Of all the people who loved Arnold Schwarzenegger during his 1980s prime, none loved him more than the artists responsible for the covers of video games.
They just could not stop paying indirect (or even blatantly direct) homage to the action superstar by having him inspire the poses, outfits and faces to games as famous as Contra and as infamous as Mechanized Attack, in which he shared the cover with Highlander star Christopher Lambert.
HG101 has done a fantastic job of tracking all of these covers down, as part of a larger feature you should definitely check out called āTracing the Influence ā Stolen Images in Gamesā, which tracks the inspiration behind all kinds of iconic retro gaming imagery.
Tracing the Influence ā Stolen Images in Games [HG101, via Tiny Cartridge]
