E-Man's Sprite R & D

[StarSock64]

If the values seem to get too intense, it's not really a sign that high contrast is a bad idea, but other problems can be going on (-too- much contrast {you should fear not having enough contrast MUCH more than you fear too much; people who don't sprite a lot almost always don't have enough}, poor distribution of saturation, badly blending hues)

Don't let that gibberish confuse you though. First things first, try adding more contrast, and then we'll see how to fix it from there. And yeah, darker dark shades, but -not necessarily- brighter bright shades. That -is- a way to increase contrast, but trying to brighten up reds can turn them pink, so it might be a good idea to only work on the darker shades. You should basically play with it and see what you can get out of it for now.

edit: Oh, that very brightest red shade for the highlight, that probably needs to be a bit brighter. I meant the base red doesn't need to be changed much