Poll: Box Art Brawl - SNES Classic Mini Console

Japan completely kicks a** of course but I respect that all three designs went for callbacks to the originals, that's nice.

The Japanese box is absolutely gorgeous, but the European box is more likely to attract impulse purchases (and those coloured buttons!).

I still haven't used mine though...

I'd rather have all of the games thrown onto a Switch cartridge. I'd even pay the same amount as the mini console for it.

Japan is the best by far. North America has a better box design than Europe, but the NA SNES console is hideous. And for God’s sake, can’t Europe decide on a single age rating? Also, is it really necessary to put the warning about how the power adapter isn’t included on the front of the box, in every language?

Japan, but i don’t think that design would have been successful here, too abstract for the target audience. Europe beats america in the west.

Europe because it has Yoshi on the front.

Europe.
I still see the US colour scheme for the buttons as odd.

'Press the grey button!'
'...which one?" 😆

Every time I see the north American snes I have to mention how f***ugly the button colors are.

Who decided to go with that?

It was pretty hard to decide this week, I ended up choosing America this week but they all look pretty awesome.

Japan by a landslide. Then Europe comfortably in second place. Then NA dragging behind.

The front is meant to look cool and grab your attention, which Japan does in spades and Europe does well. The back is where you get the details of all the games and contents. NA's looks like I'm looking at the back of the box.

The japanese box art is faithful to the original one. It's mysterious, Kandisky abstract and colourful. The difference of sizes between the console and the controllers is not relevant for the mini Super Famicom, but who cares ?

"12" "12" "12" "20 + 1" "20 + 1" (why not "21" ?), huge controllers...🙄
Europe is as messy and hard to understand as the way UE works...which makes sense. It's the worst of the three.

North America is still this tank with lavender dots, but that list of beloved games (not Starfox 2...) is very appealing.

The Europe box looks so pleasing. I just want to play some classics, when I look at the box.

Apologies to my US friends. Whilst I can't decide which is first, the US is last purely down to my opinion that the Japanese and European console looked so much better.

I stretched the box art brawl a bit further 😃

@Dom_31 "Who decided to go with that?" Nintendo of America. They wanted to get rid of the colourful buttons or anything that was toy-like (colours are supposed to be childish...) because the agressively marketed, (young) adult oriented Megadrive was succesful in the USA.
Hence north-american console looking like a tank, because war is an adult and futuristic thing...

Although the Japanese box has a cool aesthetic, I voted with an Europe-centric bias in mind, obviously because Europe is where I live and it always reminds me of this collectable I own. SNES Mini is the best mini-console of them all!

Eur
Usa
…. Way below
Jap

This is my ranking

Went for Europe.
I like the art on Japanese but the box is so bright it's off putting, shame it wasn't a black background as those colours on the artwork would look fantastic popping off a dark background..
US is kinda cool with it's chunkier feel, but that console is monsterous.
Europe has the sexy console, great colours and feels inviting. A plus for Mario and Yoshi artwork too.

I voted European because it reminds me of the box my original UK SNES came in.

I have the European version but I went with the Japanese cos that’s an exact replica of my original super famicom which I sold my Amiga for back in the day I think they modelled the controller cable length on the super famicom cos they were ridiculously short I remember buying a SNES controller once they were released in the UK and the bloke in the shop telling me it wouldn’t work as the controllers were region locked 😂

NA SNES looks so ugly, lol. At least NA cartridges are better than PAL/JP ones.

NA, Japan, Europe.

NA has a great asthetic and several game logos. Japan has color and style.

Europe can't be bothered with visual appeal; it's too busy plastering age ratings and ac adapter notifications all over the box.

As someone who lives in NA but wasn't quite on the scene yet to give orders regarding the buttons....I have no idea why the NA SNES buttons are less colorful. I've wished we had the EU design ever since first seeing it.

That said, I'm biased for box art geared towards what a potential player can DO, so I voted NA. Japan nearly got my vote with its abstract approach. EU's wouldn't be bad if it wasn't for the age ratings clogging the left side.

Never did like the American SNES design with its Parma Violet buttons. I don't like Parma Violets so that doesn't help.

Anyone who doesn't select the utterly gorgeous and artful Japanese Super Famicom box needs their head examined!!! 😁 Uncluttered and so tasteful.
Back when we didn't need things to be so literal and have everything spelled out to us. ❤

Absolutely Europe. The colored buttons and Mario World front and center are just too iconic to beat

Europe. The American SNES looks horrible. I never liked the design. The Japanese design is really slick too, but it fails to show Yoshi.

