Top 10 2D Platformers

Andrew76

Following on from the Sonic discussion in the General thread, I thought it might be interesting to see what people's favourite 2D platformers were, new or old. If there's any interest I might combine and rank them after a week or so. No bother if you can't think of 10 and edit your original post if you want to change.

These would be my favourites that I have played (not necessarily finished).

1. Super Mario Bros. 3
2. Super Mario World
3. Yoshi's Island
4. Rayman Legends
5. Kirby's Epic Yarn
6. Sonic 1
7. Sonic 2
8. Donkey Kong Returns (mainly 2D?)
9. Super Mario Bros.
10. Spyro (GBA)

I left out the likes of Turrican and Megaman as I figured they were more run and gun type games? Not sure if that's correct though.

DinoRex

I'd have to say that Wario Land 4 is probably my favourite 2D platformer.

DoctorEdgeWild

Kid Chameleon is my favourite platformer of all time, if Turrican can fit the criteria then I think it is the most enjoyable example of it's kind too.

Repton 2 is probably the one into which I sank the most hours.

If Exile fits, then definitely a masterful game.

safetyboy

Rygar

wario on the virtual boy

STG.Otaku

Rolling Ronny on the Commodore C64.

richymcdermott

1.Sonic The Hedgehog 2
2.Super mario bros 3
3.Sonic the hedgheog 3
4. Super Metroid
5.Megaman X
6. Sonic the hedgehog
7.CastleVania Symphony of the Night
8.Tombi
9.Rayman origins
10.Revenge of Shinobi

Retr0gamer

Warioland 2 and 3 should be in there as well. The Warioland games are so good and really subvert everything you think a platform game should be.

I think Klonoa gets unfairly ignored. The PS1 original is amazing as is the Wii remake. It's also got a surprisingly tear jerking story that will catch you off guard.

Also no mention of Tomba! ? Maybe it counts more as a metroidvania but it's a great game none the less.

NSMB Wii gets unfairly ignored I feel.

There's plenty of great NES platformers as well that would rank with the best of them, Ducktales, Mr. Gimmick, ufouria, Little Samson, Adventure Island 4 etc.

I also love Do-Re-Mi Fantasy on the SNES whic gets unfairly overlooked. The fact that it's a sequel to the outrageously ****ty Milon's secret castle is even more head scratching.

Retr0gamer

I think the likes of revenge of shinobi, Turrican, megaman, castlevania etc. are more brawlers or shoot'em ups and not really platformers in the traditional sense.

Also Kid Chameleon? Really? I absolutely hate that game. It's so dull.

DinoRex

Hard to know where to draw the line.

What about Strider? What about Flashback? Ghouls and Ghosts? Prince of Persia? Earthworm Jim?

o1s1n

I think it's probably best to define this as 'scrolling platformers'

Originally I was going to include Super Metroid, SOTN and Another World, but I think you're more aiming for scrolling ones?

DinoRex

It's a fairly nebulous genre.

Bubble Bobble and Rainbow Islands would also be exceptional platformers.

Are we drawing a line on if you use a weapon to kill an enemy or just bounce on their head?

Retr0gamer

Too much shooting in those games, I'd probably call them run and gun although Earthworm Jim 2 is so full of different genres that's even harder to call. It's the reason I didn't mention Rocket Knight Adventures, it feels more like contra than a platform game.

Stuff like Strider are really more about the combat than getting past platforming challenges.

Flashback and Prince of Persia though would definitely be a lot more about the platforming and getting over environmental obstacles so I'd include them.

Retr0gamer

DinoRex wrote: »

It's a fairly nebulous genre.

Bubble Bobble and Rainbow Islands would also be exceptional platformers.

Are we drawing a line on if you use a weapon to kill an enemy or just bounce on their head?

Yeah it is kind of nebulous, I think you just have to decide for yourself. For me if the combat is more important that actual platforming challenges then it's hard to really call it a platformer. But then you get stuff like Revenge of Shinobi and Batman on the NEs that really mix both together really well. I'd still say they are a bit too focused on combat for me.

