Top 10 potential iPhone mascots

Every successful video games system needs a mascot - an expertly crafted character whose qualities reflect those of the host platform. One who appears in some of the platform’s finest games and which, ultimately, will be recognisable even to non-gamers.

Sega had Sonic to push its consoles throughout the '90s, while Nintendo continues to make full use of Mario. Microsoft has a couple of candidates (mostly of the gruff pumped up marine variety) while Sony has worked its way through countless iconic figures depending on who it's marketing at.

But if we’re talking a single defining character for iPhone, which would it be? It would have to be someone or something that could adorn lunch boxes and T-Shirts, as well as spin off into other media such as cartoons and comics.

Which makes things surprisingly tough. Many of the best iPhone games don’t rely on outstanding character design as a traditional console game would. Does Flight Control have an identifiable front man? How about Trism? Or Zen Bound?

Then there’s the problem of cross-platform titles. The Secret of Monkey Island and Go! Go! Rescue Squad both have excellent character design, but are not commonly identified as being at home on iPhone.

Here are a few of our suggestions for potential candidates. Let us know if we’ve missed any in the comments section.

Top 10 potential iPhone mascots

IUGO’s leading candidate is Toy Bot, a cute little robotic fella with a penchant for physics-based conundrums. He (it?) certainly passes the quality game test, and each Toy Bot Diaries entry makes full use of the iPhone’s unique accelerator and touchscreen inputs.

Anything against him? Well, while they’ve sold well we would guess that the Toy Bot games aren’t quite in the same league as some the platform’s big hitters. TB didn’t get an invite to the App Store's first birthday party, which perhaps suggests a profile that's too low to be considered a mascot.

If decency and respectability were all that decided such matters, then Toy Bot would be a major contender.

A fresh-faced new entry to the mascot campaign, MEVO is the one-eyed star of MEVO & The Grooveriders, a quirky rhythm-action game from Red Rocket Games. Obviously, that puts him at an instant disadvantage, as he won’t have spread into the wider consciousness just yet.

But this is looking at mascot potential, and MEVO has that. His game is a joyful mix of calypso pop and simple beat-matching, and MEVO himself is an unusual plastacine model of a character.

Perhaps he’s a little too unusual for his own good, but he'll get the young and funky vote. His reputation is further damaged by his murky past as starring in a PC game...

It’s possible that no iPhone game has been discussed as much in the wider gaming community over the past few months as Edge. Don’t look for it on the App Store - you won’t find it, as it’s been taken off amid a legal dispute.

All of which puts a huge dent in the Edge cube’s mascot campaign. The other problem is that, well, it’s just a cube. Hardly iconic stuff, although the game’s overall aesthetic is undoubtedly stylish and fairly unique.

Perhaps never a true contender, Edge gets a look-in thanks to goodwill alone - like a philandering presidential candidate who rescues a bunch of kittens from a house fire in the lead-up to an election.

Rasta Monkey has both the looks and the quality to make him a fine mascot, and the game he stars in makes brilliant use of the iPhone. You steer the laid-back simian through artfully hand drawn levels, swinging from branch to branch with a double-fingered touch of the screen.

The only problem that we can see is the whole 'politically incorrect' charge that might be levelled at him, and it’s easy to see where sensitive types could take exception to the very concept of a 'Rasta Monkey'.

Rasta Monkey’s charm and sunny disposition may get him so far, but there are a few too many questions surrounding his politics.

Glyder wowed us with its serenely beautiful take on unpowered flight. It wowed everyone, in fact, with some strong sales and an excellent critical reception. The only trouble is that the lead character, Eryn, is a little too bland and anonymous to stand as a strong platform mascot.

It doesn’t help that you rarely see her face, and that your attention (by design) is always fixed on what she is doing rather than on the character herself.

A fine worker for the cause of iPhone gaming, then, but perhaps Eryn lacks the personality to take the weight of the platform on her winged shoulders.

Toki Tori was born to play the part of platform mascot. This plump, wide-eyed bird comes straight out of the Pixar school of appealing characters. Toki Tori the game is no slouch, either, offering an appealing blend of platforming and puzzling wrapped up in some gorgeous graphics.

Toki Tori the character is perhaps a little too perfectly designed for comfort though. It’s like Tom Cruise - good looking, personable, rich and talented. So why don’t I like him?

Perhaps that’s just the cynical Brit in me. Toki Tori would be there or there-abouts in the run-in of an iPhone mascot campaign.

My Brute has been going down an absolute storm on the App Store, with its simple levelling-up gameplay and innovative online features. It also has a brilliant visual style, with super-deformed combatants that just burst with personality regardless of how you customise them.

But it’s this customisation element that most damages its chances of mascotdom. There’s no single defining character in My Brute, only what each individual player designs.

If Bulkypix could decide upon one brute design to represent them all, then future My Brute games could well produce a mascot.

Topple has been quietly influential since its release on the App Store, inspiring many similar or clearly indebted titles. Like all the best iPhone games, it’s a simple premise with a surprising level of nuance, requiring you to build precarious towers out of variously shaped blocks.

These blocks have a surprising amount of character, each sporting a range of amusing expressions, from maniacal glee to simple bemusement.

Again, though, there’s no one defining character, which counts against Topple when it comes to deciding a mascot.

Still one of the strongest tower defence games on iPhone, Fieldrunners also possesses something that few of its rivals can boast: character. As you set up your defenses, wave after wave of delightfully grizzled little soldiers pour forward against you.

The little soldier is positioned in most of the artwork as the game’s lead, and he’s distinctively styled. The only trouble is, he’s something of an anti-hero. You don’t control him - rather it’s your job to stop him and his colleagues.

A bad guy as a platform mascot? Virtually unheard of.

And here we have it. Talk about saving the best for last, the Rolandos have to be the leading candidates for iPhone mascot status. They tick all the boxes - appealing design: check. Platform exclusivity: check. Brilliant and popular games: most definitely.

The Rolando games have even received their fair share of attention from the wider media and could probably, in fact, already be considered as unofficial iPhone mascots.

One potential fly in the ointment could be the inherent similarity between the world of Rolando and that of Sony’s LocoRoco. But Rolando 2 has already shown signs of a strong individual identity emerging, one that combines the flat hand-drawn styles of the original (and LocoRoco) with a chunkier, bolder 2.5D aesthetic.

If HandCircus continues to forge its own path with Rolando 3, there really will only be one contender for iPhone mascot status.