We’re back, back, back for another edition of Box Art Brawl!
Last time we combined the three regional covers for the DS’s Super Scribblenauts and the character-centric North American design took the win, receiving 55% of the vote. Europe followed in second place with 33%, while the Japanese variant came in close behind with 12%.
This time we’re going back into the sewers as we stitch together two different covers for Konami’s utterly cheesy SNES fighter, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters (‘Teenage Mutant Hero turtles‘for those in Europe and’TMNT: Mutant Warriors‘ in Japan — yes, it’s confusing). Released on the SNES in 1993, it was one of a trio of games developed by Konami for the NES, SNES, and Genesis, each with its own unique story and characters. You can check out all the versions in Cowabung’s brilliant collection, we might add.
Europe and North America share almost identical covers this time (except for the title change, obvs) we have a good old fashioned face to face with spicy Japanese design. Let’s check them out.
Be sure to cast your votes in the poll below; but first, let’s look at the box designs themselves.
North America / Europe
It’s rough. It’s dark. It has surprisingly little focus on actual combat. This cover is dominated by a grimacing Donatello in the background while a much smaller ghost faces off against Armaggon in the lower right corner (the NES and Genesis versions had a similar format, but with different encounters — Leo vs. Hothead on the NES and Raph vs. Triceraton on the Genesis , if you’re wondering). It’s all pretty nice, although that tagline “No street fighter has ever seen fighters or fights like this” could use some editing.
Japan
Japanese design goes for something completely different. The dark tones here are replaced by vibrant reds as the four turtles stand front and center, a group of their enemies lurking menacingly behind them. It may lack some of the punch of the previous cover, but we like how catchy this one is, and it’s interesting to see the Turtles looking like their 2003 animated counterparts a decade earlier.
Thanks for voting! See you next time for another round of Box Art Brawl.