Beautiful sprite art

[bjork]

hard to top this one

 

[Michael Frank]

Front Mission: Gun Hazard

Alcahest

Sword of Mana

Seiken Densetsu

Honestly man, what in tarnation happened to Square?! ever since they stopped being Squaresoft ALL OF THIS STOPPED, think about it, it's baffling how deep they have fallen.

 

[TamagotchiHero24's icon TamagotchiHero24 TamagotchiHero24]

I know it’s a total cliché, but Donkey Kong Country as a series is one of the best reasons to either play on a CRT or play with a great CRT shader.

It’s a pre render, yes, but it’s still a sprite based on the render. And the choices for what colors are used where do so much to make the characters readable. It’s plasticky, but also natural looking. There’s nothing else like it.

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Front Mission: Gun Hazard
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Alcahest
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Sword of Mana
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Seiken Densetsu
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Honestly man, what in tarnation happened to Square?! ever since they stopped being Squaresoft ALL OF THIS STOPPED, think about it, it's baffling how deep they have fallen.

Squaresoft’s developers used to be the gods of sprite art. There’s a genuine art to knowing when to add detail and when to not.
Certain HD - 2D games, not all, but certain ones look very blocky in a bad way. Like I’m staring at an unfinished Picross board. Older Square sprites have immaculate color use to make the right parts of characters and backgrounds pop.

 

[bjork]

I know it’s a total cliché, but Donkey Kong Country as a series is one of the best reasons to either play on a CRT or play with a great CRT shader.

It’s a pre render, yes, but it’s still a sprite based on the render. And the choices for what colors are used where do so much to make the characters readable. It’s plasticky, but also natural looking. There’s nothing else like it.

It's a trend that stopped and I'm so very glad. I get that it was an impressive way to spoof 3D graphics at the time but I don't think I've ever seen a game that uses this where I thought it looked good? It always felt to me like little kids dressing up in their parents' clothes and pretending to go to work or whatever.

 

[Deleted member 560402]

It's a trend that stopped and I'm so very glad. I get that it was an impressive way to spoof 3D graphics at the time but I don't think I've ever seen a game that uses this where I thought it looked good? It always felt to me like little kids dressing up in their parents' clothes and pretending to go to work or whatever.

Speaking of which, this unused Kong

 

[Anoobis]

 

[DunkeyKong]

Most of the GBA games have such an incredible sprite work, like Ninja Five-O

Iridion 2 and Invader

And most of the first party titles (especially Metroid and The Legend of Zelda)

 

[Turbo Kid]

Wow, someone mentioned Arabian Fight. I didn't think anyone here beside me even knew that it existed.

There's something neat about seeing the Adam and Eve story in sprite form in Smelter

 

[TamagotchiHero24's icon TamagotchiHero24 TamagotchiHero24]

Wow, someone mentioned Arabian Fight. I didn't think anyone here beside me even knew that it existed.

There's something neat about seeing the Adam and Eve story in sprite form in Smelter

I’m a simple man. I see Shinobi 3 and (what I believe to be) Robocop VS Terminator and I click the like.

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I said I’d post Vampire Savior stuff, and I will begin to do so with arguably the biggest slam dunk of a weirdo character ever made: B.B. Hood/Bulletta.

Cute girl on the surface, total psychopath huntsman beneath. It’s the most effective use of the “man is the real monster” trope, and it did it all without talking. Her spritework speaks for itself, with ridiculous moves that blend the comedic with genuinely terrifying.

I’m not even talking about the move where she remembers her dead grandmother… purely to drown you in a pool of her own tears.

Given the context that the Darkstalkers are exiled from society and most are just trying to live peacefully, plus B.B. is actively shown to be hunting them down with contracts to collect a paycheck, the message comes across instantly and effectively. Plus, all of this is coming from a literal child. Makes you wonder what kind of hell the adults of the DarkStalkers universe can conjure.

 

[X y b e r - S k u ll]

I’m a simple man. I see Shinobi 3 and (what I believe to be) Robocop VS Terminator and I click the like.

