They were our best friends and to this day we still have fond memories of the pixelated characters from our video games! They thought us some of lifes greatest lessons – Eating fruit scares ghosts/ Plumbing is more hazardous than you think/ Hedgehogs just pretend to be slow!
Whether you grew up with the pong paddles, Pacman, Mario or Sonic, these characters (or sticks) have had a profound impact on us and why wouldn’t they? We’ve spent countless hours collecting coins or rings, smashing boxes or invading Nazi castles and we’ve probably spent a small fortune (enough to buy us a small island full of beautiful women/men/robots) buying the games, new consoles and the merchandise!
It’s all been worth it!
However not all of the gaming ancestors have survived the test of time and as a new generation of baby gamers starts to spring forth will those colourful pixel characters disappear into obscurity? Not if the @rcade has anything to do with it – we bring you some of the most well known old school characters and what they’ve been doing since they broke out into the gaming world …warning…some people might find this article a little upsetting…
The Mascots
Every old school console has had its own mascot – whether you were a Sega Gamer, a Nintendo fan boy or a PlayStation Nut, there’s always been a character that has pushed the franchise along, with dozens of games and genre crossovers.
The oldest of our mascots is, Mario Mario or Super Mario to you and us! Beginning his career way back in 1981 as a barrel jumping, ladder climbing, and monkey fighting little man in the arcade game ‘Donkey Kong’. Created by the Gaming God known as Shigeru Miyamoto, Mario has since appeared in over 200 games (that’s right…TWO HUNDRED), had his own TV show, cartoon series and movie. He has also expanded his CV and now lists, professional soccer player, Olympic athlete, kart racer, doctor, astronaut and many more as careers! He has the ability to fly, turn invincible, hurl fireballs, double jump, operate complex machinery, tame dinosaurs as well as fixing leaky pipes! His latest game, Super Mario Galaxy 2, only released this summer has outsold its prequel, proving that Mario has staying power!
Green Hill Zone 1 is probably one of the most memorable opening levels in any video game, Sonic the Hedgehog was the Sega’s answer to Miyamoto’s Mario! Sonic appeared ten years after Mario’s arrival, the speedy little hedgehog with a love for golden rings and a taste for high speeds and defeating mad scientists raced into the hearts of gamers worldwide. With a series that has sold over 70 million games, Sonic has appeared in various cartoons, comics and like Mario cross genre games. However unlike Mario, Sonic has lost his way and as of late most of the games in the series have been lacking the original spirit from the first few games! Here is hoping that the Sonic team can turn things around for the spiky blue hedgehog.
The last of our gaming icons, Crash Bandicoot burst his way into the gaming world in 1996. Created by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin, Crash Bandicoot is a genetically powered bandicoot (most bandicoots are a small mouse/bunny marsupial thing) with a love of smashing crates, collecting crystals and stopping Dr. Cortex! The PlayStation’s answer to our previous mascots, Crash is known for his zany antics, mohawk and of course his…voice! Like the other mascots, Crash has also done some cross genre gaming, leaving behind his platformer rules for a shiny fast car and party gaming. While Crash has a strong following, he has yet to have the same impact on the gaming world as Mario or Sonic but we’re sure with a few more games under his belt, he’ll be an arcade legend in no time!
The Rumours
Our private eyes uncovered more than the lives of the mascots of gaming, digging a little deeper we uncovered some dark secrets from the gaming underworld (and by uncovered we mean we are making all this up from this point onward)…some of what you are about to read will be quite shocking (and certainly not true)
After hitting the top of the Gaming world, Pacman knew he had it all, a multimillion dollar franchise, a beautiful wife and good friends but it wasn’t going to last forever! Pacman soon became addicted to those little white pellets, disappearing for days on end, his marriage began to crumble and Ms. Pacman soon left him to make it on her own. Now dangerously obese, Pacman has almost completely dropped off the radar but one of our investigators grabbed a shot of him recently harassing gamers at a convention.
After failing to take over with their dastardly invasion, the Space Invaders returned home for a short time, mainly to recover from their wounds. They returned again however in 2002 but were once again thwarted, this time by Mel Gibson (this time they looked a lot fuller and shinier)
The pong paddles are currently believed to possess the souls and bodies of tennis superstars, the Williams sisters.
