10 Video Game Characters That Deserve Their Own Spin-Off Game

By Laurence Gardner /

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A Day In The Life Of Luigi7am: Wakes up. Turns off alarm. Resumes sleep. 9.30am: Wakes up €“ realises has overslept. Doesn€™t care. Resumes sleep. 11am: Wakes up again. Rolls out of bed in custom koopa-troopa pyjamas. Walks into lounge and finds post-it note explaining €œI€™ve a-gone to rescue Princess Peach - Mario€. Sighs, crumples up note, and turns on TV. Eats remains of yesterday€™s pizza. 2pm: Halfway through Mushroom Kingdom: Come Dine With Me, is teleported into World 2: Level 4 because Player 1€™s younger brother has decided he wants to join the game. 2.30pm: After repeatedly dying for half an hour, Player 1€™s brother decides to stop playing and Luigi is returned to the sofa, just in time to miss the ending of his programme. 2.31pm: Nap. 5pm: Awoken by loud fanfare and fireworks announcing Mario and Peach€™s arrival home. Sighs. Watches rerun of Come Dine With Me. 10pm: Receives phone call from agent offering him title role in Luigi€™s Mansion. Bursts into tears of gratitude. Luigi€™s story has a happy ending. After decades in Mario€™s shadow, he finally got a much-deserved chance to star in his own game, which was actually an excellent title (with a sequel on the way). However, plenty of other video game characters aren€™t so lucky. They€™re still waiting for their chance in the limelight, ready to show just what they€™re capable of. Characters like...

10. Falco Lombardi

Star Fox dominated the 90s market for space battles starring animal characters, and rightly so. The gloriously simple concept €“ fly through a fairly linear course, protecting your team-mates and dog fighting enemy ships, and take on a massive boss €“ hasn€™t been well executed on a Nintendo console in about fifteen years. Really, it€™s been that long. The games are still infinitely replayable, thanks to the various alternate routes (unlocked by skilful flying) and addictive gameplay, but surely a true sequel can€™t be far away. Not a sequel like Star Fox Adventures (a half-hearted Zelda wannabe with a little space flight thrown in), or even the rather enjoyable strategy/shooter Star Fox Assault, but a true spiritual successor. So how to add a bit of life to this aged franchise? It€™s time to put Fox down. Falco Lombardi is the stereotypical wingman, the kind of character you€™d expect to show up in an animal version of Top Gun. He€™s a cool-headed, supremely confident combatant who is fiercely loyal to his commander but not afraid to question his decisions or flying when the situation requires it. Occasionally annoying he may be (although almost anybody who€™s playing the game will have all their negative energy directed solely upon Slippy Toad,) but he€™s also got a lot more personality than the somewhat bland Fox McCloud. Falco could comfortably handle headlining a series €“ as he demonstrated in the manga Farewell, Beloved Falco, which he already stars in. So let€™s take the Star Fox team out of their comfort zone €“ Fox is kidnapped and Falco, Slippy, Katt and a new member set off to get him back (surely Peppy is too old to be flying by now, and would work better in a mentor role. It€™d be fun to see Falco cope with the burden of leadership and mature a bit, and the other teammates would have to develop a little bit as well. Please, Nintendo, make it happen. Click €œNext€ to keep reading...