A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of

action video games An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes a large variety of sub-genres, such as fighting games, beat 'em ups, shooter games, and platform ga ...

in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels that consist of uneven terrain and suspended platforms of varying height that require

jumping Jumping or leaping is a form of locomotion or movement in which an organism or non-living (e.g., robotics, robotic) mechanical system propels itself through the air along a ballistic trajectory. Jumping can be distinguished from running, gallo ...

and

climbing Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or any other part of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders), to small boulders. Climbing is done ...

to traverse. Other

acrobatic Acrobatics () is the performance of human feats of balance, agility, and motor coordination. Acrobatic skills are used in performing arts, sporting events, and martial arts. Extensive use of acrobatic skills are most often performed in acro ...

maneuvers may factor into the gameplay, such as swinging from vines or grappling hooks, jumping off walls, air dashing, gliding through the air, being shot from

cannon A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...

s, or bouncing from springboards or trampolines. Games where jumping is automated completely, such as 3D games in ''

The Legend of Zelda ''The Legend of Zelda'' is an action-adventure game franchise created by the Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo, although some portable installments and re-rele ...

'' series, fall outside of the genre. The genre started with the 1980 arcade video game, ''

Space Panic is a 1980 arcade game designed by Universal. Predating Nintendo's ''Donkey Kong'', and lacking a jump mechanic, ''Space Panic'' was the first game involving climbing ladders between walkable platforms. The genre was initially labeled as "climbi ...

'', which includes ladders, but not jumping. ''

Donkey Kong is a video game franchise created by Shigeru Miyamoto and owned by Nintendo. It follows the adventures of a gorilla named Donkey Kong (character), Donkey Kong and his clan of other Ape, apes and monkeys. The franchise primarily consists of plat ...

'', released in 1981, established a template for what were initially called "climbing games." ''Donkey Kong'' inspired many clones and games with similar elements, such as ''

Miner 2049er ''Miner 2049er'' is a platform game created by Bill Hogue that was released in 1982 by Big Five Software. It was developed for the Atari 8-bit family and widely converted to other systems. The title "Miner 2049er" evokes a 21st-century take on t ...

'' (1982). During the peak of platform games' popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s, platform games were estimated to consist of between a quarter and a third of all console games, but have since been supplanted by first-person shooters. By 2006, the genre had experienced a decline in popularity, representing a 2% market share as compared to 15% in 1998; however, the genre still exists in the commercial environment, with a number of games selling in the millions of units.

Concepts

A platform game requires the player to maneuver their character across platforms, to reach a goal, while confronting enemies and avoiding obstacles along the way. These games are either presented from the side view, using two-dimensional movement, or in 3D with the camera placed either behind the main character or in

isometric perspective Isometric video game graphics are graphics employed in video games and pixel art that use a parallel projection, but which angle the viewpoint to reveal facets of the environment that would otherwise not be visible from a top-down perspective o ...

. Typical platforming gameplay tends to be very dynamic and challenges a player's reflexes, timing, and dexterity with controls. The most common movement options in the genre are walking, running, jumping, attacking, and climbing. Jumping is central to the genre, though there are exceptions such as Nintendo's ''

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar. Through the various areas of the game world, player may be able to collect items and powerups that can come in handy for different situations, and give the main character new abilities for overcoming adversities. Most games of this genre consist of multiple levels of increasing difficulty, that may also be interleaved by boss encounters, where the character has to defeat a particularly dangerous enemy in order to progress. Usually the level order is pre-determined, but some games also allow players to navigate freely throughout the game world, or may feature different paths to take at certain points. Simple logical puzzles to resolve and skill trials to overcome are another common element in the genre. A more modern variant of platform games (generally 3D scrolling), called "runners", have the main character always moving forward at high speed while the player must direct it properly to not make it fall or crash against obstacles, and manage to reach checkpoints on time. Due to the relative simplicity of the controls, this kind of game works well on mobile devices and has become popular in recent years.

Naming

Various names were used in the years following the release of the first established title in the genre, ''

'' (1981). Shigeru Miyamoto originally called ''Donkey Kong'' a "running/jumping/climbing game" while developing it. Miyamoto commonly used the term "athletic game" to refer to ''Donkey Kong'' and later games in the genre, such as ''

Super Mario Bros. is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The successor to the 1983 arcade game '' Mario Bros.'' and the first game in the ''Super Mario'' series, it was first released in 1985 for ...

'' (1985). ''Donkey Kong'' spawned a number of other games with a mix of running, jumping, and vertical traversal, a novel genre that did not match the style of games that came before it, leaving journalists and writers to offer their own terms. '' Computer and Video Games'' magazine, among others, referred to the genre as "Donkey Kong-type" or "Kong-style" games. "Climbing games" was used in Steve Bloom's 1982 book ''Video Invaders'' and 1983 magazines ''

Electronic Games An electronic game is a game that uses electronics to create an interactive system with which a player can play. Video games are the most common form today, and for this reason the two terms are often used interchangeably. There are other common ...

