History AmericanKirbyIsHardcore / VideoGames

* The [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hamsterviel_havoc_cover.jpg American]] and [[https://web.archive.org/web/20190430204641/https://gamefaqs.akamaized.net/box/7/8/7/60787_front.jpg European]] covers of ''VideoGame/LiloAndStitch2HamstervielHavoc'' show a slightly vicious Stitch in his Experiment 626 form and spacesuit (which [[CoversAlwaysLie he doesn't wear in the game]]) firing three plasma blasters towards something off-screen with [[Characters/LiloAndStitchExperiments5Series Richter (X-513)]] [[Characters/LiloAndStitchExperiments and]] [[Characters/LiloAndStitchExperiments3Series Spooky (X-300]], [[CoversAlwaysLie who does not appear in the game]]) in the shadowy background, with a crosshair around the ''2'' on the American cover. The [[https://gamefaqs.akamaized.net/box/7/8/9/60789_front.jpg Japanese cover]] shows a more neutral "dog form" Stitch [[SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou just pointing a plasma blaster at the viewer]] with five of the game's experiments[[note]]Yaarp (X-613), Slugger (X-608), Slushy (X-523), Richter [whose mouth is closed unlike in the American/European cover], and Splodyhead (X-619)[[/note]] scattered across the light floral pattern background, with stylized flowers and palm fronds around the logo.

* ''VideoGame/{{Oddworld}}'' is another American video game franchise that was bizarrely altered for Japanese audiences. The Japanese version of ''Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee'' made efforts to reduce the dark and creepy tone of the original American version. The game was renamed ''[=Abe a GoGo=]'' in Japan and the characters speak with higher-pitched voices. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWCrg3jGCk8 American advertisement]] for ''Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee'' shows the dark nature of the game, while the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnmwZbpVggg Japanese advertisement]] is completely unrelated to the game and shows Abe having a dance party with a bunch of schoolgirls for some reason, with upbeat pop music (the same music is also featured in the Japanese ending). The [[https://tcrf.net/images/1/10/AbesOddyseeMudokonPopsINT.png American design]] of Mudokon Pops is gruesome and depicts a Mudokon head being impaled on a stick. However, the [[https://tcrf.net/images/d/dc/AbesOddyseeMudokonPopsJP.png Japanese design]] alters Mudokon Pops to make them look more cartoony and less realistic. The [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dem1uN1XkAE0a6k.jpg Japanese box art]] is different as well, featuring a more upbeat and brightly colored style, and a silhouette of Abe running. * Compare ''Panic Restaurant'''s box art [[http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/nes/image/587505.html?box=2696 Japan]], [[http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/nes/image/587505.html?box=59517 Europe]] and [[http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/nes/image/587505.html?box=81043 North America]]. The in-game graphics were also altered in a comparatively minor way. The Japanese version of the game had a cute young brown-haired chef in the title role. For the international releases, he was switched out for a different, older, white-haired character resembling Chef Boyardee.

* The [[http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/c__/images/d/d7/Cave_Story_3D_Japanese_Boxart.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20150224215408&path-prefix=cavestory Japanese version]] of ''[[VideoGame/CaveStory Cave Story 3D]]'''s artwork is a lot less "hardcore" and more cutsey than the [[http://67.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lke3rjJFc81qzp9weo1_1280.jpg North American]] version. (Unusually for this trope, the North American version came first, and is far more accurate to the content of the game).

* [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/19/BoinicCommandoRearmed2_boxart.png The box art]] for ''VideoGame/BionicCommando Rearmed 2'' seems to be a deliberate aversion of this trope, as the image of Spencer (with goofy smile and PornStache looking like he's about to give the viewer a hug) on the game's front cover can only be described as jarringly happy-go-lucky. Especially funny ([[CerebusSyndrome until you beat the game]]) when you compare it to the [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/86/Bionic_Commando.jpg cover art]] to the 2009 game which ''Rearmed 2'' is a direct prequel to, which featured a goth-ified Spencer [[Webcomic/PennyArcade smouldering with generic rage]].

