American VS Japanese Video Game Box Art

[@mkthemc]

90's American box art has that flashy in your face look with those dark blues and super exaggerated facial expressions while Japanese box art has that subtle feel with the soft whites and toned down facial expressions. Quite a contrast in style back then.

[@gjfkhvjzjsxbq]

Most Japanese box art has aged far better compared to NA box art

[@Sirjesterx]

"That subtle feel" idk if thats a good descriptor for art lol. Its really about the level of abstraction. Japanese artists in the 90s were already masters at simplifying forms into basic geometry, and that translated really well into cartoons and manga. But americans in the 90s, despite disney doing a good job at abstracting their characters into simple and enjoyable shapes, just didn't have the same fundamentals surrounding cartoons like the japanese. Not to mention the 90s were edgey af in NA, ESPECIALLY surrounding video games.

[@superfandesonic1]

I always loved the Japanese cover arts! The sonic ones were so flashy and the kirby ones so cute!!

[@AltKaxREAL]

Japanese sonic will always be my favorite

[@qweezinator6420]

I agree, some of the American box art is trash

[@Raymanlegacy]

@@qweezinator6420fr look at that mega man 😂

[@sonichacker141]

mega man looks majestic though 😳

[@somefries3101]

@@qweezinator6420 i never understood why they felt like redrawing the cover art to fit their culture, they just do it wrong man...

[@ShirubaGin]

That transition from Crash to Yakuza was smooth.

[@SECONDQUEST]

I prefer old guy with banjo

[@Marzimus]

Sold me on the game some thirty years ago. Traded in five games (Video Game Swappers) to wind up playing Darius Twin more...win win, to be honest.

[@SleepyLuigi]

Who doesn’t?

[@WardofSquid]

Fr fr

[@juanrodriguez9971]

That guy is literally the only reason why people keeps talking about Phalanx to this day, those mfs did the best thing possible back then.

[@Johnmrobinson-vb5vd]

Clearly it's superior

[@mwelite1706]

I’ve read that the differences in box art is because in America, cute styled things are for kids. While in japan cuteness is just an art style. Hence Kirby frowning. It’s to make him look less kiddy. Also why Crash was changed so much.

[@channellastname3527]

But, even with Kirby frowning, he still looks adorable

[@atavious2491]

Most Americans I guess just don't like happiness as they probably think it's a sign of weakness, immaturity, and overall lack of integrity. Sometimes I just don't understand my culture as I see this behavior everywhere in the media and it's just depressing. I just want Superman and Batman to go back to being light hearted again as it was back in the 60s and 70s and I'm saying this as a zoomer who's fed up with superhero movies trying to be gloomy over being to campy. I think She-Hulk and Ms. Marvel is doing us all a favor by trying to make some of us smile every once in a while

[@mwelite1706]

@@atavious2491 I have heard that was the reason why the gamecube had poor sales. Since Americans had a liking to violence and realistic graphics in video games while the Japanese wanted family friendly games. (Also She hulk attorney at law, the show that insults regular marvel fans and shows hypocrisy on every level. I heard bad things about Ms.Marvel. Then you have Teen Titans Go! a total dumpster fire. I wish for a comedic superhero show that had good writing, intelligent humor, and of course… action.)

[@Devilish_Orange112]

@@atavious2491 she-hulk is a bad example(tbh I think spiderman should've fit better), but ms. Marvel is dope

[@firestriker3580]

The 60s and 70s work that light hearted. It was campy. Batman does not need to be in light hearted he needs to be dark, and as for superman he can be light hearted but not to the point where it's all kitty.

[@ShadowXeldron]

To be fair on Sonic Spinball, it was developed my the American team at STI (this is shown by the SatAM characters in the bonus stages and Sonic resembling the Greg Martin design more than the original Sonic 1 appearance. It also "treats" your ears to audio produced with the GEMS sound driver, which was popular with US devs and is the source of truly the compositions ever produced), so it makes sense that it would come out in America and Europe before Japan. Japan still has the better boxart though, so that's the one I use for Spinball in my Steam library (with the exception of the Game Gear version, since the Greg Martin artwork just seems more "Game Gear" to me).