'' (US)—which ran a cover feature called "The Player's Guide to Climbing Games"—and ''TV Gamer'' (UK). Bloom defined "climbing games" as titles where the player "must climb from the bottom of the screen to the top while avoiding and/or destroying the obstacles and foes you invariably meet along the way." Under this definition, he listed ''

'' (1980), ''Donkey Kong'', and ''

Frogger is a 1981 arcade action game developed by Konami and manufactured by Sega. In North America, it was released by Sega/Gremlin. The object of the game is to direct a series of frogs to their homes by crossing a busy road and a hazardous rive ...

'' (1981) as climbing games. In a December 1982 '' Creative Computing'' review of the Apple II game ''Beer Run'', the reviewer used a different term: "I'm going to call this a ladder game, as in the 'ladder genre,' which includes ''

Apple Panic ''Apple Panic'' is a game for the Apple II programmed by Ben Serki and published by Broderbund Software in 1981. ''Apple Panic'' is an unauthorized version of the 1980 arcade game ''Space Panic'', the first game with ladders and platforms. While ...

'' and ''Donkey Kong''." That label was also used by ''Video Games Player'' magazine in 1983 when it named the

Coleco Coleco Industries, Inc. was an American company founded in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg as The Connecticut Leather Company. It was a successful toy company in the 1980s, mass-producing versions of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and its video game conso ...

port of ''Donkey Kong'' "Ladder Game of the Year". Another term used in the late 1980s to 1990s was "character action games", in reference to games such as ''Super Mario Bros.'', '' Sonic the Hedgehog'', and ''

Bubsy ''Bubsy'' is a series of platforming video games created by Michael Berlyn and developed and published by Accolade. The games star an anthropomorphic bobcat named Bubsy, a character that takes inspiration from '' Super Mario Bros.'' and '' So ...

''. It was also applied more generally to

side-scrolling video game '' A side-scrolling video game (alternatively side-scroller), is a game viewed from a side-view camera angle where the screen follows the player as they move left or right. The jump from single-screen or flip-screen graphics to scrolling graphic ...

s, including

run-and-gun shooter Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs ) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of charac ...

s such as ''

Gunstar Heroes ''Gunstar Heroes'' is a run-and-gun shooter video game developed by Treasure and published by Sega. It was Treasure's debut game, originally released on the Sega Genesis in 1993. The game's premise is centered around a pair of characters, the G ...

''. ''Platform game'' became a standard term in the late 1980s, popularized by its usage in the United Kingdom press. By 1989, British magazines were using the term "platform" games to refer to the genre; examples include referring to the "'' Super Mario'' mould" (such as '' Kato-chan & Ken-chan'') as platform games, or calling '' Strider'' a "platform and ladders" game.

History

Single-screen movement

Platform games originated in the early 1980s. Most early examples of platform games were confined to a static playing field, generally viewed in profile, and were based on climbing mechanics between platforms rather than jumping. ''

'', a 1980 arcade release by

Universal Universal is the adjective for universe. Universal may also refer to: Companies * NBCUniversal, a media and entertainment company ** Universal Animation Studios, an American Animation studio, and a subsidiary of NBCUniversal ** Universal TV, a ...

, is sometimes credited as the first platform game. Another precursor to the genre from 1980 was

Nichibutsu was a Japanese video game developer and publisher headquartered in Kita, Osaka. In the past they had also manufactured and sold yachts. The main video game brand of the company was Nichibutsu (日物、ニチブツ), with adult video games (ma ...

's ''

Crazy Climber is a vertical scrolling arcade climbing game produced by Nichibutsu ( Nihon Bussan Co. Ltd.) and released in 1980 worldwide. In North America, the game was also released by Taito America. It was later released by UA Ltd. in 1982 for the Emerso ...

'', in which the player character scales vertically scrolling skyscrapers. The unreleased 1979 Intellivision game ''Hard Hat'' has a similar concept. ''

'', an arcade game created by Nintendo and released in July 1981, was the first game to allow players to jump over obstacles and gaps. It is widely considered to be the first platform game. It introduced

Mario is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his cre ...

under the name Jumpman. ''Donkey Kong'' was ported to many consoles and computers at the time, notably as the system-selling pack-in game for

ColecoVision ColecoVision is a second-generation home video-game console developed by Coleco and launched in North America in August 1982. It was released a year later in Europe by CBS Electronics as the CBS ColecoVision. The console offered a closer exp ...

, and also a handheld version from Coleco in 1982. The game helped cement Nintendo's position as an important name in the video game industry internationally. The following year, ''Donkey Kong'' received a sequel, '' Donkey Kong Jr.'' and later ''

Mario Bros. is a 1983 arcade game developed and published for arcades by Nintendo. It was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Gunpei Yokoi, Nintendo's chief engineer. Italian twin brother plumbers Mario and Luigi exterminate creatures emerging from the ...

'', a platform game with two-player cooperative play. It laid the groundwork for other two-player cooperative platformers such as '' Fairyland Story'' and ''

Bubble Bobble is a 1986 platform arcade game developed and published by Taito. It was distributed in the United States by Romstar, and in Europe by Electrocoin. Players control Bub and Bob, two dragons that set out to save their girlfriends from a world know ...

''. Beginning in 1982, transitional games emerged that did not use

scrolling In computer displays, filmmaking, television production, and other kinetic displays, scrolling is sliding text, images or video across a monitor or display, vertically or horizontally. "Scrolling," as such, does not change the layout of the text ...

graphics, but had levels that span several connected screens. David Crane's ''

Pitfall! ''Pitfall!'' is a platform video game designed by David Crane for the Atari 2600 and released by Activision in 1982. The player controls Pitfall Harry and is tasked with collecting all the treasures in a jungle within 20 minutes. The world con ...

