"Datach" SDF: Macross "Do You Remember Love?" Class of '84 (2019)

tl;dr - SDF: Macross "Do You Remember Love?" done in 8bit style.

These are NOT sprites from an actual game, despite being presented as such (would be nice, though).

Long version (buckle up) - The "Datach" system was a peripheral for the Nintendo Famicom system (NES in Japan) that, along with select games, allowed you to scan a card with special barcodes on them. Doing so would allow the player to utilize special characters, moves, or attacks depending on the game. These cards were made available by a variety of means, including tie-ins where you could collect cards from consumer products like food and other items.

The style presented here takes its queues from the game "Datach SD Gundam: Gundam Wars." As in that game, there are two sets of assets: Playable characters, which are cards/barcodes that each correlate to one of three possible units that a player can use to make up their "squad"); and Commands, cards/barcodes the player can use during missions to launch special attacks.

Additionally, when creating these sprites, I opted to follow (as best as possible) the technical limits and constraints from the original game, including:

- All sprites must conform to a size of 24x24 pixels, or any multiplier of that (for the larger Commands).

- The entirety of the project is restricted to a palette of eighteen colors (not including black*), and each individual sprite can only utilize three of those colors, plus black.*

*in many 8bit games, sprites hover over a black background. As such, any pixel that doesn't have a color will also appear black. Utilizing this limitation, many video game developers of the time were able to mimic outlines, shading, etc.

I like to think that, given the constraints and restrictions, that I have created a batch of sprites which are recognizable to anyone familiar with the Macross franchise. What I have not included or created at this point, which are featured in inspiration/source, are close-up head shots of each of the playable characters. At this point I am unsure if I will action that or not.