Mick McGinty, the renowned illustrator behind some of the most iconic video game illustrations of the ’90s like Street Fighter II and Streets of Rage, has died from cancer. The artist passed away on Saturday; his son Jobey shared the news through a touching memorial post about his father.
McGinty’s illustrations have adorned the covers of many video games throughout the years. He was most prolific through the ’90s when he produced cover art and promotional images for SNES and SEGA Genesis titles like Street Fighter II, Streets of Rage 2, Streets of Rage 3, Super Street Fighter II, Kid Chameleon, Shining Force, Traysia, Battle Cars, and Sol Feace.
Other titles to benefit from his artistic eye include Chicago Syndicate on the SEGA Game Gear, Off World Interceptor Extreme for PlayStation and SEGA Saturn, SEGA Bass Fishing for SEGA Dreamcast, and Leisure Suit Larry 6 and National Lampoon’s Chess Maniac 5 Billion and 1 on PC. Throughout the 2000s he was most known for his Zoo Tycoon illustrations for multiple platforms. VGDenetsu provided a brief summary of just some of his work throughout the years in a Twitter thread:
Mick McGinty’s son just announced on Facebook that his father has passed away. He had made several video game-related illustrations in the 90s, including for Street Fighter II, Streets of Rage 2 and 3, Kid Chameleon and Shining Force.
Thread:
website:https://t.co/b127cu6x4u pic.twitter.com/vUJCIcxlzT— VGDensetsu (@VGDensetsu) September 19, 2021
Whether you’ve been gaming for decades or are barely into your teens, it’s likely you will have seen and admired McGinty’s work before today. Jobey shared some of his memories of his father, including how Mick was always his own worst critic:
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.”
PlayStation LifeStyle sends their condolences to McGinty’s friends and family.
[Source: Caring Bridge, VGDensetsu]
