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European artist information from BOX=ART
BOX=ART (B=A) separated its research into regions: Americas, Europe, and Japan. OVGA has reviewed this information and will publish B=A’s research by region as three separate threads in the Artist Appreciation section of OVGA’s forums. OVGA has only lightly edited this information and has not expanded artist catalogs, some of which may be incomplete. Artists already included in OVGA’s Artist database have been removed from B=A’s data and will not be repeated below.OVGA will consolidate in a separate forum topic the contributions of digital artists, art directors, and other individuals and companies that were included among B=A’s data.
European
Alan Batson –
Hero Quest II: Legacy of Sorasil | Gremlin Graphics | 1994 | Amiga, CD32.
Litil Divil | Gremlin Graphics | 1993 | with Steven McKevitt | CD32, CD-i, MS-DOS.
Zool: Ninja of the “Nth” Dimension | Gremlin Graphics | 1992 | Amiga, MS DOS.
As with many gaming characters designed from the 8-bit generation to the 16-bit generation (1983-1996) they were first imagined as an in-game sprite, taking into account the host machines sprite size and color palette limitations (in Zool’s case a sprite size of 48x48 pixels and 16 colors). Once determined what would be possible a more detailed character art could then be designed.
Zool’s character art would be deliberately simple and easy to animate, with designer Adrian Carless visualizing a body shape of two basic geometrical spheroids with a few sticks - much like Hudson’s Bomberman character. But it was Zool’s large eyes that set the ninja-alien apart from his contemporaries. They were overly large so the player could see his determined look. Zool’s coloring was also deliberate. Black - like a ninja; green - like an alien and so at speed the character didn’t turn into a black mass; red to help track his limbs and yellow so his eyes were the standout feature.
The final designs were then turned over to artist Alan Batson who would be responsible for the games promotional art. The Amiga version of Zool is the original cover with the majority of ports receiving a alternative box art.
Zool: Ninja of the “Nth” Dimension | GameTek | 1993 | NA ver. | Game Boy, Game Gear, Genesis, SNES.
Zool: Ninja of the “Nth” Dimension | Gremlin Graphics | 1993 | CD32.
Zool: Ninja of the “Nth” Dimension | Gremlin Graphics | 1993 | EU ver. | Acorn, Amiga, Atari ST, Game Boy, Game Gear, Master System, Mega Drive, MS-DOS, SNES.
Zool 2 | Gremlin Graphics | 1993 | Amiga, CD32, Jaguar, MS-DOS.
Carlos Ezquerra –
Strontium Dog and the Death Gauntlet | Quicksilva | 1984 | by Carlos Ezquerra | Commodore 64.
Strontium Dog: The Killing | Quicksilva | 1984 | by Carlos Ezquerra | ZX Spectrum.
CAZA (Gaza) –
Drakkhen | Infogrames | 1989 | EU/ JPN ver. | Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, Super Famicom, SNES, X68000.
Kult | Infogrames | 1989 | EU ver. | Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS.
Dave Gibbons –
Rogue Trooper | Krisalis Software | 1991 | by Dave Gibbons | Amiga, Atari ST.
Rogue Trooper | Piranha | 1986 | by Dave Gibbons | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum.
Dave Pether –
Lemmings Chronicles, The | Psygnosis | 1994 | Amiga, MS-DOS.
Puggsy | Psygnosis | 1994 | Amiga, Genesis, Mega Drive, Sega CD.
Wiz ‘n’ Liz | Psygnosis | 1993 | Amiga, Genesis, Mega Drive.
David Martin –
Air Rescue I | MicroProse | 1984 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64.
Crusade in Europe | MicroProse | 1985 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, PC Booter.
Decision in the Desert | MicroProse | 1985 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, PC Booter.
F-15 Strike Eagle | MicroProse | 1985 | EU/ NA ver. | Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MSX, PC Booter, Thomson TO, ZX Spectrum.
Kennedy Approach | MicroProse | 1985 | Amiga, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64.
MiG Alley Ace | MicroProse | 1983 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64.
NATO Commander | MicroProse | 1984 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64.
Solo Flight | MicroProse | 1985 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, PC Booter, Thomson MO, Thomson TO.
Spitfire Ace | MicroProse | 1982.
Dieter Rottermund –
A320 Airbus: Edition USA | Thalion Software | 1993 | Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS.
Albion | Blue Byte Software | 1995 | MS-DOS.
Ambermoon | Thalion Software | 1993 | Amiga.
Amberstar | Thalion Software | 1992 | Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS.
Lionheart | Thalion Software | 1992 | Amiga.
Emmanuel –
The artist looks to have only worked within the video game industry for short lived publisher Carnell Software. He is better known for working for fantasy magazine White Dwarf and various sci-fi/ fantasy book publications as a cover artist.
Adventures of St Bernard, The | Carnell Software | 1983 | ZX Spectrum.
Black Crystal | Carnell Software | 1982 | Commodore 64, ZX81, ZX Spectrum.
Citadel of Chaos | Carnell Software | 1982 | Dragon 32, ZX81, ZX Spectrum.
Crypt, The | Carnell Software | 1983 | ZX Spectrum.
Devil Rides In | Carnell Software | 1983 | ZX Spectrum.
Starforce One | Carnell Software | 1984 | ZX Spectrum.
Volcanic Dungeon | Carnell Software | 1982 | Dragon 32, ZX81, ZX Spectrum.
ZX Compendium | Carnell Software | 1983 | ZX81.
http://wiki.oldhammer.org.uk/v/Emmanuel
http://www.sanfransys.com/homepages/level9/magra/magra.htm
Gary McNamara –
Alchemist | Imagine Software | 1984 | ZX Spectrum.
Battle Command | Ocean Software | 1990 | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, MS DOS, ZX Spectrum.
Bewitched | Imagine Software | 1983 | VIC-20.
http://www.tallantyre-gallery.co.uk/Page/artist.aspx?aID=10096
Gavin Macleod -
Arcade Flight Simulator | Codemasters | 1989 | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum.
Grand Prix Simulator 2 | Codemasters | 1989 | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum.
Italian Supercar | Codemasters | 1990 | Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum.
Jet Bike Simulator | Codemasters | 1988 | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum.
Super Stuntman | Codemasters | 1987 | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum.
H R Giger –
Dark Seed | Cyberdreams | 1992 | Amiga, Atari ST, CD32, Macintosh, MS-DOS, PS1, Saturn, Windows.
The original MS-DOS box let you detach the diamond shaped artwork (it was a smaller and slightly raised box), offering a rare effort in box design that went beyond the usual video game casings.
The rest of the game would also use Giger’s art, who was involved with the games art direction allowing Cyberdreams full access to his works. The artwork is one of Giger’s more famous pieces depicting Swiss actress Li Tobler and is named Li II. It was an airbrushed piece.
Dark Seed II | Cyberdreams | 1995 | Macintosh, MS-DOS, PS1, Saturn, Windows.
Jaseiken Necromancer | Hudson Soft | 1988 | PC Engine.
Ian Craig –
After studying art and communication design in Sailsbury and Leeds respectively, Craig would embark on a career in sci-fi paint-work, taking a special interest in the “mystical, dreamlike” side of science fiction over spaceships and futuristic hardware the genre loves so much.
Craig would get his start in the video game industry through his cover arts for publication Popular Computing. This led to Tim Langdell from developer Softec commissioning him for his earliest known box art Ice Giant (1984) and to design a cover for a book on the Dragon 32 hardware.
Ian would later produce two original covers for publisher Psygnosis under their Psyclapse line. Little is known of the artist's time within the industry post ‘89.
Ice Giant | Softek International | 1984 | Oric.
Menace | Psyclapse | 1988 | Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS.
Nevermind | Psyclapse | 1989 | Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS.
Ian Naylor –
Air Support | Psygnosis | 1992 | Amiga, Atari ST.
Armour-Geddon | Psygnosis | 1991 | Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS.
Ghouls ‘n Ghosts (大魔界村) | U.S. Gold | 1989 | EU ver. | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum.
Naylor’s cover would be a reworking of the North American arcade flyer by Frank Cirocco, but with the comic book look replaced with a fantasy paint job more in line with what European box artists in the 1980’s were designing.
Motor Massacre | Gremlins Graphics Software | 1988 | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum.
Red Zone | Psygnosis | 1992 | Amiga.
Thunderblade | U.S. Gold | 1989 | EU ver. | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, MS-DOS, MSX, ZX Spectrum.
Jamie Grant –
Hired Guns | Psygnosis | 1993 | Amiga, MS-DOS.
Jim Gardner –
Blind Panic | Dennis Publishing | 1988 | ZX Spectrum.
John Harris –
Awesome | Psygnosis | 1990 | Amiga, Atari ST.
The Amiga version would get the panoramic box treatment that displays Harris’ artwork to its fullest. It would be an original commission and is arguably one of the finer sci-fi covers within Psygnosis’ pantheon. Atari ST owner would have to suffice with a smaller box and a cropped version where the gravitas of the original is greatly lost.
The lettering was likely a Roger Dean effort.
John Howe –
J.R.R Tolkien’s War in Middle Earth | Melbourne House | 1989 | Amiga, Apple IIgs, Atari ST, MS-DOS.
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | Hozer Video Games | 2002 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
This homebrew release would reuse Howe’s artwork titled The Bridge of Khazad-dum (1995. First published in the 1997 Tolkien calendar).
“This painting has a lengthy genesis. I originally did a sketch of Glorfindel's final battle with the Balrog - bloated moon, flying cloud, icy mountain peak, the whole lot - but it was judged too harsh for a book cover and went quietly to sulk in a box in the attic for a few years.
In 1989 it surfaced again after a spring cleanup and Glorfindel became Gandalf and the bridge of Khazad-dum replaced the precipice. I made the error of masking the Gandalf silhouette before drawing it properly, and he spent the duration of the picture shuffling back and forth on the bridge with his staff and Glamdring stuck in one place until he finally found firm footing...” - via www.john-howe.com.
Kevin Walker –
Kings Table: The Legend of Ragnarok | Mirage Technologies Ltd | 1993 | Amiga, MS-DOS.
Perfect Assassin | Grolier Interactive Inc. | 1997 | MS-DOS, PS1.
Retribution | Gremlin Interactive Ltd | 1994 | MS-DOS.
Lee Gibbons –
Barbarian II: The Dungeon of Drax | Palace Software | 1988 | EU ver. | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, MSX, ZX Spectrum.
Barbarian II's predecessor, Barbarian: The Ultimate Warrior, was a critical and commercial success on its release in 1987. Reviewers enjoyed the game's exciting sword fights, and its profile was greatly enhanced by marketing strategies employed by its developer, Palace Software, a subsidiary of media company Palace Group. The developer had engaged Maria Whittaker, a model known for topless shoots, to pose on the box covers and posters of the game. The image of bikini-clad Whittaker created a hype that pushed the game beyond the attention of the video game industry, producing a controversy in which members of the public criticized the industry for promoting Barbarian in a sexist manner.
Palace Software repeated the strategy for the sequel, publishing a poster of Whittaker as Princess Mariana, this time in metal bikini armor, and Michael Van Wijk as the barbarian. Steve Brown, creator of the Barbarian games, recalled that the bikini's chain "snapped a number of times" in comical Carry On fashion during the shoot. Brown was behind the concept of the poster, which was brought to fruition by Lee Gibbons, a commercial artist, over the course of four weeks. The image of the barbarian and princess poised over the fallen body of a large, scaly monster was a photomontage, created by superimposing three photographs—one of each subject—on one another. The creature was a small-scale model made of Plasticine. After cutting out the subjects from their photos and composing the cut-outs to form a new scene, Gibbons painted the background and added effects such as smoke to form the final image. Via wikipedia.
Deactivators | Ariolasoft | 1986 | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum.
Hound of Shadow, The | EA | 1989 | Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS.
Hyperforce | Ariolasoft | 1986 | Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 16, Commodore 64.
Starburst: A Walk on the Wild Side | Ariolasoft | 1986 | Commodore 16, Plus/4.
Starfox | Datasoft | 1988 | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum.
Lucio Parrillo –
Loki: Heroes of Mythology | Crimson Cox GmbH | 2007 | Windows.
Original character art painting.
http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryPiece.asp?Piece=519674&GSub=82202
Luis royo –
After the War | Dinamic Software | 1989 | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, MSX, ZX Spectrum.
Aventura Espacial, La | Aventuras AD | 1990 | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, MSX, ZX Spectrum.
Aventura Original, La | Aventuras AD | 1989 | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, MSX, ZX Spectrum.
Chicken Itza | Aventuras AD | 1992 | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Atari ST, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum.
Comando Tracer | Dinamic Software | 1988 | Amstrad CPC, MSX, ZX Spectrum.
Game Over | Dinamic Software | 1987 | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MSX, PC Booter, Thomson MO/ TO, ZX Spectrum.
The game is best known for a controversy regarding the image of Queen Gremla where a visible nipple that can be seen in its advertising and inlay artwork (which had originally appeared on the cover of Heavy Metal (May 1984 - Vol.8 No.2) called Cover Ere Comprimee and is attributed to Luis Royo). Oli Frey, the art editor for Crash magazine, painted over the original bare-breasted image with a thin gray corset so that it could be printed, but retailers still demanded that logos be placed over the nipples.
Game Over won the awards for best advert and best inlay of the year, according to the readers Crash (Wikipedia). It is possibly the artist’s first cover art.
Game Over II | EA | 1988 | Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum.
Hundra | Dinamic Software | 1988 | Amstrad CPC, MSX, ZX Spectrum.
Narco Police | Dinamic Software | 1989 | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, MSX, PC Booter, ZX Spectrum.
Navy Moves | Dinamic Software | 1988 | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, MSX, ZX Spectrum.
Satan | Dinamic Software | 1989 | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, MSX, PC Booter, ZX Spectrum.
Summoning, The | SSI | 1992 | MS-DOS.
Templos Sagrados Vol I, Los | Aventuras AD | 1991 | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum.
Templos Sagrados Vol II, Los | Aventuras AD | 1992 | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum.
Turbo Girl | Dinamic Software | 1988 | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MSX, ZX Spectrum.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Royo
http://www.polcbolt-online.hu/heddy/royo/bio.html
http://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/royo_luis
Mark Wilkinson –
Mindfighter | Abstract Concepts | 1988 | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum.
The artist’s first box art would be commissioned by the games creator Fergus Macnell who at the time was a fan of Mark’s art for the rock group Marillion. Mark recalls, “Fergus wanted a boy - much like the boy I had drawn for Marillion’s Misplaced Childhood (1985 album)...who existed in some dystopian future...he had the ability to shape-shift into other creatures - and I used an Eagle.
The artwork was created using airbrushed acrylic ink. Poster.
Parisian Knights | Abstract Concepts | 1989 | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum.
Troll | 1988 | Kixx | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum.
Melvyn Grant –
The famed Sci-fi and fantasy painter who is probably best known for his Iron Maiden cover arts, would have his work reused as box art under Psygnosis’ sister publisher Psyclapse. All four known box arts were originally commissioned elsewhere, and other than Baal were cover arts for novels.
Melvyn’s style of art would add a somewhat dark-fantasy look to Psygnosis’ box art catalogue and would sit comfortably alongside the likes of Roger Dean and Peter Andrew Jones’ artworks. All four covers were painted in oils on canvas.
Anarchy | Psyclapse | 1990 | Amiga, Atari ST.
Baal | Psyclapse | 1988 | Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS DOS.
Melvyn Grant’s Baal would ditch Psygnosis’ usual sci-fi box arts and vehemently assert its own horror-fantasy instead. Originally a cut-out children’s mask available in the mid-80s on the back of a UK cereal box, the artwork was called “Jaws” and painted in oils on a 6.5 x 12 inch board. It was then commissioned by the Liverpool developer in 1988.
Possibly Melvyn’s first box art for Psygnosis (it could also be Captain Fizz meets the Blaster-Trons), he would go on to provide the developer with further commissioned pieces, adding a darker edge to the publishers box art portfolio.
Ballistix | Psyclapse | 1989 | Amiga, Atari ST, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, Electron, MS DOS, PC Engine.
In keeping with many of Psygnosis’ box arts, Melvyn’s art was reissued having been originally designed for sci-fi novel ‘The Steel Tzar’ by Michael Moorcock (1981) - of which the cover gets its name - and then later as cover art for Judas Priest LP ‘Rocka Rolla’ (reissue ver. 1987).
The artwork would be used across the globe and its use in Japan would end up being one of only a handful by Psygnosis to make it East.
Captain Fizz Meets the Blaster-Trons | Psyclapse | 1988 | Amiga, Atari ST, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, Electron, ZX Spectrum.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melvyn_Grant
Michael Hellmich –
Atomix | Thalion Software | 1990 | Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS DOS.
Backgammon | Magic Soft | 1990 | Amiga.
Bundesliga Manager Professional | Software 2000 | 1991 | Amiga, Atari ST, MS DOS.
Charly | Magic Soft | 1991 | Amiga.
Cubulus | Software 2000 | 1991 | Amiga, Commodore 64, MS-DOS.
Death or Glory: Das Erbe von Morgan | Software 2000 | 1994 | Amiga, MS-DOS.
Die Kathedrale | Software 2000 | 1991 | Amiga, MS-DOS.
Enchanted Land | Thalion Software | 1990 | Amiga, Atari ST.
Ghost Battle | Thalion Software | 1991 | Amiga, Atari ST.
Hexuma: Das Auge des Cal | Software 2000 | 1992 | Amiga, MS-DOS.
Jonathan | Software 2000 | 1993 | Amiga, MS-DOS.
Kengi | Software 2000 | 1991 | Amiga, MS-DOS.
Manager, The | Software 2000 | 1992 | Amiga, MS-DOS.
O.B.Y.1 | Magic Soft | 1991 | Amiga, Atari ST.
Prehistoric Tale, A | Thalion Software | 1990 | Amiga, Atari ST.
Shiftrix | Software 2000 | 1991 | Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS.
Think Twice | Magic Soft | 1991 | Amiga.
Tower Fra | Thalion Software | 1990 | Amiga.
Wild West World | Software 2000 | 1990 | Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS.
Mike Mcmahon –
Judge Dredd | Melbourne House | 1986 | by Mike McMahon | Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum.
Nigel Fletcher –
ATV Simulator | Codemasters | 1987 | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum.
BMX Freestyle | Codemasters | 1989 | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum.
BMX Simulator 2 | Codemasters | 1989 | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum.
Death Stalker | Codemasters | 1989 | Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum.
Dizzy the Ultimate Cartoon Adventure | Codemasters | 1987 | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum.
Fast Food | Codemasters | 1989 | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum.
International Rugby Simulator | Codemasters | 1988 | Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum.
Mig-29 Soviet Fighter | Codemasters | 1989 | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, NES, ZX Spectrum.
Moto X Simulator | Codemasters | 1989 | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum.
Mission Jupiter | Codemasters | 1987 | Amstrad CPC.
Ninja Massacre | Codemasters | 1989 | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum.
Poltergeist | Codemasters | 1988 | Commodore 64.
Race Against Time, The | Codemasters | 1988 | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum.
SAS Combat Simulator | Codemasters | 1989 | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum.
Star Runner | Codemasters | 1987 | ZX Spectrum.
Super G-Man | Codemasters | 1987 | Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum.
Terra Cognita | Codemasters | 1986 | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 16, Plus/4, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum.
Treasure Island Dizzy | Codemasters | 1988 | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum.
Treasure Island Dizzy saw resident Codemasters artist Nigel Fletcher take the reins again after also designing the previous and debut cover for Dizzy the Ultimate Cartoon Adventure (1987). In comparison to that cover, Treasure would drop the distinctly airbrushed look and instead adopt a more cartooned approach - that wouldn’t look out of place in an 80’s Beano strip. It would inspire all other Dizzy box arts.
Vampire | Codemasters | 1986 | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MSX, ZX Spectrum.
Moebius –
Fade to Black | Electronic Arts | 1995 | EU/ NA ver. | MS-DOS.
Panzer Dragoon (パンツァードラグーン) | Sega | 1995 | JPN ver. | Saturn.
Taking clues from the game’s opening level and its “Alexandrian” inspired architecture, Moebius would deploy his trademark style of minimalist detail and masterful use of color. He would also add a healthy dose of surrealism to the mix whilst doing away with the usual blasting and destroying that shooter cover arts often depicted.
His work on comic book Arzach in 1975 would be one of Team Andromeda’s main artistic influences for Panzer Dragoon, and Moebius would go on to produce original artwork for their creative process. It would be an unusual collaboration for its time but his influence on Japanese illustrators, and such famed purveyors as Hayao Miyazaki (Studio Ghibli), Katsuya Terada (Blood: The last vampire) and Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira), would certainly explain Sega of Japan commissioning him.
The box art would interestingly not make it to western shores making it one of a few European cover arts from that period to be exclusive to Japan. Unfortunately Europe and America would have frowned upon them a computer art equivalent with none of the comic-book-wonder of Jean’s.
Phillip Castle –
Elite | Acornsoft | 1986 | Acorn Atom, BBC Micro.
The famous cover and poster artist (Aladdin Sane, Clockwork Orange, Mars Attacks!) would be responsible for designing the first box art for this seminal space-trader game.
The artwork’s spaceship and space setting was standard 70’s/ 80’s design but the piece would be elevated by the glorious and dominating logo. The logo, inspired by pilot’s wings, would also have the look of a gryphon applied to it giving it a coat of arms feel.
The popularity of the game meant that publisher Firebird ported it to every going home computer of the day along with the NES. On these box arts a version of Philip’s logo would be all that was used. It is a iconic and imposing design that is still striking to this day.
Revs | Firebird | 1986 | Commodore 64.
Revs+ | Firebird | 1987 | Commodore 64.
Overlord | Virgin interactive | 1994 | Amiga, MS-DOS.
Richard Clifton-Dey –
Ork | Psygnosis | 1991 | by Richard Clifton-Dey | Amiga, Atari ST.
Richard Shenfield –
Richard would be part of pioneering publisher Quicksilva’s original lineup of cover artists - along with David John Rowe, Susan Rowe and Steinar Lund.
His covers were all designed using airbrush. He would also take on commissions from Firebird before his untimely death in 1987.
BBC Music Processor | Quicksilva | 1984 | ZX Spectrum.
Gryphon | Quicksilva | 1984 | Commodore 64.
Hive | Firebird Software | 1986 | Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum.
