STACK #188 June 2020

'90s GAMES

GAMING FEATURE

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redesigns, Lara is still an important pop culture icon

today, be it in games or on movie screens, where she’s been played by both Angelina Jolie and Alicia Vikander. PIKACHU Debut: 1996 Pocket Monsters Red/Green - Game Boy A character that’s become so ubiquitous

CRASH BANDICOOT Debut: 1996 Crash Bandicoot - PlayStation Having a strong mascot is a Good Thing (also see Sonic), and as PlayStation didn’t have one, developers Naughty Dog – also responsible for this month’s The Last of Us Part II – were up for

KIRBY Debut: 1992 Kirby’s Dream Land - Game Boy

that many think its name is actually Pokémon, Pikachu – a cutesy, rodent named after a combination of ‘pika’, a sound an electric spark makes, and ‘chu’, a sound that a mouse makes – enjoys status as a true Japanese cultural icon. From humble beginnings on the Game Boy, Pikachu now heads up a Poké-empire that includes numerous video games, cartoons, collector’s cards and, of course, the Ryan Reynolds- starring movie Detective Pikachu . SPYRO Debut: 1998 Spyro the Dragon - PlayStation

Everybody’s favourite pink glob of gaming goodness started life colourless, mainly because the original Game Boy was also resolutely monochromatic. But his creator, Masahiro Sakurai, had always intended Kirby to be pink (even though Nintendo legend Mr Miyamoto wanted him to be yellow). Named in honour of the lawyer who won for Nintendo when Universal City Studios sued over Donkey Kong , Kirby has appeared in over 20 games and even had his own anime series in Japan. SCORPION Debut: 1992 Mortal Kombat - Arcade When Mortal Kombat first hit arcades, players gaped in awe at the realism of the seven digitised fighters, and none of

the challenge. Enter Willie the Wombat who, Aussie identity maintained, was remodelled to become the genetically engineered Crash Bandicoot. Known for his Taz-like spin move and a predilection for boxes, Crash has featured in several games, with a recent resurgence in popularity via remasters. LARACROFT Debut: 1996 Tomb Raider - PlayStation/Saturn/PC

A fiery (literally) little dragon who became almost as synonymous with PlayStation as a certain bandicoot, Spyro entered the gaming world

those fighters gained more popularity over the years than undead ninja spectre Scorpion. Not only has he featured in almost

Girl power hit the gaming world with plenty of pointy polygons when Lara Croft first graced the world’s gaming screens in 1996. Here was a whip smart, super- athletic, extremely capable posh British heroine who players got to get archaeological with

in a platformer that perfectly balanced challenge with reward. Soon starring in sequels, his own games weren’t enough to contain Spyro, with him appearing in the Skylanders series of “toys to life” games (and cartoon series), before enjoying a renaissance with the release of the remastered Spyro Reignited Trilogy on modern game formats.

every Mortal Kombat game since – and there have been a lot of them – Scorpion has also been an ambassador for the series, appearing

in other games such as NBA Jam , as well as being in the logo for MK developers NetherRealm Studios.

in a series of gaming adventures. Despite several character

12 JUNE 2020

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