'' for the

Atari 2600 The Atari 2600, initially branded as the Atari Video Computer System (Atari VCS) from its release until November 1982, is a home video game console developed and produced by Atari, Inc. Released in September 1977, it popularized microprocesso ...

, with 256 horizontally connected screens, became one of the best-selling games on the system and was a breakthrough for the genre. '' Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle'' was released on the

that same year, adding uneven terrain and scrolling pans between static screens. ''

Manic Miner ''Manic Miner'' is a platform video game originally written for the ZX Spectrum by Matthew Smith and released by Bug-Byte in 1983 (later re-released by Software Projects). It is the first game in the Miner Willy series and among the early titl ...

'' (1983) and its sequel ''

Jet Set Willy ''Jet Set Willy'' is a platform video game originally written by Matthew Smith for the ZX Spectrum home computer. It was published in 1984 by Software Projects and ported to most home computers of the time. The game is a sequel to '' Man ...

'' (1984) continued this style of multi-screen levels on home computers. '' Wanted: Monty Mole'' won the first award for Best Platform game in 1984 from ''Crash'' magazine. Later that same year,

Epyx Epyx, Inc. was a video game developer and publisher active in the late 1970s and 1980s. The company was founded as Automated Simulations by Jim Connelley and Jon Freeman, originally using Epyx as a brand name for action-oriented games before ren ...

released ''

Impossible Mission ''Impossible Mission'' is a video game originally written for the Commodore 64 by Dennis Caswell and published by Epyx in 1984. The game features a variety of gameplay mechanics from platform and adventure games, and includes digitized speech. ...

'', and

Parker Brothers Parker Brothers (known by Parker outside of North America) was an American toy and game manufacturer which in 1991 became a brand of Hasbro. More than 1,800 games were published under the Parker Brothers name since 1883. Among its products wer ...

released '' Montezuma's Revenge'', which further expanded on the exploration aspect.

Scrolling movement

The first platform game to use scrolling graphics came years before the genre became popular. ''

Jump Bug is a 1981 scrolling shooter platform game developed by Alpha Denshi under contract for Hoei Corporation. It was distributed in arcades by Sega in Japan and Europe, and by Rock-Ola in North America. It was the first platform game to include h ...

'' is a platform-shooter game developed by

Alpha Denshi , formerly known as , was a Japanese video game developer founded in 1980. ADK began as a developer of arcade games and is best known for their library of SNK Neo Geo titles, including for its home consoles, produced in partnership with SNK. ...

under contract for Hoei/Coreland and released to arcades in 1981, only five months after ''

''. Players control a bouncing car that jumps on various platforms such as buildings, clouds, and hills. ''Jump Bug'' offered a glimpse of what was to come, with uneven, suspended platforms and levels that scrolled horizontally and, in one section, vertically. Irem's 1982 arcade game ''

Moon Patrol is a 1982 arcade video game An arcade video game takes player input from its controls, processes it through electrical or computerized components, and displays output to an electronic monitor or similar display. Most arcade video games are ...

'' combines jumping over obstacles and shooting attackers. A month later,

Taito is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, toys, arcade cabinets and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the importing vodka, vending machines and jukeboxes into Japan. I ...

released '' Jungle King'', a side-scrolling action game with

parallax scrolling Parallax scrolling is a technique in computer graphics where background images move past the camera more slowly than foreground images, creating an illusion of depth in a 2D scene of distance. The technique grew out of the multiplane camera tec ...

and some platform elements: jumping between vines, jumping or running beneath bouncing boulders. It was quickly re-released as ''Jungle Hunt'' because of similarities to

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

. The 1982 Apple II game '' Track Attack'' includes a scrolling platform level where the character runs and leaps along the top of a moving train. The character is little more than a

stick figure A stick figure, also known as a stickman, is a very simple drawing of a person or an animal, composed of a few lines, curves, and dots. On a stick figure, the head is most often represented by a circle, which can be either a solid color or som ...

, but the acrobatics evoke the movement that games such as ''Prince of Persia'' would feature. '' B.C.'s Quest For Tires'' was released by Sierra On-Line in 1983 on the

and several home computers. The game has large, side-scrolling levels and simple platform gameplay in which players jump over oncoming pitfalls and obstacles, much like ''

''. The same year, a scrolling platform game appeared on the Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit computers called ''Snokie''. It added uneven terrain and an emphasis on precision jumping. Based on the Saturday morning cartoon rather than the maze game, Namco's 1984 ''

Pac-Land is a 1984 side-scrolling arcade platform game developed and released by Namco. It was distributed in North America by Bally Midway, and in Europe by Atari Games. Controlling Pac-Man (character), Pac-Man, the player must make it to the end of eac ...