Metor Storm | Quicksilva | 1982 | ZX Spectrum.
Mined-Out | Quicksilva | 1983 | BBC Micro, Camputers Lynx, Dragon 32, Electron, Oric, ZX Spectrum.
This early Quicksilva cover would be part designed using vector graphics (an expensive process for ‘83) and then the line-output airbrushed over. It is also an early example of nudity being used on box arts - the game’s author, Ian Andrew, has no idea why it was included.
Ocean Trader | Quicksilva | 1983 | ZX81.
QS Scramble | Quicksilva | 1982 | ZX81.
Space Intruders | Quicksilva | 1982 | ZX81, ZX Spectrum.
Rodney Matthews -
Darius+ | The Edge | 1989 | Amiga, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum.
Fury, The | Martech Games | 1988 | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum.
Seas of Blood | Adventure international | 1985 | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum.
Shadow Master | Psygnosis | 1997 | PS1.
Transarctica (Arctic Baron) | Silmarils | 1993 | Amiga, Atari ST, Macintosh, MS-DOS.
Rolf Mohr –
BC Racers | Core Design | 1995 | Mega/ Sega CD, MS-DOS, Sega 32X.
Curse of Enchantia | Core Design | 1992 | Amiga, MS-DOS.
Dragonstone | Core Design | 1994 | Amiga, CD32.
Universe | Core Design | 1994 | Amiga, CD32, MS-DOS.
Susan Rowe –
Joining video game publisher Quicksilva and its growing list of artists in 1981, Susan would become one of the earliest box artists in Europe - and possibly the first female. Not only would her love for the fantastical and for Wizards be obvious from her cover art output but also her artistic taste for the whimsical. Created using watercolor her cover arts would stand out from the industries then reliance on air-brushed compositions.
She is also the wife of David John Rowe who was one of the period’s high profile box artists.
Castle of Jasoom | Quicksilva | 1984 | Commodore 64.
Dungeons of BA | Accelerated Software | 1984 | Commodore 64.
Fairlight II | The Edge | 1986 | Amstrad CPC, Amstrad PCW, ZX Spectrum.
Mighty Magus | Quicksilva | 1985 | ZX Spectrum.
Velnor’s Lair | Quicksilva | 1983 | Commodore 64, Oric, ZX Spectrum. (1)
Wizard, The | Quicksilva | 1983 | BBC Micro.
Wizardry | The Edge | 1985 | Commodore 64.
http://www.crashonline.org.uk/22/oncover.htm
Tim Stamper -
As one half of the Stamper brother team (the other being Chris), Tim would be the creative output authoring almost all of Ultimate Play the Game’s box arts as well as in-game graphic design. The artist’s first cover, Jet Pac in 1983, would set the tone for the rest of the years output, with large, bold characters and objects, painted in airbrush with the Ultimate logo emblazoned in the bottom right corner.
The publisher’s first game of 1984, Sabre Wulf, saw Tim take the company’s box art and promotional duties in a radical new direction. The packaging – including casing – became a premium product (which was reflected in the game’s higher than usual price), and the distinctive, font and bordered art format would be a mainstay for the majority of releases throughout 1984-1986.
In 1987 the newly coined Rare released their first game published by Nintendo, Slalom. The box art followed the same “black box” design as many early Nintendo published NES games did and included Tim’s in-game graphics. Tim’s final known box art is his airbrushed work on Battletoads for the NES.
Alien 8 | 1985 | Ultimate - Play the Game | Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, MSX, ZX Spectrum.
Atic Atac | 1983 | Ultimate - Play the Game | BBC Micro, ZX Spectrum.
Battletoads | 1991 | Tradewest | EU/ NA ver. | Amiga, CD32, NES.
Blackwyche | 1985 | Ultimate - Play the Game | Commodore 64.
Blubber | 1987 | Ultimate - Play the Game | Commodore 64.
Cookie | 1983 | Ultimate - Play the Game | ZX Spectrum.
Cosmic Battlezones | 1986 | Ultimate - Play the Game | BBC Micro.
Dragon Skulle | 1986 | Ultimate - Play the Game | Commodore 64.
Entombed | 1985 | Ultimate - Play the Game | Commodore 64.
Gunfright | 1986 | Ultimate - Play the Game | Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, ZX Spectrum.
Imhotep | 1985 | Ultimate - Play the Game | Commodore 64.
Jetpac | 1983 | Ultimate - Play the Game | BBC Micro, VIC-20, ZX Spectrum.
Knight Lore | 1984 | EU ver. | Ultimate - Play the Game | Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, MSX, ZX Spectrum.
Lunar Jetman | 1983 | Ultimate - Play the Game | ZX Spectrum.
Night Shade | 1985 | Ultimate - Play the Game | Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, MSX, ZX Spectrum.
Outlaws | 1985 | Ultimate - Play the Game | Commodore 64.
Pentagram | 1986 | Ultimate - Play the Game | MSX, ZX Spectrum.
Pssst | 1983 | Ultimate - Play the Game | ZX Spectrum.
Sabre Wulf | 1984 | Ultimate - Play the Game | Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum.
Slalom | 1987 | Nintendo | NES.
Staff of Karnath | Ultimate - Play the Game | 1984 | Commodore 64.
Tranz Am | Ultimate - Play the Game | 1983 | ZX Spectrum.
Underwurlde | Ultimate - Play the Game | 1984 | Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum.
After the functional cover arts throughout Ultimate’s first year (1983), the venerable Saber Wulf at the the beginning of 1984 introduced a provocative and head turning style of art that follow up Underwurlde also adopted.
The change in art direction coincided with the company’s new increased price point that was justified by both the ‘big box’ the cassettes now came in, and the detailed instruction manual. This overall packaging effort was designed to discourage kids from pirating their copy of the game, and for its time was an unusual business move that actually worked. The artwork was also used to promote Underwurlde in trade mags.
Tom Chantrell –
Super Star Wars | JVC Musical Industries | 1992 | Game Boy (as Star Wars), SNES, Super Famicom.
This box art would reuse Chantrell’s famous “Style C” one-sheet poster for the original movie release in 1977.
http://chantrellposter.com/biography
Tony Roberts –
The famed illustrator would be at the forefront of the SF art scene of the 70’s and 80’s. Tony’s start in the video game industry would be somewhat pioneering in that he was one of the first fantasy/ sci-fi painters to design box art for the tentative European computing scene and who was by far its highest profile in 1982.
Tony’s cover arts would be a mix of original commissioned covers (ACE and Adventure series) and box arts that were originally SF novel covers (Chrono Quest 2, Galaxians, Robinson’s Requiem).
Tony would start to move away from SF art by the late 1980’s and into abstract fine-art.
ACE: Air Combat Emulator | Cascade Game | 1985 | EU ver. | ZX Spectrum.
ACE 2 | Cascade Games | 1987 | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum.
Adventure A: Planet of Death/ Agony | Artic Computing/ Psygnosis | 1982/ 1992 | Amiga, ZX Spectrum, ZX81. (1)
Adventure A’s original 1981 cover art would be typical of early UK bedroom-coder style covers that were functional but hardly inspiring.
Publisher Artic Computing would take the pioneering step of commissioning established S.F painter Tony Roberts to create the re-release cover in 1982. Tony is at present the earliest high profile artist to design video game box art. He would go on to design Adventure B and Adventure C’s covers.
Psygnosis would also commission the artwork for it’s game Agony (1992) and it would additionaly be used on various Italian novel cover arts.
Adventure B: Inca Curse | Artic Computing | 1982 | ZX Spectrum.
Adventure 😄 The Ship of Doom | Artic Computing | 1982 | Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum.
Chrono Quest 2 | Psygnosis | 1990 | Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS.
Galaxians | Softec Software | 1983 | ZX81, ZX Spectrum.
Robinson’s Requiem | Silmarils | 1994 | 3DO, Amiga, Atari ST, Jaguar, Macintosh, MS-DOS.
Vincent Segrelles –
Demons Forge, The | Saber Software | 1981 | Apple II.
The legendary designer Brian Fargo’s first video game, The Demon’s Forge would be home to a box art of extraordinary detail and beauty. Its high level of artistry would raise the bar on what had come before it, and gave an early taste of a style of art that post mid-80’s proliferated in the industry.
Painted in oils by Spanish artist Vicente Segrelles, it would be an early example (if not the earliest) of a recommissioned artwork used as a box art. Originally the cover art to Segrelles fantasy epic El Mercenario #3: Los Juicios (1980), it is also presently the earliest known example of a European artist’s art adorning an American video game.
The artwork was exclusively used for the Apple II, North American release, with the later PC Booster port (1987) getting a completely new cover art (by Oli Frey) that paid little stylistic homage to the original - but is still rather good - and is the artists only known box art to date.
William Tang –
Horace and the Spiders | Sinclair Research Ltd | 1983 | Timex, ZX Spectrum.
Horace Goes Skiing | Sinclair Research Ltd | 1982 | Commodore 64, Dragon 32, Timex, ZX Spectrum.
Hungry Horace | Sinclair Research Ltd | 1982 | Commodore 64, Dragon 32, Timex, ZX Spectrum.
1 -
North and South American artist information from BOX=ART
BOX=ART (B=A) separated its research into regions: Americas, Europe, and Japan. OVGA has reviewed this information and will publish B=A’s research by region as three separate threads in the Artist Appreciation section of OVGA’s forums. OVGA has only lightly edited this information and has not expanded artist catalogs, some of which may be incomplete. Artists already included in OVGA’s Artist database have been removed from B=A’s data and will not be repeated below.
OVGA will consolidate in a separate forum topic the contributions of digital artists, art directors, and other individuals and companies that were included among B=A’s data.
North American
Arthur Nichols –
F-Zero (エフゼロ) | Nintendo | 1990 | JPN ver. | by Art Nichols (ink), Paris Cullens (pencil) & Janet “JayJay” Jackson (color) | Super Famicom.
Off the back of their licensed Nintendo of America comics (early 90’s), VALIANT would get the commission from Nintendo of Japan to design the cover for Super Famicom launch title, F-Zero. For the time it was quite the feat for western artist’s to be picked to do this work, considering Japan’s proud attitude towards its own comic industry.
Along with writer Jim Shooter the artists would additionally produce the pack-in comic book. The complete package would add a surprising amount of western influence for such a high-profile eastern release, but more surprising is that the cover art was never used outside of Japan where it would have perhaps been more at home. Instead, it was replaced with a typically air-brushed effort.
Art recalls that the price they charged for the piece was massively in excess of what VALIANT would normally charge, $35,000 compared to $5,000!
http://jimshooter.com/2012/02/made-to-order.html/
Barry E Jackson –
Project Firestart | EA | 1989 | Commodore 64.
Wasteland | EA | 1988 | Commodore 64, Linux, MS-DOS, Windows.
Alone, confronted and in danger… Barry E. Jackson’s Wasteland would depict a classic apocalypse evoking human trepidation and conflict. The post-apocalyptic setting would be fresh in 1988 and Jackson’s box art would stunningly evoke the intensity of nature’s sun scorching man’s crumbled cityscape. The title strikingly crafted out of the original artwork confronts the viewer with the bluntness of its meaning helping to set the game’s tone further.
Bill Sienkiewicz –
Resident Evil (バイオハザード) | Capcom | 1996 | EU/ NA ver. | PS1, Saturn, Windows.
Capcom would use U.S. comic book artist Sienkiewicz’s cover art for the tie-in comic book released under Marvel a month after the video game.
The character art would be re-used for the following years Resident Evil: Directors Cut.
Spider-Man/ Venom: Maximum Carnage | Acclaim | 1994 | Genesis, Mega Drive, SNES, Super Famicom.
Bob Flemate –
Mystery Quest | Taxan USA Corp | 1988 | NES.
Space Invaders | Atari | 1980 | Atari 400/ 800.
Bob Haynes –
B-1 Nuclear Bomber | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1980 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, TRS-80.
Bomber Attack | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1982 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, Commodore PET, VIC-20.
Computer Baseball Strategy | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1982 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore PET, TRS-80.
Conflict 2500 | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1981 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore PET, TRS-80.
Empire of the Over-Mind | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1982 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, TRS-80.
Guns of Fort Defiance | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1982 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, Commodore PET, TRS-80.
Midway Campaign | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1980 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, Commodore PET/CBM, FM-7, MS-DOS, TRS-80, TRS-80 CoCo, VIC-20.
North Atlantic Convoy Raider | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1980 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, Commodore PET, FM-7, TRS-80.
Planet Miners | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1981 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore PET, TRS-80.
Shootout at the Ok Galaxy | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1982 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, Commodore PET/CBM, TRS-80, TRS-80 CoCo, VIC-20.
Tank Arkade | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1982 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore PET, TRS-80, VIC-20.
Voyager 1: Sabotage of the Robot Ship | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1981 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore PET, MS-DOS, TRS-80.
Zardon | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1982 | Atari 8-bit.
Brom –
B-1 Nuclear Bomber | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1980 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, TRS-80.
Bomber Attack | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1982 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, Commodore PET, VIC-20.
Computer Baseball Strategy | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1982 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore PET, TRS-80.
Conflict 2500 | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1981 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore PET, TRS-80.
Empire of the Over-Mind | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1982 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, TRS-80.
Guns of Fort Defiance | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1982 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, Commodore PET, TRS-80.
Midway Campaign | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1980 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, Commodore PET/CBM, FM-7, MS-DOS, TRS-80, TRS-80 CoCo, VIC-20.
North Atlantic Convoy Raider | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1980 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, Commodore PET, FM-7, TRS-80.
Planet Miners | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1981 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore PET, TRS-80.
Shootout at the Ok Galaxy | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1982 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, Commodore PET/CBM, TRS-80, TRS-80 CoCo, VIC-20.
Tank Arkade | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1982 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore PET, TRS-80, VIC-20.
Voyager 1: Sabotage of the Robot Ship | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1981 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore PET, MS-DOS, TRS-80.
Zardon | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1982 | Atari 8-bit.
Doom II: Hell on Earth | id Software | 1994 | Game Boy Advance, Macintosh, MS-DOS, PC-98, Windows.
Tasked with designing box art centered around ‘Marine vs. Cyberdemon’, Brom has stated he had a great deal of freedom in what he created. This would go some way in explaining the differing look of ‘Doom Guy’ from Punchatz’s original characterization on Doom. id’s first choice of painter for Doom was Julie Bell (Turrican, Splatterhouse 2, Eternal Champions), but the commission went to Brom after her depiction of the Cyberdemon looked too much like a bull. Brom’s original piece was created logoless with Punchatz’s famous lettering later added.
Heretic | GT Interactive | 1994 | MS-DOS.
Heretic II | Activision | 1998 | Amiga, Linux, Macintosh, Windows.
Mageslayer | GT Interactive | 1997 | Windows.
Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor | Ubi Soft | 2001 | Windows.
Warlords III: Reign of Heroes | Red Orb Entertainment | 1997 | Windows.
Warlords III: Darklords Rising | Red Orb Entertainment | 1998 | Windows.
World of Warcraft | Blizzard Entertainment | 2004 | Macintosh, Windows.
Bruce Wolfe –
Indiana Jones in the Lost Kingdom | Mindscape | 1984 | Commodore 64.
Publisher Mindscape would start the trend of using movie posters as box art in the Indiana Jones series, in this case Bruce Wolfe’s poster for Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984). It would additionally be the earliest known example of movie poster art used as box art across the industry.
Charles Kibler –
Charles whose background had been historical illustration and board-game layout would join Avalon’s video game art department in 1981 and support one of the companies long running board-game artists Bob Haynes who’d the previous year begun box art duties. Charles’ earliest covers (Bomber Attack, Andromeda Conquest) would follow Bob’s graphic design of the previous year, before covers started to become more individual in 1982.
The artist’s time would be spent in a number of roles within Avalon including play-testing coordinator, in-game graphic artist and manual/ map designer before he left in 1995. The rest of the 90’s and into the early 2000’s, Charles would take a wide variety of design positions, but none included box art duties.
Andromeda Conquest | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1981 | Apple II, Atari 8-BIT, Commodore 64, Commodore PET, MS DOS, TRS-80.
Bomber Attack | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1981 | Apple II, Atari 8-BIT, Commodore 64, Commodore PET, VIC.
Dnieper River Line | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1982 | Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Commodore PET, TRS-80.
Galaxy | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1981 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, Commodore PET, MS-DOS, TI-99, TRS-80.
Moon Patrol | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1982 | Atari 8-bit.
Panzers East! | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1984 | Atari 8-bit, TRS-80.
Space Station Zulu | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1982 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit.
T.G.I.F | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1983 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64.
Tanktics | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1981 | Atari 8-bit, Apple II, Commodore 64, KIM, TRS-80.
Chris Kenyon –
Asteroids | Atari | 1981 | Atari 8-BIT.
Asteroids | Atari | 1981 | Atari 2600/ VCS, 2800.
Battlezone | Atari | 1983 | Atari 8-BIT, Atari 2600/ VCS, Atari 2800, Apple II, Commodore 64, PC Booter, VIC-20, ZX Spectrum.
Jungle Hunt | Atari | 1983 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Jungle Hunt | Atari | 1983 | Atari 8-BIT, Atari 5200, Apple II, Commodore 64, ColcoVision, PC Booter, TI-99.
Zork | Personal Software Inc. | 1980 | TRS-80.
Cliff Spohn –
Air-Sea Battle | Atari | 1977 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Backgammon | Atari | 1979 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Basketball | Atari | 1978 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Bowling | Atari | 1978 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Brain Games | Atari | 1978 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Breakout | Atari | 1978 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Casino | Atari | 1978 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Codebreaker | Atari | 1978 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Football | Atari | 1978 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Home Run | Atari | 1978 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Human Cannonball | Atari | 1978 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Indy 500 | Atari | 1977 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Miniature Golf | Atari | 1977 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Star Ship | Atari | 1977 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Super Breakout | Atari | 1981 | Atari 2600/ VCS, Atari 2800.
Surround | Atari | 1977 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Video Olympics | Atari | 1977 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Dan Quarnstrom –
The artist would start out as an illustrator before later going into design work. Along the way Dan picked up a few box art and magazine promotional art jobs. All were bold comic art style pieces where the artist first of all designed striking black and white artworks - using pen and ink - and then ‘trapped’ the underlying color.
Skyfox II: The Cygnus Conflict | EA | 1988 | Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS.
Spy vs. Spy III: Arctic Antics | Epyx | 1986 | NA ver. | Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, MS-DOS.
Zaxxon | Sega | 1984 | Atari 5200.
Denis Loubet –
Akalabeth: World of Doom | California Pacific Computer Co. | 1981 | Apple II.
Arx Fatalis | JoWooD Productions Software AG | 2002 | with Daniel Balage | Windows.
Arx Fatalis | JoWooD Productions Software AG | 2003 | with Daniel Balage | Xbox.
Autoduel | ORIGIN Systems | 1985 | Amiga, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Macintosh, MS DOS.
Caverns of Callisto | ORIGIN Systems | 1983 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit.
Exodus: Ultima III | ORIGIN Systems | 1983 | Amiga, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, FM-7, Macintosh, MS-DOS, PC-88, PC-98, Sharp X1.
Ogre | ORIGIN Systems | 1986 | Amiga, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Macintosh, MS-DOS.
Omega | ORIGIN Systems | 1989 | Amiga, Apple II, Apple IIgs, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Macintosh, MS-DOS.
Pagan: Ultima VIII | ORIGIN Systems | 1994 | Macintosh, MS-DOS, PC-98.
Ring Quest | StarCraft Inc. | 1985 | Apple II.
Shadowcaster | ORIGIN Systems | 1993 | MS-DOS.
Tangled Tales | ORIGIN Systems | 1989 | Apple II, Commodore 64, MS-DOS.
Times of Lore | ORIGIN Systems | 1988 | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, NES, ZX Spectrum.
Ultima I | California Pacific | 1981 | Apple II, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, MSX, PC-88, PC-98, Sharp X1.
Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar | ORIGIN Systems | 1985 | Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Macintosh, MS-DOS, MSX, Master System, PC-88, PC-98, X68000.
Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny | ORIGIN Systems | 1988 | Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Commodore 128, FM Towns, MS-DOS, PC-88, PC-98, Sharp X68000.
Ultima VI: The False Prophet | ORIGIN Systems | 1993 | Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, FM Towns, MS-DOS, PC-98, Sharp X68000, SNES, Super Famicom.
Ultima IX: Ascension | EA | 1999 | Windows.
Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss | ORIGIN Systems | 1992 | FM Towns, MS-DOS, PC-98.
Ultima Underwold II: Labyrinth Worlds | ORIGIN Systems | 1993 | FM Towns, MS-DOS, PC-98.
Ultima: Worlds of Adventure 2 - Martian Dreams | ORIGIN Systems | 1991 | MS-DOS.
Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire | ORIGIN Systems | 1990 | Macintosh, MS-DOS, PC-98, X68000.
Don Dixon –
Eliminator, The | Adventure international | 1981 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, TRS-80.
Mask of the Sun | Ultrasoft Inc. | 1982 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64.
Mission Asteroid | On-line Systems | 1980 | Apple II, Commodore 64.
Mission Asteroid would numerically start Sierra On-Line’s Hi-Res Adventure series offered as the introductory game #0. Its box art by space artist Don Dixon would perfectly fit the gravity and loneliness of the game’s mission, and is a standout example of an established artist’s work being used as cover art in early home computing. Commissioned by Sierra, the artist has said the artwork was a quick job taking him a day to complete.
Created using oil paints, as much of Don’s early work was, its quality would stand tall above the other Hi-Res Adventure box arts, with no small part to the artist’s exceptional detail for lunar geography.
Don would follow-up with further box arts for Sierra before leaving the industry in the mid-80’s.
Moon Shuttle | Datasoft | 1983 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, TRS-80.
Rear Guard | Adventure International | 1981 | Arcade machine art only | with Gerald Hattaway | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, TRS-80.
Savage Island: Part 1/ Part 2 | Adventure International | 1981 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, BBC Micro, Browser, Commodore 16, Plus/4, Dragon 32/64, Electron, TRS-80, TRS-80 CoCo, ZX Spectrum.
Strätos | Adventure International | 1982 | Atari 8-bit, TRS-80.
https://mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,13575/
George Barr –
http://archeogaming.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/sorcerer-of-siva-1981-i.html
https://mobygames.com/developer/sheet/view/developerId,7032/
George Opperman –
Missile Command | Atari | 1981 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
George Ira Parish, Jr. –
Guderian | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1986 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64.
