Worst video game covers

by Blake Snow { Dec 7th 2005 at 2:18PM }

Not only have video game graphics come along way, so has the box art. Terra Brazil puts in their vote for the 30 worst game covers of all time.

Did EA's 2003 NCAA March Madness cover really look that silly? What would you change on the list?

[via Digg]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Dan Choi @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

"Did EA�s 2003 NCAA March Madness cover really look that silly?"

Oh, you'd better believe it:
http://games.terra.com.br/galeria/piorescapas/foto_20051130025.htm

rafa @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

your mama!!!!!!!!!

emehrkay @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

i think the pac man is pretty hot, they should make one that actually looks like that (like a 3d drawing)

jc @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

I think I remember 'Bionic Granny' for the C64... how bizarre.

copasetic @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

HAHA, Metrocross and especially athletes (the last one) have some serious homosexual undertones going on.

Art Guy @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

I created a box once that was declared by PC Magazine to be the most tasteless box art ever. I should note that I personally hated the design concept, but it wasn't my choice. :)

Mazinkaiser @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

That is the worst pic of pac-man i've ever seen lol!

funkyflea @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

LOOOOOOL

Supervlieg @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

I think all sega master system covers were the worst and least attractive covers ever. Especially the early ones. Later they had advanced things a bit by adding illustrations.

Jago @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

They should put ALL the Sega Master System covers on there b/c those things were freakin fugly.

murph @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

yes the pacman cover is lame, but the Atari 400/800 version of that game was 1000% percent better than the 2600 version.

Mark B @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

I personally think Demon Attack is totally cool.

But what the fuck were they thinking with "Phalanx"?

Looks like Uncle Jessie from the Dukes of Hazzard.

GlitchCog @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

The box art for Megaman is the worst. It looks like it was drawn by a ten year old who is bad at drawing, and more importantly it has nothing to do with the game.

hepme! @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

I think the majority of these are AWESOME, even if they're not representative of the games themselves. The Mega Man series should definitely not be on there.

snortin_php @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

How dare they put down my precious Phalanx.

Sure the boxart looks stupid, but I always kind of liked it. It was a strange game, and deserved the strange cover.

Gimbal @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

I don't care what they all say about Demon Attack, I love that cover! I mean look at that thing. Yes, it is just some rubber dinosaur with a rocket up it's butt and painted silver. But that is why it is awesome. LOOK AT IT!!!! Freakin' awesome..

I wish I could get a poster of it.

Art Guy @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

I recall thinking how awful the Mega Man covers were when I was just a kid. And I think the Phalanx cover rocks. I know it make me pick it up and take a look.

Jago @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

I dunno if anyone has seen it, but on G4TV's show "Icons", they did an episode on the history of Mega Man and they talked about the Mega Man box art. It was done by some guy who did the covers for sci-fi books and he did it in a couple of hours and knew next to nothing about the game or the character.

Mandark @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

Check out the last image !
It,s a momentous occasion in video game history :
Finally a game that dares to depict true gay love !

Vandell @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

Megaman 2, by far:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v21/Kazar3400/megaman2box_front.jpg

Jago @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

lol...Mega Man 2 wasn't AS BAD...at least they got the color of the characters right...lol...

Mega Man 2 = greatest...mega man game...EVAR!

Mark B @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

Mega Man 2 = greatest...mega man game...EVAR!

Agreed.

=)

ea @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

Damn EA!! You guys sure made Drew Gooden look like a goof. But no March Madness 03 is not the worst. Even though Mega Man is one of my favorite video game series, Mega Man 1 and 2 has the worse covers ever. Why is Dr.Light hiding behind Crash Man?

also agreed Mega Man 2=best mega man game ever

LunarDuality @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

That site is more interested in covers that display homoeroticism than actually "bad" covers. And to that I say - Grow up and get over it! It's 2005.

Jago @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

"Why is Dr.Light hiding behind Crash Man?"

I think that is supposed to be Dr. Wily.

btribble @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

I like that Popeye is some random Swedish guy at a hofbrau. Huh?

I can see the beef with having a barechested Fabio as the model for Wizards and Warriors (the game character was in a suit of armor the whole game right?) but at least it has some production value, unlike many other of those game covers which look like they were illustrated by 8 year olds...

Finally, speaking of classic game artwork, this one's always made me laugh:
http://contrarnold.ytmnd.com/

Jago @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

Wizards & Warriors (the original one)...me <3 that game. I played that thing to death...lol...

32_Footsteps @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

Oh, they remembered the original american box art for Mega Man... I seriously refused to touch the game until after MM2 because of the horrendous box art. That might be one of the greatest cases of bad art hurting a game.

And as much as I liked Phalanx... I could never, for the life of me, figure out that box art.

Foo @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

Rygar:
http://www.cclassic.szu.pl/files/ZxSpectrum/Pictures/Inlays/Rygar.jpg

MrP @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

Some of that box art is brilliant in its insanity. The Bust-a-Move games' art direction and general atmosphere -was- utterly insane, so the covers make perfect sense :)

epobirs @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

I've always thought the Phalanx box was one of the coolest ever. A good change from the umpteenth shooter box. It took a conceptual approach rather than try to visualize the gameplay, which rarely looks good. I also like the US Final Fantasy III (VI in Japan)that purposely featured almost no reference to the game itself because it was hopeless to try capturing it in a single image.

A lot of these are extremely obscure. You could come up with an endless number of bad game cover art samples from titles that sold less than a thousand units and came on a cassette in a ziplock bag.

The ZeroCorpse @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

I could dig out a ton of bad box art in my Odyssey2 collection. Wooo! Talk about bad. Magnavox must not have spent much on art direction.

electronicat @ Dec 18th 2005 9:02PM

"Oh, they remembered the original american box art for Mega Man... I seriously refused to touch the game until after MM2 because of the horrendous box art. That might be one of the greatest cases of bad art hurting a game."

Same here. I remember seeing the ads for Mega Man in Nintendo Power (or some other magazine) and being totally disgusted. They didn't even include any screen shots. It wasn't until NP did a preview of Mega Man 3 that I found out what a cool series it really was.