The History of Mega Man Box Art (Excluding 9 & 10 because, eh whatever...)

Which Mega Man game had the best and worst box art? (More Below!)
Episode information
GTV 58 "Mega Man Box Art: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" Season 3 Episode 16
Original Airdate: September 28, 2018
Produced September 22-28, 2018
Recorded at Butsudan Studios and edited on my 15" MacBook Pro with Touch Bar.
Produced with Final Cut Pro and Photoshop, which my job paid for!
GTV is now on Odysee! Join us!! odysee.com/$/invite/@GTV-Japan:d
Why not check out all the Mega Man / Rockman videos from GTV?
A Classic Rockman Collection • A Classic Rockman Coll...
Mega Man 30th Anniversary • Mega Man 30: A Retrosp...
Elec-Man VS. Journey • The Mega Man 1 Elec Ma...
Mega Man Box Art • The History of Mega Ma...
Mega Man Lightbulbs • Mega Man Lightbulbs Ar...
Mega Man X 30th Anniversary • Mega Man X: A 30th Ann...
The Story of Mega Man 9 • Mega Man 9: A 15th Ann...
Mega Man Rejected Robots • Mega Man 6 Nintendo Po...
Take some time to relive these classic Mega Man games, in manga form!
Mega Man Manga • Mega Man: A Gaming Man...
Mega Man 2 Dr. Wily’s Revenge Manga (Part One) • Mega Man 2: Dr. Wily's...
Mega Man 2 Dr. Wily's Revenge Manga (Part Two) • Mega Man 2: Dr. Wily's...
Mega Man 3 Protoman’s Rebirth (Part One) • Mega Man 3: Protoman's...
Mega Man 3 Protoman’s Rebirth (Part Two) • Mega Man 3: Protoman's...
Mega Man 4 Dr. Cossack’s Ambition (Part One) • Mega Man 4: Dr. Cossac...
Mega Man 4 Dr. Cossack’s Ambition (Part Two) • Mega Man 4: Dr. Cossac...
Mega Man 5: Protoman’s Trap: (Part One) • Mega Man 5: Proto Man'...
Mega Man 5: Protoman’s Trap: (Part Two) • Mega Man 5: Proto Man'...
Thanks to EposVox, Jadan & Topspot123 for being in this video
Marc Erickson info came from Protoman's Rockman Corner a with a video by Nintendo Age
Some Images from Kobun20/ The Reploid Research Laborotory AND The Mega Man network. Go visit them if you can, they are all great!
Hey! You made it to the end!

[@strawberrybounce2]

9 and 10 didn't have box art.

[@GTV-Japan]

Well I do have a Rockman 10 box, in a manner of speaking!

[@ccricers]

The European MM1 art looks very good. It looks as if real people were doing somewhat faithful cosplays of Mega Man characters.

[@GTV-Japan]

ha ha that is a funny way to put it

[@Schwarzorn]

Not quite. It's a _not-real version_ of a _real-life version_ of something that's _not real._ Cosplay is different, being only a real-life version of something not real. And they look fine. This, tho, looks like some cursed picure you'd find on the internet. Like FF7 Remake. I'd rather look at creepy clowns and creepy dolls. 😬

[@axe-tq2wn]

From mm 3 on it got even better

[@flash4354]

That intro was an exaggeration… to form a pun. That was gold.

[@GTV-Japan]

Thanks! If it gave you a laugh it was worth it

[@flash4354]

@@GTV-Japan Was worth your time lol.

[@Tailszefox]

For anyone curious, here's a translation of the French ad at 10:00 Mario: "Mega Man is back!" Announcer: "News from the world of Nintendo, with Mario." Mario: "Mega Man is more mega than ever. He blows Air Man away, completely freezes Heat Man, and sends Metal Man straight to the junkyard. Dr. Wily, is that throwing a wrench in your world domination plans?" Dr. Wily (with a weird accent for some reason): "Oh no, you're forgetting my super robots, my atomic chickens and all my other creatures." Mario: "Thank you Dr. Wily, we'll let Mega Man 2 have the final word." That's a pretty funny ad actually, I had never seen it before.

[@GTV-Japan]

Thanks! I’ll add it to CC

[@lifewithassburgers8000]

When I first saw the mega man 1 game box , I said no thanks...even the sequel. Until I was at a friend's house and was playing this totally awesome game. Mega man 2. Imagine my young mind being blown when he shows me the box...pretty sure it was the first "wtf" I ever said out loud. 2 weeks later it was in my collection. Along with the 1st only a month later...been buying them ever since. Had we had the rockman box art...I probably, and many others, may have jumped on board much faster. Great vid... thanks for ur hard work and research...

[@GTV-Japan]

I know ! Why can’t we just have anime? We love it!

[@DrewPicklesTheDark]

Megaman 10 has the best "box" art (the promotional art).

[@GTV-Japan]

I have a rockman 10 box. It’s pretty cool!

