Not so misleading video game covers (less Phalanx and more Chrono Trigger)

Platy · Oct 21, 2020

Look, we all know how Phalanx is not a game about an old man playing banjo and how Forsaken 64 is not about a girl with a face tatoo

This is not a topic about these covers

I came across a tumblr post about chrono trigger and it got me thinking about those covers that got MOST stuff right but got something weird about it

Everything here is clearly identifiable: that's obviously Heckran they're fighting, the technique they're using is obviously Arc Impulse (with the correct combination of characters), and the location is obviously the base of Death Peak in 2300 AD, complete with the Keeper's Dome visible in the distance. Heck, they even got the trees right!

However, there are a few issues:

Heckran is not encountered in 2300 AD

At the point in the game where Heckran is encountered, that specific combination of party members is not available

Arc Impulse is a lightning/water technique, not a fire technique

Marle can't even use fire magic

It's that juxtaposition of extraordinary attention to detail being used to depict an impossible situation that got me. Was it based on an earlier version of the game where this situation was possible? Was the artist given detailed guidance about how all of those individual elements should be depicted, but no guidance at all on how they fit together? Did they deliberately decide to substitute a random early-game miniboss for the baddie that would actually be fought in this situation in order to avoid plot spoilers? Did they just think it looked cool?

David J Prokopetz

When I was a kid, the box art for Chrono Trigger always bothered me – less because it got everything about the game wrong (which was of course the norm at the time), but because it almost got...

prokopetz.tumblr.com

So it got me thinking about other game covers that are SO close but something feels off.

Like this mario cover

Where, besides bowser being super offmodel ... mario is clearly going in the wrong direction ! =O

So, which not so misleading covers you remember and more specially, since it is a thread about more suble things than how an old man playing banjo is NOT a spaceship, , WHAT is the detail that makes no sense?

Spring-Loaded · Oct 21, 2020

You do slice shit up

but what enemy is that?

Doctor Phishshoe · Oct 21, 2020

Spring-Loaded said:
You do slice shit up

but what enemy is that?

Sooo the cover should have said ''Metal Gear Slicing Revengeance''?

Exellus · Oct 21, 2020

Platy said:
Look, we all know how Phalanx is not a game about an old man playing banjo and how Forsaken 64 is not about a girl with a face tatoo

This is not a topic about these covers

I came across a tumblr post about chrono trigger and it got me thinking about those covers that got MOST stuff right but got something weird about it

David J Prokopetz

When I was a kid, the box art for Chrono Trigger always bothered me – less because it got everything about the game wrong (which was of course the norm at the time), but because it almost got...

prokopetz.tumblr.com

So it got me thinking about other game covers that are SO close but something feels off.

Like this mario cover

Where, besides bowser being super offmodel ... mario is clearly going in the wrong direction ! =O

So, which not so misleading covers you remember and more specially, since it is a thread about more suble things than how an old man playing banjo is NOT a spaceship, , WHAT is the detail that makes no sense?

Arc Impulse though it is like a magical flashing fire that Marle does. It changes colors during the animation.

Also, in the DS remake of Chrono Trigger they actually added a snowy area like that where you can fight Heckran-like enemies, fulfilling the prophecy.

zombiejames · Oct 21, 2020

- Mario jumping up from lava.
- Fireball going through bricks.

Alooful · Oct 21, 2020

Mario Party 3

because it's actually the cover of Mario Party 1. That dice block is badly placed.

Deleted member 7883 · Oct 21, 2020

Mr. Snuffleupagus · Oct 21, 2020

Would this count, OP?

Aaron · Oct 21, 2020

The easiest explanation for the CT cover art being off is Toriyama just saying "fuck it, I do what I want." Who would dare question it?

Anyway, I can't really think of a real example, so I'll throw out one of my experiences as a small child:

I could never find the damn Wing Cap whenever I got to play the game as a kid so I just thought it was there to look cool.

