Poll: Box Art Brawl - Castlevania: Legacy Of Darkness

I've always loved the North American one. So when this popped up this week I thought it would be an easy W. Then saw the European one of the first time. It is dang near PERFECT! I said, "Oh S__t!" out loud because I was surprised how great it is. Japan's is a cool concept, but unfortunately didn't age well for me.

EU is the best one. At least it's a painting, and not an ugly CGI render. The Japan cover is horrendous.

Ollie, Ollie, Ollie….come on! Is the Europe cover more exciting? Sure. Does it have more going on? Yup. Is it vibrant and lively? Yes, but wait.

This game is called Legacy of DARKNESS. In the NA one, he’s not just holding a skull that’s “seemingly” been ripped from a skeleton. NO! Cornell’s got his foot down, standing on top of said skeleton holding that head like some indifferent trophy.

That’s dark. So very dark. Respect the game.

I do enjoy the boat in the European cover because the first level Foggy Lake is one of the standout areas of the game in my mind.

By the way, I think it's incorrect to say that Legacy of Darkness contains the full Castlevania 64 as a bonus unlockable. That's not really 100% accurate.
It's not like Donkey Kong 64 that contains the original arcade DK, or Dracula X Chronicles that contains the original Rondo of Blood, or Metroid Zero Mission that contains NES Metroid 1. Legacy of Darkness doesn't "unlock the first N64 game" in this way at all.

Rather, Legacy of Darkness has Reinhardt and Carrie as unlockable characters, who play through their campaigns from CV64, but, rather importantly, using the LEVEL DESIGN from Legacy of Darkness's version of the stages! It's like a bonus treat for fans of both games, and NOT a replacement or retcon of CV64 as a game.
I don't think enough people play or care about the N64 Castlevania games to really understand this.

@Zuljaras That's funny. Many times when the EU art isn't as good, people still pick it simply because it's EU.

Doesn't matter the region. People are just biased due to a variety of factors.

Japan, because the primitive CG renders are integral to the era and the aesthetic of so many games from that time.

Europe by far, great compisition

All of them are very Castlevania, and CG renders are a great retro value, but European one is kinda... consistent. The rest look like they had some things they wanted to include so they just added some here and there and mixed them up so they took up all space

Definitely EU this time around. It's legit a work of art compared to the other two. NA and JP are unsettling, not because of the themes or atmosphere, but because of the fact that the CGI aged very poorly. It's certainly a product of its time, that's for certain.

In a way, it reminds me of The Wind Waker versus something like Twilight Princess. While Twilight Princess is my favorite game in the Zelda series, The Wind Waker is still a beautiful game twenty years later, whereas Twilight Princess does show signs of age.

The point is, when making art, create something that will stand the test of time. If you make something using contemporary methods, it runs the risk of not being as visually appealing further down the road.

Thus, EU's hand-drawn art compared to the 20-year-old CGI of the NA and JP art holds up far better. And I say that as someone born and raised in North America.

Does Europe have the best boxart for once? It's a Decemberween mackerel!

The Japanese one is terrible, and not just because of the CGI models, the composition is a total mess. And the American one appears to have used Ming the Merciless instead of Dracula. Or possibly it's the Mekon from Dan Dare.

This game is better then people came it is. Yes it has it flaws but so did almost every game with it's transition to 3d. I really enjoyed this when I was kid.

Europe by a Transylvanian country mile. Generally speaking, hand painted illustrations always beat cg renders, it also happens to be the most interesting composition.

Incidentally this is one of the few Castlevania games I never played.

smash bros voice NO CONTEST

I've never mashed the vote button for Europe faster in these features. It screams "Gothic!" the most, and it isn't plagued by the disturbing CGI.

The EU version box art is so metal. More of this please.

@Dr_Corndog

"Decemberween mackerel"?

In this case for me, it’s the NA one. Sometimes less is better. There’s too much going on in the EU cover for my liking………and even Cornell’s constipated look distracts me!

@Mario500

"Decemberween, Decemberween
You're fifty-five days after Halloween"

@Mario500
it's a quote from homestarrunner, an old flash web toon series. it means "it's a christmas miracle"

This weekend, it's all about that sweet European artwork.

Europe is easily the best one here. It's very well executed which is not something I can say I think applies to the other two. While the Euro cover has a similar border to the NA one, it's black so it doesn't draw attention away from the art. The red side borders on the NA N64 covers tend to detract from the cover, and the corner peel is just obnoxious.

Europe is an easy winner, it looks great. The US one is a trifle boring, and the Japanese one is butt-ugly. I've never heard of this game.

First off, I love love love this game. Next to Star Fox 64, this had to be my most played game on N64. I loved the branching paths and the inclusion of the OG game on it but with additional armor options and stuff…
It’s just so good and I hope it comes to Switch at some point.
I never saw the EU version of the cover until today and although I love it (those colors! 😍 ) I still gotta stick with the US one. It’s just intriguing and definitely nostalgic.

I don't like any of them, but the European one is the least bad.

The European one actually is intriguing me so much I want to look up some info about it. So that's the winner!

I mean, these people must've known that the whole 3D thing was still in a transitional phase and not very nice to look at. They had to have known. EU is the clear winner here, no contest.

The American one looks like it plays out on the moon, the Japanese one is typically bad, a rare win for Europe.

Box Art Brawls Current Total:

Europe: 73

Japan: 69

North America: 82

Australia and New Zealand: 1

Ugh. It was a dark time in graphic design and marketing when they had to rely on CGI experts before those experts went beyond the technical skills and learned to be artists. You'd think they could have collaborated more, but whatever the reason industry people chose cgi rendered garbage to represent their products, I remember having similar gag reflex to what I'm having now looking at the Japanese and NA box art.

No idea Europe had respectable box art. Looks good.

Trying the game back then was incredibly disappointing after the incredible transitions to 3D that Mario and Zelda made. Fortunately, Symphony of the Night had released a couple years earlier making it seem like it would be okay for Castlevania to stay 2D — though what a weird era it became where 2D games almost disappeared!

Man I remember this game making me very mad as a kid. Besides the boat at the beginning it was way to similar to Castlevania 64, always thought this was a rip-off.

They’re all bad honestly. When people say things were poorly aged, did this really look that good at the time?

Dude. EU is a blatant win no questions asked.

Huh, I actually like the Japanese one.

Never been a clearer answer

If I didn't know better, I'd think the North American cover has something to do with Altered Beast.

The Japanese one is certainly a product of its time.

The European one, however, is excellent.

@Uncle_Franklin The composition is the best of the 3

If Europe didn’t win I would’ve never voted again. In all seriousness it is the better one.

I simply can't vote. They're all terrible looking

Talk about not knowing what you're missing. The EU image kills it. The NA image doesn't tell me much and the JP image has me wondering why do I care about some guy named Cornell.

They are all so different! I voted for the European variant though! That version has the best color palette for my eyes.

don't really either of them, all products of their time i guess... north america could have been better if it was a bit more lively, scarier etc... europe at least has some composition etc, so voted for it... but yuck.,.

Really want to play this, a rare castlevania that I have not played yet!