[@davidthecommenter]

Mega Man 1: *gets a box art* Every one: *_PUT THAT THING BACK WHERE IT CAME FROM OR SO HELP ME_*

[@PartyDude_19]

Mega Man 1's North American boxart haunts my nightmares

[@GTV-Japan]

I should have put a trigger warning ⚠️

[@KEN-1991]

Imagine a bad box-art Mega Man X: On the cover would probably feature a blue & cyan Robocop-looking X, standing next to a red & white Darth Vader-looking Zero.

[@GTV-Japan]

AI art has found its calling!

[@SwashBuccaneer]

Awesome video. Glad I hit your channel up manually. KZbin hasn't been notifying me of uploads.

[@GTV-Japan]

Those bastards!! Well Thursday night is my time to upload so just check back when you can. Glad you enjoyed the video. Probably not having one next week but the two I have planned for October will be 40-60 minutes if I can do it as I envision. Thanks for coming back to check 🍺

[@VictorHernandez-nj2lo]

Fun fact: bad box art megaman (along w/ pacman & cole mcgrath from infamous) were ps3 (& vita) exclusive characters in street fighter x tekken

[@GTV-Japan]

Oh pacman you say? Cool!

[@popixel]

To answer your question about MM1 box sitting on my shelf. Yes. Yes, I would be proud to have it on my shelf. It may be ugly, it may not make any sense, but I love it!

[@GTV-Japan]

Hey no problem! Live your life man!! 👍

[@popixel]

@@GTV-Japan 🤣👍

[@FeralInferno]

There was actually box art made for 9 and 10. It was a promotional thing you could order from Capcom USA. They were designed as a homage to the bad box art of year's past. Also, I think 7 is quite good and is my 2nd favorite classic Mega Man game. I recommend you revisit it :)

[@GTV-Japan]

I know 7 is good. It was just a joke as I couldn’t capture it and just to see what the reaction would be. I do have a Japanese Rockman 10 box. Thanks for watching!

[@TheJadeFist]

I get the Euro changes to the faces. The face on Megaman was looking super derpy and oddly shaped.

[@GTV-Japan]

Derpy sure but SUPER derpy?? I dunno.....

[@Ray-Danger]

@@GTV-Japan That face totally turned me away as a kid. I never knew of the Eruo faces. I very much prefer that. VERY much.

[@GTV-Japan]

Yea. Good thing we didn’t see the labels so ,much anyway

[@NefariousWes]

Fantastic video, man! This may be my favorite of yours. It was funny. Why was the west so reluctant to use anime/manga style artwork? Rockman 1 and 2 both look great! The art for both Mega Man 1 & 2 is horrendous!

[@bomberfox5232]

probably because those guys never learned how to focus test products.

[@MariaIsabellaZNN]

Yeeah Germany for some reason was pretty big on Mega Man. The animated series had its own intro theme here, too. That's why Mega Man (Rockman) is still very quintessential 90s, to me.

[@GTV-Japan]

I’m learning more and more that Nintendo was pretty popular in Germany which contradicts the narrative you always hear about how the NES wasn’t popular in Europe. Probably because English speaking news skews things and often the UK is a stand in for the whole continent, ironically!

[@Gamerextra1029]

In all likelihood, Capcom USA was afraid that mom & dad wouldn't purchase the game for their kids if they printed a box art that was overly Japanese. I mean, after Pearl Harbor, who could blame them?

[@GTV-Japan]

That’s true! Japanese and German things were not welcome but who knew that art style was Japanese? Maybe not many

[@TheCastellan]

It was like FORTY YEARS later, though.

[@GTV-Japan]

My grandparents would never allow a Japanese car or tv in the house that’s for sure

[@TheCastellan]

@@GTV-Japan That's THEIR problem. If one is still hung up about something that happened 70+ years ago, they need help....for holding a grudge that long.

[@GTV-Japan]

They’re dead now. But that was the sentiment then. And in the 80s Americans feared Japan we ups be rich enough to buy the USA whole.

[@Randhrick]

It's crazy how they wanted to avoid putting anime and stuff too "strange" or cute art style on box art so instead, we got manly guys with a big sword and ugly art sometimes (actually most of the time) not representing the game correctly. Faria is a good example for that, the game is showing a Knight in full armor battling a dragon while the Japanese box art is showing the real character which is a girl, and the instruction manual in English literally omit to mention the gender of the character. Oh, another good example is Sky Kid, this is actually hilarious when you compare both box art of this game.

[@GTV-Japan]

Yea all these examples are good. It seems the marketing and programming depts never communicate back then

[@dtester]

9:00 Back in the day, American Exec had no idea that the Anime art style would be VERY appealing to US kids. These clueless adults had felt it had to be "westernized".

[@GTV-Japan]

Yeah. Unfortunately

[@sonicmario64]

Dude, I totally resent what you said about MM7, since that remains my most favorite game in the series, and I was still playing 16-bit games back in 1995 as well! :P

[@GTV-Japan]

Oh I’m sorry really it was just a joke because I couldn’t capture any footage from it

[@LexEllis]

Someone should come to your door and give you a MEDAL! HOW HAVE YOU ONLY GOT 4.6K SUBS?! YOU DESERVE 10K+ MINIMUM!

