VGR PaRappa Rappa

As a Sega fan, I tend to have a longer history with Sega games and consoles. Even so, that never stopped me from playing other games "on the other side of the fence".

Since people have been asking me to review some good Playstation games over on deviantArt, I decided to give it a shot with an all-time classic...

VGR: PaRappa the Rapper (aka PaRappa Rappa)

From NanaOn-Sha/Sony

Played on PSX

Also available on PSP

Type Musical game

Year 1996

What is PaRappa the Rapper I hear you ask.
I mean, those of you way too young to have known the phenomenon he became during such a short time.

The game was the breakthrough title developed by NanaOn-Sha.
It's a studio founded by game designer and musician Masaya Matsuurain 1993.
They were also responsible for that other unique music game series Vib-Ribbon. And more recently they collaborated with Zoë Mode on their first adventure game (non-musical) Haunt.

PaRappa Rappa is actually the first "real" modern rhythm game.
It has quite a unique design to it (more on that below), uses animal mascots which were so often the norm for games in the 90s and all songs are in English (as well as the story itself) in all version of the game!

I gotta believe!~

The story is one of the more relatables there is.

It's the story of a guy, a girl and some problems he learns to deal with (including the local douche bag).

PaRappa is this hip hop dog, you see.
He's in love with Sunny Funny, but she seems to ignore him.. But they're made for each other! If only he could get her to notice him. This egomaniac rich guy Joe Chin is certainly not helping the whole thing.

So PaRappa on his journey to her heart, learns to fight in a dojo, crashes his dad's car, works to get some cash, learns his license, bake a cake, take a bathroom break and ends up rapping on stage.

Throughout this adventure he is accompanied by his pals PJ Berry and Katy Kat. He learns to deal with real life situations through rap with various mentors, including the famous Chop Chop Master Onion.

It's all in the mind!~

The game is almost educational, inspirational I want to say.
PaRappa raps through all situations, you'll remember for all time that to drive you need to Step on the gas or also that you need to keep your kitchen in check while cooking Put the cake in the oven for a while! Leave it there, come on, clean the pile!

PaRappa's motto is "I Gotta Believe!" afterall.
There might be this Joe Chin in his path, but things will work out in the end as long as he stays positive and focused!

The game plays like a digital "Simon Sez".
Basically said, the gameplay consists of QTE sequences you need to memorize/answer to.
For example the first stage will assign X for kick and SQUARE for punch. 
By pushing the correct buttons as indicated. The music will keep you in tempo, you need to have both the correct action and follow the rythm to work through the various segments.
The game starts easy enough but will quickly get more and more challenging both in the sequences as well as the timing.
You win points for style, if you do good you will keep your U rappin' GOOD ranking. Missing notes/vocals will make it go off, for BAD and AWFUL (and Game over!).
Once the levels are finished you can replay them, go freestyle to deviate into the COOL rating!

The game isn't all perfect though, there's some missync problems and the difficulty is quite hardcore (you need to be perfect sometimes, and learn the darn' buttons perfectly).

I need to go, just bad as you!~

The game isn't very long though. It's only six stages long.
Maybe a bit short if you ask me, but it's pure arcade fun!

There are four teachers, so therefore there are 5 styles of rapping.
PaRappa is quite the boss, perfectly able to adapt to various styles, from reggae to pop, house and even some old school!
The music is simply catchy, memorable!

The characters look all great and just as memorable.
The art style was done by Rodney Greenblat (check out his website!), an US graphic artist who's quite popular in Japan.
The characters are all done in flat 2D, which contrasts great with the 3D world they inhabit. The population seems to feature so many random faces from cartoon dogs, cartoon frogs, even cartoon objects such as hammers, flowers, etc.

The game is just pure fun!
Well-written, acted and sung. Excellent voice acting all around.

The gameplay is simple.
Featuring stunning graphics, which I find timeless thanks to the mix 2D/3D.
You can replay the game over and over. Once it's over you can either aim for the high scores, or try getting all the COOL ranks. Which unlock an alternate ending plus a  (tiny) bonus song.

Overall, it's a fantastic catchy entertaining game!
A true pioneer of the whole musical genre.
You will love it even if you don't like rap!
It sure was more original than what the genre offers today in the countless dull and generic Rock bands, Guitar hero, Singstars and all of their clones...

And it even has a moral!
Because when you got a problem, the problems won't get solved by themselves, YOU JUST GOTTA BELIEVE!!

The game became a quick hit back then. It was popular enough to warrant a "guitar"-oriented sequel in 1999, a true sequel in 2002 and even a short lived in 2001.
The 1996 original was released for PSP more recently. (though it didn't had nor fix anything, it's an exact copy of this version)

6 stages long, hours of fun and replay value thanks to its high quality.
What's not to love about "paper doll" cartoony singing characters!?

I give it:

2.5 / 3 PaRappas!

#Ad - Pepsiman Commercials compilation

Remember Pepsiman ?

