The one game I remember getting based on the cover alone was Solstice.

That game was hard as fuck. I don't think I ever saw the end.

Bangin' music tho. I still sometimes get ear worms from it.

but all the fun is taking the game graphics and transforming it in your head to resemble the cover art

The art vs. the game

Oh well...

You miss half the fun then, the imagination in your head of transforming the graphics into whatever you want. And then gameplay is the most important

The "actual game" looks like a Altered Beast that takes place in a US park.

Looks like a swell game to me!