[@GTV-Japan]

Oh hey Lex! I’d actually prefer that people don’t know my address. But I’ll happily take the medal and the 10k! But don’t worry, someday I’ll take off and 50-100 videos will explode all at once and I’ll get a huge return on it. If you want to get in to the why really, I do think it’s in part because I’m so far away from where people view the videos. I can’t meet any other you tubers or fans and those than can get to network and grow faster. Can’t complain though because I get to live in Japan and they don’t! 😁

[@LexEllis]

"Can’t complain though because I get to live in Japan and they don’t!" You NAILED it, with that comment! If you, you know, ever need a roommate...hook a brother up?! :D *puppy dog eyes* haha!

[@GTV-Japan]

If you do actually want to live and work here, I know exactly who to call!

[@LexEllis]

I guess I could make...Phantasy Star remixes for a living? xD maybe a hardcore rave version of the Land Rover battle theme? :D

[@GTV-Japan]

Well there are companies that will put you in a school or something 8-5 for 25000$ a year and the rest if your free time. So a lot of people like myself have made it work.

[@shalpp]

The megaman upon a star ova actually uses the Internstional names for all the characters even in Japan Really weird hearing “megaman” spoken in japanese

[@GTV-Japan]

Neat. I’ll have to check that out! Thanks for the tip

[@ErinPlays]

I feel like Japanese box art is usually the best in most cases. I never saw the European or German covers for Mega Man 2 before, that’s nuts! Your videos always have really interesting and unique topics. I love it.

[@sophiabutler1707]

8:26 You forgot to mention Mega Man is blasting that robot in the balls.

[@GTV-Japan]

I didn’t because coppa! Thanks for watching! 💣

[@DrRobotnikPingas]

In the European cover of megaman and megaman 3 it looks as if Dr Wily invented the atomic bomb and regretted it

[@GTV-Japan]

He is modeled after Einstein after all 💣

[@commentdouchery2838]

I can tell you why western box art barely allowed the Anime look. It's the same reason the Megaman cartoon was so drastically different in appearance: Test Audiences. Small Focus Groups shaped these kinds of things for each region. This was before the massive bang of Anime thanks to Pokemon, so naturally they tried to appeal to the common tastes of the era.

[@GTV-Japan]

That’s understandable

[@qbaseden]

Yup. By the time 3 came out, anime was super popular in Europe (early 90s, had been for a while actually) while I think it took quite a while longer over in the US. Hence the crude face swap ahah

[@GTV-Japan]

But looking back there were a lot of anime shows on tv and home video. Though admittedly they often tried to hide it’s Japanese roots.

[@sirMAXX77]

I love your format and with the commercial breaks.

[@GTV-Japan]

Thanks! Do you know anyone else who does that? I started as a way to divide information and put ads without disrupting the flow. But actually I don’t know if anyone else ever tried that or I’m the first. Thanks for watching

[@havel6060]

owning the america megaman 1 box is privilege now fight me

[@GTV-Japan]

it is a privilege! it survived 35 years!

[@rc9145]

If they ever do a megaman 12 they should do a bad box art pre order exclusive for the United states

[@GTV-Japan]

Nooooo. Bad idea 👎

[@rc9145]

@@GTV-Japan i mean you’d still get the international boxart it would just be a bonus for those who want it lol

[@GTV-Japan]

Let’s see a real Megaman 12 first. Then we can talk.

[@boombox2ikik239]

Fun fact: That idea of America just being stubborn about the stuff being from Japan is the reason the Ruby Spears Show has so many issues. Just look up the original promo for it and you’ll know what I mean.

[@GTV-Japan]

I think I will. thanks

[@boombox2ikik239]

GTV Japan No problem

[@jumponearth1673]

Well, the only part of the boxart that stays exclusive to Japan is the extra name after the number of each Rockman title. Except for the first game.

[@GTV-Japan]

True! I guess Capcom USA thought that’d be too confusing

[@DiscontinuedChannel00035]

The mega man 2 USA BOX ART had mega man's foot broken

[@GTV-Japan]

Oh! I tonight that was just muh duck walk!

[@DiscontinuedChannel00035]

10:13 funny laugh

[@MarcoPolo82]

04:16 It looks like a Mega Man Live Action If it was done in the 90s.

[@GTV-Japan]

That would be cool

[@tranceemerson8325]

it took 8 generations of mega man for the US to finally get it.

[@GTV-Japan]

I know right!!!

[@CarlosJRS95]

The Megaman that appears in the MegaMan 2 box art looks like a rip-off of Robocop.

[@GTV-Japan]

Seems like it.

