After a lot of tinkering around with extended graphics, I ultimately decided to stick with the 256 tile limit. A lot of it came down to time, as I really don’t have enough of it to go back and edit every single map in the game to use completely new tile sets. I reverted the game’s code and data to a backup (made specifically for that purpose), with the exception of the “emulator” code the game uses for its graphics. I made a lot of tweaks and changes to make the graphics closer to a real 8-bit console, work I’d like to continue building on. I’d like to eventually release the source to the “emulator” so that other people can use it as well.
If you really liked the new graphics, don’t worry. I did too. Maybe one day I’ll make another 8-bit style game that uses them, as well as some of the music I’ve decided to leave out of the final release of the game.