Box Art Brawl – Duel: Dragon Quest III (NES)

Be sure to cast your votes in the poll below; but first, let’s check out the box art designs themselves.

North America

The North American cover is… strange. There’s no denying that this design goes all in on the RPG stylings — weapons and dragons and gold (oh my) — but it’s not very Dragon Quest-y, is it? The original cover took a more ‘realistic’ approach too, but at least that had some action to it. This is just a bunch of weapons stacked up in front of a dragon statue. It pulls you in with intrigue more than anything else, and we can’t knock it for that.

Japan

Now here’s a different approach. The late, great Akira Toriyama’s art showcases a very different game, one built on its characters (and dragons). The full cast stands front and centre, staring directly into our souls as if to say, “Go on, buy it. I dare you.” Below, the silhouette of a castle stands out against a red sunrise. It still has all of the classic RPG trappings, but presents them in a very different way.

Thanks for voting! We’ll see you next time for another round of Box Art Brawl.