When looking back on history, the switch between decades always seems like a brutal period of elimination. Once the 1990s hit, hair metal became immediately irrelevant once grunge music became the mainstream. The same is true for video games. As culture shifts and demographics change, certain games and characters fall out of favor.
The eight mascots below, most of whom started on the PS1, did not stand a chance once 1999 ended and the new millennium came into being. Some of these characters were stars of great games too, but a combination of a new generation and a new era in human history proved too much for them. Admittedly, some of the games these mascots starred in were less than stellar, but others are timeless classics. A few of these have made comebacks in recent years due to remakes and general nostalgia.
8 Crash Bandicoot
The first Crash Bandicoot is a notoriously hard PS1 game. The next two entries in the further refined the gameplay with a more welcoming difficulty curve. Once the PS2 came into the picture, developer Naughty Dog abandoned the character in favor of a new IP, Jak and Daxter. Other developers took over the Crash Bandicoot series to varying degrees of success. The character only returned to its glory days in 2017 with remakes of the original trilogy for the PS4. A true sequel in the same format of the original trilogy came out in 2020 called Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time.
7 Gex
Gex follows the Sonic the Hedgehog school of gaming mascots. He does not look too cute and comes packed in with a healthy dose of serious 1990s attitude. The first game released early in PS1’s life and was a 2D platformer. The following two entries for the console, which also released on other systems, went the 3D platformer route. A fourth game in the franchise was in early development for the PS2, but the project was ultimately shelved. Square Enix currently has the rights to the game due to Eidos’ takeover by the publisher, so a revival remains a possibility.
6 Spyro The Dragon
Spyro the Dragon was not Insomniac’s first game - that honor belongs to the science fiction FPS Disruptor - but it was the studio’s first game to really make a splash. The rest of the trilogy for the PS1 was similarly beloved. Like Crash Bandicoot, Spyro was left in other hands when Insomniac went on to the Ratchet and Clank franchise.
These games did not come anywhere near the critical success of the Insomniac trilogy. Thankfully, the whole trilogy was remade in 2018. However, the series’ future is still up in the air. Fans would love a new Spyro experience reminiscent of the older games while adding something new to the formula.
5 Croc
Croc started life as a prototype for a Yoshi game before the pitch was turned down by Nintendo. The final release of Croc came out in 1997 on the PS1 and Sega Saturn with a sequel following two years later. The two games both received average reviews, with the art style, graphics, and music receiving praise while the gameplay was less beloved. It is unclear why a PS2 game starring Croc never came out, but 3D platformers in general fell out of favor once the new console came around.
4 Blasto
Blasto was meant to be another big Sony property, but only one entry ever came out. The 1998 game received a lukewarm reception, and time has not looked back on it any more favorable. It is notable because late comedian Phil Hartman voiced the title character. Having a celebrity play a major role in a game was still a novelty back during the PS1 era. Interestingly enough, Blasto never came out Japan, and the PAL release misses one level in order to make space for the additional languages.
3 Polygon Man
This one is an interesting entry, because Polygon Man did not actually star in any video games. He was only used in early advertisements for the PS1 and eventually was phased out before the console even launched. Ken Kutaragi’s reported disdain is cited as a major reason for the mascot’s end. However, the character made a return in 2012 when he was the last boss of the Sony-themed brawler PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.
2 Sofia
Battle Arena Toshinden was a PS1 launch title and Sofia, a member of the roster, was briefly used to advertise the PlayStation early on in its life. Using a character like this in marketing materials was certainly a far cry from the likes of Mario and Sonic. Funnily enough, the 3D fighter series also saw release on the Saturn. 3 more entries came out on the PS1, but the fourth game never saw release in the United States. The series deserves commendation for being a 3D fighter long before it was the standard.
1 PaRappa The Rapper
On the original PlayStation PaRappa the Rapper was a unique and charming rhythm game. It received a spin-off on the same console called Um Jammer Lammy, which replaced the rhymes with guitar playing.
The true sequel, PaRappa the Rapper 2, on the PS2 played well enough, but it did little to innovate on the formula. Reviews reflect this too, with the original game’s Metacritic sitting in the 90s and the sequel’s being in the 60s. Perhaps the franchise would have flourished if the sequel had done more to differentiate itself from the original.
