Video Game Cover Art(box art)

[HellStar]

So what games had the best cover artwork?

In my opinion, I really liked Super Mario RPG for some reason. :)

[Half Cab Leroy]

I always thought Sonic the Hedgehog 3 looked cool.

[punkoffgirl]

I'm going to move this to the gaming forum, I'm not sure you meant to put it in off topic..?

>>electric SLIDE<<

[-hellvin-]

Final Fantasy III

I just like it's simpleness plus the fact they chose mog to display on the cover. Mog just looks cool =D.

[Nez]

Well from what I've seen owned, I'd say my Choplifter for the 7800 looks the best. Plenty of action and a nice big picture.

[Jasoco]

Serious Sam for the Xbox has a neat cartoony poster-esque (Wish it really was a poster to go next to my DOOM poster.) look to it.

Beyond Good and Evil has a cool look to it.

I kinda like Fabio on Ironsword, even though it doesn't actually make sense. (Box and commercials have a Barbarian. Game has a Knight. Oops?) But it is neat. I didn't even know who Fabio was at the time, and didn't realize until years later (August 2002) that is WAS Fabio.

[dmhawkmoon]

Rage of the Dragons for the Neo-Geo had some real nice eye-candy on the front.

[Sosage]

Although the game isn't great, I always had a thing for the import Star Gladiator 2 cover.

http://www.drunkentemple.com/sg2.jpg

Makes it seem grander than it actually is. :)

*shrug*

[Algol]

A couple of my personal favorites:

-Last Resort-Neo Geo

-Baseball!-Odyssey2

-The Super Spy-Neo Geo CD & Japanese AES

-Super Mario Bros.-Famicom

-Xenophobe-Commodore 64

-NAM-1975-Neo Geo

-Mega Man 4-NES

-Super Breakout-Atari 2600

-King of Fighters '99-Neo Geo CD

[Graham Mitchell]

Y's book I and II for the TG-16 CD. It's only striking if you've played the game, though.

I also can't believe nobody mentioned the original Legend of Zelda with the cut-out that let you see the gold cartridge yet!

[Quintracker]

Final Fantasy III

I just like it's simpleness plus the fact they chose mog to display on the cover. Mog just looks cool =D.


My pick is Dragon Warrior 4 for the same reason. Simple, yet effective. :)

[Escape•From•Jenny•Island]

Dragon Quest III (Family Computer)
God Slayer (Family Computer)
F-Zero X (Japanese Version) (Nintendo 64)
DoDonPachi: Dai-Ou-Jou (PlayStation 2)
Rockman Complete Works: Rockman 3 (PlayStation)
Rockman Battle and Fighters (Neo•Geo Pocket Color)
Chrono Trigger (PlayStation)
Chrono Trigger (Japanese Version) (Super Family Computer)
Samurai Shodown 5 (Neo•Geo)
Real Bout Fatal Fury 2: The Newcomers (Neo•Geo)
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles (Gamecube)
Panzer Dragoon II: Zwei (Japanese Version) (SEGA Saturn)
Shining Force III Premium Disk (SEGA Saturn)

Also:
Dragon Quest III (Remix) (Super Family Computer)
Super Adventure Rockman (SEGA Saturn)
Tron Ni Kobun (PlayStation)
Sa•Ga Frontier 2 (PlayStation)
Fire Emblem (GameBoy Advance)

[ECWSandmanECW]

Sonic 2 (Genesis)
Simpsons Road Rage (Playstation 2)
Top Gear Dare Devil (Playstation 2)

[robotriot]

Psygnosis had some of the best cover art, especially the ones Roger Dean made are great of course :) Here's two of my favorites: Shadow of the Beast 2 (pic) (http://exotica.fix.no/gallery/games/images/s/ShadowOfTheBeast2.jpg) and Ballistix (pic) (http://exotica.fix.no/gallery/games/images/b/Ballistix.jpg)

[rbudrick]

I've always loved that Super NES shooter with the Old man and the banjo...God that's funny.

-Rob

[Crush Crawfish]

I've always loved that Super NES shooter with the Old man and the banjo...God that's funny.

That's Phalanx! I love that box art! What the hell does an old hillbilly with a banjo have to do with a shooter?

My favorite box art would be the japanese version of Megaman X3.

[Jasoco]

I also love the box for Fast Food on the 2600.

http://www.atariage.com/2600/boxes/b_FastFood_front.jpg

My favorite 2600 game.

[Spartacus]

I like Lunar: Silver Star Story and Lunar 2: Eternal Blue for the Playstation. Very nice looking and big enough to cram it with hard bound manuals, trinkets, cloths, and all kinds of stuff! Never played either one, but I always admired looking at them!

[classicb]

http://boxscans.sonic-cult.org/sk-box-us.jpg

[Lemmy Kilmister]

No love for the u.s megaman cover? @_@

Most of the covers for the import castlevania titles have been very nice. Hell most of konami cover's are good in general. All one needs to do is look at the box art for contra 3. Good stuff.

[Gnarkill]

Metal Slug 3 (XBOX cover)
Phantasy Star Online (XBOX cover)
Onimusha 3 (PS2 cover)

[Aussie2B]

I can't really think of many outstanding ones for US games, but I can think of many outstandingly bad ones. :P Part of it comes from the strict rules US companies have on the packaging layout. Japanese publishers are given a lot more freedom. And then there are the bad, rushed American-ized covers, common for NES games and such.

With that said, most of my favorite covers are Japanese, and it's not because I'm an anime whore or something (although that's partially it :P ). One of my recent faves is Brain Lord. It's a really stunning portrait of a knight. I also really like Marvelous with its treasure map sort of look (the manual isn't even glossy just so it seems like treasure map paper). Wonder Project J2 is another great one, especially after you play through the game. There's just so much going on in the background of the cover that goes along with the plot of the game. Getter Love's cover always cracks me up when I think back on the time when I first saw it and thought "hey, a back shot of a sexy young girl flipping her hair; I gotta get the one and only N64 dating sim", and then I got it, played it, and discovered that the girl is actually the hideous Hose Beast, hehe. :)

Square is one company that goes TOO minimalist with their Japanese covers sometimes. The Japanese Super Mario RPG and Chrono Trigger covers are cool, but I like the art used for the US releases better. Secret of Evermore has a pretty cool cover too. Oh, and Secret of Mana is pretty. If I'm not mistaken, the US and Japanese for that one are the same, except the Japanese is vertical, which makes it work better (and of course it's lacking the ugly SNES frame). Square started making bad cover art decisions once the PlayStation came along, though. Don't even get me started on the quality difference between the Japanese Chrono Cross art and the US version...

[Richter]

always liked the NES CV trilogy covers

[Dr. Morbis]

Castlevania NES box art is my all-time favourite (speaking of which, does anyone have any of the box-art posters that you could order from Konami?)

The relatively unknown NES game King Neptune's Adventure is a close second.

[IGotTheDot]

Combat 2600 (the book box version)
Outlaw 2600 are two great examples of box "art" IMHO

[wisekrak]

Most of the Working Designs box art was really done well. Lot's of gold and silver foil really made the covers look like art!

[Griking]

It may not be the most impressive box art but my favorite is Adventure for the Atari. Probably due more to nostalgia than anything else.