DinoRex

Yikes... seems this 600 page book is a thing:



http://danielprimed.com/warioland4/

Andrew76

I was just thinking along the lines of predominantly 2D side scrolling platform games where there is more emphasis on jumping rather than combat with a weapon. There's no strict rule so if you think a game is close enough then list away. Just wanted to gauge people's favourites and see was there any general consensus among the top 3 or 4 etc.

I wouldn't have classed Super Metroid as a platformer but that's just me.

All this talk of "nebulous" has me thinking about the Amiga game of the same name, that is a platformer, I think. Although is it side-scrolling...

penev10

I'm not a fan of platformers per se but Mario World is definitely the ultimate example in my eyes. Just took SMB3 and refined and improved it (cape>Tanooki suit). Galaxy is the only Mario to beat it imo.

James Pond 2 : Robocod, Castle of Illusion and Psycho Fox also spring to mind as ones I've enjoyed. Not enough there for a top 10 alas.

Any love for Mario Land on the GB? I played it endlessly when it came out but my Mario-crazy son reckons it's muck.

Dr Bob

hmm
right ..here's mine
1 Montezumas revenge , (atari 8 bit)
2 Castlevania SOTN(PSx)
3 Castlevania COTM(GBA)
4 Pacland (arcade)
5 Sonic (meg)
6 Jet set willy (c64, spectrum..lots of stuff)
7 Black Tiger(arcade)
8 Skullmonkeys (PSX)
9 Turrican (c64)
10 Mickey Mouse in castle of illusion (mastersystem).

Retr0gamer

penev10 wrote: »

Any love for Mario Land on the GB? I played it endlessly when it came out but my Mario-crazy son reckons it's muck.

Time has not been kind to it and it's very weird. Mario Land 2 is far better.

Gamayun

Ufouria: The Saga on the NES is good fun. It's a bit like Metroid in that it's the one uninterrupted world.

TechnoFreek

Superfrog

CiDeRmAn

Here's my ten
Manic Miner- Speccy
Gex- 3DO (I know it's probably terrible but I had fun)
Flashback? Plenty of 2d platforming action and the game engine was not built around shooting!
Skullmonkeys- PS, batsh1t insane that one.
Pandemonium 2- PS, far better than the original
Sonic 3
SMB3
SMW
Cool Spot
Super Mario Land
Super Frog!

Retr0gamer

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Gex- 3DO (I know it's probably terrible but I had fun)

Joking aside I heard it's decent and the european version has a Red Dwarf connection with the voice actor.

Also Cool Spot? Really? Those Dave Perry games really aren't the best when you play them now.

deathrider

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Time has not been kind to it and it's very weird. Mario Land 2 is far better.

I've always viewed Mario Land 2 as one of my favourites, although I haven't actually played it since the 90's.

Steve X2

I came in here thinking Superfrog wouldn't get a mention. I was wrong :0)
It's not the best platformer but I really enjoyed it and stick it on from time to time still.

I've not played the remake yet, anyone know if its any good?

CiDeRmAn

A lot of nostalgia mixed up in that list.
I first owned a Gameboy in early '91, and had Super Mario Land along with Tetris.
While, yes, Super Mario Land 2 looks far better and has a lot of the features of both SMB3 and SMW, the first one is close to my heart, love the music too!
In fact, it's probably my first Mario platformer, aside from Donkey Kong and Mario Bros back in the day.
Cool Spot is the same, it captured something back then, even though it doesn't play as well now at all.
Gex was fun and at least attempted to haul platformers away from the typical series of environments, the Gex 3D games though, they can go die in a hole, a hole filled with fire.

Andrew76

Steve SI wrote: »

I came in here thinking Superfrog wouldn't get a mention. I was wrong :0)
It's not the best platformer but I really enjoyed it and stick it on from time to time still.

I've not played the remake yet, anyone know if its any good?

It was good fun alright and the music was great. Preferred it over the colour explosion that was Zool.

TechnoFreek

Oh yeah. Zool. I actually liked it but the character controls were pants in some parts of the game.

Anyone familiar with an amiga platformer called Premiere?

daingeanrob

Any love for flimbos quest here. Has to be up there for me..

Mr.Saturn

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Time has not been kind to it and it's very weird.

