Gaming's Lifetime Achievement Awards

When we put together our 30 Characters Who Defined A Decade list, we had to come up with a few criteria. The most black-and-white of these was the date they were introduced - if they debuted before 2000, they wouldn't be eligible. We loved picking the most important characters of the most recent decade, but we obviously haven’t forgotten about those that came before. In fact, almost every one of the characters on this list is alive and well as of 2010, with some like Mario still going just as strong as ever. Take a look at a dozen of gaming's legendary characters that couldn't make our cover story.

1. Mario

It doesn't matter if you're a hardcore gamer that only plays Call of Duty and Halo or a casual gamer that sticks to minigames on Wii...you know Mario's importance and dominance in our industry. Even non-gamers are well aware of the plumber, and studies have shown that he's more recognizable to U.S. children than Mickey Mouse. His 2D adventures on the NES and SNES are the epitome of nostalgia for many gamers in their twenties, and his jump to 3D set the standard for the last decade of video games. He's appeared in a few sub-par titles, but for the most part his name on the box means you're in for a quality gaming experience. Proving that he's still on top of his game, in the last 12 months he's starred in Super Mario Galaxy 2 and New Super Mario Bros. Wii - two titles that easily stand toe-to-toe with any of his previous games.

2. Solid Snake

He may have started out as an 8-bit collection of pixels, but Solid Snake grew to become one of the most complex and legendary characters in the history of the industry. His first couple of adventures were limited by their respective hardware, but gaming's move to 3D let series creator Hideo Kojima go wild with Snake's story. With the Playstation's ability to incorporate large amounts of voice acting and orchestrated music into its games, the original Metal Gear Solid is often cited as one of the first titles that truly felt like playing through a movie. Snake survived through two more consoles and three core titles after the first Metal Gear Solid, holding his place as one of gaming's elite characters for over two decades.

3. Link

While Mario perfected platforming on the NES, Link was busy revolutionizing action/adventure games. The first Legend of Zelda featured a massive world to explore, numerous items to collect, and a variety of fantastic dungeons and boss battles. Throughout the years to follow, his games continued to improve. Link to the Past took everything that was great about the original and made it even better on SNES, and Ocarina of Time took the series to 3D in as impressive a manner as Super Mario 64 did for its series. Zelda titles during the last decade (Majora's Mask, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess) have sparked a little more debate than the universally-loved LTTP and Ocarina, but no one can deny that they're fantastic titles. With Nintendo proudly displaying Skyward Sword front and center this year at E3, it's clear that we're nowhere near seeing the last of Link.

4. Samus

Long before gaming was populated by countless space marines, Samus was exploring desolate planets and taking down Metroids with her wave beam. Taking out Mother Brain and escaping the exploding base in time was a thrilling ending to her debut title, but even more shocking was the character revelation at the very end. Female protagonists were even more uncommon in the 80s as they are today, so her reveal became one of the most surprising moments of any NES game. Similar to Link, she starred in a refined installment on the SNES, followed by an impressive jump to 3D. Many doubted whether or not the series would work in first-person, but the Metroid Prime trilogy proved skeptics wrong by bringing the its trademark gameplay to a new perspective while keeping all the fun intact.

5. Pac-Man

You won't be hearing any comparisons to Solid Snake when it comes to everyone's favorite yellow circle. He doesn't have a compelling backstory, he's never had anything really interesting to say, and he's never saved the world. Basically, he's just a dude that ****ing loves dots. That's all we need out of this little guy, as the addictive gameplay of his arcade classic remains fun today (and has recently been revived thanks to Championship Edition). And to the best of our knowledge, he's the only character on this list with a mainstream album named after him.

6. Donkey Kong

Mario has bested countless foes throughout the years - Koopa Troopas, Goombas, Koopalings, Bob-Ombs...the list goes on and on. However, none of them managed to see mainstream success away from the plumber's world. After getting top billing over Mario in his first titles, Donkey Kong split off entirely to star in the Donkey Kong Country series. These three platformers saw great success on the Super Nintendo, and the series has recently been revived on the Wii. He could have continued riding Mario's coattails all the way to the bank, but Nintendo was wise in making DK a star in his own right.

7. Sonic

If there was one character that gave Mario a run for his money, it was Sonic the Hedgehog. And we're not talking about their lame Olympic games years later, we're talking about the heated Nintendo vs. Sega rivalry of the early 90s. Mario was the dominant platformer for his first three titles, but Sonic came to challenge for the crown once things moved up to the 16-bit era. With a healthy dose of 'tude and lightning-fast speed, Sonic was an entirely different beast than the portly plumber. In the years to follow, Sega seemingly did everything they possibly could to murder good memories we had of the hedgehog, but his early games were among the few to give Mario some serious competition.

8. Mega Man

If this list covered sheer output during the NES era, Mega Man would be at the top. With six 8-bit titles, the Blue Bomber was more prolific than any other character from the era. His sequels never re-invented the wheel, but we still couldn't wait to see what new abilities he'd get in each game. Some were permanent (slide, charge shot), while many others were acquired from boss fights. With the ability to take on the powers of his defeated enemies, Mega Man was a Swiss army knife of awesome weapons. Even though we've screamed as he fell onto spikes more than any character in video game history, we can't help but love him.

9. Duke Nukem

Many characters in the earlier eras of gaming fit into the Nintendo mascot/family-friendly mold. Duke Nukem, however, was a cigar-smoking, steroid-infused, womanizing, rocket launcher-toting ***. It's easy enough to make a bunch of boob jokes, but Duke had some great lines that were delivered perfectly. He only had a few appearances thanks to the crazy-long development saga of Duke Nukem Forever, but it's good to know we'll finally be seeing him again next year.

10. Scorpion

One thing the Mortal Kombat series has never lacked is memorable characters. Whether it's the Hollywood flair of Johnny Cage, the metal-armed Jax Briggs, or the thunder god Raiden, personality has always been one of the series' biggest strengths. However, the most memorable is Ed Boon's personal favorite, the ninja Scorpion. His "get over here" line and spear throw are among the very best MK trademarks, his feud with Sub-Zero is a classic, and the skull reveal during his first fatality was a great surprise. Out of dozens of memorable characters, Scorpion is the first to come to mind when most fans think of Mortal Kombat.

11. Bowser

Every great hero needs a great nemesis, and Mario can always count on Bowser to kidnap Peach or threaten the entire Mushroom Kingdom. As the primary antagonist in almost every Mario game (except 2, which makes sense given the history), the Koopa king has proven to be quite the resilient foe. Not only is he a formidable opponent in his own right, but he also seems to have unlimited platoons of minions, a massive budget considering how many castles and traps he's built, and even numerous children that he sends out to do his bidding. He was always a great villain, and recent years have expanded his personality in unexpected and humorous ways. Bowser's Inside Story did this better than any other game, featuring the Koopa as a loudmouth, delusional, brash moron. We wouldn't mind seeing Bowser pulling a Donkey Kong by starring in his own series of games after his most recent performances.

12. Ryu

Like Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter II is known as much for its colorful characters as it is for its stellar fighting gameplay. Ryu is actually one of the least flashy combatants, but he's one of the first examples of the gi-wearing, martial arts *** that's in virtually every fighting game. More memorable than his look or backstory is his moveset, featuring the legendary hadoken, dragon uppercut, and hurricane kick. Almost 20 years after his debut, Ryu is still one of the most frequently-picked characters on the entire Street Fighter roster.