Video Gamers Podcast - Greatest Box Art In Gaming History DRAFT! – Gaming Podcast

Episode Date: November 17, 2025

Gaming hosts Josh, Ryan, and Ace are back, and this week they’re drafting their all-time favorite video games box cover art! From iconic classics to the bold modern designs that defined entire eras, the guys break down what makes a cover unforgettable and how the art of gaming packaging has evolved over the decades. Is the best cover the one that defined your childhood, the one that reinvented the genre, or simply the one that looks coolest on a shelf? We’re diving deep into the nostalgia, the surprising stories behind these covers, and how they shaped the way players first discovered video games in the pre-digital days. Whether you love bold character art, minimalist mystery, or chaotic energy, this is one gaming draft you won’t want to miss. All that and more on this week’s episode of the Video Gamers Podcast—your home for all things gaming!   Thanks to our MYTHIC Supporters: Redletter, Disratory, Ol’ Jake, Gaius, Jigglepuf, Phelps and NorwegianGreaser   Thanks to our Legendary Supporters: HypnoticPyro, PeopleWonder and Bobby S.   Connect with the show: Support us on Patreon: ⁠patreon.com/videogamerspod⁠ Join our Gaming Community: https://discord.gg/vgp Follow us on Instagram:⁠ https://www.instagram.com/videogamerspod/⁠  Follow us on X:⁠ https://twitter.com/VideoGamersPod⁠  Subscribe to us on YouTube:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@VideoGamersPod?sub_confirmation=1⁠    Visit us on the web:⁠https://videogamerspod.com/⁠   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's hockey season, and you can get anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. Well, almost, almost anything. So no, you can't get a nice rink on Uber Eats. But iced tea, ice cream, or just plain old ice? Yes, we deliver those. Goaltenders, no. But chicken tenders, yes. Because those are groceries, and we deliver those too.

Along with your favorite restaurant food, alcohol, and other everyday essentials. Order Uber Eats now. For alcohol, you must be legal drinking age. Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region. See app for details. Where's your playlist taking you? Down the highway, to the mountains,

or just into daydream mode while you're stuck in traffic. With over 4,000 hotels worldwide, Best Western is there to help you make the most of your getaway. Wherever that is. Because the only thing better than a great playlist is a great trip. Life's the trip. Make the most of it at Best Western. Book direct and save at bestwestern.com.

Hello, fellow gamers, and welcome to the video gamers podcast. Can you hear a game and instantly recall the box art for it? Do you remember the days of picking a game solely based on the box art and the screenshots on the back? What about some of the incredible modern art we've seen? for game releases. Well, on today's episode, we're going to be drafting the best video game box art. From the memorable to the iconic, we're going head to head to see whose team will reign supreme. But first, some introductions are in order. I am your host Josh, and joining me, he's the Earl to my toe jam, the clank to my ratchet, and the knuckles to my

Sonic. It's Ryan. You got me a little worried now about my picks. Going deep with that. You're going deep, buddy. We're always worried about your picks. I don't know if you know this, but anytime we do a draft, we're always a little bit worried. You should be scared.

I got fire today. Okay. We'll see. You do have the age to remember some, like, some of the better box art at least. So you do have something going for you on this one. Call me old, buddy. All right.

And joining us. he had to ask us what we meant when we said box art, which led us to Googling the more modern answer, and apparently it's called key art now, since games don't come in boxes anymore. It's ace. You know, they say to never judge a book by its cover,

but they never said anything about video games. Yeah, dude. Let's be honest, man, a good cover art, that's what we're going to call it. We're going to call it cover art for the rest of this show. Key art's dumb and it's not box. art anymore because there are no more boxes. Yeah, because there's no boxes anymore. So it's

like, you know, whatever that picture is, when a game is announced and you get the picture, that picture that is what you see when you Google the game. That's what we're talking about. That's what we're talking about, people. Box art, cover art, key art, whatever you want to call it.

