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[NinjamicWZ]

Amazing OP. I'm glad to see Heart of Darkness on there I still have the PS1 version in pretty mint condition. Now that Grim Fandango is released, I now would like to see HoD again. If only to taste the tears of new players. Man, such a great game.

HoD is one of my favorite games ever still. I never found it exceptionally hard, but yeah, it's like anathema for new players whenever I see let's plays and it makes me said. I lost much of my collection, but I still have the discs for that game. Nothing to play it on, though. I'd kill just to see the PSOne Classic on PSN finally.

 

[ichtyander]

Fantastic opening for one of my favorite sub-genres of games.

Fear Effect (PS1) has a lot of the same DNA though it's not a platforner.

Never played it back in the day but looking at a playthrough, I see what you mean, especially with the moving camera angles and special enemy encounters / executions. Although, because of the gameplay and camera angles, it feels a lot more like an action oriented survival horror (that's opening a whole different can of worms).
Thinking about it though, Time Commando also comes to mind with some similarities.

This is an incredible thread.

There are a lot of licensed games in this "genre". I feel like the desire to match the source material led to a greater focus on realism. Instead of focusing purely on function, you had to focus on form.

Thanks! This is pretty interesting, you're right, didn't really occur to me. Adds another layer to the meaning of "cinematic".

OP, how do you feel about adding Immortal to your list? I think it meets your definition.

Immortal is certainly a peculiar action adventure mix but the isometric perspective and lack of platforming I think puts it into a different category. I've only mentioned 3D games since they were a natural evolution of most genres but stuff from Knight Lore to Immortal and Legend are kind of their own thing really.

Man, the first thing I thought of when I saw this thread was Puppeteer and it was nowhere to be seen.

While Puppeteer has a fantastic presentation and style, it's far more puzzle oriented and unrealistic (collecting floating gems in the air), closer to mascot platformers and LittleBigPlanet than Flashback or the original Prince of Persia in gameplay mechanics.

Moon Crystal ?

This is actually a very interesting game, I'll have to take a look at it.

Gameloft actually cranked out quite a few of these on j2me in addition to their Prince of Persia downports. I really liked the one they did for Live Free or Die Hard at the time. There was also one about pirates that wasnt licensed but I forgot the name of it

Yeah, it felt strange that the genre pretty much lived in this shovelware j2me game bubble that everybody pretty much forgot about. That reminds me, there were also quite a few Splinter Cell j2me games.

Ok that makes sense.
I guess it wasn't too clear for me.



I can see Another World working kinda like Dragon's Lair on a high level but having played it back in the day, I feel like Another World is actually pretty consistent unlike pretty much all QTE type games where the action are context sensitive in a way.

Thanks for the answers, it felt a little random to just pull these 2 out of all the games out there.
The rest I totally get it I think.

Yeah, I didn't really go into any detail there, just placed the links and quotes, so it's not all that clear, I agree. And yeah, that's one of the things I think Another World does great. The QTE games completely go to the other end of the spectrum, stretching the very definition of what a game is, while Another World manages to keep those special cinematic moments within the logic and gameplay without really breaking the flow of the game.

Holy shit, this is one of the best threads I have ever seen. Great work! Definitely subscribing.

Anyways, what is the reason stuff like the 2D Ninja Gaiden-games doesnt qualify? They felt pretty cinematic to me.

Great, great thread OP. This is going to make for some good reading. Also already spotting a few games I haven't heard of worth checking out.

Quick question: would something like Freedom Planet qualify? That game has a hell of big story to it. And for that matter, would something like Mischief Makers also qualify? Story's pretty important to that game. I'm guessing they wouldn't because they're based more on skill-oriented challenges, and the levels themselves are designed more to test skill than tell the story in and of themselves.

But, another opinion on the matter wouldn't hurt.

The thing is, "cinematic platformers" (it really feels like an archaic genre name) rely on realistic movement, action and interaction. You don't change directions in mid-flight, collect powerups and coins that are just floating in the air, jump off bumpers for higher jumps or do double jumps, jump three times your own height and similar acrobatics. The 2D Ninja Gaiden games are closer to Green Beret and Shinobi, melee action platformers but with crazier platforming movement than those older titles. Freedom Planet and Mischief Makers are also games with highly unrealistic movement mechanics and a lot less adventure oriented (as in solving item puzzles, picking up something and delivering it to someone etc.).

