Poll: Box Art Brawl - Bionic Commando (NES)

Wow, that European one is awful. The American and Japanese ones looks good though.

Also, why does the big bad on the Japanese box art look like that one Austrian painter with the ugly mustache?

Edit: Wait that is him???? HUH?????

Definitely North America this time. It looks the coolest. You also get an idea of what the gameplay will be like.

Although, the European design does remind me a bit of the science-fiction novels of old, so I am a bit partial to that design as well.

Japan does also look kind of cool, but we don't really see the main character's face. Rather, the only face we see is the big bad (who looks strikingly similar to a certain dictator who ruled Germany from 1933 to 1945; according to the Wikipedia article, that is indeed him).

love how the JP one has Hitler in the sky as the big bad guy lol

Love the golden age comic book feel of the American cover. Clear winner for me, this week.

The EU one is probably the worst - but it does also have a very British comic book feel, like Eagle or something. Would be quite cool if it weren’t for the massive blue border. Didn’t have the strength of their convictions there.

The Japanese box barely convinced me to not vote for NA. Honestly, none of these are bad.

This was a hard one. Japan won out just barely from the expressions of the soldiers and the posture of the hero, though the painting and packaging design isn't all that clear, at is typical of Japanese boxes.

BC on the NES (NA) was one of those 3rd-party games that I really imprinted on back then, in 1987(?). What a great adventure, swinging around on your grappling arm and blasting through the game.

How surprised I was, a few months after I beat the game, to see a Bionic Commando cabinet (or was it called Top Secret?) in a local arcade! It was an arcade rendition through and through - such nice graphics, but so brutally difficult. My quarters were gone in an instant.
(Anyone curious can find Top Secret playable in Capcom Arcade Stadium 1, which frequently goes on sale on Switch.)

Later, while living in Japan and chatting with a friend about our fave NES/Famicom games, I learned my beloved BC on the NES was a sanitized version of the Famicom title “Top Secret: Hitler’s Return,” where you’re fighting the nazi lord himself! (And there he is, looming on that JPN box art!)

I voted NA just because I loved that game so much (one of many I wish I never sold off) and I like the Ame-comi style cover. That Famicom boxart is quite notorious though, and may win today’s battle.

I usually vote for Japan but I think the art on the US cover is better in terms of composition and color.

This one was close between US and Japan. I felt the US was a little more Futuristic He-Man aesthetic, whereas the Japanese one was a little too much Commando / WW2 for me. Both beautiful, but I had to lean US.

What I like about the japanese, is that it features the original badguy, Hitler himself.
But otherwise, the US one wins, as it has an awesome 80:s "G.I. Joe"/"Saturday morning Cartoon" feel to it.

I think the American one IS cooler, but I think the Japanese style and art edges it out on in-game accuracy.

It's cool to see how all three artist's interpreted the character differently. NA's definitely the most 80s with that outfit they gave him haha. I think JP is my personal fav though, and not just because it made the bold choice to include infamous historical villain with distinctive mustache looming in the sky.

The Japanese one looks sick. It's got Doc Ock shooting some red Metal Slug soldiers with Hitler menacingly burning up the sky.

I’ve picked NA as the best of the bunch, but none of them really do anything for me.

NA. Like a comic book!

All three are great,US one is the coolest in my opinion. EU isn't bad but the weakest.

I agree about NA having the classic comic book look, and it's still a fav. I voted for JP because it went hard, like ALL the way in.

Hey I'm gonna opt for the spartan 'East Germany' style European design.

@Daniel36 My post and your post next to each other. The duality of man. 😂

Very easy call for me this week. North America by a mile. The western comic book style is great, and this one is very well executed. Great composition. Very good all around.

Europe's is funny because, at first, it looked totally out of nowhere. It's like the artist did it based on a verbal description of the character. Not quite the green outfit from the game, but it is green, so points for that. Once I viewed it from the perspective of it resembling a pre-1975 or so sci-fi aesthetic, I started to like it more. It has a look similar to the likes of Logan's Run, Buck Rogers, The Phantom, and stuff like that. I don't hate it.

Japan's is well drawn, but obscuring the hero's face on cover art is a huge error. It was the first thing I noticed. It just hurts the effectiveness as a cover.

Edit: No reason not to do the Game Boy version as a "duel" at some point. The two covers for it are both interesting. I just played the Game Boy version again last week. I love the changes they made when bringing it to the Game Boy and I was surprised how good it all turned out.

@JumpingJackson This one hundred percent boils down to nostalgia. Ill-fitting artwork and this era, simply warm fuzzy feelings for me. Perhaps you hrew up with different tastes and influences, and maybe in a different era.

Voting North America because even though it lies about "All the arcade action!" (which it shouldn't, many argue what the NES game has is BETTER than the arcade).
The Europe cover looks like same artist as the "Patrick Stewart holding a bowling pin" Mega Man 2 cover.

Japan however... should we feel unsettled voting for that one, given the significant content difference of that version?

A tough one this week. Well, mostly, Europe’s sucks. I really like NA’s one, but Hitler looming in the background of Japan’s is hilarious! I’m struggling to pick between the two but I think I like NA’s just that bit more.

I voted Japan. The artwork clearly shouts videogame, it's so cool and dynamic, also dramatic with the death of a soldier and the big vilain in the sky, and it has a very original composition that's not often seen in jacket's artworks, I love it !

America is cool, ofc but more traditional, and I'm not sure about the hero's design. And we better not speak about the european's artwork this week.. XD

It's NA for me this time. It's just really good however you look at it.

I love that Japan has a bit more of a sinister vibe. It got my vote the European cover is actually quite comical by comparison

@HotGoomba they definitely censored the US version a bit to obscure who the final boss/enemies were (such as swapping out swastikas with eagles and changing his name), but his identity was undeniable as you progressed through the game.

Interesting aside, in the game’s conclusion, after you deliver the final blow to him, it cuts to this little animation of his head exploding. It’s shockingly gory for the era and console in question. Not sure how that evaded Nintendo of America’s more strict censorship rules, but I have always assumed that it was either because it happens in the last moments of the game and the reviewer missed it, or given the subject matter they assumed no one would complain about that monster having his head exploded. Regardless, it’s pretty wild the first time you encounter it.

You can find animated gif versions of it on Google, as well as I am sure it’s widely available on YouTube. It’s quite the sight to behold, and cathartic in this modern era of his ilk’s rise again.

The NA gets my vote. Takes me back... I loved that image so much, it might be one of the things that inspired me to start making my own art in the first place.

Wow, an American Capcom cover that doesn’t horrify.
Now, that European cover, is more like the Western Capcom Covers we remember.
By which, I mean… US Cover Megaman.

Box Art Brawls Current Total:

Europe: 110

Japan: 106

North America: 128

Australia and New Zealand: 1

I usually go with the ones I grew up with (Europe) but NA gets a tip of the hat from me.

North America. It reminds me of GI Joe's package artwork.

One of the best and most chokings endigs of the NES era.
Loved NES Bionic Commando, one of my favorite games of my childhood
Is the Game Boy version as good?....

I'm surprised other sites to my knowledge haven't copied this article type. It's brilliant and so original.

@HotGoomba

Yep it is Adolf Hitler, it got censored in the West