Spitfire ‘40 | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1986 | NA ver. | Amstrad CPC, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64.
Under Fire! | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1988 | Apple II, Commodore 64, MS-DOS.
Greg Theakston –
Telengard | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1982 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, Commodore PET, MS-DOS.
Greg Vance –
Canyon Bomber | Atari | 1978 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Sky Diver | Atari | 1978 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Hiro Kimura –
Born in Kyoto, Japan, Hiro is the earliest known artist of Japanese heritage to design box art for the western market. He would be employed by Atari in the States and design some of their most well known covers.
Centipede | Atari | 1982 | Atari 5200, Atari 2800.
Crystal Castles | Atari | 1984 | NA ver. | Atari 8-bit, Atari 2600/ VCS.
E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial | Atari | 1982 | Atari 2600/ VCS, Atari 2800.
The infamous game that legend has heaped the coals of failure upon its shoulder - in part, and probably unfairly, accrediting it to the video game crash of 1983 - would have quite the pleasant and frank cover art.
The character art looks to have been taken from a movie still, cobbled together with phone motives and arguably does a good job of portraying the innocence and wide eyed wonder the movie is famous for.
Joust | Atari | 1983 | EU/ NA ver. | Atari 8-bit, Atari 2600/ VCS, Atari 2800, Atari 5200, Atari 7800, Atari ST.
Krull | Atari | 1983 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Mario Bros | Atari | 1983 | NA ver. | Atari 8-bit, Atari 2600/ VCS, Atari 5200, Atari 7800.
Yar’s Revenge | Atari | 1981 | Atari 2600/ VCS, Atari 2800.
“Yar’s Revenge turned out to be my first package art assignment after having done a couple of manual illustrations. I got the basic concept of the Yar, not as a gigantic fly, but a chrome-plated insect shooting spitballs. It was my first attempt of rendering chrome surface and I recall struggling mightily with it. Perhaps the biggest reason for it was that I used airbrush almost exclusively for the very first time, a tool I still wasn’t skilled in then.” Hiro Kimura via The Art of Atari.
Jackson “Butch” Guice –
Skyfox | Electronic Arts | 1984 | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Macintosh, ZX Spectrum.
Programming whiz Ray Tobey would team up with comic book artist Jackson “Butch” Guice who would be responsible not only for the box art but also the inlay/ comic strip the game shipped with. Looking like the cover to a classic bronze age comic book with its heavy lines and bold colors, the scene is set as our hero embarks his fighter amidst an invasion.
The Skyfox title lettering was credited to a Rick Parker and is a well done example, complimenting the action without being too prominent.
Following on from this commission Butch would have a successful career with both Marvel and DC comics, but Skyfox at present appears to be his only penciled cover art.
James Kelly –
Dodge ‘Em | Atari | 1980 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Pele’s Soccer | Atari | 1980 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Adding to the sports star’s legacy of achievements would be his likeness on James Kelly’s cover art being the world’s first celebrity depiction.
Raiders of the Lost Ark | Atari | 1982 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
James Kelly’s cover would score a couple of firsts in gaming history. It was the world’s first movie licensed cover, plus the first time that a film star was depicted - Harrison Ford. It was designed using acrylic and gouache on a 27.5 x 20.5 inch board. Originally the artist used a friend’s likeness, only for George Lucas to insist it look more like Ford. It is credited as being Kelly’s favorite designed box art.
http://www.theartofjameskelly.com/
Janet Lopez –
Autobahn | Sirius Software Inc. | 1981 | Apple II.
Taking inspiration from German car adverts from the 1930’s - see Adler and Peugeot - Autobahn’s art style would be an early and rare example of European advertising and war time propaganda art being used in box art design. Its flat, pastel color palette and clever incorporation of logo would artistically lift it above Sirius’ other early covers and complimented the era’s love for bold and simple designs.
Janet would be responsible for other Sirius box arts, but looked to have left the industry in 1983 after Sirius fell victim to the US video game crash and folded.
Of interest, Autobahn’s artwork thematically complimented the actual games content - basically a top down Monaco GP clone. A rarity for the American scene in the early 1980’s where overblown and often misleading cover arts were standard.
Borg | Sirius Software Inc. | 1981 | Apple II.
Computer Foosball | Sirius Software Inc. | 1981 | Apple II.
Snake Byte | Sirius Software Inc. | 1982 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, VIC-20.
Jim Talbot –
Jim Talbot would be brought on board at Avalon’s video game division when Avalon’s box art was starting to diversify past the design heavy look of the previous two years, to more painterly efforts post ‘83.
The artist’s ability and rich creativity is breathtaking and quite evident throughout the variety of styles his cover arts exhibit. One only has to compare the sci-fi offerings of Jupiter Mission 1999, to the comic-book art of Mission on Thunderhead, to the historical paint-work of Gulf Strike to see an artist of great talent.
He appears to have left Avalon over 1985/ 1986 where he went to work for board game publisher Victory Games producing covers for its 007: James Bond line of games. Presently, Jim freelances as a concept artist within the children’s toy industry.
Beast War | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1984 | Apple II.
By Fire & Sword | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1985 | MS-DOS.
Clear for Action | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1984 | Atari 8-bit, TRS-80.
Darkhorn: Realm of the Warlord | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1985 | Apple II, Commodore 64.
Death Trap | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1983 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Gryphon | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1985 | Commodore 64.
Fortress of the Witch King | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1983 | NA ver. | Apple II, Commodore 64.
Gulf Strike | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1985 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, MS-DOS.
Inculabuna | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1984 | MS-DOS.
Jupiter Mission 1999 | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1984 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64.
London Blitz | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1984 | Atari 2600/ VCS, Commodore 64.
Maxwell Manor | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1984 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64.
Mission on Thunderhead | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1985 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64.
Out of Control | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1983 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Panzer-Jagd | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1983 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64.
Ripper | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1984 | Commodore 64.
Quest of the Space Beagle | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1984 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64.
Super Bowl Sunday | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1984 | Apple II, Commodore 64, PC Booter.
Tsushima | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1985 | Apple II, Commodore 64.
Joe Jusko –
Silver Surfer | Arcadia Systems Inc. | 1990 | NES.
John Berkley –
Disposable Hero | Gremlin Graphics | 1993 | Amiga, CD32.
Emergency: Fighters for Life | Wizardworks Group | 1998 | Windows.
Return of the Jedi: Death Star Battle | Parker Brothers | 1983 | Atari 2600/ VCS, Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit, ZX Spectrum.
The Parker Brothers follow-up to the world's first Star Wars game, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back would be a far more painterly effort by renowned Star Wars illustrator John Berkey. The artwork would also be used to promote the game in magazines across the US, the double page spread conveying a greater sense of the original painting's scale. It is also the first Star Wars box art used in Europe.
Parker Brothers followed up with two further games, Star Wars: The Arcade Game and Star Wars: Jedi Arena. Both shipped with decidedly weak covers.
In addition, there are two known box arts of Parker games that never made it past pre-production, Star Wars: Revenge of the Jedi Game I and Game II. Game I’s box art depicts the movies opening scene on Tatooine and Game II the movies final scene on Endor Of interest is that both games use the movies original title, Revenge of the Jedi, and thus point to their early origins.
Star Control 3 | MacSoft | 1996 | Macintosh, MS-DOS.
Star Wars | U.S Gold | 1993 | Game Gear, Master System.
Starfight | Electronic Arts | 1991 | Genesis, Mega Drive.
John Enright –
Flag Capture | Atari | 1978 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Outlaw | Atari | 1978 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Slot Machine | Atari | 1979 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Slot Racers | Atari | 1978 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
John Jinks –
Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes, The | Electronic Arts | 1994 | 3DO, MS-DOS.
John’s extraordinary style of art would be lavished upon Mindscape's first crack at a graphic adventure. The abstract artistry in the vain of early 20th century Cubism would fit with the game’s time period perfectly, but, in what could be argued a missed opportunity, was not adopted in-game where instead digital art and realism ruled.
The artist at the time of the commissioning was very much in demand with an international presence, and recalls being hired with a brief of little more than a written paragraph depicting a crime scene.
The box art was created using airbrushed acrylics and the title’s font is keenly reminiscent of the style used in the 1900’s to promote the character. John would go on to produce another Mindscape cover, The Real Deal (1995) - again in this unique style - before hanging up his box artist boots.
Real Deal, The | Mindscape | 1995 | MS-DOS.
John A. Rowe –
Rocketeer, The | Information Global Service | 1992 | NA ver. | by John Rowe | SNES.
Rowe’s cover art would pay homage to John Mattos’ original North American movie poster (1991). Mattos’ artwork would interestingly be dropped for the film’s worldwide release, after US audiences found its 1930’s art deco look too stylized. It would though still be used on the DOS release (1991). Japan’s Super Famicom cover art and North America’s NES version would adopt the Rocketeer creator Dave Stevens’ comic book character art.
Jonquille Albin –
Dunjonquest: The Datestones of Ryn | Epyx | 1979 | Apple II, Atari 400/800, TRS-80.
Dunjonquest: Merloc’s Tower | Epyx | 1980 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore PET/CBM, PC Booter, TRS-80.
Joseph Chiodo –
Eternal Dagger, The | SSI | 1987 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64.
Gauntlet | Tengen Inc. | 1987 | Genesis, NES.
Gettysburg: The Turning Point | SSI | 1986 | Amiga, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, MS-DOS.
Gemstone Healer | SSI | 1981 | Apple II, Commodore 64.
Phantasie III: The Wrath of Nikademus | SSI | 1987 | NA ver. | Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS.
Pharaoh’s Revenge | Publishing International | 1988 | Apple II, Commodore 64, MS-DOS.
Realms of Darkness | SSI | 1987 | NA ver. | Apple II, Commodore 64.
Roadwar 2000 | SSI | 1986 | Amiga, Apple II, Apple IIGS, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS.
Roadwar Europa | SSI | 1987 | Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS.
Shard of Spring | SSI | 1986 | Apple II, Commodore 64, MS-DOS.
Wargame Construction Set | SSI | 1986 | Amiga, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS.
Judy Ritcher –
Superman | Atari | 1979 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Publisher Atari would capitalize on the recently released Superman: The Movie (1978), with Superman, the world's first superhero video game. The box art is a composite piece, made up of character art from comics, Superman #252 (1972) by Neal Adams and Superman #300 (1976) by Curt Swan, and set against an original space background.
Rather than use the original assets though, it is highly likely that the box art is the creation of Judy Richter, who took a DC licensing guide and created the piece from the ground up (evidenced by the fact that color and shading do not match between the DC and Atari artworks). In doing so, Richter’s cover would make the art Atari’s own (keeping in line with the rest of the company’s original artwork output), and possibly side-stepped future licensing issues. D. Maresca and T. Lapetino.
Justin Sweet –
Dragon Dice | Interplay Entertainment | 1997 | Windows.
Invictus: In the Shadow of Olympus | Interplay Entertainment | 2000 | Windows.
Designed in 1999 and under the title of ‘Achilles’, this would be concept artist Justin’s second (and possibly final to date) cover art.
The artist is disciplined in both traditional media and CGA art and this artwork appears to be designed using the former. It is a great and typical example of his love for ‘Frank Frazetta’ style fantasy scenes.
Karen Gerving –
Dunjonquest: Temple of Apshai | Epyx | 1979 | Apple II, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, TRS-80.
The debut game in the series, Temple of Apshai would adopt a unique stencil art style that would go on to brand its many offshoots and sequels. The term box art is slightly out of place here due to the original 1979 release being shipped within a clear plastic bag, complete with printed manual and disks (as was commonplace for late 70’s home computer games). All post-1980 ports of the game would include boxes, and in the case of the CBS Electronics versions, a different cover art.
Compared to other home computer box arts from 1979, that in general were rather crude and simplistic, Temple of Apshai had more in common with the quality of art established by the 1970’s console scene (in comparison though its lack of box would exemplify the infancy of the 1979 home computer scene). This quality undoubtedly contributed to the games huge success with a massive 30,000-40,000 units sold (!)
Dunjonquest: Upper Reaches of Apshai | Epyx | 1981 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, TRS-80.
Kurt Miller –
5th Fleet | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1994 | MS-DOS.
1830: Railroads and Robber Barons | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1995 | MS-DOS.
Advanced Civilization | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1995 | MS DOS.
Age of Sail II | Take-Two | 2001 | Windows.
Cavewars | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1996 | MS-DOS.
D-Day America Invades | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1995 | Macintosh, MS-DOS.
Devil Inside, The | Take-Two | 2000 | NA ver. | Windows.
Dogs of War | Take-Two | 2000 | Windows.
Flight Commander 2 | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1994 | Macintosh, Windows 3.x.
Green Berets | Take-Two | 2001 | Macintosh, Windows.
Merchant Prince II | Talonsoft | 2001 | Windows.
Outlive | Take-Two | 2001 | Windows.
Ski Resort Extreme | Global Star Software | 2004 | Windows.
TalonSoft’s Divided Ground: Middle East Conflict 1948-1973 | Talonsoft | 2001 | Windows.
Wooden Ships and Iron Men | The Avalon Hill Game Company | 1996 | MS-DOS.
Louis Hsu Saekow –
The designer looks to have started within the video game industry for publisher SSI in 1980, debuting with box art Computer Bismarck. He would have a long career within SSI and was involved in the package design of the vast majority of games they released. As an artist his style comes across as rather rudimentary, which could be why many of the painterly covers were done with an additional artist.
It is likely that he managed a team within SSI and that he was responsible for much of the overall box art design choices. By the early 1990’s he had set up his own design company and was freelancing for publishers such as Tengen and Williams.
Baltic 1985 | SSI | 1984 | with Doo Woo | Apple II, Commodore 64.
Battle of Antietam | SSI | 1986 | Apple II , Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, MS DOS.
Chronicles of Osgorth: The Shattered Alliance | SSI | 1981 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit.
Computer Bismarck | SSI | 1980 | Apple II.
A landmark title for North America’s home computer scene, Computer Bismarck would not only successfully launch publisher Strategic Simulations. Inc (SSI), but also artist Louis Hsu Saekow. Wanting to compete with The Avalon Hill Gaming Co. and their newly formed computer game division Microcomputer Inc, SSI set about producing the most professional and arresting box art possible.
In general up until the 80’s home computer cover arts mimicked Atari’s VCS efforts in terms of artistry, and lacked any sort of physical casing. Bismarck changed that and shipped with a large high quality box, and printed manual. Louis’ graphic design also bucked the trend by moving away from the board game style cover artworks Avalon used, and instead creating a striking wire frame model with minimalistic palette.
In a sea of traditionally painted box arts, Bismarck’s graphic design leapt off the shelf and subsequently proved a big hit for SSI. Surprisingly the company and Louis would not adopt the artistic approach for future box arts, them being in the main rather conformist.
Cosmic Balance 2 | SSI | 1983 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit.
Cytron Masters | SSI | 1982 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit.
Galactic Adventures | SSI | 1983 | with Doo Woo | Apple II, Atari 8-bit.
Gemstone Warriors | SSI | 1984 | with James C. Summerville | NA ver. | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, FM-7, Macintosh.
Germany 1985 | SSI | 1983 | Apple II, Commodore 64.
Hard Drivin’ | Tengen | 1990 | NA ver. | Genesis.
Ms Pac-Man | Tengen | 1990 | EU/ NA ver. | Genesis, Master System, Mega Drive, NES, SNES.
Norway 1985 | SSI | 1985 | Apple II, Commodore 64.
Operational Apocalypse | SSI | 1981 | Apple II.
President Elect: 1988 Edition | SSI | 1987 | Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS.
Questron | SSI | 1984 | with William Carman | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64.
Rails West! | SSI | 1984 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64.
Rings of Zilfin | SSI | 1987 | with Christopher White | Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS.
Super Sprint | Tengen | 1989 | EU/ NA ver. | NES.
Veil of Darkness | SSI | 1993 | With David Boudreau | MS-DOS.
Wizard’s Crown | SSI | 1986 | with Christopher White | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS.
Mark Bagley –
Amazing Spider-Man: Lethal Foes | Epock Co. | 1995 | by Mark Bagley (penciller), Karl Kesel (inks), Paul Mounts (colourist) | Super Famicom.
Japan would score exclusive box art from an American comic book artist - unusual for the time - for this highly sought after game. It would be based on the Marvel four issue mini-series The Lethal Foes from 1993 and was drawn on Bristal board with an image area of 11”x15”.
Mark Strutzman –
Challenge of the Five Realms | Microplay Software | 1992 | MS-DOS.
Punisher, The | Microprose Software | 1990 | MS-DOS.
Space 1889 | Paragon Software | 1990 | Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS.
Matt Hall –
Matt would study fine art at Missouri Southern State University and took inspiration from the likes of NC Wyeth, Normal Rockwell and Frederic Remington. The artist would get his break into video game box art through his time at DreamWorks Studios, working as an art director on many of the company’s film and video game projects.
Medal of Honor | EA | 1999 | PS1.
Medal of Honor: Frontline | EA | 2002 | GameCube, PS2, Xbox.
Medal of Honor: Underground | EA | 2000 | Game Boy Advance, PS1.
Secret Weapons Over Normandy | LucasArts | 2003 | PS2, Windows, Xbox.
Michael O. Haire –
Dunzhin | Med Systems Software | 1982 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, PC Booter, TRS-80.
Kaiv | Screenplay | 1983 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64.
Institute, The | Med Systems Software | 1981 | Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, TRS-80.
Psychological drama The Institute would be another text-based adventure from publisher ScreenPlay and coding superstar Jyym Pearson. Its cover by artist Haire paints a Freudian nightmare, with delicately draw character art that wonderfully depicts the player’s slipping into a hellish dreamlike state of madness. Using vivid and juxtaposing pinks and yellows against black on white, The Institute leaps off the cover and mesmerises with its suggestiveness.
Due to it heralding from the dawn of the home-computer scene no box was originally produced (the game came in a plastic bag, as was common of the time) and so this artwork was made available on the cover of the instruction manual.
Wylde, The | Screenplay | 1983 | Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64.
Ziggurat | Screenplay | 1982 | Apple II, Atari 400/800.
Mike Bryan –
Robocop | Data East USA | 1988 | Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Game Boy, MS-DOS, NES, TRS-80.
Mike’s original movie poster would be used across the globe and on all formats. It was arguably the first movie poster box art to have mass appeal.
Nick Stathopoulos –
Carriers at War | SSG | 1992 | MS-DOS.
Carriers at War II | SSG | 1993 | Macintosh, MS-DOS.
Carriers at War: Construction Kit | SSG | 1993 | MS-DOS.
Complete Carriers at War, The: Fleet Carrier Operations in WWII | SSG | 1996 | MS-DOS.
Decisive Battles of WWII: Ardennes Offensive | SSI | 1997 | Windows.
Fire King | SSG | 1989 | Commodore 64, MS-DOS.
Halls of Montezuma: A Battle History of the United States Marine Corps | SSG | 1987 | Amiga, Apple II, Commodore 64, MS-DOS.
Reach for the Stars: The Conquest for the Stars | SSG | 1988 | Amiga, Apple II, Commodore 64, Macintosh, MS-DOS.
Rommel: Battles for North Africa | SSG | 1988 | Apple II, Commodore 64, Macintosh, MS-DOS.
MacArthur’s War: Battles for Korea | SSG | 1988 | Apple II, Commodore 64, MS-DOS.
Warlords | SSG | 1990 | Amiga, Macintosh, MS-DOS.
Warlords II | SSG | 1993 | Macintosh, MS-DOS.
Warlords II Deluxe | SSG | 1995 | Macintosh, MS-DOS.
Warlords II Scenario Builder | SSG | 1994 | MS-DOS.
Paul Hanson –
BASIC Computer Game | Creative Computing Software | 1978 | Apple II, Commodore PET, Ohio Scientific, TRS-80.
More BASIC Computer Games | Creative Computing Software | 1978 | Apple II, Commodore PET, TRS-80.
Peter Morawiec –
Comix Zone | Sega | 1995 | EU/ NA ver. | Genesis, Mega Drive.
Ralph McQuarrie –
Star Wars | Broderbund | 1986 | EU/ NA ver. | Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Macintosh, MS-DOS.
One of only two known box arts by the influential artist Ralph Mcquarrie (the other being for the classic Atari 2600 game Vanguard).
It would not only be used for the US release of Star Wars (the EU equivalent illustrated by Steinar Lund) but also for the European exclusive Star Wars Trilogy pack.
Vanguard | Atari | 1982 | Atari 2600/ VCS, Atari 2800.
Rick Guidice –
Basic Programing | Atari | 1978 | Atari 2600/VCS.
Breakaway IV | Sears | 1978 | Atari 2600/VCS.
Blackjack | Atari | 1977 | Atari 2600/VCS.
Canyon Bomber | Sears | 1978 | Atari 2600/VCS.
Casino | Atari | 1978 | Atari 2600/VCS.
Memory Match | Sears | 1978 | Atari 2600/VCS.
Space War | Atari | 1978 | Atari 2600/VCS.
Street Racer | Atari | 1977 | Atari 2600/VCS.
Robert C. Clardy –
As with many North American home computer designers in the late 1970’s, Clardy would be wholly responsible his game’s development, which often meant covering box art duties. He has commented that he was never an artist so the crudeness of both credited covers can be excused. It can also be noted that the way in which games were sold then meant strong artwork wasn’t as vital as it would be by 1980 when more sophisticated publishers and greater competition started appearing and box arts became painterly and elaborate.
Dungeon Campaign | Synergistic Software | 1978 | Apple II.
Clardy’s cover would be wonderfully crude in a time when cover arts for home computer releases were usually the case, especially in comparison to there Atari VCS brothers. As was also the case in the late 1970’s no box shipped with the game - only plastic bags - so the cover art here is the instruction manuals.
This cover also has the distinction of being the earliest to depict a dragon.
Wilderness Campaign | Synergistic Software | 1979 | Apple II.
Robert G. Depew –
Alien Carnage | Apogee Software | 1993 | MS-DOS.
Duke Nukem II | Apogee Software | 1993 | MS-DOS.
Wacky Wheels | Apogee Software | 1994 | MS-DOS.
Xenophage: Alien BloodSport | Apogee Software | 1993 | MS-DOS.