* Nintendo famously radically redesigned and renamed the small, red, white and gold Family Computer ("Famicom" for short) to the larger and grayer Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem outside of Japan. This, along with the creation of the VideoGame/RoboticOperatingBuddy, was done to make it look and sound less like a toy and more like a high-tech appliance, which was especially necessary at the time due to American retailers' skepticism towards video games in the wake of UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983.

* ''VideoGame/{{Castle of Shikigami}}'', a bullet-hell game for the [=PS2=] in Japan, is a game about various people teaming up to defeat the villain and save the day by flying through the air and shooting things with various types of laser-like projectiles, and featured cute anime characters on the box art. In ''America'', the game is called ''Mobile Light Force'' and the cover features three leather-clad, gun-toting, large-breasted Charlie's-Angels-esque babes running around and outright lying about the content of the game. ''Castle of Shikigami 2'' did not suffer this treatment, however, it DID suffer from being ''completely'' un-localized despite being translated and voice-acted, with some scenes not being translated or voice-acted in English at all and left with Japanese text and/or dialogue.

*** Like ''Mega Man X4'', ''VideoGame/MegaManX5''[='=]s [[https://web.archive.org/web/20190527055829/https://gamefaqs.akamaized.net/box/5/1/8/10518_front.jpg Japanese cover]] depicts X blasting his cannon and Zero getting ready to fight and a sepia background of an army of robots, however [[https://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/es.megaman/images/1/17/1000px-Mmx5box.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120726194810 in the West]] it just only has an illustration of X and Zero.

** ''VideoGame/Yakuza4'' [[DownplayedTrope downplays]] it. Both the Japanese and Western cover arts show the game's playable cast in monochrome, but while the [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DqUm0UcVsAEY79C.jpg Japanese box art]] is more subdued, the [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DqUoj8MU8AESAdm.jpg Western box art]] has their visages showing sharper contrasts against a red background. The [[https://store-images.s-microsoft.com/image/apps.25410.14426508489866901.a44eacfe-7e1e-495c-8aa4-17ccfbaa45e8.e3b34550-55d2-4917-943d-57077cd31b38 remastered port's western art]] does the same thing as the ''Yakuza 3'' remaster, basing it off the Japanese PS3 cover but puts it in color.

* The {{Trope Namer|s}} here is ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}''. [[https://www.nsidr.com/archive/angry-kirby-syndrome/ The box art for many of his games]] since ''[[VideoGame/KirbysAdventure Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land]]'' [[note]]which obviously means this is averted in previous games[[/note]] have had angry eyebrows added to the main character, which was likely meant to make the pink puffball seem more determined but wound up making him look more aggressive. This strange practice is joked on originally in [[http://angryamericankirby.ytmnd.com/ this]] Website/{{YTMND}} and subsequently in [[http://www.brawlinthefamily.com/?p=288 this]] ''Webcomic/BrawlInTheFamily'' strip. It seemed to have been [[AvertedTrope averted]] for a brief time with ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'', ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar Ultra'', and ''VideoGame/KirbysEpicYarn'', whose box arts have Kirby actually looking happy for a change, but crept up back again with ''VideoGame/KirbyMassAttack'' and ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand''. Ever since ''Kirby's Dream Collection'', the box art has been consistently the same across all regions, apparently alternating between cheery Kirby and ferocious Kirby.

So, where's the subversion? It turns out that the SNES cover art is ''actually'' the same cover art from the earlier [[UsefulNotes/PC98 PC-9801]] game, ''[[http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/shinkaron-box.png 4.6 Billion Year Story: The Theory of Evolution]]''. This is the original ''E.V.O'', made by the same developers, and the version on the Super Famicom and SNES is actually a loose port!

