Welcome back for round two of the series where we throw the regional box art variants of a particular retro game into a pit and see which one scrambles out victorious. Last time we kicked things off with Super Metroid for the Super Nintendo. After a week of voting, the Japanese art has emerged with a very comfortable win, followed by North America a very distant second with the similar European version just behind. Congratulations Japan!
This week we're heading back further to the Nintendo Entertainment System and Konami's seminal run 'n' gunner Contra, and we've got a feeling things may not be so clear-cut this round. In PAL regions the game got renamed Gryzor on most systems, but the NES port was completely rebranded in Europe (in order to comply with German laws at the time). The game is otherwise identical and us Europeans have a huge affection for Probotector, but a shift to robots in 2633 A.D. means the box art is radically different - it'll be very interesting to see whether muscles or metal win out this week.
So, let's take a look at this round's brawlers!...
North America
The US box art for Contra famously 'borrows' some huge icons of the 1980s. Bill (left) is clearly a paint over of Arnold Schwarzenegger from Predator, and Lance is evoking his box office rival, Rambo-era Sly Stallone. That said, we always assumed the guy on the cover was probably modelled after Sonny Landham (Billy from Predator). The alien in the background is blatantly an Alien, but the classic logo coupled with the classy Konami grey/silver border somehow elevates this above a mere clone cover. As they say, if you're gonna steal, steal from the best.
Europe
In an effort to get around German censorship laws aimed at protecting kids from violent video games, Bill and Lance were replaced in Europe by the snappily named RD008 and RC011 and the game was localised as Probotector. This change would only continue until the PlayStation era, but for many European fans, this was how we first played Contra. Don't feel sorry for us - the game itself is practically identical save for the sprite swap and we got a couple of awesome Gundam-style robots on the cover in lieu of Arnold and Sly/Sonny.
As a little bonus, here's the Game Boy cover (it's not in the poll, mind):
Japan
Last but not least, we have the Japanese original. Once again, it's evoking the '80s action movie classics with the rippling Bill and Lance in the foreground. Behind them is the Alien egg and below that is a vehicle that's been lifted straight out of Blade Runner or Total Recall. Throw in an alien tentacle thing, an eye-catching pink border and a glint of light on the barrel of Bill's gun reminiscent of the original Star Wars poster and that's more than enough Hollywood boxes ticked.
Those are your choices this week - a varied bunch, that's for sure! Take a good look below, decide your favourite and vote by clicking on your preferred cover and hitting the 'Vote' button:
Which region got the best Contra box art? (522 votes)
- North America
- Europe
- Japan
Please login to vote in this poll.
That's it for round 2 of Box Art Brawl. Share your impressions of the variants below and feel free to engage in civilised debate as to the whether gun-toting robots or gun-toting dudes are better. We'll catch you next time for round 3...
Comments 38
So difficult this one, as much as I like the Europe one it has to go to our good friends across the pond. Sorry but the Japanese one doesn’t even come close to either
As someone who didn't own this game growing up, it comes down to a choice of 80's action film vs. Mobile Suit Gundam. I'm more of a sucker for the former.
"I think ur a probotector" 😂😂😂
@dartmonkey Gav, both protagonists on the US cover are Arnie in different poses. I'm going to have to give this to the late great Bob Wakelin's US cover. Fair enough, it's easy to see the 'inspiration', but damn did it fit perfectly.
When I first started playing this game, I thought it was based on a real Arnie and Sly movie, and actually looked for Contra in the sci fi/action section at the rental store so I could check out the sweet VHS box art.
That's funny i don't remember turning into a robot or mech in Contra NES. But humor aside this is a cool fun fact IMO. As living in the U.S i never knew the two main characters were different across the pond.
I’ve gotta hand it to NA this week. The larger focus on the players makes you want to pop in the cart and start saving everything from aliens right away!
Original Contra box art is the clear winner for me, the other box arts aren't even close.
You should watch this documentary its about artist who made box art covers for Konami games released in North America at the time:
Even though I like the artwork for Europe better, it has nothing to do with the game. US takes this one. I thought for sure Japan would sweep this one. Nope, Japan gets a distant 3rd
The car/vehicle in the Japanese box art couldn't of been ripped straight from Total Recall @dartmonkey. As Total Recall released in theaters in the 90's and not the 80's when Contra U.S/Japan was released.
Well...call me a liar as I predicted Japan would win most of these but there’s only one clear winner and it’s ‘Murica! Can’t beat that original...the Japan cover here is not very appealing in comparison.
This one is NA, hands down. That freaking Geiger monster in the background gave me nightmares.
The NA one gets my pick. As much as I like robots, the NA one has the Geiger monster. And the Geiger monster looks like the Alien from Alien.
Definitely NA Contra, that's a hand drawn classic.
I’m going with the European art. The knock-off arnies and the “borrowed” Geiger alien are super cheesy!
Absolutely adore the NA box art. Feels like a mix of Rambo and Aliens, which... isn't a bad way to describe Contra's vibe in general.
You win this time Europe... only until Contra 3: The Alien Wars turns up. I loved reading about that artwork in the Contra Anniversary Collection.
Nort America for me best covers the feels of the game. I played an import version from Hong Kong when I was a little girl, so I played the not european one. Still feel the rush of defeating the aliens in level 8!
I love fighting robots as much as the next man but as a total rip off of action movies of the day and a totally camp cover, the American one is miles in front
The GameBoy one looks the best (shame it's not in the poll), and if you disagree, you must be a stinky lover of the Japanese box art.
I honestly didn't realize they had replaced Bill and Lance with robots in Europe. I thought it was just a name change. But while I like the Robots better, it doesn't scream Contra to me.
Going with USA for this one. Arnold, Sly, Xenomorph, even the "Face Hugger" from Stage 8 Alien's Lair legs in the foreground. And after beating the game you "Get to zee choppah!" before the whole island blows up. GG!
Metal beats flesh in my books and since I grew up with Probotectors and not bootleg editions of Arnie and Stallone, Probotector it is for me.
I had Probotector as a kid so it's hands down that for me for nostalgia. As for a more distanced opinion I think I'd rather see a bit of a gundamm rip off, due to the fact at least the background has some original stuff in it, be it of little detail.
Tough choice love em both.
cool mechs from Europe gets my vote
NA box art all the way. I still remember getting Contra for Christmas of '87. It was my favorite gift that year. The 80's artwork iconic.
I really tried to be objective here as CONTRA is one of my favorite games of all time and I am fronot the USA. But honestly, the NA box is the clear winner here.
Voted American over Japan so already I’ve been proven wrong, in just week 2! I never thought Japanese box art would be beaten, but I’d have to put it dead last this week.
And I never even heard of probotectors before! 🤔
I'll vote for any box that doesn't say "Probotector."
North American artwork, the artwork I grew up with.
The North American box art is iconic, but that Probotector box is just too gorgeous to ignore.
Gotta go with the North American one here, although the Gundam-style European one looks sick. The Japanese one is actually pretty weak.
I prefer the Euro Probotector cover. You can't go wrong with mechs, they're always awesome.
NA got the best art and the best version of the game IMO.
I'm from the UK but can clearly see that the US version is easily the best for the first Alien vs Predator game 😉
It's weird that they used Gundam like mechs for Europe in a time when almost anything with Japanese robots stayed in Japan (Gundam, Transformers, Zoids, Robotech Academy, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Bangai-O) with just the rare exception of a Cybernator.
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