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Platformer suggestions?

L

lifeexpectancy

Member
So I've recently rediscovered my love for 2D platforming. After playing 99% of my games in 3D, whether FPS or 3PS (or overhead in the case of top-down RPGs) for the past 6 or 7 years, I recently played through Max: Curse of the Brotherhood, Strider, and Rayman Legends.

I have absolutely fucking loved those three games, for various reasons. Rayman Legends is my favorite by quite a large margin though, which shouldn't really surprise anyone, seeing as how it's an absolutely stellar game and, in my opinion, probably the best platformer of the past decade. Of course I can't speak with certainty about the 'best of the last decade' thing seeing as how I haven't played many platformers in recent years.

I've been so thoroughly pleased getting back into the 2D platformer scene though that I'd like some GAF suggestions on other platformers I should check out? I'm specifically looking for the 2D variety here. Mirror's Edge is fantastic too, but it's 3D/first-person. I'd like to know of some gems like Rayman that I've missed over the past 6 or 7 years that I can go back and discover.

Help me out gaffers!

Edit: I did do a search for 'good platformers' and '2D platformers' but didn't come up with any really beneficial threads for this query.
 
mrjohill said:
What's systems ya got?
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360, XB1, and PS4. I had a PS3 for a while but mainly just to play some JRPGs I've missed over the years. Doubt I would get another one just for platformers unless there are a LOT of platformers that are PS3 only.

I also have a windows-based laptop and a wired controller I can use with it if there are some PC only platformers that I could play on there.

Oh, and I could play my wife's 3DS if there are some gems there.
 
Puppeteer

EDIT: Just noticed you don't have a PS3. Shadow Complex and 'Splosion Man stands out to me for 360.
 
Mega Man Zero series.

The platformer for the serious platformers, and quite possibly GOAT. It has all you need: well polished and precise physics, a great sense of speed, an understated yet surprisingly deep storyline, a difficulty / scoring combination that lets bad players survive and hardcore players get pissed, thrilling boss battles, god tier soundtracks after the first game (which was quite experimental and interesting in its own way, too), and best of all: the perfect combination of melee and ranged attacks to make you feel like you can do anything if you're skilled enough.

Get into it now. Zero Collection for the DS goes pretty cheap nowadays and has all four games, a slightly buffed soundtrack, and a few extra features. You have no excuse.

edit:

Oh, and I could play my wife's 3DS if there are some gems there.
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Start begging for it. Even if you won't take my advice (and shame on you if you don't), that's probably what you're going to have to do anyway since most of the good platformers I can recall are on portable systems.
 
Play Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D on your wifes 3DS, or alternatively buy a cheap Wii to play it in 60 fps.

That and Tropical Freeze along with Rayman Origins/Legends are the best modern 2D platformers.
 
Like you said, Rayman Origins is also freaking GREAT. One of my favorite 2D platformers, and that just might be my favorite genre (though I haven't played Legends yet).

Other great ones:

Donkey Kong Country 1/2/3/Returns/Tropical Freeze (last two on GAF recommendation only, no personal experience)

Obviously any of the Mario games (SMB 3 and World especially) are great, though I don't know how far you want to go back in time. I'm even a fan of the New Super Mario Bros series, despite series burnout. As long as you don't oversaturate yourself, they are all great games on their own (with the first being the weakest).

The Wario Land series I find fun in small doses, with all of them but 4 being on the 3DS eShop. I can't play them for hours on end, but with a pick-up-and-play mentality they serve as a great yang to Mario's yin

If you want to do some genre-bending....

Metroidvanias: any of the DS Castlevania games, or older Metroid games (2D). Shadow Complex if you have a 360

Action Platformers: Mega Man series (including X, Zero, and ZX) is still incredible to this day. Bionic Commando: ReArmed is a LOT of fun, available on your DD service of choice

Puzzle Platformers: Admittedly something that can get on my nerves: but I enjoyed my time with LIMBO. I'll check Steam is a sec to see what other ones I have

Roguelikes: Spelunky seems to be the king of this one, but once again I'll search through my steam library

Will edit with more once I think of them!

Few more:

FEZ for puzzle platformer, Mark of the Ninja for Metroidvania (really enjoyed this one), Rogue Legacy for Roguelike, bit.Trip Runner and Runner 2 for challenge/"infinite" runner (great fun), Super Meat Boy for challenge, Gunpoint for puzzle (fantastic), Dustforce for serious challenge, Guacamelee for Metroivania.
 
Buy a Wii U and a copy of Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze.

God tier platformer.

God tier soundtrack.

Also pick up Super Mario 3D World because if you're into your platformers, these two CANNOT be missed.
 
