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[nkarafo]

We all know about the Metal Slugs and Street Fighter 3s. And many Neo-Geo and Capcom games which represent the peak of 2D pixel art. But it seems like there are a few great lookers that are much less known, some i didn't know they even exist. Like this one (Demon Front):

I discovered this game in MAME. I'm using RetroArch with an arcade monitor shader here, because low-res pixel art looks more authentic with the blending/scan-lines.

This game is almost just as good as a Metal Slug game IMO.

What other less known examples of great pixel art you know of?

 

[nkarafo]

And an old favorite of mine (Gunforce 2)

This is 2 years older than Metal Slug. The hardware is also stronger than the Neo-Geo i think, which makes it a bit more impressive at parts.

 

[Tarin02543]

Beautiful. Just like how I want my games to look like.

 

[Belmonte]

Nice! Never played Demon Front, will add it to my backlog!

Another game from the Metal Slug team is Undercover Cops. A brawler for arcade and snes.

 

[Bonfires Down]

I fucking love pixel art.

In the Hunt

Flinthook

Megasphere

Jamestown

BUTCHER

Shakedown: Hawaii

Black Paradox

Pathway

Duelyst

Kingdom: New Lands

Eastward (upcoming)

The Last Night (upcoming)

 

[buizel]

Fuck yeh to the poster above me.

Whens the Last Night coming?

Pixels/Voxels & Post Processing Effects & Shaders/Particles/Blooms = <3 SO GOOD Last Night is the epitome of perfection

 

[God Enel]

Yes. Thread followed. Love all the shit you posted.

Valfaris and Slain have great pixel art too.

 

[petran79]

I really liked the 80s-90s cartoony western games pixel art, especially on Amiga

For years, till Disney released their 16-bit games on consoles, this was regarded as the prettiest Disney game. Screenshots dont do the game any justice, Amiga monitors had dithering that improved the picture. Incredible Technologies, its developer, is still active. Attention to detail is even greater than in the new Ducktales remaster, even adding shades to the portraits.

Fiendish Freddy by Mindscape was another favorite

Also Dynamite Dux

probably first game with nude furry art (computer versions). Core Design, the developers of Tomb Raider knew already what they were doing when porting it. They got away with underage nudity because had Sony and other known it, they'd have axed them for good

offensive cartoony art with underage character

Spoiler

 

[ClanOfNone]

Children of Morta is freakin gorgeous.

 

[iconmaster]

Pathway

Wow!

 

[sonomamashine]

pathway looks good, gonna check that out.

 

[Spukc]

undermine out now in early access on steam
coming to switch in 2020

 

[Belmonte]

Not sure if it is considered obscure but I love the art style of Waku Waku 7. It is so bright and bold! You need to be an outstanding artist to use such bright saturated colors and not make a mess. It has a very unique vibe, very happy and energetic.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

Waku Waku 7 is definitely obscure. And a rad game.

I'm going to submit Skycurser - a new arcade game from a couple years ago with great pixel art.

Looks good, right? Well, apparently, the game sucks. So, fuck you.

 

[alabtrosMyster]

Sega had great pixel art in their System 24 games, right before they turned to 3D

Arabian Fight

Golden Axe Revenge of Death Adder (sadly it was never ported to any home system)

and Outrunners

 

[nkarafo]

Sega had great pixel art in their System 24 games, right before they turned to 3D

Arabian Fight

Golden Axe Revenge of Death Adder (sadly it was never ported to any home system)

and Outrunners

These are System 32.

System 24 was a higher resolution system but not as advanced overall.

 

[Starlight Lotice]

Groove on Fight!

 

[sonomamashine]

undermine out now in early access on steam
coming to switch in 2020

at first i thought the character face was scared with his mouth open, but then the last one you posted at the shop looking like a criminal with that mustache.

 

[Spukc]

did that bowling ball just shat out that player ?

at first i thought the character face was scared with his mouth open, but then the last one you posted at the shop looking like a criminal with that mustache.

 

[alabtrosMyster]

These are System 32.

System 24 was a higher resolution system but not as advanced overall.

My bad, still

 

[Fuz]

Waku Waku 7 is definitely obscure.

