Poll: Box Art Brawl: Duel #85 - Dragon Quest

I was astonished that Japan was winning by 100% before realising I was the first (which I’m sure will be outdated by the time I hit reply and see a comment above mine)

Like Icarus, I flew too close to the sun

Easily Japan.

I like both of these a lot, but Toriyama's art style matches the game better, so I'm going with Japan.

Hard to beat Akira Toriyama.

Japan. The dragon's teeth look weird on the US one.

The series relies HEAVILY in Toriyama's style, and to not have that reflected on the boxart is baffling...

North America for me hands down. While I love Toriyamas style as a kid his cover would not have sold me to try the game. The American cover on the other hand just screams epic adventure!

Japan. The American one looks a bit like it was rushed.

Not a huge fan of either tbh. If I had to choose it'd be Japan though, it avoids the look of a tired 70's childrens novel.

Yes! Another box brawl! Epic!

North America 100%, wasn't even a contest. The art gives off such 80s d&d vibes and screams action and adventure. The Japanese art looks too cartoonish and the dragon looks dumb af.

There is nothing better than Dragon Quest drawn by Toriyama Akira.
North America version is looks like another game.

I gotta go with the North American cover, simply because it looks awesome AF.

@Clyde_Radcliffe Yeah.

Like.... western covers of later Dragon "Warrior" games aren't too bad but that of the first one was.... yeaaaaah. It's not "horrible" but it's also really not the greatest thing?

Surprised at how many people like the Japanese one. It definitely represents the game better, but the NA cover just looks so much more epic.

Holy moly the NA one looks like someone was let loose with some Crayola.

The North American box looks like a game you get free with a magazine subscription.

The North American version does not reflect the game very well.
I wonder how that artist would depict the slimes
And what’s wrong with that dragon it looks terrible.

The Japanese are perfectly reflects the style of the game.
I think many would have bought the game as Dragonball was already quite popular.

I like the Japanese one more just because Akira Toriyama drew it. Without his drawings, Dragon Quest wouldn’t be that special.

The North American one might be the most horrific box art yet.

Box Art Brawls Current Total:

Europe: 30

Japan: 32

North America: 34

Australia and New Zealand: 1

don't get me wrong I voted Japan, but I was impressed how the West's cover was more of an adaption than we usually see.

This one is a no brainer, Japan.

I'll be honest, me in the Eighties would have totally picked the NA cover, but older me has to go with Toriyama, because there is no other choice. Dragon Quest is Toriyama.

Toriyama's style is what sold me on the Dragon Quest series. I can understand why not having that in the US might have been better, but being in a country where Dragon Ball has always been big (that is Mexico), the Toriyama boxart would have sold the game alone.

The North American cover looks like it’s from a fighting fantasy book.

The NA cover is actually pretty good. I hadn't seen it in a while. Too bad it's up against Toriyama. He's hard to beat. I didn't initially like Toriyama's style back in the day, but I came around. The Japanese one looks fantastic. Though it may be cartoony, it also conveys the sense of adventure of the Dragon Quest series. Japan and Toriyama easily get my vote.

I have always loved the North American cover. The Japanese cover does not interest me.

Japan, for sure.

The US one is way too Western. Reminds me more of Drakkhen than Dragon Quest. But the Japanese one isn't that good honestly.

Hard to vote on this one. Akira Toriyama's artwork is the best but I feel both of them achieve what they were set to. Japanese cover gives that Manga/Anime feeling the developers intended for the original release. On the other hand the NA cover has that D&D pen and paper RPG atmosphere that they were trying to sell the game on to western audiences.

I don’t agree with the results here. I really love the NA box art. Could just be nostalgia tho 🤷🏻‍♂️

Japan for sure. Toriyama's style is synonymous with DQ, and represents the art direction in game.

Akira Toyama is extremely overrated. I much prefer the high-fantasy style that they used in the first two western releases, with Dragon Warrior 2 having the best cover art in the series, in my opinion. The goofy, cartoony look doesn’t fit the early games very well, which always felt a little somber and serious. The new DQ games are just too zany for me, barring DW7 which has excellent story telling on the PS1.

Just a heads up in case people get the wrong idea: I actually love anime when it’s well-drawn, such as Evangelion or Berserk. So I’m not trying to bash Japan or something, just stating that in this case, DW > DQ for me.

I'm usually in the majority on these. I LOVE the North American game. I beat it when I borrowed it from a friend. Then somehow got a brand new one when I won it from Nintendo Power (Or maybe it was a subscriber bonus). I kept it in the wrapper so never been opened. Wonder if there is a market for that now?

