Back during the height of his populairity Sonic inspired many a knockoff character who was usually a furry animal with an attitude. Nintendo had Mario, Sega had Sonic and soon every company out there wanted their own mascot. Game Informer did a top ten a while back about the worst "Anthropomorphic creatures with Attitude." You may or may not remember these guys.
Gex the Gecko. Long before geckos could sell cut rate car insurance, one tried to be the next video game star. Originally he was the mascot of the failed $700 3D0 system but when gamers in the early 90s weren't willing to shell out $700 for a console, the 3D0 quickly died and Gex moved to the PS1 and later the N64. He tired to be cool, spouting off one liners and traversing movie and TV show themed worlds, but now he's like that guy who just goes around quoting "Napoleon Dynamite" over and over again.
Blinx the Cat. Let's go back to the launch of the original Xbox, now remove Halo from the picture. Sucky launch lineup huh? Many say without Halo, the Xbox would've gone the way of the Dreamcast but Microsoft made an attempt at a mascot character in the form of Blinx the Cat, the timesweeper. Blinx had potential to be an Xbox staple but his game was followed up by a sequel that didn't even try to improve itself and by that time, Master Cheif had become the Xbox poster boy and Microsoft spent and obscene amount of money to buy Rare and their cuddly characters so Blinx will just be remembered as a crappy Xbox exclusive. (It would be nice to see Rare take this guy and make a decent game).
Radical Rex. Here we got a T-Rex that breathes fire and rides a skateboard. How was that not well "radical?" Oh yeah, this came out on the Sega CD. That explains it. Plus Rex wouldn't have survived after the 90s as no one says radical anymore.
Areo the Acrobat. In fairness Areo wasn't bad and didn't feel like a blatant ripoff of Mario or Sonic. Still by the time, he showed up many of us had tired of cute, spunky protagonists in our games. We were more interested in ripping spines out in Mortal Kombat.
Crash Bandicoot. It's really not fair to call old Crash a Mario or Sonic knockoff because unlike the other hacks on this list, Crash had a great trilogy on the PS1. He is credited with having the first 3D platformer but sadly that's overlooked because as we know Mario 64 revolutionized 3D plaforming where Crash just followed a set path. But alas, once Naughty Dog left him, Crash (as well as Spyro) degenerated into the pathetic pile of bargain bin kid's crap we see now with games centered around simplistic gameplay and fart jokes. At least Sonic hasn't resorted to farting yet.
Awesome Possum. Back in the early 90s, the big popular thing was everyone getting excited about saving the planet. Remember that preachy cartoon "Captain Planet?" Why not teach kids about environmental protection? In a game with the worst title ever "Awesome Possum kicks Dr. Machinos Butt." The thing is, possums aren't cute. They're dumpster diving rats with pouches. Who would want to play as a possum and the game was all about saving the rainforest and recycling. Who came up with this guy, Al Gore?
Punky Skunk. Possibly one of the most deceiving games since "Mario is Missing," Sony pushed this guy as and I quote "a skunk with attitude who loves extreme sports." That is a bald faced lie. Punky is more like Bambi's wussy friend Flower who loves frolicking in meadows and picking flowers. The only thing that was punky about this skunk was his hair. That's bad when the company lies about your idenity.
And finally....
Bubsy. I have been to the depths of hell and seen the one who shall bring forth the end of days. Of all the forgotten relics on this list, Bubsy is a name everyone knows. In the beginning Bubsy was going to be the mascot of the Atari Jaguar system but it failed and he jumped to the Genesis and SNES. Imagine if Sonic and Mario had an ugly, abnoxious child who didn't shut up and was constanly in your face. He was pushed as the next Sonic or Mario and I bought his game. The first Bubsy game was an ok 2D platformer but felt so much like a Sonic ripoff. Complete with cheezy one liners and his attempt at a catch phrase "what could possibly go wrong?" Everything apparently. After a medicore 2D sequel he then starred in one of the worst PS1 no overall games EVER and after that Bubsy was put down.
That's one thing about Sonic, he may have not had some great games, but no Sonic game I played was as bad as some of the ones I mentioned.
Spyro the Dragon. Poor Spyro. I love dragons and how could a dragon as a hero not be cool especially when he was a smart aleck who like burning up sheep? Sadly, like Crash when Insomiac left Viveni Universal to work exclusively for Sony, Spyro, like Crash degenerated into bargain bin kid's crap. Though they attempted to "reinvent" the dragon by having Frodo Baggins (Elija Wood) voice him, the company failed to realize that it wasn't about getting Hollywood actors to do VO work, it was about making gameplay that someone over the age of 12 could enjoy.
Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. Notice the picture I used courtesy of photobucket? Yes someone actually wanted this character in Brawl enough to make a phony profile. Hopefully that person was locked away in a padded room for the rest of their days. Ty was another average 3D platforming star mostly known for having one of the worst Austrailian accents in gaming (though Marine may have outdone him). The designers have yet to apologize to the Austrialian community.
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