CasuallyDressed · Oct 21, 2020

If people could actually explain their examples, that'd be super helpful.

The Unsent · Oct 21, 2020

'Kingdom Hearts' The realm doesn't look like a heart moon in the 1st one, it's just a white door.. It looks that way in later games.

Jegriva · Oct 21, 2020

Not a game, but... is this girl a fusion of the two protagonists?

Het_Nkik · Oct 21, 2020

Platy said:
Was it based on an earlier version of the game where this situation was possible?

Yes.

PlanetSmasher · Oct 21, 2020

The Chrono Trigger art is amusing, but at the same time, it's Toriyama, and Toriyama doesn't even know how his OWN characters work half the time, so I'm not surprised his art for CT shows a similar lack of understanding.

Keym · Oct 21, 2020

Noise said:

"The best looking game of all time"

Secretofmateria · Oct 21, 2020

Damn, that person knows alot about chrono trigger

Joni · Oct 21, 2020

Platy said:
Look, we all know how Phalanx is not a game about an old man playing banjo and how Forsaken 64 is not about a girl with a face tatoo

This is not a topic about these covers

I came across a tumblr post about chrono trigger and it got me thinking about those covers that got MOST stuff right but got something weird about it

David J Prokopetz

When I was a kid, the box art for Chrono Trigger always bothered me – less because it got everything about the game wrong (which was of course the norm at the time), but because it almost got...

prokopetz.tumblr.com

So it got me thinking about other game covers that are SO close but something feels off.

Like this mario cover

Where, besides bowser being super offmodel ... mario is clearly going in the wrong direction ! =O

He also seems to have found a Mega Mushroom.

GimeC · Oct 21, 2020

Het_Nkik said:
Yes.

Woah, that's wild. I've never seen that pre release screenshot before. Though it's so on the nose that I wonder if it was placed together based on the cover as concept art.

Nephtes · Oct 21, 2020

Het_Nkik said:
Yes.

Well there it is...
I always wondered about this one as a kid. Specifically Marle using fire. I didn't piece together the incorrect time period and location for the enemy...

Calamari41 · Oct 21, 2020

GimeC said:
Woah, that's wild. I've never seen that pre release screenshot before. Though it's so on the nose that I wonder if it was placed together based on the cover as concept art.

Likely the other way around. They probably gave Toriyama a bunch of screenshots and he picked this one to dramatize.

Garlador · Oct 21, 2020

Zoom in on Luigi's cap....

Fallout-NL · Oct 21, 2020

I'm partial to this one, though the Contra III box is better. What's weird here is mostly the title. The original title 'The Alien Wars' makes a lot more sense than 'Alien Rebels.'

Keym said:
"The best looking game of all time"

/edit: never mind, the crappy screenshot is probably what's off about it.

The EU box does a much better job of illustrating that claim:

Het_Nkik · Oct 21, 2020

GimeC said:
Woah, that's wild. I've never seen that pre release screenshot before. Though it's so on the nose that I wonder if it was placed together based on the cover as concept art.

Pretty sure it's the other way around and Toriyama drew the cover art based on that shot.

LuigiV · Oct 21, 2020

Garlador said:
Zoom in on Luigi's cap....

˩ is real.

LavaBadger · Oct 21, 2020

Het_Nkik said:
Yes.

This is super fascinating

ghostcrew · Oct 21, 2020

A great thread idea!

The original Resident Evil cover always had this effect for me.

For a start, that dude on the cover. It's very Chris Redfield esque but some swear that it's actually Richard Aiken, the guy who gets bitten by the big snake. Whoever it is, they're weilding some massive assualt rifle thing that I'm pretty sure isn't in the game and certainly isn't illustrative of the gunplay featured.

And then surrounded by weird spiders, a few scary faces and two crows. Fine I guess.

It's not the weirdest artwork ever just always felt a little... wrong to me. Although I guess 'guy with a gun' is the cover star in every game.

