Be sure to cast your votes in the poll below; but first, let’s look at the box designs themselves.
North America
We have to give it to the North American box art, that’s one iconic design. Against the black background of an NES paper clip, our pair of pixelated images float above three pipes as a separate balloon pops in front of them. Yes, it’s scaled down, but it tells you everything you need to know about the game at a glance.
Europe
The European design retains the black background that graced many NES games (albeit with horizontal text rather than NA’s cool diagonal slant), but the pixel art has been replaced with something much more detailed. Sharp-billed bird, open ocean and angry looking fish? Now this sells danger.
Japan
And for those who wanted an even better view of that art, Japanese design puts it in the center. There’s no distracting black background here (a thinner gray border isn’t the end of the world), just the man, his balloons, and the endless threats of the open ocean.
Thanks for voting! See you next time for another round of Box Art Brawl.
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