The GameCube had a handle and a library full of charm. These boxes had none of the charm.
10. Smashing Drive (2000)
A yellow taxi bursts through a cloud of debris under a chunky logo, all in the same muddy yellow. It is meant to look explosive, but it mostly looks dusty.
9. Egg Mania: Eggstreme Madness (2002)
Egg characters in helmets crowd every corner of the box around a giant wobbly logo, with no room left to breathe. The pun in the title does not help either.
8. Cubix Robots for Everyone: Showdown (2003)
A heap of chrome robots tangles together under a gold logo, so busy that it is hard to pick out a single one. The game is based on the Cubix television series, yet the box would not tell you which robot was the star.
7. Legends of Wrestling (2001)
Photos of wrestlers are cut out and stacked on top of each other in a blue haze, with a giant chrome logo slapped across the middle. Nothing about it says anything except wrestling.
6. Universal Studios Theme Parks Adventure (2001)
A time-travelling car and a T. rex squeeze in front of the park gates under searchlights, with E.T. peeking out at the bottom. It is a brochure, not a cover. Sadly, the game was criticized for tedious gameplay and poor graphics, so the brochure was the best part.
5. Kao the Kangaroo: Round 2 (2003)
Kao rides a rocket while cartoon sharks circle him in the sky, all crammed under a logo that fights with everything else. Europe's box, by comparison, gives Kao a clean jump against a bright blue sky, and it looks like a different, better game.
4. Batman: Dark Tomorrow (2003)
Batman stands stiffly in a fog of blue and red, his cape draped like a curtain. It is a dull pose for the most dramatic hero in comics. In retrospect, the game is viewed as one of the worst ever made, and the box gives no reason to think otherwise.
3. Charlie's Angels (2003)
The three actresses appear only as dark silhouettes against a grey background under a chrome logo. It is based on the film, but you would never know who is in it. The game was later ranked among the worst ever made.
2. Darkened Skye (2002)
A sorceress in a low-cut top glares out of the box under a stack of taglines promising a new hero and an epic quest. The box leaves out the strangest part: she casts her spells using Skittles candies.
1. Vexx (2003)
A scowling hero with spiky hair and claws crouches in front of a pair of giant glowing eyes. One glance at the ugly box art is enough for most people to link it with the bargain bin and the dark, edgy mascots of the early 2000s.
The covers that got it right: the best GameCube box art.