As for story, cinematic platformers are often curiously very minimalistic in their storytelling approach. The story is right there while you're playing the game, in the events and encounters you've survived. Hey, you barely escaped that bloodthirsty beast, got out of a cage, picked up a gun, looked at a window and saw a cutscene of the city, shot a bunch of aliens and are now separated from your buddy, lost in this alien world. No dialogues, response choices etc. Sure, later games add a bit of dialogue both ingame and in cutscenes, but they're still quite scarce and serviceable. So it's not really about how much text and dialogue there is in the game. For that matter, games like Cadash and the Monster World series also have a lot of story and adventuring in them but a lot of the core movement and gameplay mechanics, as well as stylistic choices don't really fit with the cinematic platformer sub-genre.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

I feel like some of the later 3D examples, among others, are stretching it. One of the core pillars of a cinematic platformer is realistic or more grounded and detailed kinematics that have intricate controls that make you commit to big jumps and maneuvers or risk making mistakes. Something like Half Life, for example, has almost no tangible qualities in terms of Gordon Freeman and the world around the player. You're pretty much a floating camera. There are cinematic scripting cues, but it's not the same IMO. Also with something like Assassin's Creed, you get no sense of the "work" required for the platforming, and stringing moves together requires no skill or real commitment; It's automated as hell. Likewise with the recent Tomb Raider games, and the Uncharted titles; there's very little consistency in risk, commitment, animation realism, what environmental dangers will actually kill you, etc. Those fall more into "action-adventure" with lots of smoke and mirrors and fairly easygoing control schemes.

Stuff like Mirror's Edge, Ico, and Shadow of The Colossus carry the same cinematic platformer spirit though, even if the focus might be different in each of them.

In any case, this is a great, great thread. Nice job.

 

[Lijik]

Yeah, it felt strange that the genre pretty much lived in this shovelware j2me game bubble that everybody pretty much forgot about. That reminds me, there were also quite a few Splinter Cell j2me games.

From a control standpoint it makes a bit of sense. Since the movement and actions are so deliberate the controls feel more natural on a phone keypad compared to games that tried to emulate Mario or Sonic.

 

[Chobel]

Amazing work OP. Thanks for doing this!

 

[Morfeo]

I feel like some of the later 3D examples, among others, are stretching it. One of the core pillars of a cinematic platformer is realistic or more grounded and detailed kinematics that upi have intricate control of that make you commit to big jumps and maneuvers or risk making mistakes. Something like Half Life, for example, has almost no tangible qualities in terms of Gordan and the world around the player. You're pretty much a floating camera. There are cinematic scripting cues, but it's not the same IMO. Also with something like Assassin's Creed, you get no sense of the "work" required for the platforming, and stringing moves together requires no skill or real commitment; It's automated as hell. Likewise with the recent Tomb Raider games, and the Uncharted titles; there's very little consistency in risk, commitment, animation realism, what environmental dangers will actually kill you, etc. Those fall more into "action-adventure" with lots of smoke and mirrors and fairly easygoing control schemes.

Stuff like Mirror's Edge, Ico, and Shadow of The Colossus carry the same cinematic platformer spirit though, even if the focus might be different in each of them.

In any case, this is a great, great thread. Nice job.

I definitely agree that there is a huge difference between the "press A for Awesome"-genre of something like Assassins Creed and actually mechanic-driven games like Shadow of the Colossus or Mirrors Edge. Seems strange and as you wrote, stretching, to place them in the same category.

 

[Myggen]

What an amazing OP, some stuff I didn't know about in there!

 

[ichtyander]

I feel like some of the later 3D examples, among others, are stretching it. One of the core pillars of a cinematic platformer is realistic or more grounded and detailed kinematics that upi have intricate control of that make you commit to big jumps and maneuvers or risk making mistakes. Something like Half Life, for example, has almost no tangible qualities in terms of Gordan and the world around the player. You're pretty much a floating camera. There are cinematic scripting cues, but it's not the same IMO. Also with something like Assassin's Creed, you get no sense of the "work" required for the platforming, and stringing moves together requires no skill or real commitment; It's automated as hell. Likewise with the recent Tomb Raider games, and the Uncharted titles; there's very little consistency in risk, commitment, animation realism, what environmental dangers will actually kill you, etc. Those fall more into "action-adventure" with lots of smoke and mirrors and fairly easygoing control schemes.

Stuff like Mirror's Edge, Ico, and Shadow of The Colossus carry the same cinematic platformer spirit though, even if the focus might be different in each of them.

In any case, this is a great, great thread. Nice job.

