30 Graphically Top-Notch Pixel Art Games (That Metal Slug Fans Will Love)
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ส.ค. 2024
- Are you a nostalgic of pixel art aesthetics in video games? Then you'll love this video! where I cover the history of video games in search of the most visually stunning action 2D games, that emulate the graphic style of such an iconic saga as Metal Slug
Pixel art was born in the 70s as an illustration technique in the first computers for the home market and video game consoles. The technique consists of drawing an image using small dots known as pixels.
The pixel art of the 70s and 80s was severely limited on video game consoles, which had very little memory compared to modern standards. In the case of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), the maximum resolution of the console was 256 horizontal pixels by 240 vertical pixels or 240p, i.e. all elements displayed on the screen were limited to a grid of 61,440 pixels. That number seems too large, but it was limited by the console's reduced color palette of 56 shades, of which only 25 could be displayed simultaneously on the screen.
By the 1990s, with the advent of consoles such as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), pixel art improved substantially because it could display more colors on screen (256 simultaneously out of a palette of 32,768), even though the resolution was slightly lower than that of its NES predecessor.
By the end of 1994, Sony launched the PlayStation in Japan, a console capable of displaying polygonal graphics. Meanwhile, by 1996 Nintendo would do the same with the Nintendo 64, migrating the development of video games from 2D to 3D. This transition meant the gradual death of pixel art in video games, even though the PlayStation had true gems that took pixel art to a new level thanks to a higher resolution and a wider color palette (up to 153,600 shades).
On the PlayStation, games like Rayman, Beyond the Beyond, Suikoden and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night showed that pixel art was far from reaching its ceiling. Paradoxically, when pixel art was looking its best, the video game industry migrated to three-dimensional models that did not reach an outstanding level of detail until well into the 21st century.
In another paradox, when three-dimensional graphics reached an outstanding level of detail, a handful of developers who championed the indie game movement (video games created without the support of major distributors) saw pixel art as the ideal graphic style for new games. Video game consoles and computers had made quantum leaps since the popularization of pixel art in the 1980s, reaching resolutions of up to 2 million pixels with Full HD and millions more colors, while animation and illustration techniques had also evolved substantially.
Summarizing the evolution of pixel art in video games, in this video we cover a series of video games that have graphically influenced (and have been influenced) by one of the greatest milestones of pixel art: Metal Slug.
In this video you will find:
• Some of the most gorgeous pixel art games ever created
• Information related to each game such as release date, developer company, game genre and system it was released on.
• Official game box arts with a 3D presentation.
• Educative and/or critical comments on the importance of the video game and why you should play it
• Average Lenght of every game
Intro and Outro Music
Aries Beats "Synthwave Dreams 2020" is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Source: free-songs.de/synthwave-2020/
0:00 Intro
0:16 1989 Cal .50: Caliber Fifty (Arcade)
0:41 1990 Mercs (Arcade)
1:07 1990 Out Zone (Arcade)
1:34 1991 Cosmic Cop (Arcade)
2:00 1992 R-Type Leo (Arcade)
2:31 1992 Last Resort (Arcade)
2:56 1993 In the Hunt (Arcade)
3:25 1993 SpinMaster (Arcade)
3:50 1993 Air Assault (Arcade)
4:16 1994 GunForce II (Arcade)
4:42 1994 Contra Hard Corps (Sega Genesis)
5:06 1995 Rapid Reload (Playstation)
5:31 1995 Alien Soldier (Sega Genesis)
5:57 1995 Gundhara (Arcade)
6:23 1997 Shock Troopers (Arcade)
6:48 1998 Blazing Star (Arcade)
7:16 1999 Bangai-O (Dreamcast)
7:41 1997 DoDonpachi (Arcade)
8:06 2001 Progear Storm of Progia (Arcade)
8:31 2002 Demon Front (Arcade)
8:56 2003 Dolphin Blue (Arcade)
9:21 2010 Akai Katana (Arcade)
9:47 2014 Mercenary Kings (PC)
10:13 2014 Broforce (PC)
10:39 2018 Valfaris (PC)
11:05 2019 Blazing Chrome (PC)
11:30 2020 Huntdown (PC)
11:58 2021 Steel Assault (PC)
12:25 2021 Mighty Goose (PC)
13:02 Outro
⚠️ All gameplay recording, game curation and opinions included in this video, as well as editing is completely done by me - เกม
I hope you enjoyed the video as much as I enjoyed playing these games (I love old school shooters, even if I die too much! 😁👌)
I'm looking forward to reading your comments on any of these wonderful titles. It's always great to learn new things from all of you.
