He-he-here we go! It's time for Box Art Brawl, our weekly look at which region got the best box art of a particular retro release.
Last week the North American version of Ninja Gaiden on the NES absolutely trounced the competition, with the Japanese variant a distant second and Europe left stumbling in a daze around the city-wide inferno with a paltry 4% of the vote.
Yesterday we took a look back at Donkey Kong 64 - the collectathon to end all collectathons - after it celebrated its 20th birthday on 21st November, and during our research we noticed that the different regional covers would be fine candidates for the brawl. So they're finally here, performing for you...
Each cover contained the five DK crew members from the game, but which region captured the best side of Donkey, Diddy, Tiny, Lanky and Chunky? Which cover will be the leader of the bunch? Which will kick some tail? Let's have a banana.
North America
Advertising prominently the (required) Expansion Pak and banana-yellow cartridge contained inside the box, the NA cover features the five Kongs in a minecart being pursed by King K.Rool behind them, and out of focus, to the right. That depth-of-field effect makes the Kongs pop off the cover and the big ol' logo is as bold and brash as DK himself. The Rareware emblem sits reassuringly in the bottom left corner as a balance to the ESRB rating on the opposite side.
It's big and colourful, overflowing with energy, and even though it gets a bit busy up top, it does a thoroughly decent job of teeing up the sort of madcap adventure you'll be getting when you fire up your N64.
Europe
The EU variant takes the key Kong art and puts it inside the customary European black border, which keeps all the peripheral system information and company logos away from the image. We get a better look at the minecart, now trundling through a dark jungle, and the logo shifts to the bottom right, with the Expansion Pak sitting in the corner above.
Despite reducing the real estate of the main image with that big black border, there's something about the composition which we think works a little better here. A conscious effort has been to reduce the clutter - just look at the abbreviation of 'including' to 'incl.'. K.Rool gets the boot, but this somehow feels a little classier.
Japan
The Japanese cover keeps the jungle vegetation but puts the Kong family in the top half of the portrait box. Striking their hero poses (well, we're not sure about Diddy), a tiny minecart track loops around them as an odd sort-of border, presumably to advertise to players that - don't worry! - there are minecart rides in this one! Barrels, too, as the info splashes at the bottom show.
It's not bad, but there's not much tying it together. The other two strike us as more cohesive covers where as this feels more like a poster you'd see on publish transport. It puts us in mind of the Japanese cover for Banjo-Tooie, another Rare game which walked away victorious from the Box Art Brawl. It's not our favourite, but we ain't the ones voting...
Three bunches of five apes for your delectation. We could pick our favourite with relative ease, but it’s time to choose your favourite by clicking the appropriate image below and hitting the 'Vote' button:
That's it, show's over. If you enjoyed this round of savage bloodletting, join us next week when we'll be back for Round 19 of Box Art Brawl.
Comments 33
NA's feels like a traditional Donkey Kong Country boxart, while Japans looks like a brand new leap in the series. And for that reason, I'm going with Japan as it fits more in line with what Donkey Kong 64 is for the DKC series
North America definitely.
How can you say no to K.Rool in a mine cart?
Went with NA this time. I usually prefer a more subtle tone, but I think that the full-on, in your face nature of the NA cover actually suits the boisterous energy of the DKC games.
Went with NA because nostalgia points sold it.
NA wins both on nostalgia and the fact that I actually think the other 2 covers are weaker this time around, which is rare.
North America, because somehow I like it more than the other two. Probably because it has that energetic look like a previous user said.
@Franklin because he never rides in cart in the actual game...?
Blinded by nostalgia. Must vote NA. This was one of those games I got way too hyped for prior to release.
But looking them over, I do think it's the best one. Just a little better than Japan this time.
I couldn’t decide between Europe and North America, so I picked NA out of bias đŸ˜›
Europe. Don't know why, but I loved those black borders. I remember getting Majora's Mask and being gutted about the lack of conformity, as the green background filled the whole box. First-World problems, I know!!!
Just like with Banjo Tooie, they’re all terrible.
I voted Europe because it’s not as busy as the other two.
What was with the European box art seemingly to commonly have black borders like that? What did they have against putting the art on the whole box?
While Japan's art looks really fresh and different, I feel like the North America art represents the game better and more accurately.
I find it very interesting how the Europe art and North America art looks very similar but also fairly different, is intriguing to see the different backgrounds, i feel like how we can see the rails and wheels of the mine kart in PAL version helps feel up that lack of detail while in the NA version we have King K. Rool chasing after them in a mine kart right behind the Kongs.
Over all, I decided to vote NA because I feel it represents the game well.
Still got mine and it’s mint
They are all hideous.
Voted PAL cause its the least hideous and Rare is from Europe anyway.
Even though it's an English game, the NA boxart looks like a Dk game should. Bright colours, in your face and a little chaotic... perfect!
If they remade this game to allow switching between the kongs at any point then I would be able to get into it better.
I didn't love any of these. I think Japan's works better as a game cover than the other two. Europe's box has too much border. NA is too messy. Japan is my pick.
Had to go NA on this one, looks more charming and could definitely see myself as a kid being more enthused by that cover.
@Majora101 I am jealous of your shelf — and agree with your take that it's a toss-up between NA & Japan, but ultimately I go with NA.
Real talk: was there ever a DK64 cart that wasn't yellow?
K. Rool isn't even present on the EU and Japan covers, so NA almost wins by default.
@sandman89 thank you so much for informing us that the condition of your game is so good.....................
Box Art Brawls Current Total:
Europe: 4
Japan: 8
North America: 6
The American one has the most color and I like that one the most (which is usually not the case). I really don't like the black border around the european one!
I'm fairly sure the Australian one (a PAL territory) is the same as North America. I'd remember if it looked as bad as NA.
Definitely the Japanese cover. It's bold and colorful all around, while the NA box art is ruined by the blurry background, and the huge black border on the EU box is just plain ugly.
I can't deny my love for the North American version! It just pops!
@X68000 I actually meant that the box is in mint condition .......
NA without doubt
North America appears to be winning, with quite the siezable... EXPANDsion.
NA for sure because of memes. And what's with Europe's obsession with borders on these covers?
North America, because of king Rool.
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