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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.

Little Samson nes

Little Samson is a fantasy platform game developed by Takeru and published by Taito in 1992 exclusively for the NES. After its release in Japan and the USA, it also arrived in Europe in 1993.

Year: 1992 Genre: Platformer

character switch fantasy nes original game platformer run and gun side-scrolling

Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap sega-master-system

Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap is a platformer developed by Westone and published by SEGA in 1989 for the SEGA Master System console. It's the sequel to Wonder Boy in Monster Land and the third chapter of the Wonder Boy saga.

Year: 1989 Genre: Platformer

fantasy metroidvania non-linear platformer rpg elements side-scrolling

Bonk's Revenge pc-engine

Bonk's Revenge (also known as PC Kid 2) is the second episode of the series of platformers created by Hudson Soft. The first game was called Bonk's Adventure or B.C. Kid. It's ...

Year: 1991 Genre: Platformer

arcade cartoon caveman hop and bop humour platformer side-scrolling turbografx-16

Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse sega-master-systemgenesis

Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse is a side-scrolling platformer developed by SEGA and released in 1990 for the Genesis/Mega Drive. It was also converted to 8-bit and ported to the SEGA Master System.

Year: 1990 Genre: Platformer

cartoon disney genesis original game hop and bop platformer side-scrolling

Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse nes

Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse is the third chapter in the Castlevania series created by Konami. The horror platformer was released in December 1989 for the NES. The game is set ...

Year: 1989 Genre: Platformer

action-adventure horror metroidvania nes original game platformer side-scrolling

Harlequin amiga

Harlequin is a platform game published by Gremlin Graphics for the Amiga and Atari ST in 1992. The game was developed by The Warp Factory, the makers of Zool 2. In this colorful ...

Year: 1992 Genre: Platformer

fantasy multi-directional platform-shooter platformer

Zool 2 amiga

Zool 2 is a platform game developed by Gremlin Graphics and released for Amiga and Amiga CD32 in 1993. Serving as a sequel to the original Zool, this game continues the adventures ...

Year: 1993 Genre: Platformer

advergames aga amiga cd32 amiga original game cartoon ninja platform-shooter platformer

Earthworm Jim 2 genesis

Earthworm Jim 2 for the Mega Drive is an action-platformer developed by Shiny Entertainment and published by Playmates Interactive in 1995. Serving as a sequel to the highly acclai...

Year: 1995 Genre: Platformer

cartoon comedy genesis original game hand-drawn animations platformer run and gun science fiction side-scrolling

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 freeware middle east platformer puzzle platformer

Disney's Aladdin amigagenesisgame-boy-color

Disney's Aladdin, one of the most successful port from a movie to videogame, is a 2D side scrolling platformer developed by Virgin Games based on the Disney 1992 motion picture. Graphics and animation were created by Disney itself.

Year: 1994 Genre: Platformer

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

Montezuma's Revenge atari-8-bitsega-master-system

Montezuma's Revenge is a side-scrolling platformer published by Parker Brothers and released for Apple II, Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, and other 8-bit platforms in 1984.

Year: 1984 Genre: Platformer

archaeology atari 8-bit flip-screen metroidvania platformer

Rayman dosgame-boy-advancegame-boy-color

The first game in the popular Rayman series is a 2D side-scrolling adventure developed and published by Ubisoft and released in 1995 for PC MS-DOS, Playstation, Sega Saturn and other platforms.

Year: 1995 Genre: Platformer

2d cartoon platformer side-scrolling

Qwak amigagame-boy-advance

Qwak is a platformer arcade initially released in 1989 for BBC Micro and Acorn Electron. Four years later, the original author of the game, Jamie Woodhouse, developed an improved Amiga version published by Team17.

Year: 1993 Genre: Platformer

2 players co-op platform-shooter platformer single screen

Ristar genesis

Ristar is a classic action platformer game developed by SEGA for the Mega Drive/Genesis console in 1995. The same team behind the legendary Sonic created this cartoon-style platformer.

Year: 1995 Genre: Platformer

cartoon fantasy genesis original game platformer science fiction side-scrolling