NES Palette

[Sunny Cassette]

Ok... i made a thread about the GameBoy and VirtualBoy Palettes but now i ask, what is the correct NES Palette?

I found the sprite of Mario from Super Mario Bros. and looked like this:


Looks normal... but i was looking for the NES Palette and when i compare the Mario Sprite with the NES Palette... didnt look the same... why? If that is the real nes palette, why doesnt look the same? Here i put a really good image that explains the NES Graphics:

[Filler]

The NES Palette is weird, and it will always be weird.

It was mostly based off your TV's display. Since it would Decode the NES's visual values to RBG values. Since there was no real internal palette, meaning that it'll be different depending to the TV. I think. Memory on NES stuff isn't the best.

Some rippers just use emulator palettes, though.

[Sunny Cassette]

The NES Palette is weird, and it will always be weird.

It was mostly based off your TV's display. Since it would Decode the NES's visual values to RBG values. Since there was no real internal palette, meaning that it'll be different depending to the TV. I think. Memory on NES stuff isn't the best.

Some rippers just use emulator palettes, though.

Well, i dont know about ripping but i think that inside of game there is the graphics that game uses... and that graphics have the color limitation of nes...

[puggsoy]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_vi...lettes#NES

Like with the GB and VB, emulators are a bit inaccurate sometimes due to the developers being unsure. It's also possible that they're trying to emulate the actual playing of a game on a TV, rather than being accurate (much like some GB emulators that have an option for shades of green, even though that was simply due to the GB's screen).

[Sunny Cassette]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_vi...lettes#NES

Like with the GB and VB, emulators are a bit inaccurate sometimes due to the developers being unsure. It's also possible that they're trying to emulate the actual playing of a game on a TV, rather than being accurate (much like some GB emulators that have an option for shades of green, even though that was simply due to the GB's screen).

Ok, i was looking for more information and looks like the nes colors doenst work like the other consoles does... thats weird, but then i think, they use Nes Games in other consoles, so in that consoles must use a real palette color, and would be the most acurate Nes Palette... they use some NES Games in the Animal Crossing for GCN or even the classic nes mini, i think that must have the best nes palette... right?

[Sunny Cassette]

Ok... so i was playing Animal Crossing on GCN... in that game you can play some NES games, and that ports must have a real palette color, i extracted Mario and Luigi, here a comparasion:



I don't know, but i guess that this must be the best palette we can get for the NES... at least is from something offical by Nintendo...

[Shade]

And then you have Mario Maker's NES Mario sprite which is a pretty good blend of the two, haha.

There really isn't a NES palette better than any other. Even Nintendo hasn't been consistent with their color choice in more modern representations of NES games (WarioWare's NES Mario has completely different colors from Animal Crossing's NES Mario, for example) so that's not really a great reference point either. Picking an emulator and sticking with whatever palette it utilizes is as close as anything will be.

[Sunny Cassette]

And then you have Mario Maker's NES Mario sprite which is a pretty good blend of the two, haha.

There really isn't a NES palette better than any other. Even Nintendo hasn't been consistent with their color choice in more modern representations of NES games (WarioWare's NES Mario has completely different colors from Animal Crossing's NES Mario, for example) so that's not really a great reference point either. Picking an emulator and sticking with whatever palette it utilizes is as close as anything will be.

I understand that in a GBA game the colors are not the corrects, the GBA still have colors limitations, but in the GameCube i dont think so, in Mario Maker they put the best color, i mean, they dont have limitations on Wii U so they can choose the best colors for Mario, just look Sonic in Mario Maker, that cant be on a real nes... the best references games i found are Animal Crossing and Nes Remix... yes, i dont trust the virtual console, in virtual console everything is too dark... btw, the Zelda 1 from Collector Edition and Zelda 1 from Animal Crossing have the same palette, so i prefer trus that palette, i know that doesnt exist a real nes palette, but i prefer chose one that nintendo made...

[Shade]

i mean, they dont have limitations on Wii U so they can choose the best colors for Mario, just look Sonic in Mario Maker, that cant be on a real nes...

This in itself is a red flag, though. On the Wii U they don't need to work under the limitations of the original console (NES), so they can alter the palette however they please just because they don't have to abide by the requirements of a dated device, meaning that whatever palette they choose now could very possibly be even further from whatever intended look the sprites were supposed to have on the NES (I'm talking the ACTUAL console, not a virtual console version of the game.)

To reiterate what I said before, there is no better NES palette out there, but at the end of the day it's safer to go with an emulator trying to closely replicate the original system's displayed color scheme than a modern, official console that no longer needs to follow those guidelines to begin with, likely straying even more so from how the sprites should look like on their native hardware.

[Sunny Cassette]

Ok, i know this thread is a little old but now i remember another palette that should be the most acurate one... the one in the NES Classic Mini, it have the best and official palette we have seen from the NES, the good thing is that some hackers can add any game to the ''console'' and i have a rom that display all NES palette at same time, so if someone add that game to nes mini and take a picture, we could get the most acurate NES Paltte ever...

[Gors]

no you cant - it's just a glorified emulator which is not the original hardware.

[Sunny Cassette]

no you cant - it's just a glorified emulator which is not the original hardware.

I know its not the original hardware, i know its impossible to get ''original'' nes palette, but this is the closest thing we ever have...

[Gors]

the "closest" thing is also relative, after all it's just an emulator and therefore should have the same relevance as any other emulator.

[Sunny Cassette]

the "closest" thing is also relative, after all it's just an emulator and therefore should have the same relevance as any other emulator.

It's relative, yes, but i think that the palette should be closer in an emulator made by Nintendo than a normal emulator... yes, i know that on wii u the nes games looks darker but on NES Mini looks better:



There is no a defintive palette to NES but i prefer this one, its probably the best we will ever have and official too...

[Firejoker54]

You may say it looks "better" on the Mini than the WIIU but BOTH are emulators and BOTH are official Nintendo products. Why not take the WIIU one then? You're grasping at straws here mah guy. There's NO official palette. Just pick the one you like more.