This guy on youtube made this following compilation of all of Persiman's legendary Japanese ads!
Check it out! Well worth your time!



Even if I'm sure lots of you guys reading this blog know about Pepsiman, how many knew there was also a Persiwoman??

Gotta love 90s mascots^^
From games, to companies and products! They had this "fun charm" long lost in today's companies' image.

Sonic NEWS! 'Generations' Collector Edition

Sonic Generations will have a special edition. And what a collector it is! :D

SEGA already released plenty of Collectors over the last couple of years.
Most of the time exclusive to Europe (don't "BOOH" on me, it's because of the people who buy them in the first place, it seems they sell poorly in the US usually, so Sega prefers to skip them there...).

But this is a first for a Sonic game!
This 20th Anniversary special edition (will join my 10th Anniversary edition of Sonic Adventure 2 on the Dreamcast and) will be released on November 4 for the HD systems.
(and later for the 3DS)

It will feature an special limited release of the game, "free" DLC (I'm betting an extra level for retro Sonic from the looks of it), a figurine containing both retro and modern-Sonics, a (numbered) Gold Ring, an artbook, a documentary "The Story of Sonic" and finally the Sountrack itself! (let's hope it will be as good as usual Sega quality~)
But not this game's OST, but one featuring songs from across the franchise...which is kinda in fact the sountrack of this game to begin with...!

And it seems there will be a simpler cheaper Special Edition too with just the DLC-stuff.

Gamin' NEWS! Sonic 20th Anniversary «Generations» Teaser Trailer

So here it is.

The first video of Sonic's 20th Anniversary game!
Well, just a teaser trailer, through it probably hints at what we might come across, be it content-wise or direction.

So let's check it, ok?



Alright.
Coming in 2011 on Xbox 360 and PS3.

So what do we get from this?
It looks like the rumours about an anniversary title featuring old levels remade might be true.
Also I guess Sega was really buying the trademark "Sonic Generations" as reported by fans, a fitting name for such direction.
Classic and modern Sonic side by side?
Could this be an "event", a crossover game? Remixes of old stages? Revisiting past zones?
A Crisis of Two Hedgehogs?? (ha!)

I'm guessing something close to Sonic Unleashed/Colours gameplay wise, from what the first part of the video hint at.
And I wish a funny plot, that shouldn't be hard to write. I mean, make Eggman cross over time to conquer the world, the classic Sonic teaming up with the current one? And humour. LOTS of it!

Anyway, hyped!

VGR RKA2: Sparkster

That's right, there's another Rocket Knight game going by the name of Sparkster.
Around that time, during the 16-bit era, Konami used to do that a lot. That is, producing games on both the SNES and Megadrive, using the same title, same box art/artworks and even sometimes sporting an identical text on the back cover. Only those tended to be completely different games.

Let's dig in the Megadrive Sparkster game!

VGR: Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2
From Konami
Played on Megadrive
Also available on /

Type Sidescrolling action game
Year 1994

Since the original in '93 was such a success, gaining lots of attention, great reviews and praise, in a 16-bit market overshadowed by tons of other mascots, Konami decided it was best to keep Sparster around for another episode and build a momentum upon that popularity.

Thus in '94 came out two separate sequels.
Most of the original Rocket Knight Adventure staff had already left for Treasure (the classic Rocket Knight feel could still be seen on future non-Konami games such as Gunstar Heroes or Dynamite Headdy), but Konami went on ahead with two "original" sequels.
One, for the Megadrive, was a direct continuation of the first game - starting right away from its climax.
The other, on the Snes, was set "some time later", after the defeat of the spaceship Pigstar from the first adventure.

This is a review of the Megadrive episode.

Time for another round of "kickin' Axel's ass", yo!

The story takes place directly after the original Rocket Knight Adventure.

The Kingdom of Zephyrus had just been attacked by the Devotindos Empire. (the evil space pigs)
The game starts off with a prologue that the player can skip if he wants to. (if he also wants to miss out one of the hidden secret swords!! more on that later...)

RKA2 starts from RKA's real ending. Sparkster is facing once again his rival Axel Gear.
Sparky defeats his traitorous ass. All the opossums live happily forever...or do they?

While everyone was getting ready to celebrate, the Princess Sherry's cousin, Cherry is kidnapped by a new threat.
That's right, Axel lead more enemies to strike the kingdom while nobody was expecting it.
The lizard Gedol Empire under their ruler King Gedol!!

Wolves, Pigs, Lizards... it's lal the same for Sparkster!

The gameplay this time's a complete overall of the series!
While RKA and Sparkster (on the SNES ) played mostly the same, RKA2 (this one) use brand new mechanics!

This time it's a lot more arcad-y oriented.
No need to charge up your special attack, it's always charging all by itself, making the whole game faster and less platform-y. The levels are designed to RUSH, RUSH, RUSH your way all along.
On a negative note, no more sword beams. Sparky uses his sword like, well, like a normal sword this time. Meaning to defeat your enemies you either have to come in closer and strike or use the rocket pack to dash through them.
The levels are either designed horizontalyl or vertically, no more wide open spaces like in the first game.

