My Favorite Video Game Box Art Part 2

I didn't mean to let so much time pass before making a part two to this series, but I got sidetracked and here we are, four months after the first installment. I'll try not to let so much time get away from me before part 3 arrives. Anyway, here's part 2.

Super Mario Bros. 2 (Japanese ver.)

I just love the complicated history behind this game. First we thought it was a Mario game, although a vastly different one compared to the original Super Mario Bros. Years later, we found out it was a different game, Doki Doki Panic with Mario characters in the place of the original cast. It was thought that because of the character switch that our version of Super Mario Bros. 2 wasn't a true Mario game. Then we found out that our version of Super Mario Bros. 2 began as a prototype sequel. In other words, it was a Mario game from the very beginning. Basically, the game went from being a Mario game, not a Mario game, then back to a Mario game again. Confusing, no?

Anyway, I've always liked the art of the Japanese version over our American cover, which is actually some art from the Japanese version of the original Super Mario Bros. You've got Mario getting ready to lob some veggies at Wart, Luigi. picking up a Shyguy, Peach standing there, appearing to be useless, when in actuality, she's one of the most useful characters in the game and finally, you got Toad, climbing a vine, having the time of this life. I really think the outer pink box compliments the art extremely well.

The Revenge of Shinobi (Japanese ver.)

I happen to favor a lot of Mega Drive box art as some of my favorite gaming box art cover, so you'll have to forgive my mentioning of so many Mega Drive covers during this extensive multi-part feature. Going by the title of The Super Shinobi in Japan, The Revenge of Shinobi was one of the Genesis' earliest games, but from the looks and sounds of it, you'd think it was a later entry. Even today, The Revenge of Shinobi has outstanding visuals and an amazing soundtrack by Yuzo Koshiro. On the Japanese cover, we have Joe Musashi, looking on with what appears to be killing intent with his blade drawn. Some of the simplest of visuals with the right choice of colors can be very effective.

Castlevania

Who says all American NES era games had bad box art? OK, so the original Mega Man has laughably horrendous box art but Casltevania? We're talking one of the greatest images to ever grace an NES box easily. I mean, just look at this cover. Simon, Vampire Killer in hand, preparing to storm Dracula's castle, and the big bad himself looming over the castle, looking all menacing. He's even got blood dripping from his fang's which suggest that he's been doing some feeding. At a time where Nintendo of America was heavy on censorship, it's quite the surprise that the blood on Drac's fangs wasn't edited out. In fact this box art is one of those instances where it remained the same as the Japanese version. The only real difference between the American and Japanese box art is that the Famicom Disk version doesn't use the gray borders, allowing for a bit more of the original image to be seen. Even so, I love both versions of this box art.

Castlevania II: Simon's Quest 

Undoubtedly the weakest link in the NES Castlevania Trilogy, Simon's Quest threw many players off with it's no liner setting and plenty of Guide Dang It gameplay scenarios. That said, it nailed it on the soundtrack as well as the box art. Konami's American branch had a thing for placing gray borders on it's boxes, similar to Capcom USA's purple boxes and I had no problem with either.

Chrono Trigger (Japanese Ver.)

I've been a fan of Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball series for more than ten years now and I've been a fan of Chrono Trigger far longer than that. At the time, I had no idea that Toriyama was the designer for the characters in one of my all-time favorite video games. These days, his art style is instantly recognizable to me. The Japanese version of Chrono Trigger's box art show's all of the game's playable characters (except Magus) against a white backdrop. Toriyama drew a brand new cover for the North American release, which I like, but not as much as this one.

Einhänder (Japanese ver.)

Have I mentioned that blue is my favorite color? Well, it is. The dark blue background color with a skeletal hand reaching down is another use of simple but oh-so effective imagery. I'm always bowled over at how powerful this picture looks. I'm guessing the developers were quite fond of it because it's the exact same image used for the title screen and it's even the cover for the game's soundtrack album. From the outside looking in, the use of a lone hand may seem like a strange image to use for a shooter, but let's take into account the game's title, Einhänder. That's German, which means single handed, which is how most of your ship's weapons operate.

Super Mario 64 (Japanese ver.)

I mentioned how much I like the American version of Super Mario 64's box art in part 1 but I'm also very fond of the Japanese version. In the early days of the N64, Nintendo was very fond of the white boxes for their games. Nintendo could have shown Mario using the other two Cap power-ups, but I think the use of the Wing Cap was a wise choice. Sure, Mario has flown before in previous games, but never quite like this.