Robert Grace –
Duke Nukem 3D | GT interactive | 1996 | Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Genesis, MS-DOS, Nintendo 64, PS2, PS4, Saturn, Windows, Xbox 360.
Duke Nukem 3D’s unabashed stance of poking fun at/ paying homage to/ taking the piss out of popular culture up until the mid-90’s saw its box art deliberately take a stab at Don Ivan’s Doom cover (1992), but also various B-movie posters (see Army of Darkness, 1992).
The games wild popularity saw it released on many different formats worldwide and under many different re-release packages over the years, the most standout being the Duke Nukem 3D: Atomic Edition (1996).
Rodney Greenblat –
The all-round design and media master would lend his distinctive ‘whimsical and engaging’ art style to the early CD-ROM industry in the ‘90’s, where his flat and colorful characters complimented the pre-3D home computer scene perfectly. He would progress to character designer and overall art director for the hit series Parappa the Rapper (1996-2017) after being requested by the game’s lead musician to come onboard. This position of creative oversight would be a rare privilege for a western designer at the time, but Rodney has always been a well respected artist in the East.
His style of art arguably suits Japanese taste, with its cheery, bright and somewhat simple look aping Japan’s Kawaii culture. It has led to a long history of him working for Japanese clients over the years.
Outside of the Parappa series, Rodney was the creative force behind Major Minor’s Majestic March (MMMM, 2009), his final box art duties to date.
Dazzleoids | Voyager Company | 1995 | Pippin, Windows.
Major Minor’s Majestic March | Majesco Entertainment | 2009 | EU ver. | Nintendo Wii.
Major Minor’s Majestic March | Majesco Entertainment | 2009 | NA ver. | Nintendo Wii.
Major Minor’s Majestic March | Square Enix | 2009 | JPN ver. | Nintendo Wii.
Parappa the Rapper (パラッパラッパー) | Sony | 1996 | JPN ver. | PS1.
“In 1994 I was hired by Sony Creative Products, a licensing company inside Sony Music Japan. I was visiting their Tokyo office, and designing cute characters for printed products, clothing and toys. I designed a bored brown bear named PJ Berri, a cute precocious girl named Pony Pony, a blue fashionable cat named Katy Kat, and a super happy flower girl named Sunny Funny. Sony Creative was designing products with these fun characters.
Little did I know in another Sony office, Matsaya Matsuura, a well know pop musician was developing a game for a brand new game platform called Playstation. He was already a fan of my artwork, and when he found out I was already working for Sony, he asked the people at Sony Creative Products if I would design the characters and world for his game.
Of course I said yes. When I went to meet Matsuura’s team, they had already made a crude animation demo of the rap-music-simon-says-game using my characters from my 1993 CD-ROM Dazzeloids. Matsuura’s animation people loved the flatness of my work, and thought of creating flat characters who move around in a 3D world.
I returned to New York and set about making sketches for the characters and world. I got word from Sony Creative that they wanted to put my colorful funky PJ, Katy, and Sunny characters in the game. Matsuura wanted the main character to be an upbeat, lovable slightly naive dog. I made several sketches and Sony Creative chose a dog with a pointed cap. Matsuura liked it too, and he had come up with a name for the game: Parappa The Rapper. “Parappa” is some kind of play on Japanese words that means “paper thin”. So Parappa was born.” Rodney Greenblat via whismyload.com.
Parappa the Rapper (パラッパラッパー) | Sony | 1997 | EU ver. | PS1.
Parappa the Rapper (パラッパラッパー) | Sony | 1997 | NA ver. | PS1.
Parappa the Rapper (パラッパラッパー) | Sony | 2007 | EU ver. | Sony PSP.
Parappa the Rapper 2 | Sony | 2001 | EU/ JPN ver. | PS2.
Parappa the Rapper 2 | Sony | 2002 | NA ver. | PS2.
Rodney’s Wonder Window | Voyager Company | 1992 | MS-DOS.
Rodney’s Funscreen | Activision | 1992 | MS-DOS.
Um Jammer Lammy | Sony | 1999 | EU ver. | PS1.
Um Jammer Lammy | Sony | 1999 | JPN ver. | PS1.
Um Jammer Lammy | Sony | 1999 | NA ver. | PS1.
Ron Villani –
Arkanoid | Taito | 1988 | NA ver. | Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS.
Bubble Bobble | Taito | 1988 | NA ver. | Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Game Boy, MS-DOS, NES (EU/ NA ver.).
Bubble Bobble Part II | Taito | 1993 | NA ver. | NES.
Elevator Action | Taito | 1987 | NA ver. | NES.
Legend of Kage, The | Taito | 1987 | NA ver. | NES.
Renegade | Taito | 1989 | NA ver. | Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, NES.
Steve Chorney –
Chess | Texas Instruments | 1983 | TI-99/4A .
Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard | Atari | 2005 | Windows.
Football | Texas Instruments | 1983 | TI-99/4A.7
Risk | Parker Brothers | 1994 | NA ver. | Genesis.
Sid Meier’s Civilisation III: Play the World | Infogrames | 2002 | Windows.
Star Trek: The Next Generation - Echoes from the Past | Spectrum Holobyte | 1994 | Genesis.
Total Eclipse | Crystal Dynamics | 1994 | 3DO, PlayStation.
Steve Erwin –
Batman Returns (バットマンリターンズ) | Konami | 1993 | JPN ver. | Super Famicom.
Erwin’s artwork appears to have come from the same session that created the Batman Returns: The Official Comic Adaptation (1992). Erwin would join a small list of western artists who can claim exclusive Japanese cover arts. The European and North American versions would use movie stills from the film, as was common practice at the time.
Steve Hendricks –
Defender | Atari | 1981 | Atari 8-bit, Atari 2600/ VCS, Atari 2800.
Haunted House | Atari | 1981 | Atari 2600/ VCS, Atari 2800.
Night Driver | Atari | 1980 | Atari 2600/ VCS, Atari 2800.
Othello | Atari | 1980 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Steeplechase | Atari | 1980 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Video Checkers | Atari | 1980 | Atari 8-bit, Atari 2600/ VCS.
Warlords | Atari | 1981 | Atari 2600/ VCS, Atari 2800.
Steve Huston –
Body Slam! Super Pro Wrestling | INTV Corp | 1988 | Intellivision.
Chamber of the Sci-Mutant Priestess | Data East | 1989 | NA ver. | Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS.
Drakkhen | Data East | 1989 | NA ver. | Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS.
Mountain Madness: Super Pro Skiing | INTV Corp | 1988 | Intellivision.
Super Pro Decathlon | INTV Corp | 1988 | Intellivision.
Super Pro Football | INTV Corp | 1986 | Intellivision.
Steve Peringer –
Bugs Bunny’s Crazy Castle | Kemco | 1989 | Game Boy, NES.
Final Fantasy Legend, The | Squaresoft | 1990 | NA ver. | Game Boy.
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest | Squaresoft | 1992 | EU/ NA ver. | SNES.
Leisure Suit Larry Greatest Hits and Misses | Sierra On-line | 1994 | MS-DOS, Windows 3.x.
Shadowgate | Kemco | 1989 | NA ver. | NES.
Super R-Type | Irem Amerian Corp | 1991 | NA ver. | SNES.
Susan Jaekel –
Susan would break into the video game industry through fellow Atari artist - and later husband - Rick Guidice, joining the debuting team of illustrators in 1977 when the VCS shipped. Her first cover, Basic Maths, would showcase a more stylised, cartoon look compared to the other launch box arts, with an appeal towards Atari’s younger gamers (her background was children’s book work). She would work with the company until 1980, producing the popular and enduring Adventure cover.
All of her cover arts were designed using Dr. Martin’s dyes on illustration board and she is at present the earliest known female box artist.
3-D Tic-Tac-Toe | Atari | 1980 | Atari 2600/ VCS
Adventure | Atari | 1980 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Basic Math (Fun With Numbers) | Atari | 1977 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Circus Atari | Atari | 1980 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Hangman | Atari | 1978 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Hunt and Score (Concentration) | Atari | 1978 | Atari 2600/ VCS.
Tim Boxell –
Having made his mark in the minds of a certain lowbrow segment during his underground comix work of the '70s (eg. Commies From Mars, 1973), as the following decade broke Tim Boxell aspired higher -- to commercial illustration work, for us notably including the covers of virtually all games published by Synapse as well as early covers to Atari 8-bit magazine Antic. Then he moved on to the world of film (eg. C.H.U.D., 1983) and departed our scope. Via Mobygames, 2010.
Blue Max | Synapse Software Corp | 1983 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum.
Blue Max 2001 | Synapse Software Corp | 1984 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64.
Claim Jumper | Synapse Software Corp | 1982 | Atari 8-bit.
Dimension X | Synapse Software Corp | 1984 | Atari 8-bit.
Dodge Racer | Synapse Software Corp | 1981 | Atari 8-bit.
Dough Boy | Synapse Software Corp | 1984 | Commodore 64.
Drelbs | Synapse Software Corp | 1984 | Atari 8-bit, Apple II, Commodore 64.
Fort Apocalypse | Synapse Software Corp | 1982 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64.
Necromancer | Synapse Software Corp | 1982 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64.
New York City | Synapse Software Corp | 1984 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64.
Panic Paranoia | Synapse Software Corp | 1982 | Atari 8-bit, Apple II.
Pharaoh’s Curse, The | Synapse Software Corp | 1983 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, VIC-20.
Protector II | Synapse Software Corp | 1982 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, TI-99, TRS-80.
Quasimodo | Synapse Software Corp | 1984 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64.
Rainbow Walker | Synapse Software Corp | 1983 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64.
Sentinel | Synapse Software Corp | 1984 | Commodore 64.
Shamus | Synapse Software Corp | 1983 | Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64.
Shamus: Case II | Synapse Software Corp | 1983 | Commodore 64.
Slamball | Synapse Software Corp | 1984 | Commodore 64.
Survivor | Synapse Software Corp | 1982 | Atari 8-bit., Commodore 64.
Zeppelin | Synapse Software Corp | 1983 | Atari 8-bit., Commodore 64.
William L. Eaken –
Dig, The | 1995 | LucasArts Entertainment | Linux, Macintosh, MS-DOS, Windows.
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis | 1992 | LucasFilm Games | Amiga, MS-DOS, FMT, Linux, Macintosh, Windows.
The well loved Fate of Atlantis saw LucasArts in-house artist Bill Eaken take the cover art reigns. The style is unmistakably a homage to Drew Struzan’s poster art, that Eaken pulls off with aplomb.
Instruments of Chaos Starring Young Indiana Jones | Sega | 1994 | Genesis.
Star Trek The Next Generation: A Final Unity | 1995 | Spectrum Holobyte | Macintosh, MS-DOS.
Star Wars: Rebel Assault 2 – The Hidden Empire | 1995 | LucasArts Entertainment | Macintosh, MS-DOS, Windows.
South American
Ciruelo Cabral –
Dragonheart: Fire and Steel | Acclaim Entertainment Inc. | 1996 | PS1, Saturn, Windows.
Ishar 3: The Seven Gates of Infinity | Silmarils | 1994 | Amiga, Atari ST, MS-DOS, Windows.
The third and final part of the Ishar series would see Argentine artist and dragon painter specialist Ciruelo Cabral lend his enviable talents.
Named ‘Flying Dark Dragon’ the artwork was originally created in 1989 and first appeared on the front cover of one of the artist's own publications, The Book of the Dragon, 1991. Developer/ publisher Silmarils then bought the use of rights in 1994. Stylistically it comfortably bookended the other two excellent Tolkien-themed cover arts.
Painted using acrylic on cardboard, its floating, dream like style of composition and use of cool colors can be found clearly inspired by the art of Roger Dean. Dean along with Moebius, and Frank Frazetta would play a big part in shaping the artist’s early creative approach.
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Japanese artist information from BOX=ART
in Artist Attribution | Unidentified Artwork
Posted
Japanese artist information from BOX=ART
BOX=ART (B=A) separated its research into regions: Americas, Europe, and Japan. OVGA has reviewed this information and will publish B=A’s research by region as three separate threads in the Artist Appreciation section of OVGA’s forums. OVGA has only lightly edited this information and has not expanded artist catalogs, some of which may be incomplete. Artists already included in OVGA’s Artist database have been removed from B=A’s data and will not be repeated below.
While OVGA has largely consolidated the contributions of American and European digital artists into a separate consolidated thread, as several Japanese artists below worked both traditionally and digitally, OVGA has left all of the Japanese artist information in this single thread.
Japanese
Akemi Takada –
Digital Comic Patlabor: Chapter of Griffon | Riverhill Soft | 1993 | PC Engine.
Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes II | Nihon Falcom | 1992 | FM Towns, PC-98, PC Engine, Super Famicom.
Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes II | Sega | 1995 | Mega Drive.
Eien no Filena | Tokuma Shoten | 1995 | Super Famicom.
Kidō Keisatsu Patlabor | Interbec | 1994 | Super Famicom.
Akihiko Yoshida –
Braverly Default: Flying Fairy | Square Enix | 2012 | 3DS.
Braverly Default: For the Sequal | Square Enix | 2013 | 3DS.
Braverly Second: End Layer | Square Enix | 2015 | JPN/ NA ver. | 3DS.
Braverly Second: End Layer | Square Enix | 2016 | EU ver. | 3DS.
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age (Limited Edition) | Square Enix | 2017 | PS4.
Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn | Square Enix | 2010 | JPN ver. | PS3, PS4.
Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions | Square Enix | 2007 | Sony PSP.
Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light | Square Enix | 2009 | JPN ver. | Nintendo DS.
Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light | Square Enix | 2010 | EU/ NA ver. | Nintendo DS.
NieR: Automata | Square Enix | 2017 | EU/ NA ver. | PS4, Windows, Xbox ONE.
NieR: Automata | Square Enix | 2017 | JPN ver. | PS4
Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen | Quest | 1993 | Super Famicom.
Wild Card | Squaresoft | 2001 | WonderSwan.
Tactics Ogre: Let us Cling Together | Square Enix | 2010 | PSP.
Vagrant Story (ベイグラントストーリー) | Squaresoft | 2000 | PS1.
http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Akihiko_Yoshida
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akihiko_Yoshida
Akihiro Kimura –
Alshark | Polydor K.K | 1993 | Sega CD.
Alshark | Right Stuff Corp. | 1991 | PC-98, X68000.
Alshark | Right Stuff Corp. | 1993 | FM Towns.
Alshark | Victor Entertainment | 1994 | PC Engine CD.
Alnam no Kiba: Jūzoku Jūnishinto Densetsu | Right Stuff Corp. | 1994 | PC Engine.
Emerald Dragon | Basho House | 1989 | PC-88, PC-98.
Emerald Dragon | Glodia | 1990 | MSX, X68000.
Emerald Dragon | Glodia | 1992 | FM Towns.
Emerald Dragon | Media Works | 1995 | Super Famicom.
Emerald Dragon | NEC | 1994 | PC Engine CD.
Fiend Hunter | Right Stuff Corp. | 1993 | PC Engine.
Akikazu Mizuno –
Phantasy Star Online | Sega | 2000 | Dreamcast.
Phantasy Star Online | Sega | 2001 | Windows.
Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II | Sega | 2002 | GameCube.
Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II | Sega | 2002 | Xbox.
Phantasy Star Online Episode III: C.A.R.D. Revolution | Sega | 2004 | Gamecube.
Phantasy Star Online Ver. 2 | Sega | 2001 | EU/ JPN ver. | Dreamcast.
Phantasy Star Online Ver. 2 | Sega | 2001 | NA ver. | Dreamcast.
Phantasy Star Portable | Sega | 2008 | JPN ver. | PSP.
Phantasy Star Portable | Sega | 2009 | EU/ NA ver. | PSP.
Sega Ages 2500: Vol.1 - Phantasy Star: Generation: 1 | 3D Ages | 2003 | PS2.
Sega Ages 2500: Vol.17 - Phantasy Star: Generation: 2 | Sega | 2005 | PS2.
Akihiro Yamada –
Ancient Magic - Bazū! Mahō Sekai | Hot B | 1993 | Super Famicom.
Black Rainbow | Hobby Japan | 1990 | PC-98.
Black Rainbow II | Hobby Japan | 1992 | PC-98.
Castlevania: Dracula XX (Vampire’s Kiss) | Konami | 1994 | EU/ JPN ver. | SNES, Super Famicom.
Castlevania: Dracula XX would nestle between two distinct periods of the series’ artistic direction. Before, Konami had the Belmonts as brawling and anglicized, and their box art’s reminiscing 1980’s action movie posters (Castlevania/ II/ III, Super Castlevania IV, Castlevania X68000 and the Game Boy series). After, saw Ayami Kojima’s delicate, effeminate and fine art take on horror, starting with Castlevania: The Symphony of the Night. Akihiro Yamada artwork would bridge these two periods with his unique style of heavy inking combined with pastel tones, retaining the muscle-bound hero but giving the cover art a more distinct Japanese-anime look.
Dracula XX would see an international release in the form of Castlevania: Vampire’s Kiss and with artwork intact, (the EU and NA box arts being the most sought after in the series) but unfortunately due to the SNES’s landscape box dimensions much of Akihiro’s portrait original would be cropped.
Ex-Lander - Aoki Monshou no Kishidan | Micro Vision | 1993 | PC-98.
Front Mission 3 | Squaresoft | 1999 | PS1.
Might and Magic | NEC Avenue | 1992 | PC Engine.
Might and Magic III: Isles of Terror | Hudson Soft | 1993 | PC Engine.
Milandra | ASCII Corp | 1997 | Super Famicom.
Mystic Arc | Enix Corp | 1995 | Super Famicom.
Mystic Arc: Maboroshi Gekijo | Enix Corp | 1999 | PS1.
RPG Tsukuru 95 | ASCII Corp | 1997 | Windows.
Saiyuki : Journey West | Koei | 1999 | PS1.
Sānguó Qúnxiá Zhuàn | Softworld | 2002 | Windows.
Shinkai Densetsu Meremanoid | XING | 1999 | PS1.
Shippu Mahō Daisakusen: Kingdom Grandprix | Gaga Communications | 1996 | Saturn.
Terra Phantastica | Sega | 1996 | Saturn.
Wizardry I-II | Naxat | 1993 | PC Engine.
Wizardry III-IV | Naxat | 1994 | PC Engine.
Wǔlín Qúnxiá Zhuàn | Softworld | 2001 | Windows.
Akira Komeda –
Burai Gekan - Kanketsu Hen | Riverhill Soft | 1990 | FM-Towns, MSX, PC-98.
Casablanca: Ni ai o Satsujin-sha wa jikū o Koete | Thinking Rabbit | 1986 | FM-7, PC-88, PC-98, X-1.
Dōkeshi Satsujin Jiken | Thinking Rabbit | 1985 | PC-98, X68000.
Dōkeshi Satsujin Jiken | Riverhill Soft | 1997 | PS1, Saturn.
Getsu Fūma Den | Konami | 1987 | Famicom.
Illvanian no Shiro : Ruins of Illvanian | Nippon Clary Business | 1994 | Super Famicom.
Jack Las Vegas Renzoku Satsujin | Takeru | 1988 | PC-88.
Jikū Yūden Debias | Namco | 1987 | Famicom.
Kogane no Rashinban | Thinking Rabbit | 1990 | PC-98.
Kohakushoku no Yuigon | Thinking Rabbit| 1996 | Windows.
Madeleine: Naki ōjo no Tame no Pavane | Thinking Rabbit | 1987 | PC-88, X-1.
Man I Love, The | Thinking Rabbit | 1987 | PC-88.
Might and Magic Book II | Elite Systems Ltd. | 1993 | Super Famicom.
Phantasie III: The Wrath of Nikademus | Starcraft Inc | 1988 | JPN ver. | PC-88, PC-98, X-1, X68000.
Princess Minerva | Riverhill Soft | 1992 | PC-98.
Rogue Alliance | Starcraft Inc | 1989 | MSX, PC-88, PC-98, Sharp X1, X68000.
Akira Nishimura -
Gradius II (グラディウスII GOFERの野望) | Konami | 1988 | Famicom, PC Engine, Sony PSP, X68000.
Gradius II is at present Nishimura’s only known box art. It’s vibrant use of colour would be a profound statement after the cooler shades found on the original Gradius cover. The art design is based upon the opening level.
Akira Toriyama –
The highly revered mangaka started his box art career bringing his mega hit manga Dragon Ball to the Famicom in 1986. From a purely video game perspective through, it was his debut cover art Dragon Quest (also 1986) that bought the illustrator a new legion of Japanese fans and began a art legacy that is still going strong today. He has gone on to be character designer for Enix’s epic RPG series for pretty much every iteration - main series and spin offs over the past three decades.
Outside of Dragon Quest the artist had a high profile collaboration with Microsoft and it’s Blue Dragon series (2006-2010) and Square with Chrono Trigger (1995).
Akira’s style of art is instantly recognisable. Early covers are simple in design with chibi characters looking rather goofy and in positions that seem out of place for them. They are often accompanied with towering beasts (dragons usually) that although fierce are somewhat comedic.
Later covers, around the PS1 era onwards, characters take on a slightly more mature look and are drawn with greater detail and shading.
Blue Dragon | Microsoft | 2006 | EU/ JPN ver. | Xbox 360.
Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow | D3Publisher of America | 2010.
Blue Dragon Plus | Ignition Entertainment | 2009.
Chrono Trigger | Square | 1995 | EU/ JPN ver. | Nintendo DS, PS1, Super Famicom.
Chrono Trigger | Squaresoft | 1995 | NA ver. | Nintendo DS, SNES.
Dragon Ball: Mystery of Shenron | Bandai Co | 1986 | Famicom, NES.
Dragon Ball 3: Gokūden | Bandai Co | 1989 | Famicom.
Dragon Ball 3: Gokūden | Bandai Co | 2003 | WonderSwan Color.
Dragon Quest | Enix Corp | 1986 | JPN ver. | Famicom.
Dragon Quest: Shōnen Yangus to Fushigi no Dungeon | Square Enix | 2006 | PS2.
Dragon Quest I & II | Enix Corp | 1993 | JPN ver. | Super Famicom.
Dragon Quest I & II | Enix Corp | 1999 | Game Boy Color.
Dragon Quest II | Enix Corp | 1987 | JPN ver. | Famicom.
Dragon Quest III | Enix Corp | 1988 | JPN ver. | Famicom.
Dragon Quest III | Enix Corp | 2000 | Game Boy Color.