The cannon fodder you'll go through this time are lizards...which essentially is the same as the pigs or wolves/lions from the other games. (easy to beat, lose their armour on impact...)

It's like a Godzilla movie! Featuring a rocket powered opossum...

The game is 6 stages long. There's multiple mid-bosses and bosses in this adventure, all lizards using strange robots/machines. (and one or two odd-ocurrences too).
You can select various difficulties, like usual. Beware that on easy you won't be able to access the true ending!
Not all levels play the same, like in the rest of the series, there's always some unique sequences were you'll control Sparkster differently. However, no shooting level this time..

Like in the past, the game will throw at you lots of crazy robots and enemies. The enemy has changed again but at heart, things aren't that different from the usual for Sparkster.

Oh and you'll meet Sparkster's rival, Axel Gear some other times again.

The graphics are quite colorful...but pretty tiny. Specially compared to RKA and the other Sparkste rgame.
Sparky seems to be 1/2 smaller than the usual.

Other than that... It's mostly another Rocket Knight, featuring the usual mechanical kingdom attacking the opossums, same tropes and themes, etc.. right?

Well, with these new controls the game doesn't feel the same as the past episode or the SNES Sparkster.
It's a whole different animal this time!
It's more arcad-ysh, faster and even the boss fights don't feel the same (since you won't be throwing sword beams at 'em, but either cutting through them only or rocket dashing around).

The game is quite difficult this time (specially at mid-point through it). Sparkster will go from his precious land to the enemy invasion of the city, in a desert/egyptian themed land and over the enemy lines. (their castle,...)

Supâ Sayiajin Supâkusutâ!!!

This game uses a password system, like the SNES Sparkster. But on the contrary of its SNES equivalent 4x4 input digits, it's only a 4x2 password system.
It will keep track of your progression and stats...

Because this time there's something to collect through the game.
All across the adventure, Sparkster will be able to find 7 hidden secret swords! (well, technically, more like 5, one is given after the prologue at the start and the last one after another fight against Axel)
Collecting all 7 will make Sparkster enter a super form in the end of the game, Gold Sparkster!!
(but unlike his Sega counterpart, Super Sonic, Gold Sparkster is only playable in the final scene of the game)
It will allow Sparky to be stronger, charge is pack a helluva faster and access the true ending in the end (and after the credits too).

Overall, it's a pretty decent sequel.
Fun, pretty long and more difficult than the SNES episode released at the same time.
(chronologically this seems to take place directly after RKA and the SNES game even after that, from a story perspective)
Though the final stage and bosses seemed pretty easy to me, compared to some previous sequences...

It may not be as good as the original and the mechanics are completly different, it still is a pretty good game.
Compared to the SNES game?
Mmmmh... I never thought of that. Well, for some different reasons, I do not prefer this one over the SNES game, nor the MD game over the other. They are pretty equal in my eyes.
The SNES one is easier, but  feature a more authentic gameplay. It was pretty short and the Axel Gear confrontations weren't that great. But it looked great!
This MD episode is harder, but feels totally different. It's longer and Axel Gear's fight are better. Through the giant robot scenes are pretty bad. And the sprites (and Sparkster) are pretty tiny on the screen sort of like modern sidescrollers on the Xboxlive/Wiiware... The end is a bit too easy. (perhaps due to Gold Sparkster)

I'd say, give it a try if you're a fan or like 90s sidescrollers. (but note that it isn't really a platformer!)

I give it:

2 / 3 Bruces!

VGR Sparkster

Continuing my way through the Rocket Knight series~

After the success of the first game, there were two more "Rocket Knight" episodes released at the same time.
Both named "Sparkster", both using the same artworks, "title", texts, cover...but both in fact completely different games at heart!

Let's dig in first one, the SNES Sparkster game!

 
VGR: Sparkster
From Konami
Played on Super Nintendo
Also available on /

Type Sidescrolling action platformer
Year 1994

Since the original in '93 was such a success, gaining lots of attention, great reviews and praise, in a 16-bit market overshadowed by tons of other mascots, Konami decided it was best to keep Sparster around for another episode and build a momentum upon that popularity.

Thus in '94 came out two separate sequels.
Most of the original Rocket Knight Adventure staff had already left for Treasure (the classic Rocket Knight feel could still be seen on future non-Konami games such as Gunstar Heroes or Dynamite Headdy), but Konami went on ahead with two "original" sequels.
One, for the Megadrive, was a direct continuation of the first game - starting right away from its climax.
The other, on the Snes, was set "some time later", after the defeat of the spaceship Pigstar from the first adventure.

This is a review of the Snes episode.

This time, Sparky faces Lions!!