NiGHTS into dreams... (American ver.)

The American covers can't always lose out to their Japanese counterparts and this is one of those times where American beats Japan. The flying in NiGHTS isn't quite as open ended as that of Super Mario 64. It's actually far more restricted, but even so, flying in NiGHTS is quite exhilarating and since it's an important part of the gameplay, why not advertise it on the cover? It's certainly much better than the overseas version, which actually isn't bad, but I gotta give SEGA of America credit for making the call to change it.

Part 1

Favorite Tunes #51: Like a Boss

Another day, another edition of Favorite Tunes and this time it's boss themes. I could easily go beyond the usual 10 for something like this, but since I already did that for Favorite Tunes #50, I'll just stick with the usual number. Enjoy!

CHAOS ver. 6 - Sonic Adventure (DC, GCN)

Sonic meets Chaos at the very start of his quest. As Sonic and Tails collect Chaos Emeralds, Dr. Robotnik, thanks to the duo's cut scene incompetence, acquires all of the hero's emeralds and feeds them to Chaos. With each Chaos Emerald gets, Chaos grows stronger. Chaos ver. 6, at this point has 6 Chaos Emeralds and you'd think the fight with the creature would be incredibly tough but in truth, he shatters like glass. Even so, the boss theme for this fight is one of the sickest boss beats in a Sonic game. Do I hear some Mission Impossible in this theme? 

M. Bison Theme - Super Street Fighter IV - (PS3, 360, 3DS)

Some players encountered their first SNK Boss in an SNK game. For me, it was Street Fighter II. I can't count how many loses this guy handed me. He wasn't the boss of the Street Fighter IV series but he did make a return and thanks to voice of Gerald C. Rivers, he seems more intimidating than ever.

Shudder -Against a Large Enemy Type 1- - Einhänder (PS)

Before there was Square Enix there was just Square and Enix. 1998 saw a large number of releases from Square, and many of those games weren't Final Fantasy titles. Einhänder is a fondly remembered shooter from the PS era that allowed the player to choose which type of ship or different Einhänder models they wish to pilot. The 2.5D gameplay and visuals made for some pretty impressive stuff as did the soundtrack. The voice samples in Shudder actually contains an F-bomb but the raping is done so fast that not everyone picks up on it in the first listen. That and I image most players are trying to stay alive since this game has some pretty ruthless bosses.

K.O.! The Strongest Foe - Bangai-O (DC)

Bangai-O was first released on the N64 but had a limited print run of only 10,000 copies. Not only that, the N64 version was only released in Japan, which makes it one of the toughest N64 carts to obtain. The Dreamcast version saw a worldwide release, making it the best option to play the original Bangai-O. Being a game developed by Treasure, it has that unique charm and innovation that are associated with nearly all of it's games. It can also get pretty difficult as I got stuck after passing only the first few levels. Regardless of the steep challenge, it's a fantastic mech shooter with a memorable number of upbeat themes. K.O.! The Stongtest Foe is the final boss tune so it's naturally more serious than other tracks.

Burn Yourself - Dodonpachi DAI-OU-JOU (ARC, PS2, 360)

Yet another shooter by Cave with a score by Manabu Namiki and a game that I've never played. This is the fourth game in the DonPachi series and I'd considered importing the PS2 version but I've never been able to find a copy. Namiki sans composes incredible music and I absolutely love his titles for boss tracks. Seriously, you can't anymore menacing than a name like Burn Yourself.

Moskito - Rayman (JAG, PS, SAT, PC)

I was rather surprised to discover that Rayman Origins, one of the best platformers in the current generation of gaming had heavy dose of Nintendo Hard. If the game ketp track of all the lives lost, I can imagine my death toll would be insanely high. The original Rayman was no walk down the street and is by far the tougher game. But even intermediate level players should be able to make it to Moskito and hear his rocking theme.

Battle with the Boss - Kirby Super Star (SNES, DS)

My second favorite Kirby game, Kirby Super Star's eight mini games offer so much to do that's almost not fair to call them mini games. Collecting all the treasures in The Great Cave Offensive can take hours and as can finding all the Copy Abilties in Milky Way Wishes. I've never completed this game 100% though I've come awfully close.

Femmes Fatales - Parasite Eve (PS)

Opera in your boss battles? Eh, sure, why not? Although if you went to the opera and the entire audience around your burst into flames, you might be scared off from ever going to an opera for the rest of the life. But Aya Bre doesn't let this faze her (too much) In fact, after everything she's been through in the game, she's seen at the opera during the game's finale.