Post automatically merged: Sep 14, 2025

I said I’d post Vampire Savior stuff, and I will begin to do so with arguably the biggest slam dunk of a weirdo character ever made: B.B. Hood/Bulletta.
View attachment 110367
Cute girl on the surface, total psychopath huntsman beneath. It’s the most effective use of the “man is the real monster” trope, and it did it all without talking. Her spritework speaks for itself, with ridiculous moves that blend the comedic with genuinely terrifying.
View attachment 110370
I’m not even talking about the move where she remembers her dead grandmother… purely to drown you in a pool of her own tears.View attachment 110368
Given the context that the Darkstalkers are exiled from society and most are just trying to live peacefully, plus B.B. is actively shown to be hunting them down with contracts to collect a paycheck, the message comes across instantly and effectively. Plus, all of this is coming from a literal child. Makes you wonder what kind of hell the adults of the DarkStalkers universe can conjure.

I'd like to follow this up with a shout-out to my favorite Darkstalker; Lord Raptor/Zabel Zarock

One of the most unique designs and concepts for a fighting game character ever created; an Australian zombie rocker who sacrificed himself and 100 of his fans at his final gig in a bid to gain power from Ozom, who instead brought him back to life as a zombie and tasked him with becoming his servant and hunting the other Darkstalkers.

As it turns out though, Raptor didn't want any of that and instead wanted to take Ozom's spot for himself.

I really like how despite being one of the most inhuman in appearance compared to the other characters, he's actually one of the only ones who's truly still in touch with his own humanity (Or former humanity), similar to Jon Talbain/Gallon and Hsien-Ko/Lei-Lei (Who he also has a massive crush on). Plus; my man can fucking ball too

 

[DjQuick2008]

the NEO GEO looks class games like sengoku 3, king of the monsters, metal slug etc all so detailed.

 

[TamagotchiHero24's icon TamagotchiHero24 TamagotchiHero24]

RayForce is a true beauty among sprite scaling shmups. Starting around 4:00 into this video, the second level is an absolutely fantastic showcase of all that. The space battle above the corrupted Earth is one of the best examples of depth in a shooter EVER. Yes, even including ones made with 3D models. It’s gorgeous.

 

[Turbo Kid]

SNK animations man

The ever badass Zero

More Darkstalkers love

Weaponlord

Kunoichi

 

[drasglaf]

Breath of Fire IV has incredible sprite work
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[TamagotchiHero24's icon TamagotchiHero24 TamagotchiHero24]

View attachment 110674

I love the use of color on so many sprites by Capcom. Bold color usage and strong light and shadow contrast make for some truly incredible looking animations.

 

[Turbo Kid]

Steel Assault

Neon Inferno

Batman Returns - SNES

 

[MajesticSiN]

My personal favorite are in the Metal Slug series.

 

[BedrockParts]

sonic mania

 

[kuroninneko]

just watching for now but will post later

 

[sandogma sandogma]

Wow Neon Inferno looks gorgeous! Adding to my wishlist. Thanks @Turbo Kid!
I always felt The Misadventures of Flink from the legendary Psygnosis has some of the best sprite work for a Genesis/Megadrive game.

 

[R66-Y]

Chrono Trigger spritework is beatiful, impressive for the SNES system and one of my personal favorites

And the Sonic Advance/Sonic Battle GBA sprites too, so cool and iconic, also nostalgic because reminds me the old Sonic flash games and animations like Super Mario Bros Z and Final Fantasy Sonic X

 

[kuroninneko]

 

[ThirteeTooBeets]

It's not the most detailed, but Pokemon games from gens 2 and 3 had very cute and expressive pixelart for the Pokemon. It felt like I was collecting little art pieces and it was a huge motivator for ctaching them all, for being mostly static most had a flow of movement and personality that it's missing in the current 3D models, that and I like the retro look of the older games.

 

[Guinea]

I love the sprite work in Eastward.

 

[thumbsdown's iconthumbsdown]

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