15 New Video Game Heroes - Ranked From Worst To Best

Have you noticed how the general 'image' of gaming has changed over the years?

Where in the 80s and 90s it was very much all about having a 'mascot'; a cutesy or otherwise attention-grabbing figurehead you could plaster on the front of any marketing campaign, as the generations advanced and matured, so did that approach.

Gone were the likes of Sonic, Crash and Mario - the latter is obviously still a big draw, but Nintendo are the only company so overtly trading on a 'traditional' image - and in was the advent of bulkier, more humanoid, embody-able figures like Nathan Drake and Master Chief. That mindset continued, we saw the rise and fall of the 'bulky space marine' after Gears of War dominated the latter 2000s, and as of right now, mascots and system-selling 'celebrity' characters have all but disappeared.

Now you buy a game for its mechanics, its world or its developer pedigree - or at least you do for the most part, as the majority of the following managed to be just as notable and worthwhile as the games themselves.

Have a think - which modern video game characters are worthy of hanging with the ones we all grew up with?

Spoilers: It's harder than you think...