Greatest Hits Packaging/Boxes - Do you hate them? Which are the best/worst ones?

I see this all the time including on these boards. People DETEST greatest hits packaging and strive to get the original labels for all their boxed games. But I don’t think most of them are THAT bad. What are your thoughts? What are some of your favorite/least favorite examples?

Credit @poptart for this photo:

https://sjc6.discourse-cdn.com/standard10/uploads/retrogameboards/optimized/2X/d/d34873a9ac49cca410630893b8a1123f5f9f22c5_1_500x500.jpeg

I don’t think the PS1 Greatest Hits series is that bad for example. The green = money saved in your wallet :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

The N64 examples also seem to be rather cool in my opinion and have a cool seal even on the game label:

The worst offender, in my humble opinion, is easily the Xbox Platinum Hits with it’s odd silvery box that clashes VERY hard against the normal green boxes:

But still, it’s not so bad if you get a few of them for your shelf and sort by color. (You may think this is blasphemy but I never sort alphabetically… I always sort my shelves by size/shape/color to prioritize visual aestetics).

Most importantly, I’m not above grabbing the greatest hits version of something if it means I can save a few bucks and can ensure I have the latest version of the game that has potential bug fixes too. So, what are your thoughts? Do you buy Greatest Hits style games or not?

The worst / best:

2 Likes

The worst one is Symphony of the Night. Ugh

!!e!UjU!CWM_%24(KGrHqZ%2C!iwE0GK3%20gWQBNP3Zr)zd!___35

I don’t mind. If the game plays the same it doesn’t matter to me. Of the games pictured so far, I have three of them (FF’s and SotN) in their greatest hits form, lol. I’m also a very late adopter with gaming anymore so usually the GH form is the only form available in new condition when I buy them.

I can understand if you want to display your collection how the different colors could be annoying.

I always prefer original packaging, but I don’t hate greatest hits/players choice for PS1, PS2 and Gamecube. If it’s a game I want and it’s the choice in front of me for a good price at a game shop? I’ll take it.

I prefer the original packaging, but only because the re-releases look like they were designed to look terrible. If we had multiple re-editions with different artworks that still looked nice, I’d have no problem getting the second or third print. Like if established publishers jumped on the repro bandwagon to make new editions of old games at a fair price, I’d buy them in an instant.

I buy the cool stuff because it looks cool.

This one is easily the worst.

Batman is a close 2nd

I generally prefer the original releases for continuity but for modern games it makes sense alot of times when the goty edition comes with all the dlc

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Still the most hilarious box art I’ve ever seen. What were they thinking?

It reminds me of all those idiot rappers with face tattoos.

That kind of “we need to advertise the product even on the product” stuff is always amusing. Even new releases arn’t immune from it, just look at the Crash remastered trilogy box.

I mean sure, cover art is a form of advertising and is there to make the item look attractive to a potential buyer so don’t know why I would expect anything different…

The best ones were from the ps2 generation. The red spine isn’t too much offensive and sometimes they came with the updated content (Silent Hill 2 GH have better graphics and a new sidestory, VF4 Evolution is a hell of an update from vanilla VF4).

I really don’t mind buying them because of the dollar savings, but the use of GREEN on those PS1 games was awful. Thankfully they switched to red with PS2 into the future.

EDIT: CAKE DAY FOR ME!

The nice things about the greatest hits versions is that I have heard that some of those fixed bugs that were in the original release. I have even heard that sometimes the two versions behave different in the PS3 emulation. Don’t quote me on this, i am going from from what I remember someone saying once.

1 Like

They don’t bother me really. If I can get the game cheaper as a select, platinum, greatest whatever then I would rather do that. However, PS1 GH games look ugly AF and N64 being the most subtle.

I think SNES games were similar right? Just a gold badge on the front?

Yeah pretty much the same, minus the ribbon.
unnamed
Edit: Actually the lettering is gold as well

220px-Supermariokart_box

Fancy

Edit X2: Just noticed the Selects version has a rating on the front

oh man, i know dudes that can’t live with these, haha
like RE2 being the superior dual shock or whatever edition literally burns some souls

i don’t really mind em. SOTN’s us cover is asscheeks with or without it

American Playstation 1 ones are absolutely horrible and the worst. Red text on green is literally specifically designed to clash. In PAL, the ‘Platinum’ PS2 releasees were also awful, in silver boxes.

It’s not something invented for gaming, though it has been kind of codified in it. In marketing it’s about creating tiers of consumer. You want to service the lower end of the market, while pushing as many buyers as possible to the ‘latest/best’ more expensive products.

Part of their design philosophy is to be ugly to premium consumers, to stick out on shelves looking ‘cheap’ (and nasty) to be easy to see for price-sensitve buyers, but also designed to turn off those that want ‘the best’ into buying something with nicer packaging.

Really hate them. If I’m bothering to get the CIB game, I’ll pay a little more and make sure it’s the regular version and not a GH. If I’m just getting the cartridge, then whatever.