Tracing the Influence: Retraced Edition

Tag: Origin Systems

Back to main

Metal Morph cover (1994) 🔗


Another cover that borrows several of Frazetta’s fall guys from various black-and-white drawings. The origin of the bald hero in the center is still unknown, looks more like a movie still to me.

Discovered by corsair from the Hardcore Gaming 101 forums.

Tags:Frank Frazetta (7)Swords of Mars (3)Kubla Khan (2)Fantasy illustrations (9)Metal Morph (1)Origin Systems (2)Sources wanted (9)

Ultima II: The Revenge of the Enchantress cover (1982) 🔗


Ultima is one of the foundational works of fantasy CRPG history, so no wonder its production was inspired by two of the giants of fantasy illustration at the time. The demon's torso and parts of his pose come from a Frazetta paintign aptly titled Swamp Demon (sorry about the rough cutout for the comparison - it kind of blends in with the shadows, so it's hard to tell where the monster ends and the background begins), whereas the adventurer is teleporting in from Boris Vallejo's futiristic Behind the Walls of Terror. Ironically, it wouldn't be long before Origin System found themselves at the other end of such a "transaction" - and reportedly weren't amused.

Tags:Frank Frazetta (7)Swamp Demon (1)Boris Vallejo (3)Behind the Walls of Terror (1)Ultima (1)Origin Systems (2)Fantasy illustrations (9)Science fiction (8)
Random pickBack to main

Hey, you’ve reached the end of the page! Thanks for scrolling all the way through! If you’ve enjoyed the article and would like to read more like it, please consider supporting and following me on Ko-fi. I’ll post there whenever I got something new to upload.

Read Next

The Video Game Forklift Museum

📅 2023-07-09 11:03:00

⏱ 20 minute read


A collection of forklifts all throughout gaming history, both decorative and functional.

Arts and Crafts and Games (Part 1)

📅 2024-10-31 12:20:00

⏱ 25 minute read


A collection of video game promo art that goes the extra mile.

Super Mario Moonlighting

📅 2023-07-16 02:00:00

⏱ 10 minute read


It seems not all Mario games are made – or even approved – by Nintendo.