Fighting Game Box Art 

SNK box arts always manage to be eye catching to me no matter how generic they can sometimes get, so glad it finally gets some spotlight in this video. Also, I think why they paired Ryu with Terry in certain CVS game box arts is because Terry was the main protagonist for SNK's first fighting game and also he would later become the mascot of the company.

Japanese Capcom box art for their games, especially in the 90s, had this distinct cool look to it that was unreproducable by any other company.

I really like the vanilla mvc3 cover more than umvc3's. Tekken 4 remains as a goated cover along with tekken 3. The capcom vs snk covers just bring so many nostalgic memories with the shinkiro art. What amazes me was that you mentioned the old playstation all stars battle royale cover here. That itself is more appealing than the default

It's always disappointing when the cover looks like something a 15-year-old can make with Photoshop and a few renders.

When it comes to box arts the DBZ and Naruto games of the PS2 and GC era always had the best box arts KOF 2001 had a hard box art with K' in a red background posing kinda smugly 🔥💯

Xmen COTA's box art on the Saturn just looks nuts. Tekken 4 was another one that was good. As simple as it was, it caught the vibes of the 2000's. It sucks that the focus on the box art is fading away, especially since it was such a great way to not only discover artist, but also be inspired by the art too. Loved when the manuals had different art too but manual art has been dead for some time 😭

Just to add up some extra info: The UMVC3 original cover was actually reversible, with the other side using American style art much more in proximity with the original MVC3 cover. I personally didn't like the art there but as you mentioned, it might have been a better piece of work judging exclusively by that factor. Check it out when you have the chance!

You're so right about SNK boxart. Really on another level aesthetically, almost every time. I enjoy your videos a ton, thank you for making them!

One piece of cover art I really like but never see many opinions on is the Japanese Saturn art for Virtua Fighter Remix. It's this really detailed, hand drawn piece with some harsh, but pleasant coloring. You don't really ever see VF characters depicted in that style after that. The US/PAL version's cover is hilarious in comparison, but that version was also a mail order game Sega sent out for free to apologize for the poorly received original release, so I guess having appealing art to sell the game was less of a priority. Love the video, glad to see so many more aspects of the genre are being explored!

Oh nice, I've actually been thinking of talking about this exact topic. Great minds think alike.

Tekken Tag 1 was one of my favorite covers. The cool side shot of Kazuya and faded images of other characters behind him. Such the nostalgia!

1:54 here someone that always bothers me the cover use ryu’s alpha design while in the actual game it uses his street fighter 2 design

I've always liked the box art for Sonic Battle, very stylized, catches your eye, and features the two most popular Sonic characters duking it out. Also its a rare time when I think the US art is better than the JP art since I like the American layout more.

I'm glad I ran into this channel. My love for Retro fighters has grown in the past few months. Two of my favorite things: Design and Fighters.

SNK and Shinkiro really pulled out some master class box art. From the cast celebtating KOF 98 to the legendary Real Bout cover with that striking red with the black suits making contrast with the piercing gaze pf Geese Howard. I feel like you forgot to mention the KOF 94 box art. As they did an incredible job showcasing the revolutionary 3V3 they were putting out there. But fantastic video overall.

I feel like Tekken 4 is the greatest case of a localized cover fumbling the bag. Japan and Europe got the extremely cool arcade poster with the storm clouds, but over here? Just bright orange with Jin's default render, and 50% opacity Kazuya and Heihachi behind him.

The tekken 4 blue box art goes HARDDDD

As always a nice video @Baberuthless. As a long time fighting game fan in the UK the line "Pal is all over the place". I believe really fits us very well. With the size and presanse of US and Japan we tend to be that often ignored third child skulking in the corner. I liked the box art for Darkstalkers 3, it certainly got the attention of my note taker back in my college days. He wasn't a gamer but he pointed it out as soon as we went to the game shop.

Box arts always gets me excited to see the visual style games and how creative the team can get with showing off the game. 3D renders of characters just posing in the front of the cover just feels uninspired as there is no visual flair outside of character

SNK are absolutely untouchable when it comes to character art. They always did a stellar job of illustrating their characters as real living people with depth and lives... who also just happen to be beating the shit out of each other 😂

Cool video! Now I want a fighting game collection video lol.

