Welcome back to another edition of Box Art Brawl, the weekly bout of regional box art variants where you decide which one wins.
Last week we looked at Yoshi's Island in the East and the West, and after some deliberation it was decided that the European / North American cover was the best by approximately two votes to one. It's that big Nep-Enut that clinched it, we reckon.
This week we're celebrating yet another anniversary: the twentieth birthday of the Paper Mario series which debuted on the Nintendo 64. In honour of the occasion, we recently asked you to rate all the games in the series and for this round we'll we looking to the celebrated GameCube entry - once again we're engaging in an East versus West contest!
So, which paper-thin combatant will float like a butterfly and tear its opponent to shreds? Let's take a look at this week's fighters...
Japan
Carrying the name Paper Mario RPG in Japan, this cover has a lovely rich red border and the titular Mario bursting out of the middle. It's hard to get a bad shot with all the paper-style character key art looking as good as it does, but the fact that this is framed on the box as a shot of a pop-up card construction makes it doubly great.
What else is there to say? Crafty Nintendo is the best kind of Nintendo. We think this looks spectacular.
Europe / North America
The version we got in the West features Mario reading a map, and although it doesn't have the pop-up card look of the Japanese variant, we still love how the characters pop out thanks to their use of bold colouring against the faded background. The logo is strong, too. Personally we think the Japanese cover just edges it, but it's not up to us, is it?
So, which one is the best? Pick your favourite from the two options below and hit 'Vote' to let us know:
That's it for this week - feel free to check out our complete history of the Paper Mario series if you fancy, and we'll catch you next time for another round of Box Art Brawl. Who knows, there might not be any anniversaries next week!
Comments 58
Japanese one is a little too busy for my liking.
I may have taken a punt on this back in the day had I seen the Japanese art. I dismissed the N64 version as it looked like a cheap knock-off rather than the full sequel to Super Mario 64 I wanted at the time. I dismissed the Gamecube sequel as I thought the (Western) art looked bland, and as a uni student with not a lot of disposable income I wasn't adventurous enough to take a punt on an unknown quantity. Hopefully Nintendo will make this available again one day so I can see what the fuss was all about, as reading up on it over the years has made me feel that this is one I missed out on.
Both quite nice imo, but I'll go with NA/EU for familiarity sake and it feeling slightly less cluttered somehow.
Everytime i see this game, i felt despair.
The game is very unbuyable on Ebay due to very insane price. Blame to scalpers over there.
Nintendo should remaster this game and release on Nintendo Switch.
The NA/Euro art looks like fan art compared to the Japanese art. Where there’s only two options this week though, I can see that skewing the results a bit.
Any cover with a paper dinosaur on it earns points in my book. Both covers are good IMO.
Now if only Nintendo would rerelease this game in some form so I can play it....
The Japanese one has Bowser literally chewing the scenery.
It probably wins for that alone.
Nostalgia says I should like the NA one more, but the Japanese one just has so much charm!
@Anti-Matter I believe that if you still have a Wii U, you can buy it via virtual console. If you don't, and still have a Wii, you can download homebrew and get it.
Ouch. Tough choice.
The Western version gives me nostalgia, but the Japanese version has tons of red and shows off more characters as well as the audience feature.
I voted for the Japanese version, but ideally I'd have the Japanese art with the western 'The Thousand Year Door' title together. Best of both worlds!
@MeowMeowKins No GC virtual console on WiiU. The N64 Paper Mario is available there.
Version 1. It is.
@MeowMeowKins
I don't play with homebrew.
My Wii is 100% Free from all piracy things.
I stop playing with pirated things.
There is No TTYD from Wii U eshop.
Europe for me, but maybe that’s just nostalgia 😂 they’re both awesome
Loving that crafted pop-up aesthetic for Japan.
But as with the last 3 weeks of West Va East, the West will win because people vote for familiarity/nostalgia
Weird how regional box art has to differ. Booth are cool. I have the NA version. Japanese has better 3d cutout effect with its art, i think.
