Animals in Video Games Test | Something in Common

Answer: Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong is a gorilla who first appeared in 1981 in a Nintendo video game named after him. His Japanese creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, used many sources for inspiration including Bluto from the "Popeye" cartoons. The donkey part of the name was supposed to convey stupidity and although it was not seen that way by Nintendo in America; the name stayed and a legend was born.

Answer: Sonic the Hedgehog

In 1991, Sega was looking for a character to rival Mario who was leading the race for video game supremacy for Nintendo. The development team came up with "Sonic the Hedgehog" and the rest, as they say, is history.

Answer: Garfield

Garfield, the orange tabby, is known for many things including his love of lasagne, baiting Odie the dog and laziness. The 3D video game, also called "Garfield", incorporated these traits, but also has Garfield doing housework and at the end of the game, Garfield is put on a diet.

No wonder the game was not as successful as the developers hoped! Both versions were made by Renderware, Hip Interactive and The Code Monkeys.

Answer: Pony

The "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic" game for the mobile telephone is based on the Hasbro Studios animated television series of the same name. It was developed by Gameloft.

The toy ponies were introduced in 1983. Since then, several series of ponies have been produced. Although they were aimed at young girls, the fan base has grown considerable and now includes many adult males.

Answer: Turtle

Koopa Troopas, often called Koopas, are a race of turtle like animals, with "Bowser" as their fierce leader. They first appeared as "Shellcreepers" in the 1983 video game "Mario Bros.", but have developed and changed since then from the original, more realist turtle design. They frequently feature as the bad guys.

Kooper from "Paper Mario" was an ally rather than an enemy. As a race they are considered peaceful, but their guard duty often shows them in a bad light.

Answer: Crash Bandicoot

Sony wanted a cute animal that was not too well known that would become their mascot and hopefully rival Mario and Sonic. The wombat idea was discarded, but the name was used till the drawings were finalised.

Crash is based on an Eastern barred bandicoot, a native of Tasmania and Victoria in Australia.

Answer: Spyro the Dragon

"Spyro the Dragon" first appeared in 1998. He was the smallest of the dragons and walked on four feet, rather than two like the older dragons. As a toddler in the dragon world, he was produced to appeal especially to younger players.

As an older player, I liked Spyro because I found him to be very player-friendly.

Answer: Snake

Many versions of "Snake" have been seen. It started off as a simple series of white stars on a black/green background that grew as the player attempted to negotiate a maze.

Nokia has introduced several versions of "Snake" for their mobile phones. In 2012, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City announced that they hope to add the Nokia version to their collection.

Answer: Chocobo

Chocobos are large and usually flightless birds of a similar size to a horse that can be ridden with their cooperation. They have proven so popular that a series of video games was produced with them as the main characters.

Answer: Frog

"Frogger" is another Sega game. It was intially introduced by Konami and then Sega was granted the distribution rights. The basic idea of the game is to get as many of your starting line-up of frogs across a busy road as you can. There have been many variations on this theme over the years.