Video Games, One Letter Less Trivia Quiz

Answer: Cash Bandicoot

In 1996, the PlayStation gained its newest mascot. "Crash Bandicoot", an effort from the studio that would go on to make the acclaimed "Uncharted" and "The Last of Us" series many years later, is a platformer filled with a variety of levels usually played from a fixed perspective. Two further games followed in as many years, and then a kart racing spin-off, before Naughty Dog relinquished the series to other developers.

Answer: Tom Raider

"Tomb Raider", both the game and the series that bears its name, focuses on the all-round bottom-kicking British archaeologist known as Lara Croft. Originally a jewel in the portfolio of Core Design, the reins were eventually handed over to Crystal Dynamics after the less-than-impressive reception of 2003's "Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness".

Answer: Dad Space

Visceral Games' first foray into the survival horror genre came in 2008 with "Dead Space". Centred around Isaac Clarke and a seemingly abandoned starship overrun by the reanimated corpses of former humans, the game was a hit and went on to spawn a few sequels and a handful of spin-offs.

Answer: The Itcher

Undoubtedly one of Poland's most prominent cultural exports of recent years, 2007's "The Witcher" is based on Andrzej Sapkowski's novels. The titular witcher, Geralt of Rivia, travels around the land killing monsters for money and becomes embroiled in a civil war. "The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings" and "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt" followed in 2011 and 2015, respectively, to similar, if not greater, acclaim.

Answer: Moral Kombat

The original "Mortal Kombat" was released in North American arcades in 1992, and hit pretty much every major video game console within the next year. In contrast to other fighting games on the market, particularly "Street Fighter", "Mortal Kombat" was a lot bloodier (the fatality moves being particularly gory for the time) and thus attracted a fair amount of criticism.

Although it wasn't the only 'offender', it played a major role in the establishment of the ESRB for rating video games.

Answer: Ears of War

Taking the form of a third-person shooter, this 2006 game centres on a band of soldiers referred to as Delta Squad and their fight against the Locust, a primarily underground-dwelling menace that emerged and wreaked havoc on the planet Sera and its humans. "Gears of War" was one of the Xbox 360's early hits and gave rise to two sequels and a prequel on that console.

Answer: Wii Spots

Undoubtedly the biggest seller of the Wii era was "Wii Sports", mostly due to being bundled with nearly every console. With Wii Remotes in hand (and with wrist straps secured), players can try their hand at five different sports - baseball, bowling, boxing, golf and tennis. "Wii Sports Resort" from 2009 offers twelve sports (including bowling and golf from the original game) and makes use of the Wii MotionPlus accessory, which improves the accuracy of the Wii Remote tracking.

Answer: Super Mario Art

The humble origins of the "Mario Kart" dynasty lie in 1992's "Super Mario Kart". With 8 playable characters, 20 race tracks and 4 battle courses, it set the bar not only for future "Mario Kart" games but "Mario" spin-offs, showing that the franchise definitely had life outside the platforming genre.

Answer: Metal Gear Sold

Just over eight years after releasing "Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake", Hideo Kojima and his team at Konami released in 1998/99 what many consider to be one of the greatest stealth action games ever conceived. The game plays out as Solid Snake infiltrates a facility operated by FOXHOUND, a special forces unit, to stop a potential nuclear threat from a Metal Gear. "Metal Gear Solid" was remade in 2004 for the GameCube with the subtitle "The Twin Snakes".

Answer: Alone in the Ark

Infogrames' "Alone in the Dark" is often cited as the game that kicked off the survival horror genre. Players explore the haunted Derceto mansion, tackling puzzles and spooky foes aplenty, to find out what's going on. Two further sequels appeared in as many years before the series was rebooted in 2001 by Darkworks.