@commentlife Agreed, EU/NA’s is a lazy effort in comparison to Japan’s. An easy choice this week.
This one's really close for me. I like the sharp red color of the Japanese one but the dot-filled coloring at the bottom is just weird.
Never seen the Japanese box art for this before. Definitely prefer it, although both are nice
@Jaxad0127 ah, okay. Then I must have downloaded it on there with homebrew.
@Anti-Matter each to their own, but that's probably the only way you'll get the game.
Both are good, but the Japanese one is more colorful, and I like that.
This is a bad game 😂
@Anti-Matter I’m just waiting for the price to hit £150 then I’m going to sell my copy. Stonks.
I've always disliked the sepia-ish background on the EU one. Not sure why.
Europe. Japan. They all good.
I voted Europe but I also like the japan art. I like em all
I actually prefer the japanese one, bonus that it captures the diorama style of playing this in VR.
Mario looking at a map isn't as good a choice for the featured character as Mario with a mallet. I also like the supporting characters for Japan, especially Bowser chomping on something. I voted Japan.
The Japanese one is an explosion of characters all over the place and not in a good way. Take out the crowd at the bottom and maybe it'll be passable. It makes sense why they were put, but it's hardly relevant and just makes it so messy
And that actually leaves more space for the more important characters hiding in the corners of the map
Jap this time, but I like them both.
Box Art Brawl Duels Current Total:
Japan: 1
North America / Europe: 3
Europe/Japan, hands down. NA's is aggressively brown and attitude-ridden, while JP's hints at more characters and mechanics.
I went into this thinking I'd definitely vote for the Europe one because of nostalgia...but the Japanese one seems way more dynamic and thought out to me.
Also it includes Vivian on the box art, so that's a massive plus.
Going with EU/NA here, too love the fact that Mario is holding the map.
I recently looked up how much this game is going for and that’s nuts. I’m never selling my copy.
Both are good but Japan wins it for me
The EU/US one simply because the JP's Gamecube logo ruins it.
The western one is a classic, but have to say the Japanese one looks better
The Japanese cover is very busy: Mario doesn't stand out against the other characters or the red background (nothing stands out actually); and the composition is also not the best: the Gamecube logo gets more attention that the Paper Mario logo positioned in a tiny font at the very bottom.
However, the japanese cover has one thing the EUR/NA cover doesn't have: BOOBS.
@Anti-Matter you do know most models of the Wii read GC disks, right?
@RazumikhinPG forget the boobs, just look at that adorable Bowser moment behind her!
@RazumikhinPG
But Gamecube games are region lock.
First time that I actually like the Japanese one.
Japan just pops more
@Anti-Matter this game was released in every region.
I think the Japanese one looks the nicest.
I like the Japanese version better but not by much.
American Box Art: 🧍🧍🧍🧍🧍
Japan Box Art: 💃🕺💃🕺💃🕺
@gloom funny- everything you just said, was wrong...
@DoktorTotenKopf Look ya’ll, I caught one!😆
Japanese cover wins for me solely on the fact the title is a pop-up. Perfect.
@RazumikhinPG
I know but the game was too expensive to buy from Ebay on any regions, even the used one.
@gloom bug off, troll.
Japan's one looks more exciting, as well as referencing the battles with the curtains. Both are great!
Tough call, but I really like the image of Mario walking while reading the map. Plus the characters pop more on a faded background, so North America it is!
@RPGamer Don't care all that much, but can admit I didn't pay enough attention to the article. I'm so used to it being the other way around. Apologies, Europe, for having to endure that box art.
Yes, I want an HD remake of Thousand Year Door. What!? Was that not the question?
The colourful dinosaur is my favourite. I'm a child. So went Europe/NA Big breasted genie lady was a close second, though...
Actually quite close. The Japan one is a bit better though. Marginally.
(Great game)
Tap here to load 58 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...