Get your spiciest takes at the ready, because it’s time to dive into another edition of Box Art Brawl!
It was a special edition affair last time, as we celebrated the 35th anniversary of the SNES by matching up three boxes for the SNES Mini. There was one clear winner in our eyes, and you lovely lot agreed with us! The simplistic Japanese design comfortably walked away with the win, taking 48% of the vote and leaving Europe and North America with the remaining 26% and 25%, respectively.
Inspired by the arrival of the Game Boy version on Nintendo Switch Online this week, we’re taking a look at three covers for Bionic Commando on the NES — what can we say, it had more variety in its art than the arguably more relevant GB release! It’s a trio of different designs to pick between this week, so let’s dive straight in.
North America
Much like the promise in its top left corner, the North American cover is all-out action. Our titular hero swings from his bionic arm front and centre, with the odds stacking up behind him. There are giant metal machines, foot soldiers, helicopters, bats — it all builds up a question of ‘how will he ever get out of this one? Buy the game to find out!’
Honestly, the colour variety rules in this one, too. It’s an all-round goodie, no?
Europe
A lot of that action is stripped back for the European release — the helicopters and foot soldiers make the jump, sure, but where are the bats?? The commando’s outfit has been swapped out to something that more closely resembles a comic-accurate Vision, and a big old blue border steps up to occupy an unsettlingly large portion of the box.
Japan
Now this is something different! It might not be quite as kinetic, but the Japanese cover opts for action of a different kind, with our titular hero shooting at the baddies across from him. Be it the looming big bad in the fiery sky or the blood-soaked logo, this cover leans way more into the high-stakes gore of it all, and makes for a rather eye-catching design in the process.
Thanks for voting! We’ll see you next time for another Box Art Brawl.