Not that obscure. And one of my favourite fighting games of the era. I sometimes replay it to this day.
It's cool because it's loaded with references, from JoJo to Totoro, with still being pretty original. And it played very smoothly. Great game.

 

[Cravis]

Golden Axe Revenge of Death Adder (sadly it was never ported to any home system)

Sega please correct the sins of the past and release this as part of Sega Ages

 

[Spukc]

They should really make a smash arcade pack

 

[Vorg]

Sega had great pixel art in their System 24 games, right before they turned to 3D

Arabian Fight

Golden Axe Revenge of Death Adder (sadly it was never ported to any home system)

and Outrunners

These are actually system 32 games iirc. This kind of 2D scaling and animation was pretty insane at the time.

 

[Bonfires Down]

Since y'all liked my last post I'm back with more indie stuff. How obscure these are I guess depends on how familiar you are with indie games.

I'll be back again

Mother Russia Bleeds

Chasm

198X

Foxtail

Crawl

Swag and Sorcery

Crossing Souls

Iconoclasts

Tower 57

Rain World

Backbone (upcoming)

Mystik Belle

Party Hard 2

River City Girls

Dark Devotion

EITR (upcoming)

 

[nkarafo]

Don't get me wrong, most of those Indie games look great and the animations are almost always amazing. But i really dislike when they go low-res on purpose to achieve a "blocky" look. Especially when you end up with characters that look like they are made out of a few pixels. There are a couple of games that do this in your examples so far (Buthcer and Crawl, specifically) but most of the others look great.

Also, many Indy games look great in motion but not as good in still pictures. It's the animation and modern effects that mostly make these games look amazing. But if you get a still picture of, say, Metal Slug or Alien VS Predator, or the examples posted in the first couple of posts, it will be on another level compared to something like EITR, Foxtail, Dark Devotion and Kingdom: New Lands, as the later games have graceful animations but the sprite/background detail is much lower.

 

[Bonfires Down]

Don't get me wrong, most of those Indie games look great and the animations are almost always amazing. But i really dislike when they go low-res on purpose to achieve a "blocky" look. Especially when you end up with characters that look like they are made out of a few pixels. There are a couple of games that do this in your examples so far (Buthcer and Crawl, specifically) but most of the others look great.

Also, many Indy games look great in motion but not as good in still pictures. It's the animation and modern effects that mostly make these games look amazing. But if you get a still picture of, say, Metal Slug or Alien VS Predator, or the examples posted in the first couple of posts, it will be on another level compared to something like EITR, Foxtail, Dark Devotion and Kingdom: New Lands, as the later games have graceful animations but the sprite/background detail is much lower.

I think the Metal Slug games are some of the best looking and best playing 2D games ever, and Demon Front looks amazing, especially with that filter. But I'm also very happy that pixel art continues to be used in today's games instead of dying off.

 

[kungfuian]

 

[Bwesh]

I had to redo the whole post. I did not read the hidden gem part.

Biker Mice From Mars

In The Hunt

Immortal

Gunbird 2

 

[petran79]

Hearthforth Alicia is another title I liked and backed, scheduled for 2020,after 7 years development. WiiU port was converted to Switch

 

[Pantz]

Shout out to Nitro Express. I've been following the development for a while. Just happy to see it get a Steam page. (2025)
The developer put in a lot of love with so many small detail interactions. They also made Orangeblood which was a nice pixel art JRPG.

 

[Danjin44]

Princess Crown

 

[Ozzie666]

This thread is pure bliss.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

And an old favorite of mine (Gunforce 2)

This is 2 years older than Metal Slug. The hardware is also stronger than the Neo-Geo i think, which makes it a bit more impressive at parts.

Nice! Never played Demon Front, will add it to my backlog!

Another game from the Metal Slug team is Undercover Cops. A brawler for arcade and snes.

 

[Hudo]

Nice! Never played Demon Front, will add it to my backlog!

Another game from the Metal Slug team is Undercover Cops. A brawler for arcade and snes.

I'd play a full 3D AAA remake of a dude swinging around a fucking cement pillar to crush some other dudes.