you could always make the minimal amount of frames and if you're not happy with the animation come back when you are finished with most of your assets and see if you still want to finish them.
This is closer to what I wanted to say. What I meant was that the beginning spriter should try to get by with 'serviceable' animation (SFII's Ryu) to get through the checklist quicker than to take the 'slow-but-super-detailed' route (SFIII's RYU) of double-digit framecounts right from the get-go, and burning themselves out sooner than necessary. It's much harder to scrap a project with a set of nine or ten serviceable animations already made than it is to abandon one with one or two super-detailed ones.
...I might myself be considered somewhat of an overanimator, probably.
Maybe you don't, but pixelling animated or still sprites is the main reason I even have a computer. I enjoy it a lot and I get a good sense of satisfaction when it's come out the way I had imagined or hoped it would. I may never be great at it but it's still the thing I enjoy doing most on a PC (since I don't really use it for gaming). It's the only bit of game development I enjoy doing. I despise the coding bit.
Carnivac, do not forget that you are an artistic elite in the spriting community that is genuinely talented and interested in the process of 2D art - a level far above mine
, so I'm sure you could write a more advanced guide than I could. But I'm writing to the beginner - usually, someone who makes graphics simply because they have to be made - and in such a situation, I'd rather see a finished game made with novice graphics than a few amazing sprite animations and mockups gathering dust on a disheartened developer's hard drive (nothing personal, Xion). One step at a time.