Did The Rabbids Kill Rayman? How Ubisoft Ruined Its Mario

gamepur.com:

If I sincerely asked you if you knew who Super Mario was, you’d probably look at me like I was an idiot. Of course, you know who Super Mario is. He’s only the most prolific plumber turned mushroom-consuming superhero ever to exist.

Mario Mario was the first of his kind and has remained the face of gaming since his first appearance in 1983. But he isn’t the only videogame mascot recognizable even to those who have never held a controller. Sonic the Hedgehog, Donkey Kong, and Pikachu are right up there with the mustachioed man in red in terms of notoriety.

In fact, most notable gaming icons were conceived between the mid-80s and late 90s. The cultural impact these characters had is unquantifiable, so it’s no wonder other powerhouse developers would attempt to secure their piece of the pie by creating cool yet loveable characters during the early 2000s.

Rayman: No Arms, No Legs, All heart

1995 was an impactful year in gaming. Sony entered the console wards with the original PlayStation, the Tekken franchise was born, and Chrono Trigger spawned one of the earliest cult followings for the medium. Preexisting monoliths began to expand their cast of iconic characters with Knuckles getting a standalone title, Yoshi being a titular character in Super Mario World 2, and Diddy Kong having his own quest in Donkey Kong Country 2.

Enter Rayman: Ubisoft’s first “mascot,” starring in five mainline titles and roughly 26 spinoff titles ranging from traditional sidescrollers to on-foot racing games to educational experiences for kids.

When you look at Rayman’s catalog of games, it’s clear that Ubisoft intended for Rayman to be a mascot character—bowling, Golf, Kart Racing, 3D platformers, 2D platformers, Mario Party-esque minigame