A flood of " animal with attitude " platformers , each featuring a cartoon mascot , were released after Sonic the Hedgehog : Bubsy , Aero the Acro @-@ Bat , James Pond 3 , Earthworm Jim , Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel , Awesome Possum , Ty the Tasmanian Tiger , Gex . This carried into the PlayStation era with games like Punky Skunk and Crash Bandicoot .