American Kirby Is Hardcore: Difference between revisions

* ''[[River City Ransom]]'' is a textbook example. Contrast the [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/0e/Downtown_Nekketsu_Monogatari_game_cover.jpg Japanese box art], in which everyone looks more or less [[Super-Deformed|like they do]] in the actual game, with the [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/46/River_City_Ransom-front.jpg American box art]. Of course, even in the Japanese version, the heroes of that game, as well as every other game in the [[Kunio -Kun]] series, are indisputably hardcore. For the Japanese, "cute" and "hardcore" are [[Badass Adorable|not mutually exclusive]].

* Compared to [http://360.kombo.com/images/content/boxart/blazblue_360_box.jpg whatever North Americans got], [http://www.gamesetwatch.com/100112-blazblue-2.jpg the boxart] of the European ''[[Blaz BlueBlazBlue]]'' seems to suggest a Noel [[Third-Person Shooter]] spinoff rather than a [[Fighting Game]], among things. The fact that the iconic title is merely featured as a background element with more emphasis put on a title written in a generic font doesn't help.

* While it's not a comparison between American and Japanese, looking at the boxart on the Xbox360 version of ''[[Eternal Sonata]]'' then looking at the [[PlayStationPlay Station 3]] version reveals that there were some drastic changes. The 360 version looks bright and innocent, with characters standing in a grassy meadow. The [[PlayStationPlay Station 3]] version has a darker background, and has the characters looking angry in various action poses.

* Oh boy, ''[[Nie R]]''. It is quite possibly the ultimate logical conclusion of this trope, to where it not only deals with cover art but the actual game. To explain: ''NieR'' is the name of two parallel-developed [[Square Enix]] games, ''NieR Gestalt'' (Xbox 360) and ''NieR Replicant'' ([[PlayStationPlay Station 3]]). In ''Gestalt'', the eponymous protagonist is a hulking, white-haired middle-aged man searching for a cure to the Black Scrawl virus, which is ailing his daughter, Yonah. In ''Replicant'', the eponymous protagonist is a young [[White-Haired Pretty Boy]] who is searching for a cure to the Black Scrawl virus, which is ailing his little sister, Yonah. In case you haven't caught on yet, this is literally the only difference between the two versions. The American branch of Square Enix actually paid to develop an entirely separate version of the game where the only difference is the design of the protagonist. The official reason behind the two versions is that they believed the game would not sell well in the west if the protagonist was young and pretty, rather than grizzled and muscle-bound. While ''Replicant'' was the original idea, in Japan both versions of the game are available, and overseas only ''Gestalt'' was released (entitled simply ''NIER'').

* The ''[[Wild ArmsARMs]]'' series usually either retains the original cover art or replaces it by something that, while different, keeps the tone. Exceptions can be found in the first title ([http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/9/199299_14331_front.jpg J]; [http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/9/199299_43279_front.jpg U]) and ''[[Wild ARMs 5]]'' ([http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/6/931326_72769_front.jpg J]; [http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/6/931326_72466_front.jpg U]).

* ''[[EarthboundEarthBound]]'' has a minor example: the Japanese boxart was just blank red with the logo, whereas the English boxart instead depicts a Final Starman towering imposingly over Ness on a psychadelic background. Also, the English release material made and used modified versions of Ness and Paula's clay-model artwork to make them look more realistically proportioned, less cutesy, and in Ness's case more [[Totally Radical]] (strangely, neither Jeff nor Poo were modified the same way).