Which men are on the real thing? Wikipedia to the rescue. It's George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. I'm only wondering why Roosevelt is there. Washington makes sense (army general, first President). Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence? Lincoln had to try and keep the country from splitting. I don't even associate Teddy Roosevelt with a major war.
Anyway ... for the video game version, I wondered, what would be the criteria? Should it just be characters who are iconic, but were best in the games from their time period? Or, could you take into consideration whether certain characters have been sort of "evolving" with the industry, or made a modern comeback after being created during the retro years?
I'm pretty sure these would be my top two contenders:
Mario - No offense, but doesn't he seem like a really generic character? That makes me wonder how I enjoy his games so much. He'll forever be associated with Nintendo. What other major brands have a mascot? I see Sonic and obviously think of Sega. Master Chief (?) is probably the Microsoft mascot.
The cool thing about Mario is that he's been getting better over time, and his games keep moving the industry forward. At first, I think he was called "Jumpman," and he was always miniature size ("Donkey Kong" arcade machine). In "Mario Brothers" (no Super added), I kind of picture him as an adult all the time? Either that, or maybe he could take up to two hits. That seems to be where he gained a brother, and they competed on an infinite screen, kicking spiny things, crabs, and I forget what else. I remember owning that cartridge for the Atari 2600, so was it released pre-NES?
Of course, then he had a full game in the mushroom kingdom. From there it seemed like they kept improving the 2D Marios, up until at least "Super Mario World." Oh, yeah! Then there was this amazing 3D game that launched with N64: Super Mario 64. A few years ago, I finally snagged all 120 stars.
I missed the "Sunshine" game, and I've barely started on "Super Mario Gravity/Galaxy." The point seems to be, Nintendo aren't afraid to build upon each previous game and keep adding new elements. The biggest drawback right now might be the "New SMB" series, only because it seems like too many of those were released close together. The Wii game was fun, but it didn't really have the magic or wow factor of "SMW" for some reason.
So, yeah. Lots of details in favor of Mario.
Pac-Man - I put him in this top tier, because I think he's one of the most popular arcade characters of all-time. I mean, somewhere in our living room, we have this tiny arcade cabinet version of "Pac-Man." It's noisy, and I remember being addicted to it as a kid.
For his negatives, I'd say that I'm kind of ignorant of when he made the move to 3D, and if those games are any good. I believe I've seen them on the shelf of Best Buy. Maybe IGN has reviewed them?
Second Tier
Link - He's kind of Tier 1B in my mind. I remember a time when they were showing commercials of "Ocarina of Time" before it released. My mom ended up buying it for me. I don't even think it was on my Christmas list!! That game just ruined other Zeldas for me somehow. I don't know if it's nostalgia, or because I played it first. At some point, I bought the Game Boy Advance remake of the original, and it's like, "This is a Zelda game? People thought this was cool?" For the longest time, I was running around with no sense of purpose, and getting killed on the overworld map, because multiple enemies shoot you at the same time, from different directions. Well, the sword only slashed in one direction at a time!
In "OoT," I just remember feeling a connection with pretty much EVERY character. I can't really picture who was out in the shack where you went fishing, but I know somebody lived there. What about the dancing couple who just want to look into each other's eyes? What about the balding guys who own a ranch and look like middle aged Mario and Luigi? What about the fish girl who thinks you're engaged to her? Link had so many women admiring him in that game. That's probably how you can tell it's fiction! Or, I have low self-esteem when it comes to the ladies.
For his "negatives," I would say too much "bias" towards Nintendo? As I mentioned, his first 3D adventure set the bar SO HIGH, that all of the other decent sequels don't feel quite as cool (although I have zero experience with "Wind Waker" yet, and "Skyward Sword" is maybe 3/4 finished).
Donkey Kong - Other than in "NES Remix," and possibly on Atari, I hardly remember playing his original game (not to mention, he's an unplayable enemy, right?). What I like is how he's made the transition from arcades, to an SNES revival, and then to other systems. Wasn't he only playable in the FIRST "Donkey Kong Country" game, though? That seems like a shame. For the last game of the trilogy, they even included a character model that looked really similar, but I forget his move set.
I don't remember "Donkey Kong 64" at all. It may have been terrible. What I do know is that the first "DKC Returns" more than convinced me to buy the sequel (despite not being able to play it yet). Those games are frustratingly HARD, so it feels amazing to finally collect everything in a level.
Tier 3?
