I'm not quite sure you understand the point about the awfully large borders (unless that was a facetious joke or something...) There's nothing wrong with building art AROUND a static active playfield, a la Tetris, etc. But too many Euro (and JP PC) games build honkin' huge borders that pen in and obstruct the scrolling image...
I hear you. I was just goofin' around when I posted a pic from your game.
Personally, I don't know when restricting the active play area is a means to compensate for hardware limitations (or to preserve dimensions/proportions/ratios) VS. an over-indulgent designer ruining usability. I usually assume the former, but I know it is not always the case.
You see, the playfield for
Nanako Descends to Hell is small (but not as bad as Burai on PC-98, PCE, etc., which is the first game I think of as a point of comparison).
In the screenshots you posted, the way the border for Dragon Spirit obstructs the play area (I assume the player's sprite can "hide" under the dragon border art) is plain silly.
ASIDE: This discussion has inspired me. I want to design a shoot-em-up with dash of action RPG dungeon crawling . You begin the game without any items/weapons. Early on, you can discover/purchase a "cosmic lantern" that casts a small circle of light (think Necromancer for PCE) around your ship . The game plays as a standard shoot-em-up, but with limited visibility. To keep things slightly less frustrating, there will be other light sources (of varying strengths) that cast shadows accordingly on all of the sprites/stages. Additionally, you can upgrade the light sources for your ship. Basically, the goal is to have darkness prevent the player from seeing most of the game's stages and objects, despite the fact that these elements are fully-fleshed out. Certain stages/areas/enemies deplete/hinder/destroy your light sources. You have to experiment with different light sources to overcome these challenges (i.e. bioflourescence vs. incandescence vs. LED).
San Soleil, the name for this shoot-em-up, will feature a second loop, where the entire game is visible (completion of the first loop frees the world from darkness, or something like that).
And the name for our hero's vessel?
Edison.
Anyway, now I have to find some TG-16 covers to discuss in the other thread