@Potimarron Is that really the reason? The Mega Drive/Genesis wasn't that popular in the US until Christmas 1991, after the Super NES was already released. Also, it's not like purple and pastel purple are super-adult, manly design choices. It's also slightly more angular, but not really tank-like. The purple color choices also don't really scream "Hey, I want to make this look militaristic".

Has anyone ever asked Lance Barr about why he made the NA Super NES look like that?

The European box art is both aesthetically pleasing and informative.

It’s perfect for a grandma looking for a Christmas present for her grandson: This Mario on Yoshi reminds her of the system she bought for her son decades ago, and he had so much fun.

That green age sticker on the European box is so ugly and overly prominent… Imagine them on a game box, it takes up so much space.

Which country are those from?

NA version for me, as that’s the one I bought! Plus it looks like the full-size SNES box, which I also purchased, back in the 1900’s! 😅

@8bit-Man

Germany.

They're all so nice. But which to vote for?

Europe. Still looks good after so many years

That Japanese box is such a beauty.

I love the NA box, it screams 90s. But that's my 90s experience, I grew up with that console and its box art. I imagine that's how most of us will choose. I love the look of the overseas console, but it's not what I grew up with

• The Japanese box-art is gorgeous and eye-catching. It's great, would make you look twice.
• The NA box-art has too much going on, & assuming all 3 boxes are the same size, the console itself looks small & crammed in the middle rather than being the center-piece. Any specific games and their logos should be relegated to the back of the box, except SF2.
• Europe does it a bit better, the console looks to take up most of the front, but there's so much regulatory bs cluttering it. Useful game count too!

PS. Consoles need to bring back colored-coded face buttons!

For me it has to be NA. This is the console I group up with so I have way more nostalgia for it. And it shows some of the games! I don't know why you wouldn't highlight Mario, Zelda and so on.

The only thing I'd change from the American box is the mention of F-Zero for either Mega Man X, EarthBound, Kirby Super Star or Super Mario RPG.
However, my vote goes to Japan for how clean it is compared to the western box arts.

When it comes to the games included, I feel the western ones are superior to the Japanese one. Of the five games that are different between regions, I only envy Japan having Panel de Pon and Goemon, but at the same time the western minis have EarthBound, Super Punch-Out!!, Super Castlevania IV and Kirby's Dream Course and the Japanese one doesn't.
With that said, whose idea was to give the west Street Fighter II Turbo and Japan the superior Super Street Fighter II?

Voted Japan it’s so iconic and cool. I also really love the NA Super Nintendo, more than the others, I love purple

I'm sorry, I understand people preferring the colored buttons of the Europe and Japan controllers, but as an American, I've always really liked the contrast between those two shades of violet. I think they look really good next to each other.

@Olliemar28 Why are the age ratings so big? Germany is the answer, I hear.
I hear in Germany (where I've heard the age ratings are legally enforceable) they want to make ABSOLUTELY SURE they're visible.

@Dom_31 "Who decided to go with that?"
We actually know that. Lance Barr. I'm sure there's plenty of information online.

@Potimarron I believe StarFox 2 is initially locked. From what I read, you have to finish a stage of the first game to unlock the sequel or something.

@HammerGalladeBro I thought SF2T was the overall preferred out of the three SNES versions, over SSF2.
Not the least being, well, Turbo.
But everyone will have different preferences.

What is even stranger is that something in the music engine was changed in the localization of SSF2 for the SNES, causing different-sounding music.

It's a mini console, and the Japanese one doesn't show it to scale. It's not even eligible in my mind. NA all the way because it shows more than just SMW, although it fails to say how many games are in it.

@HammerGalladeBro "The only thing I'd change from the American box is the mention of F-Zero". Some people have been stoned for less than such an assertion.

@tektite_captain "Is that really the reason?" Yes...at least regarding the Smarties buttons (I can't find the source).
You're right about the purple buttons, and I actually find them quite elegant and gentle. A more obvious and agressive color choice would have been the same bright red as the one on the Nes controllers (and on Gameboy)
Still, I've watched american commercials of that era and it was all thunder and lightnings and "Power" everywhere.

How did Japan win with a rainbow outline? 🤣
I had to go with NA despite Europe being my recognisable console. I just think the fonts catch your attention and visual marketing is just more eye catching

Edit: and yes this is even though I really dislike the NA SNES design and dislike the button colours even more.

