"New" Super Mario Kart [WILL BE UPDATING AFTER IM DONE WITH OTHER STUFF]

[Chris2Balls [:B]]

I like these sprites! I'm really looking forward to seeing them animated.
I do think that you could improve your pixel clusters for Wario and Bowser though, because there's a lot of banding and issues with readability.
Here are some edits:

The solution to making your sprites more readable is simple: first, creating larger clusters, then contrasting them.


In figure one, I compare the muzzle cluster. It is the largest cluster on your sprite, and it flattens the impression of depth on Bowser's face. My edit is more fragmented, highlighting specific parts of the muzzle to give an impression of depth, which is emphasised with contrast.

Figure two illustrates how our eye goes through parts of the sprite, and how clusters put less strain on the eye because it doesn't have to wander as much. There are some areas with insufficient contrast that become larger pixel clusters, which is why I haven't put arrows between them.

Figure three shows the pixel clusters that can be distinguished from each other. The blue strips connect the contrasting blocks.
A notable difference is that your sample has one major cluster, with banding on its edges: this means it has consecutive bands of contrast. My sample has less banding, because the shading does not revolve around one cluster, but instead the clusters tend to be pieces of the face.

That's why I'd suggest you to think less of buffering and more of what the clusters are, as in what they represent in your sprite.
I hope this helps and that it's not too misleading.


Edit: I forgot to mention that I liked these so much I made a DK Junior sprite in the style!