What would Riyadh look like in a 1980s video game? This was imagined by a Saudi artist

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) — Old video games from the ’80s and ’90s, with their distinctive pixelated graphics, evoke feelings of nostalgia for those who played games from the older generation.

Although these games did not make up a large part of the childhood of Saudi artist Khaled Makshush, he had a great love for them, saying in an interview with CNN in Arabic: “It is characterized by a great level of skill. A drawing that amazes me to this day, despite the limited technical skills at the time.”

Makhchouch’s appreciation for these games is embodied in a series of digital panels that show the Saudi capital of Riyadh as if it were inside an old video game.

Desire to design a video game

In 2016, the Saudi artist wanted to create a simple video game with a friend, and he decided to design it to simulate old video games because he thought it would be easy, but he explained that it wasn’t.

Makchouch fell in love with drawing, specifically pixel art, and decided to focus on it.

“After learning this art, I decided to use it to express myself as a painter, not as a game developer,” says the Riyadh-based artist.

If you’ve ever tried to imagine what Saudi Arabia would look like inside an old video game, you shouldn’t be surprised by Makshuch’s colorful work.

Among his amazing paintings, which he draws using a digital drawing program, you can see one scene on a fictional main street in the evening and another of a shop selling car tires.

In another sketch of a fictional neighborhood, the familiar towers that make up Riyadh’s financial center can be seen in the distance.

The artist affirmed: “When I started learning to draw, I had a new perspective on things and began to see beauty in simple and quick places that I had not paid attention to before.”

The photographer explained: “My identity and culture are an integral part of my paintings, but at the same time, I don’t want to show them in a traditional way,” indicating that he wants to focus on his personal vision. Make his identity and culture come out in the painting spontaneously, naturally and close to reality.