It's possible those four characters are the Mount Rushmore already. I had ideas for other nominees, too:
Zelda herself ("Legend of Zelda" series)
Pluses: She's in the title of her games? There would be at least one female character.
Minuses: If you include her just BECAUSE she's female, that feels sexist, too. When do you get to actually play a game AS Zelda?!! I can only think of the "Smash Bros." series and "Hyrule Warriors."
Samus Aran ("Metroid" series)
Pluses: A female, although, wasn't that a big reveal at the time of the first game being released? I usually LOVE her games, with the way that it's up to you to explore an alien world all by yourself. The "Prime" series (only based on playing 98% of the first one) created this really neat balance between a first person perspective, but still not a mindless "shooter," and allowing you to see a third person perspective in "ball mode."
Minuses: Sexism again, if it's only because she's a woman. They kind of sexualized her with the Zero Suit thing. "Other M" gets lukewarm reviews. Nintendo "bias."
Pikachu ("Pokemon")
Pluses: Even if you've never played "Pokemon," you probably recognize this character as the "face of the franchise."
Minuses: Ash never wants him(/her?/it?) to evolve into Raichu? He always wins with the same predictable attack pattern? Nintendo "bias."
Sonic the Hedgehog (obviously from the "Sonic the Hedgehog" series)
Pluses: He's associated with Sega, and probably Genesis in particular. He offers a change of pace and attitude from Mario.
Minuses: Why is it so hard for me to play his 2D games?!! I've tried for years to clear even the second level of the third game in the series. Genesis pretty much lost the "console wars" to SNES. Sega stopped making hardware after the Dreamcast. I personally LOVED his first 3D game, but I'm not sure you could call it a true translation of the 2D series. Plus, there was a weaving storyline where you spent time NOT playing as Sonic. Some of the newer 3D games look AWFUL, like they're just trying to cash in on his name.
Master Chief ("Halo")
Pluses: I guess just that he's identifiable with Microsoft? People who love "Halo" would probably want him represented.
Minuses: If I'm not mistaken, Microsoft was the LAST major company to jump into the gaming business? The shooter genre already existed, and I'm not sure that "Halo" made huge improvements (in terms of AI, yes, but still the same basic plot).
Playstation logo
Pluses: I picked it, because Sony has been putting out quality hardware (at least starting from PS2), but without really being able to make me think of one first party game series that screams SONY PLAYSTATION.
Minuses: Not a person? Too general?
Lara Croft ("Tomb Raider")
Pluses: As I was proofreading, she came to mind as possibly an iconic PlayStation character (although, are the games multiplatform now?).
Minuses: I don't know much about her. Possible sexism.
Snake ("Metal Gear")
Pluses: I don't think all of his games were exclusive to PlayStation consoles, but that's when he became most popular?
Minuses: Don't know him very well (just personal opinion). Did his games really start or revolutionize a particular genre?
Pong paddle ("Pong")
Pluses: It seems pretty well known, although I don't personally remember playing it.
Minuses: Not a person. Similar to "Pac-Man," has it really evolved as a character?
Tetris brick ("Tetris")
Pluses: It may have been the coolest thing to come out of communism. Since the inventor didn't really "own" intellectual private property or a patent, I remember a YouTube video about foreigners smuggling it to the US and making it widely available on many platforms. It's a pretty simple game to understand, although the difficulty curve feels really steep. I think most people have played it or would recognize it.
Minuses: Not a person. Which brick would you carve out?
Ryu ("Street Fighter")
Pluses: He's pretty much the face of that franchise, and I closely associate that game with the resurgence of arcades. In the 1990s, it feels like you wanted to play "SF2," "NBA Jam (TE)" or a beat 'em up ("Final Fight," "TMNT," "The Simpsons" ...).
Minuses: It's hard to think of any. I guess arcades already technically existed. He's not the only character from this series, so would it be fair to include only one face? In terms of the fighting game genre, though, would "Mortal Kombat," "Killer Instinct," "Soul Calibur," and the rest exist without "SF2"? On a non-video game note, why are the movies about this franchise generally AWFUL?!! Kristin Kreuk got to be Chun Li (she's not even Oriental??), but I think even that felt like a one-time rental.
*******
So, a lot about games, right? I tried to be pretty "fair and balanced" in nominating more than just Nintendo everything. Is there anyone I forgot? I'm obviously looking mostly at the arcade and home console markets. I've played a few decent computer games, but is there one major character or series that just screams "I'M A PC GAME"?
I actually did a search for "Video game Mount Rushmore," but I don't want to look at those result pages until I post this.
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