Super Famicom: The Box Art Collection

by Bitmap Books, Steve Jarratt (Foreword), Stuart Brett (Creator)

It wasn't easy being a Nintendo fan in the early 90 the wonderful Super Famicom was released in Europe as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, but it was hobbled by a bordered, 50Hz image and delayed release schedule. True Nintendo fans got hold of a Japanese console and bought their games on the grey import market. As well as the benefits of faster, smoother, full-screen gameplay, Japanese Super Famicom cartridges came in beautiful portrait-shaped boxes, rather than the landscape packaging sold in Europe and North America. The stylish, intricate Japanese designs were almost always superior to that afforded the western releases. As a celebration of this unique artwork, Bitmap Books is proud to present Super The Box Art Collection – a compilation of Japanese game packaging, professionally shot and presented as a glorious hardback edition. The book features around 250 titles, including many rare examples and some that have never before been documented in print. Sourced from the archives of renowned collector, Stuart Brett (aka Super Famicom Guy), each box is beautifully presented life-size, with a critique of the artwork, plus interviews with other collectors, explaining their love of the format. Super The Box Art Collection comes in a square format book, bound in charcoal grey wibalin with a gold foil block logo and lithographically printed to the highest standards. Includes a foreword by long-time games journalist Steve Jarratt, launch editor of Edge and Nintendo magazine Total!. Super The Box Art Collection is an unmissable treat for anyone who had a passion for Nintendo's 16-bit games console, and who came to embrace the distinctive Japanese artwork adorning these iconic games.

Genres: Video Games, Nonfiction, Games, Art

276 pages, Hardcover

Published January 5, 2016

Reviews

[L.S. Popovich · Rating 5 out of 5]

A large and well-formatted collection of box art. Unlike most American video game box art in my opinion, the Japanese box art for this console was superb. Each image in the book is basically life size, and very high resolution. You get to examine hundreds of examples of hand-drawn art, with some CGI examples. More than 250 Super Famicom titles are represented, including all the cult favorites. Kirby, Bomberman, Final Fantasy, and most likely a huge selection of titles you've never heard of. The text alongside each image is helpful for summarizing each game and pointing out the Easter eggs in the box art you would often miss.

Another luscious and rereadable Bitmap Book title, and one of their best. The very similar Game Boy Box Art title is one of the 10 Bitmap books I've currently collected, and probably my next read.

Due to its extra-large formatting, you will need a deep bookshelf for this. Unlike other publishers, this one changes the height and width of their titles to suit the content. To embrace my inner retro gamer I am devoting more time to my Super Console X to try out some old classics.

The Super Famicom was known as the Super Nintendo in the West. Not all Super Famicom games made it onto the American console. While this title lacks interviews and industry context, it makes for an excellent complement to their Super Nintendo: A Visual History book. Of course, I recommend both if you consider yourself a true dyed in the wool retro gamer.

[Ashley Lambert-Maberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable, just as advertised, but with a few minor flaws. More than once the Japanese title was cut and pasted from a previous page and didn't match the title being discussed. The order of titles was alphabetical (leading to some sequels showing up before the original title, which felt odd). And I wish they'd translated the Japanese titles so we'd know what they meant (I know, usually, but I've been studying the language for 3 years), which not everybody would have done.

The prose wasn't deathless, but the artwork was clear. It's a fine, interesting read, but nothing that will end up becoming an all-time favourite (at least for me).

(5* = amazing, terrific book, one of my all-time favourites, 4* = very good book, 3* = good book, but nothing to particularly rave about, 2* = disappointing book, and 1* = awful, just awful. As a statistician I know most books are 3s, but I am biased in my selection and end up mostly with 4s, thank goodness.)

[Adan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book does exactly what it says on the tin: show off a bunch of Super Famicom game box art. The fact that it also features short write-ups of every featured game is a major plus. I discovered a handful of games thanks to this book (there were Japan-only games based on Shigeru Mizuki’s Kitaro that I must get!) and rediscovered a bunch I knew about as a kid thanks to them having NA counterparts. A really solid book that I’ll likely use as reference time and again.