Boxart that bears little/no relation to its game

[Dastardly]

Something that I always noticed about games back then is how some of the box art seemed to have very little resemblance to the game or anything in it. I appreciate that back when gfx were more limited it required a fancy box to sell buyers on the world of the game (especially in the 8bit era), but sometimes they just seem to have random imagery or something unconnected to the game itself.

Shadow of the Beast. This seems unrelated to anything in the game. What even are those things?

Anyone else have examples?

[DamienD]

Dastardly, there's an existing / old thread about exactly this topic.

Too lazy to search currently though...

SotB; at least that screenshot appears in game:

[Dastardly]

Ah ok. Feel free to nuke this then and I'll go look for it. Thanks

[Cherno]

I don't care if it's for the SNES, no cover will ever beat the pure and total randomness of Phalanx:

[DamienD]

Originally Posted by Dastardly

Ah ok. Feel free to nuke this then and I'll go look for it. Thanks

I can't do that, as am no longer a GMod

...but no need to nuke, should just be merged with the older thread

[Dastardly]

OK cool. Happy for it to be merged with the existing thread then.
@Cherno Yes, Phalanx occurred to me as well. I'd love to hear the thinking behind that one.

EDIT: Can't seem to find the other thread that's the same.

[lilalurl]

Originally Posted by DamienD

Dastardly, there's an existing / old thread about exactly this topic.

Too lazy to search currently though...

Oh yes, I remember, it is the thread in which the location of the Fountain of Youth was posted too. And the content of what happened at Roswell....

I believe you meant the worst box art ever thread?:
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=27661

Not really the same topic, although it overlaps (for instance the cover of Phalanx is there I believe). For the time being I think this very thread should go on.

[Sgt Jack V]

Would Turrican be cheating? Hell, would it even apply? The intros for T2 and 3 actually did show representations of the box art...

[DamienD]

Originally Posted by lilalurl

I believe you meant the worst box art ever thread?:
http://eab.abime.net/showthread.php?t=27661

Yeah that's the one.

[Dastardly]

I was aware of the worst box art thread. I didn't have the same thing in mind with this. It's more about a disconnect between what the box art shows and what appears in game. Regardless of whether the box is good or bad.

@Sgt Jack V - I'm not sure Turrican applies. To me the character on the box art does represent your character in the game. It is kind of a subjective thing though, I suppose. Phalanx is a great example of no connection at all as far as I'm aware.

[Predseda]

Turrican 3 box art contains Tyrrannosaurus Rex, so it definitely counts

[Dastardly]

I take it there are no T rex in the game then? That does seem odd!

[Predseda]

But to add some more: famous Logical box art with exploding light bulb has nothing to do with marbles sorting in the game. Many Psygnosis boxes are also completely unrelated, as they just bought a random illustration from the famous author: just to name few - Agony (skull cliff picture comes from 1982 and its name is Planet of Death, painted by Tony Roberts), Infestation (painting of the artifical mosquito by Tim Wright, originaly intended for Terry Pratchett's Dark side of the Sun book), Amnios (another Tim Wright painting called Dragon Probe, for a 1979 sci-fi callender), Obitus (that bird with teeth also comes from Tim White) and not to forget the wonderful painting from Tim White called The Prince of Spiders, that was later used (not only) for Ubisoft's Unreal box.

I could continue, it will be a long list.

[mc68060]

That dinosaur on the Turrican 3 cover was probably inserted because Turrican 3 was released shortly after Jurassic Park broke all cinema records...

[dreadnought]

Originally Posted by Predseda

But to add some more: famous Logical box art with exploding light bulb has nothing to do with marbles sorting in the game. Many Psygnosis boxes are also completely unrelated, as they just bought a random illustration from the famous author: just to name few - Agony (skull cliff picture comes from 1982 and its name is Planet of Death, painted by Tony Roberts), Infestation (painting of the artifical mosquito by Tim Wright, originaly intended for Terry Pratchett's Dark side of the Sun book), Amnios (another Tim Wright painting called Dragon Probe, for a 1979 sci-fi callender), Obitus (that bird with teeth also comes from Tim White) and not to forget the wonderful painting from Tim White called The Prince of Spiders, that was later used (not only) for Ubisoft's Unreal box.

I could continue, it will be a long list.

I don't know about others, but at least Infestation seems pretty much related, since you are fighting alien AI-spawned bugs. The box art does not always have to be a direct connection, so perhaps the light bulb from Logical represents, well, a light bulb moment...

[Dastardly]

Cadaver always seemed a strange box to me. Main character is a short, fat bearded dwarf with a mean grizzled face. Who's this caped dude? The rest of it fine.

The box for The Payoff seems much more accurate.

[gimbal]

Originally Posted by Dastardly

Cadaver always seemed a strange box to me. Main character is a short, fat bearded dwarf with a mean grizzled face. Who's this caped dude? The rest of it fine.

Not to mention holding a sword, while in the game you throw rocks and spells and the odd pickaxe

It never really bothered me at the time, the box art was just that - art, it didn't have to really depict the game itself for me except maybe in a very high level. If you look at the box art of Cadaver, you get a vibe of adventures in dungeons or castles. It fits. It certainly won't make you think you're getting a shoot em up or something else woefully inaccurate

[Gordon]

Speedball 2 had an image of a half naked hulk-like man (but blue) jumping with the ball . But in the game the players wear a metallic/steel armour and have normal human colured face covering all races, not blue.

[Z3k]

Remaining with the Bitmap Bros, Xenon2 amiga boxart is both ugly and unrelated;

[Predseda]

This is State of the.... Art