Much as we like to bitch here at GamesRadar, 2008 has been an outstanding year for games. We’ve seen a regular stream of releases almost every month, even during the normally dry summer, and a lot of them have been fantastic. Of course, more games on the market also means there’s more horrible, misguided and just plain hideous box art to gawp at than ever before. True, it’s not as consistently horrible as boxes were in the old 8- and 16-bit days, but the torrent of low-end shovelware we’ve seen this year – particularly on the DS and Wii – has taught us to feel entirely new kinds of pain. And really, what kind of gaming website would we be if we didn’t share that pain with you?

Above: In case you can’t be bothered to actually read the above headline or don’t know what “of 2008” means, here’s your stupid old Mega Man box. Now shut up

Please bear in mind that, with a few exceptions, we're not actually making any judgments about the games themselves - just their awful, awful boxes.

20. Twin Strike: Operation Thunder (Wii, released Oct. 28)


As much as we feel that “YEAAAH! HELICOPTERS! SHOOTIN’ MISSILES AT THE GROUND! BOOM! ENH-ENH-ENH-ENH-ENH-ENH! NYEEEEOOOWRM! BSSSHHHHHH!” is a powerful and time-honored theme, we can’t help but feel that this would look better if it were drawn on lined notebook paper.

19. Silent Hill: Homecoming (PS3/360/PC, released Sept. 30)


We’ve seen some disastrous Homecoming dates in our time, but this dismal little scene might top them all.

18. Petz Rescue: Ocean Patrol (DS, released Oct. 28)


Jesus Christ. Assuming the point of the game is to rescue marine animals from that guy’s rampaging dick, then kudos to you, box. You’ve done your job admirably.

17. Petz Dogz Fashion (DS, released June 17)


It’s always been our position that a dog wearing sunglasses is automatically awesome, but then Petz had to go and tart up some dopey animals for the benefit of cooing airheads and we were proven wrong.

16. Shepherd’s Crossing (PS2, released Aug. 19)


Um…

What.

(Hey, going back to the well once or twice never hurt anybody.)

Rafa Nadal Tennis (DS, released June 30, 2007)


Somehow, we managed to overlook Rafa Nadal Tennis in our rundown of last year’s worst box art. And we really don’t know how it escaped our notice, because hey, look at the guy. You already want to Photoshop something into that hand, don’t you? Yeah, you know you do. That’s why we went ahead and did it for you:

Above: Umh mfffff hmphh glmphhhhh

Classy!