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Games Entertainment

Highs And Lows Of Game Character Design 44

Posted by simoniker from the gotta-believe-in-parappa dept.
Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to a Gamers.com article discussing the best and worst character designs in videogames. The author singles out his favorite designs, including Samus Aran, Solid Snake, and Sonic The Hedgehog, and then picks Ratchet, Plok, and Boogerman as examples of characters that just don't make the grade. It may not be the final word on the subject, but it's a good starting position to answer the question: "Who became an absorbing avatar with which to explore a virtual world, and who was just plain painful to look at?"
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Highs And Lows Of Game Character Design More

Highs And Lows Of Game Character Design

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  • I mean besides Mario, who else got a cartoon show?
  • ... are easily the Meccaryns (read: humans with cockney accents) from Giants : Citizen Kabuto ... one of the few games where I actually bothered to watch all the cutscenes. Those guys cracked me up. They were so well designed that while you could appreciate the humour and really get to like them, at the same time they were still impressive when they opened up with their weaponry.

    Im sure if the article didnt have such a massive console bias then it would have mentioned other cool characters such as :

    JC Denton from Deus Ex.
    Cate Archer from NOLF.
    Garret from Thief.
    Gordon Freeman from Half Life. ... but of course they all pale to ...

    THE DOOM GUY.

    sure, that was his name, and he had no voice other than a couple of grunts and a great death scream, but its one of the coolest avatars out there.

  • Leaves out the greats (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Traderdot ( 677425 ) on Friday June 20, 2003 @05:28AM (#6252010) Homepage
    A fairly lame article. Leaves out the greats. What about:

    (Super) Mario
    The entire cast of Street Fighter 2 characters
    Rockman/Megaman
    Link from Zelda
    Pokemon (not for me, but the kiddies like it)

    These ones are truly iconic/memorable. Esp the Street Fighter characters who had a whole backstory which you found out when you finished the game.

  • Ratchet & Clank postmortem (Score:3, Informative)

    by beders ( 245558 ) on Friday June 20, 2003 @05:34AM (#6252027) Homepage
    Postmortem by the team behind Ratchet and Clank available on Gamasutra [gamasutra.com], registration may be required.

    Relevant problem, the main characer look "too cartoony", anyway, look for yourself!

  • What about PS:Torment? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by PurpleFloyd ( 149812 ) <zeno20@@@attbi...com> on Friday June 20, 2003 @06:45AM (#6252210) Homepage
    The best game characters I've ever seen were in Planescape: Torment [gamespot.com]. With the main character a nameless, immortal amnesiac who just woke up in the morgue, and supporting characters like Morte the wisecracking skull, an insane robot, voiced by Dan Castanella (you probably know him as Homer Simpson), or the chaste succubus who acts as madam of the Brothel of Slating Intellectual Lust, (featuring pleasures for the mind, rather than the body), all the characters tend to stick with you.

    The neatest thing about the characters in PS:Torment was that they reacted in a plausible way, given their strange situations and surroundings. Everyone has a motivation, and it's not always what you think. Take the character Morte, who I mentioned above. While he seems to be nothing more than rather cliched comic relief in the beginning, his character gains a significant amount of depth.

    And of course, who can forget Minsc from Baldur's Gate, and his miniature giant space hamster Boo? "Go for the eyes, Boo! Go for the eyes! [everything2.com]"

  • I think that Halo has some great characters. The grunts are my favorites. They are just hilarious! They have some of the best Quotes [tripod.com].

    One of my favorite things is to sneak up on a group of Grunts that are sitting somewhere chilling and stick a plasma grenade to one of their backs. Sometimes they will let out an anguished "NOOOOOOooOOOOOO!!!"

    I think that the master chief is also well designed. When you're playing you feel like walking destruction with a sense of humor. I read that they purposeful
  • but i'm inclined to believe they didn't even play the game, since the way plok actually plays is pretty unique and while not exceptionally FUN, you can do a hell of a lot worse. plok himself isn't a totally empty character, and he shows a good bit of emotion at the end of the level when the wrong flag is up the pole, plus there's the frontside pocket which makes plok seem to be groping himself- how can you not get a kick out of that?
  • "Who became an absorbing avatar with which to explore a virtual world, and who was just plain painful to look at?"

    Lara "They can't possibly be real" Croft.

    She fits the former group and is definitely not in the latter. Dare I admit it.