"What the f**k's a lion doing in this game anyway?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmwtykJj47Y

Casey120

From the head in no particular order:

Super Mario World ....duh
DoReMi Fantasy
The adventure of little Ralph
Yoshi's Island
James Pond
Mikey magical quest
Tomba
Montezuma's revenge
Prince of Persia
Donkey Kong country

ghostchant

Also in no particular order (except for Mario 3, which is definitely first)
Also following the 'Megaman doesn't count' rule

Super Mario Bros. 3
Super Mario Bros. 2 (Mario USA/Doki Doki Panic)
Sonic 2
Ducktales
VVVVVV
Umihara Kawase
Donkey Kong Country
Super Mario World
Super Mario Land
Super Meat Boy

Also reserve the right to edit this as I've just listed them off without much thought

Retr0gamer

ghostchant wrote: »

Umihara Kawase

Forgot all about that, what a great game!

Star Lord

No particular order to mine, just whatever I can think of that I really enjoyed:

Super Mario World
Super Mario 3
Sonic 2
Donkey Kong Country
VVVVVV
Prince of Persia
Rayman Legends
Kirby's Epic Yarn (Way to easy, but too damn cute to pass up!)
The original Duke Nukem (borderline, as it's shooty!)
Commander Keen 4: Goodbye Galaxy

returnNull

new zealand story
Blacktiger

DoctorEdgeWild

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I think the likes of revenge of shinobi, Turrican, megaman, castlevania etc. are more brawlers or shoot'em ups and not really platformers in the traditional sense.

Also Kid Chameleon? Really? I absolutely hate that game. It's so dull.

Love Kid Chameleon. Possibly because of fond childhood memories but was playing it just before Christmas for a bit and it was still really enjoyable although frustrating at times. The years have thinned my patience considerably!

ondafly

don't care that theres guns in some of these - they are mostly 2d and platformer (no particular order) and couldn't think of a 10th

Super Mario Land on the original Gameboy
Super Mario World on the Snes
Turrican on the original Gameboy
Castlevania: Rondo of Blood on the PC Engine
New Zealand Story Arcade
Bubble Bobble Arcade
Super Contra on the Snes
Dizzy Island on the Spectrum 48k
Castlevania 2 Belmont's Revenge

djsim101

Rayman on the Saturn \ Jag one of the all time greats....

Plus I am going to mention Rayman Legends \ Origins, I know they ean't old school, but they have an old school feel about them :pac: Must haves...

Mr.Saturn

I'll have to respectfully disagree, I felt the original Rayman went out of its way to just punish the player. It controls beautifully, but it's got those unforeseeable pits of death that just grind the game's momentum to a screeching halt. So many millions of miles away from the highest measure of 2D platforming the series it went on to be with Origins/Legends.

Though I've yet to finish it, Super Luigi U is everything I've been looking for in a 'Mario' game since Ninty revived the formula with NSMB.

I'll second the Donkey Kong Country Returns nomination, it's the best in the series and manages that whilst overcoming the occasional tacked-on Wiimote mechanic. I've seen it be ragged on for having a spike, but would anyone here nominate it as unfair? Sure, it comes out of the leftfield ever-so-slightly, but you're never left in a position as to not know what's needed of you, and any hazards to navigate are there immediately in front and the only factor required of you is the reflexes necessary to see it through. The bosses, though, with the exception of perhaps one, are just token, cardboard obstacles.

Super Meat Boy seemed well on its way 'til my gaming laptop broke (unrelated to anything gaming related, fortunately). I was 2-3 levels from completing it, but it was good in that it possesses such a high, gigantic difficulty curve, that you could pretty much get anywhere in it and still dot off with a grand sense of achievement.

djsim101

I'll have to respectfully disagree, I felt the original Rayman went out of its way to just punish the player. It controls beautifully, but it's got those unforeseeable pits of death that just grind the game's momentum to a screeching halt. So many millions of miles away from the highest measure of 2D platforming the series it went on to be with Origins/Legends.

Shame on you with a name like yours I remember getting the Saturn game and just loving it, took me ages to complete,it was very tuff, but rewarding... I suppose back then, I spent all my money on one game, and I had to get my monies worth and stick with it. No emulation back then I tell you.

Doge

Not only is it one of my favourite platformer games, but it is also one of my favourite PS1 games:

Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee

The artwork in the game was beautiful and unique, especially in the wilderness levels,
and it had a great atmospheric soundtrack that matched perfectly.
Even though it was a 2D game they added a lot of visual depth that almost made it feel 3D, especially the FMV transitions from one entrance to another, and the exploding gibs that would bounce off the screen!

