Has anyone else noticed...

[Neon Streak]

...That a lot of Ocean's 16-bit games (I.E. Amiga, SNES, VGA DOS) make use of a simple, color gradient background?

I'm not sure if it was because of software limitations, time constraints, or they just thought it was easier to work with, but it's pretty interesting to say the least.

P.S: What's your least favorite Ocean game?

[Jermungandr]

I don't suppose you could provide examples in screenshots or something.

I'm not sure a lot of us have played a a large quantity of Ocean games.

[Kosheh]

Has anyone ever noticed...

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it's probably because they made a lot of licensed games and there was a lot of developer pressure to release them in a timely manner (usually to coincide with the launch of a movie) you don't have time to make beautiful pixelart backgrounds, and heck gradients look better than no background amirite.

if anything, making a licensed game is the absolute fucking worst. it's nice having the license holder breathe down your neck while you work 80+ hour weeks for months in a row for okay pay and are constantly told your work isn't that great but leave it in anyway because you're under a tight tight tight schedule



also, um



can you point out the gradient to me here? all i see is windows and a city (which is honestly not a bad BG considering this is a commodore 64 game) wow...interesting

[DragonDePlatino]

You mean like in Hudson Hawk, Elf and Dennis the Menace? Ocean Software was a UK-based company, and that's just the style of most older 8-bit and 16-bit British games.

Most British developers got their start on older systems like the C64 and ZX Spectrum, where all-black backgrounds and gradients were very common. But once these companies made the jump to the 16-bit era, they didn't know how to fully utilize the stronger hardware. The result was a lot of games like Robocod, Alfred Chicken and Plok! that had simple backgrounds and short soundtracks.

[Neon Streak]

I don't suppose you could provide examples in screenshots or something.

I'm not sure a lot of us have played a a large quantity of Ocean games.

Sure thing! Wait right here...

EDIT: And here we go!

Hudson Hawk (Amiga)


The Addams Family: Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt (SNES)

(Aside from the cutscenes, game over screen, and the Ocean Logo screen, this is the only part of the game that uses a gradient background.)

The Flintstones Movie (SNES)

(This one's a little hard to see, so try watching a playthrough of the game.)

[Chris2Balls [:B]]

...That a lot of Ocean's 16-bit games (I.E. Amiga, SNES, VGA DOS) make use of a simple, color gradient background?

I'm not sure if it was because of software limitations, time constraints, or they just thought it was easier to work with, but it's pretty interesting to say the least.

P.S: What's your least favorite Ocean game?

No offense but you basically just answered your own question. DragonDePlatino gave a pretty solid reply, too.
At a guess gradients were used because they saved time and were relatively easy to pull off, too.