There have been some iconic ones, iconic ones out there. I mean, that's why I said in the intro, man, you just close your eyes and it's like, boom, I can picture this instantly you know yeah um there will be some nostalgia i'm sure because for the older gamers out there they remember what it's like to go to the store and walk up and down the aisle and look at games that you didn't know you know and go like oh this game looks cool and then you pick it up you turn it around you start looking at the screenshots on the back you read the description and then you go yeah

i want this one yeah it was that way if you were in a blockbuster or any video rental store renting a game. I mean, like I said, the OG gamers will understand, but don't worry, newer gamers. Y'all get some really, really cool art nowadays, too. And so we're not restricting it to just older games either. So guys, this is going to be a fun draft. I'm really curious to see if we have overlap, if we are going to snake some picks from each other on this one. But to explain it to the listeners that may not be aware how we do these drafts, we are going to take turns. So we have randomized the order using our AI overlords and the order that was picked today, I will go first and then it's going to be ace and then Ryan. And then because

Ryan gets the last pick, he's going to get the first pick in the next round. So Ryan will actually go back to back and then it'll be ace and then me. And then because I was last in that round, I get to go first and the round after. So we're going to do five rounds, which means we're going to pick five games each for this draft, and we are going to see who puts together the best team of video game cover art. I got to ask you guys, did you get, did you get nostalgic at all, like, looking up some of these? Did you start kind of looking through things and going like, oh, man?

Immediately. Like, especially, I don't mean you, Josh, like, because we did a lot of that. And I know you did two A's, but, like, this was like in the 90s, like, the cover art and the boxes that you would pick up. And they don't, some of them, especially the PCs, like, because the PCs, like, because have that extra flap on the front you could open and look at more stuff and dude it was uh it was wow because i knew my my ones that came to my head and then i just started googling like game cover art and looking at stuff and ones that i totally forgot of and and it just there was so much there

and games that i you know didn't know that i remembered you know and so there was uh there was a lot of really cool nostalgia that hit hard when i was looking this up it was it was fun research you know research isn't always fun this was fun yeah what about you ace did you have a hard time coming up with a list did you have a bunch that just popped in it was less of a list and more of a sudden just burst of memories of all my favorite box hearts that i had to sift through like a library and then i found so many i was like oh this one's great this one's great and then i'd see if he was like no one knows what that game is i can't put that and then i remembered what american versions of nintendo games looks like oh yeah yeah with the

original Mega Man. Yeah. So oddly enough for me that the main thing, because, you know, as the oldest one of the bunch, like, you know, I grew up playing Atari, you know, and this, like, they had to grab your attention. There was no internet back then. Like, if it wasn't for the box art, you didn't buy the game. Like, you didn't have the, we didn't have Metacritic.

We didn't have Steam. We didn't have anything to tell you how good these games were. And so you went by what the box looked like. And it's crazy because I started thinking. and actually looking up some of these really old Atari games and it's like bro some of the art back then was awesome dude it's like metal man absolutely that's the best way to describe it is it was metal like they were trying to just buy me play this game the game looks nothing like this

it's terrible pixels it's the worst graphics you've ever seen but you were like yeah this is great um so yeah and then I was like I cannot pick any Atari games because there's nobody's going to know what the heck I'm talking about, man. And so now one thing I, so I got a question before we get into the draft because I want to just preface a little bit about the strategy involved here. We just simply name this the best. Now best is subjective, right? Like, so did you try to go with like iconic games?

Did you go with what you thought was just the coolest looking art? Did you go with a mix? Like, which one did you go with? I went for like a mix of what's kind of iconic and what stands out and also what I really enjoy personally to see as a in my box art for my games and what makes me pick them up. But there's definitely a few of my listeners. People are like, who cares about the box art for that game? I did a mix as well. Yeah, I did a mix as well.

Just some older, some newer kind of things that really hit for me. Is Ace Frozen for you, Ryan? No. Dude, is it freaking 7 o'clock, dude? I'm not frozen. Ace. Five, six, Ace. I'm right here.

Oh, my gosh, not again, dude. Dude, I'm right here. Do not, don't start with me. What time is it? Is he going to come back? You're not funny. Ace, if you can hear us, leave your recording going. You're not funny.

Leave it going. Message, message us if you're uploading. Ace. Ace. Is he frozen for you? He's stray frozen for me, dude. Yeah. It's all pixelated, too.

What the heck? Yeah, I know what you're doing. I'm not a donuts. I know what you're doing. I can see the upload percentage. We still got you a little bit, though. We got you a little bit. Okay, okay, okay.

Oh, I made myself choke. Oh, man. Poor, look at him. He's the shooting daggers so mad. Now, man, if looks could kill. Oh, man. Oh, I just kicked over his chair.

Oh, man. Do you know how much work I've done? That was so funny. We were like, bro, it's getting close to seven. We got to do it. We got to do it. Worth it. Worth it.

