Bangai-O Spirits

Well I'm an old schooler from way back (yeah, my first console was an Atari 2600 in 1977), and I've been a MECHA fan (obviously - username) since the early 80s, so naturally when I see the box art on the shelf, the first thing I think is, "Patlabor." If you don't know what that is, it's an anime series from quite awhile ago, just google images of "patlabor" and you will see exactly what I'm saying. Anyone else wondering about that? Did they rip off Patlabor, or was Bangai-O just designed by the same mech designer? I noticed the mecha on the box art for the Dreamcast version is a vastly different style robot. I haven't really looked into why this is yet.....just wondering if anyone else noticed....you young whippersnappers! GET OFF MY LAWN! oh... *cough* >_>;;
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They look similar, but not identical. I figure there's only so many designs of efficient-looking mechs that are possible, so it might be coincidence, or they could be inspired by one-another. But according to Wikipedia and the internet (which are apparently separate in this post) the designer had nothing to do with Bangai-O. Though this might shed some light on influences, which may include patlabor

http://www.mechadamashii.com/features/features-bangai-o-origins/

I didn't read the article, but it sounded like it'd talk about what influenced it.