7 Great Games With Truly Horrible Box Art

These great games are only good once you get them out their awful, awful boxes. Ew.

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Outside Xtra is a companion channel to Outside Xbox, covering the wider world of gaming with weekly list videos, Let's Plays and shows with your hosts Ellen and Luke. Look for regular appearances by OG Outside Xboxers Andy, Jane and Mike, and generally more of the videos you love, about more of the platforms you enjoy, from a team now two people larger overall.

Thanks for watching and be excellent to each other in the comments.

[HylianFox]

The 90s really were a bizarre time when it came to localizing Japanese media and video games especially.
The fact that someone looked at a cutesy, colorful puzzle game and said "It needs more bodily mutilations" and nobody thought that was a _little_ strange, is really indicative of the era...

[bjchit]

The original Resident Evil, which had a single bloody eye against a black backdrop in Japan, but in the US had Chris with a “just farted in church” expression and a gun that looked like an M16 before someone told the artist it wasn’t in the game so he tried to salvage it and make it into a shotgun instead.

[NeoStorm]

That description of Mega Man 1's box art as being spray painted on the side of an unsafe carnival ride is maybe the best and most fitting description of something I've ever heard, oh my god

[gonegirl]

you should do bad games with great boxart next lol

[WolfyFancyLads]

"He's still just holding a gun!" is just such a great line, cos it starts to imply an alternate plot where Megaman loses his shit and starts gunning down people on a postal rampage.

[Zenlore]

I love the story behind the “bad box-art Mega Man” in the VS Capcom game. That year was supposed to be a revival/love letter year for Mega Man fans, but the other long overdue projects were canceled and all they gave fans was a seemingly mean-spirited “Mega Man is old and washed up.”
BIG OOF

[Churi_Venatriss]

I’m so glad you mentioned Super Bust-a-Move for the PS2. I remember asking for it for Christmas one year, and I even prefaced it with something like, “I know it looks weird, but…” And even then my Dad asked, “Are you sure this is what you want?” And I was like, “Yes, I know it looks stupid but it really doesn’t have anything to do with the game.” I still hate that box art. XD

[KaraDennison]

A friend of mine has just informed me that he has that Bust-a-Move game box. And sent photo proof. Dear God.

[alexthorold]

Ico from the Ico box art went on to play a starring role as both of Ethan's sons in Heavy Rain

[Jonathon_Hennessey]

For the Japanese version of Resident Evil, it's box art depicted a bloody eyeball against a black background. For the American version of the game, it's box art has Chris Redfield with a silly expression on his face carrying what looks like a machine gun or a shotgun.

[druinofodd]

Was initially outraged at Ico's art being on this list... because i didn't know about the NA version

[STRAKAZulu]

Laughed too hard at “Running over Billie Joe Armstrong…”

[MrFutago]

The American box art of Fatal Frame aka Project Zero comes to mind. Where the scariest thing about it was the prospect of the artist having to use photoshop to make it.

[leftdeadification]

If you ever do a community version of this we have to talk about Yakuza 3's box art.

The Japanese version depicts Kiryu looking up at the sky, having a cigarette and just thinking about life because at this point he's been through a lot and just wants to slow down but you know that it's just not that easy and he knows it aswell.

The Western cover is just a zoomed in shot of Kiryu's face looking dead pan with the dragon of dojima in the back.

One gives you an interesting image if you haven't played the game and makes you feel something if you have while the other is just rubbish.

[theelike]

"Acclaim are things ok over there?" As it would turn out, things were very much not ok.

[cocacolablood]

From the box art, one might mistake Bust A Move for Clockwork Orange.

[peeled]

As a graphic designer and illustrator, this hurts me in a couple ways. One: because I'm especially hyper-sensitive about bad design (just ask the passenger in my car when I had to pull over to complain about the text kerning on a particularly bad billboard), and Two: because there isn't a designer alive who doesn't harbour a secret fear that in the deepest, darkest, more regrettable part of their portfolio, lives a job so accidentally awful that someday, someone will find it and roast it this savagely.

On a sidenote, I have big sympathy for the designer of the Arkham City cover, which is actually quite skillful but reeks of a project on it's 17th revision with management: "I love it – it's great. But can you just add these four more things to it?

[briancorvello]

Phalanx.

This was an old game for SNES, the cover having an old guy in a flannel shirt, overalls, and a cowboy hat, playing a banjo. The game was a shoot-em-up, much like Gradius and Defender. This was intentional, btw, because the marketers knew that the game would need something to stand out against the large amount of space shooters being released at the time.

Also, Yu-Gi-Oh! Reshef of Destruction. Yugi is on the cover, even though he is not the protagonist.

[UltimaLestat]

Me seeing Bust-a-Move on the list: "Oh yeah, the one with the baby right? Yeah, that's pretty weird."
Me after seeing what the entry is actually about: "Oh. Oh no. Oh no, no thank you."

[ShaiXeno]

Megaman has been one of my favorite franchises since I was a kid, first playing it in probably '88 or '89. Which means 5 or 6 year old me walked into the video store with my mom, saw that box art on the rack and decided it was a good choice for me to spend my allowance on for a weekend rental.