[@atlekristiansen4975]

I live in Europe, and always loved the box art from the first game. Apparently, in that game Mega Man's a youth. And when you get to the second game... look at the box art... he's a man. As a kid/youth myself, I only played "Mega Man 1-3" and "Mega Man X-1 & 2". Now I have bought "Mega Man 30th Anniversary Bundle" (19 games in all) on Xbox One, and try to finish those games one by one. The yellow giant in the first game... can't believe how I beat that as a kid, but somehow I did...

[@GTV-Japan]

That’s cool! In Japan anyway rock or Rockman is 10 years old

[@GTV-Japan]

Which MegaMan/RockMan box arts are your favorite and most hated? Discuss and comment away!

[@jqr-ju9nx]

Number one

[@GTV-Japan]

I guess it could be both loved and hated at once!

[@jqr-ju9nx]

@@GTV-Japan i just love it because of how campy it is the same way people like the 60s batman

[@GTV-Japan]

I like that too. I mean hey we’re grown ass men talking about ancient video games! Gotta be able to laugh at least a little right

[@riahlexington]

That FACE on 4-6 ugh! I kinda like creepy wily on megaman 3 EU, probably all of the Japanese boxarts are the best

[@KabutoZX]

The European Box Art of Mega man 3, Dr. Wily looks like if Heihachi from Tekken has seen some god-awful crap...

[@GTV-Japan]

Haaaaaaaa! Great comment

[@chrispacheco8590]

Awesome piece, man it's so well produced, and just a joy to watch and so well written, and to top it all of even your commercials are always a pleasure, love how you tie em in with the content, very well done, always look forward to new stuff from you, thank you.

[@GTV-Japan]

Thanks Chris! I hope to get 25 videos out this year but I have 70 older ones I’m sure you’ll like. The commercials are always my fav part to plan out by the way

[@MANGOM1LK]

the US MM8 case has the JP art inside behind the disc!

[@GTV-Japan]

Aw if only I knew! Thanks for sharing

[@fehmeh6292]

Rockman 9&10 "box" art would have been worth a mention. Not just because this a main series MegaMan box art video, but those box/promotional arts are really worth talking about. I mean, the video is named 1-11.

[@GTV-Japan]

Yeah but there is no box art for 9 and 10! I know people keep saying some kind of promo box but the game was download only. So I didn’t include it

[@dietdorito4566]

@@GTV-Japan but it was made by fans

[@GTV-Japan]

That’s cool

[@user-a5Bw9de]

Some people speculate that Mona Lisa has facial parts facing different directions, causing uncanny effect and plant rage to some types of observers. Maybe USA Mega Man 1 box art is a modern Mona Lisa in some sense.

[@Nicbrown25]

I love your channel so much. Keep up the great work!

[@GTV-Japan]

Thanks! I got a new video coming in 2 days

[@platinumpagoda3079]

Love your channel, just discovered it this week. This is my favorite game franchise of all time, and I've always thought the box art history was worth a dive. Love it👍👍

[@GTV-Japan]

Thanks I’m glad you liked it! ⚡️

[@mstvbr371]

12:21 it's not just the face, ITS EVERYTHING, there's this weird pattern in NTSC Megaman and is also more blue meanwhile PAL megaman looks like he was intended to looks like but some little bells and whistles here 'n there

[@SeekerLancer]

I actually love the European box art for Mega Man 1. I agree that looks like some alternate dimension poster for a budget 80's Mega Man movie. Also I was still playing 16-bit games in 1995. Some of us were poor.

[@GTV-Japan]

Haha no hard feelings. You could get a 64 bit jaguar for 99$ in 95.

[@SuperTrainStationH]

Who was still playing 16 bit games in 1995? Seriously? It's not like PlayStation and Saturn came out on January 1st 1995 and then Genesis and Super NES vanished off the face of earth, the magazine coverage at the time more than proves that. I know the comment wasn't meant to be THAT serious, but for a lot of younger gamers who weren't around at the time to know, they might take that at face value and have an incorrect sense of how the gaming scene progressed in the mid 90's.

[@GTV-Japan]

I appreciate the comment and yes it was meant to be a joke as I know things were just starting mid 1995. But often I just throw in lines to see what reaction they get. This one was pretty negative. And there’s really no way to see what people think at times on here without invoking a reaction. For me though I was divorced from Nintendo by this time and was dying to get a Saturn or PlayStation

[@SuperTrainStationH]

Gaijillionaire Thanks for the replying your stuff is awesome

[@GTV-Japan]

No problem! I’m all for long detailed honest discussions. Thanks for coming by and I’ll keep putting out stuff in the meantime

[@ArchGeek]

This is one of your best videos. Your personality really shines through! Great stuff!

[@GTV-Japan]

Thanks good friend! It’s all from the heart

[@weegoh8324]

I hated this video because how does he get mad in this video, he just sounds normal. And why add the sesures at the end?

[@GTV-Japan]

Well, that’s almost comprehensible

[@daisukegori2112]

Dude. Videos like this proves the brotherhood among video game players.

[@GTV-Japan]

I hope so!

