Quote Originally Posted by WILL
However try to do several alpha blended sprites or images on the screen at a time and you'll quickly see that it slows down significantly.
I have to agree with you completely if you are using SDL_SWSURFACE or SDL_ANYFORMAT for your main window surface. In my experience slowdowns occur most of the time when SDL_DisplayFormat or SDL_DisplayFormatAlpha are not used.
And of course, the slowdowns are not as stark as with DelphiX and alpha sprites.