Remember that giving a like to the video or subscribing helps enormously to the diffusion and growth of the channel. Thank you very much and see you in the next one!
Why no Metal Slug?
Fun fact, cosmic cop, in the hunt, and gun force were also done by the metal slug team.
By the time they moved to SNK, they were just known as a subsidiary called nazca. Their first game to my knowledge was neo turf masters then they went on to make metal slug.
A pattern is noticeable in all these games, not only aesthetically but also in gameplay. I miss this kind of videogames.
Nazca was just a division of SNK, they had nothing to do with the fighting games, tho.
@@PsychomachineryEBM I know, still a bit sad the original nazca team went their ways after the 3rd game (or 4th if you include MSX). Mr kujo was the first one to leave after the first game was made to my memory at least, though definitely check out neo turf masters.
Composer Hiya! went all out with the music in Neo Turf Masters
Just a few more to add, Dust: An Elysian Tail, Turtles: Shredders Revenge, Battle Garegga, GigaWing, Strikers 1945, Layer Section, DoDoNPaCHI, Raiden 2. But of course there are to many to mention all of them.
Giga Wing is a gorgeous looking game.
Progear is such a great game. It actually begins on a sad note. Your crew dies in the beginning for your sake to take off.
It's a spectacular video game, I love everything Cave does
Awesome list! Thanks for not only including some great arcade classics but some amazing modern releases as well.
The fact I remember vividly Gallop/Cosmic cop, spinmaster and R-type Leo only provides me more evidences that I'm becoming old
Amazing, I appreciate the vast selection!
Great video bits, this games are pure art and fun, I remember playing a lot blazing star and spin master in arcades. Also back in the day we called In the hunt as "Metal slug submarines" 😆
I think we all used to call In the Hunt as Metal Slug with submarines when we were young!
As far as I know, In the Hunt was before Metal Slug
Contrary to most of 3D polygon games, these ones will never get old. My only disappointment was Elevator Action Returns wasn't included, it really deserves a spot in this list. Guardian Heroes and Dungeons & Dragons Shadow over Mystara too.
You can't get old when you are old to begin with.
Yup, i remember how back in 1998 everyone was ao excited about 3d graphics saying that were so realistic, now that games look like shit (yes fornite you will look like shit too, well you already do) and 2D oldies look so damn gorgeous.
You had my like at Broforce. Love these visually or mechanical themed lists!
@Myötätuuli etelään I never realized how many ways they could Bro a name before this lol
In The Hunt, GunForce 2, and Metal Slug were all made by the same developers - Nazca. They joined SNK when Irem folded.
God I love pixel art! Can you make a "...(That Castlevania Fans Will Love)" version of this video too? I always crave some games that has pixel art like Symphony of the Night
Of course! My channel started with Castlevania videos... and good habits must not be lost. I'll make that video at some point, for sure. Thanks for coming up with good ideas!
@@BitsBeats Thank you so much and yeah, I knew you from your first Castlevania videos, like other Castlevania fans here lol. Always, I can't wait to see that video :D
Excellent vid!! I really appreciated the details, like the game logos, the box-art and the length of the game.
I enjoyed it so much.
Many thanks!!
I remember playing Contra Hard Corps. for countless hours trying to view all the different endings. There were titles in here that I hadn't heard of and will definitely check out this really made my day thanks again Bits & Beats for yet another awesome vid looking forward to the next one 👍👍👍
Thank you very much for your kind words. I'm glad to hear you liked the video so much, I hope to surprise you with the next one!
@@BitsBeats I have never been disappointed with any of your vids this is the only TH-cam channel I'm subscribed to that I can say this to 5 stars bro. 🌟 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Tu canal es un bálsamo campeón, gracias por acrecentar mis niveles de nostalgia a puntos insospechados jajaja. Hace poco estuve jugando Huntdown, que pedazo de fichin por favor!. Es increíble lo hermoso y retro que es. Me recordó aquella buena época de Contra Hard Corps por ejemplo (otro que amo).