Oh. Scared the crap on me. For the listeners that were like, what the heck is going. Ace's internet for two episodes crapped out on us. He has PTSD from all of this. Ryan and I before the show were like, bro, we are going to pretend like Ace's internet dropped out

just to try to get him. I love it. I may have went a little too hard on the chair. He just broke his chair. Oh, no! He knocked a leg off his chair. Oh, man. It should just snap back on, right?

Yeah, yeah. But like, if I lean forward, I will fall. so I'm just gonna okay so maybe Ace might fall during this episode this is so stay tuned okay

yeah oh we're sorry to do that oh man y'all I'm not at all that was totally worth it okay and then we're like we

so then we start messaging Ace like saying Ace are you there and then he's like lies and slander and then we're like dang it I don't know if he's buying this or not poor chair oh man

yeah my chair I don't even remember where we were, right? Oh, we were. I'll get you all back for this. All right. Let's pick you all back for this. A starts looking around. He's like, no, no.

He's like, I can see me moving. I can see me moving. I could see the upload percentage. I'm not stupid. Oh, man. Good time. No, we're the stupid ones. But it's fun to be stupid.

And if you're listening, you should be watching. We have video. So please. Please watch this because it's a good time. You get to see Ace Break his chair. Who knows? I might even turn Ace into a rat for a few seconds while we do that little bit right there. You know?

You see his face like turning behind the rat? All right. Back to the show. Ace broke his chair. Oh, man. This is, this is, I'll fix it later. It's fine. Off the rails already.

All right. So we were talking. What we're doing? We were talking about strategy. Ryan, did you go with iconic? Did you go with just beautiful? Did you go with Memorable? Like, what did you try to do on this one?

I did some ones that, a little bit of iconic or things that really stand out that people, when you mention it, they, you know, just like we do with the music of games and stuff like that. And then some more kind of just ones that I think look just, dope, dude. It's a cool looking cover art.

People probably don't remember or maybe they haven't seen it, you know, and it's just, it looks, when you look at it, you're like, okay, yeah, that's a good pick. Yeah, I kind of went with a mix. I will say that I, I kind of, on most of these drafts, especially when it's like the topic of best or something like that, I generally try to go with what comes to mine first for me, right? Like if I have something that just immediately comes to mind, to me, that tells me that that's like that ranks up there with being some of the best.

And so a lot of mine are like the very initial gut reaction to, you know, what came to mind instantly. That's what I'm going to go with. I'm sure there's others out there that are like more iconic or probably better art or something like that but it's like just I'm going with my gut on these so all right boys you ready to get this draft started?

Yeah I think yeah I'm winning this one now this questionable draft order Hey man I even screenshot it and posted the me asking AI to say Hey please randomize these names so because I knew you guys would be like no

that's not fair but okay it do you okay so let's let's just go let's pause for a second do you think there is a clear 101 is there a clear top pick for me yes when it comes to best video game cover arts yes there is for me i have one in my mind that is the 101 of all game covers okay i do too so i'm just going to go ahead and take it right here guys so starting this draft off the most memorable video game cover art for me the one that came to mind instantly I mean, didn't even have to think about it. This is a no-brainer. It is dead or alive, extreme beach volleyball.

I'm just kidding. I'm joking. He said, hey, that's in the books. That's in the books. Legally binding. I love the pause that you guys had. You were like, okay, wait a minute. Let me search.

Oh, yeah. Oh, I remember that. Oh, I didn't have to search, buddy. I didn't have to search. Ryan just Googled it. Listen, that might be one of the more memorable ones from the, what is this, the mid-90s, Ryan? Because we all remember this cover art on this one, but that is not my pick. It was just the funny guy.

And I became a man. Oh, man. All right, my real pick is Doom. To me, this is one of the most iconic. That is the one of one. yeah yeah the iconic the first one doom the original doom i prefer 2016 standing on top of the pile of corpses right where the demons are all trying to climb up on them wait is that the actual original i think it is yes it is i'm pretty sure it's the original one yeah yeah you got me you got

me second guessing myself there because there's been so many freaking dooms uh over the years but it's the one where it is doom slayer doom guy if you want to be more casual standing on top of of the pile of demons. He's looking down. It's got that cool color gradient where it's like the greens and then the reds. I can picture it perfectly every time I close my eyes.

This is, if not, one of the most iconic cover arts in gaming, but also it's super freaking cool at the same time. It's the 101. That is my pick for the 101. None of you guys can get it. Yeah.

Yeah, I was... Was that your pick, too, A, so... That was absolutely my pick. I was actually going to go with the 2016 remake version because I really love that one. Because as the Slayer instead of Doom guy, because I don't know if... Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. But that's too close now. But, you know, whatever.

