Since his appearance in Resident Evil 2, Leon has had a positive reception. In 2010, Nintendo Power listed him as their 14th favorite Nintendo gaming hero, stating that he went from a "glorified meter maid with a bad haircut" to a tough guy. In 2009, GameSpot chose him as one of the 64 characters to compete in their poll for the title "All Time Greatest Game Hero". In a 2010 Famitsu poll, Leon was voted by readers as the 31st most popular video game character in Japan. In the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition from 2011, he was voted as the 36th best video game character. In 2012, GamesRadar ranked him as the 11th most "influential and badass" hero in video games. Empire also included Leon on their list of the 50 greatest video game characters, ranking him 44th. IGN ranked Leon as the best playable Resident Evil character, writing Leon "quickly became one of the most capable characters in the series, matching Chris in hand-to-hand combat and being referred to as a genius by Ada." In 2015, Logo TV ranked Leon as the eighth on their list of the sexiest male video game characters. Tristan Jurkovich of TheGamer has claimed that Leon Kennedy was second of the best Resident Evil character of all time, and stated that "Leon is a part of the two best regarded games in the franchise by fans. For the more classic style game, Resident Evil 2 is where it's at." In 2021, Rachel Weber of GamesRadar ranked Leon as 24th of their "50 iconic video game characters." IGN also repeatedly named him a character they wished to see in the crossover fighting series Super Smash Bros., describing him an "intimidating hero", a "unique breed of ass kicker" and one of the best things to happen to the Resident Evil series, along with GamingBolt and Screen Rant. In 2010, Game Informer chose Leon as one of the 20 Capcom characters they would like to see in a rumored crossover fighting game titled Namco Vs Capcom, his Namco equivalent being Nightmare from the Soul series: "The only man with enough experience and courage to take out this mutated menace is none other than Leon S. Kennedy. We bet this fight ends with a rocket launcher." In 2011, Ryan Woo of Complex ranked Leon among the fourth most stylish video game character, opining he is the best