Let's imagine a timeline where the Super Nintendo CD exists. How would the games packaging look like?
© Nintendo. Concept and redesign by Alexandre Renevey, 2015
The Super Nintendo CD (SNES-CD) was an add-on for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) video game console, revealed in 1991. Unfortunately, due to a conflict between Nintendo and Sony, it was never released! But... what if it was? I tried to imagine how the CD-based games packaging would have looked on the system, converting the artwork of a few well-known games (and some hidden gems) into a potential CD version.
For this fun exercise, I mostly used artwork from games released in Japan - because, let's face it, their artwork was often way better than what we got in North America or Europe. Remember the awful Mega Man artwork on the NES? Or what about Axelay? Go check those awfully funny covers here. Then, I used the selected artwork and converted it into SNES-CD format, including the CD-ROM itself and the spine card (sometimes called obi), a piece of cardboard that goes on the side of the jewel CD case. I also kept the famous Nintendo Seal of Quality, in my case printed at the bottom of the spine card.
I would say the most interesting part was designing the CD-ROM and spine card. I really focused on using only original material, so I spent a lot of time flipping through the original game manuals to gather extra artwork and inspiration. I've seen plenty of fake retro game covers using modern styles, but I don't think they really capture the essence. There's something so charming about sticking to the vintage artwork style - it just feels right.
Here's an example below with Super Mario Kart, a classic SNES game released by Nintendo in 1992:
Here are a few examples of game designs I converted from cartridge to CD format. These examples showcase how the original artwork was reimagined for a potential CD-based release, with a focus on preserving the charm of the original while adapting it to a new medium. If that had come to life, a classic game like Super Mario World might've sounded even better! Imagine those catchy tunes in full CD audio, no more "16-bit forest vibes!"
Talking about that, many SNES games were lovingly converted to MSU-1 format by dedicated and talented fans. MSU-1 is a special audio enhancement format for SNES games that allows CD-quality music to be added to the original cartridges. You can find a treasure trove of these fan-made conversions on Zeldix, a community forum dedicated to SNES modding. I've contributed to their story as well! As of March 2025, I've personally reimagined two games to MSU-1: Pocky & Rocky (which I turned into an album called Yokai Rock) and Pilotwings (which became Soaring in Harmony) - because why not make these classics even more awesome?
Fun fact: I joined the Zeldix forums under the username "Justin Bailey" - a little nod to the famous password from the original NES game Metroid, released in 1986!
Designing an SNES-CD logo was one of my first "what-if" experiments for this project. I took the original SNES logo as my base, grabbed a shaker, and mixed elements from both the American/European (Super Nintendo) and Japanese (Super Famicom) designs, with the enthusiasm of a '90s kid dreaming of the future... because back in the day, I really wanted an SNES-CD to exist! The games already looked fantastic in cartridge form, but I couldn't help but crave that sweet CD-quality audio; something I was already enjoying on the Sega CD and PC Engine CD. (Speaking of which, I went all-in on my love for that fantastic little console, designed by Hudson and NEC - so much that I even wrote a dedicated page about it, showing off my spectacular collection of games - even though they're all sitting in a box in the basement. Yes, really.)
From the Western logo, I kept the bold font and classic red color. From the Japanese version, I borrowed the sleek black background and those unmistakable four colorful shapes. Then, I gave everything a rounder, smoother look to capture the sleekness of a CD-ROM.
Fun fact: oops! Did you notice the four colors are wrong in my design above? :‑O Yellow should be at the bottom! I actually fixed it in a later version.
After designing a few SNES-CD games in standard jewel cases, I thought... why stop there? What if I also tried designing them in a standard DVD case? Of course, that's totally anachronistic since DVDs didn't even exist yet. (Twister, the first film released on DVD in the U.S., didn't come out until 1997 - several years after the SNES era. The larger DVD format gave me more space to showcase artwork, which made the designs feel even more premium... you know, for this imaginary release that never happened.
Here are a few examples showcasing the differences between both formats. Of course, I did this purely for fun... but who knows? It might actually be useful for anyone using a fancy frontend to launch retro games. (And yes, I'm one of those people - because organizing digital nostalgia is serious business.)
In 2024, I decided it was time to give my SNES-CD templates a proper makeover. These templates are the original files I use to create the covers, and I wanted them to stay even truer to the look of actual SNES boxes from Europe and America - because while my previous template was already pretty faithful, there was still room for improvement. That meant embracing the black side panels, bringing back the iconic colored dots, and making everything feel a little more authentic.
Oh, and I also "fixed" my previous SNES-CD logo - because, as it turns out, color accuracy does matter. This time, the colors are finally in the right place.
I uploaded a folder to my cloud with all the updated covers, plus my MSU-1 files - for those who want to patch their ahem totally legitimate, legally acquired ROMs. So far, as mentioned earlier, I've reorchestrated Pocky & Rocky and the classic Pilotwings. Just follow the white rabbit and see where it takes you!
Here's an example of how a frontend for launching retro games looks with my custom-designed SNES-CD covers. How do they look? Personally, I think they look so good that they're making me want to dive back into these games, more than 30 years later! Super Mario World, for example, is even more enjoyable with the CD-quality tracks playing - though honestly, the same goes for pretty much every game. It's like rediscovering a treasure chest full of nostalgia... and some really catchy tunes!
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