Fun with Photoshop: Fighting Street for the Sega Genesis

 More fake game boxes, this time it's Fighting Street turn. Only released for the Turbo Duo, this game could have made it to the Sega console if it wasn't so forgettable (Capcom arcades such as Strider were among the first titles for the Genesis). Luckily it's sequel Street Fighter II appeared in almost every console since the 90's. Unlike SFII, this game is not that good. Because of this, it's a perfect candidate for a remake, but Capcom would have to update the game mechanics (a lot).

Fun with Photoshop: Star Wars Dark Empire for the Sega Genesis

Happy May the Fourth! For this entry, we have the fake cover for a Star Wars game (based on a classic graphic novel!) for the legendary Sega console. There were no Star Wars games for the Genesis, so it felt appropriate to make an entry in this section. I like to think that the gameplay would be like the Super Star Wars series for the SNES. Enjoy!

Fun with Photoshop: Spider-Man 2099 for the Sega Genesis

New week, new console. We move into 16Bit territory (that doesn't mean we're done with the NES). Here's Spider-Man 2099, a character that for me, screams Blast Processing. There was a Spidey game for the Genesis but the 2099 version appeared for the first time as an alternate costume on the classic PlayStation game.

Fun with Photoshop: The New Teen Titans for the NES

It's been a while since the last Fun with Photoshop entry. I would have loved a "beat em' up"Teen Titans game and Konami always did one hell of a job with that genre (Simpsons, TMNT and X-Men). Here is what the cover would have looked like.

From now on, this section will change a bit. Since it's been a lot of 8th bit NES game boxes, I think it's time to add a bit of blast processing. Take care.

Fun with Photoshop: Batman V. Superman for the NES

 Another entry in the fake NES cover series, today we have Batman V. Superman, a game based on a movie that hasn't been released yet. To make it feel more retro, I used the style that was common in the early years of the 8-bit console. The Batman sprite comes from the classic Batman game. Superman was edited from a Sunman sprite. The Sunman game was made by Sunsoft but never released. It was originally a Superman game but it seems they lost the license and change the characters' sprites to avoid lawsuits..

Fun with Photoshop: SilverHawks for the NES

 Another fake game based on a 80's cartoon. I rarely saw SilverHawks but a friend from school loved them and always talk about them. Nevertheless they are a beloved franchise but seriously where is SilverHawks - Gatchaman crossover.

Fun with Photoshop: The Black Cauldron for the NES

A fake game cover for a release based on one of Disney's less know animated movies. While not the best Disney movie, The Black Cauldron looks very different from the usual offerings from that studio, it feels more like the animated Hobbit or a Don Bluth flick. As lots of games based on Disney's properties made in the 8bit era, this one would have been made by Capcom.

Fun with Photoshop: Return of the Jedi for the NES

 Belive it or not, there is no NES game based on the third chapter of the original trilogy. It's kind of sad that the game was never made since it leaves an empty space in the NES library. Luckily the SNES has the Super Star Wars trilogy (as the 3 games, no a single game like the Indiana Jones Trilogy). This is how I think the cover for Return of the Jedi would look like using the previous 2 installments as reference.

Fun with Photoshop: Castlevania Symphony of the Night for the NES

 And NES version of one of my favorite games ever. I feels appropriate to do a cover for this game (3 games in the series were made for the NES) with the style of the classic Metroid box art (because of the gameplay). It was made with Castlevania 3 sprites, except Alucard which I used sprites from the very forgetful Castlevania Legends.

Fun with Photoshop: Battle of the Planets for the NES

Another game I would have loved as a kid. I used to watch this series on Saturday morning (with a different title, G Force) and love it. I purchased some of the DVD volumes released of the Japanese original, Gatchaman, and holds really well for a cartoon made in the 70's. For the cover, I used the first title of the series when it was released in the US, because it would have been the most likely choice at the time. For me, this game should be a side-scrolling beat-em-up and Komani did an excellent job with The Simpsons, TMNT and X-men arcades.

Fun with Photoshop: ZZ Gundam for the NES

This week's entry is a fake cover for one of the few Gundam series that didn't have a video game based on it, Mobile Suit ZZ Gundam. I never watched this one (it wasn't released in the States) but I love almost everything Universal Century (the original timeline of the Gundam series). The main Mobile Suit appeared in various Gundam games later on (including Gundam vs. Z Gundam for the PS2). If the game was made for the 8bit console, it would have been made by Bandai (the make almost everything Giant Robot related).

