Help with Mech mockup

[castled]

Hi guys, I'm a relatively new pixel artist (at least, new to studying it seriously). I'm looking for criticism on these mech characters + tileset for a game. Intended to be 2x in game.




The idea behind the game is that your mech transforms into 3 modes with different capabilities.

Any suggestions for how to make the mechs / mockup better are welcome. Thank you!

[Shrike]

Before I make any other comments, let me ask you: Are you working with a limited palette or other restrictions? I think the addition of a few more types of color or a bit of a change in the colors you have now could be beneficial.

I ask this because you've used a lot of dithering which can make things look a bit rough when you might want them to be smooth.

[castled]

Well, only self-imposed restrictions. I was going for a simplistic look with a limited set of colors, just because it usually allows me to produce work that's more cohesive.

I'd love to see suggestions for adding more colors effectively or especially changing the ones I'm currently using.

There were a few spots on the mechs that really didn't need dithering at all, I've changed that here but there's not much difference:


I think I like the dithering effect on the platforms/background blocks, but I'd be open to more ideas.

[Ichigo Jam]

The clear lighting on the brown square blocks makes them more 3D than the solid scenery. This makes their priority confusing - at first I wasn't sure if they were solid foreground objects or background.