Man VS the World Art

1) The assets that have been created by various artists for the game: 

http://kennynelson.blogspot.com/2011/12/man-vs-world.html

2) The team wanted the game to have a similar vibe/ palette to Metal Slug, but not necessarily pixel art:

3) Color Comps That have been done to figure out what the team wants:  1 reflected the existing assets. The team favored 5, 6, and 8. They liked the idea of 4, but not the style.

4) What The game currently looks like based on the color comps/ trying to draw from metal slug: I still don't feel as if I'm on the right track. 

The last image was just a thinking sketch, but I figure it's worth considering as well.(Though there probably aren't enough darks in the fore-layer

The Clouds and buildings are intended to parallax.