It's fine. That's definitely the 101, though, so I'm glad we were both thinking the same thing there. Were you thinking that too, right? I do like that version, Ace. It's a little more stylized. There's something about the slightly retro look of the original Doom that I really just, I don't know. I vibed with it. It, like, the whole thing just screams, like, Doom to me, too.

Like, I don't know. It just captures that vibe. That's fair. You know, so. All right. All right. So, Ace, we are up to you. Your first pick of the draft for best video game cover art, what you got?

The first game I thought of after Doom, because of course, after Doom, for game cover art that really caught my eye is Bioshock. I thought of Bioshock with the big idea logo of BioShok on there. The big Bioshock logo, the little sister holding on to his leg in the corner, he's in the freaking underwater tunnel in rapture, it tells the game to you immediately. It's perfect. So, Biocococ for sure's. That's a good

pick, dude. Bioshock was on my list. Just, even the logo, dude, even without the big daddy, like that, the way that it kind of comes out at you that Yeah, it's iconic, dude. It is absolutely very memorable. Yeah. Ryan, you said you had a clear 101. Oh. Do you

still have your pick? Well, I mean, Doom, Doom was the one, but I had another one that was, you know, 102, if you, if you will. But I am going to go with the one, the only Halo 3. It was on every GameStop window section, you know,

across the whole side of the building. It is just, it is that, you know, iconic Master Chief, you know, jumping across with that cool backdrop. To me, when I, when I think of like, you know, cover arts, that's the one. When you plaster- It's like the sunset.

Yeah, it's at the sunset, and it's like, you see his running and it's you know it's halo three is like arguably like the best one so uh yeah that's going to be halo three that's a good pick man yeah that's that dude that halo three is so good good i mean dude from beginning to end halo three was just incredible i remember dying on purpose on the war hog level just like yeah i know just so you could rerun it again i know yeah okay so then i get another one right you do get another one that starts round two so i am going to go with something a little more old school on this one. I'm going to go with

Super Metroid. Have you guys seen this? Oh, I love the Super Metroid cover art. That's great. I love that one. So this one is just, like I said before, metal. You got Samis there. She's shooting this freaking old school red dragon that you would see like on a metal bands like a shirt or t-shirt or something and the backdrops and even bigger dragons

like face kind of half there. It's just it's that old school like this game looks nothing like this but this will get you to like feel hardcore and you're going to buy it you've got the big green claws coming over the top of the box and have some unknown or unseen thing going on i actually really liked this art style that they went with for a while it was like the uh kind of like almost like a weird like mix of like fantasy and cartoony in a way it was like heavy metal look like yeah yeah like heavy metal fantasy almost was uh is a good way to describe it man Yeah, that's a good pick, Ryan.

Yeah, that's a really good one, dude. I love that. Is that a dragon? Is it a Teradackel? That's, uh, that's, uh, that's Ridley, the main antagonist of the Metroid series. Right, it is. Oh, my goodness, man. Yeah.

All right. So super Metroid to start round. Dude, that's a good one, Ryan. That wasn't even, that's a really good one, dude. I like that a lot. There's so many options. Like, this is going to be one of the things, dude. And listen, we fully get like, the listeners are going to be like, guys, how did you not mention this?

How did you not mention this? Oh, there's so many. You know how many boxers are so many? There's a gazillion of them, man. Like, it's impossible to think of everyone and then be like, yes, this one for sure. This is the one. All right, Ace, we're going to get to yours right after we take a break and hear from one of our sponsors. This episode is brought to you by Peloton.

Breakthrough the busiest time of year with the brand new Peloton Cross Training Tread Plus. Powered by Peloton IQ. With real-time guidance and endless ways to move, you can personally, your workouts and train with confidence, helping you reach your goals in less time. Let yourself run, lift, sculpt, push, and go. Explore the new Peloton cross-training tread plus at OnePeloton.com. All right, Rocket League players, today's episode sponsor is for you. If you're serious about ranking up, stop grinding in the dark.

Start learning smarter with trophy.aI. Trophy AI gives you real-time feedback that actually adapts to your play style. No more generic, hit the ball better advice, it breaks down exactly what you're doing right and more importantly what you're doing wrong with real-time overlays that allow you to fix your mistakes on the fly. Need to sharpen your mechanics, Trophy AI has a massive library of training packs complete with live demos from pro players. You can watch, you can practice, and maybe even learn some of their moves.

