Looking for some specific types of sprite art

[Squire Grooktook]

I've been spending some time digging up sprite art to use as reference material for the game I'm currently working on. And I'd like to hear some recommendations if anyone can think of any.

What I'm looking for:


-Top down, angled, or isometric perspective. Think Legend of Zelda, most vertical scrolling shmups, etc. Side scrolling is not really helpful to me.

-I'm mostly looking for creature/enemy/boss designs here. Emphasis on creature designs. Tanks or machinery are not helpful (unless they strongly resemble living things, ie humanoid mechs, the demonic robots in MUSHA, etc.). Monsters, demons, aliens, etc. are all fine.

-Can be anything from 8-bit nes stuff to HD modern Arcsys style sprites. I'm trying to scope out how certain things can and should be best represented in certain views, not what the best art style for the job is (we're pretty much set in stone on resolution and style, at this point).

-Not mandatory but for bonus points, if anyone has any designs with a humanoid upper torso and non-humanoid lower half, that would be relevant to a boss we're currently working on.


I'm probably familiar with most shmup examples, though any notable ones that I might have missed are worth bringing up anyway. I'm mostly thinking that rpg's and action rpg's (ie ys, terranigma, stuff like that) might be a treasure trove of this sort of stuff.

[BIL]

-Not mandatory but for bonus points, if anyone has any designs with a humanoid upper torso and non-humanoid lower half, that would be relevant to a boss we're currently working on.

Smash TV's Mutoid Man instantly comes to mind. Also his successor Orcus, from Total Carnage.

[TransatlanticFoe]

Operation Logic Bomb (SNES) is mostly generic robots but has a running theme of mechanical crabs, which might be of interest.

[trap15]

Shoutouts to Dogyuun's boss designs, which are mostly machines shaped like organic things (a man with wings, a scorpion, etc)

[BIL]

Oh, also - Gremlins 2 (FC)'s endboss is a fairly metal-as-fuck topdown manspider.

Spoiler

Might be a silly movie license, but the couching of a human figure amidst skittering legs is sound biohorror. Vintage Sunsoft/Tokai "licensed game that doesn't blow" quality! ^_~ Their earlier Meta Fight/Blaster Master has some pretty gnarly topdown boss abominations, too.

As does Fester's Quest, now that I think about it. Figures, with Fester being a game's worth of Blaster Master's weak (yet cool-bossed!) topdown shooting. Fester boss run: headphone warning. I could see the second being a really cool midsized enemy, with its lumbering gait and midranged chain lash... actually, most of these bosses look like good "heavy bruiser" types for the quicker pace of a scrolling STG. There's a cracking mechanical brain somewhere in there, too.

Also, it's a conventional STG, but do give Psycho Chaser (PCE) a look if you've not. Right from the title screen it's got a really succinct blurring of the mechanical and biological - much of the game is quite metal, but it'll occasionally show through in maggoty zako that look like they'd be happiest in a puddle of stale diesel, hulking yet placid elephantine heavies, sword-wielding machine men and so on. The bio/metal blurring almost reminds me of Demon's Crest and its uneasily beautiful necrosphere.

Perikles has always spoken highly of the mood in Final Blaster (PCE)'s later stages - I've yet to sit down with it myself, owing mainly to the PCE's biblically vast STG catalogue, but it's definitely something I'll pass along regardless.

[Stevens]

Hmm -

Landstalker

http://shrines.rpgclassics.com/genesis/ ... ters.shtml
http://shrines.rpgclassics.com/genesis/ ... sses.shtml

Beyond Oasis

http://shrines.rpgclassics.com/genesis/ ... sses.shtml

Not on the shrine, but you may also want to peep The Immortal and Light Crusader.

Light Crusader - https://www.google.com/search?q=light+c ... AQ_AUICCgC

The Immortal - https://www.google.com/search?q=the+imm ... gB&dpr=1.1

[Obiwanshinobi]

Disciples II.

Other 2D games using isometric view where (even if I didn't find the sprites particularly memorable) the graphics struck me as exceptional: Divine Divinity and Boktai: The Sun Is in Your Hand.

[Squire Grooktook]

Thanks guys, these have all been really helpful. Already made use of much of it.