I guess Konami went through a gray background and vertical fade phase, because the layout of the U.S. box is identical to that of Castlevania III, even though the latter was released two years later! Fortunately, Contra works better—look at Bill and Lance bursting out of the limited frame imposed upon them. That they stretch to the very edges of the box and there's great perspective also makes a big difference.

Japan—for a radical change of pace—provides its worst box art in this entire feature. The main characters look dorky, and the rest of the box is a horrid clash of pink and brown. Oh yeah, I suppose there are those alien entities like the green pod, but seriously? How lazy was this artist? Only about 1/3 of the box shows any detail.

While the title is ridiculous, you can't let that bias your opinion of the art. Gray, blue, red, and white dominate the composition, giving it a very fluid and coherent appearance. At the same time, though, you lose some of the intensity of contrasts seen in the U.S. version. These robots sit further back in the scene as well, which reduces the sense of urgency. While it's a solid piece of art, it fails to capture the excitement of its U.S. counterpart.

The U.S. artwork for the first Mega Man has already gone down in history as one of the worst pieces of box art in the history of video games. I'm not exaggerating. There's so much wrong with this composition it's hard to know where to begin. Before scrutinizing any details, look at that ludicrously awkward pose! Zooming in closer, you're faced with the anachronistic fact that he's holding...a pistol? Palm trees in the background and neon red graph paper framing the art work take us from horrible to atrocious.

Japan's artistic vision is far from great, but it seems like a work of genius compared to the U.S. version. Everything is very cartoony and light-hearted. Naturally, the choice of the aqua border to contrast with the brown could have been handled better.

The European artwork comes out of left field with something truly odd and excellent. It's odd because the tone is so dark; look at how the Blue Bomber's mouth is open in a scream as he fires. The excellence comes from the composition—blue border matching Mega Man, and a tragically depressed portrait of—taking my best guess here—Dr. Light in the background. That orange robot arm that frames the "A" in "Mega" also adds a sense of gravity to the composition; already one foe has fallen.

American artwork has come a long way since the previous Mega Man installments. Although the Blue Bomber still looks chunky and weird, he finally has a proper arm cannon. The overall composition, thanks to its perspective and greater detail in general, is also vastly improved.

Japan sticks with its comic-book inspired visuals, but what an awful green for the border. Contrast is important, but this is way too Ghost Busters Slimer green. Other than that poor color choice, the composition is solid, demonstrating an action-packed triangle of characters in the center, villains flanking Rockman, and the evil shadow looming overhead.

Yet again, Europe offers something rather different, maintaining its overall quality across the series and rising to a zenith. Look at how the contrast and facial expressions create tension in this composition. On the lower level you have the typical cartoon-like cast of characters. Above, however, there is a scientist with crazy hair and haunted eyes—Dr. Wily I presume. The artwork also makes good use of the entire box worth of canvas, with lightning blasting beyond the box and even Proto Man leaping towards Rush. Another contender for my best NES box art list.

Hot damn! For once in this feature the U.S. box art knocks it out of the park. Ready to fight, weapons bared, your two main characters dominate center stage, and their dynamic poses show that they're ready to throw down. Not only does this composition take full advantage of the entire canvas, it makes the entrance to the school seem more like a prison yard. The color scale moving from black to explosive orange and red, combined with grainy (rough) imagery leaves you anticipating the impending action.

As if the Japanese version wasn't goofy and animé enough, you're assaulted with a pink border and green lettering. While the town sections and RPG elements are an important part of the game, you'd never expect any real fighting looking at this box. Silly and even misleading.

The name change is lame enough but this artistic vision is even worse. Multiply abstract art by comic book humor and you get this anti-synergy. The landscape is bland and the two characters are almost as dull. I suppose the kick to the chest could look impressive under other circumstances, but this kicker appears stoic and bland. There's hardly any story here and all that you see is exceptionally ugly and lacking detail.

The green swirling background for Kage reminds me of prints I used to do in art class, where you dropped ink into water, swirled it with a paper clip, then carefully dipped a sheet of paper in to absorb the pattern. Malicious red-hued boss in the upper-left. The two heroes in the bottom right. And in-between them—right through the title—a slash and characters that look kind of like a splash of blood. An original and inspired composition.