Gaming Heroes That Time Forgot

The first (in what I hope will be many) tributes to classic game characters that shouldn't have been forgotten. Yes, some of these guys have had DLC games in recent years (and Goemon had one DS game in 2005, in Japan only) but these guys have been left in the dust and it's a major tragedy.

SPARKSTER - The original awesome possum who followed in Sonic's footsteps by utilizing the Genesis' "blast processing" to offer rocket-powered gameplay that sang the Konami quality that we retro-gaming fogies praise to this day.

RASH - Mad, Bad & Crazy. That's the mental state of anyone who dared to try and beat a game that bared the Battletoads name. These games were fun as Hell, but even harder than Hell. Infuriating is an understatement. From the NES classic, to the suped-up Battlemaniacs on SNES to the ultra-violent Arcade beat-em 'up. These games raised the challenge with the content. Truly a series for mature gamers with a taste for immature violence.

GOEMON - We in the states were lucky to get a few of these games, especially the two N64 titles which hold up as some of the best games in that console's library. Unfortunately Konami tightened up it's sphincter and forbade anything besides Metal Gear, DDR and Castlevania into America. On the plus side, we missed the chance to see Goemon's futuristic makeover on the GBA (*SHUDDER*)

ASTAL - Even knowing this character qualifies you as a legitimate gaming buff. An awesome side-scroller from the Sega Saturn that slapped the 3-D fad in the face. Or, at least it would have if it wasn't so obscure. The weird box art was a major turn off (on an already underdog console) and believe it or not, the game case had blank side labels. Astal's was a standard adventure to rescue a typical DiD from an evil demon-god. He even had an evil counterpart named Geist. The visuals were amazing and the challenge was solid. There was even a secret 2nd player (ala Sonic 2) who had an interesting secret of it's own.

Master Higgins - How hard is it to find Adventure Island stuff on the internet? Too damn hard! This series was a hybrid of Super Mario Bros and Wonderboy. It took on a life of it's own, but the sad fact is that the titles in the series are spread over several consoles. Nintendo owners got the best of it with 3 NES titles (4 in Japan), two on SNES and two Gameboy games (and a DLC game on the Wii). This series boasted super challenge but great fun and deserves more acknowledgment among old school fans.

EARTHWORM JIM - Cartoon characters have been made into video games but never like this. The brain child of acclaimed animator Douglas TenNapel brought a new level of expression and comedy to the game genre. It was odd, it was surreal, it was gross, and we loved it. Though the series peaked with the Sega CD tune up of the first game, plus an adequate sequel, the series was crippled by the onset of 3-D and like so many others faded out in the 64-bit/CD-based era.

PULSEMAN - Wow. This is the best game we never played, until we discovered emulation (or the coveted Wii Virtual Console release). Pulseman was the Megadrive's Rockman. Like so many, Pulseman's gameplay was built with a full mindset of the MegaDrive's 16-bit power. A side-scroller that allowed you to run, jump, somersault, throw bolts of electricity, bounce off walls like a Breakout ball and even travel through electrical outlets. That's right, Pulseman not only used electricity, he WAS electricity.

There are quite a few other game characters that I was hoping to include, but I limited myself to this for now. I hope to do a follow up real soon.