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Earlier on this week we enjoyed getting a look at the original ‘Black Box’ designs for some classic NES titles, and now we can do the same for the Nintendo 64 and the Sega Mega Drive.
The designs in question can be found on an old video game voucher for Sears, offering money off a select number of titles. In the image, shared by @VGArtAndTidbits, we can see pictures of both Super Mario 64 and Sonic Blast (the Mega Drive version of which was to be later named Sonic 3D Blast) with decidedly different cover art than we have come to know.
There’s a lotta changes going on for Mario in this alternative cover. Rather than flying around the globe with his teeny tiny wings, this Mario is a man of action, leaping out of a pit to escape a pursuing Bowser. Clearly liking the image, Nintendo ended up sticking with something similar for the game’s cartridge art in the end, though we like the hardcore scorched earth vibe of this other design. You can grab a peep at the finished cartridge art below (featuring the signature of one Mr. Charles Martinet – sorry, flex over) to compare to the alternative cover.
The game entitled ‘Sonic Blast’ (a title which would later be used on a Game Gear release) on the other hand takes a finished design that we assumed couldn’t get any creepier and turns it up to a whole new level of uncanny. In a similar pose to the final Sonic 3D Blast case, this alternate Sonic is rounder, plumper and with eyes that appear to be staring right into our very soul. Yeah, we’re pleased they changed that one.
While these covers are a good ol’ blast from the past, we wouldn’t bet on the voucher still working today. This being said, do you see a use by date…?
What do you make of this different box art? Let us know your memories of the games down below!