Definitely felt to me like it was more suited to the comic that it eventually featured on (which was definitely starring Richard Aiken)

Nostremitus · Oct 21, 2020

Garlador said:
Zoom in on Luigi's cap....

Juigi?

Rotobit · Oct 21, 2020

Platy said:
Where, besides bowser being super offmodel ... mario is clearly going in the wrong direction ! =O

Not only that but if you tried to bop a Goomba from below like that you'd take damage

basically Mario in both OG Super Mario Bros. covers is seconds from death

Some others -

The scale in this is incredibly off, you can't open the windows, and the ground looks real weird. Also Blathers get offa there.

Tails only appears in cutscenes and isn't playable (and one of those cutscenes implies he dies)

Fallout-NL · Oct 21, 2020

ghostcrew said:
For a start, that dude on the cover.

I always wondered what was up with the eyes.

Efejota · Oct 21, 2020

Do you ever fight a palace guard in this game?

This cover makes it seem as if Asch would be as big of a unit as the rest, but I think he was only playable for a fraction of time?

Phantasia also shows the flying horse on the cover when it's only a brief scene in the middle of the game.

Dr. Zoidberg · Oct 21, 2020

Did that frog fellow in the OP lose a contact at some point in the game too?

batfax · Oct 21, 2020

Rotobit said:
The scale in this is incredibly off, you can't open the windows, and the ground looks real weird. Also Blathers get offa there.

I remember this one at the time making a lot of people who clearly didn't look into the game much think it was a "kiddie version of The Sims" featuring animal room mates in one house and such.

Refyref · Oct 21, 2020

Het_Nkik said:
Yes.

Finally, I have an explanation for the cover art. I was so confused about it until now.

Callego · Oct 21, 2020

Fallout-NL said:
I always wondered what was up with the eyes.

I always figured it was to show the nature of the genre. One half of his face is determined like an action hero, and the other half is scared of the horror he faces.

Cover his face with your thumb to see what I mean.

Leo · Oct 21, 2020

Platy said:
So it got me thinking about other game covers that are SO close but something feels off.

Like this mario cover

Where, besides bowser being super offmodel ... mario is clearly going in the wrong direction ! =O

Lol I never noticed that. He's like "fuck y'all I'm out"

Ashrak · Oct 21, 2020

Is this the thread about the covers of the NES Mega Man-Games?

Fallout-NL · Oct 21, 2020

Callego said:
I always figured it was to show the nature of the genre. One half of his face is determined like an action hero, and the other half is scared of the horror he faces.

Cover his face with your thumb to see what I mean.

That makes a lot of sense actually. Interesting.

Bucéfalo · Oct 21, 2020

This cover was so BULLSHIT, you never get the Soul Reaver. I only recall geting to use it in the final boss fight, and Im not even sure, long time have passed (EDIT: thinking about it, I believe it was Lord Serafan using it and not Kaine).

Later I discovered that in Defiance you got to use the actual Soul Reaver from the beggining and I wanted so bad the game, every time I went to the supermarlet with my parents I saw the game there waiting for me, but never got it.

I damn you, Crystal Dynamics

Garlador · Oct 21, 2020

I already posted a Mario Kart blooper... but let me do another.

If you follow the road, apparently Bowser and Luigi are racing in reverse compared to Mario and Peach.

TubaZef · Oct 21, 2020

You can't have 3 people in a fight!

Distantmantra · Oct 21, 2020

Jegriva said:
Not a game, but... is this girl a fusion of the two protagonists?

It's concept art from early in the production before Mei and Satsuki were made two separate characters.

Squid Icarus · Oct 21, 2020

This cover is just weird to me. Why is Claude upside down? Why does the bow look so off? Why are Byleth gliding in mid-air?

The Unsent · Oct 21, 2020

Efejota said:
Do you ever fight a palace guard in this game?

This cover makes it seem as if Asch would be as big of a unit as the rest, but I think he was only playable for a fraction of time?

