Who do you think had the best sprite artists of the 90s?

[Anonymous No.5121512]

For my money it's either Capcom or SNK, as cliché as both answers may be.

Obviously Metal Slug, Garou, Street Fighter, and Darkstalkers jump out as their most acclaimed works (instances of rotoscoping and debates about its validity aside) but I've always thought Breath of Fire III and IV don't get enough love considering the sheer number of animated enemies, characters, and attacks in both and how consistent both are in quality.

[Anonymous No.5121654]

>>5121512
Yep I will also go with Capcom. The 90s is what built them into such a name to begin with at least imo.

[Anonymous No.5121668]

Capcom and SNK for sure. Can't choose between the two, but they both top dogs of that decade.

[Anonymous No.5121701]

I know Capcom had their Charaman position where the same artist would work on character concept, spritework, animation, and consult on gameplay/cutscene direction as needed.

Did everyone else do that? Were they unique for it?

[Anonymous No.5121846]

i miss breath of fire. when will it come back?

[Anonymous No.5121898]

>>5121846
Capcom's recent shareholder briefing said reviving dormant IPs is one of the three core pillars of their strategy going forward, along with new entries in active series and new IPs.

They aim to have three major games out each fiscal year. This one's are Mega Man 11, Devil May Cry 5, and Resident Evil 2 remake. This doesn't include late localisations (MonHun Generations XX), collections (MMX col. 1+2, SF30thA) or ports (Okami HD) - so we can expect three genuinely new games from them each year with a AA to AAA budget. They're also pulling development in-house and cutting back on western studio usage.

It's possible, though not strongly, that we may get a new mid budget Breath of Fire in the coming years as a result of this plan. Don't go hoping for it to be gorgeous 2D with sprites though, if we're lucky we'll get a pleasant if not masterful 2.5d/isometric 3D entry.

They're currently rumoured to be working on a new fighting game for next fiscal year but afaik that's it as far as future projects go. You can bet a MonHun World revision will be another but whether they stick to their old formula and make it a seperate game or do it via an expac is up in the air at the moment.

[Anonymous No.5122303]

Capcom. Capcom had the best art team of the 90's.

They were to the games what Marvel was to the comics in the 60's and Akiman was their Jack Kirby.

[Anonymous No.5122307]

Breath of Fire 4 spritework is unbeatable. I love SNK's sprites too, specially Metal Slug, Shock Troopers and KoF, but Capcom takes it.

[Anonymous No.5122312]

>every comment just agrees with the op
So were there any companies besides Capcom and SNK with notably good spritework in the 90s then?

I can think of plenty with beautiful backgrounds or character designs or CGs or 3D modelling work but I know fuck all about good sprite animation.

[Anonymous No.5122315]

>>5121512
SNK hands down. In terms of art direction they were easily the best.
Capcom's original characters were pretty dumb looking for the most part.

[Anonymous No.5122368]

>>5121512
>2d sprites
>3d scenarios
That's kinda a turn down for me.

[Anonymous No.5122379]

>>5121898
>They're currently rumoured to be working on a new fighting game for next fiscal year but afaik that's it as far as future projects go.

Hyper Street Fighter V: All Challengers Edition

[Anonymous No.5122387]

>>5122379
Possibly. Others claim they're going to try save MvC with Infinite 1.5 rebranded as 4. Nobody is sure yet.

[Anonymous No.5122394]

>>5122387
>>5122379
Also Itsuno has said he wants to do a Rival Schools 3 in the future but even with theur brand revival plans I can't see it happening. It's not quite Darkstalkers tier dead, though they are both in the "pray for ports and exlect nothing" category, but yeah. I'd say they'll put him on Dragons Dogma 2 and then recycle it's assets after release to make a DDO2 instead, or just have him make something new.

[Anonymous No.5122406]

>>5121512

akiman

[Anonymous No.5122460]

>>5122406
>akiman
excellent taste, my dear.

[Anonymous No.5122624]

>>5122312
There was nice sprite work by other companies, but for both consistent greatness and sheer volume Capcom easily takes the cake and the only other close contender was SNK.

But there was tons of great stuff out there for sure.

[Anonymous No.5122632]

>>5122394
>It's not quite Darkstalkers tier dead
Rival Schools is way, way deader than Darkstalkers. Wasn't even a fraction as popular as Darkstalkers during its heyday, and although Darkstalkers has a very small following today, Rival Schools can hardly be said to have one at all.

[Anonymous No.5122637]

Capcom is the first. Konami has a lot of wonderful gems however like Castlevania SotN and Suikoden (at least on the enemy side).

[Anonymous No.5122638]

>>5121512
its snk

[Anonymous No.5122854]

I love Art of Fighting 3

[Anonymous No.5122871]

>>5122406

He gave us Capcom's White Devil.

[Anonymous No.5123240]

>>5122632
I'd say Rival Achools is less dead simply because they've not already tested the waters with a remaster and had it bomb like Darkstalkers. It's never been as big but it's also still untested; I could see it getting a collection on current gen platforms. I can't say the same for DS.

[Anonymous No.5123247]

>>5123240

Darkstalkers was the bigger brand. If they're not going to put in for that they're not gonna go for an even nicher title

[Anonymous No.5123252]

>>5122406
Did he do actual in-game graphics on top of designs and artwork?

[Anonymous No.5123264]

>>5122315
This! I'm astounded by people saying capcom... SNK where always the more innovative! Art of fighting 3 was such an experimental game! I searched some making of that game... I just found a 20 minutes interview that talk briefly about it!

[Anonymous No.5123285]

>>5123240
I really doubt a Rival Schools re release would fare any better. Also remember that Marvel VS Capcom had a rerelease bomb around the same time as Darkstalkers, so these rereleases really shouldn't count for much.
>>5123252
Designs and in-game graphics were always his primary thing. He only occasionally did promotional art. On the other hand the other names people tend to remember (Bengus, Kinu, Ikeno, Edayan, etc.) were primarily promotional art and had little to do with creating anything actually in the games. The other creators of their actual designs and game content tended to be people who never got much recognition.

[Anonymous No.5123975]

>>5123240
>remaster
Oh yeah, look at all that glorious remastering.
>funkykonglookingood.png

[Anonymous No.5124246]

I feel like Treasure and Konami are underrated