this post was submitted on 22 Mar 2025
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This is why shovel knight looks and feels like the old classics it’s imitating. They artificially limited themselves to color pallets and some technical limits that old systems had. I think they ended up using 18 colors instead of 16, and double the sprites on screen, among some of them. Indie games usually just go with what looks good and use modern limits because they can. Most the time it’s not a choice, they just do what works and that’s ok too.
Eh I don't think shovel knight looks like the old classics. It looks way too refined to me when compared to a nes title.
There’s a more comprehensive breakdown from yachtclub themselves here I was off a bit in my specific examples but overall they do a good job breaking down why their game fits and breaks the mold with lots of examples. The game is a lot more faithful to NES than the vast majority of indie pixel art games. There were a few late-gen NES titles that are relatively unknown but look way more detailed and complex than the typical NES game too.
Check out Retro City Rampage. The creator made a version that works on original NES hardware: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/02/retro-city-rampage-creator-makes-a-real-playable-nes-port/
It looks more like a Genesis/SNES title than NES.
I can't remember if the game's settings had a scanline filter switch or not, but that would be the finishing touch in my opinion.
I love limited pallettes. I love how in the original Legend of Zelda, Link changes colors a little every time the pallette swaps. I think getting creative with limited colors looks so much cooler than just having every color possible.
Restrictions breed creativity.
UFO 50 is definitely the "Modern Retro" king, IMHO. The only thing missing is box art and manuals.
You'd love Tunic. It's 3D, but damn do they ever capture that feeling, including the manual (which you collect in-game, page by page)
Tunic is just a great game hands down. I think it's in my top 5.
Also really cool game to watch speed runs, becuase there are a lot of tricks you learn throughout your first gameplay that aren't actually locked behind anything, just knowledge. A bit like "Outer Wilds" in that regard.
...aaaaand wishlisted on Steam! Snagging it next time it goes on sale