01-15-2020, 09:33 AM
So I recently submitted an 8-bit edit of a sprite sheet to the Mega Man customs section, and it inexplicably got reclassified as a "16 bit" version of the character. I would like to briefly contest this.
Firstly, Fuse Man's sprite in this sheet uses exactly 6 colors, which happens to be the exact same number of colors that many other 8-bit robot masters do, including Tornado Man here, who happens to resemble Fuse Man and work as a handy comparison.
![[Image: HRaG79w.png]](https://i.imgur.com/HRaG79w.png)
Now, Tornado Man is not from a true 8-bit game but a Wii title aping the aesthetic of the NES, but Mega Man 9 would certainly classify as 8-bit to most people. Interestingly, Fuse Man actually has fewer colors than a true NES robot master, Plant Man.
![[Image: qO00WjW.png]](https://i.imgur.com/qO00WjW.png)
You'll note Plant Man is also a bit taller than Fuse Man, in case size was an issue. For further comparison, here is the Mega Man sprite from Wily Wars, an actual 16 bit Mega Man game (albeit a relatively low detail one compared to Mega Man 7).
![[Image: gbLx071.png]](https://i.imgur.com/gbLx071.png)
Mega Man here has over twice the number of colors in his diminutive sprite than my submission does. And that discrepancy gets a lot worse if you compare him to the character sprites of later 16-bit titles.
While I admit the shading techniques I used to adapt the color depth of the original Yuusha no Kuse ni Konamaiki da DASH! definitely make this sprite look a bit different than the standard Mega Man sprite look, I clearly labeled the sprite as 8-bit and not "NES style", and I don't think simply using color theory merits an exclusion from an entire bit category. Besides, anyone who's played a bootleg NES game knows the system can distribute colors a lot better than one might suspect.
Anyway, below is another version of Fuse Man. He has one fewer color, more solid outlines, and almost no shading whatsoever. All of this makes him look more in line with the style of the original Mega Man games. And next to him is the Fuse Man from my submitted sheet. Can you really say an entire bit category separates them?
![[Image: BINmDL2.png]](https://i.imgur.com/BINmDL2.png)
Firstly, Fuse Man's sprite in this sheet uses exactly 6 colors, which happens to be the exact same number of colors that many other 8-bit robot masters do, including Tornado Man here, who happens to resemble Fuse Man and work as a handy comparison.
Now, Tornado Man is not from a true 8-bit game but a Wii title aping the aesthetic of the NES, but Mega Man 9 would certainly classify as 8-bit to most people. Interestingly, Fuse Man actually has fewer colors than a true NES robot master, Plant Man.
You'll note Plant Man is also a bit taller than Fuse Man, in case size was an issue. For further comparison, here is the Mega Man sprite from Wily Wars, an actual 16 bit Mega Man game (albeit a relatively low detail one compared to Mega Man 7).
Mega Man here has over twice the number of colors in his diminutive sprite than my submission does. And that discrepancy gets a lot worse if you compare him to the character sprites of later 16-bit titles.
While I admit the shading techniques I used to adapt the color depth of the original Yuusha no Kuse ni Konamaiki da DASH! definitely make this sprite look a bit different than the standard Mega Man sprite look, I clearly labeled the sprite as 8-bit and not "NES style", and I don't think simply using color theory merits an exclusion from an entire bit category. Besides, anyone who's played a bootleg NES game knows the system can distribute colors a lot better than one might suspect.
Anyway, below is another version of Fuse Man. He has one fewer color, more solid outlines, and almost no shading whatsoever. All of this makes him look more in line with the style of the original Mega Man games. And next to him is the Fuse Man from my submitted sheet. Can you really say an entire bit category separates them?