One of my favorite games to spring from the great cartoon character game mascot wars of the 16-bit generation has to be Plok for the Super NES.  Released in 1992, Plok tells the story of our intrepid hero (Plok), a little fella made up of what appears to be boots, gloves, a hangman's hood, and a torso.  Plok's self-assigned mission was to drive the nasty fleas from his island, a feat accomplished by shooting his own arms and legs at his targets.  Without his limbs poor Plok is defenseless, meaning he must hop around on his torso until he can recover his missing parts.  The game is downright hard to complete, as it's very long and lacks a save feature or password ability.  Taking on the world of Plok is one hell of a commitment even today.

I'd seen Plok in one of the video gaming magazines of the day and was very interested in picking up the game.  At the age of 11 my love of platforming video games was in full bloom, so imagine my joy at finding a new copy of Plok on sale only one month after its release for only $20.  That's right - the game was already marked down for clearance just a few weeks after its debut.  I always wondered what happened to Plok.  The game was never ported to the competing systems of the day, nor did the character appear in sequels like competing characters Aero the Acrobat or Bubsy the Bobcat.

Surprisingly, Plok's creators still own the rights to the character.  John and Ste Pickford have launched an archive of material detailing their many many games, and fortunately for Plok fans everywhere there is a special archive devoted to the little guy.  Marvel at unused concept art for future unrealized marketing endeavors, thrill at the unreleased coin-op prequel Fleapit, and hope someday for a new proper Plok adventure.  We miss you, Plok.  Come home.