How were colors used when it came to old retro games, why different characters had different colors?
As a child I loved video games. The arcades were heaven for me as a child. I particularly found the usage of different colors fascinating in certain video games. The different colors signify different things with different meanings. Sometimes, because of personal interpretation, these meanings came from my own imagination.
My favorite type of game was scrolling fighting games. Two favorite games in particular were Double Dragon and Golden Axe. As you progress through the game, the enemy characters would change color. This change in color signified that the enemies were becoming more difficult. The characters or sprites were exactly the same, they just changed color.
This was a simple change, and in some respects lazy, because they just reused the same character sprites and just changed the color. The main meaning behind the color change was to suggest difference, progression, and enemy difficulty. It’s such a simple change, yet I always found it fascinating.
Different Colors Used in Retro Games
One color that was often used to display progressing enemies was red. Red is often seen as a color of strength and aggression.
Gold is connected to high status, importance, royalty, and therefore also power.
Purple was also associated with royalty, and also magic, mystery, and spirituality. Purple enemies often looked magical.
Sometimes green was used, probably due to its connections to supernatural beings, aliens, and perhaps the Incredible Hulk. In Double Dragon, one of the bosses was a green version of the large muscular Abobo character.
In Golden Axe, as you progressed late in the game, you came across enemies that were black shadow versions of the characters. Black or darkness often suggests power, evil, status, and death.
However, sometimes it was just the color change itself that suggested difference and more importance.
There are many other scrolling beat-em up games that this applied to. Including, Final Fight, Captain Commando, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1989 Arcade), Streets of Rage, Ninja Gaiden, and Dragon Ninja.
Sometimes it was just interesting to play a character that had a different color from the normal. With the release of Street Fighter 2, these types of 1v1 fighting games started to dominate.
With the original release of Street Fighter 2 there was no option for playing characters with different colors. However, with the release of Street Fighter 2 Championship Edition, different colors were now available. It was exciting to play the character Blanka with his new blue skin alternative. In the original release, we only ever saw him with green skin.
This post was a bit of a geek out. However, it was one of my first experiences with the use of color and their meanings.
