Iconic Video Games Artist Mick McGinty, Has Passed Away

Mick McGinty, the artist behind some of the most famous videogame box art, such as Street Fighter 2 and Streets of Rage 2, has passed away.

McGinty is said to have passed away peacefully surrounded by his family this past weekend, according to his son Jobey, who also shared a rather touching tribute to his father online.

My Dad was an incredible artist, as everyone knows. And in true artist fashion, he was also never satisfied with his final work. Just a couple weeks ago, he said he needed "just one more hour on a few pieces" in order to "really finish them." We all knew that just wasn't true, though. Dad would always come visit our house, see some of the paintings he did for us over the years, and would put his nose about an inch from it and say, "y'know, Jobe, I wish I would have made those blues a little deeper," or "you know I'd love to just splash a little more shadows on that tree," or "that really needs a fresh coat of varnish on it."

McGinty was best known for his work in the late 80s and early 90s, creating some of what will stand as the most iconic artwork in videogame history.

The most prevalent artwork known by many videogame fans is the classic box art for beat-em-up Street Fighter 2.

The cult classic artwork is arguably one of the most recognisable pieces of box art in history, as Ryu, Chun-Li and Blanka fight it out.

Although McGinity was best known for Street Fighter 2, he was also the artist behind another iconic series in Streets of Rage 2. Likewise, McGinity also created the artwork for every Zoo Tycoon release between 2001-2017.

This is, of course, just a small fraction of McGinty's career and though some younger gamers may not be familiar with his body of work or the games mentioned previously, there's no doubt that McGinty will go down in history as one of the best.

Source: Caring Bridge (Via GameRant)