Guacamelee is so damn fun. Super slick platforming, combat, and art style.
 
Xav said:
Buy a Wii U and a copy of Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze.

God tier platformer.

God tier soundtrack.

Also pick up Super Mario 3D World because if you're into your platformers, these two CANNOT be missed.
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I'll have to be honest here and say that I'm not interested in the Wii U until if/when they release a $150 bundle with the pro controller instead of that tablet crap in a few years. I've tried the tablet controller on several occassions, and I just detest it.

I'm not against the Wii U, but I don't see spending $200-$250 on the system and another $50 on the pro controller when there'd only be maybe 3 or 4 games I'd play on it.

But yeah, eventually when the price drops enough I'll get it and check those two out for sure.

To everyone else: Thanks for the recs! I'll be sure to check them out. Specifically Spelunky (sounds up my alley) and the Megaman games. I played the reboot retail version of Bionic Commando and it was good even if not 2D, so I'll have to check out the DD Rearmed version too.
 
Download Spelunky and Mega Man 9 onto your 360.

Acquire Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection on your 360 and play the Sonic games + others.

The platformer genre has many classic which you should play.
- Donkey Kong Country Trilogy on SNES
- Mega Man 1,2,3 on NES
- Kirby on NES
- Super Metroid on SNES
- Mega Man X on SNES
- Castlevania 1/3 on NES
- Super Castlevania on SNES
- Super Mario Bros 1, 3, World, World 2: Yoshi's Island

There are many great platformers.

Oh, and I know you probably won't get a Wii U, but it has some truly great platformers on it (as did the Wii),
 
My picks:
Rayman Legends
Castle of Illusion HD (preferably on PC/Steam for 60 FPS)
Ducktales Remastered
Super Mario 3D Land
Super Mario 3D World
Bit.Trip Runner2

EDIT: Also
Sonic 1 on 3DS
Sonic 1 and 2 on iOS/Android. If you have an NVidia Shield, you can play Androind games on them IIRC.
 
doofy102 said:
Download Spelunky and Mega Man 9 onto your 360.

Acquire Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection on your 360 and play the Sonic games + others.

The platformer genre has many classic which you should play.
- Donkey Kong Country Trilogy on SNES
- Mega Man 1,2,3 on NES
- Kirby on NES
- Super Metroid on SNES
- Mega Man X on SNES
- Castlevania 1/3 on NES
- Super Castlevania on SNES
- Super Mario Bros 1, 3, World, World 2: Yoshi's Island

There are many great platformers.

Oh, and I know you probably won't get a Wii U, but it has some truly great platformers on it (as did the Wii),
Click to expand...

Oh don't get me wrong I've played the older/classics. I've been gaming for 28 years lol. That's why I said 'rediscovered'. I may have to pull out my emulators and go back to the 8bit-16bit era though. I played through most of the old Mega Mans, Donkey Kongs, Marios, Sonics, Castlevanias, and Metroids back in the day. Kirby may be the one that I never played.

Zeyphersan said:
Like you said, Rayman Origins is also freaking GREAT. One of my favorite 2D platformers, and that just might be my favorite genre (though I haven't played Legends yet).
Click to expand...


I haven't actually played Origins. But you definitely need to play Legends. AFAIK Legends includes all the Origins levels doesn't it? If so there's no need for me to go back and play Origins because I already have them all in my Legends copy. But yeah, Legends is freaking amazing. So much variety to that game that it always stays fresh for me.
 
lifeexpectancy said:
Oh don't get me wrong I've played the older/classics. I've been gaming for 28 years lol. That's why I said 'rediscovered'. I may have to pull out my emulators and go back to the 8bit-16bit era though. I played through most of the old Mega Mans, Donkey Kongs, Marios, Sonics, Castlevanias, and Metroids back in the day. Kirby may be the one that I never played.




I haven't actually played Origins. But you definitely need to play Legends. AFAIK Legends includes all the Origins levels doesn't it? If so there's no need for me to go back and play Origins because I already have them all in my Legends copy. But yeah, Legends is freaking amazing. So much variety to that game that it always stays fresh for me.
Click to expand...

If that's true, then feel free to ignore Origins!

Kirby is the platformer you go to when you want something easy, cute, and relaxing. None of them are very challenging. Save for Mass Attack, but that's also not a platformer and terrible.
 
lifeexpectancy said:
I'm not against the Wii U, but I don't see spending $200-$250 on the system and another $50 on the pro controller when there'd only be maybe 3 or 4 games I'd play on it.
Click to expand...

I totally see where you're coming from but keep in mind that the Wii U also plays Wii & Virtual Console games.

That's basically three systems in one and the perfect gateway to many 2D classics.