I had to sit and think about this one for a bit. I like them all. Europe's is probably the weakest because of the age ratings and that other message on the left side. Japan's is good for what it was going for, but I'm partial to actual shots of the system and games, or logos in this case, so NA gets my vote.

NA, for purely nostalgia based reasons.

Despite being from America and having nostalgia for the original packaging here with the violet buttons, I imported the European mini SNES when it launched. I've had the North American version and I wanted to try the other side. The whole package is much more gamey to me on the EU. The four color swatch makes me so happy. But I definitely prefer having the concave/convex mix.

I like the NA one. Games shouldn't be fun and that one perfectly captures the blandness I like in my videogames.

No honestly it has to be Japan.

@tektite_captain it’s because it has the UK and French age rating on (I think) could be a legal acquirement.

Box Art Brawls Current Total:

Europe: 110

Japan: 106

North America: 127

Australia and New Zealand: 1

@KingMike Oh, really? I legit have no idea there was a preference for SFII Turbo. I meant superior as in "it has Cammy, Fei Long, T. Hawk and Dee Jay".I always appreciate when they show up.

@Potimarron Then I'm ready to get stoned. And yes, that sounds wrong in another context. I apologize.

Where is the Australian Box art? Largely the same as UK but the text on the left is removed.

@Snackbox Agreed. We got the same vaersiin here in NZ as you guys did in Aussie, it’s the best as no, it doesnt have all the age related text or adapter text. It does have a small red oval stating the lack of adapter but thats all. By far the best boxart!

Never got on with the US SNES look. Too boxy, and Parma Violet buttons. Glad we got the Super Famicom look here - but even back then the JP packaging rocked.

@Coffee-Waffle Actually, I believe the upper-right of the trio of 12s on the European box is the Russian rating (PEGI's the upper-left, German USK is the lower). Keep in mind this came out before Putin went [words and reasons I can't describe on this site].

Europe by miles. That got my vote. Japan is just a lame stencil. I'm surprised it's the most popular in the poll. Then I looked closer at USA and noticed it listed some of the classic games included. That's the best one, at least for information, and the box design is nice.

I LOVE the Japan box but voted NA because it mentions Starfox 2. As someone that never thought they would get to play this game, if I saw this on the box I'd buy it asap.

@SuperBro64 And as an American, what I've always preferred on the American controller over the rest are how the XY buttons are concave. I currently own the European/Australian edition, and while it's cute and I like the coloured buttons, I am still nostalgic for the NA SNES with its sliding power and reset button and DEEP eject button.

@Nitwit13 I've never had a go on a US SNES so I can't say how it compares but the PAL version also had a DEEP eject button, you could really pop those carts out if you wanted to. 😀

Europe definitely gets points for having the colored buttons, but the main contenders for me are America and Japan. Japans got the cool unique looking box which is very pretty, but the American one not only is designed to look similar to the original U.S SNES box, but even includes a list of some of the available games for it as well which edges it out slightly more for me

@shiningpikablu252 exactly so I’m right 🤓
Different languages as it’s sold in other countries with different base language.

Europe but that’s perhaps because I own it and have always been partial to the box design haha

The American box isn’t bad, but the thing is, I just don’t like the American console case at all.
The Japanese box looks cool, but it still doesn’t show the actual product.
So I guess the European one is the best. Glad I managed to grab one before scalpers showed up.

I do like the European version (I have that box myself in the attic as I swapped for a small old school carry case I added a "Super Nintendo" iron om patch to), but the game logos on the USA version are cool. Over all, though, Japan's minimalist and key art approach wins. Also, I may or may not have mine modded with 200 multiplayer games that I sifted through a while back... Some also may or may not have been patched with romhacks. If I did though, I would definitely say it is a fantastic couch co-op experience I can simply run through my TV's USB. I really feel the console should have come with more 2 player games.

@Nitwit13 They actually redesigned the eject mechanism, which is why cartridges made from about spring 1993 and on are differently shaped.
The initial carts were made (as was the Japanese/PAL carts) with the locking hole meant to prevent you from ejecting the cart with the power turned on. The later design was meant to force the power switch to the off position if you tried to pull a cart out while the power was turned on.

But with a newer cart on an older console, you can just pull it out. I even did that once after reading about in a magazine as a kid. But even as a kid, I had a feeling it probably wasn't healthy for the console to do that.