1. Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic: What you see is what you get. Just a hedgehog that loves adventure. I'm Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic the Hedgehog, and the Green Hill Zone. Words that are certain to invoke nostalgia in most 90s gamers. Having a blisteringly fast blue Hedgehog as the protagonist of the game was bound to raise eyebrows back in 1990, when development began for the first title (
Sonic the Hedgehog, 1991). Segas team had been charged with designing a mascot for the company, one who could stand against Nintendos Mario. Well, Sonic hasnt aged quite as well as Mario (the transition to 3D was a little harder on him), but he remains a cultural icon whose legacy continues with contemporary titles. He even works with Mario now, as in the recent
Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games titles, and
Super Smash Bros. Sonics career has been largely hit-and-miss, with some great titles and poorer ones. It might be fair to say that hes struggled to recapture the success he found with that first level of his first game, but thats not to say his career ended there hes had plenty of quality titles since. The early games are all colourful and well drawn (especially impressive given the speed at which the game has to generate them) and a perfect run of a level is beautiful. Theres nothing more satisfying than maintaining top speed as you collect gold rings, hurdle obstacles, spin attack through enemies and (of course) loop the loops. The special stages, in which you can collect the 7 Chaos Emeralds, are great as well. Sonic has stood the test of time, and thoroughly deserves the top spot in any list of video game animal protagonists.
Honourable Mentions: Theres also a lot of characters that didnt make the top ten cut, but they deserve a place in the article. So heres to (among others) Ecco, Earthworm Jim, Frogger, The Lemmings, Conker, Battletoads, Gex, Sly Cooper, Squids, Croc and Buck Bumble.