After looking more into the old game box art of the 1980s that was my Amstrad era, I've noticed that one of the artists that stand out to me is Bob Wakelin. So, with that in mind, here's some awesome Wakeling art for games I didn't necessarily play, but which I admired on computer magazines as full-page ads.
Where Time Stood Still (1987)
Here's a game I've never played myself, but with a cover that always caught my eye. One reason why I probably never played it was, that it wasn't released for Amstrad. There was a DOS release for it, but that never caught my eyes in stores.
Where Time Stood Still is a game close to its box art. In short, it's an isometric adventure game taking place after a plane crash, where the survivors soon notice, they've landed on a place, where dinosaurs still roam.
Wakelin's box art is a great piece bowing towards old adventure pulp fiction. There might be a tad more 1980's sex appeal on the blond cover girl, but this is a cover I could see easily as a poster for an old adventure movie or reel in readers as a book cover for a reprint of an adventure story by Burroughs.
I have no idea if the game itself is good or not, but I do approve of the art.
Batman (1986)
Here's a game I played a lot as a kid, but also a game that was pretty damned hard, so I never did play it through. I only recently checked a full playthrough on YouTube and it's no wonder I never did manage to complete it, as it is hard.
The idea is, that Robin's been kidnapped. Before Batman can go to the rescue, he has to gather his equipment as well as recover the missing pieces of his Bat-vehicle so he can hit the road and rescue his crimefighting buddy. It's another of those isometric adventures which were all the rage in the mid-1980s.
I don't really find this super interesting cover in the sense that I'd be putting a poster of it on my wall now (albeit I'm sure I had a magazine cut of this on my wall as a kid, being a Batman fan), but it still is a nice enough of a rendition of Batman and I do like the colour scheme it has going on. And for what's it worth, it looks much nicer than the actual game.
Space Gun (1990)
Now here's a game I never played on a home computer, but I do recall sinking a coin or two in the arcade cabinet. I didn't play it a lot, as there weren't many cabinets where I lived, so the lines were long and the cabinets in offer rotated quickly.
The game itself is hardly anything special. It's basically an on-rails shooter, where you kill as many aliens as you can before they get you or you get to the end of the level. If it had anything more to it than that, I can't recall.
But the box art. Yeah, it might be more than a bit cliched, but it is a sweet mix of macho action and even some elements resampling something like Alien. While the genre is something I'm not that wild about, I do love this particular piece of art. Even the logo is cool.
Rastan (1987)
Again a game I didn't play a lot, as I didn't own it myself but some friends did have it on Commodore 64, so I do recall giving it a spin time or two.
The game itself is a sidescrolling arcade game, where you as the titular Rastan (I assume), a muscle-bound Conan the Barbarian look-a-like, go around beating up enemies. I don't recall much else of it, except that it was a popular game.
The cover itself is somewhat of a typical riff on the ever so popular Cimmerian barbarian Conan, that had been popularized by the long-running Marvel comics series as well as the Schwarzenegger movies. I don't know if the game bears any other similarities to the creation of Robert E. Howard beyond the character appearance, but as far box art goes, the aesthetics are quite clear.
American players are probably more familiar with the Tim Hildebrandt variation of the cover, but personally, I like this Wakelin version better, as it feels more dynamic. Sega and Japanee MSX releases come also with different box art, but both of those are just horrible.
Athena (1986)
As a final piece of the game box, here's Athena. Again, a game I don't really know that much about other than what I saw on the artwork itself.
Athena is another side-scrolling adventure platformer, but I've never really heard any retro game circles talking about it that much, so I guess it might be either an obscure title or just not that great. As far I know it was originally an arcade title later ported to NES and then on home computers.
As an image, it is somewhat of a repeat from the Rastan cover, but instead of a muscle-bound barbarian it has an athletic female warrior, I suspect being the titular Athena, kicking some minotaur butt. Not super creative and the minotaur is a bit off, but overall I like it.
