Liked the preview better (Nicew chibi style but that doesnt match the body)

Some of these plus else. When I saw preview I thought that it is by some new magazine llustrator who accasionaly got into pixelling. I mean it is eye-candy bursting with colors, but has no relation to scene or any videogame graphics tradition in style. To me it is not bad thing, more of a plus - I would not suppose that it was drawn by the same person who made your previous pics, and variety of styles is power, I think. But I aggree that some colors maybe too close to each other to be distinguishable and have, so they are not necessary.

it's just my opinion. you can take it into consideration, or ignore it. that's why it's an opinion.

I can't work out if you're complimenting me, mocking me, mocking Metaru, agreeing with Metaru, or doing something else entirely..

-Metaru- But it really looks soooooooo commercial!

Haha. Well, I can see I've created a furory here (okay, I've irritated Metaru) so I'll take your advice and improve it.

Of course, I don't want to ruin my good reputation

Can't believe this was accepted, after all.

It certainly isn't rubbish, but it's got number of things going on that are generally frowned upon in pixel art, such as, yes, pillowshading, solid black outlines (especially internal outlines), poor color choice (more contrast!), and a relatively high color count. It doesn't mean it's rubbish at all, it just means you were new to this particular art form and everybody starts at square one.

Here's another shading tutorial with helpful visuals explaining pillowshading among much else:
http://www.natomic.com/hosted/marks/mpat/shading.html

Pillowshading 

Pillowshaded? :s

Yeah, I might do. It was always meant to look cartoony, though, so I'm not sure what I'd actually do it...

I may attempt a reworking of the image at some point, though. For now, I'd rather concentrate on developing my skills than using them to rehash old work.

I'm quite happy with it, anyway. Or is that my rose-tinted spectacles coming into play, and is it just rubbish?

pillowshaded. you could even took your time to try to improve this.