Plus, there are many games that make training fun instead of a chore. And after every match, you'll get a personalized analysis showing exactly what you can improve on. It's like having your own Rocket League coach 24-7. You'll see faster improvement, play with more confidence, and actually understand why you miss that crucial save or lost that kickoff. Try it risk-free for seven days at trophy.a.i using the code V-G-P. That's T-R-O-P-H-I.A-I. Train smarter, climb faster. all right we're back we are in the middle of round two of our draft uh just as a quick recap round

one went uh my pick of doom ace went bioshock and ryan went halo three and then ryan started round two with super metroid ace it is back to you what do you got buddy all right this one i don't know if this is going to be as iconic to people as bioshop obviously but for me the next one is dishonored dishonored has one of the Missed freaking cover arts. You've got the main character standing on this, like, wreckage of a ship with the plague-ridden city in the background. And he's got his freaking, he's got that awesome skull mask for one thing that you get to wear the entire game. It is a cool mask.

Yeah, I love that. I mean, it's in my background for a reason. I freaking love that thing. And then you've got your freaking knife in front of you. It's just such an, like, iconic cover art to me, even if Dishonored isn't as beloved as I think it is. Dishonored's fantastic I love Dishonored Dishonored is beloved

If you have not played Dishonored It's in an absolutely incredible game I get what you're saying that like It didn't take the world by storm But Dishonored is like If you like Bioshock or any Like honestly It's dishonored is a must play

I did pick two very similar games Bioshock and Dishonard Aces like he likes a certain theme here They do I love the Dishonored logo too Yeah man see this is where some of this comes into play because I think there, I have some games, but I don't

think that you guys are going to pick some of these. And so I think I'm going to pick the one. I'm worried that maybe might get snaked for me. This is a modern game. My next pick is a, actually I get back to back picks, but I'm going to take this one because

it stands out to me every single time I see it. I hate this color normally, but for some reason it just works for this game. um cyberpunk 2077 dude that bright that bright like yellow color that's just so vivid and then you have v and I like how they mix up whether it's like the female V or the male

version of the V and it's just like I don't know man there is something about how clean it is how vibrant it is how detailed like the characters look but cyberpunk 277 to me is like it's instantly iconic it's beautiful and it's super memorable. So that is going to be my pick to wrap up round two. I like

how on that one too, you kind of see, you see the tech, you see like the way they look, the way V looks and stuff. So it gives you a little clue on what you're in for, you know, with the changes and the you know. Yeah, it's the little details, man. Like that's why I say. And I'm not a big fan of like yellow. Like I, maybe it's just I can't

wear yellow or something, but there's something about like that color with like with all that too, how clean it is. all right and then since we're going more modern guys this might be one of the coolest cover arts that i think i have seen now the game wasn't the best in my opinion but when it was announced and they showed off the cover art for this i thought this was one of the coolest things i have seen and that is the cover art for avowed that cool looking skeleton thing with like all the different areas and it's got like the growth on it it's like bro it like i like

I love fantasy art, number one. And there is just something about this design with like, you know, even like the little branches and the flowers coming off the back of the head. This is absolutely gorgeous, in my opinion. The vibrancy of the colors, I, I'm still blown away every time I see this. Like, if I was ever going to get another tattoo, like I could legitimately see getting this as a tattoo just with how cool this

freaking image is, dude. So Avald is my next pick on that one. That's a good one, dude. I actually really liked that cover art. I actually hadn't seen it. That's really good. No, I wish the game was that cool.

You've never seen the avowed cover art? I didn't bother to look into that game at all because I knew I had no interest. Too mainstream. Yeah, I get it. Avaat. Two mainstream? No. I hadn't heard anything good.

Avowed was good. It was not great. And I think because it wasn't great, it was a disappointment to me. But it was a good game. It just wasn't the most amazing game I was hoping for. Yeah, I was playing Monster in a wild. Ace. What's that?

I was playing Monster Under Wilds when that game came out, so... Oh, yeah, that's probably a better game. Significably better game, so... I'm also going to pick a more modern game because I absolutely adore the cover art for this game. And that's Eldon Ring. Eldon Ring has one of the best... Dang it, Ace.

You jerk. You jerk. If neither one of you picked that, I was going to pick it when it came back to me. Really? I kind of thought maybe it would make it back around to me. It's so good with the tarnest leaning over the... corpse with the sword and then the freaking sigil in the background glowing it's so good dude i love the olden ring box art yeah and the colors of like that green and the yellow once again shining

it's so good all those like uh those souls games follow that kind of just hardcore i might have another soul's soul's game on here i'm gonna i already know what it's gonna be i can guess it you probably can't starts with the b oh no he knows no That's on my list too, man. That's a good one. Somebody better steal it. Somebody better steal it, Ryan. I shouldn't have said anything.