'' is a bidirectional, horizontally-scrolling, arcade platformer with walking, running, jumping, springboards, power-ups, and a series of unique levels. Pac-Man creator

Toru Iwatani is a Japanese video game designer who spent much of his career working for Namco. He is best known as the creator of the arcade game ''Pac-Man'' (1980). Early life Iwatani was born in the Meguro ward of Tokyo, Japan on January 25, 1955. While ...

described the game as "the pioneer of action games with horizontally running background." According to Iwatani, Shigeru Miyamoto described ''Pac-Land'' as an influence on the development of ''

''. Nintendo's ''

'', released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985, became the archetype for many platform games. It was bundled with Nintendo systems in North America, Japan, and Europe, and sold over 40 million copies, according to the 1999 Guinness Book of World Records. Its success as a pack-in led many companies to see platform games as vital to their success, and contributed greatly to popularizing the genre during the 8-bit console generation. Sega attempted to emulate this success with their ''

Alex Kidd is a platform video game series developed by Sega, and starring the titular Alex Kidd. Games The franchise includes seven titles. * ''Alex Kidd in Miracle World'' - 1986, Master System * '' Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars'' - 1986, Arcade, 1988 ...

'' series, which started in 1986 on the Master System with ''

Alex Kidd in Miracle World is a platform game for the Master System. It was released in Japan on November 1, 1986, followed by the United States in December 1986, with Europe in September 1987, plus South Korea in October 1988, and Brazil in 1989. It was later built into ...

''. It had horizontal and vertical scrolling levels, the ability to punch enemies and obstacles, and shops for the player to buy power-ups and vehicles. Another Sega platformer series that began that same year is ''

Wonder Boy The series, also known as the series, is a franchise of video games published by Sega and developed by Westone Bit Entertainment (formerly Escape). Beginning with the original '' Wonder Boy'' arcade game released in April 21, 1986, the game has ...

''. The original ''Wonder Boy'' in 1986 was inspired more by ''Pac-Land'' than ''Super Mario Bros.'', with skateboarding segments that gave the game a greater sense of speed than other platform games at the time,The Legend of Wonder Boy
,

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

, November 14, 2008 while its sequel, '' Wonder Boy in Monster Land'' added

action-adventure The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a storyli ...

and

role-playing Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing a ...

elements. ''Wonder Boy'' in turn inspired games such as '' Adventure Island'', ''Dynastic Hero'', '' Popful Mail'', and ''

Shantae ''Shantae'' is a series of platform games developed by WayForward. The eponymous heroine of the series, a half-genie, was created by Erin Bozon, while the games were created from this character by her husband Matt Bozon. The series consists of ...

''. Scrolling platform games went portable in the late 1980s with games such as '' Super Mario Land'', and the genre continued to maintain its popularity, with many games released for the

handheld A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physical ...

Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same t ...

and

Game Gear The is an 8-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation handheld game console released by Sega on October 6, 1990, in Japan, in April 1991 throughout North America and Europe, and during 1992 in Australia. The Game Gear pri ...

systems. One of the first platform games to scroll in all four directions freely and follow the on-screen character's movement is in a

vector game A variety of computer graphic techniques have been used to display video game content throughout the history of video games. The predominance of individual techniques have evolved over time, primarily due to hardware advances and restrictions ...

called ''

Major Havoc ''Major Havoc'' (or ''The Adventures of Major Havoc'') is an arcade action game released by Atari, Inc. in 1983. A vector-based upright arcade cabinet, ''Major Havoc'' consists of several smaller game experiences played in succession, including ...

'', which comprises a number of mini-games, including a simple platformer. One of the first raster-based platform games to scroll fluidly in all directions in this manner is 1984's'' Legend of Kage''. In 1985,

Enix was a Japanese video game publisher that produced video games, anime and manga. Enix is known for publishing the ''Dragon Quest'' series of role-playing video games. The company was founded by Yasuhiro Fukushima on September 22, 1975, as . Th ...

released an open world platform-adventure game, '' Brain Breaker''. Reprinted from The following year saw the release of a more successful open-world platform-adventure, Nintendo's '' Metroid'', which was critically acclaimed for having a balance between open-ended and guided exploration. Another platform-adventure released that year,

Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese mass media publishing company founded on October 1, 1966. The company publishes mainly physical home media on compact discs, including music, films and TV shows and video games. It is affi ...

's '' Super Pitfall'', was critically panned for its vagueness and weak game design. That same year Jaleco released '' Esper Boukentai'', a sequel to '' Psychic 5'' that scrolled in all directions and allowed the player character to make huge multistory jumps to navigate the vertically oriented levels.

Telenet Japan was a Japanese video game and software developer founded in October 1983 by Kazuyuki Fukushima. The company had several video game divisions including: Wolf Team, Laser Soft, Reno, Renovation Products, Riot, Commseed, and Telenet Jr. Telenet J ...

also released its own take on the platform-action game, ''

Valis ''Valis'' (stylized as ''VALIS'') is a 1981 science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick, intended to be the first book of a three-part series. The title is an acronym for ''Vast Active Living Intelligence System'', Dick's gnostic vis ...

'', which contained

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

-style

cut scene A cutscene or event scene (sometimes in-game cinematic or in-game movie) is a sequence in a video game that is not interactive, interrupting the gameplay. Such scenes are used to show conversations between characters, set the mood, reward the ...

s. In 1987, Capcom's '' Mega Man'' introduced non-linear level progression where the player is able to choose the order in which they complete levels. This was a stark contrast to both linear games like ''Super Mario Bros.'' and open-world games like ''Metroid''. GamesRadar credits the "level select" feature of ''Mega Man'' as the basis for the non-linear mission structure found in most open-world, multi-mission,

sidequest A quest, or mission, is a task in video games that a player-controlled character, party, or group of characters may complete in order to gain a reward. Quests are most commonly seen in role-playing games and massively multiplayer online games. ...