1:50 this Terry is from Fatal Fury Wild Ambition (the 2 are from other games)

SNK box art and art in general, is the best. From Shinkiro, Hiroaki, Ogura and even Falcoon. They're inspirational

The Kim/Kyouske cover is so funny to me. Both wouldn't classify as secondary protagonists of their own games, and you have the entire iconic cast of Street Fighter, and to entice new buyers, you choose a Rival Schools rep. Not hating on them, I do like both characters, but it feels like they went to random select in-game to make the cover.

Thank You for recognizing how awesome SNK Box arts are. I always felt they were Iconic.

Capcom Vs SNK Pro american cover is using a Terry illustration from a Wild Ambition ad. So it also is a cut & paste just like Ryu

19:07 I officially can't unsee long hair Link now. Also, (and I apologize for this being unrelated) I am somewhat curious about why aquariums are an oddly recurring location for fighting game stages.

I love these videos. I learn something new and find something else to collect.

Once again, l absolutely love the depth of the videos on this channel!! Thanks again for all your hard work!

7:27 this one is so charming Specially frank west's head poking from the side

The director for Rival Schools was also the director for SNK vs Capcom 2 so he just decided to put the character there why him specifically I don't know also he's in the top left corner

Loved this and your Fighting Games you can Legally play video so I subscribed! Box art is one of my favorite parts of games, especially as a game collector. It’s heartbreaking to see physical games decline but hopefully they can continue as long as they can.

This video is already a winner in the beginning when CAP VS SNK OST starts playing. Won me over instantly.

As a fun fact, Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance was originally meant to be subtitled "Vengeance" instead, which is where the metal "V" shape came from. It thus would have played not only into the fact that V is the Roman numeral for 5 and this was the 5th game, but also a V for "Vengeance".

The cover of Tekken 8 (hope they will keep it) is cool af! 🔥

Oof that last line of box art disappearing really stings 😆 Fantastic video btw. I recently made a video about video game box art, and realized I needed to make it at least a two parter, as there really is a ton of fantastic and riveting covers out there…and that my heart will truly break when it’s the reduced to “icons on the home screen “😔 Regardless, great topic and video!

That Alpha 2 box art goes so hard still. I was definitely let down with Alpha 3 cover. I wish they would go back to hand drawn illustrations but they have to fit with the times I guess. And Jin straight up stole Star Platinum's gloves. 😆 You saying "PERFECT" while Perfect shows up is... perfect 15:53 😂awesome job as always, keep up the good work!

I'd love to see an alternate timeline where capcom didn't localize the covers for the games, using just the japanese box arts for the west, and compare sales.

I have never seen that Japanese X-Men Children of the Atom art for Saturn til now. That's some of the sickest shit ever and I need it. Also, on the topic of shinkiro, my wife and I are always looking out for random shinkiro art in unexpected places. Like the Japanese box art for Psi Ops on PS2. Dude is actually just Geese Howard.

THIS was such a good video :D I hated how the CvS2 cover featured Kim's illustration from CvS 1 in the background. Lazy. I did, however, love Kyosuke's inclusion in the front, only because it feels rare for Capcom to give any love its fighting games outside of Street Fighter, and it seems they wanted to let their audience know that this game would *finally* be a little different and think outside the box. Which, ultimately, they didn't lol but it's aight.

Nice video, as always !

I think the most iconic boxart for my childhood has to be the snes version of killer instinct, Fulgore looked so bad ass.

Baberuthless is is the best username I've seen in a long time. Awseome video

The japanese pocket fighter is the most perfect cover ever made. It has character trying to be serious, a pratically every non "secret" character and everything is cute

1:11 Come on Terry is the most iconic Snk character ever.

Always love cool boxart talk

While in game Terry isn't Ryu's rival. Terry is the posterboy of SNK, being their first fighting game series and more loved among SNK staff.

This was a really interesting video as I've seen videos talking about bad box art but never a video focusing on a genre both good and bad. Have to say my favorites are the Mortal Kombat covers, love that the dragon logo is always included and has a different look for each installment.

18:59 I knew that was Link right away it was the whole reason I bought the game in the first place.

Mk9 is a personal favorite for that series. And Tekken 3, Alpha 2 are outright classic.

