petran79
Banned
Even prior to Sonic there were a lot of games that had similar traits to mascots, but did not push the main character as much in their advertising campaign. Even Mario games did not start that way in the arcades. Another reason why some characters like Codemaster's Dizzy never became ultra-popular since they did not follow the trends of Sega and Nintendo. Gameplay was the main focus in the older games. A mascot could be anything from an animal to a super deformed human character.
It is interesting to see the posters preferences from games that had text and zero storytelling to characters with full voice acting and a story mode. It can be anything, from arcade classics to obscure games.
My picks:
pre-mascot era:
Kangaroo
I had only seen the computer version on an Atari XL. Without any game poster to fill the imagination, I liked the pixellated character desing. I even felt the Kangoroo mother's agonizing struggle to save her child by punching those evil monkeys. One of the distinguished games with animals
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Dig Dug.
Atari2600 graphics lacked in comparison to the arcade version, at which I liked to gaze and imagine all sort of stories between the main lead and the two other creatures.
First video game where I felt that the characters were appealing.
Bubble Bobble
Amiga version was faithfull to the arcade release and I instantly fell in love with the character design.Even more when I saw the sequels in the arcades few years later and the Puzzle Bubble franchise. Rainbow Islands had the same appeal but not as much as BB. I could never like similar games (eg Snow Bros) as much as this. Bub and Bob still remain the most iconic video game characters
New Zealand Story
Same as above. Amiga version was perhaps the best next to the arcade version. Game looked like a high quality TV cartoon I was never going to see. Tiki, the other Kiwis and the enemies demonstrated the difference in Japanese arcade approach. They wanted arcades to be accessible to all ages and genders.
Wonderboy in Monsterland
Main character, side characters, enemies and bosses are very well designed. Though it is the gameplay and adventure element that makes the game stand out. Mecha Dragon boss was perhaps the best I had seen back then.
Dynamite Dux
Finally a beat-em-up with animal characters. Gameplay was average, but the game and character design was of the most appealing I've seen. Amiga conversion was close to arcade.
Mascot era: There is no clear timeframe but I assume it did begin with the arrival of Sonic in 1991:
Bomberman
Game appears at the start of the mascot era, but its main asset is gameplay. Of the last games to do so. Bomberman, just like Dig Dug, remains anonymous and hidden. You concentrate on laying bombs instead. I liked that character back then, even without the story mode of the later Bomberman games.
Jazz Jackrabbit
In 1994 the mascot era was in full swing, but to be honest I never felt that much attraction to those games. Crash, Conker, Diddy Kong, Mario, Lomax, Kirby, Spyro, Bubsy, Sonic, Aero, Zero Squirrel etc were huge. With the arrival of CD-ROM, voice acting and videos were slowly taking the lead as a narrative medium. At that time I was in my teens and preferred games that relied on gameplay first, instead of appealing characters. Zool and Cool Spot were OK but I had forgotten about them fairly quickly. I had missed Sonic 2 video game but did watch the Sonic cartoon and I liked Tails.
Instead I found Jazz as the coolest mascot main ever. Too bad that the rest of the characters were forgettable. By the time Jazz 2 arrived, the mascot era began to fade and I felt game made the characters more tame and cartoony, same for the GBA game that was meant to be the last.
I remember really liking the design of SNES and Gameboy Parodius, Kirby and Twin Bee but never got a chance to play those games.
Toonstruck
Both an hommage to the old point and click adventure genre but also to the mascot games with animal characters and movies like Roger Rabbit and Cool World. Only difference was that the game was for a late-teen and adult audience since it was a little violent and explicit for a non-MTV cartoon. As opposed to console mascot games, it had the best American voice actors instead. Flux Wildly is perhaps the most appealing mascot to ever grace video games, since his voice acting is supreme. Accompanied by Christopher Lloyd. Game pushed the mascot formula to the next step, featuring a very high budget, but it was too niche unfortunately. Storytelling was solid. It added elements from cartoons and movies and put console mascot games to shame.
Post-mascot era:
To be frank, I never missed the mascot era and preferred the pre-mascot era of the 80s, that combined both attractive characters and addictive highscore based gameplay. There was a reason why they did not focus on story. It all would seem like a bad cartoon if not done carefully. Hence when I saw mascots like Sonic get story and voice acting it felt exactly like that. As if the character of the 16-bit era was demystified. Gameplay was supposed to craft the story for such types of games. Ever since Pokemon, there was no way companies could compete with similar characters to the same extent and combine both good gameplay and attractive story.
Though some games would adopt traits of the mascot era but with improved gameplay and storyline and not tied to any merchandise.
Eg I was impressed with Freedom Planet that tried to follow the 90s classics, by adding decent story and voice acting, without hindering gameplay. Characters were instantly appealing, though I'd preferred at least 1 male character. But let the female mascots have their revenge for once. Still cartoony in some places, but the game does it right.
Dust an Elysian Tail
While the design may have enstranged some, this game tries actually to bridge the gap between the 80s, 90s and 21st century games with mascots or animal characters. A mascot game with serious story and characters would be out of question or would be very niche. But the game excells in visual narrative. It has both a mascot character (Fidget), reminding of the older games and a serious anthropomorphic protagonist. Kinda like Toonstruck previously. It picks from where that game left off really, but with a more serious story. Unfortunately it lacks the voice actors and script writers of Toonstruck.
