Here's another little post about the old game box art. The previous entry can be found here. These images are from MobyGames.
Game Over (1987)
This one is a game I've never played myself, but I saw the advertisements for it quite often in old game magazines. The image is a work of a Spanish fantasy/sci-fi illustrator Luis Royo, whose work found its way to many game boxes back in the 1980s.
As far I know, the game itself is a side-scrolling shooter, some even say it is a great one. But knowing very little of that, all I can say is that the box art is great. For some areas of the world, the breast was censored by slapping some extra bra over them, as there was some controversy over it. Because of nipples, you know.
Originally the image was used on a cover of Heavy Metal Magazine, known for its comics aimed at more mature audiences. There the image didn't cause any ruckus, as the publication was sold with a huge "For Adults" label on it, but in the 1980s games were for kids and as we all know, nipples are deadly to children.
This particular box art was often slapped in magazines as a full-page adds to the game, so despite I never did play it, I've always been familiar with the box art.
Turbo Girl (1988)
Another title I have no real idea of as I've never played it, but again, the box art is more than serviceable. This is also done by Luis Royo.
The developer Dinamic might have tried to cause another controversy with the cover, as Game Over managed to become quite a hit partly thanks to the debacle over the nippleage.
Based on the YouTube gameplay videos, it's just another vertical scrolling shooter, where you control a sexy chick on a bike instead of a spaceship.
Turbo Girl was also released with the name Turbo Bike, accompanied by a lot less interesting cover art of a fully clothed individual driving a red bike. So either the art of Royo managed to cause another ruckus, or Dinamic just covered their bases and released the game under a different name and art in the places where the heat was hottest towards Game Over.
Renegade (1988)
Depending on where you lived, you might have seen a different art for Renegade. For me, it was this nice little illustration of the titular Renegade kicking the crap out of a ponytailed goon, while a female goon is trying to hit him on the head with a spiked mace, posing stiffly at the same time.
The image is by Bob Wakelin, who created the cover art for a lot of games through the 1980s to mid-1990s, often for Ocean Software and Imagine.
Renegade is a beat-em-up, where you clear up stages of enemies until you get to the final boss and save your kidnapped girlfriend in the process. The first two games in the series are pretty straightforward as far the story goes, but the third one manages to somehow mix up with time travel, because of reasons.
This is a game I played quite a bit back in the day, but I never did manage to complete it, as it was hard. The second level was as far I managed to get, but that didn't stop me from trying and dying.
Gryzor (better known as Contra) (1987)
Another nice cover by Bob Wakelin. If you are familiar with the action movies of the era, you might notice some similarities in the poses and the appearances of the characters (hint, Predator).
For some reason, Contra was released under the name Gryzor at some places, but as far I know, the game itself is the same, no matter the name, as besides the name change, nothing else was altered.
I'm relatively sure I never played Contra on any platform back in the 1980s, but I did play it later on. Contra is a challenging side-scrolling platform shooter, even if you play with a friend.
As far I know, Contra is considered as a classic, but in all honesty, I do prefer the cover art over the game, despite it's not really something that can be called original.
So that's that, for the time being. One game I played quite a bit, one I played a little and two I've never played, but all with covers stuck in my mind.
Game Over (1987)This one is a game I've never played myself, but I saw the advertisements for it quite often in old game magazines. The image is a work of a Spanish fantasy/sci-fi illustrator Luis Royo, whose work found its way to many game boxes back in the 1980s.
As far I know, the game itself is a side-scrolling shooter, some even say it is a great one. But knowing very little of that, all I can say is that the box art is great. For some areas of the world, the breast was censored by slapping some extra bra over them, as there was some controversy over it. Because of nipples, you know.
Originally the image was used on a cover of Heavy Metal Magazine, known for its comics aimed at more mature audiences. There the image didn't cause any ruckus, as the publication was sold with a huge "For Adults" label on it, but in the 1980s games were for kids and as we all know, nipples are deadly to children.
This particular box art was often slapped in magazines as a full-page adds to the game, so despite I never did play it, I've always been familiar with the box art.
Turbo Girl (1988)Another title I have no real idea of as I've never played it, but again, the box art is more than serviceable. This is also done by Luis Royo.
The developer Dinamic might have tried to cause another controversy with the cover, as Game Over managed to become quite a hit partly thanks to the debacle over the nippleage.
Based on the YouTube gameplay videos, it's just another vertical scrolling shooter, where you control a sexy chick on a bike instead of a spaceship.
Turbo Girl was also released with the name Turbo Bike, accompanied by a lot less interesting cover art of a fully clothed individual driving a red bike. So either the art of Royo managed to cause another ruckus, or Dinamic just covered their bases and released the game under a different name and art in the places where the heat was hottest towards Game Over.
Renegade (1988)Depending on where you lived, you might have seen a different art for Renegade. For me, it was this nice little illustration of the titular Renegade kicking the crap out of a ponytailed goon, while a female goon is trying to hit him on the head with a spiked mace, posing stiffly at the same time.
The image is by Bob Wakelin, who created the cover art for a lot of games through the 1980s to mid-1990s, often for Ocean Software and Imagine.
Renegade is a beat-em-up, where you clear up stages of enemies until you get to the final boss and save your kidnapped girlfriend in the process. The first two games in the series are pretty straightforward as far the story goes, but the third one manages to somehow mix up with time travel, because of reasons.
This is a game I played quite a bit back in the day, but I never did manage to complete it, as it was hard. The second level was as far I managed to get, but that didn't stop me from trying and dying.
Gryzor (better known as Contra) (1987)Another nice cover by Bob Wakelin. If you are familiar with the action movies of the era, you might notice some similarities in the poses and the appearances of the characters (hint, Predator).
For some reason, Contra was released under the name Gryzor at some places, but as far I know, the game itself is the same, no matter the name, as besides the name change, nothing else was altered.
I'm relatively sure I never played Contra on any platform back in the 1980s, but I did play it later on. Contra is a challenging side-scrolling platform shooter, even if you play with a friend.
As far I know, Contra is considered as a classic, but in all honesty, I do prefer the cover art over the game, despite it's not really something that can be called original.
So that's that, for the time being. One game I played quite a bit, one I played a little and two I've never played, but all with covers stuck in my mind.
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