In case you couldn’t tell byour recent Facebook cover page updates, we REALLY dig the pixel artwork of the PS1.

It’s funny: despite the console having limited capabilities in doing 2D sprites when compared to the Sega Saturn in the same era, somehow or other it came out as the better console in the long-run when it comes to overall graphics.

Simply put, the PS1 wound up having a stellar 2D gaming library, ranging from titles like Gunner’s Heaven to even Ubisoft’s earlier mascot platformer Rayman.

This post from Richmond Lee serves as a reminder that the “32-bit era” ended up displaying palettes and aesthetics up to 153,600 colours. Titles like Rayman look like they’re using all of that at once.

Games like Beyond the Beyond and Suikoden prove that the 2D-slash-3D combo works if it’s pulled off masterfully.

Thanks to the PS1’s CD medium, games like Arc The Lad can cram in as many unique animations possible to create scenes like the one below…

…or spend time making them look clean and legible like Popolocrois below.

Games like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, one of our top gaming picks, took the 16-bit sprites from the past Dracula X games, made new ones to complement the art, and tirelessly animate them proper, so that they blend in properly without being jarring.

And if we’re talking about advancements in 2D techniques, look no further than Squaresoft’s Legend of Mana, a game that is wholly 2D and filled with lots of hand-painted backdrops and lush 2D sprites.

Check out the full post here, which is filled with way more GIFs of gorgeous 2D sprites and artwork from that illustrious era. It also shows that while the PS1’s 3D graphics are enjoying a revolution, the system’s 2D capabilities are evolving thanks to artists who know how to push the medium forward. High craft, not high tech.

Top image: Richmond Lee