[Article] Curiosities on video game covers 2

After seeing the acceptance of the first article that I did about curiosities on video game covers, I started looking for some more to write a second article on the same topic, while I was thinking about how to shape the other things I wanted to write for the web.

So now I am going to put some covers that contain curiosities, some better known than others. You already know that if you want to see the covers in more detail, you just have to click on them with the mouse.

The mythical Chrono Trigger error

As many of you know, Chrono Trigger is one of the best Super Nintendo RPGs, it was very popular in its day even in Europe, where it was not put on sale. The cover is drawn by Akira Toriyama (the creator of Dragon Ball) and the truth is that it is a very good illustration, especially if we take into account that at that time the oriental drawings were usually modified by more Western ones that often did not look like what appeared in the game.

The curiosity of this cover will only be seen by people who played the game or who at least know the characters, and that is that Marle, the girl who appears casting a fire spell, is incapable of doing such a thing, since her magic is usually ice.

Mimicry in fighting

Street Fighter II was a game that revolutionized the fighting genre in the 90s, being the example to be followed by most games of the time. With the arrival of new technologies the saga made the leap to 3D, however in that field there was already a new King: Tekken.

Although these two sagas don't have much to do with gameplay, there is a curiosity that perhaps many did not see at the time, and that is the excessive similarity between the cover of Street Fighter EX Plus Alpha and Tekken 3. They are not the same, but with the enormous amount of possibilities there are to make covers, it is already a coincidence that they look so similar.

Simon Belmont is worth everything

The Castlevania saga was one of the most popular in the 8 and 16 bits, having a high number of games with its name in those generations. As used to happen, the covers of the games were changed when they arrived in the West and the truth is that this saga did not feel bad about the change, since it had incredible illustrations where we could see Simon in front of Dracula's castle or fighting hordes of enemies.

The curious thing about these covers is that in all of them we saw the same type of vampire hunter (generally with long blonde or brown hair and armor or clothing in brown tones) regardless of who the protagonist of the game was, which led us to think that they were all the same protagonist, the mythical Simon Belmont.

Obviously, by reading the instruction manual or the story of the game we found out that in that game we were playing Christopher or Trevor, even though on the cover he is Simon's twin brother.

The long shadow of Turtles In Time

At the height of the Ninja Turtles' boom, Konami launched what is considered by many to be the best game about these characters, TMNT: Turtles In Time. This game was released for Arcade and Super Nintendo, with this latest version having quite a few additions (new final enemies, an extra phase and more game modes).

Shortly after, the first Ninja Turtles game for a Sega console appeared: TMNT Hyperstone Heist for Mega Drive/Genesis. A game that reused everything possible from the aforementioned game and the first Mutants Arcade, coming to have the same sprites, music and scenarios (slightly modified) as the previously mentioned games.

Many of us think that Konami did not want to try too hard with that game, it took advantage of everything it could from what it had already done and released a new game, which despite being good, did not shine as bright as it should. This feeling is increased when we realize that the European cover of Hyperstone Heist is the same as the Japanese cover of Turtles in Time.

Dream enters and Tyson leaves

As many of you know, the third game in the Punch Out saga was released for NES under the title Mike Tyson's Punch Out, since the popular boxing champion appeared in the game playing the role of the (very difficult) final enemy.

The game was a success and was re-released years later under the name Punch Out! The reference to Mike Tyson was removed, introducing a guy called Mr Dream (from Dreamland) in his place.

This change would not have had any further consequences if it had not been for Mike Tyson appearing on the cover hitting a rival, so they had to choose between changing the cover of the game completely (risking people not relating it to the game that was already known) or changing it subtly. At Nintendo they decided to do the latter and add a mustache to the referee, who was Mario in the game for a reason.

The Okami Disaster

Video games currently move many millions of money, and one believes that the seriousness of the companies is usually in line with that situation. They are no longer the small offices or studios that existed in the 80s, now they are entire buildings, million-dollar budgets and specialized personnel in each and every task of the game.

Well, I suppose that is not always the case, since apparently some companies do not mind making some small “fixes” when making their covers. The best-known case is that of Okami, where the illustration on its cover was taken directly from the IGN website including its particular logo as a watermark (it can be seen next to the animal's mouth).  I can't understand why the creator of the cover couldn't get an official illustration from his own company.

And with this the article ends, I hope you liked it and have discovered some curiosity that you didn't know about.