True top down low res character

[Cherno]

True top down games are rare these days, especially if they are in a very low resolution. It is hard to visualize humans from above.

Here is what I came up with. If anyone remembers the 1994 game Dreamweb, the sprite is based on the main character.

I assembled three versions.

1 has a round head and visible nose, but the purple shirt is almost completely hidden
2 has an oblongated head which looks better, but the shirt is even less visible. No nose, though, which I kinda like even though it makes little sense at this scale
3 has round head and no nose, the head looks like it's too far towards the back, but the shirt is more visible.



Any ideas which version looks best and what could be improved?

[Decroded]

Have u considered different poses rather than rigid upright stance?
For example and action pose where he his shoulders are at an angle and we can see his hands and feet.

It could be tricky and of course it would help if we knew more about the character and game e.g. action with guns or just some plain dude or what?

[Cherno]

Yes, here are two more sprites, one with a different skin color, a mohawk punk hairstyle and white tshirt, holding an automatic rifle and a pistol.

[Decroded]

That looks so much more readable honestly had no idea what the first version was without description.

From here its probably easier to edit and crit in the context of a mockup scene.
Also wondering can u have sprite shadows in this game?
I think this would add so much to help with the limitations of a purely top down perspective as shadows kind of  describe what the object looks like from the side.
You would just need to have layers so things like walls and sprites are drawn over the shadows.