Hello folks and welcome to another edition of Box Art Brawl!
Before we go, let’s see how things turned out last time. We checked out Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters on the SNES, pitting North America and Europe against Japan in a lengthy duel.
It’s funny, there are definitely certain cases where we can pretty confidently predict which region will come first, and this was definitely one of those cases. Japan won convincingly, winning a whopping 75% of the vote thanks to its colorful composition and impressive use of depth of field.
This time we stick with the SNES with the original release of Super Bomberman, the game that would spawn one of the most recognizable franchises in all of gaming. Launched in in 1993got a unique box design in North America, Europe and Japan, so this week we have a classic three-way battle.
So without further ado, let’s begin.
Be sure to cast your votes in the poll below; but first, let’s look at the box designs themselves.
North America
Known as the Super Bomberman Party Pack in the US due to Hudson Soft’s desire to promote the game’s multiplayer (it would be the first SNES game to support four players), the box design is significantly different from EU and Japan. The characters are certainly recognizable, but it seems that the desire here was to create something that looks a little more ‘3D’ than its regional counterparts. There is certainly a good use of color, but it also reminds us of the American cover of Mega Man… Only no Enough so outrageous.
Europe
The European approach is a bit simpler, featuring the classic Bomberman characters throwing bombs at each other. There’s not much chance of you misunderstanding what the game is about, is there? The art style is simple, yet bold and timeless. Indeed, this same approach is still being used by current owner Konami, so it’s clearly worked.
Japan
Cor, for God’s sake. This one looks good. Using the more vertical orientation of the Japanese SNES box, the design is colorful and action-packed, featuring a host of different characters from the game against a backdrop of explosions and smoke. The styling is almost a cross between EU and NA, with simple lines mixed with a slightly more realistic color rendering. She is so beautiful!
Thanks for voting! See you next time for another round of Box Art Brawl.
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