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Best platformer games on GamesNostalgia

Platform games, or platformers, a simple concept of moving your character through a side-view environment, became a hit with Donkey Kong in 1981.

Since then, many cult franchises have originated from platformers. Mega Man is one of the Japanese platformer classics that kickstarted its own franchise. Not only it looked great at that time, but it also offered freedom in choosing the level order.

Other games were more narrative-focused. Jordan Mechner's Prince of Persia became a hit (although not immediately) due to its cinematic animations but also due to its setting. A warrior in the middle east who fights through dungeons to save a princess is a classic story, after all. This genre also includes some iconic arcades such as Bubble Bobble and The New Zealand Story, as well as the Atari legend Pitfall!.

In the '90s, Disney released some fantastic platformers based on its movies, starting from Disney's Aladdin movie and Disney's Hercules. We should also not forget some Amiga legendary titles like Superfrog and Another World.

With 3D graphics and environments, platformers became less popular, but games like Claw and Rayman show that this concept is not only for 16-bit or 8-bit computers.

This section mainly lists "pure" platformers, where shooting is not required, or it's a secondary mechanic. If you like these games, you should also check platform-shooter.

Disney's Tarzan windows

Disney's Tarzan (also known as Tarzan Action Game) is a platformer created by Eurocom Developments and published by Disney in 1999. Released for PlayStation and Windows, later, it was also ported to Nintendo 64.

Year: 1999 Genre: Platformer

2.5d cartoon disney jungle licensed movies platformer side-scrolling

Disney's Hercules windows

Disney's Hercules is an action platformer game for Windows 95 and Playstation published in 1997 by Disney Interactive. It is based on the animated movie of the same name. During th...

Year: 1997 Genre: Platformer

cartoon disney movies mythology platformer

Dangerous Dave dos

Dangerous Dave in the Deserted Pirate’s Hideout! is the first game in the Dangerous Dave series, created by John Romero. The game originally debuted on the Apple II as a demo. ...

Year: 1990 Genre: Platformer

apple 2 original game platformer puzzle platformer

The Lion King dosamigagenesis

The Lion King is the video game adaptation of the Disney movie with the same title. It was developed by Westwood Studios and published by Virgin Interactive Entertainment in 1994. ...

Year: 1994 Genre: Platformer

aga basher cartoon disney genesis original game hand-drawn animations hop and bop movies platformer

Prince of Persia dosnesamigaamstrad-cpcgenesisgame-boy-color

Prince of Persia is a fantasy cinematic 2D platformer originally developed and published by Brøderbund and designed by Jordan Mechner. It was initially released in 1989 for the Apple II.

Year: 1990 Genre: Platformer

apple 2 original game cinematic middle east platformer puzzle platformer

Claw windows

Claw is a 2D platformer developed and published by Monolith Productions as a PC exclusive in 1997. Despite the fanmade adaptations and the repeated attempts to continue the story officially, it did not receive any sequel.

Year: 1997 Genre: Platformer

2d cartoon multiplayer pirates platformer side-scrolling

Disney's Aladdin amigagenesisgame-boy-color

Disney's Aladdin, one of the most successful ports from a movie to a videogame, is a 2D side-scrolling platformer developed by Virgin Games. It is based on the 1992 Disney motion picture.

Year: 1994 Genre: Platformer

aga cartoon disney fairy tale genesis original game hand-drawn animations middle east movies platformer side-scrolling

Prehistorik 2 dos

Prehistorik 2 is the sequel to the platform game Prehistorik and was developed and published by Titus Interactive. It was released for DOS and Amstrad CPC in 1993. In this humorous...

Year: 1993 Genre: Platformer

caveman platformer prehistoric

Switchblade amigagenesis

Switchblade is a side-scrolling action-platformer released in 1989 by Gremlin Graphics and designed by Simon Phipps. It was developed for the Atari ST before being ported to other ...

Year: 1989 Genre: Platformer

anime atari st basher flip-screen platformer

Tomb Raider dos

Tomb Raider is an action-adventure game developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive in 1996 for PC, Sega Saturn, and PlayStation. Eidos Interactive, formerly known ...

Year: 1996 Genre: Action

3d action-adventure ancient egypt archaeology platformer south america

Mario Forever windows

Mario Forever is a freeware clone/unofficial remake of the famous Super Mario Bros. It was created by Buziol Games, and it was released for Windows only in 2004. After many request...

Year: 2004 Genre: Platformer

clone enhanced remakes freeware platformer side-scrolling super mario clone

Ghosts 'N Goblins Remake windows

Ghosts 'n Goblins Remake is a freeware clone of the 1985 popular side-scrolling platforming game developed by Capcom for arcades..

Year: 2004 Genre: Arcade

arcade clone dark fantasy enhanced remakes freeware horror platformer side-scrolling sword and sorcery

Disney's The Jungle Book dosgenesis

Disney's The Jungle Book is a platformer created by Virgin Interactive (aka Virgin Games) based on the 1967 Disney animated film. The team behind Aladdin (including David Bishop an...

Year: 1994 Genre: Platformer

2d cartoon disney genesis original game hand-drawn animations jungle movies platformer

Superfrog amiga

Superfrog is a platformer created for the Amiga by Team 17 and released initially in 1993. One year later the game was ported to MS-DOS. With a lot of colors and nice animations, the game is totally violence free.

Year: 1993 Genre: Platformer

amiga original game cartoon hop and bop jumper platformer side-scrolling