Poll: Box Art Brawl: Duel #100 - Super Smash Bros. Melee

This makes me really want to buy a Japanese copy of Melee. It’s so strikingly different. When I take off the nostalgia goggles the US cover has a very clip art vibe.

I can understand most would find the Japanese cover too minimalist, but the Western one is a little awkward imho. The characters don't even look like they're fighting each other, more like they're piling on another character hidden under Bowser's flames. ^^

Not only is the international version more iconic, but it clearly shows newcomers to the series what it's about. The Japanese one focuses more on the fact that various characters from Nintendo are in the same game, rather than the (excuse the pun) melee that it is.

Not really fond of the sepia tones from the Japanese version. And the game title takes up almost half of the cover compared to the North American/European version.

@RootsGenoa In all fairness, there is a rule mode in the game where you can have teams, so three people can be on one team, and one person on another. So everyone can gang up on you.

Plus, there seems to be more action going on in the North American/European version versus the stare contest in the Japanese version. It's Super Smash Bros., not Super Stare Bros., after all.

Two mediocre boxarts. I dislike the little boxes with characters on the Western one but the sepia filter completely ruins the Japanese one, so I’ll go with West on this one.

The western box art is iconic.

But the Japan box art is just better. It's like a movie poster — clean design, title well-centered, and a memorable visual motif.

Neither of these are actually all that great I don’t think, though the European one definitely has a place in my heart.

Went with US/Europe. The action does a better job at selling it in my opinion. That’s not to say though that the Japanese version is bad.

There’s a piece of artwork that I will always remember where the entire cast of Melee are all facing the left and look like they’re staring into the distance together. It was such a cool piece and the Japanese box art reminds me of that.

I don't like the sepia, but the Japanese box art has a better design other than that

Europe because that’s the one I have

Neither one is very good, but the Japanese one is so boring that I went with the NA cover

As Iconic as the North American box art is, I gotta go with the Japanese cover.

North America wins it. More colourful and good layout in comparison. The Japan one is less colourful and the writing and borders too large relative to the artwork of the characters IMO. Interesting design lining all of them up like that.

NA was really good boxart for its time as well.

The jap version looks like they used soul calibur as it’s inspiration with its sepia tones but I prefer the US/EUR version it’s definitely more eye catching

The western one is iconic, but it’s also looking very dated. The Japanese one is more timeless

Are you people insane? Japan should win by a randusuraidu!!

Always liked the Japanese one more and ""Nintendo's Best in 4 Player Action" is just an awkward sounding sentence!

@RootsGenoa

"I can understand most would find the Japanese cover too minimalist, but the Western one is a little awkward imho. The characters don't even look like they're fighting each other, more like they're piling on another character hidden under Bowser's flames. ^^"

"character"?

The Japanese one would've been better if it wasn't for the sepia filter, it makes the art look a bit boring.

every week the same artsy people defending the bland box art.

The Japanese one looks perhaps a bit too understated, but I had to go with it.

While the NA version is iconic (and I'm sure it'll win), looking back it looks surprisingly cheap & slapdash.

Not a fan of either but NA is clearly better.

Come to think of it, only the Western covers of Smash 64 and Melee show a fight, the Japanese covers and the rest of the series is literally just the characters.

I went with the Japanese one. As iconic as the Western one is, I like that lineup in the Japanese version, Mario vs. Link, Zelda vs. Peach, Pikachu vs. Bowser, Donkey Kong vs. Kirby, Samus vs. Fox, Ness, vs. Captain Falcon and Yoshi vs. Ice Climbers.

It should be mentioned, there's also a Korean version, whose box art is the Japanese illustration with the Western logo. For the first-party Gamecube games released in Korea, that was the standard for their covers.
The only exception I've seen is the Korean Metroid Prime, it uses the Western illustration rather than the Japanese one.

As much as I like the dynamic feeling of the Western one, the JP one is cleaner, uses all of its space better, and has a much better designed logo.

I like the Japanese one just a bit more because it gives more characters the spotlight than just four of them. And it looks more ''Get ready for battle!'', rather than ''We're already in battle, join us!'' or something.

I think both are fine but I went with the North American & European one.

Can't bring myself to vote for the "add some gradient"... "now add drop shadow!"... look of the font in the US/EU version - looks like something from a middle school newspaper

I may have liked Japan better if it didn't have that ugly brown filter over the characters. So yeah the American boxart wins this one for me.

Not sure what Link's trying to achieve with that attack.

Gone Japan this time, think there is some sort of reference to an old Samurai movie.

I have zero nostalgia for this one but I do think the american/european boxart just shows what the series is about better. The japanese one looks clean but a tad bland.

Went with the western one, probably mostly for nostalgia. I think the Japanese cover is a better design, but as a kid who played the heck out of the N64 version, that western box art perfectly matched the hype I felt for this game

Honestly both covers look pretty bad, in my opinion.

I personally prefer Japan, it shows off more characters then NA/PAL, ie the NA/PAL one shows off 4 characters that are all OG’s, and the other fighters in boring little cubes.

The worst part about this game is that i cant make a “Its Not Melee” joke. And i havent even played this game, i just needed to mention Its Not Melee.

The western one is all I've known, but that Captain America: Civil War style Japanese version has a good look.

The western one is just more up my alley, it's more dynamic even if people argue it's just a bunch of awkward PNGs and I'm not sure about the brown filter on the Japanese art.

If it was the JP one with colour, I'd choose it

❗️This USED to be my favourite GC Game.

I never played the N64 version so seeing all of Nintendo's characters IN ONE GAME BLEW. MY. MIND back in 2003.

I never liked 'Brawl' so lost interest in 'Ultimate'.

Looking back, I now think 'P.N.03' is my favourite GC Game, despite the repetition and sameyness. I absolutely LOVED its original soundtrack.

NA wins this time, The cover is so good, it sells the gameplay of the game and the wackiness of the fights. JP is also great, but not as good and iconic.

Wow, I think the western cover is fugly lol that logo is just terrible! It looks like WordArt on Windows XP!
Even for early 2000s that was really bad.

I marginally prefer the Japanese cover. The US one is more interesting and colourful, but Mario just looks weird in that pose and everything has that early noughties CGI look. The sepia tones of the JP version might be less interesting but they do hide the CGI more.

Neither are great, but I went with NA/Europe. Not loving Japan's sepia tone.

Neither's great but I think I prefer the Japanese one.

I had to think about it for a bit as both of them are lacking in my eyes. What the Japanese cover does well is showing the fighters, but the overall design is too minimal to me. On top of that, the Gamecube logo in the upper right hurts it further. The western cover shows the cast of fighters in an inferior was with those little boxes. But I like that it shows more than just the cast. Not great, but I voted NA and Europe.

I like japans box art, but I think the other one better gets across the feel of the game and smash as a whole. That said I do hate the “Nintendos best in 4 player action” because I don’t feel like it adds anything.

Box Art Brawls Current Total:

Europe: 33

Japan: 38

North America: 43

Australia and New Zealand: 1

Is this the only Nintendo game to show Bowser breathing fire on the cover? I can’t think of another offhand.

i like the japanese one. it looks more outstanding and has style.

I think they're both kind of ugly.

Both are excellent!

@OnlyItsMeReid I remember that during the GameCube era, a handful of titles did this on the boxart. The North American Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, and Mario Power Tennis both have tan-ish sunburst-like logos that read, "Best Seller".