Wow, we've got some great ones coming through here.
@vedsten: I'd say your first submission is the most aesthetically pleasing for me; It works very well as a background. The colors preserve the detail while keeping it second in importance to the sprites that will go in there. Not too much detail, just right. The second one doesn't work as well for me; The outlines and dark, bold colors pop it out a bit too much. It still shows some amazing technical detail, though. Great entries. I love your style.
@Alex Hanson-White: The composition of the street is very, very well done. You keep great visual interest with your tiles, I just love the changes in elevation and the street twisting away into the background. I like the colors, they give off a classic "summer street brawl" feeling. Really no crits here.
@Tremulant: The bland colors and lack of stimulating details bring down the excitement of the piece. Definitely breathe some life into the colors and use the tiles for all they're worth. In the mockup, there's a little too much space above the fighters' heads. Keep going, man.
@vierbit: Gosh, your details are so cool. Beautiful colors, except maybe those window teals...they aren't too appealing. Quite the solid entry; The details are amazing.
@jalonso: The world you've created with your tiles is very hard to grasp. The same colors are used pretty much everywhere, and the textures make it hard to distinguish brick from door from window from road from sky. The signs, though creatively made, only add to the confusion. Also, the world is a bit too small to support fighter sprites with fully articulated moves.
@neverest: It's very technically well done. However, the colors/style aren't quite enough to distinguish it from the other entries. But the basic details are all there, and it's got a solid area to work from.
For all of you guys, I'd love to see more of what jalonso did: taking the tiles and making different rearrangements. Though I don't really have any importance in this contest, It'd be great for me and WayForward to see what can be done with the tilesets--I'd love to see some other realizations. Well done everyone.