** For ''VideoGame/Yakuza3'', the [[https://pressthepsbutton.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/box_yakuza3_ps3.jpg Japanese box art]] shows Kiryu looking up at the sky, rendered in the same monochrome style as the other Japanese covers. The [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6d/Yakuza3_boxart.jpg original Western box art]], conversely, shows half of Kiryu's face glaring at the viewer against a deep red background. [[https://store-images.s-microsoft.com/image/apps.6666.13944201124915616.56f9bc1a-1a43-4af0-bfb0-126636850d84.622e65ed-9e9a-4804-ae89-64a6658f62b4 The remastered port goes back and bases it off the original Japanese PS3 cover]], albeit with the cigarette removed and in color.

* Inverted in the UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 game called ''VideoGame/DogsLife''. The European and North American covers are rather fitting for the game; showcases the villains, protagonist, and the dogs you can control all in the style used for cutscenes. The Japanese cover is just Jake running through a farm that vaguely resembles the Clarksville levels; and a stylistic version of him anyway.

* ''VideoGame/BrainDead13'''s [[https://now.estarland.com/images/products/hr/5643/092667750282.jpg original box cover art]] shows Fritz unloading a wide range of weapons under his trenchcoat, just like in all other console versions. When the game became localized for Japanese releases in October 1996, it is averted when the box art for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation version remains the same as in the American release, but inverted when the [[https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/-S8AAOSwDk5UCYy9/s-l300.jpg Japanese Sega Saturn version box art]] is very different, in that it adds IdiotHero Lance Galahad right next to Fritz, who looks ready to slice him with a {{chainsaw|Good}} while our hero is struggling to stay alive, indicating that Japanese Fritz ''is'' hardcore!

* ''VideoGame/TimeCrisis 4'': Zig-zagged with the first UsefulNotes/PlayStation3 port. Compare the [[http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps3/938758-time-crisis-4/images/185904 Japanese]], [[http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps3/938758-time-crisis-4/images/185905 American]] and [[http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps3/938758-time-crisis-4/images/194615 European]] box arts.

* Nintendo famously radically redesigned and renamed the small, red, white and gold Family Computer ("Famicom" for short) to the larger and grayer UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem outside of Japan. This, along with the creation of the VideoGame/RoboticOperatingBuddy, was done to make it look and sound less like a toy and more like a high-tech appliance, which was especially necessary at the time due to American retailers' skepticism towards video games in the wake of UsefulNotes/TheGreatVideoGameCrashOf1983.
* The Japanese Super Famicom and European UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem had bright and colorful promotion, with a four-color logo derived from the four colors of the buttons on the controller. However, Nintendo of America, dogged by Sega's aggressive advertising that tried to paint Nintendo as "kiddie", decided to eliminate the colors from both the hardware design and the logo, changing the colors of the buttons to two tones of purple, and making the logo suitably monochrome.
* The Japanese PC Engine was roughly the size of three CD jewel cases stacked together and colored white with a red logo. Its North American counterpart, the UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16, is about thrice the size of the PC Engine and given a more rust-colored look.
* In general, if it's not Nintendo since the ''UsefulNotes/NintendoGamecube'' and ''UsefulNotes/GameboyAdvance'' era, Japan is more likely to see consoles released in a variety of bright colors, while Europe and especially America typically get more muted colors, if they get any color variations at all.

* ''VideoGame/RevengeOfTheGator'' for the UsefulNotes/GameBoy. In Japan, the 'gators in the cover are happy and smiling, and look quite cartoony. The ones in the Western releases, while still cartoonish and silly-looking, are gruffy, serious and drawn more realistically. Coincidentally, it's made by HAL Laboratory, like Kirby.

* The NES version of ''VideoGame/ABoyAndHisBlob'' and its UsefulNotes/GameBoy sequel had a small overhaul with the Boy's design, title screen and box art in Japan to make it look cuter.

* The UsefulNotes/NintendoDS game ''Mister Slime'' has the protagonist look cute on the Australian and European box art, but the American box art gives Slimey an angry face.