Dragon Quest IV | Enix Corp | 1990 | JPN ver. | Famicom.
Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen | Square Enix | 2007 | Nintendo DS.
Dragon Quest IV: Michibikareshi Monotachi | Enix Corp | 1999 | PS1.
Dragon Quest V: Tenku no Hanayome | Enix Corp | 1992 | JPN ver. | Super Famicom.
Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride | Square Enix | 2004 | PS2.
Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride | Square Enix | 2008 | JPN ver. | Nintendo DS.
Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride | Square Enix | 2009 | NA ver. | Nintendo DS.
Dragon Quest VI: Maboroashi no Daichi | Enix Corp | 1995 | Super Famicom.
Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation | Square Enix | 2010 | Nintendo DS.
Dragon Quest VII | Enix Corp | 2000 | PS1.
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King | Square Enix | 2004 | PS2.
Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Sky | Square Enix | 2009 | JPN ver. | Nintendo DS.
Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Sky | Nintendo | 2010 | EU/ NA ver. | Nintendo DS.
Dragon Quest X: Awakening of the Five Tribes – ver. 1 | Square Enix | 2012 | Nintendo Wii, PS4, Windows.
Dragon Quest X: Awakening of the Five Tribes – ver. 2 | Square Enix | 2013 | Nintendo Wii, PS4, Windows.
Dragon Quest X: Awakening of the Five Tribes – ver. 3 | Square Enix | 2015 | Nintendo Wii, PS4, Windows.
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age | Square Enix | 2017 | PS4.
Dragon Quest Builders | Square Enix | 2016 | EU/ JPN ver. | Nintendo Switch, PS3, PS4, PS Vita.
Dragon Quest Characters: Torneko no Daibōken 3 – Fushigi no Dungeon | Enix | 2002 | Game Boy Advance.
Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime | Square Enix | 2006 | Nintendo DS.
Dragon Quest Monsters | Enix Corp | 1998 | JPN ver. | Game Boy Color.
Dragon Quest Monsters: Caravan Heart | Enix Corp | 2003 | Game Boy Advance.
Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry no Wonderland 3D | Square Enix | 2012 | 3DS.
Dragon Quest Monsters 2: Cobi’s Journey | Enix | 2001 | NA ver. | Game Boy Color.
Dragon Quest Monsters 2: Iru's Adventure | Enix | JPN ver. | Game Boy Color.
Dragon Quest Monsters 2: Iru and Luca's Marvellous Mysterious Key | Square Enix | 2001 | Game Boy Color.
Dragon Quest Monsters 2: Ruka's Journey | Enix | 2001 | JPN ver. | Game Boy Color.
Dragon Quest Monsters 2: Tara’s Adventure | Enix | 2001 | NA ver. | Game Boy Color.
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker | Square Enix | 2006 | Nintendo DS.
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 | Square Enix | 2010 | Nintendo DS.
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 3 | Square Enix | 2016 | 3DS.
Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors | Square Enix | 2008 | Nintendo Wii.
Tobal No. 1 | Square | 1996 | JPN ver. | PS1.
Torneko no Daibouken: Fushigi no Dungeon | Chunsoft | 1993 | Super Famicom.
World of Dragon Warrior: Torneko – The Last Hope | Enix Corp | 2001 | Game Boy Advance.
Akira Watanabe –
Bahamut Lagoon | Squaresoft | 1996 | Super Famicom.
Base Loaded 3 | Jaleco Ltd | 1990 | JPN ver. | Famicom.
Battle Unit Zeoth | Jaleco Ltd | 1990 | Game Boy.
Buggy Run | Sega Enterprise Ltd. | 1993 | Master System.
F-1 Live Information | Sega Enterprise Ltd. | 1995 | Saturn.
Gale Racer | Sega Enterprise Ltd. | 1991 | Saturn.
OutRun | Sega Enterprise Ltd. | 1987 | Game Gear (EU, NA ver), Genesis, Mega Drive (EU ver), MSX (JPN ver), Sega Mark III.
OutRun | Sega Enterprise Ltd. | 1990 | JPN ver. | Game Gear, Mega Drive, PC Engine, Saturn.
OutRun 2019 | Sega Enterprise Ltd. | 1993 | JPN ver. | Mega Drive.
OutRunners | Sega Enterprise Ltd. | 1993 | JPN ver. | Mega Drive.
Pengo | Sega Enterprise Ltd. | 1990.
Pro Yakyū GG League | Sega Enterprise Ltd. | 1991 | Mega CD.
Project F: F1 Team Simulation | Shin Nihon Laser Soft Co. Ltd | 1991 | Saturn.
Sonic the Hedgehog (ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ) | Sega Enterprise Ltd. | 1991 | EU/ JPN ver. | Game Gear, Master System, Mega Drive.
Akira would take Sonic character designer Naoto Ohima’s sketches and produce one of Japan’s iconic box art designs of the 1990’s. Sonic would take clues from American characters such as Mickey Mouse, whilst the background’s pop art look would fit within the period’s popular culture, aping the likes of MTV’s graphic design.
The JPN Game Gear cover would reuse Akira’s character art, as did Europe’s Mega Drive and Master System box arts. Europe also has the distinction of enjoying Akira’s character art before native Japan got the chance to, with the EU Mega Drive version releasing a month before Japan’s - a rather unusual situation.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 | Sega Enterprise Ltd. | 1992 | JPN ver.
Super E.D.F. | Jaleco Ltd | 1991 | JPN ver. | Super Famicom.
Taisen Mahjong Hao-Pai | Sega Enterprise Ltd. | 1990.
Touge Max 2 | Atlus | 1998.
Touge 3 | Atlus | 2001.
Turbo OutRun | Sega Enterprise Ltd. | 1992 | EU/ JPN ver. | Mega Drive.
Akira “Akiman” Yasuda –
1942 | Capcom | 1986 | MSX, NES.
Captain Commando | Capcom | 1995 | JPN ver. | PS1, Super Famicom.
Final Fight (ファイナルファイト) | Capcom | 1992 | Sega CD, X68000.
Originally this piece was the promotional artwork for the 1989 arcade game.
Forgotten Worlds | Capcom | 1989 | Genesis, Mega Drive.
Kidou Senshi Gundam: Giren no Yabou - Axis no Kyoui V | Bandai | 2009 | PS2, Sony PSP.
Magic Sword | Capcom | 1992 | JPN ver. | Super Famicom.
Marvel Super Heroes | Capcom | 1997 | JPN ver. | PS1, Saturn.
Mystery Dungeon Shrien the Wanderer | Sega | 2006 | JPN ver. | Nintendo DS.
Side Arms Hyper Dyne | Go! Media Holdings | 1988 | Amiga, PC Engine, ZX Spectrum.
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness | Square Enix | 2016 | PS4.
Street Fighter II (ストリートファイターⅡ) | Capcom | 1991 | JPN ver. | Super Famicom.
The debut Street Fighter II series box art. Designed by lead designer Akira “Akiman” Yasuda who would also be responsible for the in-game character art.
The box art was the same used for the previous years arcade promotional artwork, and was exclusive to Japan and the Super Famicom - much to the annoyance of some at Capcom of America who believed Akiman’s character art would have resonated with North American’s.
Akiman’s characterisation would be the basis for all other iterations of the ‘World Warriors’ over the coming years.
The artist would reminisce in Capcom Illustrations: GAMEST MooK Vol.17 the following, “I began painting this over my New Year’s vacation in my rural hometown (Hokkaido!). For some reason, I couldn’t find much time to work on it at our offices. My overall concept for this poster was “Street Fighter: THE ULTIMATE EDITION!” When the designers started creating the characters for Street Fighter II, I had a presentiment that this was going to be an amazing game; I wanted my poster to live up to the same quality, and I was very enthusiastic about it. So enthusiastic I put that planet in the background! I find it kind of charming.”
Street Fighter III 3rd Strike: Fight for the Future (Limited Edition) | Capcom | 2004 | PS2.
Street Fighter Alpha 3 | Capcom | 2000 | JPN ver. | Dreamcast.
Super Street Fighter II | Capcom | 1994 | JPN ver. | X68000.
X-Men: Children of the Atom | Capcom | 1995 | JPN ver. | Saturn.
Bengus (CRMK) (Holy Homerun) –
Capcom Beat ‘em up Collection | Capcom |
Capcom’s Marvel Super Heroes | Capcom | 1997 | JPN ver. | PS1, Saturn.
Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors | Capcom | 1996 | PS1.
Fighting Street (ストリートファイター Sutorīto Faitā) | Hudson Soft | 1988 | PC Engine, Turbo Grafx.
Debut box art for the Street Fighter series. It would introduce the Ryu character who would be subsequently depicted on the majority of Street Fighter related covers.
The Turbografx version would ship with the Japanese PC Engine cover art intact. This decision would be uncommon for the time and is an early example of eastern art supporting a North American format.
As with many box arts from the 80’s it would take clues from the original japanese arcade flyer, but for a more direct representation see Street Fighter for DOS. Europe’s home computer box arts would eschew any Japanese references and instead produce a unique box art in line with 80’s beat ‘em up cover arts such as Renegade.
Final Fight 3 | Capcom | 1995 | JPN ver. | Super Famicom.
Gunspike | Capcom | 2000 | JPN ver. | Dreamcast.
Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter | Capcom | 1998 | EU ver. | PS1.
Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter | Capcom | 1998 | JPN ver. | PS1, Saturn.
Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes | Capcom | 1999 | Dreamcast, PS1.
Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes | Capcom | 2000 | EU/ JPN ver. | Dreamcast.
Night Warriors: Darkstalkers’ Revenge | Capcom | 1996 | JPN ver. | Saturn.
Plasma Sword: Nightmare of Bilstein | Capcom | 2000 | EU ver. | Dreamcast.
Plasma Sword: Nightmare of Bilstein | Capcom | 2000 | NA ver. | Dreamcast.
Power Stone | Capcom | 1999 | JPN/ NA ver. | Dreamcast.
Power Stone | Capcom | 1999 | EU ver. | Dreamcast.
Power Stone 2 | Capcom | 2000 | EU ver. | Dreamcast.
Power Stone 2 | Capcom | 2000 | JPN ver. | Dreamcast.
Power Stone Collection | Capcom | 2006 | Sony PSP.
Star Gladiator 2: Nightmare of Bilstein | Capcom | 1999 | JPN ver. | Dreamcast.
Street Fighter V: Vital Box | Capcom | 2016 | PS4.
Street Fighter: Alpha - Anthology | Capcom | 2006 | PS2.
Super Street Fighter II Turbo X | Matsushita Electric Corp of America | 1994 | NA ver. | 3DO.
Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers (ウルトラストリートファイターII ザ・ファイナルチャレンジャーズ) | Capcom | 2017 | Nintendo Switch.
To mark the return of Street Fighter II Capcom would turn to box artist Bengus - who had produced the very first series cover art, Fighting Street (Hudson Software, 1988) - for a deliberate throw-back design.
The artist would base the piece on a previous poster that he produced to promote Super Street Fighter II in 1993, combining series hallmarks such as an angled birds eye view, Ryu taking point and a cluttered assemble. Original promotion piece.
X-Men vs. Street Fighter | Capcom | 1998 | PS1, Saturn.
Dai-Chan –
Darkstalkers 3 | Capcom | 1998 | EU/ NA ver. | PS1.
Resident Evil 2 | Capcom | 1998 | EU/ NA ver. | Dreamcast, GameCube, Nintendo 64, PS1, Windows.
Resident Evil: Survivor | Capcom | 2000 | NA ver. | PS1.
Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors’ Dreams | Capcom | 2000 | JPN/ NA ver. | by Dai-Chan | Game Boy Color, Windows.
Street Fighter Alpha 2 | Capcom | 1996 | by Dai-Chan | PS1, Saturn (EU/ NA ver), Super Famicom, SNES, Windows.
Daigo Ikeno –
Street Fighter III 3rd Strike: Fight for the Future | Capcom | 2004 | PS2.
Street Fighter III 3rd Strike: Fight for the Future | Capcom | 2000 | EU/ NA ver. | Dreamcast.
Street Fighter III 3rd Strike: Fight for the Future | Capcom | 2000 | JPN ver. | Dreamcast.
Street Fighter IV | Capcom | 2009 | PS3, Windows, Xbox 360.
Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition | Capcom | 2011 | PS3, Windows, Xbox 360.
Street Fighter IV: Collectors Edition | Capcom | 2009 | PS3, Xbox 360.
Street Fighter Alpha 3 | Capcom | 2002 | JPN ver. | Game Boy Advance.
Street Fighter Alpha 3 | Capcom | 2006 | JPN ver. | Sony PSP.
Street Fighter: Anniversary Collection | Capcom | 2004 | PS2, Xbox.
Street Fighter EX3 | Capcom | 2000 | JPN ver. | PS2.
Super Puzzle Fighter II | Capcom | 1996 | JPN ver. | PS1, Saturn.
Super Street Fighter IV | Capcom | 2010 | EU/ JPN ver. | PS3, Xbox 360.
Super Street Fighter IV | Capcom | 2010 | NA ver. | PS3, Xbox 360.
Super Street Fighter IV | Capcom | 2011 | 3DS.
Ultra Street Fighter IV | Capcom | 2014 | PS3, Windows, Xbox 360.
Vampire: Darkstalkers Collection | Capcom | 2005 | PS2.
Edayan –
Project Justice | Capcom | 2000 | JPN ver. | Dreamcast.
Project Justice | Capcom | 2001 | EU/ NA ver. | Dreamcast.
Rival Schools | Capcom | 1998 | EU ver. | PS1.
Rival Schools | Capcom | 1998 | JPN ver. | PS1.
Rival Schools | Capcom | 1998 | NA ver. | PS1.
Shiritsu Justice Gakuen: Nekketsu Seishun Nikki 2 | Capcom | 1999 | PS1.
Street Fighter Alpha 2 | Capcom | 1996 | JPN ver. | Saturn.
Street Fighter Alpha 3 | Capcom | 1998 | EU/ NA ver. | Dreamcast, Game Boy Advance.
Street Fighter Alpha 3 | Capcom | 1998 | JPN ver. | PS1.
Street Fighter EX Plus α | Capcom | 1997 | JPN ver. | PS1.
Street Fighter EX2 Plus | Capcom | 2000. | JPN ver. | PS1.
Super Street Fighter II: Turbo Revival | Capcom | 2001 | Game Boy Advance.
Fumito Ueda –
ICO (イコ) | Sony Computer Entertainment | 2001 | EU/ JPN ver. | PS2, PS3.
The acclaimed ICO would be a jewel in SCE’s crown and it’s box art a complimentary masterpiece in minimalism. Director and lead designer, Fumito Ueda would take inspiration from Giorgio de Chirico’s, The Nostalgia of the Infinite, stating “… I thought the surrealistic world of de Chirico matched the allegorical world of Ico”. It would certainly match the game’s mood more so than its in-game artistic direction, with the sense of grand architecture isolating - but far from engulfing - companions Ico and Yorda.
The North American cover art would be designed by artist Gregory Harsh. It would be used due to Fumito’s original not being ready for Ico’s American release date. The later European release opted for the Japanese original.
HaruMaru –
Street Fighter Alpha 3 | Capcom | 1999 | Saturn.
Strider 2 (ストライダー飛竜１＆２) | Capcom | 2000 | JPN ver. | PS1.
“Strider 2 came 10 years after the first game, and perhaps because of the pressure of living up to the prequel, the artist (Harumaru) really fretted over the pose and layout of this illustration. It has a lot of dynamic movement overall, but there are some problems with the composition. If only he’d had a little more time…” via Shoei in Capcom Illustrations: GAMEST MooK Vol.17.
Strider 2 | Capcom | 2000 | EU/ NA ver. | PS1.
Haruhiko Mikimoto –
Aisle Lord | Wolf Team | 1992 | Mega/ Sega CD.
Chō Jikū Yōsai Macross 2036 | Masaya | 1992 | PC Engine.
Chō Jikū Yōsai Macross: Ai Oboete Imasu ka | Bandai | 1997 | PS1, Saturn.
Chō Jikū Yōsai Macross: Eien no Love Song | Masaya | 1992 | PC Engine.
Cybernetic High-School Part 3: Gunbuster | Gainax Co. | 1990 | MSX, PC-98.
Dogu Senki | Victor Interactive | 1999 | Dreamcast.
Final Zone | Wolf Team | 1990 | JPN ver. | Mega Drive, X68000.
Khamrai | Namco | 2000 | PS1.
Record of Lodoss War: Advent of Kardis | Kadokawa Shoten | 2000 | Dreamcast.
Macross: Do You Remember Love? | Bandai | 1999 | PS1, Saturn.
Quo Vadis | Glams | 1995 | Saturn.
Quo Vadis: Iberukatsu Ikusa | Glams | 1997 | PS1, Saturn.
Quo Vadis 2: Wakusei Kyoushuu Orphan Rei | Glams | 1997 | Saturn.
Hideaki Ebihara –
Advanced Daisenryaku IV | Sega | 2003 | Windows.
Advanced Daisenryaku 98 II | Sega | 1999 | Windows.
Advanced Daisenryaku 2001 | Sega | 2001 | Dreamcast, Windows.
Advanced Daisenryaku: Europe no Arashi | Sega | 2000 | Dreamcast.
Giant Gram: Zen Nihon Pro Wrestling 2 | Sega | 1999 | Dreamcast.
Gojira: Kaijū Dai Rantō - Chikyū Saishū Kessen | Atari | 2004 | Windows.
Ultima Collection Nihon Ban | Locus | 2000 | Windows.
Hideaki Ishii –
Wallaby!! Usagi no Kuni no Kangaroo Race | Masaya | 1990 | PC Engine.
Hidefumi Kimura –
Battle Skin Panic | Gainax | 1990 | PC-98.
Battle Skin Panic 9821 | Gainax | 1993 | PC-98.
Crack Down | Sega | 1990 | JPN ver. | Mega Drive.
Mercurius Pretty | AV | 1994 | PC-98.
Mighty Battle Skin Panic | Gainax | 1993 | PC-98.
Space Harrier | Sega | 1991 | JPN ver. | Game Gear.
Super Battle Skin Panic | Gainax | 1991 | PC-98.
Vanark | Jaleco | 2000 | NA ver. | PS1.
Hidetaka Tenjin –
After graduating from the Shibaura institute of Technology's Department of System Engineering, majoring in mechanical control systems, Hidetaka became a freelance illustrator. The artist has become well known worldwide for his mecha designs following a long line of esteemed Japanese designers (such as, Yoshiyuki Takani, Noriyoshi Ohrai, Shigeru Komatsuzaki, Yuji Kaida and Tsuyoshi Nagano, all of whom Hidetaka counts as influential).
His breakthrough into the video game industry looks to be for the AeroFighters box art. Shortly afterwards he produced his first for the Macross series, a series along with Gundam the artist has a long history of involvement with. All box arts will have undoubtedly been designed using a computer art package, but the artist is equally adept at traditional media pieces also.
Outside of video game box art, Hidetaka has many credits to his name in the anime industry as well as box art for plastic model kits and DVD’s.
AeroFighters Assault | Video System | 1998 | EU/ JPN ver. | Nintendo 64.
Gradius V | Konami | 2004 | PS2.
Macross 30 - Limited Edition | Bandai Namco | 2013 | PS3.
Macross 30: The Voice the Connects the Galaxy – Limited Edition | Bandai Namco | 2013 | PS3.
Macross Ace Frontier | Bandai Namco | 2008 | Sony PSP.
Macross Plus Game Edition | Shoeisha | 2000 | PS1.
Macross Triangle Frontier | Bandai Namco | 2011 | title art only | Sony PSP.
Macross Ultimate Frontier | Bandai Namco | 2009 | Sony PSP.
Macross VF-X 2 | Bandai | 1999 | PS1.
Mobile Suit Gundam Side Stories | Namco Bandai | 2014 | PS3.
Soukou Kihei Armodyne | Sony | 2007 | PS2.
Starhawk | Sony | 2012 | JPN ver. | PS3.
Hiroaki Hashimoto –
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin | Nintendo | 2008 | Nintendo DS.
God Hand | Capcom | 2006 | JPN ver. | PS2.
King of Fighters XI | SNK Playmore | 2006 | PS2.
King of Fighters ’94 Re-Bout | SNK Playmore | 2004 | PS2.
King of Fighters ’98: Ultimate Match, The | Ignition Entertainment | 2009 | EU/ JPN ver. | PS2.
King of Fighters ’98: Ultimate Match, The | Ignition Entertainment | 2009 | NA ver. | PS2.
King of Fighters 2000, The | Playmore Corp. | 2002 | Dreamcast.
King of Fighters 2002: Challenge to Ultimate Battle | Playmore Corp. | 2002 | Neo Geo AES, PS2 (EU ver.), Xbox.
King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match, The | Playmore Corp. | 2009 | PS2.
King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga, The | SNK Playmore | 2008 | PS2, Sony PSP, Nintendo Wii.
King of Fighters EX2: Howling Blood, The | Marvelous Entertainment | 2003 | Game Boy Advance.
King of Fighters: NESTS Saga, The | SNK Playmore | 2007 | PS2.
Lord of Arcana | Square Enix | 2011 | Sony PSP.
NeoGeo Battle Coliseum | SNK Playmore | 2005 | PS2.
SNK Arcade Classics Vol 1 | SNK Playmore | 2008 | JPN ver. | Sony PSP.
Spikeout: Battle Street | Sega | 2005 | Xbox.
Hiroaki Shioya –
Bahamut Senki | Sega | 1991 | Mega Drive.
Jewel Master | Sega | 1991 | JPN ver. | Mega Drive.
Sangokushi Retsuden: Ransei no Eiyutachi | Sega | 1991 | Mega Drive.
Super League | Sega | 1989 | EU/ JPN ver. | Mega Drive.
Vermilion | Sega | 1989 | JPN ver. | Mega Drive.
Hiroki Hayashi - Mugen Senshi: Valis / 夢幻戦士ヴァリス (MSX, PC-88 - Wolf Team - 1986)
Hiroo Isono –
Dawn of Mana | Square Enix, Inc | 2006 | PS2.
Secret of Mana (聖剣伝説２) | Squaresoft | 1993 | Super Famicom, SNES.