[@irishjet2687]

So, between the different variations for the covers, my favorites for each game are: 1. Europe 2. Japan 3. Europe 4. Japan 5. Japan 6. North America 7. Japan 8. Europe I totally disagree on the face changes for the 4 & 5 European covers being needless. Mega Man looks WEIRD on the North American covers. However, it seems like they washed out the color on the Euro covers. I appreciate changing Mega Man's color scheme to represent how he looks in-game, but it would have been nice if that had been done without fading the whole image.

[@GTV-Japan]

Thanks for sharing your list. I mostly align with that

[@KEN-1991]

If Mega Man X had bad box art: What we would probably see on the front cover is "X", who appears to be a blue and cyan RoboCop; standing next to "Zero", who appears to be a red and white Darth Vader.

[@buhnana6117]

The first one is best because it’s terrible and eye catching

[@ChicCanyon]

Megaman is such a better name than Rockman

[@GTV-Japan]

I think so. But in Japanese the suffix -man implies superpowers

[@pikminman13]

You say megaman is better but you’re not spelling it mega man. Split for English merged for Japanese looks best.

[@ChicCanyon]

@@pikminman13 louis ck has a a great bit about people like you

[@elgusaniiiodeljuego6823]

Let’s face it: sometimes Murica nails it 👌🏻

[@GTV-Japan]

USA! USA! 🇺🇸

[@VictorHernandez-nj2lo]

Did anyone else see the game informer cover that has all the alternate box art Mega Men? (or Mega Mans, idk 🤷)

[@GTV-Japan]

Sorry, its beyond my time.

[@VictorHernandez-nj2lo]

@@GTV-Japan I'm sure u can probably look it up on Google by now 👍

[@johndarksoul491]

I have one

[@VictorHernandez-nj2lo]

The europeon box art for megaman 3 makes Wily look like Heihachi from Tekken 🤣

[@VahanNisanian]

Where did you find out that the first game was released in the U.S. in March 1988? I wanna hear that, Gaijillionaire. Sounds interesting.

[@GTV-Japan]

Nintendo published a list of games that earned the seal of quality in 1987 in the fun club news. Some titles were not yet out but marked coming soon. MegaMan was not on the list at all. In Japan where all the carts were made, MegaMan had a reprint that was released in March there. Factor in that carts take a long time to make Theres just no way the game was out in the us in December. Why would any company release a game days before Xmas when the shopping is mostly done?

[@VahanNisanian]

Oh yeah. I forgot about the Fun Club News listings. I hope one day, we get a definitive list of US and PAL NES release dates, like we've got one for Japan. Are you familiar with Jeremy Parish? He does series' like NES Works, Game Boy Works, and SNES Works. I wonder if he's aware of the March 1988 tidbit? He's yet to review the game as part of his NES Works series on YT.

[@GTV-Japan]

I know who he is, but I've never spoken to him. He knows who I am because they talk about my videos a lot on the podcast he and his friends have! I can't prove it Columbo style, but people take what they hear as gospel and to me it just doesnt fit.

[@kobun20]

I respect your willingness to question the conventional narratives, though in this case there are more pieces to the puzzle. An ad for Mega Man 1 did appear in the Winter 1987 issue of Nintendo Fun Club, and a contemporary video game publication released monthly called Computer Entertainer listed Mega Man as a December title in their Dec 1987 issue, and they posted a review of the game in the January 1988 issue, where it ranked #10 (last) in their popular video games from the previous month, and they offered the ability to order the game at discount for their subscribers. You can find these sources at the Nintendo Times website. As to why release that close to Christmas, it could be because that's when their sales window was available, and even if some holiday shopping was done, perhaps they sought to give last minute shoppers a game worth waiting for, or a chance for kids to spend holiday gift money, or exchange unwanted presents. Capcom was pushing to release several other NES games at the time, too. Releasing Mega Man at the end of 1987 instead of 1988 enabled them to get around Nintendo of America's "five games a year per licensee" policy, so they were able to release 1943, Mickey Mousecapades, Bionic Commando, Gunsmoke, and Legendary Wings on NES all in the same year. The relatively slow rollouts of distribution in that era could well mean that many stores didn't get MM1 until 1988, but officially the game was already being sold in America, at the very least on the West coast.

[@GTV-Japan]

Sure those are good points. And if true then I’ll go by them. And have a nice copyright trap set haha. Thanks for the info

[@thrillhouse_vanhouten]

Some day I want to own used cartridges of all the famicom Rockman games. They're all so colourful and cute!

[@GTV-Japan]

Yea. Much better than grey!

[@JaDan]

After watching the video all the way to the end, I take it back, he does know what he is talking about. Re-Subscribe!

[@GTV-Japan]

Hahah! Thanks! Except for one problem, I’m dead.

[@fitnessabcvideo]

It's criminal you haven't got more subs. Your video quality and production is outstanding.

[@GTV-Japan]

Thanks. I got 2500 new followers this month though!

[@fitnessabcvideo]

@@GTV-Japan Well done, and I can't wait for you to get even more, your content really is solid.

