Best graphics in a NES game

[AdamAtomic]

I think darkwing duck has a pretty good aesthetic.  Of course, I only know this from having played it, because MOBYGAMES DOES NOT ALLOW HOTLINKING

[Ben2theEdge]

*Cue sad music*

It worked for me but I guess that's because I had the images in my cache already. Shame on you, Mobygames.

[ptoing]

"Totally Rad" wasn't bad graphically, although I don't know if it was one of the best. Some of the bosses looked pretty good for the NES (even if they did take place on blank backgrounds). Here, I pulled them from my emulator.

That is because the bosses ARE backgrounds, most likely with some extra sprites on top. This goes for most big bosses on the NES. Everytime you have a big boss where a big part just moves xy and does not animate you can be pretty sure that it's a bit of background.

[Panda]

I think darkwing duck has a pretty good aesthetic.  Of course, I only know this from having played it, because MOBYGAMES DOES NOT ALLOW HOTLINKING

You can always copy-paste the picture's URL, go to it and reload.

[HughSpectrum]

There's also Batman: Return of the Joker that was also made by Sunsoft and is pretty much a spiritual sequel to the Batman NES game.

Vice: Project Doom is another decent looking game.

[QuickSilva]

I agree with nearly all of these too. I`ve always had a soft spot for NES graphics. Games at that time somehow managed to take you away to a different place. Sometimes less truly is more I think. As the player, you had to fill in the blanks with your own imagination.

On a side note and being a huge Megaman fan did anyone else know that there was a NES conversion of the SNES`s Megaman 7? Doesn`t seem to be by Capcom though and the graphics are not as good as the the previous one. Still it remains pretty true to the game. Check it out here:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rockman+7+8-bit&search_type=

Has anyone played it?

Batman and Shatterhand had great graphics that looked a lot different from most of the other NES stuff. Megaman also looked great towards the end of the series but sadly the gameplay seemed to diminish. Capcoms other stuff was always cool and very nice and clean looking as Ben2theEdge mentioned. Little Sampson is another fav, thanks Helm for reminding me about that one Ptoing, I`ve never heard of Recca but I will check it out. (BTW any chance of a U-Head update? Hopefully you are still working on it.)

Keep em coming guys!

Jason.

[chriskot]

That is because the bosses ARE backgrounds, most likely with some extra sprites on top. This goes for most big bosses on the NES. Everytime you have a big boss where a big part just moves xy and does not animate you can be pretty sure that it's a bit of background.

Ah. I actually sort of figured as much. Doesn't mean that they don't look good though.

Ducktales used to occupy me for hours and looking back on it now, it was a gorgeous game for the system.

I forgot about that one! DuckTales did look good (and was also one of favourite shows when I was younger).

[ptoing]

That is because the bosses ARE backgrounds, most likely with some extra sprites on top. This goes for most big bosses on the NES. Everytime you have a big boss where a big part just moves xy and does not animate you can be pretty sure that it's a bit of background.

Ah. I actually sort of figured as much. Doesn't mean that they don't look good though.

Of course not. It's clever, given the limitations.

[QuickSilva]

Yes the developers had to use all sorts of tricks back then to achieve some of the effects that they wanted. In a way working within strict limitations can be lots more fun than being given full freedom. I`m sure many artist in general would agree especially pixel artists.

Here`s another one. Vice: Project Doom (Never heard of it personally but has a definite Batman feel to it especially midway through this level. Sorry I couldn`t find a decent screenshot.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZPxtA3HI0M

On a different note does anyone have a few decent screen shots of Little Samson? They seem pretty hard to come by. I recall it looking pretty swell back in its day.

Cheers,

Jason.

[Darien]

hmm... it's interesting how much Batman and some of the other games use so much pure black, never really thought about it.  it's a result of limitations, I'm sure, but it's definitely a significant  element of NES game aesthetic.  does anyone know of any post NES spec pixel art examples that play around with a heavy use of fading to pure black?  I'm thinking mostly in games, i guess, but i'd like to see anything