It just stole it. It is back to you, Ryan. You get back to back picks now. Back to back. Okay. I'm going to go with one. This is not super new. I'm going to go with Star Wars Battlefront 2.

Oh, that's a good one, dude. I love that. I actually thought about that. There's so much. I mean, there's a big thing, too, in, like, the Pokemon world where when you have other Pokemon in the art and stuff and then a lot of things in there, this cover art is so cool because you have the Clone Trooper,

you have the Sith, you have the Jedi, there's, like, stuff going on in the background. There's just so much going on and so many details. I just, I always remember that one, and it's such an awesome game, too, you know, so all my Battlefront people out there. Love you. Would you, okay, you know how there was the big push

for Battlefront Three? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. A big, big, I don't think we're ever going to get it, but like, that would be so sweet, dude. I love Star Wars, man. Like, give me anything with a Star Wars skin on it, and I'm very likely to play it. I have my doubts EA is very eager to touch the Star Wars IP again for a while. Honestly, I think so, too, because it can't be cheap to get into that IP and say we'd like to make money off of your IP, please. All right, so Ryan, you get another pick, Battlefront, too.

This is going to start our last. No, no, I'm sorry. Wait, we got, we got, this is round four, so. Yeah, I get one. Start of round four. I get two more, uh, so let's see here. Oh, man. Oh, even though I feel

its successor was better, I'm going to go with Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild. Okay. As the cover art. Actually, I prefer, I prefer the Breath of the Wild cover art. Yeah, I think it's better. I said the game was better. Tears of the Kingdom was better, in my opinion.

I just love, uh, the, the mechanics of the arm but uh breath of the wild he's you know link standing there on the cliff edge and it's just that backdrop of high rule and everything i just think it's very majestic looking uh as far as the cover art goes give you it really is he's standing on that boulder yeah just looking out over the valley and it's kind of i don't know man that that that's an incredible piece of art that's actually on my list i was going to take that next yes i snake them yeah because it's so good dude it's like you just feel like the like I don't know it just it's got some vibes to it man that really really good gives you a feel for what the game's gonna be you know it's it's cool

I like it it's not my favorite legend of Zelda cover art though for the whole series I'll say that oh I know yours is yeah you probably do because you made my freaking starts with an M yeah you made my freaking top 10 yeah I know which one it is all right you're up ace we're back oh good I can take it uh I kind of hit it this this my favorite legend of Zelda game is major's mask and major's mask has one of the craziest most cluttered cover arts ever i love the look of major's mask for one thing but it has all these bright purples and yellows and greens and it all just shines because it's link standing in front of the city of termina holding a mask and in the background you can see the skull kid

who is his arch enemy and the creepiest moon in all of gaming it's the moon that gets dude. The moon. This was specifically for the 3D S remaster of this game, but that's what I played because I didn't have an N64. Major's Mask, B.

All right, so Major's Mask for Ace. That's a good one, dude. I love Majors Mask. I won't. I'm going to save, because I was going to mention Okreed of Time is actually a really cool cover, too. Are we all three going to take a Legend of Zelda cover?

maybe no I'm not I'm not I don't think so okay I don't do it I want to just take one that I think I get back to back picks here and I want to take one that I think is just straight up iconic this is when when I think about a game where it's like bro you absolutely nailed this it is the here I'll just give you a hint it's the zombie hand with the left for dead left for dead right I mean it's it's so simple dude dude It is literally just hold up your hand and show four fingers. You had to say one thing. I already know. You talk about an iconic cover art that is just insanely memorable and does the job. That is the cover art for Left for Dead. Is it beautiful? No.

Like there's no art here. It's just, it is iconic. It does exactly what it needs to do. I have to give it credit for that. And so I'm taking it because I want to have, like I said, I want to have that nice little mix there. okay i get one more pick and then my draft is over all right make it count it's gonna be brother it's it gonna be i have so many honorable mentions like ones that i really like we'll fly through those when we get them all picked oh my goodness dude i'm really torn here i i like there's the one

that i mentioned to you ace that i'm kind of tempted to just take out here because i like it a lot That'd be really funny. I think I might. Like, I don't know if it's on Ryan's list, but I actually really, really like this one, too. All right, I'm going to take it. I'm going to take it. I'm taking Diablo, too.

