Ok, I know a few work-arounds…
For the simon bellmont style image, you could first draw your level, then the black layer, then your character… That way, he is lit up like normal…
For my game vector ball (link here) I used simple white to transparent gradient fills as sprite lights… They look like lights, making anything underneath brighter, they blend pretty well, and because they are white, you can draw them in any color… You can easily scale and dim them…
all done with sprites, no render targets…
Its not a shader, its not the best, but it looks pretty damn nice for something so simple…