Se agradece tu contenido, mis mejores deseos!.
Muchísimas gracias compañero. Me animan mucho tus palabras. Y, sí, Huntdown es otra historia. Juegazo
I didn't known 90% of these games, they look really fun! Subscribed.
Wonderful beautiful graphics, algo great indie games
Awesome choices of games !
Absolutely 💯 awesome thanks again dude 👍
Many thanks Mark 🙇♂️
@@BitsBeats You're welcome my friend!😎👍🏻
What a trip down Memory Lane.
I played lots of these titles, especially the ones for NeoGeo at the arcades back in the 90s. So many coins burned.
I have to say, the modern ones do not provide the same feeling of the old masterpieces.
Since you've included DoDonPachi and Bangai-O, I think you've missed to mention Mushihime-sama and its criminal difficulty level.
God, I was OBSESSED with Broforce for a good two months there. Simple concept executed excellently.
Educational video 👍
La verdad ya me andaba muriendo por esperar a que el vídeo saliera a la luz. Desde la vez que publicaste un adelanto del próximo video (este) que eso fue de hace meses mi hermano tantas ganas tenía de verlo.
Muchas gracias!!
Loved to see these new indie games !
Omg l haven't heard about Rapid Reload! Looks amazing.
Now this? I like. 💪🏻
I love pixel art in games.
Great selection some games are unknown for me
I think Bangai-O deserves special recognition(7:16). The gameplay is unique than the others, and whoever did the background did an amazing job. Instead of a repeating background, he drew a large masterpiece.
So glad to see Mighty Goose here. ^^
It's one of my modern favourites.
Great compilation! Thanks for making this. I'm from the 16bit era, but why do I only know like 15% of them? Was there a lot on PC and from the arcade in this video? I'd like to add Gunstar Heroes 🙂
I LOVE YOUR VIDEOS
Many thanks ❤️❤️❤️
Glad to see Akai Katana make the list! It's the best reason to own an Xbox 360
Siempre encontré una similitud a nivel de calidad técnica y visual, entre los juegos de Irem y los de Neo Geo.
Me encantó el vídeo!!
Muchas gracias Damian!
Run 'n Gun game and/or series by different views (most in arcades and few in home consoles via physical and digital):
+ Top View:
- Cal.50
· Commando series (Commando and Mercs)
- Out Zone
- Gundhara
· Shock Troopers series
- Blazing Chrome
+ Side View;
· Gun Force
· Contra series
- Rapid Reload
- Alien Soldier
- Demon Front
- Dolphin Blue
Shoot 'em up games
+ Side View;
- Cosmic Cop
· R-Type series
- Last Resort
- In The Hunt
- Blazing Star
· Bangai-O
+ Top View;
- Air Assault
· Donpachi series
- Progear
- Akai Katana
Action Platform
- Spin Master
- Steel Assault
Adoro los canales que hablan de juegos retro.
Me obnubilan los juegos en pixel art, y adoro con todo mi corazón los juegos en 3D de los 90s y principios de 2000. estoy pensando en Wolfenstein 3D y todo lo que trajo detrás.
3:00 In the hunt was sold in Latin America under Metal Slug: Submarine in the black market.
Can you make a pixel art RPG list? And Crosscode can be on this list too
SpinMaster used to be one of my favorites games!
Demon Front!! I love that game sooooo much!
Spin Master! Definitely an underrated arcade game!
I think there’s one game you can add to the list that was never here. Einhänder! Absolute classic!!!!
Theres plenty of game that i havent heard and play before, and i interested in that mighty goose ... it look cute and badazz
Btw, i thing u should make 2nd part of this vid, coz y havent mention Gun gore canoli, Parodious series, and many more..
I'm glad to know that I discovered some games for you! That's the mission of this channel, to preserve video games.
I love Guns, Gore & Cannoli, I haven't tried the second part yet (and they say it's even better!).
maybe you could do one for fantasy pixel art games too?
Amazing amazing amazing
Trying to find this old game i never learned the name of, was hoping it was here.