[@GTV-Japan]

Thanks again. I’ll keep at it and see how far it goes

[@normamohdnor4730]

Europe really nails most of these box arts (maybe except Mega Man 2, as that one goes to Germany).

[@GTV-Japan]

Yea they’re surprising good! Thanks for watching

[@space470-1]

Mega Man 9 and 10 both have box arts, they're featured in Mega Man legacy collection 2

[@GTV-Japan]

Oh? I’ll have to go look that up. But I never knew where you could by the game on disc in a box

[@StelerSteel]

@@GTV-Japan There were press kits released for Mega Man 9 & 10 that came with their own retro boxes. Before you say that doesn't count, then why does there exist actual boxes with *art* on them? Just because they originally released digital only doesn't mean they should be invalidated; because Capcom literally went out of their way to make special boxart for these games just because of how notorious boxart is for Mega Man. And also FYI, you CAN buy MM9 & MM10 physically. Granted, they don't have their special boxart, but you can get the Legacy Collection 2 on PS4 and Xbox One physically.

[@GTV-Japan]

There was the Rock Manjuu sold in promotion of Rockman 10. The back of the box advertises how you can download the game and that was pretty cool! They also sold one in a replica Rockman 1 box but unfortunately that’s all. No other games. As for the artwork they used for 9 was also used on the Rockman E-can soundtrack box set which was pretty cool too. I’m sure there’s more 9 stuff out there, it’s only been like a decade or something since then n

[@Jofe000]

Kinda interesting that the Mega Man 6 NA box art features the 2 robot masters designed in the west

[@GTV-Japan]

Yeah, I like that special touch

[@blackphoenix77]

PLEASE go on forever with all of the box art for the Mega Man games; I need the distraction from my so-called life. P.S. that silvery Mega Man on the box art from one of the European games is my favorite one.

[@gavinlucas9761]

I like how from Mega Man 1 through 6 you can see them improving to where Mega Man looks as he sould be, though I'm honestly am surpised by just how much diffrent art covers there are. Great video.

[@GTV-Japan]

Thanks. I thought 5-6 were pretty good covers considering the times ⚡️

[@usagifang]

I got a stroke reading the American Mega Man description. WTF?

[@GTV-Japan]

Too many electrons perhaps. Please feel better.

[@TopSpot123]

Hey just so you know, there’s no boxed retail version of MegaMan 11 for the Nintendo Switch in Europe.

[@TopSpot123]

I had to do that for the sake of realism 😉. Anyway, thank you so very much for the opportunity to contribute to your video. I sort of feel like a Mega Man 6 fan submission winner!

[@GTV-Japan]

Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?????!!!

[@GTV-Japan]

Thanks for helping out! I like those kinds of things! I’ll keep you in mind for future stuff too when it’s needed

[@lucemonfalldownmode]

Err, Megaman 9 and 10 did have a digital box art and they were done bad on purpose. Too bad you didn't include them in your video :(

[@GTV-Japan]

There was a box for 10. I have it! It’s for the candy Rock-Manjuu they sold in 2010. It just looks like the icon in Collection 2. And had info about how to buy the game on the back!!

[@lrgogo1517]

I was stunned by how many times he went "This boxart is clearly the better one hands down!" and I thought "it is really? :|"

[@GTV-Japan]

The power of opinion!

[@nils920]

Actually, Megaman 6 DID see a European release, albeit very, very, VERY limited. I've only seen PAL releases of MM6 from Germany or Italy, and those cost around 350$! Mind you, last time I checked was around 6-8 years ago and I live in Sweden.

[@GTV-Japan]

Oh no! Get out!! Now if that’s true, and I believe you, why isn’t it well known?

[@nils920]

@@GTV-Japan Like I said it's extremely limited and I can't speak for all of Europe since I live in Sweden and many Megaman games were never released here. MM6 is no exception.

[@GTV-Japan]

It seems like “Europe “ follows whatever the UK did because it’s an English speaking country like the USA. So whatever happened there became “official “ but that’s wrong on many levels because first the uk isn’t on the continent and there were several means of distribution that were unrelated to what the uk did.

[@freddyvidz]

Nice Wave Man music in the background of Mega Man 5.

[@GTV-Japan]

That’s the e can sound set

[@koopakape]

... Mega Man 7 was one of my favorites, and I was regularly playing my SNES until the early 00s -- and still play 16-bit and 16-bit inspired games regularly to this day (and will 'till the day I die).

[@GTV-Japan]

Very nice. Thanks for watching

[@extra4542]

I’m so glad we’re past the point of needing to do custom artwork to “appeal to western audiences”

[@GTV-Japan]

Kirby would disagree

[@seanhardy5340]

Not sure if anyone's noticed it before, but that odd-looking floating head on the European Mega Man 2 box art is definitely a reference to Zardoz, John Boorman's trippy 1974 sci-fi film with Sean Connery. I think the floating heads in the Airman stage gave the artist license to put Zardoz on the box, which makes a little sense in that the film was more well-received in Europe than the US (it's a love-it-or-hate-it move, but I think it's kind of brilliant).

