Poll: Box Art Brawl: Metroid

That ominous corridor in Europe really builds the atmosphere

I really don’t like in general 8bit covers. They feel too old in an unpleasant way. Probably mario3 is the only modern vintage cover.
Master system covers were especially ugly even then

Classic series for me. Even with the distracting fonts, it's still the best in my eyes.

I prefer the original art as it showed you what you were buying. One thing I hated about early gaming was the box art never matched the game. Early Nintendo games were better at that. I was disappointed when they started doing artistic box art as well.

EU for the creepiness

I would've given it to Europe, but those transparent mini Samus' doings jumps just takes away from the whole thing. So US for me.

@Ryu_Niiyama it was always fun to speculate about how radical it would be if the in-game graphics "looked as good as the cover."

Europe for me for the same reason as Princess Lilly.

I thought the animation frames in the Euro version were some kind of pus monster attacking her lol. Not great

They’re all good!

I'm really digging the original EU artwork.

It’s almost cheating how the classic series box uses that awesome Metroid 2 art.

I'm a sucker for the old grey-box, pixelated NES boxes. Even if there is too much extraneous stuff on the cover.

Nostalgia carries this one for me all the way. North America/UK. It’s the box with the Adventure Series logo and was the very very first video game I owned when I got my NES for Christmas way back in the dark ages of 1987.

Japan’s is the first person view of an alien celebrity when Samus sidelines as a paparazzi.

For which countries was the EU cover? Because the Netherlands always got the UK versions of everything.

Anyways, it might be nostalgia but the 8bit graphics one doss it for me. The JP one is, again, but still surprisingly, dull.

None of them are objectively bad IMO. As iconic as the NA/UK 8-bit box art is, I went with the NA Classic Series version. I love that detailed pose. The EU version's background is nice, but I don't care for the vapor clouds on Samus's legs. Japan's is pretty good too, just a bit too bland of a background for my liking.

Honestly, I think Europe wins this one. Japan's is nice but it feels like Samus is placed a little weird in framing to make it amazing. The black box styled original US art is very iconic solely because its the one that we all see people use and its very recognizable, but I think Metroid is one of those games that is slightly dampered by the style like Clu Clu Land and Kid Icarus with how more out there and expressive the art should be to help communicate their characteristics. Iconic but not my favorite choice. Not the classic series design is weird for me because I always have see that label used for the game but thought it looked off and was some weird regional varient, but now that I see it in full, I'm even more mixed, because now Samus is front and center in a well placed pose, like she should be, but it just looks like Metroid 2's art copied here with none of the amazing background art of Metroid 2. And then all of the taglines and banners kill it for me. It's just too much and clutters the space when Metroid isn't that type of series. Really mixed on that one. But then Europe? Mwah. I have never seen it before but my goodness this is some fantastic art. The iconic silver boarder is here of the American art but the actual art on the inside is immaculate. Samus just standing in the dimly lit hallway with Chozo holograms showing where you are exploring has a history and secrets and the design is perfect showing the lonely and dim atmosphere throughout the game. And then Samus is standing defiantly in the center, looking determined and ready to explore is amazing. Everything just comes together right with this art that makes it perfect for appealing to people just seeing the art to convince them of their purchase to convay what the game is like with needing to obstruct the art or make it more dull and generic, while keeping the core of what makes Metroid special and is just amazing to look at

Europe. It gives me Alien vibes, which inspired the series to begin with.

I like the Classic series cover image, but it completely rips off Return of Samus's cover, from the pose and varia suit design.

I gotta go with the North American (classic series) cover this week.

As classic as the North America/UK box art is, I went with Europe. It's very gritty and atmospheric, much like the game itself.

I like the pixel art of the N.A./U.K. something about, "truth" in advertising I dig.

I think the classic series is the most visually striking, but I kinda like the EU cover as well. Looks like it could be a 70s prog rock album cover.

It's either, the European one or the NA/UK one. The former is giving me Metroid Prime vibes.

Come to think of it, I think I'm ok with Metroid covers having characters posing on a background. The only Metroid covers showing something going on and not just characters posing are the NA/UK cover of Metroid, all the covers of Super Metroid, the Japanese cover of Fusion and the western cover of Zero Mission.
To a certain extent also the Japanese cover of Metroid and the western cover of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (Samus must be shooting at something offscreen in both instances).

No cartridge art this time, as they all match their cover arts, even the Classic Series seems to use that art for its release.

I had a hard time not going with nostalgia for this. I can't help but feel like anyone voting for European version had the same issue. For me, it was the worst, by a fair margin.

I really like the action in the Japan version, but it's just not very representative of the game. The Classics one felt a bit like a cheat and I never liked the manga/comic style that was getting thrown around when Metroid Zero Mission was coming up for release 2004/2005 though. The Samus art itself on that box is very good, but the graphic art and font around it felt "cheap" and generic to me, even back then.

I find I really enjoy the actual classic nature of the original NES black box series in NA/UK, because it was trying to represent and celebrate the actual pixel art used in the games. It is often wrong in weird ways, but stands the test of time better than most box art.

