Poll: Box Art Brawl: Duel - Donkey Kong Country (SNES)

When are we gonna get Box Art Brawl: Nintendogs series? I want to know which pupper is supreme.

JP one looks brighter and features more characters. So, JP one for me.

Europe/America's gives more of a jungle vibe, Japan's feels more like a safari. E/A definitely feels more like the game.

You neglected to include the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance versions of Donkey Kong Country. They had different box-art images.

oh Doctor, we've seen razzle dazzle here today.

I was going to vote for western art but looking at it more closely, there are some weird things I don't like about it. Japanese has its own flaws but I feel like there are less. Both are great.

The shading on the NA box does a better job at toning down the early 90’s CGness that’s pretty apparent on the JP one.

Can't believe this vote, the Japanese boxart is much better. I love both, but the Jap one wins for me.

Conceptually Japan's is stronger but the darker palette on the NA / PAL one does a better job of obscuring how janky the models are.

lol Japan almost always sucks when it comes to box/poster design. It looks washed out and Photoshopped. Though I never cared for the US box either, it looks too busy.

And that pre-rendered 3D was horrible. Sure it was all the rage in the mid-90s, but it sure was ugly. The soundtracks for the DKC games are still legendary though.

@Sam_TSM "An incredible 3D adventure" sounds a bit misleading.

Well back then that pre-rendered 3D stuff was everywhere and often referred to as 3D graphics. Real 3D was nowhere close to looking like that (eg, Star Fox). A quick look at a screenshot on the box would give away which 'version' of 3D it was, so I don't think most people felt misled.

Box Art Brawls Current Total:

Europe: 57

Japan: 58

North America: 64

Australia and New Zealand: 1

N/E has a fuller cast running around while J is overall cleaner. I prefer the chaos on N/E, personally.

A new Donkey Kong game is long overdue and it was almost a decade ago we got 'Tropical Freeze' and us Donkey Kong fans have had to wait a long time. Whether it is another 2D game like 'New Donkey Kong Country Returns' and 'Tropical Freeze' or 3D like 'Donkey Kong 64' the Nintendo Switch should have a new Donkey Kong game and every Nintendo Console has had one since the Nes. I was extremely disappointed with the lack of stuff they done for Donkey Kong's 40th anniversary.

Weird that the Japanese version went with the title Super Donkey Kong instead of Donkey Kong Country. I suppose it's in line with the naming conventions of the SNES, but DKC seems much more iconic as a game title.

Western one is better. The darker colours fit the atmosphere of the game better.

The Japanese box art is cool and all, however, the North American/European one is to nostalgic to vote against. With that said, Donkey Kong Country is such an Iconic game, and a fantastic series.

Imho, the NA version is one of the more iconic arts from the entire SNES era. The box just kind of sucks you in.

Japan one for me even though the other one is super familiar.

The NA box manages to hide the jank feeling of early CGI, and the angled perspective gives a dynamic motion.
Meanwhile the Japanese version looks like pure uncanny valley, and the layout makes it feel like one of those bargain bin straight to DVD kids' movies.

Really tough one this week, as that early CGI looks so terrible in general. Big nostalgia for the US art, but the JPN box IS less cluttered & cleaner. Went with JPN on a whim, but won't be upset if the US (EU) art takes it (and it looks like it's going to).

@Wheatly, that's a Crusha, not K. Rool. While the mohawk could be misinterpreted for a crown, you can tell by the camo pants.

I believe the Japanese version actually carried that boxart (or a similar image) into the title screen, which is completely different than the western versions.

Not a fan of those 3d renders, so neither.

Gotta go NA, that is some absolutely classic box art.

They're both a bit cluttered, but I'm going NA for the action vibe and nostalgia.

For me, it comes down to composition. The cover image for the western version looks way more cluttered to me, and it's not as dynamic as it wants to be. The Japanese one isn't dynamic at all, but it's not trying to be. The thing that really brings down the western box for me is the side and bottom border, and that "only for" in the top right corner. DKC is looking like a prototype for the N64 boxes which I hate. While the Japanese one has borders, they're not crushing the art. I picked Japan.

NA for me: Maybe this is marginalia, but this game is unique I think in the SNES canon for foreshadowing the translucent margins of the N64 boxes, ditching the opaque black frame. It was a very subtle way of communicating that this game is different, that it pushes the boundaries (literally when it comes to the box art), and that the next generation of gaming technology doesn't necessarily need next gen hardware.

NA/European because that Gnawty looks like he's seen some stuff. Dark stuff. Stuff you can't come back from.

I gave it to Japan because I like the feeling they go for giving DK and Diddy a more brotherly or friendlier feel. But I do have to admit I almost went NA for the one character in it who looks like a beaver? And he’s just giving a thousand yard stare like he’s seen some crap and it’s kinda hilarious.

The Japanese one contains even more "raw 3D render" energy

NA, definitely. This pic doesn't even really show that the entire box has the jungle leaves going all around it, sides, top and bottom included, making the whole box part of the artwork (this pic makes it look like the standard black)
As opposed to the Japanese one that just put awful solid green borders and has worse CG.

Both look solid, but I'm going with the western one for looking like Donkey Kong is leading a jungle mob.

NA is 90s nostalgia in a box for me. One of my favorite platformers of all time second only to DKC2

This is too hard to decide. North America/ Europe really captures the vibe of the game but I also really like the brighter tone of Japan's box art.

This was a tough decision because both are good. I went with Japan because everything felt front and center.

I think the NA/Europe is objectively one of the best uses of the restrictive space / layout of the SNES box art ever, with how the bee and snake fit perfectly between the logos and break the edges between the art and the black border. Everything about the presentation of the game and its marketing materials was just top notch and a huge reason why it felt so exciting at the time.

I remember being more hyped for this game than almost any other in my life, and when I finally got to hold it in my hands for the first time (my parents gave it to me as a rpesent for getting good results in my exams at school) even though my SNES was right there infront of me ready to play it, I actually took maybe an hour just looking at the box and reading through the manual, savouring how cool and high production value everything felt.

By comparisson the Japanese cover is a nice render, but there is too much "blank" space with the sky being such a bright blue and only really the vulture in it in the center, that the brighter colour draws your eyes up to that, and even the curvature of the logo pointing to the vulture as the focus point, where the main characters are too low. It would be a great picture for a more square design if some of that sky was cropped, or if the angle was changed to be a little closer to the ground so that Donkey and Diddy's heads were against the sky, not below the line.

When designing my own game box art nowadays for my indie games, I make sure to have all the elements of the art on different layers and the background art to be designed in a way that will let me very slightly rearrange everything to neatly fit into the very different aspect rations and cropping for the Switch, Xbox, Playstation and PC box art standards, so nothing important gets cropped or covered by logos. I think a lot of that passion for detail comes from payign so much attention to just how much I admired this cover (and found many other covers lazy or ugly by comparisson)

Oof, that Japanese box is hideous. Somehow all the 3D in that picture has aged poorly and looks like a budget windows 95 edutainment app. Even though it's the same 3D models as in our kickass NA/EU box!

I am definitely voting for the North American variant. Both are great to be honest, but I can't see this game's box art as anything other than that one.

a very rare japan L.

Japanese one looks like it would be more appropriate for the instruction manual or something, or maybe a nice poster for your wall that comes with the game. Western one is just a better box art.

easily japan, western so dark (and lies, it ain't 3D)

(and i think this is the most overestimated game ever)

Both have their appeal but would go with the US/EU box art for the more dynamic chaos it depicts which better captures how hectic some levels in DKC can get.

@Wheatly thats not K. Rool though, its Krusha.