    • Ugh. The character, as drawn, was okay, but even the female characters in Advance Wars on GBA are more fun to look at, imho. But they're cute cartoons as opposed to virtual RealDolls. And no matter how nice Lara might have looked, that game played like garbage-- a severely mitigating factor if you ask me (which I you didn't, but I'm saying it anyway *grin*).

  • What about SHODAN? (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    The insane AI from the System Shock games.

    "Look at you hacker. A pathetic creature of meat and bone, panting and sweating as you run through my corridors. How can you chalenge a perfect immortal machine?"

    Classic.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • It could have encompassed more characters, but left out such characters as Mario and Link because they are great character designs that most people know of and require little commentary. Its good they acknowledged Bubsy as that is one of my biggest regrets of the 16 bit era

  • Plok - is a *great* game (Score:3, Informative)

    by szyzyg ( 7313 ) on Friday June 20, 2003 @10:10AM (#6253989)
    They seem to miss the point that plok is a perfect example of how you can make a generic character truly memorable. When the title screen pops up an uptempo bluesy harmonica driven soundtrack kicks in and plok drops in playing the lead, toes a tappin. The music in the game is fantastic - Tim Follin is a great composer of video game music.

    Then we have the whole presentation of plok, he runs around, jumps, spins and throws punches and kicks at the enemies. Literally, his arms and legs fly away, and sometimes you find his dismembers body bouncing along trying to recover a lost leg so he can jump again.

    And to add to the Plok family there's Grandpa Plok, which we see in a set of levels that are all sepia toned. And there's many powered up variations, helicopter, cycler, unicycler, tank, rockets, sherlok plok, super plok.

    AT LAST, A REAL HERO!
    Plok is an irresistible, irrepressible, unstoppable, highly improbable and downright dangerous bundle of pure energy.
    Plok does not like fleas.
    Plok has the amazing ability to fire all his body parts at will.
    Plok can really 'throw' a punch.
    Plok has a very short fuse; at the slightest irritation those limbs begin to fly.
    Plok hates fleas.
    Plok is a true hero, with a heart of gold and joints of the highest-quality velcro.
    Plok is a man with a mission. He is dedicated to ridding the world of the dreaded Fleas.
    Plok is a dreamer, a wanderer, a free spirit. He's suave and elegant. He's grade-A, first-class prime cut.
    Plok really does not like Fleas.
    Plok is the king of the beautiful island called Akrillic, part of the archipelago Poly-Esta
  • By far, the best character designs ever. The most unique and varied selection of characters I've ever seen in a game.

    although, I'd have to say that it helps that the game is based on an anime and manga.

    Try a google search for images. [google.com]

    As for characters designed specifically for videogames, I'd say Mario [sadistech.com] is by far the coolest character ever.

  • Although like many I thought he was a disgusting and pointless character, I know for a fact that the boogerman SNES game sold well and did incredibly well in the rental market. So I don't think it is a good idea to classify this moronic and ultimatly dead (thankfully) character a failure. Oh and Mario > *. Don't mess with the plumber assholes.
  • Don't leave out Kefka in Final Fantasy VII, the greatest bad guy in video game ever. Uweeheehee!

    And Bowser in Super Mario RPG... he actually joined Mario's team in the middle of the game as a playable character!
  • It wasn't just the spiky hair. Sonic is rendered with simple shapes and solid colors, and he has a streamlined look about him that conveys speed and grace. Combine that with the fast-twitch gameplay and smooth physics of his platformers, and you have a memorable game with a memorable hero.

    The only 16-bit knockoff character who even came close to Sonic was Konami's Sparkster the Rocket Knight. (Find an old cartridge or ROM of Rocket Knight Adventures; it's surprisingly fun.)

    Of course, Sega has always had a
  • They left out Caleb from Blood [lith.com]. I liked that game even more than Duke Nukem 3D.


    "Whooah! Oh...it's just me..."

    -Caleb, after looking in the mirror
  • Had the most wonderful names for its characters. How are you gonna beat the Crimson Tape [ibiblio.org]? (his special power is Organizational Charts)

    To further quote the ibiblio review, "However, the pictures are so colorful, so unique and lively that identifying with the characters is easy. Captain Excitement, Oxide Man, Princess Glovebox, they are much more memorable and interesting then any amount of warriors or mages. Every character seems to spring to life."

    How can you not love characters who turn things to rust?

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