From cute cats to super monkeys: the 18 most adorable video game animals

Diddy Kong, Waddle Dee, Bub and Bob " which is the fluffiest, most doe-eyed creature ever to grace the video game menagerie?

It's a question that has bothered gamers - and pet lovers - for many years. Exactly what is the cutest animal ever to appear in video game form? Certainly pixellated critters have been a staple protagonist for game designers since Donkey Kong first stamped his way up the building in Nintendo's 1981 arcade classic.

Since then, as in the world of animated movies, there have been many hundreds of anthropomorphised heroes - with designers relying heavily on our instinctual protective love of small animals with gigantic eyes.