That's really interesting info. Thanks blastar.

I can see there could be an advantage using 32 unlinked sprites because you can turn the sprites off that aren't on the visible display (with height=0) Will be interesting to see how that compares speedwise with having 21 or 24 linked sprites in group(s)

Is there any way to use 32 linked sprites and have the non-visible sprites NOT count towards the horizontal sprite limit? (probably a dumb question but I'll ask it anyway!)

One thing I have always wondered was why Blazing Star has flicker on the first boss when you fire your weapon in line with it?. Because just at a glance it doesn't look like there are enough sprites on screen to make flicker happen.