Oh. Dude, there's something about, there's something about just that black and red, that shadowy look of Diablo's face. I got the big, dude, I still remember to this day. I actually saw one of these at a thrift store the other day, where it was not the battle chest but it was what did they call like the

the big collector's edition where it had all the ruins on like the front of the box and everything and it was Diablo's face and I was just like bro I remember this I remember going to the store to buy the box of this game and just thinking this was the coolest looking thing ever it's just the two colors man

but Diablo two is one of those iconic really really well done and so I'm taking it not only because I love it but also So maybe to steal it from Ryan. Thanks, bud. Did I steal it from you, Ryan? Oh, yeah.

No. Yeah, you snites me. I didn't think you guys were going to take it for sure. Dang it. All right. Ace, you're up, buddy. All right, Ryan. Your last pick.

No, it's Ace. Oh, I'm sorry, Ace. You're done, brother. I guess I get four. I get four. All right. I picked Bioshock, too strong. Go ahead.

If we pick it, we know what it is. Oh, yeah, do you? Mm-hmm. Because it's Ender Lilly's Quietest Nights. Ah. I knew, I knew without a doubt, dude. Ender Lily's Quietest Nights has one of my favorite cover arts of all time. And I love that Ender Magnolia copied it as well and did the sort of a reverse version.

Mm-hmm. And there's nothing really like in the background of this cover art. It is specifically just Lily and all the spirit she collects throughout the game, starting from the top left hand side of the box, striking downwards. And then the Ender Magnolia one is the exact opposite. You have lilac and all the humonger. She Captures, starting at the top right, striking down left. And it's so iconic to me.

I love it, man. And I know it's not going to win any votes or anything. But I, they're very good, though. I will say, like, if you see the two side by side, like the fact that they kept the theme and the vibe and all that, it's really good, dude. Yeah, it's awesome. So I'm a stick to my, to my guns on that and say it's so good. Quality pick.

Yeah. It's hard to pick between the two, honestly. I was, I was actually, I knew there was going to be an ender something. I just didn't know which one you were going to go with. Which one? Yeah. I really like it. I bring us home, buddy. You're the last pick of the draft. So of course, I got to save the best for last. I'm going to go with the hit classic from Super Nintendo.

Shack Fu. Yeah. Which is just a picture of Shaq like this. It's all just like in a fighting sense. Like, Shaq, just make a pose. Make a pose. Make a pose. He's like, what you want me to do?

Like this? Oh, all right, that works. No, it's not Shaq Fu. I was just kidding. But I am going to go with one of my favorite games of all time. It's got that kind of weird, misty smoke look to it with the character kind of style. I'm going to go with Metal Gear Solid 2, Sons of Liberty. Nice.

I assume a Metal Gear would we go. Yeah, it's one of my favorite. There's a lot. Metal Gear Sol 4, it actually has a pretty good one. I didn't love that game, but I thought the cover art is really good on it. But, yeah, Metal Gear Solid 2. That's my favorite one for sure. The styling on that is really cool, man.

It's got that weird, misty, smoky look to the design. You can kind of see the progression when somebody had a really good, like, style. And then a lot of other games had something similar to where, like, oh, we're getting artistic with our cover art. Like, okay. But we're getting realistic with it. But we're going, like, pure fantasy. Like, now we're just hiring artists. Like, you know, like Echo the Dolphin.

I don't know if you guys remember that. That was a big one where. That one was wild. I was going to say that as a joke one, too. that's so good at painting like underwater creatures and like that's the cover you know um all right let's let's fire off some honorable mentions here guys um i'll go with some that i had on my list and then we'll wrap this up real quick so i had twisted metal two that's a good one uh that is an awesome awesome cover art one of the most iconic i honestly i'm kind of surprised nobody drafted this one

super Mario brothers three the bright yellow with raccoon Mario just it's iconic i think it's plain and it's simple. I don't love it, but I think it's insanely iconic. I agree. No Man Sky is a beautiful cover art. That one is really, really good.

Starfield, surprisingly, lame game, but I believe there's something about the cover art on that one that I really liked. Lame game, hold on. What? Starfield wasn't lame. It may have not been amazing, but it wasn't lame.

It's lame to what people were hoping it was going to be. It's a fine video game. It was just disappointing. Oh, don't say more. I've heard so many people say mid on Instagram It's made a long day of me. I got PTSD too, bud. Trust me.