Fun with Photoshop: He-Man for the NES

 The He-Man cartoon and toys were extremely popular in the 80's but he never got a game for the NES. There were a couple of video games based on his adventures (including a movie-based one) for computers, the Atari and Intellevision but not for the classic Nintendo console. He-Man spend the 90s in limbo, but returned in the 00's with a new series, toys and video games. One was released for the Game Boy Advanced and other for the Playstation 2 (in Europe only). Check the He-Man.org site for more info about games based on the saga of the champion of Eternia.

Fun with Photoshop: Fatal Fury for the NES

 For this Friday, we have another SNK gem... Fatal Fury (餓狼伝説 in Japan). This game put SNK on the map as one of the big names in the fighting game genre with it's gameplay (two row arenas and arm wrestling bonus stages!!!) and memorable characters. While it never made it to the NES, it was ported to the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo. Did you know that the creator of the original Street Fighter (or Fighting Street) Takashi Nishiyama designed this game?

Fun with Photoshop: Pocket Monsters for the NES

Pokemon is one of Nintendo's most beloved franchises, and with good reason since the games are insanely fun. But the first Pokemon game debuted in the original GameBoy and never made it to the NES. But what if Pokemon was published 10 years earlier? Well, this is how the game box would probably looked like. And yes, it would have been called "Pocket Monsters" because in the 80's nobody would understand what Pokemon means (plus, it sounds more rad!)

Fun with Photoshop: Army of Darkness for the NES

 Happy Halloween! To celebrate the occasion, today's fake game cover is for a non existing NES game based on the excellent movie, Army of Darkness. The movie came out within the lifespan of the classic 8bit console but a game never came out and there were games based on horror of more adult movie franchises (such as Friday the 13th, Terminator and Nightmare on Elm Street). Ash (the main character of the movie) would have to wait until the year 2000 to star as the main character in a video game (Evil Dead: Hail to the King).

Fun with Photoshop: Justice League of America for the NES

 This is another game I would have loved as a kid. There aren't many NES games with DC characters, only Batman and Superman that I remember (and The Flash for Sega Master System). The characters in the cover were drawn by José Luis García Lopez, one of my favorite artist of all time. He is so good rendering the Heroes that DC keeps using his illustrations from the 80's.

Fun with Photoshop: Dino-Riders for the NES!

Harness the Power of Dinosaurs! This is a game I would have loved as a kid, it had aliens, lasers and dinosaurs. Originally a toy line from Tyco, Dino-Riders appeared on TV (watched the first episode on VHS) but it never became popular. The premise of the show was simple, space warriors from the future travel back in time and use dinosaurs as battle vehicles in their ongoing war. The concept would have worked on video game form, but as other games based on cartoon, it would have sucked (nonetheless, I would have begged my parents to buy it).

The cartoon may have failed, but the toy dinosaurs looked amazing. They all had an action features, some of them walked on their own! After the TV series failed, the toys were re-released (without the weapons, alien figures and action mechanics) as part of a line approved by the Smithsonian Institution. With all the recent remake craze, maybe it's time for Dino-Riders to return.

Fun with Photoshop: MetroidVania for the NES

 This faxe game box was also suggested by Prof. Dutch Bag, an epic crossover between Metroid and Castlevania. I decided to use the design style from the classic NES games (such as Super Mario Bros. and the original Metroid) because the style of both games would merge well (the game sprites are almost the same size).The term "MetroidVania" is used for games that contain lots of exploring and backtracking. While the classic Metroid games used this formula, the Castlevania games were action / platformers, it wasn't until Symphony of the Night that the exploration mechanics were introduced. Some games that use the "MetroidVania" game style are: Strider (2014), Guacamelee (2013), Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate (2013), Green Lantern (2011 for the Wii) and more. Later.

P.S. Nintendo, please hire IGA (from Castlevania Symphony of the Night) for the next Metroid game.

Fun with Photoshop: The Running Man for the NES

As Requested by Prof. Dutch Bag here it is, the cover for the NES version of The Running Man ( Power Pad required!) As Prof. Dutch Bag informed, the was a video game adaptation but not for the NES. If you have any suggestions for a box art, please leave a comment.

Fun with Photoshop: Over the Top for the NES

Another Friday, another cover (sorry about last week). This week we have what could have been an interesting movie-tie-in game. Over the Top is a movie starring Sylvester Stallone where he plays a trucker who tries to bond with his son while he competes to become an arm-wrestling champion. Why this game never happened? An arm-wrestling game compatible with the relic of motion controllers, the Power Glove (it's so bad). The original version of the logo was uploaded to this page by Rominator.