Poll: Box Art Brawl

Greetings, and welcome to another round of Box Art Brawl!

Previously we examined WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$ on GBA—an undisputed gem and a personal favorite inside NL Towers. North America paired up with Europe to take on Japan and, well… Oh, Japan, we feel your pain. The Western cover walked away with an overwhelming 91 percent. We genuinely dig the Japanese illustration; it has its own charm. That said, calling it plain wouldn’t be entirely off the mark. Hm.

This time around, we rewind to the SNES era and size up Super Adventure Island. Crafted by Produce! and shipped by Hudson Soft in 1992, the game flaunted vibrant, eye-watering colors and solid platforming action.

It’s a three-way showdown this week, folks—ready your votes!

North America

Kicking things off stateside, the aesthetic is a total departure from the visuals used across the pond and in the Land of the Rising Sun. After the initial culture shock settles, though, the cover starts to click. Hidden treasures reveal themselves the longer you stare—background extras, a looping mine-cart rail shrinking into the sunset, that leafy text treatment… Pretty neat.

Europe

This rendition cranks up the Saturday-morning cartoon vibe. A band of characters crowds the frame, highlighted by a pair of rad turtles rocking sunglasses. The palette turns the saturation dial to eleven, though we’ll ding it one point for the plain vanilla font.

Japan

Making use of the portrait-format SNES sleeve standard in Japan, this version leans on the same painting style as Europe’s but leverages the extra real estate to cram in even more faces and creatures. A towering skeleton boss on the right steals the spotlight, while the color choices feel that bit more electric.

Thanks for casting your vote! We’ll catch you next episode for another Box Art Brawl.