-heavy games. Another Capcom platformer that year was '' Bionic Commando'', a multidirectional-scrolling platform-action game which introduced a grappling hook mechanic that has since appeared in dozens of platform games, including ''

Earthworm Jim ''Earthworm Jim'' is a series of platform games featuring an earthworm named Jim who wears a robotic suit and battles the forces of evil. The series is noted for its platforming and shooting gameplay, surreal humor, and edgy art style. Four game ...

'' and ''

Tomb Raider ''Tomb Raider'', also known as ''Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' from 2001 to 2008, is a media franchise that originated with an action-adventure video game series created by British gaming company Core Design. Formerly owned by Eidos Interactive, ...

''.

Second-generation side-scrollers

By the time the

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...

and

TurboGrafx-16 The TurboGrafx-16, known as the outside North America, is a home video game console designed by Hudson Soft and sold by NEC Home Electronics. It was the first console marketed in the fourth generation, commonly known as the 16-bit era, thoug ...

launched, platform games were the most popular genre in console gaming. There was a particular emphasis on having a flagship platform title exclusive to a system, featuring a mascot character. In 1989, Sega released ''

Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle is a Side-scrolling video game, side-scrolling platform game developed and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis, Genesis. The game was released in Japan on February 10, 1989, in the U.S. on August 14, 1989, in Europe on November 30, 1990, in So ...

'', which was only modestly successful. That same year, Capcom released '' Strider'' in arcades, which scrolled in multiple directions and allowed the player to summon

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech r ...

partners, such as a droid, tiger, and hawk, to help fight enemies. Another Sega release in 1989 was '' Shadow Dancer'', which is a game that also included an AI partner: a dog who followed the player around and aid in battle. In 1990, Hudson Soft released ''Bonk's Adventure'', with a protagonist positioned as NEC's mascot. The following year, Takeru's ''Cocoron'', a late platformer for the Famicom allowed players to build a character from a toy box filled with spare parts. In 1990, the Super Famicom was released in Japan, along with the eagerly anticipated ''Super Mario World''. The following year, Nintendo released the console as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in North America, along with ''Super Mario World'', while Sega released ''Sonic the Hedgehog (1991 video game), Sonic the Hedgehog'' for the Sega Genesis. ''Sonic'' showcased a new style of design made possible by a new generation of hardware: large stages that scrolled in all directions, curved hills, loops, and a game physics, physics system allowing players to rush through its levels with well-placed jumps and rolls. Sega characterized Sonic as a teenager with a rebellious personality to appeal to gamers who saw the previous generation of consoles as being for kids. The character's speed showed off the hardware capabilities of the Genesis, which had a CPU clock speed approximately double that of the Super NES. Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic became a new model for mascots, particularly for his perceived attitude, which characterized him as a rebel. This attitude soon became popular as companies attempted to duplicate Sonic's success with their own brightly colored anthropomorphisms. These often were characterized by impatience, sarcasm, and frequent quips. A second generation of platform games for computers appeared alongside the new wave of consoles. In the latter half of the 1980s and early 1990s, the Amiga was a strong gaming platform with its custom Original Amiga chipset, video hardware and sound hardware. The Atari ST was solidly supported as well. Games like ''Shadow of the Beast (1989 video game), Shadow of the Beast'' and ''Turrican'' showed that computer platform games could rival their console contemporaries. ''Prince of Persia (1989 video game), Prince of Persia'', originally a late release for the 8-bit Apple II in 1989, featured a high quality of animation. The 1988 shareware game ''The Adventures of Captain Comic'' was one of the first attempts at a Nintendo-style platformer for IBM PC compatibles. It inspired ''Commander Keen'', released by id Software in 1990, which became the first MS-DOS platformer with smooth scrolling graphics. Keen's success resulted in numerous console-styled platformers on the PC, including ''Duke Nukem (1991 video game), Duke Nukem'', ''Duke Nukem II'', ''Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure'', and ''Dark Ages (1991 video game), Dark Ages'' all by Apogee Software. These fueled a brief burst of episodic platform games where the first was freely distributed and parts 2 and 3 were available for purchase.

