Picturing Video Games Trivia Quiz

If asked to name a video game character many people, even those who have never played a game, would come up with Mario, Nintendo's famous plumber. The first game appeared in 1985 with Mario and his brother, Luigi, trying to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser. Since then, games involving Mario have appeared on every Nintendo console and the character has evolved into a franchise involving books, comics and television, among others. 'Super Mario' is the general name given to the series.

Mario is known for his luxuriant moustache, so that was the photo clue chosen.

Another Nintendo creation, the first 'Donkey Kong' game came out in 1981. The character is a huge gorilla and the aim of the game is to save Pauline, who has been kidnapped by Kong. The game is a version of the early platform games where players have to jump from one place to another - in this game, the background is a building site which has to be climbed from the bottom to the top, where Donkey Kong is situated.

The weapon employed by Donkey Kong is a barrel, and avoiding these is part of the game, which increases in difficulty the higher you go. The picture of barrels should have pointed you to this game.

The first game in this long running series came out in 1996. It was published by the London based Eidos Interactive. This adventure game features an archaeologist named Lara Croft who explores ancient ruins and mausoleums in search of hidden artefacts. Later versions of the game included the name of Lara in their titles.

The photo clue is of some ancient ruins, in this instance Machu Picchu in Peru.

The one game nearly everyone has heard of is 'Pac-Man', which first appeared in 1980 in arcades. The player controls Pac-Man, who has to collect coloured dots while avoiding the four ghosts, named Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde, who are trying to catch him. The tables can be turned when the ghosts are turned blue, by eating large dots, when the hunted can become the hunter, at least briefly.

The Pac-Man character's shape is based, at least in part, on a round pizza with one slice removed, so that is the image chosen for your clue in this question.

'Spyro the Dragon' is a game created for the Sony PlayStation in 1998. It features a dragon who explores Dragon World to rescue other dragons, find treasure and overcome Gnasty Gnorc, the villain of the game. As happens with most successful games, more versions followed and these were available on various game consoles, including hand held ones.

The photo clue refers to Spyro, who is depicted as a purple dragon. I'd suggest that not many dragons are purple, but since they don't exist in the real world I suppose that argument is easily countered.

The game being hinted at here is 'Sonic the Hedgehog', but the hint is a nod to Sonic's friend, nicknamed Tails, a fox with two tails whose name is Miles Prower. The first game in what became a series came out in 1991 on the Sega Genesis. Like most games of the era, the game was platform based with the characters having to overcome obstacles and avoid traps. The aim is to collect Chaos Emeralds and prevent the villain, Doctor Ivo Robotnik (also known as Doctor Eggman) from obtaining them.

I could have chosen a picture of a hedgehog, but felt that was too easy so found a fox instead. This one doesn't have two tails, though.

The game of 'Tetris' was created in Russia in 1989 and is another of the well known games in the quiz. Blocks of different colours and shapes drop down the screen and the object of the game is to move them around so they fit together as neatly as possible. The game ends when there is no room left to fit the blocks.

The photo clue is the closest I could get to multi-coloured blocks without infringing copyright but should have given you enough of a clue to recognise the game.

The first 'Gran Turismo' game was published in 1997 for the PlayStation, owned by Sony. It was a racing game with the player competing against computer generated drivers. Various cars were available and there was a variety of tracks to pick from. The game was very successful.

The photo hint shows a checkered flag, the traditional way of signalling the end of a motor race.

'Frogger' was a 1981 game by Sega and involved guiding five frogs to safety, firstly by crossing a busy road and then by crossing a river. There are numerous ways to die in the game since traffic moves quickly and even reaching what appears to be safety in the middle of the screen can give a false sense of security as snakes appear at random intervals to kill you off. Falling into the river costs a life too, although jumping on a turtle or alligator can help you, provided you don't reach the edge of the screen. Turtles sometimes dive, drowning you, and alligators might eat you.

The other way to cross the river is by jumping on a floating log, and this is the part of the game which is hinted at in the photo clue.

This is another platform game created for Nintendo consoles and was first issued in 1998 on the Nintendo 64. Like many games of the era, it involved rescuing someone, in this instance Tooty who has been kidnapped by Gruntilda, a witch. The characters in the game are Banjo, a brown bear, and Kazooie, a red bird. Completing the game leads to Tooty being saved and Gruntilda meeting her end after being crushed by a large boulder.

I hope the picture of a brown bear helped you work out the answer to this one.