Platformers make up some of the best video games ever made, and they continue to dominate the industry with every new console generation.
have been around for a long time, going back to the earliest days of home video game consoles. As each new console generation came and went, developers produced some exceptional games, building franchises that continue to this day.
It all started small, with a few titles in arcades, but these days, platformers make up some of the biggest video game franchises of all time. It’s challenging to count the total number of Mario games out there, and that’s just one franchise. We looked through the archives and identified the best platformer from each console generation. The winners took the top spot based primarily on contemporary critics’ reviews upon release, their overall impact on the genre, and their popularity among players.The first generation of home video game consoles didn’t include any platformers. This was largely because the genre didn’t actually exist. The first game that’s widely accepted as the first platformer iswas released in arcades in 1980, putting it in the right timeframe for the 1st generation. It featured platforms and ladders but no jumping mechanic, which is why some don’t consider it a proper platformer.Platformers arrived on consoles in the 2nd generation, and there were a lot of them. While the Atari 2600 had a port ofThe 1982 classic by Activision, designed by David Crane, features a 20-minute time limit for players to navigate horizontally connected screens to find treasure in the jungle. There are 32 treasures hidden across 255 screens, and plenty of obstacles to jump and swing over as you go.was a huge success and one of the most important early platformers, showing how the genre could be used for large-scale adventures.The era of platformer supremacy began in the third console generation, when the NES dominated the home video game market. The console launched with one of the best,. This is the game that was announced in a feature film, it added an entire world map to explore, and featured as much as could be packed onto a NES cartridge at the time. It’s easily4th Gen: TurboGrafx-16 | Genesis | Neo Geo | Super Nintendo Entertainment System As technology expanded into the 4th generation, bringing 16-bit graphics, platformers rose to the occasion. The generation featured, and many others. Still, the game that tends to lead most lists due to its overwhelmingly high critical and player scores ison the Super Nintendo. Rare hit it out of the park with its pre-rendered graphics and excellent controls. The story, mechanics, and overall gameplay ofWith the advent of 64-bit technology, platformers went from 2D to 3D with a bang, and the game that blew away the competition ismanaged to perfect the formula, thanks to its 360-degree camera system. This innovationachieved the same feat. It also features a brilliant story and excellent gameplay, and it was an absolute blast to play when it was released in 1996., but the PS2 port is superior, offering exceptional 3D gameplay, an immersive plot, and gorgeous graphics. It’s a brilliant game that everyone should play at least once in their life.While the 7th generation saw the end of Sega’s hardware development, it didn’t stop the company from making games. There were plenty of great ones, and both the PlayStation 3 andtook the 3D platformer and blasted the format to smithereens, taking it into a fully 3D realm that hadn’t been explored previously, setting new benchmarks for other platformers to follow, and it easily dominated the competition.8th Gen: Nintendo Switch | PlayStation 4 | Wii U | Xbox Onewas also released on Switch and other platforms, the PS4 port was incredibly well done, and both games swept the competition in the 8th console generation.offered a brilliant story and excellent gameplay, absolutely astounding critics and players alike, proving that an indie title can match the merits of the biggest and best AAA games.In the 9th generation, the Nintendo Switch continued, while we got new versions of the PlayStation and Xbox. While plenty of great games came out on all three systems during this period, the platformer that dominated the competition was easily. The fifth game in the series was released on the PS5 in celebration of PlayStation’s 30th anniversary, and it features a plethora of callbacks and great content, brilliant level design, and some exceptional gameplay.won Game of the Year in 2024, alongside numerous other accolades, and was the clear winner of the 9th generation.As of writing, there isn’t a consensus on the 10th generation, though some have identified the release of the Nintendo Switch 2 as the generation’s first console. We’re going with that notion, and to that end, the best platformer released thus far is. The game offers plenty of destructive fun for Donkey Kong to explore as players guide him through sandbox-like levels, where he can destroy almost everything, fight enemies, and uncover all sorts of hidden paths and items. It’s wildly entertaining, and while many platformers are playable on the Switch 2,Fans of Baldur’s Gate 3 and Dark Souls Can’t Miss This Xbox RPGGet access to exclusive stories on new releases, movies, shows, comics, anime, games and more!Why Carla & Dr. Cox Are Hardly in the Scrubs Revival
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