First post: Welcome to the Uzebox forums!

[uze6666]

Does anyone know a good book or tutorial on sprite engines and anything related to 8 bit game programming in general?

I'd suggest you look for NES tutorials since there's a truckload on the net. Considering the similarities in design like 8-bit, tile-based, sprites and 4 channel sound engine I think it could get you going relatively "quickly".

-Uze

[D.C.]

Thanks for all the advice guys. How far can the platform be pushed graphically, are games of NES (a la Super Mario Bros 3) or SNES quality possible?

[D3thAdd3r]

How far can the platform be pushed graphically, are games of NES (a la Super Mario Bros 3) or SNES quality possible?

I'd say there is/going to be a lot of unique potential that the NES never had. SNES would be hard to match against anything except colors/cpu cycles. I think the hardware will be capable of something similar to Mario 3 and easily better looking, definitely check out Platz if you're thinking of a platformer.