Choosing a Palette for Retro Cursors: NES, Game Boy, PICO-8, and Beyond

Pixel-art cursors live or die on their palette. The right four colors look like a Nintendo cartridge; the wrong four look like a Geocities banner.

NES (1985)

The Nintendo Entertainment System used a fixed 64-color palette and could display 25 colors per scene. The “NES feel” comes from a tight selection — usually a chunky red, a sky blue, a dirty green, and pure white — against a deep navy or black background. Avoid pastels; the NES did not really do pastels.

Game Boy (1989)

Four shades of LCD green: #0f380f, #306230, #8bac0f, #9bbc0f. That is the entire palette. Game Boy cursors only work if you commit to the limit; adding a fifth color breaks the spell instantly.

Commodore 64 (1982)

Sixteen fixed colors, with that unmistakable purple-grey background. C64 cursors look best when you lean into the original palette’s slightly muddy quality rather than over-saturating.

PICO-8 (modern)

The PICO-8 fantasy console codified a 16-color modern pixel-art palette that has become a default for new pixel projects. It is balanced, has good contrast, and works at small sizes.

How to pick

For a cursor pack, restrict yourself to four colors maximum: shadow (usually black), fill (usually white or near-white), accent, and highlight. Anything more reads as “digital art,” not “pixel cursor.”