[@vistagunner]

You could make good music with GEMS.

[@pablocasas5906]

I remember watching the Japanese commercials for Sonic Spinball with the narrator dropping some English phrases like "American Funky Action", like they wanted to emphasize that it was developed in the U.S.

[@ShadowXeldron]

@@vistagunner I was actually considering naming a few instances of good GEMS soundtracks (such as Vectorman), but I omitted it in the interest of conciseness and to avoid sending the comment too far off-topic.

[@robertwyatt3912]

GEMS is actually really good, it’s just that it comes with the Genesis equivalent of default windows midi instruments

[@ShadowXeldron]

@@robertwyatt3912 That explains a lot. Thanks for the info!

[@randomistough0]

0:33 I mean Megaman still looks really impressive for the NES.

[@jaccblacc8424]

Another think about Yakuza is the name, in Japan it's called "Ryu Ga Gotoku" which translates to "Like a Dragon", the name would late be the subtitle of Yakuza 7 and now with the 8th game, it seems like Yakuza is no longer called Yakuza but rather the original Japanese name "Like a Dragon".

[@lemonov3031]

Which is good. The games aren't really about the yakuza.

[@randomduck8679]

@@lemonov3031 Not about the Yakuza now. The title definitely worked with the previous games.

[@schawangus]

Oh that’s cool. It’s like how in the West, we know the series as Resident Evil, while Japan has always called it Biohazard. And when the 7th game came out, we got “Resident Evil 7: Biohazard” while Japan got “Biohazard 7: Resident Evil”

[@Kaimax61]

@@randomduck8679 Barely even with the previous games... when said Main character was mostly not IN the yakuza 80% of his whole game appearance. and most of the time he's running away from the Tojo clan.

[@randomduck8679]

@@Kaimax61 "I may have left the clan years ago, but I'm still Yakuza." - Kiryu Kazuma, Yakuza 6

[@lamiamekni2802]

7:02 when I saw the cover for the first time, I was like "Sonic looks HD" before I realized that HD didn't exist in the 90s

[@thechugg4372]

I mean I.. what? HD is a television standard, I don't know why we're talking about a drawing being "hd"

[@lamiamekni2802]

@@thechugg4372 I meant the art looks "pseudo 3D" (before I knew the word)

[@jcoolguy1548]

Hd did actually exist in the 90s. It was made in 1998. Yeah it wasn't until the later half in the 90s but it did exist during that time period

[@lamiamekni2802]

@@jcoolguy1548 oh

[@gjfkhvjzjsxbq]

@@lamiamekni2802 analog HD actually did exist as far back as the 1980s also 35mm film is equivalent to 4k and that was invented in 1889

[@nigralurker]

2:40 Kid Icarus isn't displaying anger, he's showing focus and concentration, which if you ever watched someone prepare to fire a bow, they're completely concentrated on firing at their target.

[@viniciusmonado8205]

Dude just called Pit "Kid Icarus".

[@mrkill2020]

That's not what kind of character he is

[@Kaimax61]

@@mrkill2020 Well, they did call Pit, "kid Icarus". I doubt they knew what kind of character Pit is lol Imagine if when it got localized the game was called the same as the JP one , Light's Myth : Palutena's Mirror. they might call him Light. lmao.

[@nigralurker]

@@viniciusmonado8205 Yeah forgive me for the typo of a character from a lesser semi-dead franchise by Nintendo that has only kept remotely relevant over a decade ago due to Sakurai's desire to make a game for him after his debut in Smash starting with Brawl. Smash is the only reason he's maintained any relevance past his NES/GB game. The reality is; from a marketing perspective, it makes more sense to give him a more focused look on his boxart. Especially when it was for a release of a new game of a dormant IP that hadn't seen a new game in over 20 years.

[@viniciusmonado8205]

@@nigralurker Your argument would be valid... If he wasn't called Pit in Smash, lol.

