Pixel Frames: Mega Man 7 & Castlevania (Review)

Recently, the folks at Pixel Frames were nice enough to send over some samples of their impressive products.

Pixel Frames creates framed pixel artwork of classic and iconic video game scenes from retro games. If the 8 and 16-bit eras of gaming are in your wheelhouse, these are a nice affordable gift or piece of artwork to beautify your home or game room. All the pixellated art pieces from Pixel Frames are officially licensed products, and they nicely crafted items.

Pixel Frames provided me with two samples of their framed artwork for the purposes of this review. First up is a piece based on Mega Man 7 titled "Mega Man 7 - Dr. Wily." It depicts Mega Man, Rush and Dr. Light confronting Dr. Wily from the opening stage of the game.

The other piece is based on the Castlevania series, specifically Castlevania: Dracula X or Rondo of Blood, depicting Richter Belmont vs. Dracula from the game. This piece is entitled "Intro to Dracula."

The Pixel Frames pieces come in a generous size at 9x9 inches. What I especially like about the pixelated artwork is that it's layered to mimic an almost type of three-dimensional effect, so it's shadow box art. The backgrounds, character models and even the stage ground are all separate layers. There are small, transparent plastic pipes that hold up the Dr. Wiley model and even Mega Man's life gauge bar.

Both pieces have really thick, durable wooden frames. Considering these have glass in their frame, they were sent to me nicely packaged and with great care.

Considering there is glass in this piece, I was especially encouraged with how these were packaged and shipped to me because they are clearly nice collectibles. The outer cardboard packaging also makes me less fearful to store or repackage these items as a gift. If gifting these items, I'd likely recommend stuffing the box with some loose paper or some bubble wrap to protect the front glass part of the frame.

Because the Pixel Art comes in fairly thick wooden frames, they could actually be stood up rather than hung on a wall depending on preference, provided there's a shelf or case with enough surface area to safely place it on.

Overall these make exceptional display places for any type of game room, especially one themed around such 8 or 16-bit classics from Konami, Capcom, SEGA, or Nintendo. Each Pixel Frames piece is packaged with a small, commemorative plaque.

What I really like about the artwork is the scenes really just sort of create nice little time capsules, capturing my love and enthusiasm for the 16-bit era of gaming.

I think what I enjoyed the most about games at this time was how bright and colorful the pixelated worlds and characters looked, but I also felt it was a time of great innovation and expansion. The Pixel Frames definitely make me nostalgic for that.

As gaming art pieces, these are especially nice and would make a great gift for retro gaming enthusiasts or fans of classic games; or a friend or family member who are into the classic pixel gaming style.

Additionally, most of the pieces are very reasonably priced at $24.99. So, it's not a gift or collectible that fans will have to break the bank over. Also, there are some smaller items in the Pixel Frames line that are sized at 6x6 inches rather than 9x9 that might be available for a cheaper price.

Besides the Mega Man and Castlevania art pieces, there are more editions from Pixel Frames from such classics as Sonic the Hedgehog, Altered Beast, Contra, Street Fighter II, Streets of Rage and more. There's a nice variety of classic games to choose from, though, I'd definitely like to see Pixel Frames offer up even more art pieces from that era.

You can check out the selection of Pixel Frames for a variety of classic video games at InnexInc.com. Thank you to Pixel Frames for providing these samples for us to review.