I did not feel cool when I bought Mr. Bones.  In fact, at the time I'm not sure I even wanted to buy it.  But I wanted to buy something that my Playstation buddies couldn't buy, and this was one of the few Sega Saturn exclusive titles available.  I wanted a sprawling epic like Final Fantasy VII, or a serious 3rd person shooter like Metal Gear Solid, but I had to settle for Mr. Bones, a creative, comical, 2-disc mini-game extravaganza. 

The game has become one of my favorites, a symbol of the courage to try something different, to be creative, (things I think the Saturn system itself embodies) and at the center of it all was Mr. Bones, a character unlike any other in the video game universe. 

He's made of bones, he learned how to play the blues in one sitting (or maybe he was remembering his past life or something), he's got blue eyes, and he tells some pretty bad jokes (although I did laugh).  I think the designers tried to make him appear somewhat awkward and clumsy.  He's not the brightest apple on the tree either.  But what he lacks in athletic ability and brains, he makes up for with his heart.  

And this was the whole idea of the story: his good heart is what saves him.  It's what stops him from becoming one of DaGoulian's red-eyed skeleton zombies.  He uses things like humor and guitar playing to get out of jams instead of violence.  His heart is what makes him a hero.  I suppose it's easier to like a character who's not terribly athletic or intelligent, but is good-natured and has a sense of humor.  That was probably what the designers were going for.