Some time has passed since Sparkster's big confrontation against the evil Devotindos Empire. (the pigs from the first game)
The opossum kingdom of Eginasem has known a relative peace for a while...
When one day, out of nowhere, the Lioness's army of Generalissimo Lioness attacks the opossum.
They're lead by former-Rocket Knight renegade Axel Gear. This really really hates our main character!

Once again, it's up to Sparkster to save the day. Sparkster will fight against hordes of Lions, destroy tons of mechanical foes and clash against Axel a couple of times before facing the final boss!

Same ol', same ol'!

The game controls mostly like the original Rocket Knight Adventure on the Megadrive.
One button to jump.
Another for the sword.
Sparkster can cut through his enemies' armour and leave 'em in underwear (ah!).
A small aura is projected along the sword to aim further.
You can charge it to either produce a spinning attack or boost away with the rocket pack.

There's a new gameplay gimmick added to Sparkster!
With the left and right triggers on the Snes pad, you can quickly dash away from one side or the other.
At first it seems unnecessary, but by the end of the game you'll find yourself using it more and more,

This time the enemies are lions, but in the end it's pretty similar to the pigs from the original.
They won't pose much problem by themselves, but in large groups or when you least expect them a the bottom of the screen, they can cause you damage.

Axel Gear, we meet again, traitor!!

Poor lil' opossum, they won't make is life eady at Konami's. :/
Once again, the game has several bosses, though a lotta easier than in the first game.
Sparkster will have to face a lot of giant robots at the end of each act.
Though without Treasure's guys at the head of the project, they require less hits and with easier patterns to learn.

The game's playtime depends on the difficulty you choose in the options.
On easy, the game's 7 level longs and ends with the "final" confrontation against Axel.
On normal, the default setting, there's a level beyond that against Generalissimo.
And on hard and up there's one more true final ending stage.

PIEEEW! PIEEW! Kaaaabloooowaaah! You're dead!

The game's a pretty straightforward sequel to RKA.
They made this one from scratch, with brand new sprites, levels and story. But they did capture the original's gameplay.
Though I find it much slower, nowhere near the fast arcad-ysh tension of the original (who altered the gameplay much frequently).

This time, the gameplay's pretty much the same through and through apart 2 little stages who try to capture the original's magic.
There's a stage, riding a mechanical bird who's pretty fun to play but maybe too short and too easy.
And another one (in the end), were the game will turn into a SHMUP. Again.
But this time, unlike RKA's horizontal shooter, it's a vertical shooter. The level's pretty hardcore, ending in this game's most difficult and cheap boss, a retake on the giant robots fight from Rocket Knight Adventure only from a topview perspective.

Overall, it's a pretty decent and fun sequel!
It might not be as impressive and unique as RKA, but it's a decent enough sequel fans of the series should play!

The game's much shorter and easier, even on harder settings where you'll go through this one pretty fast. Maybe it's because of the shorter levels or lack of real challenge in the bosses (apart the end).

Sparkster sports a brand new look in this adventure, now he has shiny blonde hairs (kinda super sayan-ysh).
The stages aren't as original as in the first game, this time some levels will seem out of place in the story (which the original tried to connect in a lil' in-game universe).
Most stages follow naturally the preceding, but then you'll find yourself in stage 2 in a random factory (when Axel will fly in the sky in the previous boss battle) or in a musical-themed level...

Anyway, apart from some nit-picking, it's a great game.
The music is catchy, the sprites colorful and well animated.

I give it:

2 / 3 Bruces!

VGR Bonk 2

After a heckuva long time, I decided to finally go back to one of my earlier reviews and move on the sequel of Bonk!

VGR: PC Genjin 2 a.k.a. Bonk's Revenge
From Red Company / Hudson Soft
Played on PC Engine
Also available on Game Boy, Virtual Console & PlayStation Network


Type Sidescrollin' platformer
Year 1991

Only a year after the original game's release, Hudson didn't want Bonk to take a vacation, specially with a Sonic shaking the whole gaming market and the perception of mascots' role to establish a brand.

PC Genjin 2 was also made specifically for the PC Engine system. Red was back as developers behind the Pithecanthropus Computerurus. This time, they got a better handle of the console's hardware and could start playing around a bit with the graphics (where Bonk 1 was pretty simplistic in tone and used a limited color palette).

Now, about the "plot"...

I admit it, I just luuuuuv drawing Bonk!

Bonk is back, with a revenge!
Half of the moon was stolen! Yeah, the Evil King Drool has decided to go on full-evil mad scientist this time!

Bonk will have to travel all around the Dinosaur Kingdom to find were the pieces are guarded, defeat Drool's various "generals" and put back the moon in one piece!
Yeah.
Just that.

All in a day's work!

PC Genjin 2, game-wise, was built around what the first game already was, and tried improving over all of its aspects.

