Who painted the North American box art for Mega Man 2?

Who painted the North American box art for Mega Man 2? Marc Ericksen painted the North American box art for Mega Man 2.

Ericksen was a veteran video-game cover illustrator whose work appeared on numerous North American releases. His Mega Man 2 painting became especially memorable because it shows the blue hero firing a conventional pistol, even though the game’s protagonist uses an arm-mounted Mega Buster.

The mismatch was not simply an artistic reinterpretation made by Ericksen independently. Accounts of the project say he was unfamiliar with Mega Man and was directed to depict a pistol after asking what weapon the character was holding. The result became one of the most discussed examples of inaccurate early video-game box art.

The Japanese game artwork and the in-game character present Mega Man differently, with a blue armored design and arm cannon. The North American cover nevertheless helped establish the sequel’s visual identity in that market. Ericksen is therefore the correct answer, while Keiji Inafune and Yasuaki Kishimoto are associated with the game’s internal character and art development rather than this specific cover.