Decline of 2D

The abundance of platformers for 16-bit consoles continued late into the generation, with successful games such as ''Vectorman'' (1995), ''Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest'' (1995), and ''Yoshi's Island, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island'' (1995), but the release of new hardware caused players' attention to move away from 2D genres. The Sega Saturn, PlayStation (console), PlayStation, and Nintendo 64 nevertheless featured a number of successful 2D platform games. The 2D ''Rayman (video game), Rayman'' was a big success on 32-bit consoles. ''Mega Man 8'' and ''Mega Man X4'' helped revitalize interest in Capcom's Mega Man (character), Mega Man character. ''Castlevania: Symphony of the Night'' revitalized its series and established a new foundation for later ''Castlevania'' games. ''Oddworld'' and ''Heart of Darkness (game), Heart of Darkness'' kept the subgenre born from ''Prince of Persia'' alive. The difficulties of adapting platform gameplay to three dimensions led some developers to compromise by pairing the visual flash of 3D with traditional 2D side scrolling gameplay. These games are often referred to as 2.5D. The first such game was the Sega Saturn launch title, ''Clockwork Knight'' (1994). The game featured levels and boss (video games), boss characters rendered in 3D, but retained 2D gameplay and used pre-rendered 2D sprites for regular characters, similar to ''Donkey Kong Country''. Its Clockwork Knight 2, sequel improved upon its design, featuring some 3D effects such as hopping between the foreground and background, and the camera panning and curving around corners. Meanwhile, ''Pandemonium (video game), Pandemonium'' and ''Klonoa'' brought the 2.5D style to the PlayStation (console), PlayStation. In a break from the past, the Nintendo 64 had the fewest side scrolling platformers with only four; ''Yoshi's Story'', ''Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards'', ''Goemon's Great Adventure'', and ''Mischief Makers''—and most met with a tepid response from critics at the time. Despite this, ''Yoshi's Story'' sold over a million copies in the US, and ''Mischief Makers'' rode high on the charts in the months following its release.

Third dimension

The term ''3D platformer'' usually refers to games with gameplay in three dimensions and polygonal 3D graphics. Games that have 3D gameplay but 2D graphics are usually included under the umbrella of ''#Isometric platform game, isometric platformers'', while those that have 3D graphics but gameplay on a 2D plane are called ''2.5D'', as they are a blend of 2D and 3D. One of the first platformers with 3D graphics was Sega's ''Congo Bongo'' in 1983. The first platformers to simulate a 3D perspective and moving camera emerged in the early-mid-1980s. An early example of this was Konami's platform game ''Antarctic Adventure'', where the player controls a penguin in a forward-scrolling Third-person (video games), third-person perspective while having to jump over pits and obstacles. Originally released in 1983 for the MSX computer, it was subsequently ported to various platforms the following year, including an Arcade game, arcade version, Nintendo Entertainment System, NES, and

. 1986 saw the release of the sequel to forward-scrolling platformer ''Antarctic Adventure'' called ''Penguin Adventure'', which was designed by Hideo Kojima. It included more action game elements, a greater variety of levels, Role-playing video game, RPG elements such as upgrading equipment, and multiple endings. In early 1987, Square (video game company), Square released ''3-D WorldRunner'', designed by Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nasir Gebelli. Using a forward-scrolling effect similar to Sega's 1985 Third-person shooter, third-person rail shooter ''Space Harrier''."Hironobu Sakaguchi: The Man Behind the Fantasies". ''Next Generation Magazine'', vol 50. ''3-D WorldRunner'' was an early forward-scrolling pseudo-3D third-person platform-action game where players were free to move in any forward-scrolling direction and could leap over obstacles and chasms. It was notable for being one of the first Stereoscopic video game, stereoscopic 3-D games. Square released its sequel, ''JJ (video game), JJ'', later that year. The earliest example of a true 3D platform game is a French computer game called ''Alpha Waves'', created by Christophe de Dinechin and published by Infogrames in 1990 for the Atari ST, Amiga, and IBM PC compatibles. ''Bug!'', a Sega Saturn game that was released in 1995, offered a more conservative approach to true 3D platforming. It allowed players to move in all directions, but it did not allow movement along more than one axis at once; the player could move orthogonally but not diagonally. Its characters were pre-rendered sprites, much like the earlier ''Clockwork Knight''. The game played very similarly to 2D platformers, but it was considered a true 3D title, and let players walk up walls and on ceilings. It has a sequel called ''Bug Too!''. In 1995, Delphine Software released a 3D sequel to their 2D platformer ''Flashback: The Quest for Identity, Flashback''. Entitled ''Fade to Black (video game), Fade to Black'', it was the first attempt to bring a popular 2D platform game series into 3D. While it retained the puzzle-oriented level design style and step-based control, it did not meet the criteria of a platform game, and was billed as an action-adventure game, action adventure. It used true 3D characters and set pieces, but its environments were rendered using a rigid engine similar to the one used by ''Wolfenstein 3D'', in that it could only render square, flat corridors, rather than suspended platforms that could be jumped between. Sony adopted an existing project by developers Naughty Dog: ''Crash Bandicoot (video game), Crash Bandicoot''. Crash remained Sony's unofficial mascot for the next several years before switching to multi-platform releases in the following console generation. Sega had tasked their American studio, Sega Technical Institute, with bringing Sonic the Hedgehog into 3D. Their project, titled ''Sonic Xtreme'', was to have featured a radically different approach for the series, with an exaggerated fisheye lens, fisheye camera and multidirectional gameplay reminiscent of ''Bug!''. Due in part to conflicts with Sega Enterprises in Japan and a rushed schedule, and the game never made it to market.