Only place I saw it was an arcade machine outside a petshop in the early 90s.
Sorta played / looked like a cross between metal slug and river city ransom.
Undercover Cops?
@@BitsBeats sorry no, sprites were stout, almost like rcr. I'm at the point where I'm thinking it was an unreleased game some devs were testing cuz I haven seen it anywhere since.
All I know it was between 89 and 93, as a little kid I didn't think to look at the title.
Other details ; there were vehicles u could hop into with big words like "hop in!" Hovering above it. Or maybe move here... I forget
Pixel Art Games will never die, just like traditional animation.
I have nothing against these types of games since I grew up on them and still love a lot of them... but some game developers just go overboard on that whole "retro" look, hoping to catch the nostalgia train, that they forget to add in decent gameplay or even a reason to like the game outside of its art style.
Steel assault looks like a fantastic game that was blurred for some reason
In The Hunt also had a Playstation port that had some VERY good music.
B&B you just looking to make me fill an entire hard drive full of these MAME files aint you? lolol
'Slain Back from Hell' also belongs to this list. Same team that made Valfaris :)
Gun Force 2 and In The Hunt were both done by the team that’ll eventually make the Metal Slug Games
Agora sim, espetacular.
Thanks.
Alien Soldier is such an amazing game but goddman it is hard
I was killed several times to record the clip that I show in the video 😂
If it's alright
May I ask what emulator do you use?
Or how do you play the other games?
My bad for asking
For the old games I use Retroarch. For the modern ones all purchased in Steam and GamePass
@@BitsBeats awesome
thank you for the feedback
good old Retroarch is still the best
Why so many space themed games have this very awesome jazzy tunes? LMAO. I mean, I like it, but how do the composers/directors make this connection?
Valfaris, Blazing Chrome and Huntdown 10/10 !!!
what's the music at the very end please? :v
No cabe duda que todos estos juegos mostrados aquí en este video fueron inspirados en otras joyas no solo en los metal slugs, también en gradius y en aerofighters. Que a muchos les gustaron todos esos mas que los que comenté que fueron los pioneros en los arcade shooter más populares
Guess you corrected the spelling of Length now
You forgot about blast wind and hyper duel both by technosoft
CT Special forces, the trilogy
Killerbee!
You forgot many gems on Amiga such as Battle Squadron, Banshee, Project X or X-Out.
Also, The Bitmap Brothers were famous for their unique visual style, try The Chaos Engine for instance.
Bitmap rules!
My first computer was an Amiga 500. I have fond memories of that time, playing great video games with my father. One day I will make a video about this wonderful system.
@@BitsBeats Aaaah! Good!
why many of those effects are the same ones from Metal Slug?
Huntdown es todo lo que está bien en la industria
Lo estoy jugando estos días... Y estoy alucinando. Es como el juego que soñaba de jovencito
Cool
🙌
Hey dude please make Megaman-like games video!
I like your idea, I'm sure I'll end up making a video like this in the future
@@BitsBeats 👍😍
No gunstar heroes or 3 wonders? Pulstar?
Edit: we had blazing star on a cab at a bar I would frequent back in high-school skipping class. I could make it to the last level on 1 continue, after that the game would just decide to rape your wallet. Made it to the final boss but never beat it till I finished it on emulator some time later after the cab was gone. The cab also had ultimate 11 which I could 1cc. Also waku waku 7, which I could also 1cc with some characters, but there's been moments I've lost to the final boss bomb as well.
Metal slug saga and katana Zero are the best for me
There isalot of difference on times duration on faqsgamespot
A lot of games says 30min-1hour but on faqsgamespor say 6 hours
This is not an exact science, but the time I put is an average made between the time it took me to beat the game (I'm not the best player in the world, but I have more than 35 years of experience), average time from pages like GameFaqs and How Long to Beat, and also Longplay videos from TH-cam. Regards
Só jogo top
Where are Iconoclasts and Azure Striker Gunvolt?
What about Mercenary Kings?
Nice list... Maybe you forget BLASPHEMOUS.
The pixel art is awesome.
2:31 _Cut my life into pieces! This is my last resort! Suffocation, no breathing; don't give a fuck if I cut my arm bleeding!_
Gunstar Heroes and Contra Shattered Soldies and Hard Corps Uprising....