Squaresoft (now Square Enix) had always made a habit of producing poignant and thought provoking box arts (see, Final Fantasy, Alcahest and Romancing SaGa), and Mana was no different. For a game so geographically lush and a story centered on mother nature, the choice of artist, the late Hiroo Isono, would be inspired.
Hiroo’s penchant for painting forests and paradise would bring the longing world of Mana to life, and the cover art for the Super Famicom version would beautifully depict the scale and gravity of the world around those marvelling heroes.
The western release would thankfully and surprisingly retain the Japanese original, but due to the SNES’s landscape box shape, it would unfortunately crop the magnitude and awesomeness of the tree.
Hitoshi Yoneda –
The artist would start his professional career in 1980 drawing for Japanese magazine Uchuusen, a position he would hold until 1990. Throughout this period he’d also freelance designing Japanese novel cover arts.
His break in the video game industry would come through an illustration he did for a mook (Japanese magazine/ book) on Nihon Falcom’s Xanadu. Getting the attention of company founder Kato-san, Hitoshi would design the cover art for Sorcerian on the PC-98 (1987), followed by the MSX ver (1987). Both would be painted in watercolor, the artist’s favored art medium at the time. His highest profile covers would be for Sega’s Phantasy Star series (1989-1993). For the rest of the 1990’s he would be involved in mainly obscure RPG and tactics game covers. Hitoshi has also character designed for games (Silent Bomber, 1999. Mystic Ark, 1995. Silva Saga II, 1993), and post 2000 has done mainly guest illustration work for Windows and IOS titles.
Early inspiration came from the sci-fi art of Tetsuwan Atom (Atom Boy), whilst later on Hitoshi would prefer the fantasy art of Moebius and Frank Frazetta. He also cites Arthur Rackham and Edmund Dulac as important influences in composition and colour techniques.
Other than the US cover for penultimate box art Elemental Gearbolt (1998) no other cover art Hitoshi designed was ever published overseas, something the artist finds regrettable. This would be mainly due to many of the games he worked on being rather niche and not getting an international release. It has meant that the artist although very popular in Japan does have the kind of following worldwide such as contemporaries Amano, Suemi and Kojima.
Ayakashi no shiro | SETA Corp. | 1990 | Game Boy.
Dungeon RPG Tsukuru | ASCII | 1994 | PC-98.
Elemental Gearbolt | Sony | 1997 | JPN ver. | PS1.
Elemental Gearbolt | Working Designs | 1998 | NA ver. | PS1.
Eye of the Beholder III: Assault on Myth Drannor | Ving Co. | 1994 | JPN ver. | PC-98.
Falcata | Gust | 1995 | PS1.
Lenam - Sword of Legend | Hertz | 1989 | MSX, X68000.
Lunatic Dawn III | Artdink | 1994 | FMT, PC-98.
Meru Purana | Gust | 1996 | PS1.
Minelvaton Saga: Ragon no Fukkatsu | Taito Corp. | 1987 | Famicom.
Phantasy Star II | Sega | 1989 | JPN ver. | Mega Drive.
Phantasy Star IV | Sega | 1993 | JPN ver. | Mega Drive.
RPG Tsukuru Dante 98 II | ASCII | 1996 | PC-98.
Silva Saga | SETA | 1992 | Famicom.
Silva Saga II: The Legend of Light and Darkness | SETA | 1993 | Super Famicom.
Sorcerian | Nihon Falcom Corp. | 1987 | JPN ver. | PC-88.
Sorcerian | Sega | 1990 | JPN ver. | Mega Drive.
Sorcerian | Takeru | 1987 | JPN ver. | MSX.
Vandal Hearts | Konami | 1996 | EU/ JPN ver. | PS1, Saturn.
Gou Takeuchi –
Pandora’s Tower | Nintendo | 2011 | by Gou Takeuchi | Nintendo Wii.
HACCAN –
Seiken Densetsu Collection | Square Enix | 2017 | Nintendo Switch.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky
Imaitoonz –
Fighting Vipers II |Sega | 2001 | EU ver. | Dreamcast.
http://artas1.com/imaitoonz/
Itsuki Masaki –
Deep Blue | NEC Technologies Inc. | 1990 | JPN ver. | PC Engine.
Jun Satoh –
Ax Battler: A Legend of Golden Axe | Sega | 1991 | JPN ver. | Game Gear.
Golden Axe II | Sega | 1992 | JPN ver. | Mega Drive.
Ninja Gaiden | Sega | 1991 | JPN ver. | Game Gear.
Shadow Dancer | Sega | 1990 | JPN ver. | Mega Drive.
Katsuhiko Sigeri –
Odama | Nintendo | 2006 | EU/ NA ver | GameCube.
Katsumi Yokota –
Panzer Dragoon Saga (アゼル パンツァードラグーンRPG) | Sega | 1998 | JPN ver. | Saturn.
Yokota-san would get the job of character designer on Saga after working on the previous game in the series, Panzer Dragoon II: Zwei’s (1996) cinematic end-credit sequence. The illustrator recalls that much of the character art had been sketched out when he joined the project - by Manabu Kusunoki, director and chief designer - and that he was responsible for refining and bringing them to life. The designs were deliberately anti what Japanese characters looked like in the late 1990’s (see Final Fantasy VII’s Cloud for a typical example), with an attitude of the avant-garde permeating the development team’s work.
The dragon design was the work of Satoshi Sakai who remembers that Katsumi took a print off of one of his 3D dragon models and painted over it. Katsumi recalls that he was never a fan of Sakai’s dragon designs at the time - thinking that they looked too Kaiju (like Godzilla) - and so made them more elegant and fitting with the games overall feel.
Much like the rest of the development team Katsumi was influenced by artist Moebius, who was responsible for the first Panzer Dragoon box art.
Rez | Sega | 2001 | EU/ JPN ver | DreamCast, PS2.
Rez | Sega | 2002 | NA ver. | PS2.
Kazuhiko Sano –
Last Express, The | Broderbund Software| 1997 | Macintosh, MS-DOS, Windows.
Return to Atlantis | EA | 1988 | Amiga.
Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi | JVC Musical Industries | 1994 | Game Boy, SNES.
Kazuma Teshigawa –
Street Fighter x Tekken | Capcom | 2012 | JPN ver. | by Kazuma Norisada | PS3, Windows, Xbox 360.
Kazumi Kakizaki –
Double Dragon | Technos Japan Corp. | 1990 | JPN ver. | Game Boy.
Double Dragon II: The Revenge (ダブルドラゴンⅡ ザ・リベンジ) | Technos Japan Corp. | 1989 | Famicom, Mega Drive (JPN ver), NES, PC Engine.
Double Dragon II’s box art would be a classic example in urban, beat ‘em up cover design. But where other early examples of the genre such as Renegade (1987), Shinobi (1989) and Bad Dudes (1988) portrayed their characters in drab tones, Kasumi, in a way only a golden age Mangaka would dare to, saw fit to bath his brawlers in vibrant pinks, purples and oranges. It added up to an explosive montage that saw western appeal being released worldwide on the NES.
The American and European home computer versions would take direct influence from the original but would instead unclutter the scene, tone down the palette and Americanise the characters further. It would add up to an OK interpretation of the original.
Kasumi would illustrate the Japanese Game Boy version of the first Double Dragon, and the Japanese arcade flyer for Double Dragon III, his work on the series would end there. Presently no other box arts are accredited to him.
Kei Furutsuki –
Aleste | Compile | 1989 | MSX 2.
Aleste 2 | Compile | 1989 | MSX 2.
Shin Maō Golvellius Shin Maō Golvellius | Compile | 1988 | MSX 2.
Keita Amemiya –
Aleste | Compile | 1989 | MSX 2.
Aleste 2 | Compile | 1989 | MSX 2.
Shin Maō Golvellius Shin Maō Golvellius | Compile | 1988 | MSX 2.
Rudora no hiro, Hagane: The Final Conflict,
Kenichiro Yoshimura –
Bayonetta | Sega | 2009 | JPN ver. | by Kenichiro Yoshimura | PS3, Xbox 360.
Bayonetta | Sega | 2010 | EU/ NA ver. | PS3, Xbox 360.
Bayonetta 2 | Nintendo | 2014 | Nintendo WII U, Nintendo Switch.
Okami | Capcom | 2006 | PS2.
Okami | Capcom | 2008 | Nintendo Wii.
Okami HD | Capcom | 2012 | PS3.
Okami HD | Capcom | 2017 | Nintendo Switch, PS4, Windows, Xbox One.
Kentarou Miura –
Berserk | ASCII Corp. | 1999 | JPN ver. | Dreamcast.
Kimihiko Fujisaka –
Drakengard | Square Enix | 2003 | PS2.
Drakengard 2 | Square Enix | 2005 | PS2.
Drakengard 3 | Square Enix | 2013 | PS3.
Drakengard 10th Anniversary | Square Enix | 2013 | PS3.
Last Story, The | Nintendo | 2011 | JPN ver. | Nintendo WII.
Last Story, The | Nintendo | 2012 | EU/ NA ver. | Nintendo WII.
Sands of Destruction | Sega | 2008 | Nintendo DS.
Kinu Nishimura –
999: Nine Hours • Nine Persons • Nine Doors | Spike Co | 2009 | JPN ver. | Nintendo DS.
999: Nine Hours • Nine Persons • Nine Doors | Aksys Games | 2010 | NA ver. | Nintendo DS.
Blade Strangers | Nicalis | 2018 | Nintendo Switch.
Cannon Spike | Capcom | 2000 | EU/ NA ver. | Dreamcast.
Code of Princess | Agatsuma Entertainment | 2012 | JPN ver. | 3DS.
Code of Princess | Index Digital Media | 2012 | NA ver. | 3DS.
Code of Princess EX | Nicalis | 2018 | Nintendo Switch.
Culdcept Revolt | NIS America | 2016 | 3DS.
Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower | Capcom | 2004 | Sony PSP.
Dungeons & Dragons: Collection | Capcom | 1999 | Saturn.
Gaia Master | Capcom | 2000 | Game Boy Color, PS1.
Street Fighter Collection | Capcom | 1997 | JPN ver. | PS1, Saturn.
Street Fighter III: Double Impact | Capcom | 2000 | EU/ NA ver. | Dreamcast.
Street Fighter III: W Impact | Capcom | 1999 | Dreamcast.
Super Street Fighter II X: For Matching Service (スーパーストリートファイターIIＸ) | Capcom | 2000 | Dreamcast.
Eschewing Street Fighters usual montage led box arts, Super Street Fighter II X: Grand Master Challenge, for Matching Service would instead depict the ever present Ryu shadowed by the mysterious – although maybe not so by 2000 – Akuma.
Meaning devil in Japanese, Akuma would poignantly be upturned alluding the demonic connection both characters are consumed by. The two hand drawn black and white sketches were originally used in 1994 as promotional material for the release of Super Street Fighter II X, and were composed by Capcom steward Kinu as part of a collection of sixteen character artworks.
Along with artist Bengus, who provided the box arts for the worldwide 3DO versions, Kinu’s sketches would portray a grittier take on Ryu and company. It ended up being an abstract, and unique, styalistic blip in an otherwise usually formulaic sea of bold and colourful Street Fighter cover arts.
Super Street Fighter II X: Grand Master Challenge (スーパーストリートファイターIIＸ) | Capcom | 1994 | JPN ver. | 3DO.
Exclusively used for the Japanese 3DO market, the box arts montage style would would be at odds with usual Street Fighter cover arts, but all the stronger for it. Drawn in pen and made up of a individual character artworks, the box art’s X would also add a stylized approach.
Street Fighter III: Double Impact | Capcom | 2000 | EU/ NA ver. | Dreamcast.
Kōichi Tokita –
Barunba | Namco | 1990 | PC Engine, MSX.
Battle City | Nova | 1991 | Game Boy.
Bravoman | Namco | 1990 | JPN ver. | PC Engine.
Cosmo Gang: The Video | Namco | 1992 | Super Famicom.
Dragon Saber: After Story of Dragon Spirit | Namco | 1990 | PC Engine.
Dragon Spirit | Namco | 1989 | JPN ver. | Famicom.
Dragon Spirit | Namco | 1988 | JPN ver. | PC Engine.
Erika to Satoru no Yume Bōken | Namco | 1988 | Famicom.
Libble Rabble | Dempa Shinbunsha | 1993 | FM Towns, X68000.
Libble Rabble | Namco | 1994 | Super Famicom.
Mappy | Namco | 1991 | Game Gear.
Mappy Kids | Namco | 1989 | Famicom.
Märchen Maze | Namco | 1990 | PC Engine.
Marvel Land | Namco | 1991 | JPN ver. | Mega Drive.
Ordyne | Namco | 1989 | PC engine, TurboGrafx.
Pocket Jansō | Namco | 1992 | Game Gear.
Powerball | Namco | 1991 | JPN ver. | Mega Drive.
Quad Challenge | Namco | 1991 | JPN ver. | Mega Drive.
Quest of Ki, The | Namco | 1988 | Famicom.
Rolling Thunder | Namco | 1988 | JPN ver. | Famicom.
Super Wagan Land | Namco | 1991 | Super Famicom.
Super Wagan Land 2 | Namco | 1992 | Super Famicom.
Tenkaichi Bushi Keru Nagūru | Namco | 1989 | Famicom.
Wonder Momo | Namco | 1989 | PC Engine.
Wagan Land | Namco | 1989 | Famicom, Game Gear.
Wagan Land 2 | Namco | 1990 | Famicom.
Wagan Land 3 | Namco | 1992 | Famicom.
Kumiko Suekane –
Best known for her involvement with Capcom’s Ace Attorney series - she was the debut game’s character designer and also responsible for it’s anime, cel-shaded look - Kumiko’s box art portfolio appears to be centered around Capcom’s B-list superhero series Viewtiful Joe. She designed every box art for the series along with other linked promotional artworks.
Outside of the Ace and Joe, Kumiko worked on Capcom’s Resident Evil series, Arc System’s Guilty Gear series and recently Nintendo’s Fire Emblem: Heroes (2017). She is also an established Mangaka.
Viewtiful Joe (ビューティフル ジョー Byūtifuru Jō) | Capcom | 2003 | EU ver. | pink and yellow covers | GameCube.
Character designer Kumiko would be inspired specifically by 1960s and 1970s Japanese-costumed tokusatsu television shows such as Kamen Rider and Ultraman, when briefed with Joe. Her art has been the basis for the entire series.
Capcom of Europe would take the unusual step of releasing Viewtiful Joe on the GameCube with a pink background box art (shown) and also a yellow background box art. The same character art can be found on the US releases and the European PS2 version.
Viewtiful Joe | Capcom | 2003 | JPN ver. | GameCube.
Viewtiful Joe | Capcom | 2003 | NA ver. | GameCube, PS2.
Viewtiful Joe | Capcom | 2004 | EU ver. | PS2.
Viewtiful Joe 2 | Capcom | 2004 | JPN ver. | GameCube, PS2.
Viewtiful Joe 2 | Capcom | 2004 | NA ver. | GameCube, PS2.
Viewtiful Joe 2 | Capcom | 2005 | EU ver. | GameCube, PS2.
Viewtiful Joe: A New Hope | Capcom | 2004 | PS2.
Viewtiful Joe: Double trouble! | Capcom | 2005 | Nintendo DS.
Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble | Capcom | 2005 | JPN/ NA ver. | GameCube, Sony PSP.
Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble | Capcom | 2005 | EU ver. | GameCube, Sony PSP.
Viewtiful Joe: Revival | Capcom | 2003 | GameCube.
Kunihiko Tanaka –
Xenoblade Chronicles | Nintendo | 2010 | 3DS, Nintendo Wii.
Xenogears | Square | 1998 | NA ver. | PS1.
Mariko Hirokane –
Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword | Tecmo | 2008 | by Mariko Hirokane | Nintendo DS.
Ninja Gaiden Sigma II | Tecmo | 2013 | by Mariko Hirokane | PS3, PS Vita.
Masaki Hirooka –
Castlevania: Order of the Ecclesia | Konami | 2008 | EU/ JPN ver. | Nintendo DS.
Masaki would be commissioned after the fan backlash brought on by the change in art direction of the previous two Nintendo DS games, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin - both ended up very anime-lite in style.
The artist was also responsible for the North American cover which was used as promotional material in Japan.
Castlevania: Order of the Ecclesia | Konami | 2008 | NA ver. | Nintendo DS.
Suikoden Tierkreis | Konami | 2008 | EU/ JPN ver. | Nintendo DS.
Suikoden Tierkreis | Konami | 2008 | NA ver. | Nintendo DS.
Masaki Okumura –
Xanadu: Dragon Slayer II | Nihon Falcom | 1988 | PC-88, Sharp X-1.
Masaki Yamanaka –
Madworld | Spike Co, Ltd. | 2009 | Nintendo Wii.
Masanori Sato –
Doshin the Giant | Nintendo | 2002 | JPN ver. | GameCube.
Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story | Nintendo | 2009 | 3DS.
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time | Nintendo | 2005 | Nintendo DS.
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga | Nintendo | 2003 | Nintendo DS.
Mario Strikers Charged | Nintendo | 2007 | Nintendo Wii.
Masashi Iwasaki –
AX-2: Uchū Yusōsen Nostromo (宇宙輸送船ノストロモ) | ASCII | 1982 | PC-6001.
A turning point in Japanese box art design, the AX series of games (ten volumes running from 1982-1985 and exclusively for the PC-6001) would help popularise Japan’s early period of home computing gaming, a period lawless and cheap in design quality.
ASCII’s Matsuhiro Matsuda sought to challenge the low quality video games that was available at the time with the AX series. A part of this revolution would involve quality painted artworks and a quality box, that shipped in a book style packaging.
The AX series is also the earliest known example of a branded look in Japanese box art design, with its red logo and white border.
Legendary Axe | Victor Musical Industries | 1988 | JPN ver. | PC Engine.
Legendary Axe II | Victor Musical Industries | 1990 | JPN ver. | PC Engine.
Lord Over | ASCII | 1984 | MSX.
Space Harrier II | Sega | 1988 | JPN ver. | Mega Drive.
Masato Natsumoto –
Gunbird 2 | Capcom | 2000 | Dreamcast.
King of Fighters Kyo | SNK | 1998 | PS1.
Mobile Light Force | Atlus | 1995 | JPN ver. | Saturn.
Record of Lodoss War | Entertainment Software | 2000 | JPN/ NA ver. | Dreamcast.
Michiaki Satoh –
Altered Beast (獣王記) | Sega | 1988 | Genesis, Mega Drive, PC Engine.
As one of the Genesis/ Mega Drives launch games Altered Beast’s cover would deliberately appeal to a maturer audience than what Sega had previously tried to with its SG-1000/ Master System. The cover would also prove to be more gothic and horror focased compared to much of what Nintendo had allowed on its NES/ Famicom, again, to differentiate Sega’s audience from Nintendo’s.
Minoru Maeda –
Excitebike | Nintendo | 1984 | JPN ver. | Famicom, Game Boy Advance.
Legend of Zelda, The | Nintendo | 1986 | JPN ver. | Nintendo Disk System, Famicom, Game Boy Advance.
Mitsuru Nakamura (326) –
Gitaroo Man (ギタルマン, Gitaru Man) | Koei | 2001 | JPN ver. | PS2.
Gitaroo Man (ギタルマン, Gitaru Man) | Koei | 2001 | EU/ NA ver. | PS2.
Gitaroo Man follows what is seemingly a consistent trend within the rhythm game genre of employing impossibly wacky and exaggeratedly freaky looking individuals (see, PaRappa the Rapper, Elite Beat Agents and Space Channel 5). The series artist, 326, known for his ‘super kawaii’ or ‘cute’ characters would be drafted in on design duties for both promotional and in-game art. He’d come up with a cover brimming with childish innocence but devilishly laced with nightmarish robotic and patch worked details.
The artist’s self-taught style has always been shocking in its subtleties. The odd exposed brain here or randomly drawn genitalia there are mischievously woven amidst soft toy characters, and can be somewhat difficult to absorb. In comparison, Gitaroo Man’s cover was a more toned down affair, but at some level still maintains these difficult and unsettling juxtapositions.
Gitaroo Man Lives! | Koei | 2006. | Sony PSP.
http://artas1.com/326/
Nao Q –
Metal Slug 2nd Mission | SNK | 2000 | Neo Geo Pocket.
Puzzled | SNK | 1991 | Neo Geo AES.
Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy | SNK | 1994 | Neo Geo AES.
Naoki Ikushima –
Octopath Traveler | Nintendo | 2018 | Nintendo Switch.
Octopath looks to be the first box art by Naoki. The artist’s video game resume includes monster designer for Square Enix’s Braverly Default series, a series that has ties to the Octopath world. This conection is further evident through the similar character art designs and also the choice of artist, with Naoki’s art style baring many marks of Braverly artist Akihiko Yoshida.
Alongside the main cover, Octopath shipped with eight alternative covers, each depicting the main character from the eight story strands. All were Naoki designs.
Naoyuki Kato –
Gdleen : Digan no Maseki | Artec | 1989 | MSX, PC-98.
Ginga Eiyū Densetsu II: Space War Simulation | Bothec Inc. | 1990 | MSX, PC-88, PC-98, X68000.
Guardian Legend, The (ガーディック外伝) | IREM | 1988 | JPN ver. | Famicom.
The Japanese exclusive box art by famed illustrator Naoyuki Kato would prove an artistically complex and mature effort within the Famicom’s catalog. The Guardic cyborg’s design would take inspiration from the fetish, steampunk world of H. R Giger and Europe’s pantheon of artist’s that made up the roster of 70’s magazine, Métal Hurlant. It would interestingly pay little homage to the in-game character design, and because of this, could well have been a recommissioned job rather than an original. The title banner’s vibrant palette and metallic sheen added to the composite well, but would have benefited from being smaller and not drawing the eye so much.
North America and Europe would both adopt a different box art on release - probably due to the different publisher in each region - with the latter's characterisation crossing the game’s heroine and Katoh’s design. Neither would compare to the Japanese original.
Laser Squad - Uchuu Kaiheitai | C2 Bros | 1993 | PC-98.
Legion | Telenet Japan Co. | 1990 | PC Engine.
R-Type | IREM Corp. | 1988 | MSX.
Solstice: The Quest for the Staff of Demnos | Epic/ Sony | 1990 | JPN ver. | Famicom.
Super Aleste | Toho Co. | 1992 | JPN ver. | Super Famicom.
Natsuki Sumeragi –
Sokaigi | Squaresoft | 1998 | PS1.
