Hi folks; welcome to another edition of ‘Box Art Brawl’!
Last week, poor ol’ Solid Snake got himself trapped in a digital space and needed your help to escape by voting for your favourite Metal Gear Solid: Ghost Babel box art. In the end, despite strong competition from North America, it was Europe that won out with 45% of the vote. Japan, meanwhile, well… the less said about that dodgy Famitsu sticker, the better.
Now that he’s out, however, let’s get a word from Snake himself. How does it feel to have escaped in one piece, Snake?
Snake: I need a cigarette.
Uhh… Okay then! Well, let’s move swiftly on. This week, we’re going to be looking at one of the greatest SNES games of all time: Mega Man X. Released in Japan at the tail end of 1993 before making its way to the west in 1994, the game kickstarted an incredibly successful spin-off series to Mega Man that thrived on its own terms. With a stronger focus on narrative, it gained legions of fans across the years, many of which are eager for Capcom to release the long-rumoured Mega Man X9. Hm… We’ll see.
For this edition of Box Art Brawl, North America and Europe will be teaming up once again, owing to the incredibly similar box art designs across the two regions. So without further ado, let’s get cracking!
Be sure to cast your votes in the poll below; but first, let’s check out the box art designs themselves.
North America / Europe
North America and Europe share the exact same key art for Mega Man X, which features our hero looking pretty, well, heroic. It’s a striking piece that demonstrates X’s upgraded armour alongside some of the foes that you’ll be coming up against as you make your way through the game.
It’s a small touch, but we also really love the way that X’s left leg pops out of the frame at the bottom, and the main logo also does the same for the North American release at the top. It really helps the image stand out – quite literally – making this one a solid contender!
Japan
Japan’s box art for Mega Man X – or Rockman X, if you like – is perhaps a bit more traditional in approach when compared to its western release. The main difference here, of course, is you’ve got a whole bunch of Mavericks in the background (for those unfamiliar with the series, these are effectively the various stages’ boss characters – similar to the Robot Masters in the OG Mega Man Series).
Additionally, we can see Zero himself! Whooooa! Yes, perhaps the breakout star of the Mega Man X series gets the debut he deserves in Japan’s box art design, and this fact alone might just be enough to convince a few voters out there…
Thanks for taking part in Box Art Brawl once again! Be sure to cast your vote below and let us know in the comments which box art you prefer!
Thanks for voting! We’ll see you next time for another round of the Box Art Brawl.
