32 Hilariously Bad 80s Video Game Covers That Lied to Your Face and You Loved It Anyway

The 1980s were a lawless wasteland, and I'm not just talking about the fashion or the microwaved casseroles. I'm talking about video game box art. This was a time when games were made of eight pixels, three bleeps, and a prayer, but the covers? The covers were full-blown prog rock album fever dreams.

You'd walk into a store, see a heroic beefcake battling a flaming alien robot shark while riding a jet-powered dragon motorcycle, and think, this is it. This is the one.
Then you'd get home, pop the cartridge into your Atari or Commodore 64, and… it's a tiny rectangle shooting slightly different rectangles at a vaguely angry cube.

And the wildest part? Your brain filled in the rest. You connected the dots between the ripped guy on the cover and the beige pixel moving across the screen. It worked. Until it didn't.

Because some 80s game covers were just plain bad. Like, laugh-out-loud, who-approved-this, why-is-that-centaur-winking bad. Whether they were terrifying, confusing, or just full-on unrelated to the game they were supposedly advertising, these 32 covers deserve to be seen and roasted.

So scroll through these baffling relics of retro gaming history, and remember—somewhere, a kid in 1984 thought this was the greatest thing they'd ever seen. And honestly? Same.

Add us on Google

Advertisement

01
A "Slightly" exaggerated version of Donkey Kong

via Joyenergizer
Advertisement
02
Bad Dudes - Bad cover art

via Joyenergizer
03
"How 90s do you want it?" "YES"

via Joyenergizer
04
why did they give him the buck teeth though?

via Joyenergizer
Advertisement
05
Not going to lie, I want to play this now

via Joyenergizer
06
2am is no time be alone in the subway!

via Joyenergizer
Advertisement
07
Bad Cat Bad Art

via Joyenergizer
08
What's wrong with his head?

via Joyenergizer
Advertisement
09
This is aggressively 80s

via Joyenergizer
10
Ummm. what?

via Joyenergizer

Just to be clear, this is a chicken simulation game. Obviously.
11
How? How is that Donkey Kong?!

via Joyenergizer
Advertisement
12
Nothing here makes me want to buy it

via Joyenergizer
13
Kids in the 80 will see this and say "Hell yeah!"

via Joyenergizer
14
That's a smug looking dad

via Joyenergizer
Advertisement
15
"Make sure you get the floor, and not their faces"

via Joyenergizer
16
More like Totally bad! Bam! Got 'em!!!

via Joyenergizer
17
"Of course I know how to draw a helicopter"

via Joyenergizer
Advertisement
18
Ouch

via Joyenergizer
19
As interesting as a real election broadcast

via Joyenergizer
20
Rambo's cousins - Mambo and Jambo

via Joyenergizer
Advertisement
21
This is what I call zero graphic design

via Joyenergizer
22
This looks like it was made by AI

via Joyenergizer
23
Legendary game, really bad cover art

via Joyenergizer
Advertisement
24
"You know 80s movies? - do that!"

via Joyenergizer
25
It's a picture of everyone who will ever play this game - 1 guy

via Joyenergizer
26
It's a game where you kick.

via Joyenergizer

To be fair, Literally EVERY Sega master system game was designed like this. They were all bad
Advertisement
27
I have never imagined Mega Man like this

via Joyenergizer
28
Ok, this is even worse

via Joyenergizer
29
I think I bought the wrong X-Men game

via Joyenergizer
Advertisement
30
The more I look, the worse it gets

via Joyenergizer
31
When you copy James Camron's homework

via Joyenergizer
32
Why is he standing on that cat's tail?!

via Joyenergizer

Tags

Scroll Down For The Next Article

Also From Geek Universe

23 Dark Humor Work Memes to Sweeten Up Your Break Room Coffee (May 12, 2025)

23 Dark Humor Work Memes to Sweeten Up Your Break Room Coffee (May 12, 2025)

Next Article