Cover Art PCE vs Turbo Grafx (Image Heavy)

[Tortured Skull]

Added Dragon Spirit,  My Fav. has to the the JAP cover.

Agree with you there

[SignOfZeta]

Oh man, I love the JP Silent Debuggers cover. I'm not sure I had ever seen it before today.

[SuperPlay]

Added Rising Sun

[gilvy12]

I must say, this thread is a good example of how some US games had superior art.  For instance, the US Time Cruise cover is pretty neat, while the JP one looks like something out of Johnny Turbo.  And that is awful.

[termis]

I must say, this thread is a good example of how some US games had superior art.  

Or rather, how most US cover art is shit compared to the Japanese ones.  I do agree that the US Time Cruise art looks better, but that's the only one for me.

That said, I've already stated my own opinion on other threads about how much cover art means to me when it comes to actually choosing a version of the game (zero).

edit: Upon looking at it again, I'll add Legendary Axe, and maybe Ordyne (though that's just a touch-up difference) to the US preference list.

[nat]

Yeah, people that get hung up on cover art or only buy games from a certain region because of cover art make me laugh.

I can't think of a time when a game's cover art affected my enjoyment of it. Hell, often times when I buy shit it's loose anyway.

All that said, I think the U.S. cover art for the Bonk games is far superior and much more fitting.

[DirkFunk]

With R-Type's American cover it appears they didn't want to sell the fact that the game has huge, awesome bosses.

To me, the WORST American cover is Legendary Axe II. The Japanese version at least fits the mood of the game.

The American one . . . the whole, happy little people swinging axes from the groin area probably didn't sell many copies of the game. I actually like that game quite a bit. Every time I pick it up to play, I look at the cover and a small part of my soul is crushed. I'm honestly considering picking up the PC Engine version.

[Dyna138]

Out of what's posted so far I like Chew Man Fu, Legendary Axe and Time Cruise US artwork. I'm afraid to say I like Valis II, but I always thought it was colorful and well done. I better duck for cover now.  

It's rare but occasionally I like the US artwork/box art better. My favorite is probably Air Zonk I love that artwork, I had to get a complete copy with box for it. I also like the US Bonk cover art better except for Revenge, that one is kind of meh.

[Keranu]

Good thread! Gotta say, I like the ball color variety in Chew Man Fu .

How about Winds of Thunder vs Lords of Thunder?



There's less artwork obscured in the Japanese version, but I think the LoT font kicks ass (I think the name sounds cooler too). You think maybe TTi purposely made the title logo so big to censor the little naked fairy things on the bottom?

[termis]

There's less artwork obscured in the Japanese version, but I think the LoT font kicks ass (I think the name sounds cooler too). You think maybe TTi purposely made the title logo so big to censor the little naked fairy things on the bottom?

I'll agree with Keranu on all points.  Winds of Thunder makes me think of serious flatulence.  It doesn't even make sense.  How does thunder have wind?  Or, is it winds that come around when there's thunder, maybe?  In any case, it sounds lame.

As just for the cover art, the LoT font does kick ass, though I'm not sure if it's better than leaving the orginal art alone -- At least it gives better focus to the central point of the art (upper torsos of the two  characters).  I never noticed the naked fairies (because I have LoT), but it is too convenient that the new logo would accidentaly cover up all three 'nekkid fairies, isn't it?

[SignOfZeta]

There's less artwork obscured in the Japanese version, but I think the LoT font kicks ass (I think the name sounds cooler too). You think maybe TTi purposely made the title logo so big to censor the little naked fairy things on the bottom?

I'm not sure. That might be true, and kind of lame, but I think it has more to do with the irrepressible urge for US publishers to slather as many logos and shit all over everything as possible. Otherwise why would they make the SuperCDROM2 logo %50 bigger?

f*ck, you can barely see the dude in the US version. I guess its better than drawing all new shitty art, but its a bummer they cover up so much of the original. f*cking US publishers...they didn't actually make the game but they want to feel like they own it so they piss on it like a dog to mark it as theirs. The end product is just waste. Wasted money on new cover art, wasted money in committees trying to figure out how to change the name of the game, how to (badly) market it. Money wasted printing those stupid boxes. Why put a CD case in a box that is (or nearly is, depending on the era) identical in size to the CD case? Putting their names in the manual next to the actual creators...ridiculous.

[spenoza]

I do like that the US LoT cover has improved contrast. I like that it brings out more of the detail of the art. The Japanese WoT (FART!) cover looks washed out because of the brightness and contrast.

[nat]

Zeta does have a point with those logos. Look at the difference in size and number of logos on the two versions! It's ridiculous. One or two more of those giant logos and the entire image would be obscured.

[SignOfZeta]

I do like that the US LoT cover has improved contrast. I like that it brings out more of the detail of the art. The Japanese WoT (FART!) cover looks washed out because of the brightness and contrast.

Do we know that's actually the case? Is it just a matter of who scanned the art here, how they scanned it, the condition of the copies they scanned, or variations over different print runs. I have multiple copies of some CDs/records that vary in print quality and contrast even though they are from the same era, publisher, etc.

[roflmao]

Yeah, I just received a second copy of Daytona USA for the Saturn (because one copy just isn't enough!) and the disc face print is much darker than my original.  And I can't imagine it's a bootleg or anything like that since it was such a common game back in the day.