DDA Billy Lee sprite edits WIP
Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2011 3:59 pm
This is something I actually started a while ago when some of the first screens and videos of DDI were surfacing.
As much as I dig what I've seen of DDI with it's slick new features and enhancements, it still does not surpass DDA as the best installment of the series in my book. DDA is the last Double Dragon that felt like a true Technos game (which it practically was). All the new enemies, levels, and gameplay features fit flawlessly into the classic game (with the exception of perhaps Kikuchio and his samurai, who stand out like a sore thumb, but I still really like the Akira Kurosawa reference none the less). What makes the game all the more amazing is the memory limitations imposed on the game. Most beat 'em ups for the Game Boy Advance were double the rom size of DDA. Just imagine if the developers behind DDA had the same resources as Brizo did for DDI! It would have been a godlike Double dragon game indeed.
All fanboy ranting aside, DDA still is far from perfect. Memory limitations imposed certain strains on DDA graphically in terms of color, and frame rate. So, I decided to take a shot at some editing of the DDA Billy Lee for fun.
Keep in mind, these are still far from finished:
One of the things that I felt was sorely missing from DDI was the classic up and down walking frames used in DDA and the arcade original. For me, this walk style animation screams Double dragon on a Pavlovian level.
I doubled the frame rate to 8 frames using the original 4 as key frames. I used the walk animation of Stern Blade from Golden Axe 2: Revenge of Death Adder as reference for the new frames as well.
I am not a really big fan of Billy's weird shag mullet in DDA, so I changed it. After being unsuccessful at getting the new hair look I wanted editing pixel by pixel, (I wanted it to look like his portrait from mode B on the nes) I accidentally came across a sprite sheet of Kenshiro from a game called Jump! Ultimate stars for the DS, whose head sprites fit nicely with some minor editing. And, honestly, who better than the successor of Hokuto ShinKen himself to help make a Billy Lee sprite edit!
The white at the cut off sleeves of his vest is frayed denim taken directly from the look used in DDI.
If I take this WIP further I would like to add an upward walk, and a straight across walk from scratch, much like the one from Return of Double Dragon
Next is a new jab animation:
I am not very happy with the way this animation moves yet. I need to make changes to the right hand most notably.
I have never been a fan of the wild overhand punches used by the Lees in a number of games since the original arcade. These sloppy punches are suited for thugs like Williams and Roper, with their telegraphing pullback and lousy weight distribution. I wanted to give Billy a punch that suited a master of martial arts and street fighting, so I started with a sharp boxing style jab. It would be the first part of a 1,2 combo, ending with a triumphant uppercut.
Then there is a spinning heel:
The Thai kick combo ender used by the Lees in DDA never felt quite right to me, so I decided to bring back the spinning heel feared by the Black Warriors. I really want Billy's form to be flawless, so I looked at a ton of spin kick animations from a number of sources, most notably versus games. My main inspiration, amongst numerous others, for the technique of this kick was from Kim Kap Hwan of SNK fame.
And lastly, my messy WIP sprite sheet so far:
In this sheet you can see my work on trying to alter Billy's head, including my rejected head sprite. I have rough frames blocked in of Billy's punch combo, including his RDD inspired uppercut. A more classic looking jump kick, and middle side kick both heavily inspired by Paul Robertson animations. Also, there is a very rough running animation inspired both by Axle from SOR3, and Kim Kap Hwan from CVS.
I stopped working on this a little while ago, and I am not sure if I will continue it, as I would much prefer to work on making some HD sprites in the future. Although, if I were to work on non HD sprites based on DD, it would be these ultra tiny classic style sprites. One extreme or the other.
As much as I dig what I've seen of DDI with it's slick new features and enhancements, it still does not surpass DDA as the best installment of the series in my book. DDA is the last Double Dragon that felt like a true Technos game (which it practically was). All the new enemies, levels, and gameplay features fit flawlessly into the classic game (with the exception of perhaps Kikuchio and his samurai, who stand out like a sore thumb, but I still really like the Akira Kurosawa reference none the less). What makes the game all the more amazing is the memory limitations imposed on the game. Most beat 'em ups for the Game Boy Advance were double the rom size of DDA. Just imagine if the developers behind DDA had the same resources as Brizo did for DDI! It would have been a godlike Double dragon game indeed.
All fanboy ranting aside, DDA still is far from perfect. Memory limitations imposed certain strains on DDA graphically in terms of color, and frame rate. So, I decided to take a shot at some editing of the DDA Billy Lee for fun.
Keep in mind, these are still far from finished:
One of the things that I felt was sorely missing from DDI was the classic up and down walking frames used in DDA and the arcade original. For me, this walk style animation screams Double dragon on a Pavlovian level.
I doubled the frame rate to 8 frames using the original 4 as key frames. I used the walk animation of Stern Blade from Golden Axe 2: Revenge of Death Adder as reference for the new frames as well.
I am not a really big fan of Billy's weird shag mullet in DDA, so I changed it. After being unsuccessful at getting the new hair look I wanted editing pixel by pixel, (I wanted it to look like his portrait from mode B on the nes) I accidentally came across a sprite sheet of Kenshiro from a game called Jump! Ultimate stars for the DS, whose head sprites fit nicely with some minor editing. And, honestly, who better than the successor of Hokuto ShinKen himself to help make a Billy Lee sprite edit!
The white at the cut off sleeves of his vest is frayed denim taken directly from the look used in DDI.
If I take this WIP further I would like to add an upward walk, and a straight across walk from scratch, much like the one from Return of Double Dragon
Next is a new jab animation:
I am not very happy with the way this animation moves yet. I need to make changes to the right hand most notably.
I have never been a fan of the wild overhand punches used by the Lees in a number of games since the original arcade. These sloppy punches are suited for thugs like Williams and Roper, with their telegraphing pullback and lousy weight distribution. I wanted to give Billy a punch that suited a master of martial arts and street fighting, so I started with a sharp boxing style jab. It would be the first part of a 1,2 combo, ending with a triumphant uppercut.
Then there is a spinning heel:
The Thai kick combo ender used by the Lees in DDA never felt quite right to me, so I decided to bring back the spinning heel feared by the Black Warriors. I really want Billy's form to be flawless, so I looked at a ton of spin kick animations from a number of sources, most notably versus games. My main inspiration, amongst numerous others, for the technique of this kick was from Kim Kap Hwan of SNK fame.
And lastly, my messy WIP sprite sheet so far:
In this sheet you can see my work on trying to alter Billy's head, including my rejected head sprite. I have rough frames blocked in of Billy's punch combo, including his RDD inspired uppercut. A more classic looking jump kick, and middle side kick both heavily inspired by Paul Robertson animations. Also, there is a very rough running animation inspired both by Axle from SOR3, and Kim Kap Hwan from CVS.
I stopped working on this a little while ago, and I am not sure if I will continue it, as I would much prefer to work on making some HD sprites in the future. Although, if I were to work on non HD sprites based on DD, it would be these ultra tiny classic style sprites. One extreme or the other.
