It’s not controversial to say that the representation of women in video gameshas drastically improvedin the time since they were locked in castles and relegated to fighting in significantly less clothing. However, that is not to say that earlier titles - for example, those in the fourth generation of consoles - did not have some excellent female representation through party members and playable protagonists.
From galaxy-saving superheroes and swashbuckling heroines to pragmatic horror survivors and beat ‘em-up vigilantes, there are no ends of different genres and roles women can be portrayed in through the 16-bit power of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.
8Princess Lufia - Lufia and the Fortress of Doom
An RPG Namesake With A Short Temper And Electrifying Magic
The blue-haired child-like sorceress Lufia may only have a playable role within her series’ first title but, beyond that, thisZelda-esque characteris the namesake for the entire series - beginning with 1993’sLufia and the Fortress of Doom.
The 2D RPG series' history has so far ended with its 2010 reimagining of the second title, itself a prequel to the original game. However, Lufia has only ever appeared in future titles through name and brief cutscene cameos alone. As such, many fans of the series - and her depiction - have long awaited a return to the series. Bringing with her some powerful thunder magic, an endearing ‘will they, won’t they’ dynamic with The Hero, and amnesia after a near-death fall from Doom Island.
7Morgan Adams - Cutthroat Island
An Acrobatic Adaptation Of A Swashbuckling Cinematic Heroine
Depicted by Geena Davis in the 1995 Renny Harlin blockbuster of which theSNES title is an interpretation, Captain Morgan Adams is as feisty, spunky, and adventurous as any other pirate.
Inheriting her father’s vessel and setting out to plunder and explore, Morgan provides the player with some truly acrobatic swashbuckling abilities. While the game’s movie inspiration may be a Guinness World Record holder for thebiggest movie flop,and her video game home seemingly fares a little better, Morgan is a truly adventurous female lead.
6Josephine - Kendo Rage
An Energetic Schoolgirl With A Thirst For Kendo And Monster-Fighting
Outfitted witha Kendo stickand a host of ranged attacks, Josephine - or ‘Jo’ - is a bombastic schoolgirl who spends her time between school and home slaying a whole host of monsters.
InKendo Rage’s 1993 English translation, Jo has ventured to Japan on her summer break to enroll in a specific Kendo summer school to hone her abilities. While the series did receive a 1995 sequel on the Super Famicom and PlayStation, and a 2010 port of the original title to the PlayStation Network, Jo has not been seen in an original title since the start of the new millennium.
5Jennifer Simpson - Clock Tower
A Survival-Horror Heroine With Cult-Classic Acclaim
The originalClock Towermay have never been released outside of Japan, where its point-and-click gameplay was fixed to the Super Famicom, but that has not stopped its series from earning a cult following in the West.
Jennifer may at first seem like just a gentle, naive young woman but her position as a foster child has toughened her up. As such, when the Scissorman skulks around pursuing her, Jennifer is able to ultimately banish him. Although Jennifer is seen again inClock Tower’s 1996 PlayStation sequel, this time by a worldwide audience, the series' third installment in 2002 saw her fortitude and crumbling innocence gone from the series.
4Rosa Felmonde - Undercover Cops
An Entry-Level Fighter Cleaning Up The Streets In Grief
Rosa Felmonde is a woman who has not only been hardened by grief but has taken the thuggish murder of her lover, Thomas, as a sign to enroll in the futuristic vigilante team, the ‘City Sweepers’.
The 22-year-old ‘Blue Gale Revenger’ may be the entry-level character in Irem’s 1992arcade beat ‘em upUndercover Cops. However, in her transition to the 1995 Super Famicom port, she has retained her place as the crew’s fastest character as she violently subdues the city’s “unprecedented rise” in crime.
3Pocky - Pocky and Rocky
A Young Priestess With A Tanooki Companion And Mystical Powers
While thePocky and Rockyseries has moved from Arcades to the Super Nintendo, and then to the Game Boy Advance, the eponymous Shinto shrine Maiden ‘Pocky’ has remained.
Working together with the Tanooki ‘Rocky’, the titular duo is playable in a variety of scrolling shooter stages heavily based onvarious aspects of Japanese mythology.The SNES received the mostPocky and Rockytitles, withPocky and Rockyreleased in 1992 and its sequel released just two years later. However, after its handheld pseudo-sequel in 2001, the series has lain dormant until the 2022 expanded remaster of the original SNES title may have brought the series - and Pocky - back into the limelight.
2Lena Brande - Super Valis 4
A Pacifistic Warrior Princess With A Courageous Heart
Although Lena Brande is not seen as theValis’ central protagonist in the franchise’s thirty-year history, her place as the series' last leading lady is somewhat special.
Sticking with the series' platforming and’magical girl' troperoots,Super Valis 4sees Lena raised as a warrior and leading the resistance against the evil force of Galgear. As the series' last unique entry, Laser Soft sought to introduce a new protagonist inValis 4- and due to Lena’s courage with a clear distaste for violence, she is a fresh perspective for the player to inhabit.
1Annie - Wild Guns
A Gunslinging Gal Who Fights Thugs, Robots, And More
First released in 1994,Wild Gunsis not only notable for housing Annie - one of the fourth generation of console’s most notable female protagonists - but for being a seemingly quintessential 2D third-person arcade shooter.
Set within a unique science-fictionWild West setting,Wild Gunsdoesn’t do much to elaborate on either one of its two playable characters' backstories. However, despite that being expected from a shoot ‘em up, Annie still takes on the role of sharpshooting cowboy thugs and robotic entities in a full Western frock, heels, and a hat.
