17. Bonk

The game: While mascots Sonic and Mario transfixed the gaming world's attention during the 16-bit era, NEC's TurboGrafx-16 also had a lesser-known but equally cool interesting mascot: namely, a big-headed caveman with a loincloth.

Bonk took on a variety of generic bad guys (and imaginative, screen filling bosses) by "bonking" them with his oversized, rock-hard melon of a head.

Though the walking controls were kind of wonky, innovations like direction-altering spin jumps and wall climbing showed off some relatively inventive level design.

Hudson eventually released two sequels for the game on the TG16 as well as a recent mobile phone revamp that, much like the originals, failed to ignite a nationwide spate of Bonk-fever.

The remake: Putting the slow-moving Bonk into a Mario-style open 3D environment would be a disaster, but a more linear, Crash Bandicoot-style isometric crawl could work well. Capturing the graphical style of the original would be important, and easy to do for an art team with experience in cel-shading.

Large bosses are another must, as are the original's wide array of monotony-breaking mini-games that give modest rewards for jump-based challenges.

Spin-off potential: The spin-off potential for the big-headed caveman has already been proven with the TG16's Air Zonk -- an odd, horizontal space shoot 'em-up featuring a flying, robotic Bonk -- and a Japanese collection of Bonk-based mini-games.

Bonk's cast of distinctive, well-designed characters is original enough that he can pretty much be thrown into any type of game. Kart racer? Multiplayer mini-game showcase? Super Smash Bros.-style fighter (along with other Hudson standard-bearers)? The possibilities are endless.