I was cleaning up some old gaming magazines the other day from the good ol' 90s era of gaming and I was amazed to see so many game characters nobody remembers or cares about gracing the cover of many magazines at the time, characters I often remember feeling would become as big and timeless as a Mario, Sonic, or Lara Croft.
But none left that impression on me more than Perfect Dark's Joanna Dark.
And all the signs were there for her to become Nintendo's Lara Croft. Her game was universally praised, her character was wickedly attractive and highly proficient, and her face was everywhere for a few years leading up to the game's release and shortly afterward. I thought for sure we'd get a new enduring franchise out of the series and a new leading lady in games to join the ranks of Samus Aran, Jill Valentine, Chun-li, and other timeless gaming icons.
Of course, things internally at RARE got complicated, but even as Microsoft bought them out I held on hope, seeing as Perfect Dark Zero had quite the marketing blitz for it as well.
Perfect Dark Zero wasn't a very good game, in my opinion, but it did sell a lot of copies, but after that it seemed Joanna's time in the spotlight was definitively over. Rather than enduring as a beloved video game icon, she's pretty much stuck in the dustbin of history alongside characters like Gex the Gekko, Glover, and Kameo.
Joanna isn't really thought of as a gaming icon now, and that got me thinking what other characters we thought were going to become enduring beloved characters that ultimately just sort of faded away after a brush with fame and attention. Nights, ToeJam & Earl, Blinx the Timesweeper... whoever it is, let me know which horse you backed and supported, only for them to fade into culture irrelevance and indifference.
But none left that impression on me more than Perfect Dark's Joanna Dark.
And all the signs were there for her to become Nintendo's Lara Croft. Her game was universally praised, her character was wickedly attractive and highly proficient, and her face was everywhere for a few years leading up to the game's release and shortly afterward. I thought for sure we'd get a new enduring franchise out of the series and a new leading lady in games to join the ranks of Samus Aran, Jill Valentine, Chun-li, and other timeless gaming icons.
Of course, things internally at RARE got complicated, but even as Microsoft bought them out I held on hope, seeing as Perfect Dark Zero had quite the marketing blitz for it as well.
Perfect Dark Zero wasn't a very good game, in my opinion, but it did sell a lot of copies, but after that it seemed Joanna's time in the spotlight was definitively over. Rather than enduring as a beloved video game icon, she's pretty much stuck in the dustbin of history alongside characters like Gex the Gekko, Glover, and Kameo.
Joanna isn't really thought of as a gaming icon now, and that got me thinking what other characters we thought were going to become enduring beloved characters that ultimately just sort of faded away after a brush with fame and attention. Nights, ToeJam & Earl, Blinx the Timesweeper... whoever it is, let me know which horse you backed and supported, only for them to fade into culture irrelevance and indifference.