Xuanyuan Jian 3: Yun he Shan de Bi Duan | Softstar Entertainment | 1999 | Windows.
Nona -
King of Fighters 2001, The | SNK | 2001 | Neo Geo AES.
King of Fighters 2001, The | Playmore Corp. | 2002 | Dreamcast.
King of Fighters 2001, The | Playmore Corp. | 2003 | PS2.
SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos | SNK Playmore | 2003 | Neo Geo AES, PS2 (EU/ NA ver.), Xbox (EU/ NA ver.).
SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos | SNK Playmore | 2003 | Neo Geo AES, PS2 (EU/ NA ver.), Xbox (EU/ NA ver.).
SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos | SNK Playmore | 2003 | JPN ver. | PS2.
SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos | SNK Playmore | 2004 | JPN ver. | Xbox.
Noriyoshi Ohrai –
The artist would study oil painting at the Tokyo University of Fine art and Music in the mid-50’s, before dropping out and embarking on his illustration career. He’d start out as a cover artist for various novels and designed advertisement art for local newspapers throughout the 1960’s. In 1973 Noriyoshi designed his first movie poster, The Sinking of Japan. It would be the start of a long and prolific career in the movie business that would turn him into an internationally known artist through his works for the Star Wars and Godzilla franchises.
His first video game box arts would be reused movie posters for The Goonies and King Kong 2 (both Konami, 1986); he’d shortly after start his career with KOEI designing the cover for Genghis Khan (1987). His cover arts for KOEI - much like his film posters - would all be painterly, bold in their use of color and character led with worn, etched facial features. His preparation for all his artworks was meticulous and would give an authenticity to his box arts, that along with his masterful style of art, proved globally appealing - to the point where not one of his artworks was replaced with another artists when KOEI published overseas.
His final cover, Teitoku no Ketsudan (1996), was a Japan only release. Post-millennium, Noriyoshi worked with Konami designing the incredible posters that came with the Japanese Metal Gear Solid premium packages (from 2001-2006). He’d design a promotional poster for the PS3 version of Ni-oh (2005) and his final video game illustration was in 2012 for Konami’s Zone of the Enders HD.
Noriyoshi passed away in 2015, leaving one of the art world’s great legacies.
Bandit Kings of Ancient China | KOEI | 1989 | Amiga, Famicom, FM-7, FM-Towns, Macintosh, MS DOS, MSX, NES, PC-88, PC-98, PS1, Saturn, Sharp X-1, X68000.
Gemfire | KOEI | 1991 | FM Towns, Genesis, Mega Drive, MS-DOS, MSX, NES, PC-88, PC-98, SNES, Super Famicom, X68000.
Genghis Khan | KOEI | 1987 | Amiga, Famicom, MS-DOS, MSX, NES, PC-88, PC-98, X68000.
Genghis Khan II: Clan of the Grey Wolf | KOEI | 1992 | Famicom, FM Towns, Genesis, Mega Drive, MS-DOS, MSX, PC-88, PC-98, PC Engine, PS1, Sega CD, SNES, Super Famicom. X68000.
Genpei Gassen | KOEI | 1994 | PC-98, Windows.
Godzilla 2: War of the Monsters | Toho | 1991 | NES.
Goonies, The | Konami | 1986 | JPN ver. | Famicom, PC-98, Sharp X-1.
Inindo: Way of the Ninja | KOEI | 1991 | FM-Towns, MS-DOS, MSX, PC-88, PC-98, SNES, Super Famicom, X68000.
Ishin no Arashi | KOEI | 1988 | Famicom, FM-7, FM-Towns, MSX, PC-88, PC-98, PS1, Saturn, Sharp X-1, X68000.
Kamigami no Daichi Kojiki Gaiden | KOEI | 1993 | FM Towns, PC-98.
King Kong 2: Yomigaeru Densetsu | Konami | 1986 | MSX.
This artwork was originally the movie poster for the Japanese theatrical release of King Kong 2 (1986).
L'Empereur | KOEI | 1990 | Famicom, FM Towns, MS-DOS, MSX, NES, PC-88, PC-98, Sharp X1, X68000.
Liberty or Death | KOEI | 1993 | Genesis, MS-DOS, PC-98, SNES, Super Famicom.
New Horizons | KOEI | 1993 | FM Towns, Genesis, Mega Drive, MS-DOS, PC-98, PS1, Saturn, SNES, Super Famicom, X68000.
Nobunaga no Yabō: Haōden | KOEI | 1992 | 3DO, FM Towns, Mega Drive, PC-98, PS1, SegaCD, SNES, X68000.
Nobunaga no Yabō: Tenshōki | KOEI | 1994 | PC-98, Saturn, Sony PSP, Super Famicom.
Nobunaga’s Ambition II | KOEI | 1988 | Famicom, FM-7, FM Towns, MS-DOS, MSX, NES, PC-88, PC-98, PS1, Sharp X-1, Saturn, X68000.
Nobunaga’s Ambition: Lord of Darkness | KOEI | 1990 | 3DS, Famciom, FM Towns, Game Boy Advance, Genesis, MSX, Nintendo DS, PC-88, PC-98, PC Engine, PlayStation, Sharp X68000, SNES, Super Famicom.
Operation Europe: Path to Victory 1939-1945 | KOEI | 1991 | FM-Towns, Mega Drive, MS-DOS, MSX, PC-88, PC-98, SNES, Super Famicom, X68000.
P.T.O.: Pacific Theater of Operations | KOEI | 1989 | FM Towns, Genesis, Mega Dirve, MSX, PC-88, PC-98, SNES, Super Famicom, X68000.
P.T.O.: Pacific Theater of Operations II | KOEI | 1993 | FM Towns, PC-98, PlayStation, Saturn, SNES, Super Famicom, Windows.
Rise of the Phoenix | KOEI | 1993 | FM Towns, MS-DOS, PC-98, PS1, SNES, Super Famicom, X68000.
Romance of the three Kingdoms II | KOEI | 1989 | Amiga, FM Towns, Mega Drive, MS-DOS, MSX, NES, PC-88, PC-98, PS1, Sharp X1, Super Famicom, X68000.
Romance of the three Kingdoms III: Dragon of Destiny | KOEI | 1992| FM Towns, Genesis, Mega Drive, MS-DOS, PC-98, PC Engine, PS1, Sega CD, SNES, Super Famicom, X68000.
Romance of the three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire | KOEI | 1994 | 3DO, FM Towns, PC-98, PS1, Sega 32X, Saturn, SNES, Super Famicom, Windows 3.x.
Taikō Risshiden | KOEI | 1992 | FM Towns, Mega Drive, PC-98, Super Famicom, X68000, Windows.
Taikō Risshiden II | KOEI | 1995 | PC-98, PS1, Saturn, Windows.
Teitoku no Ketsudan III | KOEI | 1996 | PC-98, PS1, Saturn, Windows.
Uncharted Waters | KOEI | 1990 | FM Towns, Genesis, Macintosh, Mega Drive, MS-DOS, MSX, NES, PC-88, PC-98, Sharp X68000, SNES, Super Famicom.
Pablo Uchida –
Metal Gear Solid V: The Definitive Experience | Konami | 2016 | PS4, Xbox One.
Paying homage to the classic movie poster montage (popularized by the Blaxploitation subgenre of the 1970’s and still used today for the likes of the Star Wars series and the Marvel cinematic universe), Pablo’s cover oozes explosive beauty, through character heavy detailing and striking color. Cool gray tones color protagonist Snake as he merges into Metal Gear Sahelanthropus, a subtle reinforcement of the symbiotic relationship between Snake’s and Gears. Only to be jarringly cut by the game’s roster intent on injecting vivid color and chaos.
The artwork was originally designed to promote the Japanese release of The Phantom Pain in 2015, where its deliberate movie poster quality stood out all the more and pronounced the horse’s symbolic flaming V to fuller effect.
Japan’s box art version is worth noting. Taking Takeya Inguchi’s original Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain cover, it near destroys all color and fills Snake’s head with characters as if to illustrate the burdening weight his mind carries.
Romancing of the Three Kingdoms: XIII | Koei Tecmo Games | 2016 | PS3, PS4, Xbox One, Windows.
Range Murata –
Groove on Fight: Gōketsuji Ichizoku 3 | Atlus | 1997 | Saturn.
Power instinct | Atlus | 1994 | JPN ver. | Mega Drive, Super Famicom.
Power instinct 2 | Atlus | 1995 | PS1.
Shin Gōketsuji Ichizoku Tōkon: Matrimelee | SNK Playmore | 2003 | Neo Geo AES.
Shin Gōketsuji Ichizoku: Bonnō no Kaihō | Excite japan Co | 2006 | PS2.
Spy Fiction | Sammy | 2004 | JPN ver. | PS2.
Wachenröder | Sega | 1998 | Saturn.
Runmaru –
Ninja Gaiden | Tecmo | 1988 | JPN ver. | by Runmaru | Famicom.
Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos | Tecmo | 1990 | by Runmaru | Amiga, Famicom, MS-DOS, NES.
Ninja Gaiden III: The Ancient Ship of Doom | Tecmo | 1991 | JPN ver. | by Runmaru | Famicom.
Ninja Gaiden Trilogy | Tecmo | 1995 | NA ver. | by Runmaru | SNES.
Ryogi Minagawa –
Live a Live | Square | 1994 | Super Famicom.
Ryuta Ueda –
Jet Set Radio | Sega | 2000 | EU ver. | Dreamcast.
Jet Grind Radio | Sega | 2000 | NA ver. | Dreamcast.
Jet Set Radio | Sega | 2000 | JPN ver. | Dreamcast.
JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future | Sega | 2002 | EU/ NA ver. | Xbox.
JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future | Sega | 2002 | JPN ver. | Xbox.
Sano Shinyo –
Metroid Fusion | Nintendo | 2002 | EU/ NA ver. | by Sano Shinyo | Game Boy Advance.
Metroid Fusion | Nintendo | 2003 | JPN ver. | by Sano Shinyo | Game Boy Advance.
Senno Aki (TONKO) –
As one of SNK’s many popular Illustrators, TONKO has had the opportunity to design box art for some of the company’s highest profile series’. Metal Slug, The Last Blade and The King of Fighters to name but a few have seen his masterful artwork promote them.
He looks to have joined SNK in the late 90’s and his first cover art was likely The Last Blade (1998) on the Neo Geo CD. Working for a company that had been set apart since the early 90’s by Shinkiro’s designs it’s hardly surprising the style of TONKO’s The Last Blade arguably finds influence in his art (Shinkiro’s art would be used on The Last Blade’s Neo Geo AES cover released earlier in the year). TONKO would return late in 1998 and show off his versatility with the cute super-deformed styled cover for the Neo Geo Pocket release The King of Fighters R-1. It would be a style that was repeated for the game’s follow up The King of Fighters R-2 and Battle de Paradise.
He would cement his reputation through the work he did within the Metal Slug universe. Starting with the 4th game in the main series Metal Slug 4 (2002) and up until the final to date Metal Slug 7, his art has helped define the series and give it the somewhat artistic continuity that was lacking over the first three games. In 2007 he would branch out into a new series for SNK designing the character art for dating sim Days of Memories. His art would be used on the Nintendo DS compilations and it would be very different from what he’d previously done, presenting a cuter, feminine and sexy approach to character art that he’s stated was difficult conceptualizing when aiming to please male gamers. More recently he’s returned to the Metal Slug universe designing promotional art for the mobile game Metal Slug Attack.
His style is broad and versatile with realistic character and background art (The Last Blade, Garou: Mark of the Wolves) making way for comedic art (Metal Slug 4-7) and super-deformed art (The King of Fighters R-1), through to the Days of Memories more straight ‘sexy manga’ style. The more realistic works can have a slight anime look to them but use more hushed tones and are not nearly defined as say Shinkiro’s line work. The comedic/ super-deformed covers show off the artist’s crisp coloring and mastery at designing chaotic character assemblies.
Bakumatsu Roman: Last Blade 2-in-1 (NeoGeo Online Collection the Best) | SNK Playmore | 2007 | PS2.
Days of Memories | SNK Playmore | 2007 | Nintendo DS.
Days of Memories 2 | SNK Playmore | 2008 | Nintendo DS.
Days of Memories 3 | SNK Playmore | 2009 | Nintendo DS.
Garou: Mark of the Wolves | SNK Corp. | 2000 | Dreamcast (NA ver.), Neo Geo AES.
Garou: Mark of the Wolves | SNK Corp. | 2001 | JPN ver. | Dreamcast.
Garou: Mark of the Wolves | SNK Playmore | 2005 | PS2.
King of Fighters 2000, The | Playmore Corp | 2002 | PS2.
King of Fighters 2001, The | Playmore Corp | 2003 | PS2.
King of Fighters 2002, The: Challenge to Ultimate Battle | Playmore Corp | 2004 | JPN ver. | PS2.
King of Fighters 2002, The: Challenge to Ultimate Battle (SNK Best Collection) | Playmore Corp | 2005 | JPN ver. | PS2.
King of Fighters R-1 | SNK Corp. | 1998 | Neo Geo Pocket.
King of Fighters R-2 | SNK Corp. | 1999 | Neo Geo Pocket.
King of Fighters, The: Battle de Paradise | SNK Corp. | 2000 | Neo Geo Pocket.
Last blade, The | SNK Corp. | 1998 | Neo Geo CD.
Last blade, The | SNK Corp. | 1999 | PS1.
Last blade 2, The | SNK Corp. | 1999 | Neo Geo AES, Neo Geo CD.
Last blade 2, The | SNK Corp. | 2000 | Dreamcast.
Last blade 2 Final Edition, The | SNK Playmore | 2002 | Dreamcast.
Last blade: Beyond the Destiny, The | SNK Corp. | 2000 | Neo Geo Pocket.
Metal Slug 4 | SNK Playmore | 2002 | Neo Geo AES.
Metal Slug 4 | SNK Playmore | 2005 | PS2, Xbox.
Metal Slug 4 & 5 | SNK Playmore | 2005 | PS2, Xbox.
Metal Slug 5 | SNK Playmore | 2004 | Neo Geo AES.
Metal Slug 5 | SNK Playmore | 2005 | PS2, Xbox.
Metal Slug 6 | SNK Playmore | 2006 | PS2.
Metal Slug 7 | Ignition Entertainment | 2008 | Nintendo DS.
Metal Slug Anthology | Ignition Entertainment | 2007 | EU ver. | Nintendo Wii, PS2.
SENSEI (Haruki Suetsugu) -
Legend of Zelda, The: The Minish Cap | Nintendo | 2004 | EU ver. | Game Boy Advance.
Legend of Zelda, The: The Minish Cap | Nintendo | 2004 | JPN ver. | Game Boy Advance.
Legend of Zelda, The: The Minish Cap | Nintendo | 2004 | NA ver. | Game Boy Advance.
Mega Man X4 | Capcom | 1997 | EU/ NA ver. | PS1, Saturn, Windows.
Mega Man X4 | Capcom | 1997 | JPN ver. | PS1.
Mega Man X4 | Capcom | 1997 | JPN ver. | Saturn.
Mega Man X5 | Capcom | 2000 | EU/ NA ver. | PS1.
Mega Man X5 | Capcom | 2000 | JPN ver. | PS1.
Mega Man X6 | Capcom | 2001 | EU/ NA ver. | PS1.
Mega Man X6 | Capcom | 2001 | JPN ver. | PS1.
Mega Man XTreme | Capcom | 2000 | Game Boy Color.
Mega Man XTreme 2 | Capcom | 2001 | JPN ver. | Game Boy Color.
Mega Man XTreme 2 | Capcom | 2001 | NA ver. | Game Boy Color.
Zak and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure | Capcom | 2007 | EU/ NA ver. | Nintendo Wii.
http://capcom.wikia.com/wiki/SENSEI
Shigeru Miyamoto –
Super Mario Bros. (スーパーマリオブラザーズ) | 1985 | EU/ JPN ver. | by Shigeru Miyamoto | Famicom, Game Boy Advance, NES.
Debut box art for the Super Mario series and the only to designed by creator Shigeru Miyamoto. The box art would introduce stable series characters, Toad, Bowser, Koopers, Goombas and Peach. The character heavy art design would be replicated for both Famicom sequels - penned by Yoiche Kotabe - and would also influence the original Game Boy Mario covers. Further influencing can be found in Rock Man’s Famicom box arts.
Shinichi Yoshimoto –
Strider (ストライダー飛竜) | Capcom | 1991 | by Shinichi Yoshimoto | PC Engine, X68000.
“Despite it’s massive cult popularity, there’s surprisingly little art for Strider. This illustration (pictured) was lost for a long time, but we managed to find it for this book (Capcom Illustrations: GAMEST MooK Vol.17). It was drawn by the creator of Strider himself, Shinichi Yoshimoto. This was also Capcom’s first promotional poster to use a horizontal layout.” Shoei - Capcom creative head.
Shoei –
Rising to fame in the early 90’s as one of Capcom’s leading artists for Street Fighter 2, Shoei has enjoyed a long career for the company providing scores of promotional artworks and character designs mainly within the company’s arcade department.
He has also been responsible for the title lettering and logo’s of many of Capcom’s highest profile releases.
Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition (ストリートファイター2ダッシュ) | Capcom | 1993 | EU/ JPN ver. | FM Towns, Mega Drive, PC Engine, X68000.
Shoei’s cover art has the distinction of being the first Japanese designed Street Fighter box art to be used in the European region. The artwork was a part of Capcom’s arcade promotional material and interestingly had eyes painted originally for M. Bison - only for them to be removed as it was felt that they were too imposing and detracted the viewers attention from Ryu.
The America’s would again use artist Mick McGinty for the Genesis and Master System version. It paid no relation to Shoei’s.
Ultimate Ghosts ‘n Goblins (極魔界村) | Capcom | 2006 | with Shinkiro | Sony PSP.
This would be artist Shinkiro’s second attempt at the Ghosts ‘n Goblins series artist after the Game Boy Advance game: Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts. Although all three regions use the same artwork both Europe and North America accentuate Aurther by either enlarging the character art or dulling the background.
The character-heavy montage used here could be argued a homage to the style seen in the original 1985 arcade artwork and was created using computer art.
Sohhei Oshiba –
Gain Ground | Sega | 1991 | JPN ver. | Mega Drive.
Golden Axe III (ゴールデンアックスⅢ) | Sega | 1993 | Mega Drive.
The finished box art would take a rather transatlantic route, in that it was a reimagining of a Boris Vallejo original. At some point Golden Axe III was set to be released in North America and so Sega of America commissioned Vallejo - who had already done Golden Axe II’s cover. The game was then canned but Vallejo’s artwork went on to be used as the basis for Japan’s cover art version. It is likely that the Japanese didn’t have the rights to Boris’ art.
As with many Vallejo paint jobs, the female warrior is his wife and fellow artist Julie Bell.
Pro Yakyū Super League CD | Sega | 1992 | Sega CD.
Takamasa Yamada
Capcom vs. SNK Millennium Fight 2000 | Capcom | 2000 | EU/ NA ver. | Dreamcast.
Capcom vs. SNK Millennium Fight 2000 | Capcom | 2000 | JPN ver. | Dreamcast.
Capcom vs. SNK Millennium Fight 2000 Pro | Capcom | 2000 | EU/ JPN ver. | PS1.
Capcom vs. SNK Millennium Fight 2000 Pro | Capcom | 2000 | NA ver. | PS1.
Capcom vs. SNK Millennium Fight 2000 Pro | Capcom | 2000 | EU/ JPN ver. | Dreamcast.
Capcom vs. SNK Millennium Fight 2000 Pro | Capcom | 2000 | NA ver. | Dreamcast.
Takashi Akaishizawa –
Arrow Flash | Renovation Products | 1990 | JPN ver. | Mega Drive.
Phantasy Star Adventure | Sega | 1991 | Game Gear.
Psychic World | Sega | 1991 | JPN ver. | Game Gear.
Queens Road | Angels | 1997 | PS1.
Takeshi Ugajin –
Katamari Damacy (塊魂 ) | Namco | 2004 | PS2.
Katamari Damacy in 2004 would defy the usual trends and deliver an experience that was unique and utterly Japanese. Its box art by artist Takeshi Ugajin would compliment the game’s carefree weirdness and abstract playfulness perfectly. It was a deliberately simple and humorous cover, with strong design tones over creative artistic ones, whilst sporting an excellent color palette.
The cover art would be used in both Japanese and American markets, but the game's “quirkiness” was deemed too great for Europe who sadly missed out on a release.
Takumi Wada –
Legend of Zelda, The: Skyward Sword | Nintendo | 2011 | EU/ NA ver. | Nintendo WII U.
Legend of Zelda, The: Skyward Sword | Nintendo | 2011 | JPN ver. | Nintendo WII U.
Legend of Zelda, The: Breath of the Wild (ゼルダの伝説 ブレス オブ ザ ワイルド) | Nintendo | 2017 | EU ver. | by Takumi Wada | Nintendo Switch, Nintendo WII U.
Artist Wada-san would return to promotional and box art duties after leading them in the previous Zelda game Skyward Sword. The art style here is seen as a continuation of Skyward Swords water-colour, pastel look, but Wada would drop the cel-shading in that game and use a more rough (‘wild’), painterly effect instead.
The motif for this box art and the JPN/ US version would be both the original Famicom cover and its depiction of the Hylian overworld - the game world Breath of the Wild’s (BOTW) is being compared to - and BOTW’s own vast lands.
The Link character’s pose from behind, again on both cover arts, is a first and deliberately shows off his unorthodox weapons and clothing.
Legend of Zelda, The: Breath of the Wild | Nintendo | 2017 | JPN/ NA ver. | Nintendo Switch, Nintendo WII U.
Tatsuya Yoshikawa –
Breath of Fire | Capcom | 2001 | EU/ NA ver. | Game Boy Advance.
Breath of Fire | Capcom | 2001 | JPN ver. | Game Boy Advance.
Breath of Fire II | Capcom | 2001 | JPN ver. | Game Boy Advance.
Breath of Fire II | Capcom | 2002 | EU/ NA ver. | Game Boy Advance.
Breath of Fire III | Capcom | 2000 | JPN ver. | PS1.
Breath of Fire III | Capcom | 2005 | PSP.
Breath of Fire IV | Capcom | 2000 | PS1, Windows.
Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter | Capcom | 2002 | JPN ver. | PS2.
Devil May Cry 5 | Capcom | 2019 | PS4, Xbox One.
Mega Man X7 | Capcom | 2003 | JPN ver. | PS2.
Tetsuhiko Kikuchi (HAN) –
Advanced Guardian Heroes | Ubisoft | 2004 | NA ver. | Game Boy Advance.
Advanced Guardian Heroes | Treasure | 2004 | JPN ver. | Game Boy Advance.
Guardian Heroes | Sega | 1996 | EU/ JPN ver. | Saturn.
Gunstar Heroes | Sega | 1993 | JPN ver. | Mega Drive.
Gunstar Super Heroes | Sega | 2005 | Game Boy Advance.
Mischief Makers | Enix Corporation | 1997 | JPN ver. | Nintendo 64.
Rakugaki Showdown | Enix Corporation | 1999 | Nintendo 64.
Tomo Yamamoto –
Gyruss | Konami | 1988 | NES, Nintendo Disk System.
Tomonobu Itagaki –
Ninja Gaiden | Tecmo | 2004 | by Tomonobu Itagaki & Hiroaki Matsui | Xbox.
Toshiaki Katoh –
Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber | Nintendo | 1999 | JPN ver. | Nintendo 64.
Populous II: Trials of the Olympian Gods | Imagineer Co. | 1993 | JPN ver. | FM Towns, PC-98, Super Famicom, X60000.
Tsubasa Masao –
After a brief stint working for Glams on Alice in Cyberland as a 2D artist (1996), Masao would join Konami in 1997 and be responsible for the CG design for many of the company’s rhythm action games (Beatmania, GuitarFreaks, ParaParaParadise).
His first known cover is for Beatmania GB: GatchaMix 2 (1999), but it was 2003 when he was given his first shot at character design with Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner (with Nobuyoshi Nishimura). This would lead to the famed Hideo Kojima offering him the lead character design job on the two Metal Gear Ac!d games, after which he left Konami for Square Enix. At Square Enix he worked in a multitude of different design roles within the Final Fantasy series and took a lead design position on the Japanese only Lord of Apocalypse.
His art style can be diverse and rich in color. He credits his style as being influenced by Capcom’s fighting game artists (Bengus, Shoei, Akiman etc..) and American comics and cartoons over tradition Japanese manga and anime.
Beatmania GB: GatchaMix 2 | Konami | 1999 | Game Boy Color.
Lord of the Apocalypse | Square Enix | 2011 | Sony PSP, Sony Vita.
Metal Gear Ac!d | Konami | 2004 | JPN ver. | Sony PSP.
Metal Gear Ac!d | Konami | 2005 | EU/ NA ver. | Sony PSP.
Metal Gear Ac!d 2 | Komani | 2005 | JPN/ NA ver. | Sony PSP.
Metal Gear Ac!d 2 | Komani | 2006 | EU ver. | Sony PSP.
Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner (Anubis: Zone of the Enders) | Konami | 2003 | with Nobuyoshi Nishimura | PS2.
Director Shuyo Murata would team up newcomer Masao with veteran Nobuyoshi (character designer on the first Zone of the Enders) in a partnership that proved difficult. Masao created the character designs, whilst Nobuyoshi finished them in an anime look, but the two artist’s divergent styles led to clashes on how the character art seen on the box art ending up - Nobuyoshi looks to have won the battle though.
Tsuyoshi Nagano –
Bandit Kings of Ancient China | KOEI | 1989 | Amiga, FM-7, FM Towns, Macintosh, MS-DOS, MSX, NES, PlayStation, Saturn, Windows.
Nobunaga no Yabou 2 | KOEI | 2015 | 3DS.
Nobunaga no Yabou: Ranseiki | KOEI | 2000 | PS2, Xbox.
Nobunaga no Yabou: Shouseiroku | KOEI | 1997 | PS1, PSP, Saturn.
Nobunaga no Yabou: Tendo | KOEI | 2009 | PS3, Vita, Windows, Xbox 360.
Nobunga’s Ambition: Iron Triangle | KOEI | 2005 | PS2, Windows.
Nobunga’s Ambition: Teishi | KOEI | 2015 | PS4, Switch, Windows.
Nobunga’s Rise to Ambition | KOEI | 2003 | PS2, Windows.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms VII | KOEI | 2000 | Macintosh, PS1, PS2, PSP, Windows.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms VIII | KOEI | 2002 | PS2, PSP, Windows.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms IX | KOEI | 2003 | PS2, Windows.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms X | KOEI | 2004 | PS2, Windows.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI | KOEI | 2007 | PS2, Wii, Windows.
Sangokushi V | KOEI | 1995 | Mega Drive, MS-DOS, PC-98, PS1, PSP, Saturn, Windows.
Taikō Risshiden III | KOEI | 1999 | PS1.
Taikō Risshiden IV | KOEI | 2001 | PS2, PSP.
Taikō Risshiden V | KOEI | 2004 | PS2, PSP.
Yasushi Nirasawa –
A-Rank Thunder Tanjouhen | Telenet | 1993 | Mega CD.
Beast Warriors (ビースト・ウォリアーズ) | Renovation Products | 1991 | Genesis, Mega Drive.
Designed by model maker Nirasawa of Hobby Japan Magazine, the character act would exude the artist's usual penchant for ghastly, hellbound looking creatures.
Yasushi Suzuki -
Ikaruga | Atari | 2003 | EU/ JPN ver. | GameCube.
Ikaruga | ESP | 2002 | JPN ver. | Dreamcast.
Ikaruga | Infogrames | 2003 | NA ver. | GameCube.
Sin & Punishment | Treasure | 2000 | Nintendo 64.
Sin & Punishment: Star Successors | Nintendo | 2009 | JPN ver.| Nintendo Wii.
Sin & Punishment: Star Successors | Nintendo | 2010 | EU/ NA ver. | Nintendo Wii.
Yoichi Kotabe –
Yoichi Kotabe was an active employee of Nintendo Company Limited from 1985 until 2010. Kotabe was one of the first animation legends from Toei Animation to crossover into video games by joining Nintendo.
Yoichi Kotabe became a fan of art during his early school years when his mother introduced him to flipbook animation (the act of flipping through pages, each page with an image that progressively changes, to make it look like it's moving). His father was an artist, though ironically the person who didn't draw much at all was the one who made him interested in animation (his mother). According to him, his mother drew a stick figure in a text book of his at the corner, and on each page the stick figure would be in a slightly different position. As he recalls the stick figure was exercising, but it made him interested enough to try himself.
Kotabe worked closely with the Entertainment Analysis & Development Division but also was involved with several other departments internally at the company. Despite Kotabe-san's retirement from Nintendo, he still acts as an advisor for the company. Via the Kyoto report.
The artist would be instrumental in redesigning the Super Mario characters from Miyamoto’s original designs, starting with Super Mario Bros. 3.
Donkey Kong ‘94 | Nintendo | 1994 | Game Boy.
Game & Watch Gallery 4 | Nintendo | 2002 | with Yasuko Takahashi | Game Boy Color.
Legend of Zelda, The: A Link to the Past | Nintendo | 1991 | JPN ver. | Super Famicom.
Legend of Zelda, The: Link’s Awakening | Nintendo | 1993 | JPN ver. | Game Boy.
Legend of Zelda, The: Link’s Awakening DX | Nintendo | 1998 | JPN ver. | Game Boy Color.
Super Mario Bros. 3 (スーパーマリオブラザーズ３) | Nintendo | 1988 | JPN ver. | Famicom.
Super Mario Bros. 3 (スーパーマリオブラザーズ３) | Nintendo | 1990 | with GIRVIN | EU/ NA ver. | NES.
For gamers in 1990 this cover was hard to ignore with the heavy promotion Nintendo put behind it. It is arguably, and much like its predecessor, an Iconic example of 90’s box art and characterisation.
The Mario art would be lifted from the Japanese version - a cover too chaotic of western taste - and it would be design studio GIRVIN who brilliantly emblazoned the plumber against bright yellow and applied the logo.
The cover would cap off Mario’s three NES efforts, all of which have stood the test of time.
Super Mario Bros. Deluxe (スーパーマリオブラザーズデラックス) | Nintendo | 1999 | Game Boy Color.
Possibly the artist’s final Super Mario box art to date. The game would not see a physical release in Japan making it the only game in the series to miss out on a Japanese box art.
Super Mario Kart | Nintendo | 1992 | SNES, Super Famicom.
Super Mario Land | Nintendo | 1989 | Game Boy.
Super Mario Land 2 | Nintendo | 1992 | Game Boy.
Super Mario USA (スーパーマリオUS) | Nintendo | 1992 | by Yoichi Kotabe | Famicom.
The well-documented history of Super Mario Bros 2 had Nintendo of Japan (NOJ) take its abandoned attempt for Mario’s first sequel and fashion Fuji TV’s then mascots into it calling it Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic (1987). These changes were made only for Nintendo of America to request it be made into Super Mario Bros 2 (1988) after the Japanese release of that game (The Lost Levels) was deemed too challenging. Subsequently, after the game’s success in the West, it was brought back to Japan as Super Mario USA (1992).
Interestingly, NOJ would take Doki Doki Panic’s original box art, with character art by Tadashi Sugiyama and an unknown Fuji designer, redraw the piece, so it would be more in line with Mario’s previous box arts, and replace Fuji’s characters with Yoichi Kotabe’s Mario designs.
Being of Mario heritage Doki Doki Panic and Mario USA share obvious design traits with other Famicom Mario cover arts such as bold coloring, distinctive line work and chaotic characterisation (see Super Mario Bros 1 and 3 on the Famicom) while the box layout is vertically designed instead of horizontally as found on a majority of Famicom releases. To finish, its pink border (which also extends to the game’s cart) is a stark reminder of how daringly colorful Japanese box art can be.
Super Mario World | Nintendo | 1990 |JPN ver. | Super Famicom.
Super Mario World | Nintendo | 1991 | EU/ NA ver. | SNES.
Yoji Shinkawa –
The artist would start his video game career by joining Konami and working on Policenauts in 1994. After that project he would art direct Metal Gear’s resurrection to the Solid series in 1998 and worked on every game in the series up until 2015’s Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. His art would adorn the mainline game’s box arts, whilst off shoot games such as in the Ac!d series would be artistically directed by him but use other artist’s designs.
His distinctive organic, free-flowing brush work is created use ink pens and Pentel Brush Pens on canvas before being transferred to an art package and digitally finished. He first and foremost sees himself as a character designer over an illustrator or painter and has been influenced by such pedigree as Amano, Moebius and Pogany.
After leaving Konami in 2015 he would follow designer Hideo Kojima to his new studio, again taking up the role of art director.
Fu-un Shinsengumi | Genki | 2004 | blue cover. | PS2.
Fu-un Shinsengumi | Genki | 2004 | red cover. | PS2.
Left Alive | Square Enix | 2019 | PS4, Windows.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance - Special Edition | Konami | 2013 | PS3.
Metal Gear Solid | Konami | 1999 | EU ver. | PS1.
Metal Gear Solid (Metal Gear: Ghost Babel) | Konami | 2000 | EU/ JPN ver. | Game Boy Color.
Character designer Yoji would take a more anime/ cartoon approach to the Game Boy Color’s ‘Solid’ game, arguably targeting Nintendo’s younger gamers (as was often the case when more mature games received Game Boy versions).
North America would receive a more traditional take on Yoji’s Solid Snake.
Metal Gear Solid | Konami | 2000 | NA ver. | Game Boy Color.
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes | Konami | 2004 | EU/ JPN ver. | GameCube.
Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions | Konami | 1999 | NA ver. | PS1.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty | Konami | 2001 | EU/ NA ver. | PS2.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty | Konami | 2001 | JPN ver. | PS2.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance | Konami | 2002 | PS2, Xbox (EU ver), Windows.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance | Konami | 2002 | NA ver. | Xbox.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater | Konami | 2004 | JPN ver. | PS2.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater | Konami | 2004 | NA ver. | PS2. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater | Konami | 2005 | EU ver. | PS2.
Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence | Konami | 2005 | PS2
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots | Konami | 2008 | EU ver. | PS4.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots - Special Edition | Konami | 2008 | PS4.
Zone of the Enders HD Edition | Konami | 2012 | JPN ver. | PS3, Xbox 360.
Zone of the Enders HD Edition: Premium Package | Konami | 2012 | PS3, Xbox 360.
Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner – MARS | Konami | 2018 | PS4, Windows.
Yoshihiro Hashizume –
Gradius Gaiden | Konami | 1997 | PS1
Yoshiyuki Takani –
Takani would find fame through his box arts for Gundam and military hardware inspired model kit packaging by TAMIYA. The artist is perhaps best known internationally in gaming circles for his work on Konami’s Metal Gear Solid series where he provided mecha and character artworks. In his native Japan he is also well known for his cover arts on the long running Power DoLLs series.
The artist appears to have always used traditional paints for his box arts.
Advanced Power Dolls 2 | Kogado Studio | 1996 | PC-98.
Edo no Kiba | Micro World | 1993 | Super Famicom.
Genocide 2: Master of the Dark Communion | Zoom Inc | 1991 | Super Famicom, X68000.
Gundam Side Story 0079: Rise from the Ashes | Bandai | 1999 | JPN ver. | Dreamcast.
Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake | Konami | 1990 | MSX.
Metal Slug Complete | SNK Playmore | 2007 | JPN ver. | Sony PSP.
Omega Boost | Sony | 1999 | JPN ver. | PS1.
Phalanx (ファランクス) | Kemco | 1991 | by Yoshiyuki Takani | X68000.
The veteran illustrator of TAMIYA military model-kit box arts would beautifully depict Phalanx’s star-fighter in an uncommonly calm setting for a shoot ‘em up cover art. Very much in line with the style of illustration Shigeru Komatsuzaki, Yoshiyuki’s delicate brush strokes, soft palette and detailed realism would be a welcome artistic change to the more common anime style seen in the Super Famicom’s equivalent release.
In the US, publisher Kemco would infamously create the equivalent SNES box art. Bereft of any quality, it depicted a banjo-playing hick. Whilst certainly achieving the tongue-in-cheek recognition, and notoriety, the publisher set out to garner, it was a depressing alternative when Takani’s artwork was available.
A hidden gem of a box art, Phalanx is another classic work from one of Japan’s old guards in the art of painted war.
Power DoLLS | Kogado Studio | 1994 | JPN ver. | FM Towns, PC-98.
Power DoLLS 2 | Kogado Studio | 1994 | FM Towns, PC-98.
Power DoLLS 2 Dash | Kogado Studio | 1995 | PC-98.
Power DoLLS 3 | Kogado Studio | 1999 | Windows.
Power DoLLS 4 | Kogado Studio | 2000 | Windows.
Power DoLLS 5 | Kogado Studio | 2002 | Windows.
Power DoLLS 6 | Kogado Studio | 2004 | Windows.
Sōkō Kihei Votoms | Family Soft | 1988 | PC-98.
Strikers 1945 | Atlus | 1996 | JPN ver. | PS1, Saturn.
Strikers 1945 II | Psiyko | 1998 | JPN/ NA ver. | PS1, Saturn.
Verne World | Banpresto | 1995 | Super Famicom.
Yū Kinutani –
Dinosaur | Falcom | 1990 | FM Towns, PC-88, PC-98.
Yu Yamamoto –
ARMS (グリーンベレー) | Nintendo | 2017 | Nintendo Switch.
ARMS was Yu’s first box art. The artist would be responsible for the overall character design models, logotype and promotional art accompanying the game.
The artist has explained that because ARMS was a new Nintendo property the character art was changing daily, and so a close working relationship with the development team was required.
The artwork took into account the Switch’s vertical case dimensions (that were still undecided when the game’s graphic design had started) and was designed to show depth, that the game is a 3D fighter and to promote a ‘hot competition’ (the artist’s words).
Yuji Kaida –
The famous Godzilla and mechanical designer would start a long career in the video game industry by creating the promo poster for a young Hideo Kojima’s cyberpunk adventure Snatcher (Yuji’s art would also be used on the instruction manual for the 1988 releases and as box art for the 1994 Sega CD version).
His first high profile cover which saw a globally release on the still new Sega Mega Drive would be Ghouls ‘n Ghosts (1989). A generation of gamers would would be inducted into Yuji’s art through this cover and its masterful take on gothic-horror.
Into the 1990’s he would do a slew of mechanical themed covers that would be Japanese exclusives and finish, thus far, as a box artist with Ultra Seven (1993) - a reissued original piece of his. Throughout the rest of the ’90’s he would be involved in arcade and magazine illustrations, and post 2000 he would do a glut of card illustrations (popular in Japan, see Culdcept and Ateil series) and monster designs for various browser and IOS games.
ESWAT: City Under Siege | Sega | 1990 | Genesis, Mega Drive.
Ghouls n’ Ghosts | Capcom | 1989 | Genesis, Mega Drive.
Kiaidan 00 | Telenet Japan Co. | 1992 | PC Engine.
Nexzr | Naxat Soft | 1992 | PC Engine.
Snatcher | Konami | 1994 | Mega CD/ Sega CD.
Soldier Blade | Hudson Soft | 1992 | PC Engine.
Ultra Seven (ウルトラセブン) | Bandai Co. | 1993 | Super Famicom.
Originally a promotional piece for the Ultra Seven brand and then re-issued for the Super Famicom box art. It is Kaida’s final box art to date.
Whip Rush | Renovation Products | 1990 | Genesis, Mega Drive.
Yuji Uekawa –
Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg | Sega | 2003 | GameCube.
Samba de Amigo | Sega | 2000 | Dreamcast.
Samba de Amigo | Sega | 2008 | Nintendo Wii.
Samba de Amigo ver. 2000 | Sega | 2000 | Dreamcast.
Sonic 3D: Flickies Island | Sega | 1999 | Saturn.
Sonic Advance | Sega | 2001 | Game Boy Advance.
Sonic Advance 2 | Sega | 2002 | Game Boy Advance.
Sonic Advance 3 | Sega | 2004 | Game Boy Advance.
Sonic Adventure (ソニック アドベンチャー) | Sega | 1998 | Dreamcast.
Sonic Adventure would mark the start of Sega’s final foray as a publisher on it’s own hardware. The character art would be the first major revision that Sega had made to Sonic. The hedgehog was now more slender, with long, exaggerated limbs and with arguably a more Japanese-anime look to boot.
Sonic Adventure also marked the first time in the series that the cover art was used across the globe and unchanged in anyway - a testimony to the confidence Sega had in Uekawa’s designs.
Uekawa’s Sonic art would go on to be used for the best part of a decade after this, and well into Sega’s new phase as a developer/ publisher only.
Sonic Adventure 2 | Sega | 2001 | Dreamcast.
Sonic Adventure 2 Battle | Sega | 2001 | GameCube.
Sonic Adventure DX | Sega | 2003 | GameCube.
Sonic Heroes | Sega | 2003 | GameCube, PS2, PS3, Windows, Xbox.
Sonic Mega Collection/ Plus | Sega | 2002/ 2006 | GameCube.
Sonic Rush | Sega | 2005 | Nintendo DS.
Sonic Rush Adventure | Sega | 2007 | Nintendo DS.
Sonic the Hedgehog | Sega | 2006 | PS3, Xbox 360.
Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure | Sega | 1999 | Neo Geo Pocket Color.
Yukio Kitta –
Illusion City: Gen’ei Toshi (幻影都市) | Micro Cabin Corp | 1991 | FM Towns, MSX, PC-98, X68000.
Yukio’s grandiose and melancholic window into the future, would be imposingly possible due to the space available on Japan’s home computer casings. It wouldn’t represent the in-games bleak artistic direction, but, the lamenting architectural facade would sorrowfully tell the game’s fated tale brilliantly.
Illusion’s artistry melded both classic anime with delicate ligne claire styles of art. Inspiration can be seen from artist’s Moebius and Jean Giraud, and even though sci-fi isn’t Yukio’s normal genre, Illusion does still sit comfortably within the artists portfolio.
Sega’s Mega CD would be only console graced with a port and would switch front and back covers - complete with 1980’s style Manga characterisation by Mangaka Koji Nakakita - but in doing so offered a far inferior box art both visually and emotionally.
Yusuke Kozaki –
Fire Emblem: Awakening (ファイアーエムブレム 覚醒) | Nintendo | 2012 | 3DS.
Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright | Nintendo | 2015 | 3DS.
Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest | Nintendo | 2015 | 3DS.
No More Heroes | Marvelous Entertainment | 2007 | EU/ JPN ver. | Nintendo Wii.
No More Heroes | Ubisoft | 2008 | NA ver. | Nintendo Wii.
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle | Marvelous Entertainment | 2010 | EU/ NA ver. | Nintendo Wii.
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle | Marvelous Entertainment | 2010 | JPN ver. | Nintendo Wii.
No More Heroes: Heroes’ Paradise | Marvelous Entertainment | 2010 | PS3, Xbox 360.
No More Heroes: Red Zone | Marvelous Entertainment | 2011 | PS3.
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together | Square Enix | 2011 | PSP.
Yusuke Nakano –
Legend of Zelda, The: A Link Between Worlds | Nintendo | 2013 | 3DS.
Legend of Zelda, The: Ocarina of Time | Nintendo | 1998 | JPN ver. | Nintendo 64.
Legend of Zelda, The: The Twilight Princess | Nintendo | 2006 | EU/ NA ver. | Nintendo Wii.
Legend of Zelda, The: The Twilight Princess | Nintendo | 2006 | JPN ver. | Nintendo Wii.
Legend of Zelda, The: The Twilight Princess HD | Nintendo | 2016 | EU/ JPN ver. | Nintendo Wii U.
Legend of Zelda, The: The Twilight Princess HD | Nintendo | 2016 | NA ver. | Nintendo Wii U.
Legend of Zelda, The: The Wind Waker | Nintendo | 2002 | JPN ver. | GameCube.
Legend of Zelda, The: The Wind Waker | Nintendo | 2002 | EU/ NA ver. | GameCube.
Legend of Zelda, The: The Wind Waker HD (Limited Edition) | Nintendo | 2013 | Nintendo Wii U.
Super Mario 64 | Nintendo | 1996 | EU/ NA ver. | Nintendo 64.
Super Mario 64 | Nintendo | 1996 | JPN ver. | Nintendo 64.
Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 | Nintendo | 1994 | Game Boy.