OK - so that Galahad backglass is in a separate category for me. There's art that's just bad (i.e. poorly thought-out, poorly executed, sloppy, lazy). And then there's art that's so bad it's good (i.e. someone actually spent time on it only to have it massively fail). I think Galahad falls into that second category. Look at all of the details in their hair! The shading of the clothes! The contours of their faces! Someone tried to art - they just couldn't.

Then there's the WTF category. It's not bad, it's not good, it's WTF. Yes - I'm talking to you Genesis.

I know which one I prefer..

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The first one!

The transition from photos to drawn art on backglasses and playfields is jarring. A photo doesn't blend with the rest of the package.

...soul

Metallica looks terrible.

Ghostbusters looks like the actors melted, Bill Murray in particular.

"Good" art is in the eye of the beholder.

I behold a great deal of ugliness in some recently hand drawn playfields. The lemmings will disagree.

Discuss.

"Drawn art is a natural form of human creativity, not simply just someone else's work or inspired from photographs."
- MC Escher

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I don't really care if it's hand drawn or not as long as it looks good.
Hand drawn art is not better by itself although some might disagree.

Hand drawn real art is better. No one wants to see that midget from Elf on a backglass...........

No problem with photo shop if its done right, both can work and both can suck so its really all in the design, I would rather have ST style simplicity than overly done cartoon art any day.

In general, players, owners, and collectors do not prefer to go running towards to photogenic artwork titles.
It has been a manufacturer or generational "fad" that has been attempted many times either due towards cost cutting, limitations by IP license holders, or in some cases outright borderline copyright infringement.
The games were not necessarily bad designs, but the artwork in itself caused the games to be commercial failures.
There are dozens of examples from pinball history.
Only a handful were exceptions.

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