Which console had games with the best cover art?

[Haoie]

If only Atari games actually remotely resembled their covers.

[Nebagram]

I'll probably give another vote for the VCS. Mega drive games had potential- the black grid pattern was elegant and cool at the same time and the logo- well, the PAL logo, anyway- is timeless.

Shame most of the actual cover art was below par...

[Parodius Duh!]

As far as vintage gaming goes, can you really pick? I mean, just about every system has its fair share of bad ass artwork and total shit.

[Steve W]

One system that people tend to overlook when it comes to cover art is the Atari Lynx. I've always liked the small box size too. Sure, there's a few duds and some amaterish looking art (like Battlewheels), but in general the art was great and the stylish box layout and design really framed it well.

[retroman]

Neo Geo had good box art

[Shulamana]

Sega Master System. Trust me on this.

That grid pattern makes me think of Tron or something, like you're looking at an infinite empty void and then when you plug the game in you see an entire universe being born.

I don't think it stands the test of time though, they look really ugly to me when they're faded/dirty.

[exit]

The 2600 hands down, even tho some of the games left more to be desired, the cover art usually more than made up for it.

[Shulamana]

Is it strange that I've never really liked any cover art that didn't remotely resemble the game? I suppose that disqualifies pretty much any game made before the mid-90s but for at least for RPGs and such covers were often made using concept art used in the development of the game.

A lot of those 2600 covers make me think of some sort of "artist's rendition" of their concept of the game, as somebody not really involved with the design process, rather than the world the game designer(s) themselves were thinking about when they thought up the game in the first place.

[swlovinist]

Sega Genesis for me, loved the original black label releases.

[SonicBoom]

The NES. Even say, Color Dreams, Which produced crappy games had amazing cover art. *Coughs* Battletoads, Castlevania, TMNT.

[tom]

VCS also was the first console to feature an actual screenshot as the cover, game: Boing! by First Star