Hello folks, and welcome to another edition of Box Art Brawl!
Last week, we took a look at one of the Game Boy Advance's launch games: Castlevania: Circle of the Moon. As expected, the Japanese cover art with its landscape orientation and additional characters like Dracula and Hugh Baldwin absolutely nailed the poll with 74% of the vote.
This time, we've got a good, ol' fasioned three-way brawl between Europe, North America, and Japan. We're going to be checking out another Game Boy Advance game with The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, one of perhaps the most underrated Zelda titles developed by Capcom after its success on The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons.
We pretty confident we know which box art is going to take the crown this time, but as ever, we'll leave it to you fine folks to make the decision. Cast your vote in the poll and let us know in the comments why you think your choice is the best one!
Be sure to cast your votes in the poll below; but first, let's check out the box art designs themselves.
North America
So, all told, the North American and European box arts for The Minish Cap are pretty similar, but the difference in Link's pose is quite enough to separate the two. Here, we've got Link looking like he's strafing around an enemy, or perhaps jumping out of harms way, sword at the ready and Ezlo looking suitably ready for a scrap!
Europe
With the European box art, Link's pose is perhaps a bit more striking, since he looks like he's literally about to strike an enemy down with a fierce back hand! The background is the same across both regional designs, albeit with slight differences in colour tone (though that could very well just be the images we've managed to procure!).
Japan
Ok, so similar to Circle of the Moon last week, The Minish Cap's Japanese design benefits from the luxury of space. The landscape orientation means we've not only got Link and Ezlo front and centre, but also a few of the Minish characters in the background. It also succesfully demonstrates the game's key gimmick: shrinking down to the size of an insect. We like this one!
Thanks for voting! We'll see you next time for another round of the Box Art Brawl.
Comments 46
Japan gets my vote, it shows off the lush and charming style better than the other two.
I don't think it's even a contest here, the japanese one is much more vibrant and nice to look at, really good cover art. The others are really basic.
I think it'll be pretty one-sided this time round, Japan's perfectly captures what the game is about whilst also having some gorgeous Toon art on top. JP gets my vote easily.
sterted only recently to vote art brawls, i must say 80% of the time, japanese box arts are way better imo
Oh look, my favorite handheld only version of Zelda! Love the charm of the Japan cover. Both NA and EU are just action poses so it was an easy choice.
Japan's one is adorable. The other two look a bit like they're insecure about their masculinity, lol.. they remind me of those Kirby boxarts where they made his face angry on the US ones.
Japan, no contest.
@teo_o Recently I would agree but in the past they've had some really bad ones. I think for the most part nostalgia rules most votes.
All good, but Japan takes the cake.
Easily Japan, but...this is a game barely anyone played, so of course people aren't going to be blinded by nostalgia.
100% Japan this time. Relevant, beautiful background, Link & Ezlo acting as a team, and various Forest Minish/Picori looking on. It captures the spirit of the game well.
Japan, mostly because of the cute surprised look on Link’s face. Zelda is way more about discovery and surprise for me than it is about combat, which the international covers focus on.
japan's cover shows better the wonderful world of the picori, so it's a clear winner
still the best zelda game to this day
Sometimes Nostalgia bias can get to me with cover art and I love the game when I first played it when it was released but in this situation is a no contest. The Japanese cover tells you what the game gimmick is going to be even if you never played the game. Sometimes game covers will only click with you if you have played the game. The NA and EU covers are generic and are pretty boring.
Sometimes by adding more to a cover you can make it even more boring then if you just added the games name logo to the box.
I’m not gonna lie, I think they all look great! I wouldn’t have a problem with any of them winning - but ultimately I’m choosing Japan.
I gave my vote to the European box art.
People who voted US or EU probably love their branded shirts with big logos on them. Japan’s is superior in every way.
I hope one day we can play this on Switch.
I had a GBA, but I made the mistake of not picking it up back then.
Love Minish Cap. But what’s behind Link and Ezlo, about to kick their butts? Ezlo certainly looks more eager.
In terms of capturing essence, Japan knocks it out of the park.
I guess I'll throw in my dissenting opinion, I voted for the eu box art, I think those creatures behind link (I never played the game) look stupid. Also link looks like his parents just walked in on him in his room at an inconvenient time, if you get my drift. idk, im usually a fan of full art covers but just not this time around I guess
Obviously, and NOT EVEN CLOSE, Japan first. I saw Minish Cap and Box Art Brawl, and as a (has been) Zelda collector, I knew Japan wins this without even looking at the others OR the vote. I have often been tempted to buy a Japanese copy CIB just for that box art. But by then, I was already on the fence of whether or not owning something useless was worth paying for, and if I should stop collecting completely even.
Nowadays, I much easier spend a hundred hours on a budget game, back then I spent a hundred euro's on a game I would't even touch as a game, just as something I "own". Almost all of my income went to games, and I played half, finished maybe half of that, and truly deeply enjoyed maybe half of that. Physically maximum 40 if I KNOW I will enjoy it and doubt the price will drop much more before it goes up again because of low availability or it being a Nintendo game, they hardly ever get a decent price drop... but usually about 20, and even then rarely. Digitally mostly below 5 euro's per game on sale, with the exception now of Divinity 2 that I just bought yesterday at half price digitally, even though I have plenty of other games to play still. That's my own arbitrary rule. I don't like arbitrary rules, but that was a limitation I needed to put on myself years ago, and it has helped me buy my forest home in Belgium AND my mountain home in Spain, both just pieces of natural land where I can live away from society, and still play a video game if I want to, thanks to the Switch.
