#atari video computer system

[bestboxart]

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#131: Vote for your favorite boxart!

The Cat Lady

Adventure

Voting ended onJun 6

[thirtytwoelvismovies]

Atari 2600 night. I hadn’t turned on my original console since I got the Atari 50 release for the PS4, which is a superb collection, but doesn’t feature any imagic, Activision, or 20th Century Fox titles. Stand-out titles tonight include Kung Fu Master, Titlematch Wrestling, Commando Raid, and Flash Gordon.

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Atari Video Computer System (1980)

[robe-and-wizard-hat]

[bestboxart]

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#125: Vote for your favorite boxart!

Wii Music

Codebreaker

Voting ended onJun 5

[bestboxart]

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#177: Vote for your favorite boxart!

super・スネーキー

Night Driver

Remaining time: 2 days 9 hours

[bestboxart]

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#180: Vote for your favorite boxart!

Haunted House

Phantasy Star

Remaining time: 2 days 12 hours

(Propaganda under the cut!)

Haunted House

Many have criticised, not unreasonably, that most box art on the Atari VCS/2600 could almost be considered false advertising considering what the games actually looked like, but this was because games demanded a lot more from the player's imagination to interpret what was going on and how it should make them feel. In that respect, this artwork exceeds. It got me to examine the game (and pre-NES console games as a whole) on a deeper level than I otherwise would've, and appreciate how it does everything it can to get as close to a horror experience as likely possible on such primitive hardware. To see the player sprite not as a goofy set of googly eyes with a red circle behind them, but a wide-eyed and terrified protagonist navigating by matchstick. Not to mention the painting itself is one of the most beautiful and unique I've ever seen on the cover of a game. TLDR; Without this artwork, Haunted House wouldn't be nearly as effective as a piece of horror, and any box art that is essential to the experience of the game deserves praise. I want it as a poster.

Phantasy Star

Honestly, like, every single Master System game with that graph paper format deserves a spot imo, but I'm submitting my favorite

[thirtytwoelvismovies]

The Flash Gordon movie tie-in for the Atari 2600 released by 20th Century Fox is a super-fun Defender clone.