I'm speechless. Thank you very much for posting the pics BlackaneseNiNjA. Some absolutely incredible designs throughout. I'm super intrigued by the creation of these characters. Who actually created Terry Bogard's classic design? Takashi Nishiyama? Did the SNK devs take some trip to Mt. Rushmore and see dudes beefing it out in a bar arm-wresting match and one trucker-hatted guy look like Terry? Did they see a Poison music video and we're like, "kare wa Ande Bogado!" Joe Higashi's face kinda reminds me of the Wings of Honneamise style. Cool. I'm rambling, sorry. I hope some other people here get to enjoy this awesome artwork. Thank you again!
No problem at all! I've always wondered those specifics myself. Wherever the design inspiration came from, it couldn't have been too far off from the team's prior work on SNK's Street Smart and possibly Nishiyama-san's prior experience (more on that below).
I also find it interesting that Terry Bogard's initial design sketches bear some resemblance to Cody's design from Final Fight 1. Since Takashi Nishiyama directed Street Fighter 1 but left before Street Fighter II, I've always wondered if or how much say he had in the planned "Street Fighter 89" sequel before his departure from Capcom. Fatal Fury 1 has a very similar structure to Street Fighter 1 and Takashi Nishiyama has already gone on record as saying that Fatal Fury 1 was his "Street Fighter II" (since the actual Street Fighter II was created after Nishiyama-san left). If Nishiyama-san was involved in the initial planning of Street Fighter 89/the sequel project to Street Fighter 1, it is possible that some of those initial ideas migrated with him to SNK.
BTW, is this book worth the high asking price on eBay? How many pages would you say are sketches for game development? Is it mostly just in-game photos? Thank you!
This is a nice book that contains a lot of really good information, but since all of that information is completely in japanese, I wouldn't really recommend it for the pictures/art alone. There are really only about 12 or so pages with production sketches/art which doesn't justify the present-day asking prices imho. A vast majority of the information in both the Neo Geo no Subete book and the Neo Geo CD book are available online these days.
Nice! Never realized before how Heinlein's stage art resembles that of Krauser's. The zoom in before the fight happens so quick. From gothic to neoclassic: German heritage seems to need more arches
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Whats up oliverclaude! I love SNK's background designs and some of the thematic carry-over that appeared in Garou MotW was pretty awesome. Of course there were obvious ones like Terry's MotW stage taking place on a moving train, but there were other neat touches such as the one you pointed out that really tied MotW to some of the previous entries in the series. In addition to the Mai and Andy "bank ad" cameo's, I always thought the Real Bout 1 and Real Bout 2 posters in Hokutomaru's level were a funny touch.
I just saw this response, my apologies for the late reply. Basically, I would like to get scans of the book pages featuring all the Fatal Fury character sketches shown in the photos in my original post. Also, any additional sketches you mentioned that you'd be willing to post would be greatly appreciated too. I realize beggars can't be choosers, so anything at all you'd be willing to share is greatly appreciated. You're awesome for being willing to assist. Much thanks!
