In an era long before PlayStation’s biggest characters were a collection of grizzled, middle-aged dads, there was another tried-and-true method of winning over gaming audiences. Kid-friendly mascot platformers ruled the land, with characters like Mario and Sega’s Blue Blur becoming the medium’s defacto figureheads. While there was no shortage of anthropomorphic dudes with attitude on the platform thanks to third-party studios (a special shout out to Rayman, Crash Bandicoot, and Gex), PlayStation didn’t have one that was entirely their own.
