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Post by KGRAMR on May 14, 2018 21:10:54 GMT -5
Something to vary from the japanese Atari Jaguar thread but i love this subject a lot. I'm a sucker for 2D pixel art made painstakingly by hand and IMO, one of the best examples i can think of are the arcade games made by the defunct belgian developer Art & Magic. Check out some of these beauties in motion but of course, for you, what are the most visually appealing 2D games from the 80s/90s? 
This one was the very first game they ever developed but sadly, its currently lost...
The others did get released though...
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Post by phediuk on May 14, 2018 21:46:20 GMT -5
Adventures of Lomax, featuring the exquisite pixel art of Henk Nieborg, who also did Lionheart on the Amiga and Flink on the Mega Drive:
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Post by Bumpyroad on May 14, 2018 23:02:42 GMT -5
Contra: Hard Corps
Castlevania: SOTN
Nanatsu Kaze - No Shima Monogatari
And a demo for Native on your beloved Jag was damn impressive
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Chezni
Junior Member
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Post by Chezni on May 15, 2018 0:10:24 GMT -5
Paladin's Quest has a unique pixel art style in my opinion. The asymmetry can be a bit jarring at times, but the more symmetrical stylizations and pastel colouring is truly unique. And the general design of many things in the game -- from treasure chests to trees, and of course enemies and characters -- is unique even by today's standards.       Lennus 2, the Famicom-only sequel to Paladin's Quest, has more detailed graphics, but with the pastel colours gone I felt the game was a lot more dreary in appearance than the original.      I've often felt that Paladin's Quest, despite being very rough around the edges, had a lot of unique features that could be reworked into something awesome today. And the graphics are obviously a big part of that, although a blend of the brighter, pastel colouring from the original and greater detail from the sequel would be ideal, with darker tones when appropriate.
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Chezni
Junior Member
Posts: 90
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Post by Chezni on May 15, 2018 0:20:50 GMT -5
I should add that a lot of SNK games, particularly the Samurai Shodown games, have some of the best pixel art around!
Samurai Shodown 3:
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Post by starscream on May 15, 2018 10:01:00 GMT -5
Legend of Mana and Saga Frontier 2 were graphic favourites of mine on the first Playstation. On the Saturn, Princess Crown: For something older, I think Sierra did well considering the limitations, here's something from King's Quest IV:  Here's something that was released only two years ago, but for an old platform (Commodore Plus/4, C16) and I thought it's really good looking for it. The Lands of Zador:  |
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Post by spanky on May 15, 2018 11:43:37 GMT -5
Batman for the NES has some great animation (I love the way Batman crouches before he jumps) and has great use of dark space. The cutscenes look amazing too.
This might be a nostalgic thing, but I always felt Double Dragon for the NES, especially the backgrounds was really striking. Those eerie purple skies in level 3 always stuck with me.
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Post by phediuk on May 15, 2018 13:49:31 GMT -5
Elfmania looks absolutely ridiculous for an Amiga game:
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Post by ommadawnyawn2 on May 15, 2018 13:49:48 GMT -5
1980s:
Defender
Pac-Man & Mario Bros. & Bubble Bobble
Dragon's Lair
Q*Bert & Zaxxon & Congo Bongo & Marble Madness
Punch-Out!
