Poll: Box Art Brawl - Duel: Excitebike 64

I'm very glad Japan did something to make the game look exciting. EU just feels a bit bland.

Not a fan of these types of games but wow the JPN box art looks badass!
My vote goes for Japan this week.

For once NA/EU is the clear winner for me. Really not a fan of the JP one here.

İ saw this game when İ was a kid. İ have chosed the North America / Europe one.

EU/ US for me. Don't get me wrong, the Japanese cover is streets ahead in style...but does it suit the vibe of the game? I don't think so.

I dig Japan’s Killer 7esque box art for this one.

The Japanese one looks like a Suda 51 game cover. The other one is just okay.

I think Japan just looks plain awesome!

Japan is great but NA/EU has that retro feeling to it.

Also, I know it's not JP cover designer's fault, but later there were many games with very similar style, so it's less... unique than NA/EU

Scrolled down and said the NA/EU cover looks nice......then scrolled further down and said wow, Japan nailed it with that cover. I was expecting something more cartoony or anime.

So when I saw the US one, I had fond memories, and I was thinking no way it could be topped. Then the Japanese one was so different. It was jarring. It was phenomenal. I had to go Japan. But still love the US box.

I think the EU/US bow is pretty good, definitely a classic, but JP box art really sets itself apart here. It’s bold, and I love it for that.

As generic as the NA/EU cover is, the Japanese cover looks like I'm supposed to be afraid of the biker, which would work for some games, but Excitebike isn't one of them.

I deliberated but went with JPN in the end. I’ve never played the game so there was no nostalgia to sway me, and the JP cover just seemed more striking and has the better logo.

The Japanese cover is a little too much, in my opinion; what's with the blood red background? This is Excite Bike! Now the North American/European one just hits the spot.

That JPN art goes hard. Gets my vote.

@mlt you're so right. It reminded me of Killer 7.

N Sports. Now there's a game lineup that we haven't seen in a long time. I had forgotten all about that logo.

Hard to choose on this art. I like the Jpn art, but it doesn’t really fit with the game.
Box Art Brawls rule!

Neither cover strikes me as good. The western cover has weak composition, lots of empty space, and the guy and the bike look very static for what's supposed to be a dynamic shot. And, as I always like to point out, it has the stupid red border and corner peel that help make N64 covers consistently among the worst for me.

The Japanese cover isn't amazing either, but it is a better use of space and the biker has "Excite Bike" brand tires, which is a nice touch.

The Japanese cover is good but EU/NA shows a racer mid stunt against a blue sky, chequered flag with the logo as well. Makes it the winner I think.

Usually Japan has much more exciting box art for their games, but personally I love the US/EU one much better in this case, the japan one just shows a bike lol, where the NA/EU one actually shows something exciting happening… Makes perfect sense for this type of game.

Box Art Brawls Current Total:

Europe: 61

Japan: 64

North America: 67

Australia and New Zealand: 1

I'm a bit split here, I like both of them, but I'd like to see the western cover using the Japanese logo.
Funny enough, the Japanese box art could pass as a take for Perfect Dark's intended localized title in Japan of Aka to Kuro (Red & Black).
There's also an official Chinese iQue version that has the Japanese box art and a localized version of the in-game Western logo.

As usual, here's the cartridge art
Western version:

Japanese version:

They're both good, the Japan one is just more badass, with the extreme low angle and black and red colour scheme.

I have never seen the Japanese version of these and that cover art is sick as hell.

Gotta go Japanese on this one it’s very cool and very sleek looking I would buy this in a instant if I saw it in a store it’s so awesome looking.

catch BIG AIR!

If a kid in 2000 was presented with these boxes, I bet they would pick Japan's. It's undeniably cooler. Especially when you look at different advertising styles back then.

@kongOfTheJungle I personally prefer Japan's, but I like where you're coming from.

For the fourth week in a row, I gotta go with the Japanese box art.

The western one is classic enough, but that JP one is 🔥🔥🔥

Both versions have a nod to the Japanese NES (Famicom) original. The dominant bike on that box has the number 26, the bike on the sequel has number 27 (harder to see on the Japanese version, but it is there as well).

North America has the nicer cover. Although neither are that great.

Thought NA would have won this poll, so I am surprised with the result.

I am all in on the North American variant this time. I love the color pallet choice, even if the character model isn't as cool as the Japanese variant.

I'd never seen the japanese boxart, and it is great.

I'm surprised Japan is leading with 63% (after 1659 votes). It's just a generic motorbike image on a dull, red background. USA/EU is far more dynamic.

The Japanese one feels like it's aged very well. The western one by comparison feels very dated. Easy pick for Japan for me.

Given how bland the European one is, I thought I'd skip this article entirely. But I clicked, and the Japanese one makes me excited to ride a dirtbike.

I won't, but still, that one wins for me. European one not even close enough to eat its dirt.

Was there any reason the JP box art had to go so hard?! I've never seen this before, and I absolutely love it! If I saw this design on store shelves instead of the NA box art, I might have asked my mom for it!