It's hours later and I'm just now responding, so this will likely get lost amongst the other comments, but... I distinctly recall playing The Legend of Zelda and having Link be completely genderless. It even led to a lot of interesting conversations amongst 10 year old kids about why Link and who was Link. Unlike Super Mario Bros., there are no stereotypically male or female aspects of Link. You're not rescuing the princess, you're working for the princess. I have always found the design of the original Zelda game fascinating in that regard, it's designed so that any player can project themselves onto the protagonist without any psychological conflicts...it's as minimal as the protagonist in centipede.