Sonic the Hedgehog has topped a recent poll taken at the London Games Festival of the most popular games character of all time.

Sega's spiky blue hedgehog and iconic mascot, first introduced in 1991, beat out the likes of Super Mario, Lara Groft and Pacman in a survey of over 500 UK gamers.

To this day Sega's top two selling games of all time are the first two Sonic the Hedgehog platformers released in 1991 and 1992.

Here were the top ten most popular video games characters:

1. Sonic the Hedgehog (24 per cent)

2. Super Mario (21 per cent)

3. Lara Croft (Tomb Raider) (16 per cent)

4. Donkey Kong (11 per cent)

5. Pac Man (10 per cent)

6. Link (The Legend of Zelda) (5 per cent)

7. Max Payne (4 per cent)

8. Pikachu (Pokemon) (3 per cent)

9. Niko Belic (Grand Theft Auto series) (2 per cent)

10. Blanka (Street Fighter) (1 per cent)