AuthorTopic: Pixel-Gameart Appreciation Thread  (Read 105187 times)

Offline Cyangmou

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Pixel-Gameart Appreciation Thread

on: April 08, 2017, 11:02:42 am
I decided to start this thread that we have a place to show off some awesome pixel art featured in released games throughout the years. Since games are limited by production restrictions and not all assets tend to look equally good, I want to have a place where we can just share some of our favorite bits.

If you post here, please upload the images via an imagehoster and don't crosslink directly out of the web.
I personally use my abload.de account, bc. those images most likely won't vanish for a long time.

Gameart is fairly different than lllustrations, because those artworks are made with a ton of restrictions.
Maybe they are forced in a "playable" perspective, are made out of repeating tiles, or in case of portraits they are limited by lighting or angles - nonetheless there is game-artwork around which are great, or you have a personal attachment to.
Maybe you simply liked the game, or just the feeling of a particular area of the game.
Just share the stuff you really like  ;D

Rules:
-art posted should be pixel art, or close to pixel art (slight 3D in the background of screenshots, soft light gradients etc. don't matter, but if you really want to show off some HD2D art or other references, please but them in SPOILERS

-Images posted should be sharp pixel art preferably gifs and pngs without artifacts. JPGs are kinda ok too post, but if you do so please state that you haven't found a sharp image

-Images posted should have been featured in released games! (single Mockups and Proof-of-Concept artpieces not featured in game shouldn't get posted)

-please state the game, the platform and the release year, so that everybody knows what game the art is from. It also would be cool if you could name the area, or the character name.

-you may share why you think a certain piece of artwork is great, and maybe post reference material or stories. Since art is influenced by taste, try giving others a glimpse of what you appreciate- this could make the thread much more interesting.


In order to kick this off I posted a few images and tried to come up with a template for how I imagine this thread should continue:


Game: Sword of Mana (action RPG)
Release Year: 2003
Platform: Gameboy Advance

Cascade Caves Bossroom:



What I always particularly liked about this place just were the colors.
In this particular room the game changed from it's topdown view into something more reminiscent of old arcade sidescrollers, with much bigger setpieces and a lot more depth to it and I think it's just looking breathtaking.

Game: Castlevania Symphony of the Night (action adventure)
Release Year: 1997
Platform: Playstation

Catacomb Cells



Most likely my favorite area in the whole game, probably because it's painting-wise on a completely different level than 90% of the other areals. I just love the subtle color changes in it, the attention to values and the texturing. The whole setting and setup also heavily reminded me of a of chapter 53 of Berserk.




Game: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (Turn-Based Strategy)
Release Year: 2004
Platform: Gameboy Advance

Cyclops Critical attack



For this one I personally liked the menacing design of this opponent (he is about 2-3 times as big as your normal units), and the whole anatomy and weight to the animation. I never have been a huge fan of his weapon, but I think the character sprite an animation are just perfect.
« Last Edit: April 08, 2017, 11:16:50 am by Cyangmou »
"Because the beauty of the human body is that it hasn't a single muscle which doesn't serve its purpose; that there's not a line wasted; that every detail of it fits one idea, the idea of a man and the life of a man."

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Offline 0xDB

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Re: Pixel-Gameart Appreciation Thread

Reply #1 on: April 08, 2017, 03:54:31 pm
Game: Lionheart (platform hack'n'slash) by Thalion Software
Release Year: 1993
Platform: Amiga (OCS, ECS)

No custom screenshots as I feel no urge to play it again but have a video of the whole thing...

Amiga Longplay by World of Longplays (pretty crisp at 480p):


Was not a huge fan of the gameplay itself(still plays ok) but those pixels are tasty from start to finish. Some of the best the Amiga platform ever had to offer.

Further info & legal disk image download at the Thalion Webshrine.

Offline 0xDB

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Re: Pixel-Gameart Appreciation Thread

Reply #2 on: April 08, 2017, 08:02:43 pm
Game: Flashback (platform action adventure) by Delphine Software
Release Year: 1992
Platform: Amiga (OCS, ECS)

Amiga Longplay by adalsgaard:


This game was tough, never completed it myself(not without cheating) but loved it for the smooth animations and the dystopian sci-fi setting (the sequel on PC "Fade To Black" was great too but was not pixel art anymore).

