Donkey Kong - BAB
Image: Nintendo Life

Welcome back to another edition of Box Art Brawl!

Before we get cracking with this week's epic battle, let's take a look at how Contact went on with its own duel. It was incredibly close; possibly one of the closest brawls we've seen to date, but ultimately the design favoured by North America and Japan won the round with 51% of the vote. Good effort though, Europe, bad luck.

This time, we're going to check out the original Donkey Kong on the NES. The arcade game was ported over to the Famicom in 1983, with a release in the West following in 1986. It remains one of the most iconic video games of all time, serving as a perfect introduction to Mario, who was known as Jumpman at the time.

As a bonus this week, we've included Donkey Kong Classics in the line-up, as this compilation contains both Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. It's such a great illustration, we simply couldn't leave it out.

Be sure to cast your votes in the poll below; but first, let's check out the box art designs themselves.

North America

Donkey Kong NA
Image: Nintendo

The release in North America depicts what is arguably the closest representation of what the game actually looks like on-screen. You've got sprites of both Mario and Donkey Kong, along with the classic pink platforms and white ladders against a jet-black background. It's iconic and it simply works. Wonderful stuff.

Japan

Donkey Kong - Arcade
Image: Nintendo

Japan's release opted for a quirky illustration for its own cover, showcasing Mario chucking a barrel at the dastardly Donkey Kong, who just so happens to have poor Pauline in his grasp. It's a simple piece, but that's kind of the reason we love it so much..? It's just such a bold piece that's instantly recognisable.

Europe

Donkey Kong EU
Image: Nintendo

Europe's cover uses the same illustration from Japan, but compacts it slightly to include more information; obvious stuff, you know, like the name of the game and the hardware system itself. Really, the illustration itself does most of the leg work here, but we do like the overall composition.

Bonus

Donkey Kong Classics
Image: Nintendo

So as mentioned, we had to include Donkey Kong Classics because just look at it; it's so adorable. It showcases Donkey Kong himself carrying both his son, Donkey Kong Jr., and his nemesis Jumpman, the latter of which is bopping Donkey Kong on the head with a hammer. It's just a lovely little piece.

Which region got the best Donkey Kong box art? (2,067 votes)

  1. North America
    North America33%
  2. Japan
    Japan17%
  3. Europe
    Europe19%
  4. Bonus
    Bonus32%

Thanks for voting! We'll see you next time for another round of the Box Art Brawl.