I know it's basic, but I love the cover art for SC2. Especially the gamecube version with link on the top looks classy 👌

CvS2 was actually one of my earlier fighting games, with Capcom being "the mega man and street fighter guys" and SNK being "???" to me. Anyway the cover made me think for years that Kyosuke was some kind of big deal in the fighting game world, when in reality he's a niche character from a niche series. absolutely wild that they made him the posterboy, although I did find the cover super striking as a kid so maybe that was the sole reason.

Terry looks like he forgot he left the oven on when he's out and about in that cvs1 box art lmao.

Interesting video, it raises a discussion not just about fighting game covers but game covers entirely. Growing up, I used to think a gane was going to be so cool because I looked at the box art. Like Star Wars, The Force Unleashed, you see Starkiller electrocuting stormtroopers and it looks sick! Now compare that to most first person shooters, and they don't do much artistically. They just show a man standing or sitting with his gun over his shoulder.

Kyo is the poster boy for KOF games.. but Terry is the man, make no mistake

11:33 ok now I can’t unsee Sakura in the background

Anoyher AMAZING TOPIC!! Fighting game box art is such a great appeal, all the variety to it. I literally brought the Sega Genesis SUper SFII box months ago because of the box itself.

Amazing video!

3:42 I am pretty sure this is Rock Howard. It makes sense because all characters in that region of the cover are new characters from CVS2. I do agree that all CVS2 covers are pretty disappointing by its contemporary standards.

The Smash Bros boxarts were always my favorites, specially the Brawl and Smash 4 ones

Great Video!

Awesome video

Love this channel!

Terry artwork on capcom vs snk on ps1 is from fatal fury wild ambition, great video.

Very nice video.

1:03 The funniest part about this box art is one major thing: That image of Terry is literally just cut and pasted from Fatal Fury Wild Ambition Side note: Personally, I feel like the reason they chose Terry as the pointman for SNK could potentially be due to the fact that outside of Japan, Terry's a more popular character than Kyo

I've always loved the Mortal Kombat box arts from the first game to Armaggedon. Just comes to show that all you need is a powerful logo to tell what the game entails without having to resort to elaborated characters. MK1 to 7 covers felt dark and somewhat intimidating, like you know if you see the dragon brand, something's about to get bloody. From MK vs DC to MK11, the covers just felt too loud. Plus, the logo was just a background this time. I'd say the same for the latest MK1 but based on the lore of Liu Kang restarting the timeline, I'd say the cover was justified for its light and vivid theme. At least the dragon logo was bigger this time.

Haha. I see you low key showing off your collection. Nice! Joking aside, enjoyed the video. Thanks for doing this.

Top 5 box art for me is 1.Dbz Budokai 3 2.Super street fighter 2 3.Marvel vs Capcom 2 4.Street Fighter alpha 3 ps 5.Tekken 3

Terry is and always was SNK's poster boy. Kyo is the poster boy for KOF. He is a more suitable rival for Ryu though as evidenced by everything else

Interesting topic, it'd be nice to see something similar about fighting game soundtrack box arts, some are certainly interesting to say the least.

For DOA I think the best one is DOA4 cover, I love it really looks like they got the characters together to take the picture

Front and back of the box was how we picked what game to rent at Blockbuster for the weekend. XD

10:01 Similar thing with Monster Hunter games! World and Wilds logos evoke the numbers 5 and 6, signifies thats their entries in the series, after monster hunter 4 being the final numbered one

we always got shafted in the states for cover art lmao, another great Video BR!

I think the hard-to-recognize character next to the Dreamcast logo on Capcom vs SNK 2 is supposed to be Orochi.

I loved this video !!!! So good For sf6. There’s this amazing key art of Luke ryu and Chun Li that they used for merch.. sadly could have been the best box art

I’m trying to draw and you release one of my favorite things about fighting games 😅

fighting climax ignition sighted ...

Great video, as always!!! I love them. When it comes to the face of SNK, it's always been Terry. SNK would always try to push for Kyo to be the face to represent them, but the fans know it will always be Terry.

Ugh, I sighed so hard at the very last sentence you said lol. That actually has been a thought of mine as of late. I've actually been posting on Reddit some "best of a franchise" collages, with boxart being one of the categories. And yeah, it got me thinking about how people are going to associate games more with their menu icon now, than actual boxart. I will say though, that consoles are now using more dvd-boxart-shaped pictures than the squares of Xbox and Nintendo. I have an idea for future content. One of the categories in my reddit posts was game logos. And I'm curious what you think about them, or your philosophy on what makes a good one. For Tekken, I chose T2. For SF I chose SFA1. And for MK, I chose MK2.

