The famous Chapcom cartoonist Akira “Akiman” Yasuda – famous for portraying similar games Street Fighter II, Captain Commando, Stones and many, many more – evoked the unforgettable inspiration of one of his finest works of art.
Arcade poster for Capcom & # 39; s The final fight – which was originally supposed to be released as Street Fighter & # 39; 89 – It shows a playful character Cody standing above an enemy who is usually lying in a pool of blood. His face turned away from the viewer, eyes already trained on another invading enemy.
If you are young enough to remember how the game's release took place you may remember to see this art in the game magazines of the time (we can remember the UK magazine CVG offering this as a casting poster) used on the North American cover for their version of the Sega CD. A very cruel piece of art completely expressing the tone of the game.
Yasuda revealed her creative inspiration – the Enix & # 39; s Famicom epic Dragon Quest. He mentions in a tweet that he has tried to copy the idea that the hero's face is not shown properly because the actor will be replacing the hero (it would be nice if Guy, another playable character in Final Fight also had his back to the viewer).
Yasuda notes that Akira Toriyama of Dragon Quest seems to be inspired by images of Prisoners & Dragons a tabletop game, which also adopts a similar way of portraying a hero.
So there you have it – one of the most impressive pieces of the & # 39; 80s arcade art & # 39; s inspired RPG. Who would have thought of it, eh?
Thanks to James Wragg to get a tip!
