When I was a kid, all my preconceived notions of the world came primarily from video games. Smash TV taught me reality television was a few short years away from broadcasting manslaughter, Mario Bros. had me believe that all mushrooms were meant to be consumed, and Mortal Kombat taught me that renegade shaolin monks could withstand a severe beating from a four armed dragon hybrid. Whaddya want? I was a child, carrying my empty milk crate from arcade cabinet to arcade cabinet, just so I could reach the buttons.
Thanks to all my arcade time, I recall Street Fighter II's interim between bouts, the plane flying from one exotic locale to another. My sole interest was to pummel each country's hometown hero, but one artist has taken an interest in where the characters hail from as opposed to simply beating them mercilessly.
With work appearing on the Huffington Post, Men's Health, and Nascar Illustrated, perhaps you've seen some of the artistic stylings of Fernando Reza, aka, Fro. In addition to these publications, Fro is also a gamer, and fan of Capcom's arcade smash, and he used his artistic talents to show that there's more to Street Fighter's stages than just the fighters that happen to call them home.
Visitors to his site can take in his set of World Warrior Travel Posters, inspired by both the popular stages littered with the teeth and broken teams of Dhalsim and Blanka, but with a twist or perhaps even an homage of famed poster designer for Trans World Airlines (TWA) David Klein. Klein's posters represented the height of the jet set era, while Fro's show the hight of the arcade fighter. Even non-fans will recognize the homage, provided they've seen enough episodes of "Mad Men." Take a peek at some of the designs above.
Klein's posters have been auctioned for prices in the thousands, but Fro's works are far more affordable at $30 a pop, or $150 for a set of six. Featured are Sagat's Thailand, Chun-Li's China, Dhalsim's India, Balrog's Las Vegas, Blanka's Brazil, and Ryu's Japan. Unfortunately, Fro left out E. Honda's sumo sauna, Vega's Spanish cage, and the 'merican stages for Guile and Ken. Still, they are quite purdy. Head here if you're looking to give your game room a bit of retro flair.
