You’ve probably gotten used to all sorts of fresh character designs over the years, but people often overlook just how drab the aesthetics used to be back in the day because of the graphic limitations developers and artists had to work around.
Now with consoles featuring next-gen graphics that can handle all sorts of detailed sprites and models, you get to experience a new slew of aesthetic overhauls. Some characters saw their entire looks change over the years, whilst others had some aspects of their design refined in certain ways. Objectively, these characters look far more aesthetic now than they did before.
10 Scorpion - Mortal Kombat (1992)
When Mortal Kombat was released, it was mired in controversy but applauded for its unique art style. The decision to use images as sprites made the game stand out and the gore made it special.
One of the most iconic characters from the franchise, Scorpion has been featured in every MK game since the first one.
His design’s a lot sleeker now, a little distinct from his icy counterpart Sub-Zero. Hanzo Hasashi’s come a long way from his initial appearance in the franchise and continues to be a fan-favorite as time progresses.
9 The Doom Slayer - Doom (1993)
As violent as he is stoic, the iconic Doom Slayer is a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately, with no body to represent his true self in the original game, his new look in Doom: Eternal was a perfect step up from his first appearance.
Instead of a disembodied head looking side-to-side you got a fleshed-out ripped character in a tricked-out metal suit meant to kick hell-spawn ass. However, you don’t really get to see him ever take off the suit, just his helmet.
8 Solid Snake - Metal Gear (1987)
The man who set the series off, Solid Snake is one of the most successful operatives for the United States Army. This Big Boss clone earned himself all sorts of iconic titles and has come a long way from his pixilated first entry into the franchise.
As the series continued to release new titles with console-pushing graphics, the “Legendary Soldier” was far more fleshed out and gained some recognizable facial features in MG 2. David continued to grow over the years, and you got to see his aged face more often.
7 Batman - Batman (1986)
Batman came a long way from his first foray into the video games scene, starting off as some barely recognizable sprite looking to find parts of his batmobile. Bruce Wayne now looks like his iconic self with and without the mask.
The Caped Crusader was barely ever featured in any decent games, that would be the case until Arkham Asylum came out. The Dark Knight still continues to grow as a character and his aesthetics change all the time with every iteration.
6 Ryu - Street Fighter (1987)
Ryu from the first Street Fighter game is barely reminiscent of his current self, and it’s shocking just how much changed over the years. From his red-brown hair to his lanky arms and legs, as the sequels came out we saw this titular character get buffer and more well-defined.
Despite wearing the same gi and headband, the character still looks vastly different from what he used to before. His face is more toned now and fits in well with the rest of his absurdly bulbous figure.
5 Sonic - Sonic The Hedgehog (1991)
This blue blur is the fastest thing alive and is growing with every video game iteration, much like the stakes he deals with. From freeing furry animals to thwarting global domination, Sonic’s been through a lot of changes.
His initial appearance featured him as some short stumpy yet rounded-out ball-like figure ready to wreak havoc, but now he’s taller, lankier, and faster. He also uses his mouth to talk, but you’ll notice his hair’s still pretty much the same.
4 Super Mario - Super Mario Bros (1985)
An Italian plumber gets thrown into a world full of fungi and turtles, Super Mario is one of the most iconic characters Nintendo's ever spawned. Rather than a simple pixilated 2D character with barely any depth, now he looks like a real person, albeit super short.
His face is round and features a lot more details, and the arms and legs are longer than before. His hat and clothes still look the same however regardless of how many appearances he’s made throughout the franchise only the color of his overalls went from red to blue.
3 Link - The Legend Of Zelda (1986)
From a tiny creature following around a guide to one of Hyrule’s best defenses against the forces of Ganon, Link has been through a lot of changes over the years. He went from a round stumpy figure to a well-defined fully mobile character capable of all sorts of feats.
He looks more human as time progresses, and his figure is a lot thinner compared to what you saw in 1986. His outfit got the same treatment but remained fairly consistent with the green tunic and hat for the most part, until The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom dropped the ball and switched up his outfit.
2 Goku - Dragon Ball Daihikyo (1986)
Considering the graphic limitations of Goku’s first appearance in video games, it was one of the worst representations of the character ever. The sprite barely looked like the titular main character from Toriyama’s hit manga series, Dragon Ball.
A crude indiscernible child on a cloud with hair that somewhat resembled Goku’s barely caught the spirit of the character or honored the stunning art the mangaka had to offer. Thankfully now the character looks far more detailed and doesn’t need his power pole to get recognized.
1 Spider-Man - The Amazing Spider-man (1990)
Despite the newer consoles at the time allowing for better-detailed sprites, Spider-Man got the cold shoulder when it came to the first video game representation of the character. As iconic as Peter Parker’s alias actually is, you barely got the same vibe you’d get now from the superhero’s look.
Although, his sprite did look a lot better than most comic-book heroes on consoles at the time. You even got to see a larger version of him on the side of the screen, a design reminiscent of the version you’ll see in Fox’s 1994 show, Spider-Man.
Now he looks sleek and modern, ready for combat or fighting crime while dishing out witty quips.