I've just finished up some sprites for the player character Takemaru. I'm going for a much different style than the original game. (Please excuse the white border that's around some of the pictures, I couldn't get a perfect crop.)
Standing/Attacking:



Running + Attacking:



Sword Slash (Melee Object):

I managed to use more than 3 colors per metasprite by using an additional layered sprite for the face, making a total of 6 colors for the character. The sword slash is going to be placed in front of every "Attacking" frame of animation.
If you want to check out the original game, click here! https://cuttercross.itch.io/the-legend-of-takemaru