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Back in the '80s and '90s mascots were powerful system sellers. Kids would flock to console with the most recognisable and coolest lead character, and companies like Nintendo and Sega invested countless amounts of cash in creating and refining new heroes to appeal to the masses.

These days though, they're sadly a dying breed — Mario is pretty much the only platform-specific mascot still standing, while his former rival Sonic has jumped to non-Sega systems after his maker became a third-party publisher. Mario aside, it would appear that games like Call of Duty and Halo shift hardware units in today's market, rather than cute and cuddly protagonists.

It's important to not forget these once-cherished characters, however. Our friends over at The Sega Channel have posted a video which celebrates the forgotten Sega "child heroes" of yesteryear: Teddy Boy, Kung Fu Kid and Kid Chameleon — the latter being of particular interest as it was designed and co-developed by none other than Mark Cerny, the lead architect behind both the Sony PlayStation 4 and PS Vita consoles.

Who are your favourite forgotten mascots and child-like heroes? Let us know with a comment.