Shadow Of The Beast] I like this one a lot. Too bad the game itself looked nothing like it :P

Roger Dean FTW. Dean did the cover for Shadow Of The Beast, as well as being to go-to resident cover artist for Psygnosis. He's also done some artwork for the new Tetris games, such as Tetris Worlds and Tetris Splash.

Of course, what everybody remembers Dean from is his album art of '70's rock, with the band Yes in particular. And now you know...the rest of the story. Good day!

[Pantechnicon]

Roger Dean FTW. Dean did the cover for Shadow Of The Beast...what everybody remembers Dean from is his album art of '70's rock, with the band Yes in particular. And now you know...the rest of the story. Good day!

Ah...that's it! This looked like a familiar style, but the weirdo creatures were throwing me off and making me think the Shadow of the Beast artwork here was done by Wayne Barlowe (http://www.waynebarlowe.com/).

[Poofta!]

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa166/unsung-hero/188FrontMission.jpg

one of my personal favorites, there are more, but thats the first that comes to mind. i love Amano's art, so most of what he's done is on my list (yes, FF6 included).

ill edit w/ some more pics later.

[Aussie2B]

Trivia: This and the rest of the illustrations for Brain Lord were drawn by Sachiko Kamimura (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=3547), best known for the character designs from The Heroic Legend of Arslan anime series. Brain Lord's box has nice art, but it's an uninspiring cover. It tells me nothing about the game other than that it contains a pretty-boy swordsman (though it's debatable as to whether the art matches what's in the game; other 16-bit RPGs also hired well-known artists to design characters that were never more than tiny sprites in the actual games).

Yeah, I love Sachiko Kamimura. :) From what I've heard and experienced, her art books are pretty hard to find, in comparison to other Japanese art books, but I was so obsessed with the Brain Lord cover and the rest of her art that I had seen, that I took the effort to track down Guardian, which has all of the art related to Brain Lord among a bunch of other stuff. Well worth the effort and cash. I think what I like best about her work is that the colors and shapes have this mother-of-pearl quality to them, but I also like the heavily-lined eyes.

I know she did some other game stuff like The Mystic Dragoons for PlayStation:

http://image4.play-asia.com/640/PA.78054.001.jpg

I also know she's credited with doing something involving Wizardry, and, of course, there are the games based on the anime that she had a part in.

Yeah, the Brain Lord cover isn't very revealing about the game. The in-game sprite is quite fat and ugly, haha. And in the Super Famicom version, his hair was actually blue. Funny how that once the hair actually matched the art in the SNES version, they replace the cover. I can't remember the game well enough to say if the SNES cover better captures the game, but either way it's pretty dull.

[Clownzilla]

Incredible Crisis!

[Aussie2B]

Since nobody has brought them up, how about a couple popular favorites:

PAL Resident Evil 4:

http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/0/535840_5435_front.jpg

Japanese We Love Katamari:

http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/1/921111_55197_front.jpg

[Cobra Commander]

Wow. I have never seen that RE4 artwork before. That blows the pants off of all others I've seen hands down.

[Kevincal]

SMB 3... Ya, it's extremely simple, but there's just something about that bright yellow box with a happy Mario flying about. :)

AvP Jag - CG looking Alien and Pred toe to toe... Just looks great.

Always loved the typical Doom box art... The hero fighting off hordes of devils. :)

How about...

The Guy Game? :D :P

[TheRealist50]

Since nobody has brought them up, how about a couple popular favorites:

PAL Resident Evil 4:

http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/0/535840_5435_front.jpg[/img]

This kinda creeps me out.That in itself makes it awesome by default.

[Haoie]

Now what was that game with the pic of the old man playing a banjo?

I think it was Phanlanx or something like that.

Cracks me up every single time.

[Gameguy]

I'll post some covers from PC games. I like most of the early LucasArts ones, I'll only post a few though.

http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/4035/neverhoodcoverca5.jpg
http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/5681/amigathesecretofmonkeyiwq1.jpg
http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/1784/mi2boxart2tx3.jpg
http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/1295/sammaxcovertc4.jpg
http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/957/loomrv5.jpg

[Kid Fenris]

I can't let a bunch of LucasArts covers get posted without putting up my favorite. It was drawn by Sam and Max creator Steve Purcell, and it captures everything I liked about those old LucasArts adventure games.

http://www.kidfenris.com/zakgerman.jpg

EDIT: Now AUF DEUTSCH!

[Tron 2.0]

Lords of Thunder TG16/PCE
http://www.pcengine.co.uk/Images-Covers/COVER-Winds_of_Thunder.jpg
Magician Lord NeoGeo
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d6//Magicianlordboxcover.jpg
Raf World/Joruney to Silius Nes/Famicom
http://www.sun-denshi.co.jp/soft/sms/sms05/raf.jpg
Gaurdian Legend jpn cover Nes/Famicom
http://hg101.classicgaming.gamespy.com/aleste/glegendj.jpg

[Mayhem]

Wow. I have never seen that RE4 artwork before. That blows the pants off of all others I've seen hands down.

Indeed... PAL artwork in not sucking for once shocker!

[SamuraiSmurfette]

I bought this game because of its cover...too bad it wasn't as great...

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0006B7KG0.03.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

[skaar]

http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/3669/megamanboxza7.jpg

[AMG]

I have always been partial to CastleVania 1-3 on the NES. Those covers are classic.

[Xander]

Final fantasy III

http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/5/563415_3124_front.jpg

http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/5/563415_3124_back.jpg

Gorgeous. But anything by Yoshitaka Amano is usually completely awesome on an epic level.