A new challenger approaches

[Chris2Balls [:B]]

Be honest. There's nothing wrong with holding 1up's work in high regard and referencing it - I think the resemblance is anything but coincidental.
Anyway, I edited your sprite:

First of all, your characters have this thing where their eyes are pretty wide apart. The result is rather uncanny.
Secondly, the first pose is pretty static - hands in the jacket's pockets, straight legs bending forwards, posture overall straight. The second pose has your character leaning back a bit more, which centers the head between both feet, so something still very straight and stable.
In my edit I tried to get rid of as many single pixels as I could. I changed the face's proportions. I rotated the body around, to break the continuity with the head, thus creating tension. You could also mess around with the torso's position further back or forward, and with the limbs.
Hope it helps!