Bonk still controls the same. Button 1 to jump, Button 2 to bonk!
We can play around with these two abilities to either make Bonk slam his head violently on the ground, try to hover for short distances, juggle defeated enemies, bounce from enemy to enemy, etc..
Bonk can also use some other extra-abilities from the original game as well as new techniques.
He can still climb walls with his teeth, his TEETH, man!!
Oh, and he can climb a waterfall like salmon, no kiddin'.
And many more neat little tricks that will help Bonk survive in these dangerous prehistoric times.

Bonk's dino minions come now to life in all sorts of forms!

On the visual side, it has all been improved since the first one.

The game now sports a better richer color palette.
After getting their hands on the PC Engine hardware in the first game, they were able to play around with tricks and techniques making this game a better rival to other games of that era. ('91 platformers)
Bonk isn't as red-ysh as he was in Bonk 1, now he is more pink-ysh with a nice brown coloring for his clothes.
The sprites are all quite cartoony, even expressive.
They all have a lot of various animations.
The backgrounds also aren't as simple as they were in the first game (single color backdrops) but now are quite rich featuring trees, volcanoes, animations, effects (in the volcano/hot segments), little darker shades near the ground, northern lights in sky, etc...

The best upgrade has been on the enemy's side.
We still confront various brainwashed dinos by King Drool with Egg Shells(TM).  But now they all come to life with a ton of variations in their sprites.
You'll often find them playing around, sleeping, fishingm, wearing scarfs making snowmen...and they also come in all sorts of genres; Hunting/Safari fashion, wearing spelunker clothes, with climbing gear...etc!
A precursor of what the more famous apes from Ape Escape would do years later?

Bonk - Transformation, GO!!

Bonk's gimmick, apart from his headbonking around, is his transformations.
Remember the first game's mechanic?
Well, it's still mostly the same..
Bonk uses food to replenish his health.
Small items restore his hearts. A huge piece of meat will upgrade Bonk into his fully-powerful invincible form or his intermediary girly form. (the middle zoku-form has been scrapped)
They've been a bit tweaked around.
The invicible form loses its invicible aura after a while. It shakes the level around, can destory everything on its path and shoot fire from his mouth.
The girl form can now projects hearts and uses an heart-shapped super-aura while headbonking the ground.
Basically, it's a bit stronger compared to what it was in Bonk 1, to balance out both super-form stats.

This time the boss are full-time King Drool employees, no more brainwashed nice dinos!

Bonk will have to travel all over the island to retrieve the pieces of the moon and defeat various mid-bosses and bosses.
King Drool is back as the final epic boss.


On the island you'll go through a lot more varied places than last time, and using more distinct level design, such as a forest, jungles, the beach, snowy mountains, volcanic caves, a giant battleship... until Bonk arrives in King Drool's domain. There he'll be able to find the rest of the moon... put back as part of his royal pyramide!!
All over 7 Rounds, pretty long enough and containing several "screens".
At the end, in the pyramide, all the bosses (!!) will need to be faced again!
(which doesn't come as a surprise since mid-bosses will also appear in-levels, weaker of course)

Bonk still collects smiley-items as currency.
Also the bonus stages are back, although less original than last time. This time it's more basic, collecting items falling from the sky/without falling off the stage/etc.. It doesn't play as much with the game's concept and premises. (Bonk one offered "baseball", comets-ricochet, etc..)

All in all, it's another exemple of a perfect sequel.
Keeping the original as basis, improving every aspect of it (the music is even more catchy this time and a bit more memorable than Bonk 1's soundtrack honestly) and offering more new and interesting challengs!

Overall, it's a great sequel!
Fun without being too easy, funny without ending up without charm, not too long not too short.
Not too difficult either.
It's quite simple to go through this one without losing to many lives (apart when the game will throw a new enemy/pattern at ya!)

A great platformer of the 8/16-bit era.
And for an 8-bit game, it doesn't have to shy away amongst 16-bit of that tme, it looks decent enough!
I've seen worse SNES/MD games from the platformer-craze of the 90s!

I personally prefered it over Bonk 1, and it's only sad that the PC Engine was totally overseen back then.
Gems such as the Bonk series truly shined as some of the system's best (perhaps not the more original...), and we didn't even scratch the surface of the PC Engine's greatest titles.

Anyway, it's easy to get your hands on nowadays, with digital re-releases.
Give it a try, specially if you like retro-gaming/platformers!
However avoid the Game Boy port, not done by Red! It's a mess, mixes around elements from Bonk 1 & 2 with a less inspired level designed (which was sort-of adapted).

I give it:

 2.5 / 3 Bruces!

Cartoony Mascot Characters in Gaming

Here's another episode of...
Huh...
Me talking about stuff in blog-posts!
(...blogging?)

This time I'd like to make a quick retrospective about cartoon mascots videogame companies used to represent them, and their evolution over the years.
Since video games stopped being as abstract as the early Atari days and went on more defined visual ways (than, say, imaginative as in the original days), developers started making "cartoon" characters for the player to control and creating whole worlds and universes around them.