It had a heartwarming story, and i loved that you could interact with and save your fellow Mudokans.

If this game didn't warm your heart then you're a cold soulless bastard!

The gameplay was also awesome, plenty of puzzles, bombs, stealth sections, and who doesn't love mind control of enemies?

I played both Abe's Oddysee and Exodus again not too long ago from start to finish and loved them just as much as i did first time, so they have really aged well imo.

Its a game that would do Prince of Persia proud, since it added such a unique flavour to genre and pushed it forward imo.

If anyone has not played the first game, its a must!

Did anyone here happen to buy the Oddworld art book?

http://oddworld.wikia.com/wiki/The_Art_of_Oddworld_Inhabitants:_The_First_Ten_Years_1994_-_2004

Worth a fair bit of money now!

It appears there's also a remake destined to hit the PS4 this year.

While the visuals are nice and rebuilt from scratch, it appears there is little added to the gameplay from the in game video:

http://www.oddworld.com/oddworldgames/new-n-tasty/


Have never actually played the other Oddworld games, what do people think of those?

Doge

Nice interview here at E3 with 2 of the head honchos of Oddworld Inhabitants, which looks back as well as looks forward:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdV1ddle2z4

CiDeRmAn

I remember Rayman at launch and the overwhelming response to it was that it looked wonderful but was far too hard.
Essentially it looked as close to a cartoon as games had gotten, with a real Disney vibe to the visuals but the game was rock hard.
That said the 3d follow up Rayman 2 on the N64, since rereleased on both the DS and 3 DS is fantastic, visually stunning.
It's only with Origins and Legends that Rayman seems to have struck the balance between beautiful visuals and gameplay, some 18 years later!
And it wasn't a Saturn game, it was multi platform.
Though hard it was still better than Clockwork Knight and Johnny Bazookatone and the other 2d wanna be titles that gen.

CiDeRmAn

I remember Rayman at launch and the overwhelming response to it was that it looked wonderful but was far too hard.
Essentially it looked as close to a cartoon as games had gotten, with a real Disney vibe to the visuals but the game was rock hard.
That said the 3d follow up Rayman 2 on the N64, since rereleased on both the DS and 3 DS is fantastic, visually stunning.
It's only with Origins and Legends that Rayman seems to have struck the balance between beautiful visuals and gameplay, some 18 years later!
And it wasn't a Saturn game, it was multi platform.
Though hard it was still better than Clockwork Knight and Johnny Bazookatone and the other 2d wanna be titles that gen.

J_E

Not any particular list but some I adore;

Tombi!
Fez (this does count, right...?)
Donkey Kong Country 2
Sonic 3
Wario Land series is phenomenal.
Dizzy series
Super Metroid (this is definitely a platformer, maybe not traditional but it ticks all the boxes)

wtlltw

super mario bros - the original is still my all time favourite game
Wonder Boy 2-3
PC Kid
YŌKAI DŌCHŪKI Tales of a Monster Path
Alex Kidd in Miracle World
Son Son 2
Legend of Hero Tonma

unky chop chop

I feel the true meaning of platform games doesn't involve guns,weapons etc.
More navigating left to right while avoiding obstacles and enemy's.
I suppose rainbow island could be included as a vert platformer:)

1. Rainbow islands
2.new Zealand story
3.sonic 2
4.willow
5.super Mario 3
6.wonderboy 3
7.castle of illusion
8. Quackshot
9.Donkey kong country
10.kid chameleon

DinoRex

You can kill enemies with a laser cannon in New Zealand Story!

o1s1n

And I don't know if you've ever looked closely as the cover of Quackshot but...:pac:

unky chop chop

Plungers aren't classed as a weapon:)

CiDeRmAn

unky chop chop wrote: »

Plungers aren't classed as a weapon:)

Hey, drops of lead weren't classed as a weapon either, until some bright spark decided to feck them at each other from the muzzle of a gun!

I can see it in COD:Ghosts II, the M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle,
with a 30 round 5.56 NATO round mag

or

a 5 round 9" rubber plunger attachment