Los 30 min. Se transformaron en una hora jajajajajajajajajajajajajaja... Pero ya estoy aquí...
A ver qué tenemos hoy 😁😁😁😁
Ese Cal 50 estaba adelantado a su época para que sea de los finales de los 80 se ve súper bien.
Ese R-type leo es chivisimo, me encanta y me alegra mucho que ha sobrevivo todo este tiempo hasta hay juegos para consolas nuevas, ojalá Axelay hubiera contado con la misma suerte, nos dijeron al final del juego nos vemos en Axelay 2 y voy a llegar así esperándolo ------> 💀💀💀💀
Yeah por Valfaris 🤟
Me interesan los últimos sobre todo ese del... Ganzo? xDDDD ya voy a ver si está en la Playstore y cuánto anda.
Vaya ve... No pensé que ibas a poner shot em up de navecitas para esa gracia hubiera sugerido XeXex
Pues mira, ese no lo he jugado. Voy a sacar tiempo entre grabación y grabación. Seguro! ;)
@@BitsBeats A ver si te gusta...
Where is Rendering Ranger R2?
Princess crown for the sega saturn.
Sort of confusion...¿arcade games appear on a box? The only possibility to play (pure) arcade games is emulating
Pedazo de video
Muchísimas gracias!
@@BitsBeats muy buenos!!
@@BitsBeats por cierto si necesito contenido de tu canal me prestarías?
He incluso podemos ir hablando !! Tu apoyo me ayudaría muchísimo
@@elgaleonretroPirata puedes pillar todo lo que quieras, sin problema. Añade voz o algo a tu estilo para que TH-cam no te pegue el hachazo por contenido duplicado.
Pero en lo que a mí respecta, eres libre de usar mi contenido (con la correspondiente cita!)
Ruff 'n' Tumble
16-bit and higher bits are the best pixel art (not a fan of 8-bit).
God bless.
Huntdown up to 4 hours
Faqgamespot 8 hours (Pc)
20 hours (xbox one)
where is comix zone?
Hi Ivan. For this video I focused in shooter games similar to Metal Slug
@@BitsBeats oh, ok maybe next time
no snes game? very rare... the pc games are awesome!!
Mercenary Kings has too much crafting.
I like Shock Troopers: 2nd Squad better myself.
Broforce kicks ass.
The crafting is what I liked the least about the game, but the pixel art is some of the best I've seen lately.
Ninja warriors again 🤷♂️
Sorry but this video is pretty bad and misleading. More than half of the games can't even hold a candle to the quality of the Metal Slug pixel art. I'm not talking about the gameplay, but visuals alone. Also not including Blasphemous in the video that is supposedly about awesome pixel art is pretty much...blasphemy.
Hi! I respect your opinion, but from my position I think they are games with a very meritorious graphic section, which have influenced or been influenced by Metal Slug (many Irem games, for example).
I would have loved to include Blasphemous (more being Spanish), but as you may have noticed the video is focused on shooting games (yes, like Metal Slug).
Greetings!
@@BitsBeats Ok my bad for somehow not noticing it was all shooting games, that's really a blunder from my side. But the point about pixel art still stands, I don't think many of these come close to the Metal Slug art, but on the other hand I don't think any game from that time achieved that type of quality.
@@Malisa1990 Don't worry mate! I didn't specify "shooters games" in the title of the video, or in the video itself, and I understand that it can lead to confusion :)
Metal Slug is superlative in pixel art. For me it has no comparison, or very little in other games. It's such a meticulous work... unrepeatable.
What I was trying to express with my video is to gather games that inspired Metal Slug, as well as games that have been inspired after Metal Slug. Assuming that this level of mastery is almost impossible to achieve, and that there are old games that have technical limitations, I have tried to show the best of each era in pixel art shooters similar to Nazca's game.
But, wow, I agree with you that there is only one Metal Slug.
Greetings!
@@BitsBeats Yeah the naming of the video really threw me off. Like I said quality of the games isn't in question, hell I remember back in the day playing relentlessly some of the games from the video and especially MERCS with my cousin on the MAME emulator.