These mascots were more marketable, easily transferred into animation, books, toys, on t-shirts, etc...
And more than anything, they became big representations of the time they were created in and the brands that had them made.

I'm talking here about the beginning of the 2nd 8-bit generation, starting from the Nes era.
Videogames started to gain a certain appeal to a younger audience, and it wasn't anymore just marketed to the odd adults or punk teens that used to hang out around the arcades.

8-bits Generation

Instead of just making up more classic "heroes", like Pitfall Harry, the Prince (of Persia), etc.... Cartoon started being in videogames, just like they started appearing in most  of animated tv series for kids.

The first batch of these 8-bit cartoon mascots were at first mostly exagerated "human" mascots.

Mario started his career as Jumpman, in Donkey Kong by Nintendo.
He was basically the same as he ended up nowadays, only depicted a bit more Popeye-ysh in the promotional material.

Unlike the protagonists of Castlevania, Bionic Commando, Metal Gear and many more classics, Mario was clearly designed around an abstract concept and was an exagerated figure.

Let's  not also forget sandbox games grandaddy, Namco's Pacman.

On a completly different tone than Jumpman, Pacman was more abstract.
One of the few non-man of all these "Mascot-men" (you'll get this in a few sentence below...)

Like Mario, Pacman evolved a bit over the years but mostly stayed close to his original intend.
He's a big bright yellow ball eating ghosts.
And the premise is totally awesome put down like that!

Bomberman, another 80s classic, was created by Husdon Soft. But gaming wise closer to that arcade feel.

Anyway the character got a bit more smooth, had an anime phase and changed according to the projects. (Act Zero, Racing spinoffs, 3D games, adventure RPGs....)

Mega Man is a great example of the creativity of the 8-bit mascots that were imagined back then.

Design-wise, it's a well rounded character from Capcom that could be easily done in simplistic graphics and recognisable.
Large gun, helmet, 2 shades of blue for his costume, a human recognisable face... Perfect!

You might have noticed a pattern going on.
All these characters were all the times called Xsomething-Man, right?

Well, not all of them of course.

Like Alex Kidd, created by Sega as an answer to the rise of cartoon characters.
Only Alex never truly won an international appeal, though he was quite popular western Europe and South America.
Perhaps they should have called him something like Jingenko Man (though I'm sure the "Kidd" in his name was there for that)
Before him, Sega also tried once or twice other mascots to represent them, such as Opa Opa or Pengo...

Other companies also tried to create similar characters, but it wasn't until the 90s it really caught on....

16-bits Generation

When Sega let Sonic loose on the gaming scene, it was like a bomb exploded....
Sonic was different than the 8-bit mascots. No more mister nice guy/hero saves the girl (Mario..)/random character with no clear purpose (Pacman, Bomberman..)
It was like the key to success was to make a sort of agressive anti-hero, a cool animal-ysh character with (hip) attitude!

The same movement was also seen in comics (but with muscular over-sized gun-wielding superheroes) and on tv/films (cool kids kickin' Freddy Krueger's ass, Parker Lewis who couldn't loose, etc..)

Sonic lead the way to a new era...
And everyone wanted a piece of that pie...

And even the old generation of mascots began to adapt.
While most stood the ground (Mario, Bomberman..), tweaks were made here and there to sell a new image to kids.
Why?
Because by then mascots became the new major way to impose a brand, make a developer/publisher popular among the masses.

Instead of scrapping/redesigning Megaman, Capcom created a side-series for the 90s, Mega Man X.
Sporting a new cool attitude closer to Sonic, an agressive look and all~

Other adapted their icons (Pacman evolved, obtained boxing gloves and red boots..)
And some incorporated such "poster" characters like this in their old franchise side by side their old heroes (Nintendo started marketing Wario, an evil more agressive version of their old plumber)

 
With Sonic's success helping establish a new system in a market largely overtaken by Nintendo, it was the proof a good public relation and brand association was quite a powerful marketing tool.

Every company wanted to use image association with their names.

So came Bonk, created by Hudson for their alliance with NEC on the PC-Engine system.
Since he was another Hudson trademarked character, he and Bomberman shared quite a few spots and crossovers over different materials.

Bonk was declined in various games (and later on various systems), had spinoffs, cameos, etc..
(Zonk series..)

Two directions stared to clearly appeard.
Either mascots would follow Sonic's way and be hip, cool and fun - mostly the animal ones.
Or follow the old path, and like Mario, propose a more led back human relatable cartoon character established according to the old genre (like Bonk above).

These mascots started appearing everywhere, alongside company logos, their promo material, etc..
And the goal was clear, create franchises.

All good arcade game company that was popular enough since the 80s entered the game.
Sunsoft had Iguana Entertainment create and develop their new mascot, Aero the Acro-Bat.

Accolade had Bubsy designed by a cartoonist.
Clearly another Sonic clone.

Most of these mascots were quite agressive, with in-your-face personas, taking the Sonic-trope to its maximum.

But they still were some exceptions like Mr. Nutz, Ocean representant.

