Garrison / Garrison II: The Legend Continues Rainbow Arts

While the game itself is a rather unimaginative Gauntlet clone – or rip-off, if you’re being unkind – Garrison’s cover is a delightfully original painting, quite unlike any other videogame cover I’ve seen before. The two figures remind me of those weird faceless figurines that some people like to have dotted around their home [Willow Tree Figurines – superfluous home decoration ed.], the man holding aloft a sword in a call to arms which is offset by their un-battle-like lack of clothing. Behind them sits the game’s chief location, the eastern spires of the castle puncturing the sky as the ghostly face of the game’s antagonist surveys the scene below. Ethereal, atmospheric and inimitable, publisher Rainbow Arts re-used the image for the sequel, Garrison II: The Legend Continues; quite apt when you consider the lack of originality going on with the game itself.