Dr. Wily Stage Boss - Mega Man 7 (SNES)

"The sprites are too big! The music isn't as good as the 8-bit games!" Meh, to all of that noise. I  still love Mega Man 7. We got Bass, Treble, a memorable (if not controversial) ending and in my humble opinion, a great set of tunes. I still say this is one of the better Wily Stag Boss themes. Come on, Capcom, how about a Virtual Console release?

Andross - Star Fox (SNES)

After a short (but very dangerous) trek through the Lylat System, you come Arwing to face with Andross. Yes, the big bad threatening the galaxy with a genius intellect is a primape. Said monkey tries to inhale you and shoots polygonal rectangles your way. It's quite the gripping fight and one that still makes me sweat even today.

Favorite Tunes Database

Favorite Tunes #16: SHMUP Themes

For those of you not in the known, SHMUP is short for shoot 'em up. You know, those games where you're flying in a ship and shoot stuff. Alternatively, we can also just call them shooters. One of my favorite genres since I was a kid, SHMUPs are the ultimate form of reflex gameplay. They also have some pretty kickin' tunes.

Dual Moon - Metal Black (ARC, SAT)

Being a fan of the Darius games, it was nice to play more of Taito's shooters. My first encounter with Metal Black was when picked up Taito Legends 2 for the PS2. It quickly became one of my favorite games on the collection. Metal Black's score was composed by the great Yasuhisa Watanabe and Dual Moon is the track I love the most from this game.

Sensation - Salamander II (ARC)

You could also call this game Life Force II since it's a sequel to the arcade game Life Force (the NES version of Life Force has quite a few differences). For years I had heard the music of this game but never played it. I was actually able to pick up the Salamander Deluxe Pack on the Saturn and if it's any indication, Saturn imports are going to be a key part of my library. As blasphemous as it may sound, I actually like Salamander II better than Life Force. If you finish the game it starts over again with remixed tunes of the original Salamander. Quite nice. Sensation is such a majestic piece of music. Salamander II has such an incredibly awesome score so this certainly won't be the last time I mention music from it here in Favorite Tunes.

Chase - Einhander (PSone)

Games like this make me wish Square Enix would think outside of the RPG box. Sure, it doesn't always pay off but with Einhander, we were given one of the best shooters on the PlayStation. The 2.5D graphics were quite stunning and the soundtrack was right on the money. You can actually hear this theme as early as the first level.

Colony - Axelay (SNES)

One of the earliest SNES games and still one of the most impressive both from and audio and visual standpoint, Axelay has aged remarkably well, showcasing some incredible mode-7 scrolling effects. At only five levels, you may find it shooter than most SHMUPs, but Axelay is still worth checking out. Many a great theme can be found in Axelay but Colony is probably the one that wows me more than any other.

Black Hole Anomalies - Space Megaforce (SNES)

Known as Super Aleste in Japan, this is a fantastic shooter from the defunct Compile. That company really knew how to make good SHMUPs and it kills me that they are no more. MUSHA saw a Virtual Console release (another game by Compile) and I really think a release for Space Megaforce is longer overdue. The entire soundtrack to this game is amazing but if I had to pick one theme from this one, Black Hole Anomalies is it.

Biophotron - G.Darius (ARC, PSone)

There have been numerous games released in the Darius series but this one ranks as my all-time favorite. The unique ability to capture enemies and have them fight at your side was a great innovation but playing tug-o-war with bosses using huge beams that would make the crew from Dragon Ball Z proud? Awesome! Each time I listen to Biophotron, I can clearly see that Petra-don from Zone B flying gracefully in the background.

Chapter 3: Faith - Ikaruga (ARC, DC, GCN, XBLA)

I wasn't into the import scene when Ikaruga saw a console release on the Dremcast but I made sure to pick it up when it released on the GameCube. Physical copies aren't easy to come by these days so I'm glade more players are getting able to experience this groundbreaking shooter through digital distribution. Even by SHMUP standards Ikaruga can be pretty freaking difficult. To this day, I still don't think I've earned an A rank on single stage.

Vertigo (Stage 5) - DoDonPachi Daifukkatsu (ARC)

I wouldn't feel right posting some of my fav SHUMP themes and not having a track from Manabu Namiki. Vertigo is the final stage of DoDonPachi Daifukkatsu. What's better than some good bass? This tune comes loaded with a healthy dose of slap bass goodness.