His first impression might give a Sonic vibe, everything's here, the looks, the gloves, the design..
But his game was much more laid back and closer to Mario.
Like most of his type, his games were ported over several systems and had a sequel.

Since I can report all the mascots that were made for each company around that time, let's mention one or two more before moving on.

A lot of these characters were pretty big hits and misses that the companies had to believe in.
Basically, each arcade publisher, each gaming system and each company had these mascots representing them.
You think arcade, you think Namco, Konami, Capcom, Taito, etc..? They all had their own mascots.
And then the systems, PC Engine, Atari, Mega Drive, etc.. All had their own mascots.

Gremlin Graphics made Zool as "the ultimate competitor" against Sonic, supposed to become the Amiga's mascot.
But the system failed comercially, and like most mascots, Zool survived his console and was ported over most other gaming devices after that.
As bad as his game and/or design was.

Let's also mention Sparkster, who's a personal favorite of mine.
Unlike Mario simplistic world or Sonic coolness/agressive atitude, Konami clearly designed Sparkster as a responsible heroic figure.

Konami, another old classic arcade developer who missed the original batch of mascots from the 80s, unlike Namco (Pacman) or others, but entered the mascots scene in the middle of the Sonic craze.

32-bits Generation




With the 32-bit era, the mascot genre kinda lost its speed.
The torch had been passed to RPGs as the new big thing-best selling genre.
And mascots, with their colorful and simple design were much more efficient in sidescrolling platformers than the first 3D RPGs.
Final Fantasy 7, 8 or Chrono Triggers were in, Sonic and co were out.

The mascots went in a totally different way.
Most companies stopped using them in the marketing campaigns and ads.

Capcom, for example, adapted Mega Man (instead of making up a new figure) for that new generation in another side-series.
The classic Mega Man and Mega Man X lived on, selling less titles maybe, but still alive and kicking.
Capcom new figure became Mega Man Legends, Mega Man in 3D with RPG elements.

A new group of 3D mascots appeared, to showcase what the systems could do now, and Mega Man quickly adapted to the medium.

Mascots were either, back to their roots, designed for kids again.
Like Croc by Argonaut Software, who was supposed to become Fox Interactive mascot, but slowly disappeared after a second disappointing game (sales-wise).

Softer, with a strong emphasis on 3D exploration, simple storytelling, colorful and happy tones.
Like Mario and Donkey Kong returned to fame in their Nintendo 64 episodes. (while cool 16-bit figures like Wario slowly retired)

Or embraced a full-on edgy approach like Rare's Conker, who acted on the N64 as a sort of Mario/Donkey Kong antidote.

Crystal Dynamics tried to bring back people to the genre with Gex, who ventured both into 2D and 3D games.
Gex had a more adult appeal, making obscure references and adult jokes here and there.
Maybe to sell their mascot to the old gaming generation that grew up playing games all those years?

He debuted in fact as the mascot for the 3DO...before it crashed so he moved over the other systems.

Ubisoft launched Rayman as the mascot for the Atari Jaguar too.
But after the system's failure, kept the lil' guy as their mascot.

Like I said, mascots were less presents, but some tried to keep them around.
Either as marketable children icons, or trying to keep the attitude alive, with edgier approaches.

Surely in this new generation, Crash Bandicoot was the one that came the closer to capture Sonic's appeal only adapted to a 3D 32-bit era.

Crash was surely a winner from the start.
He had the fun, the spirit, the design and a great game to boot!

It never came out clear if he acted as an official mascot, either to Naughty Dog, the developer, or to Universal Interactive, it's publisher, but everyone figured him as the Playstation inofficial mascot.
(though a Nintendo 64 and a Saturn port were planified originally)

Meanwhile sister-company Insomniac Games created Spyro to be Sony's mascot and he also ended up representing Universal, inversely. (he still appears to this day in various Vivendi Universal, and now Activision marketing such as their website, and a movie is rumoured to be made at some point)

On the Sega's side, the japanese editor had developers Hudson's developer Red Company (creators of Bonk, Zonk, etc..) make a brand new mascot for their ill-fated 32x system.
Since Sega let a lot of their arcade hits be converted for the PC Engine, it was only justice to send the elevator back to Sega.

Thus was born the 32x best representant and fan favorite obscure hit, Tempo.

But the system was doomed from the start, specially with another 32-bit Sega system coming, the Sega Saturn.
Altough Tempo was popular enough to survive the 32x and have a port (on the Game Gear) and a sequel (on the Saturn itself!)

With Mario and Crash pushing the boundaries of 3D worlds in their respective systems, the Nintendo 64 and the Playstation, Sega needed the same for the Saturn.

Which sadly never came out to be a new Sonic episode.