[@miragebangbravern]

The reason why Kirby had a more meaner look in the US cover art is to make him look fiercer because Japanese devs think that the muricans prefer their playable video game protagonists to be aggressive, you can see this with the Crash Bandicoot cover arts too. In fact, there even exist an official US ad of Kirby being depicted as a criminal complete with inmate facial hair so....yeah....you get the idea now.

[@trainsandmore2319]

Well, the box art is the same for both regions now

[@Raddish-IS-Radd]

Yeah cause when I think of a squishy, adorable, and pink creature I think of aggressive

[@themissingbits6375]

American Sonic: Oh look how 90s cool he is, He(s) so cool! American Kirby: Oh look how cute he is, But where is the Colors American Mega Man: 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮

[@Skibidi_Fazbear]

American megaman is a true sigma male😎

[@Kaimax61]

Don't mention all the JRPG main characters that got turned into Fabio clones lmao.

[@billybadass3056]

@@Skibidi_Fazbear Jesus Christ.... you have NO fking clue what that term even means

[@Skibidi_Fazbear]

@@billybadass3056 not my fault i don't take sigma males seriously and only see it as a goofy joke

[@turrican3839]

@No name Please tell me you've seen every American box art after 2, its leagues ahead, even against Japan in some art

[@Vailskibum]

Your editing style has been improving 👀

[@sonic7806]

Hi Vail!

[@ridingatractor7616]

Damn vail commented and barely noticed

[@not_kjb]

¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

[@not_kjb]

69

[@SneakyGreninja]

ugh

[@Cp-71]

Japan: Cute US: Edgy Europe: Everything goes

[@0b13F4st3]

Interesting to note when it comes to different box art for video games. The covers for the first "Ape Escape" game in Japan, America and Europe were also quite different as well.

[@iscopeeee]

Hell yeah, Crash mention! The sometimes arbitrary changes they made to the series in Japan has always been so fascinating to me :0

[@jenniferpinel8427]

I'm actually writing my thesis on this subject, so this video was very interesting and very informative. Thank you!

[@DrRobotnikPingas]

1:03 Dr Wily looks like, he just invented the atom bomb

[@NerdKirby]

Yooo, Kirby mentioned! Box art is always very interesting anyways!

[@fluffcake]

I love how Sonic is more serious in the Japanese box art and more happy in the International release, mirroring Kirby.

[@brandonwilliams6119]

Ristar was also different in America in Japan, he was like Sega’s Kirby in that regard, they both travel to different planets, they are both Star Children, Ristar came out in 1995 and Kirby Superstar 1996 so technically Ristar did the whole Milky Way Wishes thing first.

[@LegendaryMudkip]

I am still envious for Japan for their box art of Ocarina Of Time 3D.

[@alicesacco9329]

Sonic, I remember. I was so confused about how to draw Sonic. I had Sonic for Sega master system wuth the Japanese cover, and Sonic for Mega Drive with the American cover. I ended to learn to draw(from memory) the Japanese Sonic because I though he was cuter. I didn't like the mohawk thing. My brother instead learned to draw the American Sonic. In Italy you could easily see both version of Sonic.

[@6ProZach9]

man i thought this was a 1 mil channel and i was shocked that it was only 21K? after i watched this i went and watched like half of your videos and i gotta say man you are great! you are videos are amazing and the presentation is really good i love your content man keep on doing videos id like to see you a youtube star one day stay awesome!

[@Poyostar]

Great stuff as always, Kiro! Personally, when it comes to older games like those released in the 1980s and 1990s (and even a couple in the 2000s) I have a general preference for the Japanese box arts over their American counterparts, and this is true for many franchises. Kirby and Sonic are the two biggest examples of this, but some others include Klonoa, Mario and Mega Man. Though, this doesn't mean I think every American box art from that era isn't worth anything, since they can be pretty great as well at times!

[@ThatRandomFastingGuy]

Yakuza 3's Japanese boxart is artistically striking. The West is just "just get his model and chuck up some generic oriental themed background". 😅

[@CaptBlock]

8:00 you could say, a new frontier I'll see myself out

[@lamiamekni2802]

I always prefer the Japanese cover arts

[@SightlySinner]

I’m glad they went with these edgier covers for America cause seeing them side by side with the other ones I generally prefer them to this day. They were smart to do that cause sometimes people would select a game not by word of mouth but by judging it by it’s cover especially in a video rental store.