I've heard it too. Sometimes simple is good. The quake with just the logo for the original quake is really, really good and iconic. And then Limbo. That was the other one. Oh, yeah. Really neat with the kind of lighting on the kids

and they're all looking towards the light and then the whole rest of the thing is dark. I thought that one was really, really neat too. So, all right. Ryan, what do you have for honorable mentions? Oh, my gosh. got a GTA Vice City. I thought I love the like the bright colors and the pink and you at the trees and the

guys, you know, and they're crazy, crazy attire. They're kingpin attire. Um, Ghost of Tsushima. That's a good one. Uh, that's good one. I like that one a lot. Very kind of just saline and somber and he's just standing there, you know, uh, toe jam and Earl panic on Funkotron.

I mentioned that in the intro. I know. That's what I was like, oh no, but I ended up not taking it. Um, and then, uh, golden ass. Another one of those old school. Dude, golden axe was amazing. That was on that an altered beast were the two that I was like, I can't go this old school. Nobody's going to remember these, man.

Just the oily muscled up, dude, and a chicken a bikini, like armor with like a giant sword and monsters. And the troll or the dwarf guys on like a like a dinosaur or something is. Yeah, yeah, the rafter, man. Yeah, yeah. That was great. That's funny. All right. What do you got?

Honorable mentions. Obviously Bloodborne. Bloodborne is one of my favorite. games of all time. It has an iconic box art of the hunter standing in the middle of the streets of this pale godforsaken town that does not look like a place you want to be. But when you play the game, you want to be there. It's fun. Watchdogs is actually on my list, which I know watchdogs didn't land for everyone. I can actually picture that cover. So that's a good, I've ever played the game, but I actually know what the cover looks like. That game is fun.

Yeah, you've just got the main character, Aidan Pierce, standing in the front with his gun out in one hand. He's got his phone in the other. And you can see all the people in the background. profiled on his phone, which is freaking cool. It kind of shows you everything the game has to offer. Yep, yep. Assassin's Creed Origins, which is the Egyptian one, which is you have the main character walking towards the pyramid through the oasis. Absolutely beautiful and stunning cover art.

Also for like kind of the remakes of all the Assassin's Creed. Rise of the Tomb Raider. Can you imagine that one? Oh, that's a good one. That's a good one. Yeah, that is a good one. Yeah. Her standing at the mouth of the cave with the wind blowing past the tour.

and she's got that pickax. Actually, that's my favorite of the Tumator Remakes is Rise. And then finally, Tales of Iron. I really like Tales of Iron's cover art. It's very simple and simplistic. It's got the Mouse King Reggie with his foot on the throat of a frog with the sword pointed down. Got to get an animal.

Got to get a mouse, man. Yeah, I got to get a rat in there. I'll post that one just because I know you guys don't know what that one looks like. He hates them frogs. Oh, that is cool. That looks like a hardcore child's book cover. I know, right? Yeah.

yeah that's that's for me all right well here i'll i'll review the list real quick for everybody so here we go because we want to hear from the listeners on which team or which uh which list they like the best okay so ace your team is bioshock dishonored elden ring majora's mask and inner lily's quietest of the night nice ryan yours is halo three super metroid battlefront to Breath of the Wild and Metal Gear Solid 2. And mine is Doom, cyberpunk 2077, avowed Left 4 dead, and Diablo 2.

Nice. I can't believe you stink Diablo. I can't believe you waited until the last round. I didn't think you're going to pick it. I didn't think you're going to pick it. Come on. You know, look, you might love Diablo 2 like more than I do, but I played the heck out of some Diablo too, man. It's good games. Yeah.

all right listen everybody we hope you enjoyed this episode uh ryan's going to put a poll in the uh in the comments on this so make sure you vote for who you think had the best list so that we can get some bragging rights you know if you want to vote for me that's fine i understand you know it's easily the best list out there um but while you're doing that make sure you leave us a comment on what you think the best box cover art is that comes to mind for you if you haven't done so already please rate the show. Follow the show. It's the plus button, the follow button in your podcast app. If you are so inclined and you love the content that we put out three times a week and you want to support this show, there's a link in the episode description to take you to Patreon where you

can sign up. It's very quick and easy to do. There's no commitment. And it starts as little as $5. You get a ton of perks like our pre-show, post-show content, Discord access, lots of other stuff. a shout-out on the show for signing up and things like that as well. So we highly recommend you do that and support the show because it helps us do this show for everybody. All right, that's going to do it for this one, boys. Until next time, happy gaming. Vote for me.

See ya. Would you kindly vote for me? Peace out. Oh, that's cheating. Thank you.