The GHZ Forum

‘A picture is worth a thousand words’ goes the old adage. Which Sonic cover communicated a title so well that you ended up liking the box art just as much as (or perhaps even more than) the game itself?

Obviously, it isn’t possible to include every possible option on the poll, but if your choice isn’t listed simply post it below. Votes can be made for the post-Saturn areas games, but I’ve left them off as they mainly consist of character art collages.

For me, box art should communicate the essence of a game in a thought provoking way. As most Sonic game covers merely recycle character art, there are few items of box art that I actually like.

My vote goes Sonic CD [PC, Japan], simply because it is one of the few artwork pieces that adhere to my box art definition. It hints at an interesting story that mixes romance, time travel and rivalry. Perhaps its only weakness is that it presents Little Planet as Death Egg-like structure as opposed to contrasting its natural beauty with Eggman’s mechanical ambitions.

I’m also particularly fond of the Sonic the Hedgehog [Mega Drive, Europe] box, as it presents all the key players of the game in an unusual and striking way.

The Japanese Mega Drive boxes had a strong sense of continuity which helped to establish a unified identity for the series. However, it would have been better if each title presented its own unique scene. The vibrant pop-art style patterns could function as a frame for the scene. This would have retained the continuity without making the design of covers too repetitive. ^_^

I also voted for the PC cover of Sonic CD, though I like most of the covers, U.S., Europe, and Japan alike, for the Sonic games. The only exceptions, at least to me, were the Japanese Mega Drive games' boxes. I dunno why, but I always thought they looked kind of half-assed..Sonic and co. look good, but I would've preferred real backgrounds, like the Sonic 1 U.S. Game Gear cover (my favorite U.S. box art).

I've voted for the US Sonic 1. Sonic himself isn't spot on to how we'd like him to look, but at the time, I didn't really care (that started around Sonic 2), and I think the background really captured the in-game style well. It's not entirely spot on either, now that I take another look at it, but it still looks quite good.

I also voted US Sonic 1. I thought it did a great job of giving a little preview of both the in-game environment and the sort of atmosphere of the Sonic world. I also really enjoyed the fact that it included that one spiky rotating cylinder path from the first stage which I could recognize easily from the game and say "Hey, I remember that!"

I couldn't decide for any of the Japan PC ones, so I voted the Japanese Mega Drive ones... Maybe that wasn't a wise move, probably they are the reason why the games didn't sell that well there ~_~.

Still, don't judge me wrong, the JPN PC Sonic CD kicks ass, it's obvious; I sadly have the USA one, which in an ironical twist, looks like the Mega Drive JPN covers, only with the american-style Sonic in it.

... Sonic and a Time Stone (which's easily mistakable for a Chaos Emerald). Nothing more... Yes, it also kicks ass, after all.

I really enjoy the Tails Adventure box, though I don't know why.

SONIC CD PC.

What everyone said, I also like the Sonic Screen saver box.

I think I am gonna go against the norm and vote for Sonic Adventure US. It isn't so much that SA1's boxart was good, but I just really like that style of Sonic.

I think the most fair thing to do is to actually post a link with the covers. Until then, my vote goes to the Master System Sonic 1 (Tectoy version), merely for nostalgia.

Just look them up. I bet you could find them on this site actually, although I'm not positive.

Light Speed wrote:I think I am gonna go against the norm and vote for Sonic Adventure US. It isn't so much that SA1's boxart was good, but I just really like that style of Sonic.

Early Yuji Uekawa Sonic was awesome. And though I hate to nitpick, but Sonic Adventure has the same boxart in all three regions (Riders was the first game in a while to have radically different boxart between regions).

I wasn't sure and I was too lazy to check, so I said US just in case.

EDIT:This is probably my favorite picture of Sonic from that era.

It's alright. They used to change box art all the time for the Japanese, American, and European versions of the same Sonic game. It wouldn't be until Sonic Drift 2 and Tails' Adventure that the U.S. got the same covers as the Japanese. Nowadays all the games have the same box art, though.

Just checked the covers on the museum, and from the options above, S&K Collection is the one that seemed cooler. But I think the S&K one should have been included too.

Powerful. Totally ass-kicker.

Sonic 2 Europe, no problem. Sonic himself looks a little odd, but Tails is great, and the looming Robotnik is just perfect.

Sonic 3 US and Chaos Europe come in for a joint second.

I guess I'd have to say Sonic the Hedgehog, Europe in my case.
It was fresh and original keeping a simple overview of who was in the game.

We should have a vote for the worst box art too. Or at least talk about it, maybe! Mine's the <a href="http://www.theghz.com/museum/covers/son3_uk.jpg">PAL version of Sonic 3</a>. The PAL 3D Blast is also a definite contender.

Sonic 2 U.S. is pretty lame as well. The only good thing about it is the checkered "2".

G.Silver wrote:We should have a vote for the worst box art too. Or at least talk about it, maybe! Mine's the <a href="http://www.theghz.com/museum/covers/son3_uk.jpg">PAL version of Sonic 3</a>. The PAL 3D Blast is also a definite contender.

Why don't you make it next week's poll?

Me? DO something around here? Surely you jest!

What day do the polls go up?

Do we have an actual rule for that? I thought it was just vaguely weekly.

Try for Sundays.

<a href="http://www.clavis.ne.jp/~sonic/segasoni ... Here</a>'s a reference.

I like all the Japanese Mega Drive artwork. The continuous style used is very vibrant and stands out from other game box art even today.