I thought this was one of the coolest covers I'd ever seen as a kid. Guess my nostalgia colors my vision.

Japan's has the trademark Toriyama style that fits perfectly.

But the American one is freaking awesome.

Though choice D:

The dragon's eyes and teeth in the NA cover are unnerving.

The NA box art is actually pretty cool, but c'mon. It's Toriyama.

I like that they're essentially the same cover drawn in wildly different styles.

The NA cover looks like it was drawn by someone who had the Japanese cover described to them in detail but never actually saw it.

I am shocked that the US even got over 1% here. What is wrong with you people choosing that over Akira Toriyama. Madness.

American. Toriyama is overrated as an artist purely because he drew Dragonball.

Everyone is biased to the Toriyama artwork, and I don’t blame them. However, I loved that North American box art as a kid. I wished it was a t-shirt. It was very 80’s and captured my imagination. I thought I was playing a big boy game with my dad.

The Japanese one is super cute, but I like the bold colors and dynamic look of the NA one better.

Too bad this game was an almighty, unbalanced grind fest.

The precursor to angry American Kirby syndrome.

Sorry but it's Toriyama's artwork. It has to win for me. It's sacrilegious for me to even think otherwise. So Japan.

The NA boxart isn't bad tbf, but I genuinely love the art of the Japan one

@SoIDecidedTo it was a subscription promotion they did. That's when I subscribed because the notion of getting a free game was nearly unheard of then. The story I heard is that the game didn't sell well upon release, so they came up with the magazine promotion to dump the stock as a way to drive magazine subscriptions, which was brilliant on its own. But it also set up a potential fan base for any sequels, which was doubly brilliant.

There is a lot of nostalgia here. Dragon Warrior, The Legend of Zelda, and eventually Bard’s Tale were staples in my NES. I think the player’s guide they included with the Nintendo Power subscriber bonus had the best artwork, but it wasn’t a choice.

Typically I don't even like Toriyama's art, but it is clearly the winner here.

A fun thought experiment is to imagine all of Dragon Ball in that western high fantasy art style of the NA release

NA looks terrible in comparison.

Like wth is that dragon design, everything looks bland and lacks personality.

The Japanese cover is too cartoon like and seems like it was not well thought out. The North American is far better.

Japan is winning? I think there's a fair amount of bias there, just because of who drew it. Personally, the obese, cross-eyed dragon attacking the little dude with the over-sized letter opener doesn't really do it for me.

Japan greatly benefits from the consistency of the Dragon Quest art style. But I also think the NA Dragon looks too bug like

North America's looks bad. I'm not sure if that's a hillside behind the dragon or it's the rest of it's body.

@KevynOnVideo One streamer I watch said they (or maybe their parents, if I guess their age) actually bought the game back in the day, before Nintendo had to give it away to clear out the stock.

Still, hard to look at this game and not think of that battle music.
DOO! DOO DOO! DOO! DOO DOO! DOO! DOO DOO! DOO! DOO DOO!

I've never been a fan of the Dragon Quest or Dragon Ball art styles. I like anime art styles, just not his. I do admit that the North American version is not the best, but I still vastly prefer it to Japan's.

I don't get how people can say the Japanese box art is too cartoony. Have you all played Dragon Quest? It might not have been able to completely capture the style given the first game was 8-bit, but this is the exact style and tone the games go for anyway. The American box art has a weird charm to it, but Japan's wins hands-down.

Japaan, always japaan👍

North America got the best box art in this case. It suits the game and just looks cooler and more epic. NA box art in the NES era was usually better than what Japanese fans got.

@Franklin really? I thought everyone unanimously agreed that honor went to Mega Man XD

The american box has it's charm, but the japanese wins me over now and always has won me over. The derpy look of some of the monsters is a staple of the franchise.

I love both of them, but the NA box art was the one that kept me coming back to it.

I remember getting my free copy with my Nintendo Power subscription, and to this day, the "Overworld Theme" haunts me (in a great way).

@Bizaster APPROVED

I usually prefer one, but this time they really got the best artwork for its own region. Japan's would have been too kiddy for the west!

@sdelfin That's what I was THINKING it was, but as a kid back then, thought I might be remembering wrong. I just remember already having Nintendo Power, and loving it! And I remember thinking (because I used to collect comics and baseball cards) NEVER OPEN THIS, one day it will be worth $10,000 if unopened. Probably closer to $500 now, but still, not bad for a magazine subscription.

"If this one doesn't win, you're all quite mad."
That's called leading the witness.