Wtf I've never seen the Gamestop exclusive UMVC3 cover, I like the normal one but that should've been the standard! It looks great!

I love Marvel vs Capcom game covers it gave me a comic book vibe.

Do you have an all-time favorite Boxart? Also, it would be fun to dream up box art for future games, like a Smash Bros. 6 or Capcom vs. SNK 3

Me who collects the guilty gear games because of the box arts: 😳

"3" -Capcom (Smartest Capcom move)

Tatsunonko v capcom 😤👌 what a gem with that Shinkiro art 🎨 just a stand out for a wii game cover 👀 with excellent use of white space, with trix colored characters.

10:52 14:52 saying the f word is bloody amazing 😂

16:34 when Brawlhalla did their crossover with tekken the three characters why did did pick devil Jin , anna Williams ,and yoshimisu to be in the game instead of kazuya,hedhichi or regular Jin sorry just had to get that off my chest

shout out to the Tatsunoko vs Capcom box art. it’s a little generic but i love the artstyle and seeing all the Tatsunoko characters

Noice

I never realized Sakura was in the Alpha 2 cover

SF6 has fantastic boxart.😊

11:20 Is... is that Heihachi on Tag 1's box just a screenshot from the Tekken 3 intro? 12:48 Okay, the way Luke's face looks reminds me of how Chris looked on the OG Resident Evil 1 box art. Also, counter point about Hawkeye, not that he would sell the game, but that his original (And better) design isn't recognizable, Avengers Earths Mightiest Heroes (The best Marvel cartoon) was airing around the time, (And even had most of the actors in MVC3) and that was the design they used for Hawkeye in the show, so I think anyone who watched the show would know that's Hawkeye, which is a decent amount of people from what I can tell.

Fighting game Box Art I think is decent is Def Jam Fight For NYC.

It will be interesting 20+ years from now to see how we feel about covers from today - maybe we’ll be super nostalgic for the bad sf6 cover

Some thoughts I personally will say Terry vs. Ryu feels way more appropriate than Kyo vs. Ryu for 2 major reasons -Terry and Ryu both fill that archetype of the wandering warrior seeking fights and improvement. Yeah, they're personalities are a bit different with Terry being more outgoing and Ryu being more reserved, but something about the two really feels like you'd get an intense yet friendly fight. -Both are protagonists of the games that serve as the progenitors of their respective companies fighting game legacies, without Street Fighter there is no Darkstalkers or MvC, and without Fatal Fury there isn't a KOF for Kyo to come from. Mortal Kombat is a great example of how less can be more, the logo is distinct yet not overwhelming, and can act as very good shorthand for communicating expectations people should have for the game, especially when combined with any entry specific flare added onto it. I find Sakura is kind of appropriate in the SFA2 art given that she's not just a new character but also one who practices a self-taught version of Ryu and Akuma's style of martial arts. Soul Calibur's box art I think does work, largely due to the logo. Having that cool angular blue logo contrasting with the warmer softer abstract art really makes the cover stand out. I think what also helps is the use of the Calibur in the title, calling to mind not just Excalibur but also Caliber as measure of quality, so Soul Calibur can bring to mind not just the sword itself but the testing of the souls of the cast. The logo when combined with the art, that still clearly shows human, creates a sense that something grander/epic is going on. So, while not clearly showcasing the fighting element of the game, it does give a sense of the scope of the game's world/story. It's also a cover that really screams turn of the millennium, something that could really only be done then and on a system like the Dreamcast.

Im absolutly right there with you in not joining the bandwagon that the SF6 CD art should have been the main box art for SF6. I get people really hate the luke one but that doesnt mean we gotta settle for less with the CD one.

Personally, I like the SVC Chaos boxart more than the CvS1 boxes. But that might have to do with personal bias Also, I like how you just had a blank spot for MK vs DC in the Mortal Kombat reel 14:58 don't think we wouldn't see that "Cheat Loaded" pop-up, lol

13:53 that cover is my favorite but paul makes no sense he replaced jin 16:07 look is the pac