Platformer Thread
Surprisingly, there doesn't seem to be a thread dedicated to platformers here. I love the classic adventure games as much as the next guy, but if there's one genre that's stayed with me consistently through my roughly 25 years of gaming it's platformers. Adventure games, with a few notable exceptions, aren't as good as they were in the late 80s and 90s. And in my opinion RTSes just got worse after AoE II and RA2. Platformers stayed good. I think part of the reason is that most of the good platformers are just Super Mario Bros. 2 with a twist. There's a lot of iterations on the same concept, but if it's one genre where that can be a recipe for success it this. With story driven games like point and click adventures or RPGs that would get old fast. And there's only so many times you can use the same puzzle.
Despite of their simple formula, there are a few games that really stick out to me, and that's probably because they've added something to what's proven to work. DuckTales is one game that overshadows pretty much every single Mario game I've played. Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers likewise. And in recent years I feel like there's been sort of a renaissance with lots of interesting additions, probably largely because of indies daring to do something new with the genre.
One of my all time favorite games is Psychonauts. It's got good writing, an interesting plot and a rich world that I feel like I can emerge myself into. I never get tired of picking it up just to run around the camp or replay one of my favorite worlds. Cave Story+ also has a good story and adds stuff like choices and a branching story line. And besides these you have games that don't do anything revolutionary, but adds some really cool gameplay mechanics like in Giana Sisters and And Yet it Moves.
Disclaimer: This isn't exactly an exhaustive list of good platformers. The post was written in kind of a hurry, since I wanted to get it in before the forum downtime.
Despite of their simple formula, there are a few games that really stick out to me, and that's probably because they've added something to what's proven to work. DuckTales is one game that overshadows pretty much every single Mario game I've played. Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers likewise. And in recent years I feel like there's been sort of a renaissance with lots of interesting additions, probably largely because of indies daring to do something new with the genre.
One of my all time favorite games is Psychonauts. It's got good writing, an interesting plot and a rich world that I feel like I can emerge myself into. I never get tired of picking it up just to run around the camp or replay one of my favorite worlds. Cave Story+ also has a good story and adds stuff like choices and a branching story line. And besides these you have games that don't do anything revolutionary, but adds some really cool gameplay mechanics like in Giana Sisters and And Yet it Moves.
Disclaimer: This isn't exactly an exhaustive list of good platformers. The post was written in kind of a hurry, since I wanted to get it in before the forum downtime.
Sign in to comment in this discussion.
Comments
Thankfully we've got stuff like A Hat in Time to look forward to, and it's always a pleasant surprise to find hidden games like Jett Rocket on the Wii, but even then, they're few and far between.
A Hat in Time looks crazy promising. I'm glad I got onboard with that Kickstarter and can't wait to see the finished product. Jett Rocket you say? I'll have to check that one out.
My favourite 2D platformer overall has to be Thomas Was Alone it is a simplistic good narrative puzzle platformer which has given me an emotional attachment to some coloured rectangles with very entertaining platforming and puzzles
3D platforming Pyschonauts does take the prize with such a great story and atmosphere and the milkman level is just amazing...
But overall one of my favourite games of all time the action platformer Blinx the Timesweeper...(probably because it was my first non-eduactional game)
It was a fun difficult action platformer with a ,get to the end of the level whilst killing all monsters gameplay, and I loved it! Great bosses, difficult, time sweeping, time crystals...
The Milkman Conspiracy and Waterloo World are among my favourites, but Lungfishopolis is pretty great too. I recently played Sasha's Shooting Gallery and Milla's Dance Party again and found that enjoyed them a lot too. I like the amount of control you get over Raz in the shooting gallery once you get used to it, in that you can lock onto a target, then jump and roll out of the way while still keeping aiming just by holding down a button. Milla's Dance Party great in that it's just a lot of fun floating around, landing on galleries and smashing stuff and smacking party goers. And then there's the secret. How cool is that in a game like this?
Blinx the Timesweeper looks pretty cool. It's a shame it's only available on Xbox. I would have loved to try that one out.
There are still some recent good 3D platformers. Sly Cooper Thieves in time for example.
That's a PS3 exclusive, right? I'm probably missing out on a lot of good platformers by not owning a PS3... yet.
Well, some good platformers on PS2/PS3 are Jak and Daxter, Sly, Ratchet & Clank, inFamous, Uncharted which are all good platformers.
Uncharted is an action platformer, right? If we're on those, Beyond Good and Evil should probably be mentioned as well. I hear a lot of good stuff about that one and I do intend to play it. It's just that I have this weird aversion against action platformers that I need to get over. It was the same with regular 3D platformers not too long ago, and I'm loving those now.
Beyond Good and Evil isn't really a platformer you can't really even jump in the game just roll...
It is a stealth game primarily
I'm not sure if you can count Beyond Good & Evil. Its been about a year or year and an half since i last played the HD PS3 version.
Ok. I thought it looked like a platformer in the gameplay videos I saw, but stealth fits better with what I've read about it.
Portal is pretty cool. The gameplay and story is very engaging. Apart from the Ratman dens it doesn't have a lot of exploration though, but that would sort of have worked against the whole concept of the game.
Portal is a pretty good mix of Platformer and puzzle.
Has anyone played Ducktales Remastered yet? I got it from the PS Store and it was so much fun.
BY&E is... well, it's a mix of things. Platformer isn't really doing it justice, though there is platforming in it.
Jett Rocket is a WiiWare game, so if you're gonna look into it, be aware that it's kinda small. Fun though. I believe it has a sequel as well, so... yay?
And finally... for no other reason then because I can, here's some of my favourite 3D platformers, in no particular order.
I'm honestly surprised to not see a Ratchet game here.
Anyway my personal favs in no order....
Sly 2 Band of Thieves
Sly Cooper Thieves in Time
Jak 3
Jak & Daxter The Precursor Legacy
Sonic Adventure DX
Sonic Adventure 2 Battle
Mario Galaxy 2
Mario Sunshine
Ratchet & Clank 3
Ratchet & Clank A Crack in Time
inFamous 2
Rayman 3
Rayman Origins (Only played the demo of Legends)
Gravity Rush
Ryan - that'd be because I consider them less platformers and more action games. They're good, but... not platformers IMHO.
Darth - Honestly I'd consider it a mix of action shooter and platforming. Much like Sly is platforming mixed with open world, Jak 2 & 3 is platforming mixed with driving and sandbox etc.