I agree, and it's one of the main things that disappointed me in the new Tomb Raider reboot. It was a bit of an unrealistic expectation, but I was hoping for some elaborate and meaty mountaineering mechanics that require a bit more effort from the player. Something like I Am Bread or Octodad are perhaps extreme examples but there might be some room for experimentation with physics and more elaborate movement mechanics, like a more realistic and complicated Crazy Climber thing. Maybe one of the important distinctions Ico and Shadow of the Colossus make is the addition of a grab-and-hold button, stamina and the general clunkyness and speed at which these actions are performed.

Pretty much anything post Tomb Raider is starting to change the movement mechanics to more fluid and less elaborate, finally getting to modern climbing mechanics where you pretty much just point in a direction and automatically stick to a surface. But even so, Assassin's Creed and Uncharted actually have climbing mechanics, which I think is still an important distinction to make, no matter how thin those mechanics have become. Without them, they'd be closer to something like Gears of War (bad example) or Max Payne (a better one), third person action adventures / shooters with vertical movement similar to Half-Life or mascot platformers for that matter. They were also important to mention since they're pretty much the thinned out spiritual sequels of Prince of Persia in one way or another. Anyway, almost everything from Tir Na Nog onward (in the OP) and almost everything in "The Third Dimension" section is filled with games that are kinda similar but don't quite fit the mold.

As for Half-Life, you're right, it has a floating camera standard to most FPSs. Something like System Shock, Trespasser or the Operation Flashpoint / ARMA series have a much better body and movement awareness but these examples are extremely rare in first person games. With that in mind, I mentioned Half-Life for the many parallels in the story, setting, gameplay logic and ideas in general. They're just transferred into the default FPS movement scheme. I guess it's kind of analogous to having SMB movement mechanics but still retaining gruesome deaths, blood and guts, backtracking, solving item and environment puzzles, cinematic set pieces etc. alongside all of the wonders of a silent scientist kicking some alien ass and jumping to other dimensions.


BTW, I'm very glad folks are liking this topic and I'm really appreciating your thanks. Even though I've been working on this topic for a week or so, I've been slowly adding games to this list for years now, so it feels good to finally make something cohesive out of it.

 

[grandwizard]

This is an incredible resource, thanks for posting it.

 

[More_Badass]

Developer of The Last Night said the Kickstarter is likely launching sometime in March

 

[More_Badass]

Might want to remove Interference from the Future section. Dev hasn't posted a blog entry since 2013 and the last sign of progress was a tweet in November.

 

[ichtyander]

Might want to remove Interference from the Future section. Dev hasn't posted a blog entry since 2013 and the last sign of progress was a tweet in November.

Thanks for the info, I removed Interference from the list. If something new comes up I can always put it back.

Added info for:
Somerville
Orphan
Project Infinitesimals
Moon Crystal (1992) (NES)
Live Free or Die Hard (J2ME)
Updated The Last Night kickstarter info and additional screenshots
Splinter Cell (2003) (GBA)
Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (2004) (GBA)
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory (2005) (J2ME)
Splinter Cell: Double Agent (2006) (J2ME)
Splinter Cell: Conviction (2010) (J2ME)
Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock (2012)
Trimmed some game descriptions to fit character limit.
V: The Computer Game (1986)

 

[More_Badass]

Whoa, this is impressive. Behind the scenes of The Last Night

Ichtyander, do you know if any other cinematic platformers have used that approach?

 

[Fantastapotamus]

Thread deserves more love. Really great OP, wish I could add more but I'm still reading

 

[batbeg]

So I don't have time for this thread right now but one day when I do I am fairly sure this is going to be the greatest OP of all time. Thanks OP!

 

[retroman]

Great read! That's quite a comprehensive list you've got there.

I think the Last Ninja games would be a nice addition to your list.

Last Ninja (1987):

Last Ninja 2 (1988):

Last Ninja 3 (1991):

•Grounded in reality - characters are anatomically correct, extremely vulnerable, take lethal falling and environmental damage, firearm combat requires you to pull out weapon before use, items and interactive elements are always in a logical location (on floor, wall, no floating coins etc.)

•Realistic movement - fluid step-based movement, slow and clunky compared to mascot platformers, realistic jump height/distance, running inertia and shifting weight, vertical movement is often done by climbing on platform ledges, rocks, ladders or using elevators

•Trial and error gameplay - revolves around memorization and trial and error, frequent deaths are a part of the learning process, checkpoints are often implemented, unlimited retries, item and environment based puzzles (bring battery to generator, blow up rock to open a path etc.), often fairly short games once you know what you’re doing

•Environments and hazards - plenty of one-hit-kill hazards and traps, cliffs and pits, destructible doors/barriers, hostile creatures and enemies, levels often have backtracking and free roaming between small areas