[@GTV-Japan]

Good eye! Very esoteric! 🍺

[@GTV-Japan]

Also I’ll add I remember that movie from back when cable tv played schlocky sci fi movies late at night. This one was often paired with Yor Hunter from the Future

[@Pichuscute]

I've never been a patron for anyone but you on KZbin. Was pretty cool to see my name in there! Keep up the awesome work!

[@GTV-Japan]

+Pichuscute thanks I appreciate it!

[@sugarsmile7852]

Funny thing that mega man fully charged have an episode with bad art box mega man

[@GTV-Japan]

Yea lots of people keep telling me that. Thanks for watching

[@ludicrousfool7953]

Every time I look at these covers, specifically the American ones, I just think what was the matter with just using the Japanese cover art across the board?

[@GTV-Japan]

Exactly!

[@jonhufford6980]

I still don’t know how that mega man 1 box got past. His helmet is drawn wonky and crooked. It’s amazing, did they grab this artist from the turbo grafx ?

[@GTV-Japan]

+Jon Hufford the legend goes that the artist was given a text description of the game. But that pencil shading style really does scream China Warrior or Motoroader. Thanks for watching!

[@Kumimono]

Funnily, the Finnish rental copies of MM2 had American artwork. Also, nice spoiler on the euro MM3 cover. We all knew it was Wiley, but still...

[@GTV-Japan]

I had no idea! But thats good to know. There were a few "rental only# versions in the us but in Japan, no rentals allowed. They are illegal!

[@alx_carvalho]

"nobody cares about megaman 7" "europe art from megaman 8 is good" oh boy

[@GTV-Japan]

Yea. These are things that I said. Thanks for watching ⚡️

[@alx_carvalho]

@@GTV-Japan Nice video, bro (even though your taste for the mega man 8 cover is questionable hahahahahahh)

[@GTV-Japan]

@@alx_carvalho huh? Am I wrong? I’ll admit if I am but I thought it was pretty good. Simple sure. But it’s not a disaster 😂

[@JezElectro13]

MM9 and 10 have Box art.

[@GTV-Japan]

How? There was no box? There was no disc? There was rock “Manjuu” sold in japan for the release of 10 in a fake box. But there was no game of course in that

[@JezElectro13]

@@GTV-Japan you can check MMKB galery of both. Also Legacy Collection 2. No Box but Box art we have

[@GTV-Japan]

Well without a box it’s not box art. Just an online shop image

[@JezElectro13]

@@GTV-Japan works for me.

[@GTV-Japan]

Ok good then.

[@thepokeybird]

13:40 I never understood why the Japanese version had a different intro theme

[@RamuneRabbit]

You sounded exactly like I did when I was a kid, wondering why the heck the characters on the box never looked like they did in the games! Even Sonic's American design used to trigger me. I mean I still played the games, but....GOD! When I saw Mega Man 3 it was like a watermark moment for me, lol. FINALLY, he resembles his sprite! XD

[@GTV-Japan]

Yea I know what you mean. I didn’t think about it too much but soooooo many games just had odd labels that made no sense. Thanks for watching!

[@tedkaczynskiwasright.985]

Man, don't take this personally but: i've watched a lot of your videos (they're great, really really good work!) and it's not the first time you mention the NES being unpopular in Europe which is partially false imo. The UK is not equal to the whole western Europe market at the time. Overall sales were low not because it was unpopular but because the video game market was small in itself and if you look (UK aside where nintendo was clearly unpopular comparing to home computers) at actual sales/population ratio or sales/video game market it did pretty well, look at the total sale in USA/Canada and compare it the population (34 millions unit for 296 millions people) and then compare the total sales in Europe compared to the western Europe population in, let say in 1995 (8.5 millions units for 180 millions); it's not ridiculous. The NES sold about 1.7 million units in France, the population at the time was something like 60 millions, that's not what i call bad sales! It did very well in Germany, in Italy (it was second behind the C64), Spain, for what i know. But yeah precise sales are hard to come by, there was no Nintendo Europe at the time and each market had his own distribution network: for France it was Bandai who was in charge before Nintendo France was created, the commercials were the American ones for the most part (for the system when it came out, and later for Zelda, Zelda II, Mario Bros 2, Mario Bros 3 from what i recall), and i can't remember seing one for a computer game (only for the systems)... You make it sound like we didn't knew what the NES was and i think it's a little harsh! Yeah it was a flop in the UK but there's a whole continent outside the english speaking area ;)

[@GTV-Japan]

Thanks for the input Walter! I admit I’ve come to learn the NES was popular where it was marketed properly. I think it get skewed because the US will get more information from the UK simply from the shared language. I have started to mention in later videos that I’ve been wrong and it’s great to hear voices from outside my bubble to help give perspective on things in a way I’d never know otherwise. I’m going to keep on and use this kind of information in the future so I’m happy you shared it! 🕹

[@ProtoMekka]

