Sadly, the game was only sold digitally in the West. Sure, that made North American and European copies of Patchwork Heroes quite a bit cheaper than their Japanese counterparts, but it also meant that people who picked up the former missed out on Hyakumanton no Bara Bara's beautiful packaging, which can be seen throughout this post.
For starters, there's this quirky action game's box art, seen in the photo above, which I can say without hesitation is one of my all-time favorite examples of PSP cover imagery.
Quality illustrations are plastered across the front of Hyakumanton no Bara Bara's instruction manual and the label of its UMD, too. (Don't worry, you'll get a better look at the latter near the bottom of this post.)
Actually, sketches done in a style that's similar to the art that graces the cover of this Acquire-developed game's manual also can be found on a number of its inside pages.
The rest of Hyakumanton no Bara Bara's instruction booklet isn't as noteworthy, but it still wows now and then--with the character bios shown in the snapshot above being a case in point.
Speaking of this PSP title's characters, a number of them can be found on its colorful UMD label.
Sadly, the backside of Hyakumanton no Bara Bara's packaging, below, doesn't quite achieve the heights that are reached by the rest of it.
Of course, if I had to force the designers responsible for producing this product to skimp on one aspect of it, I'd go with the back of the box, so to speak, so don't expect me to complain too much about the above.
What do all of you think? Do the photos shared here make you want to run out and buy a copy of the Japanese physical release of Patchwork Heroes as soon as you're able?
Note: if you're like me and you aren't entirely satisfied with the quality of the photographs showcased in this post, head over to my Flickr photostream, which features versions that are both brighter and less blurry.
8 comments:
Whoa! That art on the instruction manual is nuts! It's like crayons? I still haven't played this game, or really even heard much of it. Did you like it, Bryan?
Yeah, it definitely looks like the illustrations on the cover and inside of this game’s instruction manual were made using crayon or colored pencil or chalk or something. I’m not an expert on such things, though, so I couldn’t tell you which utensil actually was used. As for the game itself, I love it! The art style is great, of course, as is the soundtrack, but the so is the gameplay, which is kind of like an inverted version of that old Taito classic, Qix. If you have a PSP and a few bucks, I’d definitely recommend picking it up sometime soon.
God. How gorgeous!
Yep, it's definitely purty! Did you ever buy the NA version, Justin? I can't remember...
Nope. I have nothing to play it on, as much as I want it.
Oh, sorry. I thought you had a PSP!
No, sadly. I have a PS3. I thought about getting one at Half Price Books...but I never did. Eventually, I'll get something...hopefully.
Ah, OK. I think you may have said you were considering one, and I must have extrapolated that to mean you'd bought one in the meantime. Anyway, the good news is that you should be able to pick up one on the cheap (esp. if you go used) should you decide to do so!
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