I'm not sure I agree with NBS. Let me go through these one by one, from top down... (WARNING: long, but detailed!)
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QfG 1 Remake. This is nicely done, and a fun play on the usual pictures of St George and the Dragon. The stained-glass effect is neat too. 8/10 for box art, 8/10 for game.
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QfG3. I disagree that this is generic. It may
appear to be generic, but if you remember that QfG3 is the first game where you can play a Paladin (with a magic sword! Yay!
), and this cover takes on extra significance. The swirling cloud of red around the hero refers to the demonic influences in Tarna (note the faces in the red), and the circle of blue is a reference to the portal where the demons are coming from (which you see at the end of the game). So I think this is a good cover. 8/10 for box art, but 7/10 for game (because it was so rushed -- and, initially, buggy because of that).
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QfG4 (white box and/or purple box). I agree with NBS, unfortunately; the style is too cartoony here (note the expression of glee on the hero's face, and the little imp running away). While I agree that QfG has a silliness element to it, and even QfG4 has a lot of silliness, I still think that QfG4 is much more serious and dramatic than any of the others (except maybe QfG2), and becomes a better game for it.
You don't think QfG4 has serious and dramatic elements to it? Observe:
a. The Paladin can save the Rusalka's soul by battling her undead murderer;
b. The Paladin can redeem the Burgomeister's honour by battling the undead wraith who stole his grandfather's sword and shield;
c. The Wizard can battle the elves, and gain Erana's staffl
d. The Thief can save the Chief Thief, but must risk his life and sanity by breaking into the Monastery and stealing the statue;
e. All the classes can save the gypsy from a horrible death by burning (but must risk being caught, or being ostracised by the townspeople);
f. All the classes can witness Katrina's love for the hero, which results in extra pathos after you save Tanya;
g. All the classes save Tanya, witness Toby's heroic and tragic sacrifice (
), and witness how much Tanya means to the town!
So, I think QfG4 is the most serious - and dare I say it? -
mature game from the QfG series.
That's why I think the box art doesn't fit. 10/10 for the game, 7/10 for box art. (The Dark One illustration gives it an extra point).
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QfG5. I agree with NBS again. The box art here is good, but the plain-black with the hero's face and dragon reflected in the sword doesn't really "fit" QfG5. QfG5 is, in my view, much less serious than QfG4. It has a
truckload of puns and silly-but-funny dialogue, and the box art is too serious for that.
Sure, it has SOME serious elements (e.g. the near-death of Rakeesh, the poisoning of the wizards, Arestes the Chief Thief trying to rob the bank so he can fix his arm), but for the most part, this game isn't very serious. Yes, the revelation of MInos as the Chief Bad Guy, and the Dragon Rising Again, is serious enough, but you can tell you'll win anyway.
The near-death of Rakeesh would've been more serious if you FOUND Rakeesh that way (and he could tell you what happened), or if you could TRY to stop the assassin before he wounds Rakeesh. But all you can do is look on as Bruno materialises, walks up to Rakeesh, stab him, and walk off again, and you can't do anything about it. That's not serious at all. It's just too casual. That kind of thing SHOULD NOT HAPPEN.
It's like "Hi guys! Let me just stab this cool lion dude and walk off like nothing happened." I mean ... WTF?
Anyway... 7/10 for box art, 7/10 for game (notwithstanding the things that make no sense; see above).
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QfG2. The art here is WONDERFUL. It's very "Arabian Nights", and the font choice is superb.
I don't think it needs to "capture the silliness of the games", as NBS puts it. QfG2 has lots of serious moments, like:
a. The appearance of the elementals is scary, especially if you're not prepared.
b. Being attacked in the desert, especially by tougher monsters like scorpions and ghouls, is very frightening.
c. The fighter joining the EOF and being blinded, and/or pressured to kill.
d. The thief breaking into houses and facing multiple moments where he could be caught.
e. The wizard undertaking the magical tests in WIT, and being mocked if he fails.
f. The hero being arrested and jailed, and then FINALLY meeting Ad Avis.
g. The hero having to solve the final pieces of the game - how to get to Ad Avis before he summons Iblis??? It's thrilling.
See? Although QfG2 has lots of puns and silly moments, I'd argue that it's very dramatic too.
9/10 for box art, 10/10 for game.
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QfG1, original boxes. The only difference is that one of them says "Hero's Quest", which Sierra had to abandon because of the whole Milton-Bradley thing, yadda-yadda-da.
The colours in the original HQ box are slightly brighter, which I like better, but they're still VERY similar.
Anyway, I agree with NBS: the half-eaten shield and bent sword are lots of fun. I'd also mention the bits of metal in the air (the dragon just crunched on the hero's shield!
), and the expression on the dragon's face -- is that the best you can do?
The only (slightly) bad thing is that you don't actually fight a dragon in this game, only a saurus (which is scary enough -- the first time I fought one of those, I thought it actually WOULD bite my shield in half. Too bad that was never an option).
10/10 for box art, 9/10 for game (because the saurus never bit my shield in half!)
So how do we conclude?
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Game-wise: QfG2 and QfG4 are my favourite games, but QfG1 is still wonderful. QfG3 and QfG5 take joint third place.
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Box-art wise: QfG1 takes 1st place, then QfG2, and QfG1 (remake) takes 3rd place. Then, QfG3, QfG4 and QfG5 take joint fourth place. (The QfG4 box-art really suffers because of how ridiculously happy the hero looks. Mordavia is NOT a place to be ridiculously happy!)
And that's what I thought.
), and witness how much Tanya means to the town! 
