As I promised at the end of the latter post, here are five European DS box arts of which I'm particularly fond:
1. Contact--How much do I like this RPG's European cover art? So much that I recently bought it despite the fact that buying the North American version would have been a bit cheaper. Really, though, how could I have said no to those adorably pixelized characters and that awesome, retro-tinged logo?
2. Final Fantasy III--True story: I've seriously considered picking up a European copy of this game (even though I already own the North American version) simply because of its beautiful box art, which brings to mind the classic imagery that appears on the packaging of the Super Famicom release of Final Fantasy VI and the PlayStation port of Final Fantasy IV.
3. Kirby Mass Attack--What do you get when you combine the best elements of the covers created for the Japanese and North American iterations of this portable puzzler-platformer? You get the glorious artwork that can be seen above, of course.
4. The Last Window--The design folks at Nintendo really nailed it when they came up with this game's box art, don't you think? I particularly love its moodiness, which is far more evident than it is when looking at its Japanese counterpart.
5. The Rub Rabbits--There's no doubt about it: this game's name is really weird. Off-putting, even. Its cover art, though, is the complete opposite. Was it enough to get European gamers to pay attention to this mini-game compilation? Sadly, I'm guessing it wasn't.
See also: 'Five favorites: North American DS box art' and 'Five favorites: Japanese DS box art'
18 comments:
Despite PAL issues with older games sometimes it's nicer to have them to look at. The PS1 FF games have gorgeous box art compared to the US ones. It's very minimalist while the US box art has bad CGI models.
I wish all Final Fantasy games had covers that beautiful.
I would think that if they really wanted people to pay attention to Rub Rabbits, they should have used the original Japanese cover. http://kotona.info/images/nds/cover/0167.jpg
But that said, they went with that approach (more or less) for the original release ("Project Rub" in Europe) and then switched to this, so I guess it must not have worked. Once again I am endlessly intrigued by "why they did that?" questions about box art!
On a more anecdotal note, I had forgotten that they went with the "sexy" cover for the US release because I haven't seen it in forever--I still have Rub Rabbits but I loaned Feel the Magic to a friend who lost it. :( RR is surely the better game but I think FTM had more charm.
Ah, yes, I know a lot of people liked the box art used for the Euro PS1 FF games. I prefer them to their American counterparts, for sure, although I actually don't like them as much as some folks do. Personally, I prefer the art used for the original Famicom or Super Famicom releases (when it comes to FF 1-6), or even the Japanese PS1 re-releases of FF 4, 5 and 6. Of course, that's an entirely different kettle of fish, isn't it? :)
Yeah, that one's really nice, isn't it? Sigh.
Oh, I agree that the entire FTM/RR "series" is ripe for questions like "why did they do that?" Surely Sega decided to employ a few different strategies with these two releases, as they used different names in different regions as well as used different box art. In the end, I'm not sure any of it was all that successful (although I can't say I know how many copies it sold in each region, etc.). Still, I'm glad they tried, as it gave us some interestingly unique games and some wonderful box art, at the very least :)
Love Amano's artwork on the FF3 cover.
Me too! Of course, you can't go wrong with an Amano-made piece of box art, in my opinion :)
I have no idea where I put my copy of FFIII, but should I find it, I could send you the cover paper thingy - I think I lost the game cartidge anyway, so I don't really need it anymore... it's not really one of my favourites either. Can't promise I'll find it anytime soon tho, last time I've seen it has been ages ago.. ;>
Oh, no, you don't have to do that. Just keep it--especially in case you find the cart! Thank you for thinking of me, though :) I'm with you in not completely loving the game itself, BTW. I like it well enough, but it's a bit slow. Also, I much prefer the pixel graphics in the original Famicom release.
Had #1, have #2, dont have #3, never heard of #4, and have #5 :) hehe
FF3 gave me the irrits, you could say almost rage quit moment, but not quite.
Rub Rabbits - I got this game and had a lot of fun with it :) the mini games are fun and very very quirky. I also liked the art style used in the game.
You've never heard of #4, Igor? It's the sequel to Hotel Dusk: Room 215!
As for FF3: I've never played all the way through it, so I'm not sure which moment you mean. Sorry it bothered you to the point that you quit playing it, though.
I'm not sure I'll ever get Feel the Magic or Rub Rabbits, but I sure like the art style used for their covers and for their in-game graphics. Does this mean I'm part of the problem? :)
I've heard of Hotel Dusk but didn't know it had a sequel. I haven't played the game either.
In FF3 I got stuck in something towards the end? That's what made it extra frustrating: knowing I wasn't far from the end. And finding I just couldn't get through battles because I had missing or not enough items (like phoenix downs, potions, etc) which just made it super difficult as you are stuck in an area and can't get out (I think as lead up to final thingy or something - yea I can't really remember now and I can't be bothered LOL).
Feel the Magic/Rub Rabbits - you just gotta get this and try it haha it's a very weird experience. You know how Wii Sports and Nintendo Land help (or helped) to promote what can be done with their respective systems, these 2 games did the same for the DS back then.
You should give Hotel Dusk a try if you're into mystery games. It has a great art style and a nice story.
As for your FF3 woes: oh, how I understand them. It's like what happened with me and The 4 Heroes of Light. Got to the final boss, was able to take the first two forms fairly easily, but absolutely couldn't finish off the third one. Arrrrrrgh!!!
I'll definitely add FTM and RR to my wish list, although I probably won't buy either of them anytime soon. When I finally do, though, I'll be sure to let you know what I think of them.
I've thought about 4 Heroes of Light, but I had this feeling about the game, and reading your issue kinda glad I didn't get the game. I hate that type of game play element in an RPG - its a rage quit inducer :p
The thing is, even with that issue taken into consideration, The 4 Heroes of Light is, quite easily, one of my all-time favorite DS games. Absolutely loved it.
I may try it out one day, if I see a really cheap copy ;)
This kinda ramp up element I found in FF12 DS (though it wasn't difficult just tedious/annoying final boss) and in Blue Dragon DS (the first game - plodding along nicely, then BAM boss is super duper difficult, I can't get him in any way, I couldn't back track to "grind" levels etc, rage quit haha)
Ah, that sucks. Strangely, I seem to be nearly alone in having problems with the final boss in The 4 Heroes of Light. Folks I asked about it on Twitter seemed to have an OK time with it, at least. Harrumph.
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