Showing posts with label Sega CD. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sega CD. Show all posts

Friday, February 21, 2014

Five favorites: Sega Mega-CD box art

True story: I've always felt an odd affinity for Sega's Mega-CD (Sega CD in the West), the bulky add-on device that was released for the Mega Drive (Genesis) in the early 1990s.

In fact, I was so attracted to the system and its rather tiny catalog of games that I regularly rented a CD-X--the surprisingly small all-in-one system, released in 1994, that combined the Genesis and Sega CD--along with copies of Lunar: The Silver Star or Lunar: Eternal Blue (usually) from the local grocery store as a teen.

I've long considered buying a CD-X system and a bunch of the system's games as a result of those experiences, but the former still commands such high prices on eBay that I've yet to bite the bullet.

That supposed resolve is routinely tested by beautiful Mega-CD box art like that which is showcased below, I have to say. I mean, who wouldn't want to own a copy of Keio Yuugekitai just so they could pull it from the shelf and stare at its cover imagery now and then?


Aisle Lord--I know next to nothing about this particular game--I think it's an RPG?--but at the moment I'm perfectly fine with that, as all I care about is its cover art. Sure, the basis of it is that same, clichéd, "let's jumble all of the game's characters together in the center of the illustration" design that's been a staple of Japanese gaming since the beginning of time (or so it sometimes seems), but at least this time around the artist in charge utilized a slightly different style.


Keio Yuugekitai--According to the word on the street, this game is as worth owning for its gameplay as it is for its box art--which kind of shocks me, as its box art is the definition of beautiful.


Lunar: The Silver Star--I'm sure some folks would include the cover art of this game's sequel, Eternal Blue, here instead, and I can't argue with them to an extent, but I've always been so attracted to this particular creation--and the game it represents--that I couldn't help but include it here.


Time Gal--I know the gameplay of this one isn't all that appealing, but you've got to love it box art anyway--or at least I do. I mean, come on--not only does it feature a green-haired lass with ample thighs (and, no, I'm also not sure why I zeroed in on that fact), but it features a giant woolly mammoth, too. In other words, it's close to perfection. The only way it could be better, in my opinion: if it showcased a bare-chested stud with pecs and abs to spare instead of a chick.


Waraou Salesman--OK, so some of you are likely to consider this piece of cover art to be the stuff of nightmares. I can't fault you for that, but I personally love it--mainly because it seems like a Japanese take on the creepy propaganda posters you could have seen in other areas of the world (if not in Japan, too) in the early part of the last century.

Note: all of the box art included in this post was pulled from the always fabulous segagagadomain.com.

Thursday, February 03, 2011

Heartthrobs

Artist Curtis Bathurst recently CC'd me on the following tweet:

"When I was twelve, Earnest Evans was my 16-bit heartthrob."

Naturally, that got me thinking about gaming crushes. Honestly, I'm not sure I've had any. Of course, I've rarely fawned over actors or musicians, so maybe that's not so surprising.

Image taken from the splendiferous Segagaga Domain.

Still, I can understand why someone would consider a game character--especially a hunky one like Earnest Evans (above)--to be a heartthrob.

My question to anyone reading this, then, is: Have you ever had a crush on a game character? If so, which one(s)?

See also: 'Hubba hubba'