Trick or Treat: 10 Videogame Hero Costume Changes
10/28/2009 9:44 AM | 1 Comments | Page 1 of 1
You know what you're going as, right? After all, Halloween's the holiday where everyone switches up their looks to scary, sexy or silly results. As the 31st approaches, we've been thinking of videogames that do the exact same thing. Read on to see which heroes have gotten hot, hefty and hi-res throughout the years.
Mario's fire costume
First donned in: Super Mario Bros. (NES, 1986)
Special features of this look: Pyrokinesis. Nintendo's iconic plumber got fireball-throwing powers when players picked up the Fire Flower in World 1-1 of the classic game. He's switched colors and used the high-temperature ranged attacks many times since.
Trick or Treat: You might say that it was a mix-up at first, since the colors were switched up: The red shirt became white, and vice versa for the overall and hat. But the dashing contrast makes Mario appear more aggressive and distinctive, so we say Treat.
Evil Cole in Infamous
First donned in: Infamous (PS3, 2009)
Special features of this look: A sinister red glow. If you choose the dark side in Sucker Punch's electrical superhero game, Cole McGrath gets ghoulish. His skin became pale and veiny
à la Emperor Palpatine, and his clothes went from bright and colorful to dark and sooty. Entirely different upgrades like arc lightning opened up to you, too.
Trick or Treat: Evil Cole seems like he hasn't washed his clothes since he got all powered-up, and people recoil in horror when they see him -- so we're calling this wardrobe malfunction a Trick.
Tiger Jackson in the Tekken series
First donned in: Tekken 3 (PlayStation, 1998)
Special features of this look: Funkiness. Since Tiger's pretty much an unapologetic palette-swap from capoerista Eddy Gordo, his disco-era gear doesn't give him any fancy new fighting moves. But let's just say that those tight pants serve as a mating call for anyone who wants to celebrate his victories with him.
Trick or Treat: He gets points for the righteous 'fro, but white platform shoes? A Trick this fighter definitely can't pull off.
Titan-juiced Joker in Arkham Asylum
First donned in: Batman: Arkham Asylum (multiple platforms, 2009)
Special features of this look: Muscles and a green Mohawk. Joker's master plan in the acclaimed Dark Knight game involved a super-steroid called Titan. The Clown Prince of Crime gets a taste of his own medicine and hulks out into this hyper-muscled form. Batman ain't knocking this guy out in one punch.
Trick or Treat: Treat. With all the artists and actors who've portrayed him over the years, Joker has had a lot of different looks. But this more brutal version of the criminal clown kicks up the ghastliness several notches.
Halo 3's Recon Armor
First donned in: Halo 3 (Xbox 360, 2007)
Special features of this look: The knowledge that Bungie loves you. Seriously. The Halo development studio only parceled out the special duds to players who impressed them with excellent online performances or crazy Forge constructions.
Trick or Treat: Even though you don't get any improved stats out of the Recon armor, we're calling this one a Treat. Knowing that you can stand out from the same-looking sea of Halo multiplayer fanatics is reward enough.
Gun-toting Yuna from Final Fantasy X
First donned in: Final Fantasy X-2 (PS2, 2003)
Special features of this look: Guns. Tidus' magical love interest from
Final Fantasy X got a bad-ass makeover in the sequel. Her original Summoner look was more of a modified kimono, and the switch to Sphere Hunter put her in a halter top and short shorts that -- along with those pistols -- channeled a bit of Lara Croft into the role-playing heroine.
Trick or Treat: Treat, all the way. Increased sexiness aside,
FFX-2 put Yuna center stage and was one of the few times a Final Fantasy game focused on a female lead.
The Ubisoft version of Prince of Persia
First donned in: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (multiple platforms, 2001)
Special features of this look: Facial hair and time-manipulation powers. In his vest-and-jodhpurs mode, the original Prince was a nimble swordfighting dude. As tastes changed, so did he. The sweeping adventure and new abilities he got in
Sands of Time demanded an edgier style.
Trick or Treat: In the old days, the hero didn't even dominate the space on the original game's box art. Must've been those curly-toed slippers. The nouveau Prince was front-and-center, and stuck around for three well-received games. We're calling the modern-day duds a Treat.
Nate Spencer from Bionic Commando
First donned in: Bionic Commando (multiple platforms, 2009)
Special features of this look: White-boy dreadlocks. With its chunky panels and squishy cables, the technological appendage in the follow-up to the arcade and NES games actually looks less advanced. And the gameplay felt less advanced, too. Zing!
Trick or Treat: The dreads, the baggy cargo pants, the tank top... This redesign smelled like a mish-mash of trendy styles trying hard to be hip. A nasty Trick.
Clank as Giant Clank
First donned in: Ratchet & Clank (PlayStation 2, 2002)
Special features of this look: Squishing enemies. Part of the charm of Ratchet's diminutive robot buddy is his self-effacing demeanor and general helpfulness. But getting those niceties in a 50-foot-tall automaton of destruction makes him an even better friend to travel the galaxies with.
Trick or Treat: Switching things up so it's the deferential sidekick who saves the day is a great Treat.
Samus in her Zero Suit
First donned in: Metroid: Zero Mission (Game Boy Advance, 2004)
Special features of this look: No mistaking her for a guy. Samus can switch out of her distinctive cybernetic battle suit in the hit Smash Bros. games and, though she's only got a blaster for offense, she's much faster than normal.
Trick or Treat: Treat. In Zero Mission, this outfit shows up as a bonus, and players can have a more challenging experience playing through the game with less armor.
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