Computer games have been around for decades, we have seen virtual characters come and go. The likes of Mario and Sonic are still around on the new generation of consoles, but what happened to the one time famous characters of the gaming world? Let's take a trip down memory lane and see what we can remember:

First and foremost the character that comes to my mind is Alex the Kidd, or as I used to call him Alex the squid. This contender was up there with Mario and Luigi and was first seen on the Master System in 1986, with his trademark paper scissors and stone. Since then he has been locked in the virtual lost world, recently cleaned up for a superstar tennis game which never really took off. RIP Alex the Kidd.

Next was one of my best games in the 1990s, and they come in the form of Battle toads. They used to have big chunky hands and feet and could eliminate any enemy. They have surprisingly been given a resurrection as a new movie is set to be released by universal studios. Undoubtedly the games are to follow one after another until they kill off the character once again.

Another game which was not as far back was the character Croc, his time is now over due to poor sales, but I found croc back in the day, to be quite interesting to say the least. A worthy contender for Spyro, Mario and Donkey Kong.

Next we have the ever so camp Wonder Boy, he looked a bit like the guy out of Beauty and the Beast. Sega have tried to bring this character back millions of times without the success they had wished. Now sitting on the shelves in various compilations, it looks like Wonder Boy is now just Boy!

So many more characters and games have come and gone over the years. Games such as Streets of Rage are what some of us grew up playing. Who can forget other characters that have died off such as Abe from Odd world? Who can also forget the amazingly funny Joe and Mac who were brought to life on the Mega Drive? It's weird how characters come and go. In a few years time I may be doing the same article about GTA, Lara Croft in Tomb Raider, Spyro and Mario. But some how I don't think these will ever make themselves to the lost world.