In my opinion they nailed it with Mega Man 7's box art. In the box art the size of mega man has been redone to look more like the game, and they ditched the weird 1940s cartoon face for one that looks similar to the japanese one but more Americanized which makes a fine blend of the two. Mega man standing on a roof top showcasing Wily in his saucer along with three of the four robot masters (excluding freeze man for some reason) destroying the city is pretty accurate to what happens in the intro segment. As the city was attacked and the robot masters awoken to free Wily, effectively showing you how this game's gonna go. They actually did their research and drew an appealing looking mega man, and I feel like it should have been addressed how much of a step up this box art is instead of "Its great but eh but who talks about 7 anyway?" But thats my opinion

[@GTV-Japan]

This is the best comment I’ve gotten for this video! Thanks! 🔥

[@ProtoMekka]

@@GTV-Japan No problem!

[@mcracc]

Great video fam! Big fan of the Megaman 1 European cover. Looks like promotional artwork for an 80s live action Megaman film hehe

[@GTV-Japan]

I think it is everyone’s favorite. It looks very straight to video

[@gerardsaintosirisch]

2:16 actually the name Rockman was used in Indonesia, but only for the EXE & Starforce anime

[@GTV-Japan]

cool thanks for telling me

[@miguelmaestas839]

wow you are just gonna skip the megaman 9 and 10 box art? They were call backs to the retro futuristic art and looked so cool!

[@GTV-Japan]

There are no boxes for 9 and 10. Yes I know they had some kind of gaudy looking shelf item. Thanks for watching 🔥

[@jojoq793]

@@GTV-Japan There were boxarts, actually, but they're terrible...

[@ForceMaximus84]

7 is better than 5. Change my mind.

[@mediaglitch]

Another great video man. I didnt pick up Mega man 11 yet but Im looking forward to it.

[@GTV-Japan]

I’m refusing to get games on day one anymore. I’m waiting till my birthday! Another thing is if there’s leaderboards or whatever they’ll instantly have 10 people with like 99 million points somehow, ruining the whole fun of it. I still got more MegaMan in me though. Infinite video ideas

[@chimericalical]

Feyrah man??!???? Fer row. Pharaoh = fair row.

[@daisukegori2112]

8:56 I didn't know Heihachi Mishima from Tekken was a boss in Megaman

[@GTV-Japan]

haaaaa, ok ya got me good there

[@daisukegori2112]

@@GTV-Japan Actually they can fight each other in Street Fighter X Tekken. And get this, it's the North American box art Mega man. As a playable character. It talks with that old Timey classic hero voice.

[@GTV-Japan]

Ohhh see I don’t know that because im the man from 1996!

[@daisukegori2112]

@@GTV-Japan 1996 was awesome.

[@GTV-Japan]

It was. It’s why I never left!

[@Solesteam]

I think having weird box art in the US is part of MegaMan's charm, it's hilarious and so unexpected. I'm not a fan of Megaman 11's normal accurate box art, I like when it's misleading and out of nowhere levels of weird and post apocalyptic themed nonsense it would spurt to the US. Even some fan games such as Megaman Perfect Blue liked having that so much, they made their own!

[@GTV-Japan]

I can see the charm in that. Beauty in imperfection

[@bffoxjr]

The Mega Man 3 box art for Europe looks like Mega Man is wearing a couple prototype pieces of X's armor!

[@GTV-Japan]

Wow interesting!

[@Davethe3rd]

Actually, 9 and 10 both got "Virtual Box Art" both in Japan and America! Japan got a standard design similar to the other Rockman games, while the American art for both games spoofed the ridiculous nature of the art for 1 & 2.

[@GTV-Japan]

Yes I know. I have a Rockman 10 box they sold here back then. But it’s pretty big

[@Sly88Frye]

It is nice to see that the US was getting better and better with the box art with every release, but yeah it's pretty hilarious how bad the box art was for the first two games. For whatever reason I didn't play the Megaman games growing up. Not sure of why to be honest so sadly I suck at the games especially compared to what games I grew up with in the 90s that somehow excluded Megaman.

[@GTV-Japan]

Hmm that’s weird. Oh well. I’m sure you turned out fine.

[@tanyaharmon6739]

Mm1 EU box art is my favorite

[@GTV-Japan]

Me too

[@Ruudos]

Games within Europe were released on different dates. I remember somebody coming back from Holiday in Germany and he bought Mega Man 3 there, which wasn't out in our country (The Netherlands) yet.

[@GTV-Japan]

I thought so but it seems like whatever was first became THE date. Thanks for watching

[@delpullen1982]

MM4 cover: Not only is his face different, but his WHOLE OUTFIT is also different. Wy didn't you notice or point that out?

[@GTV-Japan]

Doh!

[@eckitronix]

wait so MM11 released before RM11??? Dang, Mega Man finally canon hahahaha

[@GTV-Japan]

By 2 days! Though actually just 1 because Japan is always a day ahead

[@VictorHernandez-nj2lo]

If megaman 6 & the show Battlebots came out around the same time, I can imagine some sorta cross promotion 👍