Anyway I'm going to recommend Sonic Generations since no one else has. Good fun all around and a great nostalgia trip for Sonic fans.
 
SJS said:
Mega Man Zero series.

The platformer for the serious platformers, and quite possibly GOAT. It has all you need: well polished and precise physics, a great sense of speed, an understated yet surprisingly deep storyline, a difficulty / scoring combination that lets bad players survive and hardcore players get pissed, thrilling boss battles, god tier soundtracks after the first game (which was quite experimental and interesting in its own way, too), and best of all: the perfect combination of melee and ranged attacks to make you feel like you can do anything if you're skilled enough.

Get into it now. Zero Collection for the DS goes pretty cheap nowadays and has all four games, a slightly buffed soundtrack, and a few extra features. You have no excuse.

edit:



Start begging for it. Even if you won't take my advice (and shame on you if you don't), that's probably what you're going to have to do anyway since most of the good platformers I can recall are on portable systems.
Click to expand...

Hmm... I just remembered I have a largely unused DS sitting in my drawer. That's 2 generations of games I never knew much about. I just drew up my Wii/Wii U buy list, too, having just got a Wii U. *panics*
 
Zeyphersan said:
If that's true, then feel free to ignore Origins!

Kirby is the platformer you go to when you want something easy, cute, and relaxing. None of them are very challenging. Save for Mass Attack, but that's also not a platformer and terrible.
Click to expand...

Kirby on the NES isn't hard, but it's challenging enough to feel in the same category as normal Rayman Legends levels, maybe a little harder.
 
lifeexpectancy said:
I'll have to be honest here and say that I'm not interested in the Wii U until if/when they release a $150 bundle with the pro controller instead of that tablet crap in a few years. I've tried the tablet controller on several occassions, and I just detest it.

I'm not against the Wii U, but I don't see spending $200-$250 on the system and another $50 on the pro controller when there'd only be maybe 3 or 4 games I'd play on it.
Click to expand...
Dont forget the Wii U has Wii backwards compatibility and the Wii has a lot of platformers as well, like Wario Land Shake It, NSMB Wii, Kloonoa, etc.
 
Hobbestetrician said:
Loves platformers, doesn't have a Nintendo console.

?

There are already 4-5 fantastic platformers for the system. Do it.
Click to expand...

Rediscovered my love of them. I hadn't played platformers really in many years prior to playing these recent three. I'm also hugely against Nintendo's lack of a universal account system, so that's kept me away from their platforms and their virtual console for quite a number of years since selling the Wii.

I'm hoping to see big changes from N over the next 5 years so I can rejoin them. I owned every Nintendo console up to and including the Wii, but once I sold the Wii I pretty much dropped N from my radar save for the 3DS for the occassional on-the-go gaming fix (detest touch screen phone games).
 
lifeexpectancy said:
I haven't actually played Origins. But you definitely need to play Legends. AFAIK Legends includes all the Origins levels doesn't it? If so there's no need for me to go back and play Origins because I already have them all in my Legends copy. But yeah, Legends is freaking amazing. So much variety to that game that it always stays fresh for me.
Click to expand...

Legends doesn't have all of the Origins levels, and they've been rejigged slightly. Most people find Origins is a better game, so definitely worth getting that as well at some stage! Maybe leave it for a while, because it would be very samey coming from Legends.

Definitely hit these up, in this order I'd say:

- Super Meat Boy (controls are so damn tight and it's super addictive)
- Battleblock Theatre (hilarious cut-scenes, great level design especially if you can play co-op)
- Gucamelee (very funny and entertaining game. Nicely polished)
- Splosion Man (satisfying timing based gameplay)
 
lifeexpectancy said:
Rediscovered my love of them. I hadn't played platformers really in many years prior to playing these recent three. I'm also hugely against Nintendo's lack of a universal account system, so that's kept me away from their platforms and their virtual console for quite a number of years since selling the Wii.

I'm hoping to see big changes from N over the next 5 years so I can rejoin them. I owned every Nintendo console up to and including the Wii, but once I sold the Wii I pretty much dropped N from my radar save for the 3DS for the occassional on-the-go gaming fix (detest touch screen phone games).
Click to expand...

Nintendo has an account system and you can transfer it between systems with customer service's assistance. They also expressed their intention to make accounts work across new platforms going forward.

The Gamepad does everything the pro controller does and is super comfortable. Don't see why you need a pro controller so bad. Also considering the Wii U has New Super Mario Bros U, New Super Luigi U, Super Mario 3D World, and Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze which are among the best platformers ever and the backwards compatibility with Wii and the virtual console gives you a plethora of amazing platformers from past 8 years and beyond. Not to mention the amazing games from other genres.