True 3D

In the 1990s, platforming games started to shift from pseudo-3D to "true 3D," which gave the player more control over the character and the camera. To render a 3D environment from any angle the user chose, the graphics hardware had to be sufficiently powerful, and the art and rendering model of the game had to be viewable from every angle. The improvement in graphics technology allowed publishers to make such games but introduced several new issues. For example, if the player could control the virtual camera, it had to be constrained to stop it from Clipping (computer graphics), clipping through the environment. In 1994, a small developer called Exact released a game for the X68000 computer called ''Geograph Seal'', which was a 3D first-person shooter game with platforming. Players piloted a frog-like mech that could jump and then double jump (video gaming), double-jump or triple-jump high into the air as the camera panned down to help players line up their landings. In addition to shooting, jumping on enemies was a primary way to attack. This was the first true 3D platform-action game with free-roaming environments, but it was never ported to another platform or released outside Japan, so it remains relatively unknown in the West.Travis Fahs
Geograph Seal (X68000)
, ''The Next Level'', November 25, 2006 The following year, Exact released their follow-up to ''Geograph Seal''. An early title for Sony's new PlayStation (console), PlayStation console, ''Jumping Flash!'', released in April 1995, kept the gameplay from its precursor but traded the frog-like mech for a cartoony rabbit mech called Robbit. The title was successful enough to get two sequels and is remembered for being the first 3D platformer on a console. Rob Fahey of Eurogamer said ''Jumping Flash'' was perhaps "one of the most important ancestors of every 3D platform game in the following decade." It holds the record of "First platform videogame in true 3D" according to ''Guinness World Records''. Another early 3D platformer was ''Floating Runner'', developed by a Japanese company called Xing and released for PlayStation in early 1996, before the release of ''Super Mario 64''. ''Floating Runner'' used D-pad controls and a behind-the-character camera perspective. In 1996, Nintendo released ''Super Mario 64'', which is a game that set the standard for 3D platformers. It let the player explore 3D environments with greater freedom than was found in any previous game in the genre. With this in mind, Nintendo put an analog sticks, analog control stick on its Nintendo 64 controller, a feature that hadn't been seen since the Vectrex but which has since become standard. The analog stick provided the fine precision needed with a free perspective. In most 2D platformers, the player finished a level by following a path to a certain point, but in ''Super Mario 64'', the levels were open and had objectives. Completing objectives earned the player stars, and stars were used to unlock more levels. This approach allowed for more efficient use of large 3D areas and rewarded the player for exploration, but it meant less jumping and more

. Even so, a handful of boss fight, boss levels offered more traditional platforming. Until then there was no settled way to make platform games in 3D, but ''Super Mario 64'' inspired a shift in design. Later 3D platformers like ''Banjo-Kazooie (video game), Banjo-Kazooie'', ''Spyro the Dragon (video game), Spyro the Dragon'', and ''Donkey Kong 64'' borrowed its format, and the "collect-a-thon" genre began to form. In order to make this free-roaming model work, developers had to program dynamic, intelligent cameras. A free camera made it harder for players to judge the height and distance of platforms, making jumping puzzles more difficult. Some of the more linear 3D platformers like ''Tork: Prehistoric Punk'' and ''Wario World'' used scripted cameras that limited player control. Games with more open environments like ''Super Mario 64'' and ''Banjo Kazooie'' used intelligent cameras that followed the player's movements. Still, when the view was obstructed or not facing what the player needed to see, these intelligent cameras needed to be adjusted by the player. In the 1990s, console RPG, RPGs, first-person shooters, and more complex action-adventure games captured significant market share. Even so, the platformer thrived. ''Tomb Raider (series), Tomb Raider'' became one of the bestselling series on the PlayStation (console), PlayStation, along with Insomniac Games' ''Spyro (series), Spyro'' and Naughty Dog's ''Crash Bandicoot (series), Crash Bandicoot'', one of the few 3D games to stick with linear levels. Moreover, many of the Nintendo 64's bestsellers were first- and second-party platformers like ''Super Mario 64'', ''Banjo-Kazooie'', and ''Donkey Kong 64''. On Windows and Macintosh, Mac, Pangea Software's ''Bugdom'' series and BioWare's ''MDK2'' proved successful. Several developers who found success with 3D platformers began experimenting with titles that, despite their cartoon art style, were aimed at adults. Examples include Rare (company), Rare's ''Conker's Bad Fur Day'', Crystal Dynamics's ''Gex: Deep Cover Gecko'' and ''Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver'', and Shiny Entertainment's ''Messiah (video game), Messiah''. In 1998, Sega produced a 3D Sonic game, ''Sonic Adventure'', for its Dreamcast console. It used a hub structure like ''Super Mario 64'', but its levels were more linear, fast-paced, and action-oriented.

