10 Disastrous Redesigns That Ruined Iconic Video Game Characters

Oh boy.

Bomberman – a series beginning in 1983 – is iconic, as is the look of the character himself.

In 2006, Bomberman: Act Zero represented a serious departure for the franchise, featuring grittier visuals, a futuristic, dystopian setting and a revised version of the character. Counterproductively, the game introduced a third-person perspective – as well as a first-person mode – making the basic premise of the game difficult, as well as frustrating.

Epitomising the issue, the redesign of the character represented everything wrong with the experience, completely reverting everything about the once adorable mascot, amplifying his most basic qualities. Somehow, the female version was even worse – a pink space marine adorned in high-heels and a robot thong. Yeah.

Bomberman is already great, a simple, easily-communicable concept that doesn’t need to be reinvented, at all. Naturally, Konami being Konami, the appeal of the series – and the character – was completely misunderstood, and the result was easily one of the most miscalculated attempts to capitalise on a classic franchise, ever.