Seeing the background being drawn remind me of the Last Ninja on C64. Each screen started with the world being laid out using 2D sprites, in slow motion.
Anyone know if this was done for effect or if it actually was as fast as it could be?
It's usually just a sign of low optimization or polish when the background needs a visible rendering process before gameplay resumes. Most 8-bit games written in BASIC did this, and at a glacial rate. In assembly games it was usually fast enough to just be a minor artifact on transitions.
Anyone know if this was done for effect or if it actually was as fast as it could be?