The Sonic Knockoff Extravaganza!

About this episode

The episode explores the rise and fall of various video game mascots that attempted to capitalize on the success of Sonic the Hedgehog.

To paraphrase Tony Montana: First you come up with a mascot, then you make the platformer game, then you make the money. Yes, with the advent that little blue meth/ring imbued hedgehog had dozens of game publishers thought to themselves: Hey, that looks easy, I could also do that. And so we had a swarm of Bubsys, Gexs, and acrobatic bats flood the shelves in the hopes your grandma couldn't tell the difference between the game you wanted and Awesome Possum. Many companies tried to get their own platforming mascot star, most failed, and now Holden guides Jake and Mike through the virtual pet cemetery of crappy characters that didn't even last long enough to get a catchy rap April could hit. Want even more Nerd of Mouth? Support us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/nerdofmouth

People in this episode

Hosts: Holden, Jake, Mike

Topics covered

• video game mascots
• platformer games
• gaming history
• failed characters
• nostalgia

Keywords

• Sonic the Hedgehog
• platformers
• video game characters
• Bubsy
• Gex
• Awesome Possum
• gaming nostalgia

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Awesome Possum, Bubsy, Gex

Places: April

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