Pac-Man, Lara and Link: Ahmad’s most loved characters from gaming folklore

From their beginning, video games have seen a lot of progress. Rudimentary, addictive games like Frogger and Tetris kept teens stuck in their dark basements for hours on end.

Now, gaming is a major pastime and some have brought in more money than the most prosperous blockbuster movies. Some of the video games created were far more expensive to develop than the priciest movies. Gaming companies are intelligent in that they hit the current culture of the generation. Super Mario Bros., for example, will forever be in the hearts of anyone in that generation. They represent a part of particular decades since the eighties.

Everyone has their favorite gaming character but there are some that are highly revered. Check out the most loved video games from the short history of gaming.

Lara Croft

Lara Croft is one of the best known characters in gaming, especially thanks to the movie tie-ins featuring Angelina Jolie. Tomb Raider was also one of the most expensive games ever created and is an action-adventure. The premise of the movie precisely is exploring the story of Lara Croft, a strong and cunning archaeologist and adventure seeker.

Sephiroth

Image: Anderson Smith2010 via Flickr

Sephiroth was the memorable villain in Final Fantasy VII and who you could probably vouch for as being the best villain in gaming. He left an impression because he was evil enough to kill one of the characters. Back in the late nineties, this was a major deal and it actually devastated unsuspecting players.

Link

Everyone loves Link from The Legend of Zelda series; maybe it has something to do with the addictive music you’d listen to for hours while playing the game. Link is the most renowned player associated with a franchise and the brilliant thing is, he doesn’t speak a word. What a prince, saving the princess and the world while battling his nemesis Ganon. Zelda and Link were Nintendo’s bread and butter in gaming’s formative years and was an immediate hit.

Solid Snake

Maybe it was the solid storyline that made people fall in love with Solid Snake. Hideo Kojima created an incredible story that included espionage, politics and modern warfare. This was a game created for adults and they loved the lead man Solid Snake. He would sneak around corners using tactical skills to surprise enemies.

Master Chief

Microsoft needed heroes as part of their launch of the Xbox at the turn of the century. The answer to Sony’s list of well-known character was the main character of Halo: Combat Evolved, Master Chief. Master Chief put Xbox on the map.

Sonic

Back in the day, Sega was a hugely popular console maker and gaming giant and its most beloved character, Sonic the Hedgehog, arguably rocked every house in the early nineties. The speed and cheeky little blue hedgehog was endearing. There was a complete Sonic franchise and in total, games bearing the Sonic name have sold over 80-million copies.

Pac-Man

Pac-Man was a lovable little yellow “mouth” that ate luminous pellets and ran away from ghosts. It was this simple premise that made Pac-Man such an iconic part of gaming history. The original Pac-Man was created in 1980 and was a popular staple of arcade action. The mascot became really popular again in the nineties and there was over US$2.5 billion in quarters spent on the arcade game.

Super Mario

The Italian plumber was and probably is Nintendo’s greatest asset and mascot from the very get go. Of course, the other characters in the game were household names but Mario was the king. Games that included Mario have sold over 262-million copies collectively. He is also the most successful character in gaming history ever.

Mario will always have a place in our hearts and if a new game came out today, it would be a sure hit.