The 20 Worst Video Game Box Covers

[Zap!]

This is awesome, so bad they are good!



http://www.heavy.com/comedy/2010/04/the ... ox-covers/

[Darryl B.]

Oh MAN they're bad indeed! I hadn't ever seen the Phalanx one, and I can see why it doesn't make any sense. The Blood 'n Guts one; yeah, first thing I thought was some kid drew it! And that beat 'em up for the PS2...silly junk!

[Rob]

Oh man, that's awesome.

You know, Phalanx (in addition to being a great underrated shooter) always catches flak about its cover art, but I always thought it was cool, or at least original. Most people I guess just don't get the concept, but if you remember back in the late eighties and early nineties, every UFO documentary or TV special seemed to feature the dumbest backwoods hillbillies recounting their flying saucer experiences. It kind of became the cliche to have Toothless Wilbur describing the glowing orb in the sky that shot up then disappeared. I always took the cover to be a take-off on the then-current stereotypical UFO sighter. Who knows? Either way it was too obscure a concept for the mainstream.

And Mega Man rightfully deserves to be at the top of that list. I remember not playing a MM game until the second one- simply because the box art for the first one looked stupid.

Another really good game that was hindered by mediocre graphics was Total Carnage:

[Darryl B.]

You know, Phalanx (in addition to being a great underrated shooter) always catches flak about its cover art, but I always thought it was cool, or at least original. Most people I guess just don't get the concept, but if you remember back in the late eighties and early nineties, every UFO documentary or TV special seemed to feature the dumbest backwoods hillbillies recounting their flying saucer experiences. It kind of became the cliche to have Toothless Wilbur describing the glowing orb in the sky that shot up then disappeared. I always took the cover to be a take-off on the then-current stereotypical UFO sighter.

Oh, good point.

And on a side note, I liked what Rich Hall said once about a newspaper headline he'd like to see: "U. F. O. ABDUCTS SMART CITY GUY"

[Rob]

LOL, I remember that!

[Zap!]

This one is still one of my favorites!

[jhonsadins]

I am not so sure that making the cover for your cute bubble-popping puzzle game a tribute to A Clockwork Orange is the best marketing move, Taito. Maybe that means something else.

[Zap!]

I am not so sure that making the cover for your cute bubble-popping puzzle game a tribute to A Clockwork Orange is the best marketing move, Taito. Maybe that means something else.

True, and welcome to the board! Feel free to make a post in Introductions!

[wanegilly]

Like you said, there's no point going on and on about the bad art covers. It's nice to see how far game art box covers have come over the years. Until you see "Castlevania" DOS" for the DS. Wow really? A cover, of a box with the original game cover of the game. Who in the hell came up with THAT idea?

The DS Title is, hands down the stupidest game cover of all the ones you have shown. Why? Because this is 2009, not 1981. A 12 year-old working in MS Paint could come up with a better game box cover idea. All it needs now, is a little cut-out of Fabbo next to it.

[Zap!]

Well, as strange as this may sound, there's a part of me that actually likes these bad box arts of the past. Face it, some are so awful they make you laugh, kind of like watching Jersey Shore.