TSR's Super Smash Bros Thread|SWITCH HYPE TRAIN NOW BOARDING

[Kriven]

I see where you're coming from, and I thought of that as well. I suppose it would make sense that there would be a similar school of thought going into those character designs though, since they're from the same area and era?

There's a very definite design ethic to a lot of early (and I guess predominantly Japanese) video games that doesn't seem to be nearly as visible as it used to though. I mean, if I were looking at Prince Sable without context, I would assume him to be from something Harvest Moon or Quest 64 related before I assumed something closer to an anime (though he looks like he would fit in pretty well with those VHS fairy tales...). If you look at Cloud from FF7:



as compared to his current look:



The first design's particular purple and yellow colors, with the bizarre yet sparse costume, it's very "video game" in tone. Whereas the latter costume is very "Matrix". It seems like we get more of the "Matrix" type of characters these days, or redesigns with that appeal. This is true even of characters like Fox and Falco, who are both very cartoony but don't carry the weight of a SNES-era character design. I guess I just miss that 90s type of art and design (and I know there are modern games with similar philosophies, but those are evolved as well. I think the closest game to really strike home for me recently is Shovel Knight).