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Platformers

gimmepie said:
Let's talk platformers. Are you a fan of this genre? Any favourite platform games? What are some things you'd like to see the genre start experimenting more with?
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I'm a fan. They're generally easy to pick up and play, and having a grasp on how each platformer handles leads to a very rewarding experience as I play them. The Super Mario games are easily my favorite, but I like most established series of the genre, really. I find even the likes of Super Meat Boy and I Wanna Be The Guy fun, if also frustrating. I can't think of a good 3D platformer equivalent, but for 2D those two come to mind as pretty challenging ones.

I like platformers that experiment with different mechanics throughout the game. I'm not sure how else to improve or experiment with them. I'll come back to this thread when I think of something, or if someone else suggests a good one.
 
I don't mind 2D platformers, although I prefer games that just have elements of platforming in them rather than games that are JUST platforming. I've had my fill of pure 2D platformers where you go from Point A to Point B, and modern equivalents to the ones I used to play as a kid don't really measure up for me. They're nostalgic and fun to play - I have the 2D Sonic games and Aladdin/Lion King on my Switch, and I still adore them - but not something I actively seek out or take an interest in these days.

I do not like 3D platformers at all because that added dimension tends to mess up the gameplay mechanics. Between wonky camera angles and the need for precision, it can and often does result in a lot of needless death, and I always groan inwardly whenever I encounter excessive platforming in 3D games. If it requires precise jumping I am probably going to die from over/undershooting my target - half the time because I can't see what I'm doing - or, worse, it'll mean sliding down and having to start from the beginning...and these sequences are never just one jump.

...and 3D platformers just aren't as charming as they were in the N64 days.
 
Cid said:
I'm a fan. They're generally easy to pick up and play, and having a grasp on how each platformer handles leads to a very rewarding experience as I play them. The Super Mario games are easily my favorite, but I like most established series of the genre, really. I find even the likes of Super Meat Boy and I Wanna Be The Guy fun, if also frustrating. I can't think of a good 3D platformer equivalent, but for 2D those two come to mind as pretty challenging ones.

I like platformers that experiment with different mechanics throughout the game. I'm not sure how else to improve or experiment with them. I'll come back to this thread when I think of something, or if someone else suggests a good one.
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The obvious example of experimenting that comes to mind is puzzle platformers like Limbo and Typoman. They get bonus points too for changing the goofy atmosphere that normally comes with platformers. Celeste pushes the boundaries of what a platformer could be too, I think.

Dawn said:
I do not like 3D platformers at all because that added dimension tends to mess up the gameplay mechanics. Between wonky camera angles and the need for precision, it can and often does result in a lot of needless death, and I always groan inwardly whenever I encounter excessive platforming in 3D games. If it requires precise jumping I am probably going to die from over/undershooting my target - half the time because I can't see what I'm doing - or, worse, it'll mean sliding down and having to start from the beginning...and these sequences are never just one jump..
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I don't have anything against 3D platforming, but as a person with awful depth-perception I feel your pain. It can be so hard to judge the depth and distance of a 3D environment on a 2D screen. The number of dumb deaths I've had on the Crash games because I was off by a millimetre.


My favourite platformers are probably Super Mario Bros, Limbo and the N'Sane Trilogy. I'd love to see more experimenting with narrative, atmosphere and mechanics in platforming overall though since ultimately there's not much variation to the general concept.
 
gimmepie said:
I don't have anything against 3D platforming, but as a person with awful depth-perception I feel your pain. It can be so hard to judge the depth and distance of a 3D environment on a 2D screen. The number of dumb deaths I've had on the Crash games because I was off by a millimetre.
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The N-Sane Trilogy is actually worse for this than it needs to be so you're not alone there! In the bridge levels I ended up just walking along the rope because the level of precision required to actually clear the level the intended way was ridiculous. The "slipping" aspect was infuriating, especially when the platform you needed to land on was so narrow. Most of my deaths in Crash came from slipping and it felt extremely cheap. My depth perception isn't too bad, but with platforming I often rely on muscle memory to get through the worst of it, and whilst that *eventually* works with 2D platformers (I died a lot in Rondo of Blood initially learning the levels, although by the end I could do them nearly flawlessly) with 3D platformers it doesn't necessarily always work...getting the camera positioned, or working with a dodgy angle, is a nightmare.

