You might not recognize his name, but if you grew up playing video games in the ’80s and ’90s you’re certainly familiar with his work. Greg Martin, the artist who brought us the iconic and colorful cover art for such games as Pac-Man, Bonk’s Adventure, and multiple titles in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, has passed away.
The sad news comes by way of a forum post from a friend of the deceased artist over at Nintendo Age. Do yourself a favor and make time to scroll through the makeshift gallery of Martin’s work that the poster has put together. It harkens back to a time when gaming didn’t take itself quite so seriously, a time when the medium still had no higher goal than producing pure, unadulterated fun. Both that era and the artist that captured it will be missed.
Source: Nintendo Age
Really, really sad. His work was truly stunning. I never knew the man’s name until news of his passing, but the second I saw all the pieces of art he was responsible for (that I was instantly familiar with), it reminded how thankless a job it was for earlier contributors to the industry.