Red Alarm - BAB
Image: Nintendo Life

Howdy, Virtual Boy fans! Welcome to another edition of Box Art Brawl!

Last time, we matched up a pair of covers for Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island, and it was a pretty close-run contest. The classic SMW2 art came out on top in the end, though, with North America taking 59% of the vote, leaving the pretty Japanese variant with 41%.

This week, to mark the announcement of the Virtual Boy's Nintendo Switch Online launch line-up, we're taking a look at one of the titles that you'll be able to play from 17th February: Red Alarm. This Star Fox-style space shooter joins the likes of Teleroboxer and Virtual Boy Wario Land on the service right from the jump, so it seems only right that we all become acquainted with its box art ahead of time.

Being a Virtual Boy title, there's obviously no European cover to look at this week, but the North American and Japanese designs make for a neat head-to-head. So, let's get into it.

North America

Red Alarm - NA
Image: Nintendo / Launchbox

The North American box art is just about as bright and colourful as they come. It's packed full of action with ships, explosions, a trench run backdrop vaguely reminiscent of the Death Star, and one of those green-outline maps that you only ever find in spy thrillers. Sure, it couldn't look less like the actual game, but it does a good job of selling the experience

Japan

Red Alarm - JP
Image: T&E Soft / Launchbox

Ooooh, the Japanese design goes full Top Gun. This is less about action and more about looking cool (something that's not so simple with a Virtual Boy headset strapped to your noggin). Be it the muted colour palette of blacks and reds — a more realistic image of the vibrancy you'll see in game — or the badass ship reflection in the central pilot's visor, this cover oozes cool.

Which region got the best Red Alarm box art?

Thanks for voting! We'll see you next time for another Box Art Brawl.