CAPCOM DESIGN WORKS

Click to enlarge to the cover's full 4 page spread glory!
WARNING! VERY BIG 350k file!! 
Can you name everyone?

Type: Game art book collection
published by Enterbrain
Price: 2500 yen
21cm x 26cm 

Ever since the demise of Gamest Mook a few years ago, Capcom artbooks haven't been on the publishing schedule very much. Gone are the days where every new game had it's own guide book with giant, bright pictures of game, promo and exclusive artwork. Capcom Design Works is a return to such a book, sorely needed in the face of the many recent publications of SNK artbooks. Capcom has always been, in my opinion, a leader in game artwork since their Darkstalkers series. They were one of the first game companies who developed their own in house art style, something which can now be seen in nearly all of their signature titles. So much so that more often than not characters bounce back and forth in the artwork, crossing over game continuities, and they all seem to fit well together, in a sort of "Capcom World". So after a whole slew of games from the company and still no artbook collection, one gets a little antsy from having to keep downloading pictures from www.capcom.co.jp. Trust me when I say that this book provides great relief!

The book consists of 240 pages, all full coloured and beautifully adorned with Capcom's famous art style, all in very excellent hi-res printing. Among the games covered are 

• Onimusha (One of their recent PS2 games)

• Capcom vs SNK (including the enhanced version with Dan and Joe)

• the Resident Evil series

• Project Justice (Rival Schools 1-3)

• Rockman / Megaman (marking the first time this game is extensively featured in a Capcom artbook. Covers EVERY series except the GBA Rockman EXE games)

• their signature fighters: Street Fighter and Darkstalkers (all versions)

• Powerstone

• Star Gladiator

• Strider

• Cyberbots

• vs Marvel stuff

• Breath of Fire series

Along with many other lesser known titles like Kikai-oh and Red Earth. Even Quiz Nanairo Dreams is in here!

Of special note are all the bonus stuff. There's art from trading cards, calenders, conceptual work, and previous Mook-exclusive pictures. The topper of it all has to be the rarely seen artwork from their Capcom secret Files, fan club premiums, greeting cards, and original sketches not meant for publication! All the pictures are relatively large (except for some of the portraits, which are commonly seen images anyway), and many full page spreads can be found. This is nothing short of the best in game-related eye-candy!!

Also included are other misc bits, inserted more for fun than anything else, such as a "day in the life of a Capcom artist", floor plan of the Capcom studio, interviews and other bits of nonsense. They only take up a handful of pages, so it doesn't detract from all the gorgeous artwork they've already crammed in. For the wannabe, there's a short section at the end showing how that magnificent 4 fold cover was created on Photoshop, with step by step pictures. It's all in Japanese, though.

If you're looking for a book with playing guides and level walk-throughs, this is not it. I suggest trying www.gamefaqs.com. However, if you're a Capcom fan, or even just an anime/manga art fan in general, this book is super-duper triple-scoop highly recommended. In fact, I'll quadruple that recommendation! You're getting a collection of some of the hands down best artwork that has been produced over the past decade. This book is a true visual stunner and undoubtedly worth its price! 

Some Teaser pictures. If you want bigger pics go buy this yourself! And this is but a small fraction of what's offered! the first 4 are full page scans, so try to imagine what they'd look like at 21cm by 26cm (Approx 8¼" x 10¼")!!

~16/01/ 2002~