Good cover art can be the difference between success and failure for a video game. This used to be the case more so in the past, but with the rise of digital sales, the cover art isn’t as much of a factor as it used to be. Before online stores led to a more convenient life for gamers, there was a time when spending hours looking at the awesome cover art in stores was a part of what made being a gamer so special.
Deciding what video game to buy often came down to how good the cover art was. The Sega Master System was interesting because the cover art appeared to be drawn on a graph paper backing. A lot of the cover art was also quite frankly not very good but, looking back, it was also unique, which makes it special. This list will celebrate the excellent (and sometimes bizarre) cover art of forgotten Sega Master System games, as well as compare the Japanese cover art to what the rest of the world experienced.
14 Double Hawk
Released in 1990, Double Hawk is a two-player shooter which follows the adventures of Jack Thomas & John Jackson. The gameplay is very similar (if not identical) to the arcade game Cabal where the player must avoid being shot whilst moving cross-hairs to shoot enemies.
The cover art for Double Hawk isn’t too bad, but the most striking thing about it is how it takes inspiration from Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Stallone artwork in particular is clearly based on one of his most famous characters, Rambo. This type of artistic license wasn’t uncommon in the 80s and 90s when artists would copy images from movies and use them for video game cover art.
13 Chase H.Q.
Arcade racing games such as Out Run & Power Drift were very popular in the late 80s. Chase H.Q. Was released in 1988 and attempted to capitalize on the popularity of racing games, but also added a slight twist. Taking the role of two cops who drive a Porsche 928, the player must pursue criminals who have their own sports cars. The twist is once the cops have caught up to the criminals, they must then ram them off the road.
The Sega Master System version of Chase H.Q. Is generally well regarded as a good home conversion of the arcade. The cover art, however, isn’t very good at all! This is a shame because there was some excellent cover art for other home versions which could quite easily have been used. The home computer cover art takes some inspiration from the movie 48 Hours, with the lead characters looking like Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy.
12 Air Rescue
Air Rescue is one of those rare Sega Master System games which has genuinely good cover art. Released in 1992, the gameplay bears more than a passing resemblance to another Sega title called Choplifter.
There was an arcade version of Air Rescue released in the same year, which took the perspective from a first-person view rather than the Master Systems side-scrolling viewpoint. As the Sega Master System was coming to the end of its life cycle, Air Rescue is unlikely to have been experienced by a wide audience.
11 Double Dragon
Side-scrolling beat ‘em up Double Dragon is arguably one of the most influential games in this much-loved genre. Brothers Billy & Jimmy Lee have been fighting street punks for decades, and the success of Double Dragon opened the flood gates for similar games to appear in arcades and later in the home.
The Sega Master System cover art is actually very good filling the box with a dragon and the Lee brothers fighting a group of enemies. The Japanese version gives off an almost supernatural style due to the facial expression of the lead characters.
10 Pro Wrestling
Wrestling games have been popular for many years, especially those based on characters from The World Wrestling Federation, or WWE as it is now known. Pro Wrestling was released in 1986 and attempted to capitalize on this with its version of sports entertainment.
The cover art is quite frankly bizarre, where it shows a headless person carrying a head that wouldn’t look out of place in a horror game. The Japanese cover art is much more dynamic, which attempts to show the theatrics often associated with wrestling.
9 Action Fighter
Action Fighter is Sega’s version of the classic arcade game Spy Hunter. Both feature overhead views of vehicles and have an element of the best James Bond-style car chases. Both also give the player the chance to control different vehicles.
Action Fighter starts with a motorcycle which then transforms into a sports car. The car then has wing attachments that resemble Matt Trakkers' vehicle Thunderhawk from the M.A.S.K. Series. The game then turns into a vertical scrolling shoot ‘em up. The US and European cover art is fairly uninspiring, to say the least. Once again, the Japanese version is much more exciting and would have no doubt sold a few more copies if it were used more widely.
8 Shinobi
The adventures of ninja Joe Musashi have been well documented over the years in the Shinobi series, making him one of the most iconic ninjas in video game history. Sega often added a bonus level within their games, and Shinobi is no different. The bonus level in Shinobi let players throw shurikens at ninjas before they reached Musashi.
The cover art for Shinobi isn’t too bad as it mirrors the attract screen, which shows a masked ninja with shurikens flying around his head. However, the Japanese cover is much more interesting showing plenty of action.
7 My Hero
Released in 1986 for the Sega Master System, the cover art for My Hero is to the point, to say the least. My Hero is a side-scrolling beat ‘em up where you punch and kick people in the face and that’s exactly what is shown on the cover art.
The player takes control of Steven, who must rescue his girlfriend from the vicious street gangs who have taken her hostage. One interesting aspect of the game is the clothes that Steven wears. In a lot of side-scrolling beat ‘em ups, the main character will often be shirtless or showing off their muscles. In My Hero, Steven is wearing a suit and tie, which makes the martial arts he displays even more impressive.
6 Black Belt
Black Belt is an interesting case where a game is practically identical in terms of its gameplay, but the story is fundamentally changed. In Japan, Black Belt is known as Hokuto no Ken, which is based on the Fist of the North Star series.
This was changed for Western audiences when the game was renamed Black Belt. Once again, the Western cover art for Black Belt is fairly simplistic whereas the Japanese cover art directly uses images from Fist of the North Star.
5 Quartet
Run and gun shooter Quartet (also known as Double Target) gave the player a chance to test their skills while taking on an army of enemies. As the name implies, the arcade version allowed up to 4 players to take part, whereas the Sega Master System version was only a 2 player experience.
Once again, the Sega Master System cover art for Quartet is very simple and not particularly inspiring. To be honest, the home computer conversion cover art was also poor. The Japanese version fared much better and would have given gamers much more reason to at least pick up the game and take a look before deciding whether to buy it.