3 items
The black plastic vest that plugged into your Super Nintendo or Genesis and turned every punch, explosion and bass line into a thump against your back. Aura Systems launched it in 1994 for about $100 with a $5 million ad campaign and a Mortal Kombat II tie-in. It was, as one 12-year-old told a reporter, weird.
Accolade's answer to Sonic: an orange bobcat in a shirt with an exclamation point, a glide, a catchphrase ("What could possibly go wrong?") and, per Electronic Gaming Monthly, the most hype of any character of 1993. The first game reviewed fine. Bubsy 3D did not, and the bobcat became gaming's favorite punchline.
The red dot from the 7 Up logo, in sunglasses, flicking soda bubbles at whatever crawled toward him. It should have been a cereal-box throwaway. Instead David Perry's team made one of the best-looking platformers on the Genesis, and it sold about a million copies.