Welcome folks, to another edition of ‘Box Art Brawl’!
Last week saw the classic N64 title Pilotwings 64 battle it out for box art supremacy. The results were honestly quite a bit closer than we were anticipating, but nevertheless, Japan’s vertical design took the lion’s share of the vote with 60%. Bad luck, North America and Europe – your designs weren’t bad, but they weren’t great.
This week, we’re going to be diving back into the world of Capcom’s Mega Man with its fourth NES title: Mega Man 4. Released back in 1991, it received strong critical reception, though many folks were quick to note that it did very little different to the previous entries in the series. Franchise fatigue was beginning to set in, though not before Capcom released another two follow-ups for the NES before finally moving onto the Super NES.
It’ll be a three-way brawl this week – just the way we like it – due to the key differences in art design between North America and Europe. But enough talking, let’s get right to it!
Further Reading:
Be sure to cast your votes in the poll below; but first, let’s check out the box art designs themselves.
North America
North America’s design for Mega Man 4 is, um… interestingto say the least. There are hints here that the art style is moving away from the admittedly hellish approach taken in earlier titles, but there’s still something rather odd about Mega Man himself. Why are his cheeks so rosey? Why does he looks so… well, real? At least, real in comparison to the more stylistic approach taken with the other region variants.
Europe
Interestingly, Europe’s design for Mega Man 4 opts for the same composition as its North American counterpart, but swaps out the art style for Mega Man himself for something arguably more traditional. The background is exactly the same, but Mega Man’s face looks decidedly less unsettling, matching the visual style present in Japan’s box art design.
Japan
Speaking of which, Japan’s box art design utilises an art style that’s still used to depict Mega Man to this very day. It also makes strong use of the landscape orientation, adding in some Robot Masters for a slightly busier composition. Mega Man himself looks pretty awesome here too, covered in flames and about to let loose what we only assume to be a charged shot.
Thanks for voting! We’ll see you next time for another round of the Box Art Brawl.
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