The Street Fighter Squatties project found an unexpected home in the world of retro gaming when all twelve characters were selected for inclusion in 16 Bit Brawl, a Sega vs Nintendo themed exhibition and printed zine curated by the much-loved pop culture blog Streets of Beige.
At the time, Streets of Beige was one of the internet's go-to destinations for discovering independent toys, illustration, design, posters, prints, film, and creative culture. Although the site has since disappeared, its influence on the designer toy and illustration communities was significant.
The Console Wars Reimagined
16 Bit Brawl celebrated the golden era of gaming rivalries, inviting artists to create work inspired by the legendary battle between Sega and Nintendo.
The project brought together a huge range of illustrators and creators, each interpreting retro gaming culture through their own style and medium.
For Squatties, it was the perfect opportunity to showcase the complete Street Fighter collection — twelve characters reimagined as geometric paper toys inspired by one of the most iconic fighting game franchises ever created.
Suggested image: The full collection of 12 Street Fighter Squatties featured in the project.The complete Street Fighter Squatties collection featured in the 16 Bit Brawl project.
Centre Stage
One of the biggest surprises was discovering that the Street Fighter Squatties had been given the centre page spread within the publication.
Seeing the entire collection reproduced across a double-page layout felt like a huge milestone for what had originally started as a personal fan-art project.
In addition to the feature spread, a random Street Fighter character template was included inside each zine, allowing readers to build and collect their own Squattie.
The centre spread inside the 16 Bit Brawl zine.Character Reveals
Leading up to the release, the characters were published online as versus pairings, mirroring the head-to-head nature of classic fighting games.
Releasing the collection this way created a sense of anticipation around the project while giving each character a chance to shine before the full set was finally revealed in print.
Suggested image: Example of a versus pairing released before publication.Characters were revealed in classic fighting game matchups ahead of the zine launch.
A Turning Point
Looking back, 16 Bit Brawl felt like a natural intersection of everything Squatties was becoming at the time: gaming culture, illustration, papercraft, collectibles, and nostalgia.
The project introduced the Street Fighter Squatties to a much wider audience and remains one of the earliest examples of the project being featured as part of a professionally curated publication.
For a series inspired by arcade legends and console-era gaming culture, appearing in a retro gaming exhibition celebrating the 16-bit generation felt like the perfect place to land.
More importantly, 16 Bit Brawl marked a turning point for the Street Fighter Squatties. The project was beginning to attract attention beyond the usual papercraft and illustration circles, opening doors that simply hadn't existed before.
At the time, I had no idea the collection's most exciting chapter was still yet to come.
