The characters look so good 

Good work!

Nicely done, sir!
One of these days we'll make this mockup into gaming reality!: )

me gusta este arte 

Thanks for the love, guys!

@amorph: At a certain granularity (esp smaller sprites), focusing on clusters can be counterproductive. They can fit together nicely like Tetris blocks, but still fail to describe the forms and edges. This topic probably deserves a more detailed post in the future. The proposed gameplay would mirror that of Shao Lin's Road, so the levels resemble arenas more than linear paths (hence moving right to left). 

@dawnbringer: Although I spent a lot of time developing the rendering style, the underline is actually a shortcut, so ideally I'd save time (and sanity) in the long term. The contrast in value gives the sprites visual priority while negating the need for an outline around the lit edges of the shapes. 

@adarias: These compliments mean a lot to me!

DB & Adarias: Great points. I don't remember ever seeing anyone outline like this, but it works so well.

Lighting, mood and material quality is really top notch, and highlights the sprites perfectly.  Teal is an interesting color for enemies, but in this environment it works well.

I couldn't tell what worked so well about the sprites themselves until I saw DB's comment re: underlining.  Gives them just the right amount of pop without feeling like stickers.

This strict underline technique gives some pretty crisp and distinct looking sprites! 

Amazing piece! I would definitely play this game.

I like the clean look throughout this, I think the stone is especially effective with this.

I love the icon for this image too.