But probably nobody will read this, i don't even know why I'm writing it down actually, it just seems like a potentially interesting story, and I just happen to think about this because of this Minish Cap thing.
WHICH IS THE BEST ZELDA EVER!
Definitely top 3.
Maybe.
It just FEELS like the best one when I think about it, but so do Link's Awakening (and it's amazing remake), Majora's Mask, BotW, and Wind Waker. No particular order.
Don't virtually murder me please. It's an opinion.
Japan by far. It gives me a strong indicator of what the game is about. Still like the NA and Europe poses though.
Oh, um, wow, this is awkward. Unless my memory is somehow massively faulty, I've never seen the North American box art in my life, despite living there and having purchased a copy of the game. I don't know if it was a limited run or something, but I remember my box having the Japanese artwork, condensed to fit on the GBA box, with the logo on the left side and all that good stuff. So... yeah. That's a little weird.
Usually, simplicity is best for a series like Zelda but the Japanese art looks the most appealing and shows a scene that properly communicates what makes Minish Cap unique.
Japan, with U.S. in second place. The European one has too much text and bigger logos intruding on the image.
@MysticRunes
Unless there was some kind of limited edition I don't know about, it kind of sounds like you may have had a bootleg version of the game? the GBA was absolutely rampant with bootlegs
another KO for Japan. not even close.
Japan. Comfortably!
I hope we don't have to wait too much longer for Minish Cap to arrive on the Switch. I think everyone is expecting GB/GBA to be added to NSO at some point during 2023, but personally, I wouldn't rule out Minish Cap following in the footsteps of Link's Awakening and receiving a remake. The Oracle games always seemed to make sense... but actually, in terms of great Zelda games only a small portion played, Minish Cap has to be right up there.
BotW2's arrival next Spring will trigger the beginning of a long, long, long, wait for the next all new 3D Zelda game. I'm genuinely looking forward to all the amazing possibilities Nintendo could use to fill the void...
All new 2D Zelda game
TP ported from Wii U
WW ported from Wii U
Minish Cap remake
Ocarina of Time remake
Oracle remakes
Seems mad to me that everyone was demanding WW/TP this year. Save them for the, what 5 years minimum(?) we'll all be waiting after BotW2.
@EarthboundBenjy I mean, I bought it at Walmart where I got all my other games? It has been a long time so maybe I'm misremembering, but I could have sworn the cover was Link and Ezlo with the Picori in the background.
@Shambo This was very interesting, thank you for sharing! I understand completely what it is like to spend too much of your income on "owning" things rather than having life experiences.
Good for you for recognizing that, and doing something about it. It's something to be proud of!
There’s a lost appreciation for the simplicity of a character on a box with a splash of color behind him. The Japanese version certainly shows more of what the game’s about, but I do quite like the North American one. All Nintendo had to do was say, “It’s Link with a bird hat!” and people bought it.
Japan. They get the best in everything.
Japan completely stomped the competition this round! I voted for Japan, but I don't think the others are bad either, they remind me of the North American box arts for Spirit Tracks and Phantom Hourglass.
I voted for the very unpopular North America. I liked NA and Europe because it has a more zelda feel to me. I've never actually played the game though so it's possible the Japanese version would be more enticing if I had. NA and Europe were very similar but I decided I liked the color of NA slightly more.
Box Art Brawls Current Total:
Europe: 35
Japan: 43
North America: 44
Australia and New Zealand: 1
Great fight! Really need to play Minish Cap someday.
Feel like Japan nearly always has the better Zelda covers.
The Japanese art is good, but it doesn't really strike me as a good choice for a cover. It feels like it's missing certain qualities that I, at least, would want from a cover. The two western covers are very similar so it was hard to choose. Both have strong poses and good composition, though are much simpler. I voted for the European cover for the overall package with the background medallion being more visible. Had the Japanese cover been tweaked with Link looking more heroic and dynamic, that probably would have swayed my to vote for that.
The Japanese art but only by a little compared to the others
Imagine voting for the Western boxarts on this. I will pray for those people
The JP version is obviously the best of them, given that is shows a major component of the game, that being you shrinking down to miniscule size.
But if I am to be honest, I don't really see it as box art. Then again, I have no idea how they packaged GBA games in Japan.
I know the ones in North America came in square boxes (and from the looks of it, so did the ones in Europe).
So if the Japanese boxed theirs in rectangular boxes instead of square ones, I could see it then.
But maybe make the title more prominent, like it is in the NA and EU versions, instead of just in the corner.
Japan is the best, but they’re all bad.
It’s too bad that I can’t see them fitting a Minish Cap remake into the remaining Switch life cycle. Time before BOTW2 is too short, then that game will demand the Zelda focus for a while. And after that we’re in the final days of the Switch already which is not a good time to launch a prestigious game into.
Japan for sure, and from the poll results and peeps’ comments it looks like I’m in the overwhelming majority.
This was the easiest boxart vote for me since Target Earth/Assault Suit Leynos!
Smash Announcer: "No contest!!"
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