Our generation has grown up with video games. As we got older, so did our favourite characters; they have grown and evolved with us. They first started out as pixelated blobs on a screen in the 1970s. Do you remember the first ever video game? Pong was the beginning of the first generation of arcade games. Thanks to advances in technology and design, characters like Link, Lara, Snake, Mega Man, Chun-Li, Cloud Strife, Dante, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mario, Sub Zero and Samus Aran have been given plenty of makeovers over the last 40 years.Our infographic looks at all the cool tweaks and changes made to our favourite video game characters over the years.
Legendary Link “”
Legend of Zelda is a famous fantasy adventure game which took the world by storm more than 30 years ago. The first game was released in 1986 and since then has expanded into 19 entries on all Nintendo’s major game consoles. It’s definitely the company’s most prominent and successful franchise. Mario and Link are practically fraternal twins as the two games, Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda, were developed at the same time by Shigeru Miyamoto, Takashi Tezuka and their team at Nintendo. Both characters have experienced significant costume changes over the years – as you’ll see in the infographic, designers played around with Link a bit more than Mario. Designers played around with his leggings and even his hair colour over the years, lightening it from brownie-red to different shades of blonde. Link’s green iconic tunic and hat seem to be inspired by Disney’s Peter Pan, the rebellious boy who refuses to grow up. Did designers dare change Link’s signature green look in the latest game? Check out the evolution of Link all the way from 1986 to 2017 through various game titles like Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess and Skyward.
Almighty Assassin
Assassin’s Creed is the immensely popular action-adventure game produced by Ubisoft which was recently also turned into a film. In short, the plot revolves primarily between two ancient secret societies, the Assassins and the Knights Templar, and there’s even mention of an ancient species long before humanity, whose civilisation was destroyed by a solar storm. If the plot appeals to you, how about trying a few rounds of NetEnt’s Secret Code slot which has several special features, including Expanding Wild action, free spins and multipliers.
It’s clear to see that some video game franchises retain a certain style while altering the characters. Assassin’s Creed has, except for the Ezio trilogy, changed the protagonist in every single game, but there still remains a definite design style running through each game – even if from one game to the other you swapped allegiance, or travelled hundreds and thousands of years through time. You can see from the infographic, that Altaïr’s costume in the first Assassin’s Creed looks nothing like Jacob Frye’s in Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. Altair’s outfit is mostly white, more than that of any other assassin and has the least embellishments. Connor Kenway’s gear in Assassin’s Creed III had blends of colonial and Native American styles which made for great cosplay, whereas Edward Kenway’s costume resembles that of a pirate. The iconic white hood even experienced a change of colour as time went by – but you can still track the design concepts from one game to the next?
Prince of Persia
The Prince of Persia has also come a long way style-wise since 1989. In fact, the game’s homepage promotes the concept of “A whole new Prince.” Like Assassin’s Creed, it forms part of the Ubisoft family. There have been several distinct Prince characters, all sharing common traits. The Prince is mostly depicted as coming from a royal line, although in the original games the protagonist was initially unaware of his royal heritage. The Prince’s hairstyle has changed in particular – along with his outfit which has evolved for the better (it looked like he was wearing his jammies initially). At some point, his hair was briefly covered by a turban; then it got darker with every successive game. In the early years, his getup resembled that of Disney’s Aladdin street rat ensemble. Take a look at our infographic to see how his costumes have evolved over the last two decades.
Lara Croft
This iconic character has also experienced many facelifts and tweaks ever since she was born 1996. The Tomb Raider franchise was created by the British gaming company, Core Design. Lara Croft is the kick-ass archaeologist who travels around the world searching for lost artefacts and infiltrating dangerous tombs and ruins. She is gaming’s most recognisable female icon. Between ’96 and ’15 there’s been quite a change – designers have given her a more modest look in the last game. Could you imagine changing the adventurous brunette’s hair colour to blonde? Not sure how her devoted fans would react to that. See the infographic for Lara’s evolution over the years.
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For more massive video game character transformations from God of War, Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, Mortal Kombat and much more, check out our infographic below.