Excitebike
International Karate
Galaxy Force 2 & Space Harrier & Power Drift
Defender of the Crown
Fantasy Zone 1-2
Solaris (Atari)
Maniac Mansion
Phantasy Star (SMS)
Ashguine Story 2
Ghouls 'n Ghosts
R-Type 1-2
Super Dodgeball & River City Ransom
SMB3
Wonder Boy III: DT & Monster Lair
Contra (NES)
Splatterhouse
Golden Axe
Weird Dreams (AMI)
It Came From the Desert (AMI)
Willow (ARC)
Prince of Persia (PC)
TMNT (NES) & TMNT (ARC)
Strider
North & South (AMI)
Golvellius (SMS)
Aleste 2
Mr. Ghost
Undead Line (MSX)
Quest for Glory & Colonel's Bequest
Final Fight
1990s:
Land of Illusion & Legend of Illusion & Aladdin (SMS & MD) & Deep Duck Trouble
Power Strike II (SMS & GG)
Snatcher (MCD & PCE CD)
Pirates! (AMI)
Ys IV (PCE CD)
Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake (MSX)
Crystalis (NES)
Metal Storm
Batman: Return of the Joker
Isolated Warrior
Mega Man 5
Another World & Flashback
Lionheart (AMI)
Agony (AMI)
Disposable Hero (AMI)
Bubba ‘n Stix (AMI)
Moonstone: A Hard Days Knight (AMI)
Ambermoon (AMI)
Secret of Monkey Island II & Loom & Day of the Tentacle & Cruise for a Corpse & Quest for Glory 1-4 & Beneath a Steel Sky & King's Quest VI & Sam & Max Hit the Road
Wing Commander 1-2
Lands of Lore
Space Hulk & Dune II (mainly for the intros)
SimCity 2000
Warcraft II
Albion (PC)
Full Throttle - Part pre-rendered I think?
Command & Conquer: Red Alert - Part pre-rendered I think?
Broken Sword
The Settlers II
Dungeon Keeper
Age of Empires 1-2
The Curse of Monkey Island
Heroes of Might and Magic III - Part pre-rendered I think?
Starcraft - Part pre-rendered I think?
Caesar III & Pharaoh
Aliens (ARC) & Alien vs. Predator
The Super Spy (ARC/NG)
MUSHA & Spriggan
Thunder Force IV
Monster World IV
Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Quackshot & World of Illusion
Streets of Rage 2
Shining Force 2
Landstalker
Turtles in Time
Ecco: Tides of Time
ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron
Ranger X
Street Fighter Alpha series
Rocket Knight Adventures
Alien Soldier & Gunstar Heroes
Earthworm Jim 1-2
Shinobi III
Misadventures of Flink
Mickey Mania
Panorama Cotton
Beyond Oasis
Mega Turrican
Comix Zone
Ristar
The Adventures of Batman & Robin (MD & SNES)
X-Men 2 (MD)
TBC...
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Post by phediuk on May 15, 2018 13:53:18 GMT -5
Creatures 2 features possibly the best-looking pixel art on the C64, and couples that with smooth-scrolling and animations too, with a lot of nifty effects.
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Post by phediuk on May 15, 2018 13:54:39 GMT -5
Agony is another Amiga stunner, especially the first level:
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Post by Bumpyroad on May 15, 2018 14:06:09 GMT -5
Metal Slug series definitely belong in the Pantheon of the "All time 2D Greats", unless, of course, you count IGS' Demon Front, which was obviously released later afterwards. Another one is James Bond Jr. on NES. It left such an everlasting impression on me at the time, that i even had this as my Facebook profile pic for like 5 consecutive years or so.(for better or worse) 
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Post by toei on May 15, 2018 15:34:50 GMT -5
Most SNK arcade games have really sharp character designs and elaborate backgrounds, as has been mentioned. I do love Paladin's Quest's world, too. It looks like an alien planet should look, wildly different and striking. Konami's late Genesis games are very impressive technically, pulling all kinds of neat tricks.
Astal for the Saturn is pretty as fuck:
Also, I love huge sprites, so I still find Bonk's giant transformation in Bonk 3 very impressive:
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Post by KGRAMR on May 15, 2018 15:35:36 GMT -5
Creatures 2 features possibly the best-looking pixel art on the C64, and couples that with smooth-scrolling and animations too, with a lot of nifty effects. That looks very good but that honor would go to Mayhem in Monsterland, one of the last oficial releases of the C64 |
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Post by KGRAMR on May 15, 2018 15:43:21 GMT -5
One game that many of you probably have played here is Todd's Adventure in Slime World but the Lynx version is, for me, the best-looking one. Just look at the video and see many of the graphical tricks at display from a 1989 handheld no less!
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