It’s time to evaluate some game covers as we dive into another edition of Box Art Brawl!
Last week we took it to the fairway as we put together two covers from Mario Golf: Advance Tour. To the reader, it was a wash. The North American/European cover beat the competition by far, winning 81% of the vote and leaving the Mario-less Japanese cover with the remaining 19%.
This time we are looking at a different kind of green. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project (aka Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Manhattan Project in Japan due to the first game being released under a different title) was released in 1991 on the Famicom and 1992 on the NES. Continuing the same side-scrolling beat-em-up structure as the previous games, the title didn’t arrive in Europe until the 2022 Cowabunga Collection, so there are only two covers to look at this week.
Are you ready to kick a grenade? Let’s smash it!
Be sure to cast your votes in the poll below; but first, let’s look at the box designs themselves.
North America
Coming after the fifth season of the original animated series (and more in keeping with the darker tone we’ll see in later episodes), the North American cover is all doom and gloom. Raph stands, grimacing in the foreground, while his brothers destroy enemies large and small behind them. The background even features the titular Manhattan project, with the iconic New York borough floating in the sky.
Japan
Now this is… different. Yes, the Turtles look a bit angry, but this cover for Japan is far from the edginess of the NA counterpart. There is no combat, no gloomy background and no floating city. Everything here is bright colors and large turtles. It might not be the most gaming-related cover, but it sure is eye-catching.
Thanks for voting! See you next time for another round of Box Art Brawl.