Offline 0xDB

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Re: Pixel-Gameart Appreciation Thread

Reply #3 on: April 08, 2017, 08:31:14 pm
Game: Park Patrol (Arcade) by Tony Ngo
Release Year: 1984
Platform: C64

C64 Longplay by AL82:


Always liked the clean and simple efficiency in those minimalist cartoon pixels and that little water trail effect is just lovely.

Offline Ryumaru

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Re: Pixel-Gameart Appreciation Thread

Reply #4 on: April 11, 2017, 06:48:16 am
Nothing new, but my two main inspirations currently are Sword of Mana and Kakurenbo Battle Monster Tactics.

Game: Sword of Mana (action RPG)
Release Year: 2003
Platform: Gameboy Advance



There's a lot of genius going on in the floor tiles here, and the art in general seems to have a precursory knowledge of pixel clusters, so I look to it often as a way modern "good" pixel art games might could look like.



A small but clever trick, palette changes on the walls in this cave increase visual variety.

Game: Kakurenbo Battle Monster Tactics
Release Year: 2000
Platform: Gameboy Color








Mostly just enjoy this game for the gorgeous portrait work. Let me know if you find better 4 color per tile 32x32 portraits than these because I'd like to see them.

Offline yaomon17

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Re: Pixel-Gameart Appreciation Thread

Reply #5 on: April 11, 2017, 09:50:33 am
Game: Mega Man Xtreme
Platform: GB/GBC  October 20, 2000
 


It is done in 4 colors. It looks nice.
« Last Edit: April 11, 2017, 09:53:20 am by yaomon17 »

Offline wolfenoctis

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Re: Pixel-Gameart Appreciation Thread

Reply #6 on: April 12, 2017, 11:43:30 am
Game: Garou: Mark of the Wolves
Release Year: 1999
Platform: Arcade

Always admired these:




Also appreciating the technical lengths the early developers had to go to in order to produce pixel art graphics (video might be interesting to some):
« Last Edit: April 12, 2017, 11:45:14 am by wolfenoctis »

Offline Cyangmou

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Re: Pixel-Gameart Appreciation Thread

Reply #7 on: April 17, 2017, 02:23:30 pm
Game: Beyond Oasis
Release Year: 1994
Platform: Mega Drive

This  is the oldest game I know of which falls pretty much in line with the modern "cluster approach" of pixel art, and despite some dithering here and there the whole thing is scaringly similar to a lot of techniques displayed in current pixel works.

Interestingly enough this game already used quite a high resolution for their assets and generally feels really clean and colorful and while this prodction is kind of pioneering many things so commonly seen today, and there are already so many great choices evident, that it's just worth to take a look.

I made a collection with various backgrounds:

"Because the beauty of the human body is that it hasn't a single muscle which doesn't serve its purpose; that there's not a line wasted; that every detail of it fits one idea, the idea of a man and the life of a man."

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Offline goatmeal

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Re: Pixel-Gameart Appreciation Thread

Reply #8 on: April 20, 2017, 10:24:21 pm
Game: Alundra
Release Year: 1997
Platform: PlayStation

One of the first games I've ever played. I used to rent this game when I was a kid and I always enjoyed the art, but couldn't appreciate it to the extent I do today.

Just a very visually pleasing game to look at. Very moody, very depressing, but very good.

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Re: Pixel-Gameart Appreciation Thread

Reply #9 on: April 20, 2017, 10:31:17 pm
Game: Battle Bugs (puzzle strategy)
Release Year: 1994
Platform: PC(DOS)

What I loved most about this game were the in-game unit animations but so far I only managed to rip the unit-description-cards which were stored in an ancient 16 color planar mode. Took me all day to figure that out so might as well post them here:


Through the magic of in-browser emulation, it's possible to play this gem of a game over there (https://classicreload.com/battle-bugs.html) to check out the whole user interface which is full of charming little details in all screens.