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Best side-scrolling games on GamesNostalgia

In side-scrolling games, pixels and nostalgia collide to create a gaming experience like no other. In these games, the character is seen from a side view, and the world scrolls (moves) horizontally when the character walks, runs, or jumps to the right and left. This was a big technological advancement compared to fixed or flip-screen games (where the background changes once the character reaches the border of the screen).

Defender (1980), Moon Patrol (1982), and Gradius are some of the first examples of side-scrolling games.

The first titles were space shooters, but soon more genres started to adopt this technology, including beat-em-ups and platformers. Manic Miner for the ZX Spectrum was one of the first computer games to use this technique. In 1985, Super Mario Bros set the standard for side-scrolling platformers. Many other games followed this inspiration, like The Great Giana Sisters, not to mention idSoftware's Commander Keen. The arcade Ghosts 'N Goblins used side-scrolling gameplay to represent a dark fantasy horror world, and Castlevania did the same on the NES.

In the 90s, we would see the explosion of side-scrolling platformers, from Thalion's Lionheart and Team17 Superfrog on the Amiga, Earthworm Jim and Disney's Aladdin on the SEGA Genesis, and Rayman and Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure on Windows. There are so many good side-scrolling games; it's impossible to mention them all, so browse the list below and have fun.

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 hop and bop jungle licensed movies platformer side-scrolling

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 hop and bop 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

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

Disney's Toy Story snesgenesis

Disney's Toy Story is a side-scrolling platformer developed by Traveller's Tales and released in 1995 for SNES and Genesis. The game is based on Pixar's groundbreaking animated film.

Year: 1995 Genre: Platformer

cartoon disney licensed movies platform-adventure platformer side-scrolling

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

2d clone enhanced remakes freeware hop and bop platformer side-scrolling super mario clone

R-Type amigamsxpc-enginesega-master-system

R-Type is a side-scrolling shoot-em-up arcade created by Irem in 1987. The graphics design was inspired by H. R. Giger's artwork for the Alien movies. It was ported to several home...

Year: 1989 Genre: Shooter

2d arcade coin-op conversion freeware h-scrolling shoot-em up science fiction shooter side-scrolling

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 progressive slash-em-up side-scrolling sword and sorcery

Astro Boy: Omega Factor game-boy-advance

Astro Boy: Omega Factor is a side-scrolling action game developed by Treasure and published by Sega in 2004 for the Game Boy Advance. Based on Osamu Tezuka's iconic manga and anime...

Year: 2003 Genre: Platformer

anime parallax scrolling platform-shooter platformer progressive beat-em-up robots science fiction side-scrolling

The Adventures of Lomax windows

The Adventures of Lomax is a platformer created by Psygnosis and released in 1996 for Windows and PlayStation. It is considered a spin-off of the famous game Lemmings. The artist...

Year: 1997 Genre: Platformer

2d cartoon hop and bop platformer side-scrolling

Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure windowsgenesissnes

Pitfall: the Mayan Adventure is a side-scrolling action platformer. It's the forth game in the Pitfall series. It was developed by Activision in partnership with Redline games and published by Activision in 1994.

Year: 1995 Genre: Platformer

2d genesis original game hand-drawn animations jungle platformer puzzle platformer side-scrolling

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

2d amiga original game cartoon hop and bop jumper platformer side-scrolling

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. It was released in 1995 for PC MS-DOS, Playstation, Sega Saturn, and other platforms.

Year: 1995 Genre: Platformer

2d cartoon hop and bop platformer side-scrolling

Ghosts 'N Goblins amiganescommodore-64game-boy-color

Ghosts 'N Goblins is a popular arcade released by Capcom in 1985 and later ported to many home platforms. The Amiga version was published by Elite in 1990, several years after the original Capcom coin-op.

Year: 1986 Genre: Arcade

arcade coin-op conversion dark fantasy horror progressive slash-em-up side-scrolling sword and sorcery

Jazz Jackrabbit 2 windows

Jazz Jackrabbit 2 is a side-scrolling platformer produced by Epic Games (at that time under Epic MegaGames). After Arjan Brussee accidentally confirmed its existence in 1994, it was published for Windows in 1998.

Year: 1998 Genre: Platformer

2 players cartoon multiplayer platform-shooter platformer side-scrolling split-screen