•Well animated visuals - 2D side view, exceptionally fluid rotoscoped or 3D pre-rendered character animations, screen flipping scenes, UI is minimal to nonexistent, numerous (and gruesome) death and plot cutscenes

•Minimalistic storytelling - ranging from no text or dialogue to a few short lines or cutscenes, silent protagonist, the plot often revolving around being suddenly thrown into a hostile and/or alien environment over the course of a few hours to a day or so

•Cinematic presentation - achieved with well animated characters and action sequences, unique cinematic set pieces with special actions and input requirements (Another World – rocking the cage, kicking an enemy in the nuts, pressing random buttons on a cockpit etc.), long stretches of silence broken by dramatic music in action situations, custom cutscenes and animations for almost every brutal way you can die

All the elements mentioned above are present. The only difference here is that an isometric view is used instead of a side view.

Also, Last Ninja 3's cinematic intro truly was a sight to behold on the humble Commodore 64: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IuZ8hVq_8Y

 

[ichtyander]

Whoa, this is impressive. Behind the scenes of The Last Night

Ichtyander, do you know if any other cinematic platformers have used that approach?

Well, I'm not sure what that image represents. I'm assuming it means that the devs want to keep a realistic and logical spatial design to their environments while also going around corners etc. I mean, it's all still 2D as far as it looks, it's just that they're trying to make the world feel spatially logical. In that case, I believe most cinematic platformers tend to keep their levels spatially logical, although they're usually set in one flat 2D plane, no going around corners except for going in and out of doors, but that's still just entering or exiting a parallel 2D plane. Is there some more info about that image?

Or maybe I'm misunderstanding. Are they maybe using an actual 3D space for these scenes (maybe filled with many parallax layers), flipping the character sprite according to the camera and enable moving along the depth of the scene, away and toward the camera? If so, then no, I can't think of a game right now that's done exactly that. It reminds me a little bit of older games like Tir Na Nog or Death Wish III where you actually rotate the camera 90 degrees (kind of like a third person Eye of the Beholder and other grid-based dungeon crawlers) but are only able to walk left and right along a 2D sidescrolling plane, it's not the same though, I think.

Thread deserves more love. Really great OP, wish I could add more but I'm still reading

So I don't have time for this thread right now but one day when I do I am fairly sure this is going to be the greatest OP of all time. Thanks OP!

Thank you, I guess these kinds of lists generally have that problem of being a bit too long.

Great read! That's quite a comprehensive list you've got there.

I think the Last Ninja games would be a nice addition to your list.

Last Ninja (1987):

Last Ninja 2 (1988):

Last Ninja 3 (1991):

All the elements mentioned above are present. The only difference here is that an isometric view is used instead of a side view.

Also, Last Ninja 3's cinematic intro truly was a sight to behold on the humble Commodore 64: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IuZ8hVq_8Y

You're right, The Last Ninja games are very similar, really impressive games. I can't really find that many reasons not to include them, in the "similar games" list if nothing else, but there are a few other isometric action adventures out there (Camby already mentioned Immortal, there's also System 3's Vendetta, something like Heimdall, The Great Escape, Escape From Colditz, the Stamper brothers' (of Rare fame) isometric games like Knight Lore etc.) mostly on the C64 and the Amiga and it broadens the whole list even more. I've always looked at these games as being in a sub-genre of their own, but The Last Ninja is a really similar example to something like Another World.

I'm not really sure what I should do with these isometric games. I've sadly never really played The Last Ninja back in the day, some of these similar isometric games are more like adventures or RPGs so I'd probably need to do a bit more research when I have the time, but thank you for mentioning them all the same.

 

[mclem]

I've only scanned through the OP, but what I've seen, I liked.

Interesting that you pick out Tir Na Nog. Any reason you chose that over Dun Darach and/or Marsport?

I'm surprised you don't mention "setpieces" as a requirement (as in, environmental puzzles that use unique concepts, rather than being built around familiar platforms) - for me, they're the dominant feature of the genre.

I'm wondering if Contact: Sam Cruise might be worth a nod in the "don't fit the requirements completely" bracket. It's not particularly realistic or well-animated (well, depending on how you feel about somersaulting over bullets!), but it *is* set up to tell a (simple) story and built around setpieces and puzzles.

(Skool Daze and Bak 2 Skool - the predecessors to Contact: Sam Cruise - are significantly more iconic, but aren't really as story-based, instead being structured around a single defined goal. There's still the puzzles and setpiece interactions, though)

 

[Crub]

I have beaten Another World, Heart of Darkness, Abe's Oddysee, Limbo, Deadlight and Rocketbirds.

What must-plays have I missed beyond Flashback and Abe's Exoddus?