Games like Hori and the Blind Forest, Cuphead, the upcoming Seasons after Fall and Rainworld continue to get inspired by those appealing characters of the 80s, without the need for voice acting and FMV but by telling a story through image and gameplay.
Thanks for reading. Any additions, corrections or deconstructions are welcome!
It is interesting to see the posters preferences from games that had text and zero storytelling to characters with full voice acting and a story mode. It can be anything, from arcade classics to obscure games.
My picks:
pre-mascot era:
Kangaroo
I had only seen the computer version on an Atari XL. Without any game poster to fill the imagination, I liked the pixellated character desing. I even felt the Kangoroo mother's agonizing struggle to save her child by punching those evil monkeys. One of the distinguished games with animals
[
Dig Dug.
Atari2600 graphics lacked in comparison to the arcade version, at which I liked to gaze and imagine all sort of stories between the main lead and the two other creatures.
First video game where I felt that the characters were appealing.
Bubble Bobble
Amiga version was faithfull to the arcade release and I instantly fell in love with the character design.Even more when I saw the sequels in the arcades few years later and the Puzzle Bubble franchise. Rainbow Islands had the same appeal but not as much as BB. I could never like similar games (eg Snow Bros) as much as this. Bub and Bob still remain the most iconic video game characters
New Zealand Story
Same as above. Amiga version was perhaps the best next to the arcade version. Game looked like a high quality TV cartoon I was never going to see. Tiki, the other Kiwis and the enemies demonstrated the difference in Japanese arcade approach. They wanted arcades to be accessible to all ages and genders.
Wonderboy in Monsterland
Main character, side characters, enemies and bosses are very well designed. Though it is the gameplay and adventure element that makes the game stand out. Mecha Dragon boss was perhaps the best I had seen back then.
Dynamite Dux
Finally a beat-em-up with animal characters. Gameplay was average, but the game and character design was of the most appealing I've seen. Amiga conversion was close to arcade.
Mascot era: There is no clear timeframe but I assume it did begin with the arrival of Sonic in 1991:
Bomberman
Game appears at the start of the mascot era, but its main asset is gameplay. Of the last games to do so. Bomberman, just like Dig Dug, remains anonymous and hidden. You concentrate on laying bombs instead. I liked that character back then, even without the story mode of the later Bomberman games.
Jazz Jackrabbit
In 1994 the mascot era was in full swing, but to be honest I never felt that much attraction to those games. Crash, Conker, Diddy Kong, Mario, Lomax, Kirby, Spyro, Bubsy, Sonic, Aero, Zero Squirrel etc were huge. With the arrival of CD-ROM, voice acting and videos were slowly taking the lead as a narrative medium. At that time I was in my teens and preferred games that relied on gameplay first, instead of appealing characters. Zool and Cool Spot were OK but I had forgotten about them fairly quickly. I had missed Sonic 2 video game but did watch the Sonic cartoon and I liked Tails.
Instead I found Jazz as the coolest mascot main ever. Too bad that the rest of the characters were forgettable. By the time Jazz 2 arrived, the mascot era began to fade and I felt game made the characters more tame and cartoony, same for the GBA game that was meant to be the last.
I remember really liking the design of SNES and Gameboy Parodius, Kirby and Twin Bee but never got a chance to play those games.
Toonstruck
Both an hommage to the old point and click adventure genre but also to the mascot games with animal characters and movies like Roger Rabbit and Cool World. Only difference was that the game was for a late-teen and adult audience since it was a little violent and explicit for a non-MTV cartoon. As opposed to console mascot games, it had the best American voice actors instead. Flux Wildly is perhaps the most appealing mascot to ever grace video games, since his voice acting is supreme. Accompanied by Christopher Lloyd. Game pushed the mascot formula to the next step, featuring a very high budget, but it was too niche unfortunately. Storytelling was solid. It added elements from cartoons and movies and put console mascot games to shame.
Post-mascot era:
To be frank, I never missed the mascot era and preferred the pre-mascot era of the 80s, that combined both attractive characters and addictive highscore based gameplay. There was a reason why they did not focus on story. It all would seem like a bad cartoon if not done carefully. Hence when I saw mascots like Sonic get story and voice acting it felt exactly like that. As if the character of the 16-bit era was demystified. Gameplay was supposed to craft the story for such types of games. Ever since Pokemon, there was no way companies could compete with similar characters to the same extent and combine both good gameplay and attractive story.
Though some games would adopt traits of the mascot era but with improved gameplay and storyline and not tied to any merchandise.
Eg I was impressed with Freedom Planet that tried to follow the 90s classics, by adding decent story and voice acting, without hindering gameplay. Characters were instantly appealing, though I'd preferred at least 1 male character. But let the female mascots have their revenge for once. Still cartoony in some places, but the game does it right.
Dust an Elysian Tail
While the design may have enstranged some, this game tries actually to bridge the gap between the 80s, 90s and 21st century games with mascots or animal characters. A mascot game with serious story and characters would be out of question or would be very niche. But the game excells in visual narrative. It has both a mascot character (Fidget), reminding of the older games and a serious anthropomorphic protagonist. Kinda like Toonstruck previously. It picks from where that game left off really, but with a more serious story. Unfortunately it lacks the voice actors and script writers of Toonstruck.
Games like Hori and the Blind Forest, Cuphead, the upcoming Seasons after Fall and Rainworld continue to get inspired by those appealing characters of the 80s, without the need for voice acting and FMV but by telling a story through image and gameplay.
Thanks for reading. Any additions, corrections or deconstructions are welcome!