Dude who did classic ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ box art has passed away. Frown.

Greg Martin is the man who is probably more responsible for crafting my lasting image of Sonic Fucking Blast Processing Hedgehog. Martin cut the box art for the Genesis series, and I can picture them all perfectly all these years later. Sadly the good sir has passed away, joining the series itself in Heaven. Get it? ‘Cause Sonic sucks now? Oh whatever.

Prolific video game cover artist Greg Martin has passed away, a personal friend announced at the NintendoAge forum this week.

Martin illustrated many iconic video game covers throughout the 1990s, establishing distinctive looks for Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog series characters and Namco’s Pac-Man, in particular. Many Sonic the Hedgehog games released stateside during the Sega Genesis and Game Gear era bear Martin’s cover art, including Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic CD, andSonic Spinball, among others.

Martin created cover illustrations for several Hanna-Barbera and Looney Tunes-licensed games during his long-running industry stint, and his art also adorned the covers of acclaimed classics like Landstalker, Shining in the Darkness, and Little Nemo: The Dream Master. Several examples of Martin’s work can be seen at NintendoAge.

[Joystiq]