Eight childhood game obsessions, illustrated

What we saw when we were young

For Matter’s New York Review of Video Games, a “weeklong celebration of our most experimental, most alive, least respected art form,” the publication asked eight artists to illustrate a single game that dominated their youth, whether it be Final Fantasy VII, Jet Grind Radio, or Alien 8.

If Tim McDonagh’s The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time piece above doesn’t say it, allow me to: you’re going to want to see the rest of the illustrations. Even Minesweeper comes to life!

I’m also fond of Sachin Teng’s take on the cool-as-hell Sega Genesis mascot platformer Rocket Knight Adventures. “I always feel five years old when I play it,” he writes. “It reminds me of a time when electronics didn’t just feel like the future, they felt like magic.”