Hudson Soft started digging the way, playing with the Saturn hardware a bit, which was and still is to this day the best 2D system ever but suffers quite a lot in the 3D area.
Thus was born another anthropomorphic hero..at least it would have had the game been released outside Japan.
Hudson created Willy Wombat, a pretty fun 3D platformers using 2D sprites, custom made for the Saturn.
The game was ready to be exported, with 100% of the in-game voices and most texts in-game in english..but for unknown reasons it never made it in Europe or America.
Would it have helped a bit the Saturn? With no proper Sonic around, perhaps...

At least Bug! became, for lack of a better option, the Saturn's default mascot.
It wasn't really bad...just not good enough to make a stand amongst those better and more modern mascots.

128-bits Generation

With one of gaming's oldest and classic developers pulling out of the systems market, mascots were almost obsolete by the 2000s.

Halo signed the end of the mascots as we knew them, cartoon funny characters.
Now the world of gaming was domined by realistic space marines and badass mercenaries.
I'm not surprised to see the return of old icons such as Metroid's Samus, the Bionic Commando and the likes.
 

Mega Man has once more upgraded to the ever changing gaming tastes of today's audience.

Altought initially, in the first part of the 128-bit era (Dreamcast, PS2, Gamecube, Xbox) , it seemed like the old series were done for with no more episodes planned in any of those older franchises.

Strangely, one or too new mascots still made it here and there.
Like the serious space marines, now a heckuva lot more detailled and with more complicated designs than ever. (seriously guys...how can you hope to interest children with these undrawable character designs??)

The guys behind Sunsoft' Aero The Acro-Bat, now part of Acclaim Entertainment, made Vexx, a new take on the platformer genre.

Mascots aren't the same as they were as before... they won't ever be.

Now, the few remaining are adult, more serious in tone, with more colorful and unique personalities.
Most of the time agressive, badass. Though some tend to use an over the top action-like feel.

The PS2 defacto mascot was Naughty's Dog Jak & Daxter, now no more asssociated with either Crash Bandicoot or Vivendi Universel.

The same went on at Spyro's developers. Thus was born Ratchet & Clank.

Let's also mention other badass Ratched/Jak inspired modern mascots like Ty the Tasmanian Tiger by Krome Studios/EA, Sly Cooper from Sucker Punch Productions or the less menacing Kao the Kangaroo (this one was similar in tone to Crash Bandicoot rather than Jak) by Tate Interactive.

Of course, there were others.
I'm just trying to get the maximum and the most varied type showed here.

Blinx was a pretty interesting take on the formula, since he was cleary created to become Microsoft's Xbox mascot...until the surprising success of Halo and domination by the FPS genre for all this 128-bit era!

Wasn't he good enough or was the public too different to accept the kitty?
Let's see... nice gameplay mechanic (3D platformer with huge world to explore, tons of stuff to do and try), decent story, unique universe...even design-wise, he was created by Sonic co-creator himself Naoto Ōshima at Artoon games.

"Next Gen" Gaming

Finally came our modern era.
With Xbox 360s, PS3s and Wiis.

A brand new age...that has seen a surprising and unexpected revival in retro-gaming.

Playing old games has become mainstream and popular.
Old mascots are now popular again.
With digital distribution, lots of franchises have known new rebirths!

Be it the new Donkey Kong, Mario or Sonic 4 games, the old mascots seem to be back at it again.
Old gamers and the new young audience finally appreciate having mascots around again, after all the Call of Duty games, Halos and other Gears of War overdose.

It's not surprising to finally have all Mega Mans back around at the same time.
And it doesn't look like it's gonna stop anyday soon, with more planned such as a new Rayman game and more!

But what of the other original creations?

Not a lot of original new content seems to be developed sadly...

Though we have the occasional few new cartoon characters spawned for existing material.
Like Ubisoft new mascots, already replacing Rayman, the Ravin' Rabbids.
Who after a couple of minigames compilations finally started exploring action platformers.

But before this return to greatness, we had to suffer through some strange experimentation.
Probably because of the success of "next gen" modern realistic gritty games.

Bomberman was totally re-imagined in the odd Bomberman Act Zero.

I won't say it was that bad of an idea... maybe a more over-the-top angle would have worked there...but WHAT WERE THEY THINKIN'?!?

Sonic, himself, got totally f***ed up artistically and as a game in his modern consoles' debut, in his self titled adventure.

While Crash lost any sign of whatever made him great to begin with in the past in a game that also doesn't feel like a Crash Bandicoot experience anymore...

We now have to look at the indie scene if we ever want to see new icons appear in this day and age.

Hear me out,
I'm glad of the revival mascots were able to go through the last couple of years.... (boy, do I feel old...)
It's great to see the popularity retro-gaming has brought along.

But mascots aren't as big of an interest that companies want to invest in.

Personally, they'll always be remembered as a big important part of videogames history for me. I will always associate companies with their mascots, even if they don't use 'em anymore, as much as their logo we all associate them with.
Some of these cartoon characters will always represent some companies, like Sega and Sonic, Nintendo and Mario, Hudson and Bomberman, etc...


The End. That's all folks!