 

[thomasmahler]

Wow @OP. Great thread.

 

[HueyFreeman]

Absolutely incredible OP. This is literally a reference set - it should be preserved in some kind of permanent form no joke.

This is essentially my favorite genre (surprise) - amazing to explore it in detail like this. Thanks very much for this.

 

[More_Badass]

Well, I'm not sure what that image represents. I'm assuming it means that the devs want to keep a realistic and logical spatial design to their environments while also going around corners etc. I mean, it's all still 2D as far as it looks, it's just that they're trying to make the world feel spatially logical. In that case, I believe most cinematic platformers tend to keep their levels spatially logical, although they're usually set in one flat 2D plane, no going around corners except for going in and out of doors, but that's still just entering or exiting a parallel 2D plane. Is there some more info about that image?

Or maybe I'm misunderstanding. Are they maybe using an actual 3D space for these scenes (maybe filled with many parallax layers), flipping the character sprite according to the camera and enable moving along the depth of the scene, away and toward the camera? If so, then no, I can't think of a game right now that's done exactly that. It reminds me a little bit of older games like Tir Na Nog or Death Wish III where you actually rotate the camera 90 degrees (kind of like a third person Eye of the Beholder and other grid-based dungeon crawlers) but are only able to walk left and right along a 2D sidescrolling plane, it's not the same though, I think.

Devs said this on Twitter:

"So even if it's a 2D game, the underlying engine is running in 3D. We're making this choice for several reasons:
First, It's the only way to make the crowd, drones & police pathfinding work correctly in such environments.
Second, we don't have much platforming or vertical gameplay, only left or right. So this is the solution I come up with to break the feeling of playing on an limited axis. It feels much more immersive, alive, and 3D like that, even if it's actually full 2D."

I know Rain World does something like that parallax method you mentioned. The game is 2D, but the levels have 30-layer parallax backgrounds, so you have things like shadows shifting and moving against the background and sense of depth

 

[Messofanego]

I was gonna mention Never Alone and The Fall but looks like ichtyander already covered them! Great job!

I love Never Alone, more people should play it. One of the most beautiful 2D games I've played with a great universally simple tale and some cool gameplay elements. I heard they could be doing another game in that Alaskan world with a different fable.

 

[dreamfall]

This is one of the best threads I've ever seen. Bravo, OP. I'm going to get to reading- but I loved seeing all of the Tomb Raider handheld iterations on the list; those were a lot of fun!

 

[Nanashrew]

I remember playing that Stargate game on SNES and actually beating it. I got the bad end though because I didn't find all the things required.

 

[∀ Narayan]

Somerville and Infinitesimals look pretty cool. Definitely going to keep an eye on those. Great thread, by the way.

 

[More_Badass]

Ichtyander, got clarification from The Last Night devs

Environment is drawn in 2D, but sprites are placed in a 3D environment. Allows for a lot more complex interactions.
Ex: a cop can shoot from a street to another or through a window.

 

[z1ggy]

Amazing thread. I loved Flashback, had it on Genesis. It blew my mind away.

 

[tringworldso]

Greaaaat list... saw many games there that I never knew about!!

Btw, what about Aladdin on Genesis?

The Genesis version even had the team from the movie helping out with the animation.

 

[Prof. Bathtub]

Greaaaat list... saw many games there that I never knew about!!

Btw, what about Aladdin on Genesis?

The Genesis version even had the team from the movie helping out with the animation.

Not quite sure where the line is drawn between platformers with fluid animation and Cinematic Platformers. If we take Louis Castle's word on The Lion King, the developers butted heads with the Disney animators over whether characters should be able to move in midair. Virgin Interactive preferred to bend realism for the sake of more flexible jumping control. Judging from this thread, many Cinematic Platformers tended to do the opposite.

 

[Secret Fawful]

Pocahontas is a gorgeous platformer. I adored that game as a kid.

 

[duckroll]

Based on the general requirements of what makes a cinematic platformer, wouldn't Rolling Thunder qualify? The physics are fairly grounded, there is limited ammunition, definitely a sense of vulnerability but with the satisfaction that when you overcome the obstacles successfully the character feels significantly skilled. The animations and presentation is also pretty "cinematic" in how there is attention to fluid motion and poses.

 

[ichtyander]

I've only scanned through the OP, but what I've seen, I liked.

Interesting that you pick out Tir Na Nog. Any reason you chose that over Dun Darach and/or Marsport?

I'm surprised you don't mention "setpieces" as a requirement (as in, environmental puzzles that use unique concepts, rather than being built around familiar platforms) - for me, they're the dominant feature of the genre.