* An old UsefulNotes/{{N|intendoEntertainmentSystem}}ES game, ''VideoGame/PowerBlade'' (originally ''Power Blazer'' in Japan). The player character in ''Power Blazer'' is a short little SuperDeformed guy with a helmet on. In ''Power Blade'', he's a much more realistically-proportioned ActionGenreHeroGuy who bears an uncanny resemblance to Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger on the game's cover. Read the article about it [[http://web.archive.org/web/20090719010941/http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/powerblade/powerblade.htm here.]]

* Both North American localizations of ''VideoGame/{{Valis}} III'' got rather creepy-looking covers instead of the original Japanese art. The UsefulNotes/{{TurboGrafx|16}}-CD [[http://web.archive.org/web/20140602182934/http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/valis/valis3-cover-tcd.jpg cover]] had a frowning, too old-looking model posing as Yuko in front of a generic spooky landscape. The UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis [[https://i.warosu.org/data/vr/img/0013/90/1391746534147.jpg cover]] instead drew a ridiculously punk-looking Yuko on the cover [[SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou trying to stab you]].

** The UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn boxart of ''Bust-A-Move 2'' decided to treat us to the creepy image of a disembodied head of a bald guy trapped in a bubble, with ''[[EyeScream matchsticks shoved into his eyelids]]''. Both things have absolutely ''nothing'' to do with the theme of the game (cutesy dragons solving puzzles).

* ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' for the UsefulNotes/GameBoy came out in North America with [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/74/Godzilla_Game_Boy.jpg this]] cover, showing Godzilla like he looks in the movies and, with the intro screens, misleading people into expecting it to be a thrilling action game. The game, known as ''Gojira-kun'' in Japanese, is a PuzzlePlatformer with cutesy SuperDeformed kaiju, looking more like [[http://www.otakaraou.com/data/otakaraou/product/gb/202.jpg the picture on the Japanese cartridge]]. WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd {{lampshade|Hanging}}d this during his review of this and other ''Godzilla'' games.

* The UsefulNotes/NintendoDS version of ''VideoGame/ShirenTheWanderer''. The original Japanese cover art (by former Capcom illustrator Akiman) is very nice, the Western one, well... Shiren looks like he's going to slit your throat or something. And what they did to poor [[WeaselMascot Koppa]] and [[CuteBruiser Oryu]] is ''just wrong''.
* ''VideoGame/AzureDreams'' for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation had 2 different covers: The [[http://web.archive.org/web/20111224062206/http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/azuredreams/azuredreamsj.jpg Japanese version]] was cute and emphasized the dating-sim/harem-romance aspects of the game (featuring all the girls in the game you can eventually get, plus your kid sister and your sidekick), while the [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/78/Azure_Dreams_Coverart.png American version]] was scenic and emphasized the treasure-hunting/dungeon-crawling aspects of the game (the hero gazing at his hometown from a mountain cliff).

* On the ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' packaging in Japan, there were images of all the playable characters in the game. In the North American version, it had Frog, Crono, and Marle fighting Heckran, the scene captured while the party was using the Arc Impulse/Frost Arc Triple Tech. (The UsefulNotes/NintendoDS UpdatedRerelease gave a ShoutOut to this artwork by allowing players to replicate this in the form of having battles with [[PaletteSwap Heckran-like]] enemies on a snowy mountain in a bonus dungeon.)

** {{Inverted|Trope}} with ''VideoGame/Persona2: Eternal Punishment'': the [[https://www.rpgfan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Shin-Megami-Tensei-Persona-2-Eternal-Punishment-Cover-Art-003-480x480.jpg Japanese cover art]] shows two Maya Amanos: one whose eyes are closed, and another sporting a SlasherGrin and SupernaturalGoldEyes akin to the Shadows that appear in later games. Meanwhile, the [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a9/Persona_2_EP_cover.jpg US box art]] also shows two Mayas, neither of which looks demonic, with one of them held protectively by her Persona.

** ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' originally had [[http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps2/929343-tales-of-the-abyss/images/box-69064 a more peaceful, friendly group shot]], while the American cover image has [[http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps2/929343-tales-of-the-abyss/images/box-69034 everybody except the girls fighting, and Luke ready to slice the player's head in half]]. The UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS UpdatedRerelease [[AvertedTrope averts]] it, [[http://image.gamespotcdn.net/gamespot/images/box/5/4/1/609541_204538_front.jpg sticking with the Japanese version's box art]] on both sides of the Pacific, as well as in Europe and Australia, which got the game for the first time.

* ''VideoGame/{{NieR}}'' is the 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, Creator/SquareEnix-published games, ''[=NieR=] Gestalt'' (UsefulNotes/XBox360) and ''[=NieR=] Replicant'' (UsefulNotes/PlayStation3). 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 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 the ''only'' difference between the two versions. The American branch of Square Enix actually paid to develop a 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 even bigger shocker is that, ultimately, it seems as if this decision ''paid off''; when polled, American fans almost always say they prefer "Gestalt Nier" to "Replicant Nier".

* [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ys3-genesis.jpg This]] is the American box art for ''[[VideoGame/{{Ys}} Ys III]]'' for the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis. The [[http://www.gamefaqs.com/snes/562845-ys-iii-wanderers-from-ys/images/box-28816 SNES version]] and the [[http://img.gamefaqs.net/box/1/8/8/20188_front.jpg TurboGrafx-CD version]] (the latter of which depicts Genos instead of Adol) aren't quite as misleading, especially since the SNES version doesn't end up making Adol look like some sort of barbarian, though they still ditch the anime look the series is known for.

** ''VideoGame/FistOfTheNorthStarLostParadise'': The [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/hokuto/images/8/83/Hokuto_Ga_Gotoku_Cover.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20181203051144 Japanese cover art]] features Kenshiro protectively clutching Yuria. [[https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81rao73eufL._AC_SX342_.jpg The western cover]] has Kenshiro menacingly cracking his knuckles as bandits and raiders loom in the background, though it can be reversed to show the Japanese cover.

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* Spoofed by Creator/{{Nitroplus}}. On the launch date of ''VisualNovel/SoniComi'', a cute visual novel that looks [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIIUeI6WB6I like this]], the company released [[http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm16261803 this joke trailer]] for a made-up Americanized sequel, created using ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'' gameplay videos.
* In Japan, the DS cover of the first ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' game is the same as the rest (including in North America, starting with the second game): [[https://aceattorney.fandom.com/wiki/File:AA1_DS_Box_Art_Japan.jpg Four portraits of the main characters in a row.]] The first game's North American cover, though, is a picture of [[http://aceattorney.wikia.com/wiki/File:AA_cover_art.png Phoenix pointing angrily]], with Maya standing behind him and [[EvilOverlooker Edgeworth evilly overlooking them]]. However, the series started using the "four portraits in a row" format with the second game, ''Justice For All'' (see [[http://aceattorney.wikia.com/wiki/File:JFA_Box_Art.png this image]] from [[Website/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]]), and every ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' game released there since has done the same. And the European one is Phoenix standing in front of a white background, looking serious. Same trope, blander cover. Later games retained the Japanese covers too.
* ''VisualNovel/HotelDuskRoom215'' and its sequel, ''[[VisualNovel/LastWindow Last Window: The Secret of Cape West]]''. The Japanese cover of ''Hotel Dusk'' is a [[https://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/original/3/31089/1416859-933043_83255_front.jpg wide shot]] of main character Kyle Hyde and his car on a country road in broad daylight. The western cover goes for a [[http://ilarge.lisimg.com/image/343111/1000full-hotel-dusk%3A-room-215-cover.jpg more Noir feel]], depicting Kyle in a pitch black room while a woman in white brings in light through an open door. ''Last Window'' has the same idea, but simpler; a shot of Kyle walking in the street [[https://romsmania.com/statics/assets/covers/nintendo-ds/last-window-mayonaka-no-yakusoku-(jp)(storm)-nintendo-ds.jpg during the day]] is changed to [[https://images.nintendolife.com/games/ds/last_window_the_secret_of_cape_west/cover_large.jpg night time]], giving it a more threatening atmosphere.
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