Banjo-Kazooie Sprite Project!

[Garamonde]

Oh no I completely agree. It's just a little annoying for me to look at the sprites when the background keeps getting changed back to pure white (instead, transfer that white to the sprites). I had it a nice shade of purple where the sprites could be easily seen, but it wasn't kept.
And honestly yeah, I only use off-whites or light greys if white happens to look too bright in a piece. Sometimes I use it and sometimes I don't.
I also think that black was kept for the outlines for the purpose of being readable on backgrounds and stuff so I don't think anything can be done about that.