[@snowkitten3285]

The American box art almost always has like 200 shades of one colour while the European and Japanese box art have a single colour

[@Zzaaccharay]

2:13 THATS RA-

[@Niosai]

This channel is something special. Can't believe I'm just now finding it! Awesome content, keep it up!

[@daamazinfatb0y752]

The fact that he actually had to ponder over the Yakuza 3 box art just astounds me

[@TheEarthRealm]

1:00 Hold on now, the European versions slap... I need to move over there! 😂

[@caldadextra2063]

Sonic spinball Japan looks like Sonic just installed a Sandevistan cyber deck into his spine

[@mahirakalucasahammed2443]

2:53 spyro on the american box art looks like hanna-barbera’s wally gator

[@akiraasmr3002]

@1:15 "like megaman's expression changing SLIGHTLY" ughhh they changed his whole face lmaooooo

[@edwardweaver6869]

4 fingers also relates to superstition regarding the number 4 in Japan. The number 4 is closely related to death, and if you played Silent Hill the number 4 is used for horror effect.

[@unofficialmeme5972]

The American boxart for Sonic always got too much hate when it came to comparison with the Japanese boxart. In a way, it's really cool because it's almost reminiscent of movie posters for action flicks.

[@YeahBoi420]

Spyro in Japan: cute🥰 Spyro in America: confidently cold 🥶

[@tvirus9369]

I think the four fingers are censored because alot of Japanese work with machine and often lose fingers same thing happened with oddworld on the ps1

[@jackofallgamesTV]

My dad had an unauthorized bootleg Mickey Mouse button saying "Hey Russia" and him flipping the ring finger to the camera. Dad says you can wear this in school because Mickey Mouse doesn't have a middle finger. In order to have a middle finger you must have an odd number of fingers. Later we saw Homer Simpson give the ring finger. Speaking which do The Simpsons characters (except for God) have four fingers in Japan?

[@ericriley1985]

Uh, no. It's because of the association of four fingers with the Yakuza. Fun fact: four fingers is the reason why The Simpsons took some time to gain its popularity in Japan.

[@WTFer420]

@@ericriley1985 Uh, no! It's because of a special interest group in Japan that represents people who lost fingers in jobs. They became stigmatized & made fun of by their loss of fingers by society & then they decided to sue the hell out of anyone portraying 4 fingers in any media as offensive. There are tons of articles about it.

[@ericriley1985]

@WTFer420 Could you please cite some sources? Because as a half-Japanese who grew up in Japan, I've never heard of that before.

[@neubro1448]

The superstition that four (shi) also means death. Four fingers don't usually apply to animals, only humans.

[@maverickhuntermeta4954]

Bad Box Art Megaman also got mentioned again in the animated series called Megaman: Fully Charged (I forgot the name) where a human vigilante wore a suit made out of cardboard that looks like bad box art megaman and went by the name ManMan.

[@BigOlSmellyFlashlight]

i really like that segue into the yakuza franchise. i also really like the yakuza franchise.

[@saricubra2867]

My favorite Sonic Box Art ever is Sonic Adventure for the Dreamcast.

[@alicesacco9329]

The american mentality toward games, comics 'kids don't want to be treated like kids), so, according to this, a comic, a game destined to kids, 9-10 years old, must feature adult characters, so kids don't feel treated like kids. I must say when i reached that age, I started to watch anime. It featured characters of my age (at that time) instead of adult characters.

[@doozy5184]

If videogames kept the cutesy Japanese style in America there probably wouldn't be as much of that 'videogames causing violence' controversy.

[@nirilj7069]

Yo new kiro talks vid

[@prabeshgurung1067]

While I do overall prefer the japanese covers in most cases throughout cover history, I do still enjoy seeing the creative western ones.

