Guinness World Records has released the results of its online poll asking gamers to decide who the all-time greatest game characters are. More than 13,000 people participated in the vote on Guinness's official website and it looks like nostalgia stole the show, with only two post-2000 characters making the top 10. Halo's Master Chief, who originally debuted in 2001, took the number three spot, while Kratos from God of War, first seen in 2005, placed ninth.
Eight of the chosen characters are humans or human-like creatures, one is a hedgehog, and one is a yellow circle with a mouth. Nintendo was the only publisher to have created two of the characters on the list, with Link placing second, just below his Italian plumber colleague, who, of course, took first:
1. Mario (Donkey Kong, Nintendo, 1981)
2. Link (The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo, 1986)
3. Master Chief (Halo: Combat Evolved, Microsoft, 2001)
4. Solid Snake (Metal Gear, Konami, 1987)
5. Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy VII, Square, 1997)
6. Pac-Man (Pac-Man, Namco, 1980)
7. Lara Croft (Tomb Raider, Eidos 1996)
8. Gordon Freeman (Half-Life, Valve, 1998)
9. Kratos (God of War, Sony, 2005)
10. Sonic (Sonic the Hedgehog, Sega, 1990)
That's not a bad representation of the most important figures in the 30+ year history of the home console game market, but you surely have a few pet favorites (Guybrush? Jill Valentine? Etc.?) which didn't make the list. If it were up to you, what would you change?
You can see the full list at Guinness' site.
Feb 17, 2011
