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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 The Little Mermaid nes

Disney's The Little Mermaid for the NES is a side-scrolling action game loosely based on the 1989 animated film. It was developed by Capcom and released in 1990. At the time, Capco...

Year: 1991 Genre: Platformer

cartoon disney licensed movies nes original game platformer side-scrolling

Bart vs the Space Mutants amigagenesisnes

The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants was released in 1991 for the NES, developed by Imagineering and published by Acclaim. It was the first video game based on The Simpsons, an...

Year: 1991 Genre: Platformer

cartoon licensed platformer tv series

Demon's Crest snes

Demon's Crest is a gothic action-platformer developed and published by Capcom for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994. The game was directed by Ryo Miyazaki and produce...

Year: 1994 Genre: Platformer

dark fantasy fantasy metroidvania platform-shooter platformer snes original game

Whizz amiga

Whizz is an isometric platformer created by Flair Software. It was initially released for MS-DOS, Amiga, and Amiga CD-32. Later, it was also ported to Super NES, SEGA Saturn, and PlayStation.

Year: 1995 Genre: Platformer

aga isometric multi-directional platformer

Creatures amigacommodore-64

Creatures is a platform shooter developed by Apex Computer Productions for the Commodore 64 and originally released in 1990. It later arrived on the Amiga and Atari ST in 1993. The...

Year: 1990 Genre: Platformer

c64 original game cartoon commodore 64 platform-shooter platformer

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

Bubsy in: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind genesis

Bubsy in: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind is a platformer created by Accolade for the SNES and SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis, released in 1993. The game features the adventures of Bubsy, a bobcat with a penchant for yarn balls.

Year: 1993 Genre: Platformer

cartoon hop and bop platformer side-scrolling

Traps 'n' Treasures amiga

Traps 'n' Treasures is a platform action-adventure game developed by Nightingale for the Amiga and published by Starbyte and Krisalis in 1993-94. TNT takes players on an exciting pirate adventure with Captain Jeremy Flynn.

Year: 1993 Genre: Platformer

action-adventure amiga original game pirates platform-adventure platformer side-scrolling

Shantae game-boy-color

Shantae is a platformer for the Game Boy Color developed by WayForward and published in 2002 by Capcom. It was later re-released by WayForward itself. The game unfolds in the encha...

Year: 2002 Genre: Platformer

cartoon game boy color middle east pirates platformer side-scrolling

Larrie and the Robbery of the Ardies amiga

Larrie and the Robbery of the Ardies is an arcade game created by Capital Software for the Amiga. It was published in 1988 by Kingsoft. The game, also known as Larrie & The Ardies,...

Year: 1988 Genre: Arcade

amiga original game clone coin-op conversion crime & punishment platformer

The Goonies commodore-64

The Goonies is the video game adaptation of the famous 1985 film written by Steven Spielberg and directed by Richard Donner. Developed by Datasoft for 8-bit platforms, the game was...

Year: 1985 Genre: Platformer

2 players co-op licensed movies platformer puzzle platformer

Cave Story MD genesis

Cave Story MD is a fan-made remake for Genesis/Mega Drive of the famous platformer Cave Story. The game was created by Andrew DeRosier, and although it's not 100% complete, it is perfectly playable, and the main story is fully intact.

Year: 2022 Genre: Platformer

enhanced remakes fangames metroidvania platform-shooter platformer puzzle platformer side-scrolling

Bubba 'N' Stix amigagenesis

Bubba 'N' Stix is a platformer-puzzle game created by Core Design simultaneously for the SEGA Genesis and Amiga, including the CD32 version. The game, conceived by Simon Phipps, was released in 1994.

Year: 1994 Genre: Platformer

amiga cd32 cartoon hand-drawn animations multi-directional platformer puzzle platformer side-scrolling

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