I'm wondering if Contact: Sam Cruise might be worth a nod in the "don't fit the requirements completely" bracket. It's not particularly realistic or well-animated (well, depending on how you feel about somersaulting over bullets!), but it *is* set up to tell a (simple) story and built around setpieces and puzzles.

(Skool Daze and Bak 2 Skool - the predecessors to Contact: Sam Cruise - are significantly more iconic, but aren't really as story-based, instead being structured around a single defined goal. There's still the puzzles and setpiece interactions, though)

Regarding Tir Na Nog, no particular reason, it's just the first / earliest game in the "series", didn't want to clutter that list with more sequels. I skimmed through some longplays and didn't notice major differences between those games, although I might be wrong.

As for the setpieces, I'm not so sure. I mean, I mention that under the main "Cinematic presentation" as one of the key elements, but it's still rare. I'm struggling to remember anything like that in Prince of Persia, Flashback or Blackthorne for example. The puzzles and actions are always built around the familiar gameplay mechanics, jump over or through traps, bring item to person or object, use trip-scanners to open/close doors, platform your way out of the level, use your teleporter etc. There's no blowing up a rock to change the level layout, swing the cage you're trapped in, crawl your way to a lever and other unique, one of a kind actions like those. Another World is full of that sort of stuff, but a lot of these classic, PoP-like cinematic platformers don't really have that.

Man, I'd forgotten all about Sam Cruise, I remember my brother playing that on the ZX and not understanding what the hell is going on. I always loved how you can just enter buildings but the camera is still outside. I've added all sorts of stuff in the "similar games" list so I might add this as well, thanks.

I have beaten Another World, Heart of Darkness, Abe's Oddysee, Limbo, Deadlight and Rocketbirds.

What must-plays have I missed beyond Flashback and Abe's Exoddus?

Definitely Blackthorne, and I'd also recommend these:

onEscapee (similar to Another World, can be very frustrating even with a walkthrough)
Heart of the Alien (sequel to Another World, not all that good but still worth a shot)
1213 (Ben 'Yahtzee' Croshaw's horror adventure platformer, I remember it being decent)
The Fall (played it a bit, looks very interesting)

Also try Trilby: The Art of Theft, Stealth Inc. and Mark of the Ninja. They're more stealth platformers than anything, but are great nonetheless.

Absolutely incredible OP. This is literally a reference set - it should be preserved in some kind of permanent form no joke.

This is essentially my favorite genre (surprise) - amazing to explore it in detail like this. Thanks very much for this.

Thanks! Your avatar reminded me of a little gif I made a long time ago, since Flashback is one of my favorite games as well.

Devs said this on Twitter:

"So even if it's a 2D game, the underlying engine is running in 3D. We're making this choice for several reasons:
First, It's the only way to make the crowd, drones & police pathfinding work correctly in such environments.
Second, we don't have much platforming or vertical gameplay, only left or right. So this is the solution I come up with to break the feeling of playing on an limited axis. It feels much more immersive, alive, and 3D like that, even if it's actually full 2D."

I know Rain World does something like that parallax method you mentioned. The game is 2D, but the levels have 30-layer parallax backgrounds, so you have things like shadows shifting and moving against the background and sense of depth

Ichtyander, got clarification from The Last Night devs

I see, thanks for the info. It's definitely an interesting approach and I don't think there's another cinematic platformer that uses this approach. And man, Rain World looks great. It's not out yet, right?

Greaaaat list... saw many games there that I never knew about!!

Btw, what about Aladdin on Genesis?

The Genesis version even had the team from the movie helping out with the animation.

Disney's platformers are amazingly animated but they have far too many unrealistic platformer mechanics and goals that they're really quite different.

Based on the general requirements of what makes a cinematic platformer, wouldn't Rolling Thunder qualify? The physics are fairly grounded, there is limited ammunition, definitely a sense of vulnerability but with the satisfaction that when you overcome the obstacles successfully the character feels significantly skilled. The animations and presentation is also pretty "cinematic" in how there is attention to fluid motion and poses.

Sure, those similarities are there, but then I'd have to add a ton of similar arcade and console games as well. Rolling Thunder is more of a run'n'gun sidescrolling platformer with certain slower, more realistic albeit simple movement mechanics. There's a whole lot of similar stuff like Green Beret, Shinobi/Shadow Dancer, E-Swat, Robocop, Sly Spy etc. that fit in their own sub-genre. Rolling Thunder has an unrealistic high jump (shifting planes), no falling damage, is completely linear in the sense of a level being a straight 2D scrolling plane (the only similar exception I've made in the list is I think Lester the Unlikely, but maybe I should put it in the "similar games" list) aka no backtracking, no puzzles or trial and error gameplay (apart from the usual high arcade difficulty and memorizing level layouts) and limited ammo isn't really a requirement (Another World, Flashback and Blackthorne have infinite ammo). Now that I think about it, probably no arcade game can't really fit into this category well.

