Poll: Box Art Brawl - Harvest Moon (SNES)

I have a soft spot for the European artwork, even if as a child I found it really confusing because it’s so misrepresentative of the game’s general aesthetic.

Oof, Europe has some creepy, Wednesday Night in the Wheatfield vibes going on here. Going with Japan, just because it has more farming aestethic.

"Sir, do you really want to replace the funny characters of original art with some random picture of a dude on a farm?"

"Yes; do that"

"But Sir, you do understand we're trying to sell this game to kids, right? Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"I was selling Atari to your father, young man; I know what I'm doing. But do put a cow front and center."

As much as I'm a sucker for fun, cartoony artwork... the European boxart is just awesome. Even if it conveys the spirit of the game less. I love it.

On the European cover, the title really sticks out. Not the worst feature for a game which was probably bought by many parents and grandparents as a birthday or Christmas present.

@Krisi I agree 100%. I’m not normally one for the more realistic artwork, but this time it’s so much nicer.

Europe's looks like the cover for a horror game where you must harvest souls under light of the moon.

I love the European one but if that farmer was chopping up teens in a nearby camp site with that scythe I wouldn't be surprised.

For this game i think NA is the better vibe.

Based on the art, I'm pretty sure the Euro version has zombies.

I love the artstyle of the old, round harvest moon characters but even I think the European one is the best here, nostalgia or not.

I just dislike the clash of those cute designs and the realistic farm background. Looks dumb as hell and I think I might not even have ever popped that bad boy into my snes if it wasn't for that artwork "we" got in Europe.

I don't normally go for the box art that does not look like actual gameplay but I had to on this one. All of them are pretty bad imo but I went with EU as it at least tried something different.

European one is strange but I feel like it would've stood out more on the shelves. I definitely would've been more intrigued than if I saw the other two and have to look at the back of the box to see what it's about.

Europe looks like a serial killer just buried somebody in a field. No thank you.

I chose America, though the American and Japan boxart are just about tied. European is last, but is still interesting because of how odd and different it is.

The European art has a great aesthetic.
Completely misses the tone of the game but it gets my vote.

How on earth is the European art winning, it’s by far the worst, it doesn’t even include the character art. Japan all the way for me.

@BulkSlash The other two are similar and are splitting the vote, unless Europe gets over 50%.

North America, to me, gives the essence of Harvest Moon the most. The Japanese one is cute, but the art isn't prominent enough for my taste. And the European one is iconic in a Phalanx North American box art kind of way.

Children of the Corn 2: Harvest Moon
Europe all the way.

European cover all the way, the US is just squished in there to one side, truly awful.

People who vote on nostalgia shouldn't have their vote counted, it's about the best looking cover, not your feelings.

This is tough because none are ideal. I had to go with Europe's because of the consistent art style. Not consistent with the game, but that's secondary. And because I'm not digging that horseshoe.

Jp for me

Europe is nice but it doesn't show the game's cute charm in the slightet

Unfortunately, Australia got the North American art (albeit with a PAL cartridge), but the European cover is absolutely gorgeous.

Even though the European cover is the prettiest to me, it gives off some creepy vibes which to me doesn't jive with the actual game. That's why I voted for the US cover, because the barn looks more fitting to me than the grassy hills and (farm?)house of the Japanese cover.

Europe for me this week because I like the full moon background esthetics

As others have said, the Euro cover's vibe is that of a horror game. A farmer by day, by night a killer who travels into town to harvest souls to satisfy an insatiable bloodlust. Harvest Moon(of blood)!

North America and Japan share the same key art. The horseshoe is a nice touch. So this comes down to the background and framing. The NA background looks more like a farmhouse to me. I also think the NA cover is a better use of space. The Japanese cover has a lot of empty space as well which I don't think provides much benefit. So NA it is for me.

I went with the Japanese one because of the placement.

European art is so awesome! Love it

Harvest moon always had some horrible cover arts.

I'll have to go with the NA box art.
(even though that image is actually a bootleg, though the differences from the real box are very pedantic)

The European boxart is the most sensible but also rather dull to look out.

Japan just has our guy and his livestock popping out of horseshoe dimensional portal in the sky (at least it's on the ground in the NA art).

That said, the Japanese version is the only box you can reasonably purchase these days, so I guess it has that in its favor.

@Tasuki I passed up grabbing a copy from the rental store in 2000 for like $15 with the box cut to fit the rental case. I was tempted but passed up since I was most into collecting RPGs.
Now I have a complete Japanese copy which still cost more.

This one was really hard. I love the EUR box art, but the logo feels like it's from a different game. Ultimately, I had to go with which one would make me pick up the box and flip it over. And that would be the NA cover.

I prefer both NA or JP to EU, but I think them splitting with the same art is letting EU cruise ahead.

All three are not great but at least the Japanese art is centered

I'm nostalgic for the NA version but the European version is a work of art.

The European one's just so weirdly moody that I've always loved it.

I don't like any of them honestly. For NA and JP, the cartoony over a realistic image doesn't do it for me. The European one nails "Harvest Moon" literally to a fault, but it flows in its own way at least. I give it points for looking like a horror movie where the farmer looks like he's about to "cull" the cow rather than crops, with the dog hyping him on 😆

I do wonder why Harvest Moon games of this time period liked to flip the art for overseas, Back to Nature and GBC 2 also did that for some reason.

This one was pretty difficult for me. For me, each box art had its own vibe, and I really couldn't make up my decision. I chose the North American variant though.

Pleasantly surprised to see that the nighttime cover is in the lead. Faith in humanity.

First time seeing the European box art, and that is something I wish we had state side. Granted the NA one is more representative of the game, but that European one has more, comforting feel.

@Tasuki I'm said I didn't get the guide but I am so glad I at least got an EarthBound cart before the prices got crazy. I liked nearly every RPG I could play (even Secret of the Stars, yet I don't know why) but EB was a pretty special one to have enjoyed in the rental days.
The only one I recall not getting much out of was Ultima VI. Too much for my teenage brain to process but I hope I will someday give it another shot. I mean I have asked myself for future difficulty as I even was glad to have picked up a copy of the SNES port of The Savage Empire. I believe it was an American game for which only the Japanese localization got released, yet even that took some patience to get a copy.

Voting on "Would I buy this going purely for box art?", which I did a lot back in the SNES days (including this game) and it has to be Europe. It is mysterious and screams that you will be in for a treat!

And people comment on how the EU art doesn't convey the game's vibe, and I will disagree. The only thing is the farmer feels like a silhouette of an older man. And sure, the game is more animé, but the box art doesn't detract from the vibe.

Sure, the others have the animé characters, but the farmland graphics are so boring.

Loved this game. Good memories.

Box Art Brawls Current Total:

Europe: 106

Japan: 102

North America: 121

Australia and New Zealand: 1

I honestly can’t pick. I’d have to split between NA and Europe. I especially like how they actually show a moon in the European box art.

The characters on the JP and US version are cute, but the backgrounds look a bit cheap.

I like the EU art, but it seems like they told the artist "it's a game about a farm and it is called Harvest Moon" and nothing else and didn't even show them screenshots of the game.

Europe really took the "Harvest Moon" name literally. Art feels more appropriate for a horror game.

@countzero @Lanmanna There are parallels to artist making game art just based on the title/genre and AI art being generated based on a similar prompt, LOL.

Of course, I will always prefer the real artists over AI. 🙂