Phantasia also shows the flying horse on the cover when it's only a brief scene in the middle of the game.

What's wrong with this cover... not anything really, the artist did a nice job, but it makes it look like a really epic sequel to Symphonia. The actual game feels like it was made with a tiny budget, only 2 proper characters you can play, and 90% of the locations are reused from the original.

Agraavan · Oct 21, 2020

Dr. Zoidberg said:
Did that frog fellow in the OP lose a contact at some point in the game too?

Well, ackchyually, Crono is jumping from frog, who is propelling Crono up with his back.

Nocturnowl · Oct 21, 2020

Can't wait to hit the links with all my fave Mario characters on this boxart...

Who the fuck is CHARLIE?!

zombiejames said:
- Mario jumping up from lava.
- Fireball going through bricks.

Olimar tackled this boxart wonderfully in "Hey Pikmin"

"The man this chronicle is presumably about is a very tragic figure. He seems to be simultaneously running up against a brick wall, falling to a fiery death, and menaced by a sort of reddish-white, wriggling larva. With so many insurmountable obstacles on all sides, he can't be long for this world. May you have better luck in the next life, my mustachioed friend."

Lowblood · Oct 21, 2020

ghostcrew said:
A great thread idea!

The original Resident Evil cover always had this effect for me.

For a start, that dude on the cover. It's very Chris Redfield esque but some swear that it's actually Richard Aiken, the guy who gets bitten by the big snake. Whoever it is, they're weilding some massive assualt rifle thing that I'm pretty sure isn't in the game and certainly isn't illustrative of the gunplay featured.

And then surrounded by weird spiders, a few scary faces and two crows. Fine I guess.

It's not the weirdest artwork ever just always felt a little... wrong to me. Although I guess 'guy with a gun' is the cover star in every game.

Man, now I'm reminded of another thread about the cover for Streets of Rage (was called "Have you ever REALLY looked at the cover for SoR") because I guess I never looked closely enough at this cover. I always saw it as a freaked-out dude running away from stuff, which works well enough for RE, but:

-He's actually backed into a corner (you can see the roof above him and the wall meeting behind him)
-All of the enemies are more "visions" than anything real, as they're all transparent (not to mention mirrored)

So I guess it's someone (Richard, Chris, or otherwise) who has been traumatized by everything they've seen in the mansion and is now backed into a corner in fear. I guess that works well enough, though RE doesn't really need to be that deep.

I think the Director's Cut/Dual Shock version that just has the zombie face works a lot better.

hydro94530 · Oct 21, 2020

Efejota said:
Do you ever fight a palace guard in this game?

This cover makes it seem as if Asch would be as big of a unit as the rest, but I think he was only playable for a fraction of time?

Phantasia also shows the flying horse on the cover when it's only a brief scene in the middle of the game.

You definitely do fight palace guard zombies toward the end.

CyberWolfBia · Oct 21, 2020

The N. Sane Trilogy recreation of the box art of Crash 1, mistakenly made the rolling stone wheel stuck on the terrain, when it should be on its track like the original art

for reference, this is how these wheels behave in the game (they go back and forth in this stone tracks)

without mention that both the recreation and the original art have Crash going towards the camera, which is just the case in chasing sequences (and the rare backtracking), which is not particularly the case for a level like this

Yasumi · Oct 21, 2020

Alooful said:
Mario Party 3

because it's actually the cover of Mario Party 1. That dice block is badly placed.

I remember my local Blockbuster actually put a little 1 sticky note over the 3, since apparently this was a recurring thing.

Whipwhopper · Oct 21, 2020

Rotobit said:
Not only that but if you tried to bop a Goomba from below like that you'd take damage

basically Mario in both OG Super Mario Bros. covers is seconds from death

Some others -

The scale in this is incredibly off, you can't open the windows, and the ground looks real weird. Also Blathers get offa there.

Plus Blathers would never be awake during the day

Not so misleading video game covers (less Phalanx and more Chrono Trigger)

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