Plus $150 with pro controller is never going to happen.
 
RagnarokX said:
Nintendo has an account system and you can transfer it between systems with customer service's assistance. They also expressed their intention to make accounts work across new platforms going forward.

The Gamepad does everything the pro controller does and is super comfortable. Don't see why you need a pro controller so bad. Also considering the Wii U has New Super Mario Bros U, New Super Luigi U, Super Mario 3D World, and Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze which are among the best platformers ever the backwards compatibility with Wii and the virtual console gives you a plethora of amazing platformers from last generation and beyond. Not to mention the amazing games from other genres.

Plus $150 with pro controller is never going to happen.
Click to expand...

Never say never lol. It may take years but it just may happen. And if it doesn't, I'm sure I'll be able to find one on Craigslist for $100 eventually or the combo I want for $150. I don't necessarily need N to release the bundle I desire to give me what I want.

I just don't like the gamepad. It's a personal preference thing, but holding a tablet in my hands to play games isn't my idea of fun in the least. I'll get one eventually when they're cheap enough, but just not now. It's the same reason I waited until I could get a PS3 for $150 to play the specific titles I was interested in. I'm honestly confused as to why I bought both an XB1 and PS4 at launch. That's a first for me.... but it's probably because last gen was so damned long (and technically still going since I haven't gotten rid of my 360 yet). Well actually come to think of it getting the XB1 for free due to MS's promotional thing is probably the reason. I felt like 'what the heck, the XB1 was free so why not have both?', so I did. Glad I did too because Resogun is the tits for sure, love that game.
 
RagnarokX said:
Nintendo has an account system and you can transfer it between systems with customer service's assistance. They also expressed their intention to make accounts work across new platforms going forward.

The Gamepad does everything the pro controller does and is super comfortable. Don't see why you need a pro controller so bad. Also considering the Wii U has New Super Mario Bros U, New Super Luigi U, Super Mario 3D World, and Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze which are among the best platformers ever and the backwards compatibility with Wii and the virtual console gives you a plethora of amazing platformers from past 8 years and beyond. Not to mention the amazing games from other genres.

Plus $150 with pro controller is never going to happen.
Click to expand...

Never going to happen? In a few years someone will easily be able to pick up a Wii U and pro-controller for that price.

I also wouldn't say NSMBU is one of the best platformers ever, personally. For my money the gamepad is decent but not "super comfortable". I think you are selling the system a bit hard honestly!

He has at least a half dozen fantastic platformers to catch up on with his current systems, so i wouldn't be in a rush to go buy a Wii U in his shoes. Eventually he should absolutely buy one if he is a platformer fan!
 
Poimandres said:
Never going to happen? In a few years someone will easily be able to pick up a Wii U and pro-controller for that price.

I also wouldn't say NSMBU is one of the best platformers ever, personally. For my money the gamepad is decent but not "super comfortable". I think you are selling the system a bit hard honestly!

He has at least a half dozen fantastic platformers to catch up on with his current systems, so i wouldn't be in a rush to go buy a Wii U in his shoes. Eventually he should absolutely buy one if he is a platformer fan!
Click to expand...

Never obviously hyperbole. $150 won't happen for years.

NSMBU the best 2D Mario, which certainly puts it in that category.
 
RagnarokX said:
Never obviously hyperbole. $150 won't happen for years.

NSMBU the best 2D Mario, which certainly puts it in that category.
Click to expand...

I got a brand new Wii U for $175 Australian (RRP way higher than the states!) 6 months ago, so it could happen sooner than you think.

I don't think NSMBU touches SMB3 or SMW personally, but that's a matter of opinion!

Anyway, this thread isn't the place to continue this conversation I feel.
 
I really liked Alice: Madness Returns as well. Game has problems, but it's also a bunch of pure platforming and that's pretty rare these days.
 
Play DKC Returns. I suggest you to play on Wii, otherwise there's a 30fps 3ds port. It should be good as well, I'm planning to double dip on it because of portability and some erxtra levels

However you should get a Wii U. if you haven't had a Wii, you'll literally tons of quality platformers

Also there are the two Banjo remasters on 360. and I hope you've played the R&C and Sly games when you had a PS3
 
lifeexpectancy said:
Thanks for all the suggestions gang. Sorry to get off on the tangent about other systems' merits. I think this thread can be closed now. :)
Click to expand...

PS3 had a few but what can ya doo, I sold my PS3 (longest ownership), Wii U, Xbox 360 (shortest ownership) .. im basically only a PS4 owner now.

I say Fez is coming to PS4 Next week! Ill be getting it as well!
 
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