 

[More_Badass]

Nope, Rain World's not out yet. Devs hope to have it out this year. Here's the main GAF thread, I update it regularly whenever the devs post in their TIGSource devlog

 

[halfbeast]

oh boy, totally forgot about Bermuda Syndrome. was pretty hyped for that back in the day. don't remember what happened, if I lost interest or the controls were shitty (or it was impossible to run, looking at you flashback cd-rom!).

need to find it somewhere.

 

[manueldelalas]

Thank you OP for making this thread, I will try some of the games posted.

This thread is AWESOME.

 

[CO_Andy]

Nosferatu on the SNES. It's like Karateka's combat and Prince of Persia molded into one.

 

[ichtyander]

Nope, Rain World's not out yet. Devs hope to have it out this year. Here's the main GAF thread, I update it regularly whenever the devs post in their TIGSource devlog

Thanks for the info and the thread, subbed.

Nosferatu on the SNES. It's like Karateka's combat and Prince of Persia molded into one.

Yup, it's already in the list.

 

[abstract alien]

That is one legendary op. Heart of Darkness and Out of this World really made me feel things as a kid.

 

[spekkeh]

Noticed one notable omission. Myth History in the Making (C64-Amiga, 1989)

 

[More_Badass]

Got another for your in-development section

Wander
http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=46548.0

Wander is a 2D, low-res Sci-fi cinematic platformer/adventure game that tells the tale of a man named Rook, a greying convict who wakes from cold sleep aboard an orbital prison facility that's crash landed on the ruins of an Earth long since abandoned by humanity. With the guidance of a hacker named Jin, Rook must navigate the station, and struggle to survive against rioting prisoners and the bizarre extradimensional beasts that haunt the dead planet.

 

[Ranger X]

That's a pretty dawn large genre you have there. Half the games wouldn't belong there in my opinion. We were also calling this a "learn by death platformer" in my time. (Prince of Persia / Another World / Flashback)

 

[NinjamicWZ]

Now that I've finally gotten to play some of this game, I definitely think htoL#NiQ: The Firefly Diary, despite being touch-based, fits in this subgenre imo, or at least in the family tree:

It's definitely set-piece, instancing and puzzle driven with an eloquent art style, she does jump and navigate according to your direction etc. It has a dynamic shadowplay element that reminds me of stuff like Heart of Darkness and Ico + the enemy npc, danger and nasty hazard layout of a game like Limbo, and mechanically feels a lot like a game a friend of mine, who works for Sumo Digital now, made in LittleBigPlanet 2 called "Aura" where you lead a blind girl around an otherwise traditional platformer design: https://lbp.me/v/ebkd2y

 

[SpacePirate Ridley]

Amazing and very informative thread. Good job OP!

Theres even some games there that could resolve some of our problems we are having while making our game.

 

[ichtyander]

- Added the "Distant Relatives" title in the appropriate section to make a better distinction between cinematic platformers and other similar games.
- Added a line in the section "The Future" for better clarification on why some of the games are in there and how that part of the list will probably change the most
- Added "Wander" to the upcoming list of games

Noticed one notable omission. Myth History in the Making (C64-Amiga, 1989)

Myth is certainly an interesting example but it goes way off with some unrealistic elements that I'm not entirely sure about it. Stuff like unrealistically high jumping, no fall damage, items and score jumping all over the screen, the specific types of boss battles and the general gameplay dynamics make the Amiga version much closer to The Last Samurai or something like that. The C64 feels a bit different but it's in essence the same game.

However, it does have a lot of interesting and unique elements that feel very cinematic. There's an adventure, or at least a puzzle element to it, since you often need a specific item to overcome an obstacle like killing a special semi-boss demon that drops a trident for a one-time use on the nearby boss, or how using the shield in the ancient Greece level makes all enemies kneel down before you. Also, there are some pretty awesome atmospheric levels like the Viking ship where the screen occasionally flashes during a thunder storm, or the fact that there are custom animations for using certain weapons on certain enemies (decapitation). It certainly has a more "cinematic" presentation than your average platformer but with a more unrealistic approach so I don't know, perhaps I should add it anyway.

Got another for your in-development section

Wander
http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=46548.0

Thanks, added to the list! The dev mentiones that the basic movement is in the vein of Flashback and Another World but it's clearly more adventure and semi turn-based battle oriented, so we'll see what will it look like in the end.

