This is known as sprite multiplexing and was used on other systems as well to get around the hardware limits of 'max number of sprites per scanline'. With the

This is known as sprite multiplexing and was used on other systems as well to get around the hardware limits of 'max number of sprites per scanline'. With the phosphor persistence on old CRT televisions, sometimes the flicker wasn't even really noticeable if it was done right - the sprite would just appear to get a little bit dimmer on-screen.