The decade of mascots

Mario’s success as Nintendo’s figurehead prompted Sega to develop a character who would be both the protagonist of a game and a mascot for the whole company. Sonic the Hedgehog became an outstanding success in 1991. Bundling the game with the Sega Mega Drive (called Sega Genesis in North America) allowed Sega to catch up with Nintendo in the battle for market share.

Mario and Sonic’s success attracts countless free-riders. As a direct result of the rivalry of these two characters, software companies have been trying over years to make their creations icons, sometimes more, sometimes less successful. This is a selection: Crash Bandicoot, Lara Croft, Ristar, Spyro the Dragon, Wonder Dog, Superfrog, Flink, Tearaway Thomas, Chuck Rock, Big Nose the Caveman, Zool, Cool Spot, B.C. Kid, Soccer Kid, Nobby the Aardvark, Wizkid, Pulseman, Alfred Chicken, Bubsy, Radical Rex, James Pond. These are all characters that the protagonists are in at least one game named after them. The list could be extended almost as desired. It would still be empirical to check whether the number of such named games has increased after Sonic’s release, but the probability is very high.