That's a pretty dawn large genre you have there. Half the games wouldn't belong there in my opinion. We were also calling this a "learn by death platformer" in my time. (Prince of Persia / Another World / Flashback)

If by that you mean that half of all of the games mentioned in the OP shouldn't be there, then you'd be right since about half are various games with some similarities or more modern games from recent years that try different things that don't completely fit the mold. There are a few straight up cinematic platformers from recent years, but most new stuff is some sort of evolution of action adventure platformers. But I think about 80-90% of "The Games" list should fit the genre nicely.

Btw, your name for the genre is a perfect fit.

Now that I've finally gotten to play some of this game, I definitely think htoL#NiQ: The Firefly Diary, despite being touch-based, fits in this subgenre imo, or at least in the family tree:

It's definitely set-piece, instancing and puzzle driven with an eloquent art style, she does jump and navigate according to your direction etc. It has a dynamic shadowplay element that reminds me of stuff like Heart of Darkness and Ico + the enemy npc, danger and nasty hazard layout of a game like Limbo, and mechanically feels a lot like a game a friend of mine, who works for Sumo Digital now, made in LittleBigPlanet 2 called "Aura" where you lead a blind girl around an otherwise traditional platformer design: https://lbp.me/v/ebkd2y

I think you're right about most of that, it is certainly a trial-and-error based game with a lot of unique setpieces and a very cinematic presentation. The main problem I have with it is that's it's hardly a platformer at all, with the biggest issue being not controlling the character directly. I was watching some playthroughs and I'm not sure I saw one instance of the character actually jumping. Aside from falling from heights to a lower platform/floor, most of the traversal is done by walking or climbing from one side to the other, often by "changing" the environment to accommodate the character. Maybe I'm wrong but I feel the game has a lot more in common with point & click or puzzle adventures, maybe something like Sword & Sworcery (I'm trying to think of other similar examples)? It might seem like I'm nitpicking but I think it's an important distinction to make. Direct control of a character is at the core of every platformer.

It does have a remarkably large number of similar elements though, from the type of storytelling, trial and error and the gameplay revolving around evading deadly traps, it really feels very similar to cinematic platformers. I think it's more suitable to say it's a "cinematic puzzle action adventure", with the emphasis on "puzzle". Still not sure if I should add it. Damn you unique modern 2D games, argh!

 

[NinjamicWZ]

I think you're right about most of that, it is certainly a trial-and-error based game with a lot of unique setpieces and a very cinematic presentation. The main problem I have with it is that's it's hardly a platformer at all, with the biggest issue being not controlling the character directly. I was watching some playthroughs and I'm not sure I saw one instance of the character actually jumping. Aside from falling from heights to a lower platform/floor, most of the traversal is done by walking or climbing from one side to the other, often by "changing" the environment to accommodate the character. Maybe I'm wrong but I feel the game has a lot more in common with point & click or puzzle adventures, maybe something like Sword & Sworcery (I'm trying to think of other similar examples)? It might seem like I'm nitpicking but I think it's an important distinction to make. Direct control of a character is at the core of every platformer.

It does have a remarkably large number of similar elements though, from the type of storytelling, trial and error and the gameplay revolving around evading deadly traps, it really feels very similar to cinematic platformers. I think it's more suitable to say it's a "cinematic puzzle action adventure", with the emphasis on "puzzle". Still not sure if I should add it. Damn you unique modern 2D games, argh!

You're pretty much right. There is a very few bits where she he to be told to jump over a small box or up to a ledge, but it's minimal. The whole thing about direct control is what kept me from going into a tangent about how games like Escape Plan & Murasaki baby might be loosely related and familial. Like I said, distant cousin on the family tree maybe, not necessarily brother and sister.

The similarities to the genre is definitely why I'm like "oh man, this is right up my alley" playing it today.

 

[More_Badass]

Would Hunger meet the criteria?
https://youtube.com/watch?v=5ctdjfUbLDE

 

[ebullientprism]

Amazing thread.

Also Trilby looks EXACTLY like Gunpoint.

 

[ichtyander]

Would Hunger meet the criteria?
https://youtube.com/watch?v=5ctdjfUbLDE

Holy shit, that looks incredible. Thanks, it certainly seems like it fits in a lot of the requirements, added.

 

[More_Badass]

Amazing thread.

Also Trilby looks EXACTLY like Gunpoint.

More like Gunpoint looks like Trilby, since Trilby came out in 2007. And it's much slower paced. An awesome game too, probably the best freeware stealth game