[@plusah1268]

Actually shocked u only have 23k subs. U deserve way more

[@Matt_MR]

Oh so that's why Sonic has 5 fingers

[@madekillasam1553]

It's weird that both Knuckles chaotix and Mcdonalds treasure land adventure have the american box art flipped for the european release.

[@Cobra-yo7fx]

Nice video! Thank god this video and this channel appeared in my home feed! You seriously have a lot of potential my friend! I wish you great amounts of happiness and success! :)

[@superiorgames2007]

7:40 I could not stop my laugh here 🤣

[@lemonov3031]

Idk how the fact that Y1 and Y2 having literally almost the same box art didn't irk you. The second game having 2 guys instead of one is the most logical thing ever, and they blew it

[@BAKU2K2]

7:09 Sonic Spinball was developed by Sega Technical Institute in the US, so it makes sense why I came out there first. Also, the Japanese version has a few changes such as translated text and a different (and way better) death jingle.

[@Yapping_Chameleon-m4y]

American box art can sometimes be weird

[@Forgotten_Cfund]

Yes I knew I wasn’t the only one I felt this way Thank you for making this video

[@smile--]

That's the Netherlands flag on the thumbnail

[@thecactussword4304]

I've always loved the Sonic boxart done by Greg Martin way more than the Japanese version for just how much it draws you in, it itself is just such a perfect showcase and tease for the game to come while the original version just looks like a trapper keeper. A sick trapper keeper, I should add, I'm sure if I took that thing to school the other kids would like it and I'd be the most popular kid in class until someone inevitably steals it out my bookbag when I'm not looking, but a trapper keeper nonetheless. Greg's art is just a better window into the world. You know everything you have to know about Mobius at a glance versus something that, while abstract and cool, is ultimately just shallow flash to catch your eyes.

[@Televroszky2144]

Rockman: Hello! Im A Hero! I Save People! Megaman: *Its Time To Kill Them All*

[@EWOODJ]

Sonic 2, 3, & Spinball were made in the United States. Also, I love the American Sonic Boxarts.

[@VirtualGab]

7:04 sega wanted to tell Japanese people that sonic is Italian just like Mario to remain competitive

[@randy_hato]

Japan - lets make it cute and silly lookin- Amarica - MAKE IT ANGRY, CUTENESS IS FOR THE JAPANESE, AGGRESSION IS 'MURRICA

[@JustJulyo]

I need more box art cover videos

[@juanmontoya1297]

My favorite when Kirby triple deluxe USA and Japan box it's a little bit different color,s

[@spongebobfan78]

I think I am probably the only one who finds Frontiers' JP boxart to be awkward. The lighting of the scenery looks like a little desaturated compared to Sonic, making him look like he's just awkwardly photshopped onto the cover. Side note: I remember how the EU boxart for Record of Agarest War (or Agarest: Generations of War in Europe) was supposed to be a grumpy adult dude that looks like he's awkwardly cosplaying as the protagonist. Good thing the final boxart had gone for the anime art style that the actual game has.

[@ritaandrunt5767]

I actually don't mind the American design of sonic granted I understand why so many people like the style of the Japanese style of sonic I like that design as well as well as the American design of sonic as well honestly I belive that both designs of him are my favorites they both are uquinqe in there own special way

[@FrogInShorts]

The segway from talking about the four fingers of crash being attributed to practices of the yakuza to talking about the game Yakuza was genious.

[@xenotiic8356]

The US Phalanx cover inspired one of my favorite web comic one-offs. I wish I remembered the artist but it was about an old war vet of some space war. It was very touching.

[@rikustorm13]

Crash being a yakuza member? Bro, a crossover game with Kazuma Kiryu from Like A Dragon? Would be so cool

[@conradojavier7547]

Like a Bandicoot.

[@rikustorm13]

@@conradojavier7547 Lol nice

[@TheMahayanist]

Sonic was made in America, not Japan. It was the idea of Sega America.

[@Spilzu]

The Professor Layton differences in box art are crazy, especially Miracle Mask. In Japan it uses that white background like Yakuza

[@SonicTheDutchHedgehog]

why does the left backround look like the dutch flag lmfao

[@that24tankengine91]

Oh boy..