Oddly, I didn't find Spyro's platforming as needlessly aggravating - perhaps because Spyro is a quadruped and he feels a lot...sturdier. No, the problem with the Spyro remasters were those absolutely AWFUL flight controls...

Thinking about it, one 3D platformer I would like to praise would be Mario Odyssey, because I had a lot of fun with it - it had enough variety to its gameplay outside of the jumping about to keep me engaged, and after Sunshine I didn't think I'd ever play another 3D Mario because Sunshine was atrocious. Odyssey got the element of precision required in platform games right, because it was only necessary for completion and not the main body of the game...although precision with motion controls is practically impossible, so perhaps my opinion on that would have been very different if I had bothered with them at all.
 
Dawn said:
Thinking about it, one 3D platformer I would like to praise would be Mario Odyssey, because I had a lot of fun with it - it had enough variety to its gameplay outside of the jumping about to keep me engaged, and after Sunshine I didn't think I'd ever play another 3D Mario because Sunshine was atrocious. Odyssey got the element of precision required in platform games right, because it was only necessary for completion and not the main body of the game...although precision with motion controls is practically impossible, so perhaps my opinion on that would have been very different if I had bothered with them at all.
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I've only played the first couple of levels but I've really enjoyed Mario Odyssey too. It really does seem to have none of the pitfalls common to 3D platforming.
 
IV said:
I am a really big fan of the Ratchet and Clank series, especially the PS2 genre of R&C games, which I still play from time to time. Tho I wasn't that good at platforming at all, died more to my own stupidity in movement rather than to the enemies :x
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I used to love those games! I still have the first three actually I should go back and play them some time.
 
gimmepie said:
I used to love those games! I still have the first three actually I should go back and play them some time.
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I can only tell you one thing and that is to do it, I replay the games every year at least once to relive the times and it's amazing to do so, not just with R&C.
 
I haven't been in the platformer genre for some time now, but I am quite fond of it.
My personal favorite is Klonoa: Door to Phantomile for the PS1. Such an underrated gem!
Some of the others I really liked that I've played over the years includes Crash Bandicoot 3, New Super Mario bros., first 2 Oddworld games, Shovel Knight and...
Manic Miner - the retro classic I was introduced to by my dad at a very young age. The game is brutally difficult and it wasn't until I was like 12-13 or something that I picked it up again and practiced, like, a lot. I was eventually able to beat it and it's one of my favorite gaming moments. I decided to play it again a couple of weeks back, and I got as far as the 3rd level...
 
I'm not a huge fan. The 3D platformers for Mario are hit or miss for me. I loved Super Mario Sunshine and got all 120 shines, but grew bored of Galaxy. Odyssey was okay, but I think my expectations were too high. For example in New Doink City I was expecting a GTA sized map because of the jokes comparing it with GTA.
 
Dawn said:
although I prefer games that just have elements of platforming in them rather than games that are JUST platforming.
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pretty much sums up how i feel about platformers these days. truth be told however, i rarely actually play any because most aren't really my cup of tea. that said though, im thinking of expanding beyond perhaps restricting myself to just JRPGs and trying out some 2D platformers as well so i can get more used to them. o:
 
Is it just me or is every single indie platformer designed to be ridiculously hard? Because Cave Story, as much as I love the game, makes me cry.
 
Curly Brace said:
Is it just me or is every single indie platformer designed to be ridiculously hard? Because Cave Story, as much as I love the game, makes me cry.
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A lot of them pride themselves on being challenging and/or use their difficulty level as a marketing point I feel. So you're probably not wrong.
 
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