Gives me a retro, 80-styles feel.

I meant the proportions on the original casette inlay were a bit off. My main concern is the front windshield, it is way too wide and not as trapeze as the real Lotus.

I know that the heavy dithering is a common practice in the ZX scene. There are alternatives though. I could not find any good examples, but something like the Rock-n-Roller title sceen could serve as guidance.

You mean proportions of the car? They were transfered with a grid so they should be pretty close, but I did shift them a bit around, especially at the back wheel, to arrive at the edges of 8x8 blocks for the needs of switching colors. I have a timelapse recorded of the process, if you're really interested.

As for the way it was seen on the ZX, the version uploaded to zxart.ee comes closest. Click on it for x2 version with scanlines. But I don't think dithering gets in any way blended to look more uniform/metal (if that's what you were going for). I used the technique of dithering the bright blocks to make an angled transition towards the dark blocks (bright red->dark red) and to mask the black->red transition with the white highlights on the front. The dither makes it a bit less apparent where the blocks are, but it's a tradeoff with making it look textured and less like the surface it's trying to portray. Personally I'm also still in the (beginner) phase where I simply like the grittiness of dither so I'm inclined to do it more then would probably be suggested. But I see it diminishing with years as I'm getting exposed to more clean pixel art styles, so I do appreciate the nudge in this direction (if this indeed was the idea). When I first saw a color mixing program on the ZX as a kid - it used the halftone pattern to create many more than the original 8 colors, for example orange! - it totally blew my mind I was in love with it ever since, as a color mixing thing. Only lately, as I was reading tutorials and getting feedback, I'm starting to understand better the texture implication dither can have.

I agree, that the casette inlay illustration is more dynamic compared to the dull original loading screen. What I don't really like is that somewhere in the process the proportions were messed up a bit.

I like your rendition though. I only miss some "speed lines" to lend the whole a bit more feeling of speed. Would also be nice to see it on an original display, because the dithered surfaces doesn't really look like metal on my LCD.

A big difference! Great title screen, well done.

Thanks both! I can't even describe how much fun it brings me to do ZX stuff. It's like you're solving equations while doing art. :)

Hm yeah the original one looks more like the car static in a show room whereas your version based on the inlay has a lot more action in it, proper racing.    Good stuff.  I love quality authentic 8-bit work.

Congratulations! This one really fits an original game with its unique style.