[@X2011racer]

Resident Evil 4: Leon vs Ganado Biohazard 4: Spooky figure in red misty forest.

[@Dremag_Gaming]

Its funny that Capcom not only brought back "Bad Box Art MegaMan". But he even has his own, separate, lore of being a has-been actor.

[@NCTStudio]

American Kirby is Badass

[@cesarhernandez6861]

The best box art is the ones we met along the way.

[@TeraAdventureTeam]

USA vs Japan: Proceeds to replace the US flag with a brighter Dutch flag.

[@joberfeld113]

Me at the 3:12 mark: Oh that’s right. Konami made video games.

[@gib-san]

Enjoy those nightmares kids...

[@HolyFlare484]

you should see the EU box art for Mega Man 2 lol

[@joahnames6507]

0:04 what is this room thing? Is it a game or a VR type thing?

[@PK_SNESS]

It's a game called EmuVR that's still in Beta

[@superlomaniac]

Of course the game called Phalanx has a ship with a phallic shape in it's box art

[@NormalBricks]

You can see the yakuza 7 art the tables have turned

[@Albortomagico]

Me, a european:

[@LucyKosaki]

You should've shown the boxarts for Everybody's Golf 5. The japanese cover, the korean cover, the european cover, basicly everwhere we got this girl on the cover with some playable characters in the background. While only the american version, they renamed it to Hot Shots Golf and put some gangster dude with sunglasses in front with middle-aged trucker looking characters in the background. It's hilarious if you see it side by side xD Can't get more stereotypical american than this xD

[@pj1343]

personally, i prefer the japenese box art of sonic frontiers than the worldwide box art. just like with breath of the wild's box art that's not present in the european one, the japanese box art truly conveys the message and emotion that sonic is about to explore a whole new world that neither he nor anyone else has ever known about before. the box art that we got outside of japan just more so gives off the feeling of playing another standard modern sonic boost game instead of exploring an open-ended world. and while yes there is in fact some of that stuff in the game, those things don't really take up the remainder portion of exploring the vast empty world. to me, those parts are supposed to act as supplements instead of the key main thing you're doing to which i think the worldwide box art kind of tried to play off as the key thing you'll be doing for the entirety of the game. many times, i wish we'd get box arts that more so truly sells in on the actual significant things you'll be getting into instead of showing off some random cool shot for stupid marketing purposes.

[@kabuki7149]

Ha ha funny boxart go BRRRRR

[@rena--chan]

remember ICO American box art

[@gregmartell1235]

Next Game History of Mega Man.

[@ccricers]

In a few exceptions in good early North American box art I think the NA River City Ransom goes hard

[@rift3487]

The crash thing may also be because the number 4 represents death in Japan which is most commonly seen with villains (see the robot masters in the megaman where they put the ring and middle finger together to make it look like they have 4 fingers) and crash isn’t a villain so they have him 5 fingers instead

[@cocosdad]

I honestly would prefer if every region had its own box art bc its easy to buy from any region these days

[@theonewhotouches]

Nintendo box art be like Japan: bright, colorful, happy America: "if it ain't brutin I ain't buyin it"

[@poppinc8145]

The easiest way to tell which is the better box art? Just ask yourself which would make the better poster you'd hang on your wall.

[@KenMasters.]

Remember Double Dragon's artwork? In both Japan and the US, the artists can't make up their minds on -Billy- Bimmy and Jimmy Lee's official appearances unlike how well they did on River City characters. They keep changing the Lee Brothers' looks from Bruce Lee's Billy Lo & Tang Lung, to The Warrior's Swan & Ajax, to Fist of the North Star's Kenshiro & Ein, and to looking like Chuck Norris & Benny Urquidez on the box-art of the desperate Atari 2600 port.

[@BORED.B.I]

hold up the lady talking to human version of mega man sounds like jessie from team rocket

[@SprocketWatchclock]

I imagine the finger change was because of the superstition around 4, like we have for 13 in the west.

[@Kenjifoxhog5437]

The Eurasian Sonic 3-D blast cover art was pretty scarier in this design