I think it was a reaction to the wide gap between beautiful Atari 2600 box art and what the graphics actually looked like. Nintendo was trying to regain the trust of the consumers at a dark time in video gaming history. So, it even helps mark the era in which it was released.

The NA/UK Metroid box and Kid Icarus boxes were the last to hold on to the design of the black boxes, though they were silver. Still, I can't discount the nostalgia of it effecting me, too. I just gave in and voted. haha.

My number 1 pick is north america classic series and number 2 is the europe version. I don't like the japanese version since it looks like a bit cartoony while the english version looks more serious.

Reading some of the comments, I will give credit to the European version along with NA/UK that the environment was included. It seems really odd for a genre-defining game to have all of its art focused on Samus Aran as a hero character only.

And I have to concede that as much as I dislike the art style, poor attention to silhouette and negative space, cutting off the Metroid, etc. The European one suggests the original inspiration of Ridley Scott's original Alien movie the best out of all of them.

NA / UK for me!
Nostalgia is valid. 😊
And there’s something to be said for understated covers that let you discover a game’s awesomeness for yourself.

@aaronsullivan
I feel every word you wrote. Well stated!
Those black box NES games of yesteryear really do have a kind of timeless charm.

Europe easily, it's the only one that shows the mystery and atmosphere of the game.

@gaga64 it reminds me of the old pulp scifi novels I read as a kid.

NA Classic Series one for me this week. I like how Samus' suit looks pretty detailed, especially in comparison to the other ones.

Box Art Brawls Current Total:

Europe: 69

Japan: 69

North America: 80

Australia and New Zealand: 1

I had to go with the EU one. It has that feel of a late 70's/early 80's pulp sci-fi novel. The kind of musty old paperback you find in a charity shop for a couple of quid. I've got stacks of those here and I've always loved them so there's no real contest for me.

I've never been a big fan of those original NES boxes with the pixel graphics on them, so that's my least favorite. The Japanese one is interesting, but it doesn't feel like it works as a cover with the composition it has. I can picture that one on the back of a box with screenshots filling some of the empty space. The European one is interesting. The art isn't the most detailed and it's not especially dynamic, but I like the way it all comes together. The weird action shots by Samus' legs are weird though and don't add anything good. The US Classic Series box is the same key art from the Metroid 2 cover which is kind of disappointing, but it's still what I would consider as the best box here.

Pixelated box for me-- It wasn't retro when it was new, but it screams retro today and captures that era well. The classic series is an easily likable one. The European one does create intrigue for me, so I'll give the art that much. The JP image has a striking pose, but it doesn't give me much a good idea of what Samus is, whether pose or intrigue-- It just says "an armored fighting person!"

I'm gonna hafta say Europe. While I don't mind them using an image from the game itself, Europe's hand drawn look in front of a gloomy blue corridor, with the faint outline of Mother Brain behind her is visually the best of the bunch.

The classic series doesn't really count because no one in America ha s actually seen that in really life. Haha

The classic series is really pretty but man I’ve never seen the European version. So cool looking! Has that Aliens vibe to it!

I'd never seen that European one before and it just got my vote. Combines the gray classic I know with art that reflects how Samus looks in this game.
The "Classic Series" one is nice and all, but thats Metroid II artwork and Samus didn't even have that suit in the original game (a point driven home by Zero Mission)

North America classic series wins it. Strangely though, I actually like them all. Just in different ways.

@John_Deacon which is beyond confusing when you are 5 and a girl (because then salespeople only suggest easy games, tried to steer me to dolls or a game saturated in pink) and my mom didn’t like any “modern games” (at the time) but platformers and racing games and gambling games (and pinball video games because yay 70’s). Sometimes I am shocked that gaming stuck for me. My NES collection was horrible. I remember that finding a fun game was very frustrating for me.

Probably why I tried to be a very informed GameStop employee as an adult. And I never made assumptions unless they were a regular and I knew their taste.

Classic Séries NES is the best. Too bad It's not an original piece, but just a ripoff of the cover of Metroid II for the Game Boy, with Samus art from that game. Had they used the same pose but with art from the first game, It would get my vote. But since It didn't, I vote for the original grey pixel art cover.

The Japan box art could be for any generic adventure game. EU captures much of the empty ominousness that the game’s music does as well.

NGL, i really like the European version. Like the NES original is kinda cool with their old box style, but the European one I dig.

The Japanese one looks kinda cool, but the bright shot is kind of blinding surprisingly.

I am definitely voting for the North American Classic Series even though it isn't exactly representing the final product. I just love the realistic Samus armor, and think it would make for a great box art on somebody's shelf.

I'm going to say the Classic Series even though really none of them are very good.

Europe is incredible, I'd never seen it before.

The put the artwork of Metroid 2 on Metroid 1 in the US ?

I think I gotta go Europe with this one the art of samus is great and that corridor really works with the Metroid feel of being kinda like the movie Alien

Europe, no contest here. That artwork is amazing.

I kind of like how the European version has Samus wearing the "zippers in awkward places" suit. I'm kind of surprised that I've never seen that one before despite owning all of the Metroid games.