Favorite video game characters
Yeah, I've been writing a lot of lists the last few months...
#1: Strider Hiryu (Strider): Strider is just cool, with his plasma-edged sword and his mobility, climbing walls or even climbing across ceilings, and his cool robot he can get to follow him around. Plus he fights a giant robot ape, which is always a plus.
#2: Mike Haggar (Final Fight): A former pro wrestler who has become mayor, what does he do when an evil gang kidnaps his daughter to manipulate him? He takes to the streets and beats them up with pipes and piledrivers! His wrestling nickname in the US was The Uncivil Servant, which cracks me up. Oh, and Zangief totally stole the double lariat from Haggar! That bastard!
#3: Samus Aran (Metroid): The first super-powerful video game character with her missiles and the ability to defeat almost any enemy by jumping through them, via the screw attack, it's hard to not love Samus. Her original sprite looked like a downhill skier outfit, but her design quickly became pretty cool. Her games have been consistently good, too, which doesn't hurt.
#4: Yang (Final Fantasy IV): I found legendsoflocalization.com recently, and its exploration of Final Fantasy IV (II in the US) reminded me of how much I loved Yang. He's a noble monk with the terrifying war cry of "AHCHOOO!" -- at least in America. The aforementioned web site clears that bit up. (Imagine Bruce Lee shouting, "Ah-cho!' and you can see what they were going for.) Like so many characters in Final Fantasy IV, he miraculously survives apparent death, but he does it twice. When you find him the second time in the Sylph Cave and tell his wife about it, she gives you a pan and instructs you to use it to wake him up. I can't tell you how disappointed I was when this did not work. I would murder Cookie to have him replace Edge at the end of Final Fantasy IV!
#5: Mega Man (Mega Man): Teleporting and using his buster to beat up bad robots and steal their powers. That's good stuff, right there. I like his supporting cast too: Dr. Light, Roll, Rush, Proto Man, etc.
#6: Kirby: He's a little puffball who can jump many times and fights by sucking up enemies and holding them in his mouth. He then has the choice of spitting them at enemies or swallowing them and absorbing their powers. This opens up his games for tremendous possibilities.
#7: Shantae (Shantae): She is a very appealing character design: a purple-haired half-genie who whips enemies with her hair and transforms into other forms with magical belly dances. I think her creator, Matt Bozon's original designs are stronger than what's come since, honestly. Her monkey sprite is about the cutest sprite in all video game history. Her games don't quite measure up to her promise, though they aren't bad.
#8: Bonk (Bonk's Adventure): A caveman with a giant head that he uses to bash enemies? Sign me up! Bonk is really fun to play as, flipping through the air, climbing, and bouncing off enemies. The problem is that his games weren't so great. Bonk's Revenge was a lot better than Bonk's Adventure, but both had kind of lame enemy and level designs.
#1: Strider Hiryu (Strider): Strider is just cool, with his plasma-edged sword and his mobility, climbing walls or even climbing across ceilings, and his cool robot he can get to follow him around. Plus he fights a giant robot ape, which is always a plus.
#2: Mike Haggar (Final Fight): A former pro wrestler who has become mayor, what does he do when an evil gang kidnaps his daughter to manipulate him? He takes to the streets and beats them up with pipes and piledrivers! His wrestling nickname in the US was The Uncivil Servant, which cracks me up. Oh, and Zangief totally stole the double lariat from Haggar! That bastard!
#3: Samus Aran (Metroid): The first super-powerful video game character with her missiles and the ability to defeat almost any enemy by jumping through them, via the screw attack, it's hard to not love Samus. Her original sprite looked like a downhill skier outfit, but her design quickly became pretty cool. Her games have been consistently good, too, which doesn't hurt.
#4: Yang (Final Fantasy IV): I found legendsoflocalization.com recently, and its exploration of Final Fantasy IV (II in the US) reminded me of how much I loved Yang. He's a noble monk with the terrifying war cry of "AHCHOOO!" -- at least in America. The aforementioned web site clears that bit up. (Imagine Bruce Lee shouting, "Ah-cho!' and you can see what they were going for.) Like so many characters in Final Fantasy IV, he miraculously survives apparent death, but he does it twice. When you find him the second time in the Sylph Cave and tell his wife about it, she gives you a pan and instructs you to use it to wake him up. I can't tell you how disappointed I was when this did not work. I would murder Cookie to have him replace Edge at the end of Final Fantasy IV!
#5: Mega Man (Mega Man): Teleporting and using his buster to beat up bad robots and steal their powers. That's good stuff, right there. I like his supporting cast too: Dr. Light, Roll, Rush, Proto Man, etc.
#6: Kirby: He's a little puffball who can jump many times and fights by sucking up enemies and holding them in his mouth. He then has the choice of spitting them at enemies or swallowing them and absorbing their powers. This opens up his games for tremendous possibilities.
#7: Shantae (Shantae): She is a very appealing character design: a purple-haired half-genie who whips enemies with her hair and transforms into other forms with magical belly dances. I think her creator, Matt Bozon's original designs are stronger than what's come since, honestly. Her monkey sprite is about the cutest sprite in all video game history. Her games don't quite measure up to her promise, though they aren't bad.
#8: Bonk (Bonk's Adventure): A caveman with a giant head that he uses to bash enemies? Sign me up! Bonk is really fun to play as, flipping through the air, climbing, and bouncing off enemies. The problem is that his games weren't so great. Bonk's Revenge was a lot better than Bonk's Adventure, but both had kind of lame enemy and level designs.