NES · 1988 · US · Art: Unknown (widely believed influenced by Alien and Predator film posters)
The US Contra NES box is a knowing riff on 1980s action-film poster art, depicting two muscle-bound commandos in poses directly inspired by the Alien and Predator promotional images of the same era.
Konami's US Contra NES box art, released in 1988, did not bother hiding its inspirations: the two commandos posed against an explosion background are compositionally and stylistically lifted from the promotional artwork for Aliens and Predator, both recent hits that had defined the visual language of 1980s action. Bill Rizer (the left figure) is posed identically to a widely circulated Aliens promotional still, a level of direct reference that would raise serious intellectual property questions today. The Japanese Famicom cover used entirely different artwork — a side-profile action scene that was technically accomplished but lacked the Western cover's aggressive bravado. In its cultural moment the US Contra box was effective: it communicated exactly the kind of experience the game delivered, and the shameless movie-poster aesthetic was so common in 1980s gaming that it passed without controversy. The cover is now celebrated as one of the era's most honest pieces of packaging — the game is exactly what the box suggests.