The Japanese NES release has a flat out terrible cover whereas the American one has some more effort put into it. But still, I like this Wakelin version the best.
Where Time Stood Still (1987)Here's a game I've never played myself, but with a cover that always caught my eye. One reason why I probably never played it was, that it wasn't released for Amstrad. There was a DOS release for it, but that never caught my eyes in stores.
Where Time Stood Still is a game close to its box art. In short, it's an isometric adventure game taking place after a plane crash, where the survivors soon notice, they've landed on a place, where dinosaurs still roam.
Wakelin's box art is a great piece bowing towards old adventure pulp fiction. There might be a tad more 1980's sex appeal on the blond cover girl, but this is a cover I could see easily as a poster for an old adventure movie or reel in readers as a book cover for a reprint of an adventure story by Burroughs.
I have no idea if the game itself is good or not, but I do approve of the art.
Batman (1986)Here's a game I played a lot as a kid, but also a game that was pretty damned hard, so I never did play it through. I only recently checked a full playthrough on YouTube and it's no wonder I never did manage to complete it, as it is hard.
The idea is, that Robin's been kidnapped. Before Batman can go to the rescue, he has to gather his equipment as well as recover the missing pieces of his Bat-vehicle so he can hit the road and rescue his crimefighting buddy. It's another of those isometric adventures which were all the rage in the mid-1980s.
I don't really find this super interesting cover in the sense that I'd be putting a poster of it on my wall now (albeit I'm sure I had a magazine cut of this on my wall as a kid, being a Batman fan), but it still is a nice enough of a rendition of Batman and I do like the colour scheme it has going on. And for what's it worth, it looks much nicer than the actual game.
Space Gun (1990)Now here's a game I never played on a home computer, but I do recall sinking a coin or two in the arcade cabinet. I didn't play it a lot, as there weren't many cabinets where I lived, so the lines were long and the cabinets in offer rotated quickly.
The game itself is hardly anything special. It's basically an on-rails shooter, where you kill as many aliens as you can before they get you or you get to the end of the level. If it had anything more to it than that, I can't recall.
But the box art. Yeah, it might be more than a bit cliched, but it is a sweet mix of macho action and even some elements resampling something like Alien. While the genre is something I'm not that wild about, I do love this particular piece of art. Even the logo is cool.
Rastan (1987)Again a game I didn't play a lot, as I didn't own it myself but some friends did have it on Commodore 64, so I do recall giving it a spin time or two.
The game itself is a sidescrolling arcade game, where you as the titular Rastan (I assume), a muscle-bound Conan the Barbarian look-a-like, go around beating up enemies. I don't recall much else of it, except that it was a popular game.
The cover itself is somewhat of a typical riff on the ever so popular Cimmerian barbarian Conan, that had been popularized by the long-running Marvel comics series as well as the Schwarzenegger movies. I don't know if the game bears any other similarities to the creation of Robert E. Howard beyond the character appearance, but as far box art goes, the aesthetics are quite clear.
American players are probably more familiar with the Tim Hildebrandt variation of the cover, but personally, I like this Wakelin version better, as it feels more dynamic. Sega and Japanee MSX releases come also with different box art, but both of those are just horrible.
Athena (1986)As a final piece of the game box, here's Athena. Again, a game I don't really know that much about other than what I saw on the artwork itself.
Athena is another side-scrolling adventure platformer, but I've never really heard any retro game circles talking about it that much, so I guess it might be either an obscure title or just not that great. As far I know it was originally an arcade title later ported to NES and then on home computers.
As an image, it is somewhat of a repeat from the Rastan cover, but instead of a muscle-bound barbarian it has an athletic female warrior, I suspect being the titular Athena, kicking some minotaur butt. Not super creative and the minotaur is a bit off, but overall I like it.
The Japanese NES release has a flat out terrible cover whereas the American one has some more effort put into it. But still, I like this Wakelin version the best.
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