Into the 21st century

Nintendo launched its GameCube console without a platform game. However, it released ''Super Mario Sunshine'' in 2002, the second 3D ''Mario'' platformer. Other notable 3D platformers trickled out during this generation. ''Maximo: Ghosts to Glory, Maximo'' was a spiritual heir to the ''Ghosts'n Goblins'' series, ''Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg'' offered Yuji Naka's take on a ''Mario 64''-influenced platformer, Argonaut Software returned with a new platformer named ''Malice (2004 video game), Malice'', games such as ''Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair'' and ''Pitfall: The Lost Expedition'' were attempts to modernise classic video games of the 1980s using the 3D platformer genre, ''Psychonauts'' became a critical darling based on its imaginative levels and colorful characters, and several franchises that debuted during the sixth generation of consoles such as ''Tak and the Power of Juju, Tak'', ''Ty the Tasmanian Tiger'', ''Ape Escape'' and ''Sly Cooper'' each developed a cult following. In Europe specifically, the ''Kao the Kangaroo (2000 video game), Kao the Kangaroo'' and ''Hugo (franchise), Hugo'' series achieved popularity and sold well. ''Rayman''s popularity continued, though the franchise's third game was not as well received as the first two. ''Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee'' brought the popular ''Oddworld'' franchise into the third dimension, but future sequels to this game did not opt for the 3D platform genre. Naughty Dog moved on from ''Crash Bandicoot'' to ''Jak and Daxter series, Jak and Daxter'', a series that became less about traditional platforming with each sequel. A hybrid platformer/shooter game from Insomniac Games called ''Ratchet & Clank (series), Ratchet & Clank'' further pushed the genre away from such gameplay, as did Universal Interactive Studios' rebooted ''Spyro (series), Spyro'' trilogy and Microsoft's attempt to create a mascot for the Xbox in ''Blinx: The Time Sweeper''. Ironically, Microsoft later found more success with their 2003 take on the genre, ''Voodoo Vince''. In 2008, Crackpot Entertainment released ''Insecticide (video game), Insecticide''. Crackpot, composed of former developers from LucasArts, for the first time combined influences from the Adventure game#Point-and-click adventure games, point and click genre LucasArts had been known for on titles such as ''Grim Fandango'' with a platformer. The platformer remained a vital genre, but it never regained its old popularity. Part of the reason for the platformer's decline in the 2000s was a lack of innovation compared to other genres. Platformers were either aimed at younger players or designed to avoid the platform label. In 1998, platform games had a 15% share of the market, and an even higher share in their prime. Four years later that figure had dropped to 2%. Even the acclaimed ''Psychonauts'' saw modest sales at first, leading publisher Majesco Entertainment to withdraw from high-budget console games, though its sales in Europe were respectable.Life After Shelf Death
, ''The Escapist'', November 13, 2007

Recent developments

In the seventh generation of consoles, despite the genre having a smaller presence in the gaming market, some platform games found success. In 2007 ''Super Mario Galaxy'' and ''Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction'' were received well by both critics and fans. ''Super Mario Galaxy'' was awarded the Best Game of 2007 by high-profile gaming websites like GameSpot,

, and GameTrailers. At that point, according to GameRankings, it was the most critically acclaimed game of all time. In 2008, ''LittleBigPlanet'' paired traditional 2D-platformer gameplay with physics simulation and user created content, earning it strong sales and good reviews. Electronic Arts released ''Mirror's Edge'', which coupled platform gameplay with a first-person perspective, although they did not market the game as a platformer because of the association of the label with games made for kids. ''Sonic Unleashed'' featured stages with both 2D and 3D platform gameplay, a formula used later in ''Sonic Colors'' and ''Sonic Generations''. Moreover, two ''Crash Bandicoot'' platform games were released in 2007 and 2008. Freedom Planet Milla screenshot

The popularity of 2D platformers rose in the 2010s. Nintendo revived the genre. ''New Super Mario Bros.'' was released in 2006 and sold 30 million copies worldwide, making it the List of best-selling Nintendo DS video games, best-selling game for the Nintendo DS and the fourth List of best-selling video games#Top 20 console games of all time, best-selling non-bundled video game of all time. ''Super Mario Galaxy'' eventually sold over eight million units, while ''Super Paper Mario'', ''Super Mario 64 DS'', ''Sonic Rush'', ''Yoshi's Island DS'', ''Kirby Super Star Ultra'', and ''Kirby: Squeak Squad'' also sold well. After the success of ''New Super Mario Bros.'', there was a spate of 2D platform games. These ranged from revivals like ''Bionic Commando: Rearmed'', ''Contra ReBirth'', ''Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I, Sonic the Hedgehog 4, and'' ''Rayman Origins'' to original titles like ''Splosion Man'' and ''Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure''. ''Wario Land: The Shake Dimension'', released in 2008, was a 2D platformer with a rich visual style. Later games like ''Limbo (video game), Limbo'', ''Super Meat Boy'', ''Braid (video game), Braid'', ''A Boy and His Blob (2009 video game), A Boy and His Blob'', and The Behemoth's ''BattleBlock Theater'' also used 2D graphics. ''New Super Mario Bros. Wii'' is especially notable because unlike most 2D platformers in the twenty-first century, it came out for a non-portable console and was not restricted to a content delivery network. A year after the success of ''New Super Mario Bros. Wii'', Nintendo released more 2D platformers in their classic franchises: ''Donkey Kong Country Returns'' and ''Kirby's Return to Dream Land''. In 2012, they released two more 2D platformers: ''New Super Mario Bros. 2'' for the 3DS and ''New Super Mario Bros. U'' for the Wii U. Nintendo also experimented with 3D platform games that had gameplay elements from 2D platform games, leading to ''Super Mario 3D Land'' (2011) for the 3DS and ''Super Mario 3D World'' (2013) for the Wii U, the latter having Cooperative video game, cooperative multiplayer. Both were critical and commercial successes. Besides Nintendo's games, indie games in the late 2000s and the 2010s helped grow the platform-game market. Indie platform games had a stronger focus on story and innovation. In 2009, independent developer Frozenbyte released ''Trine (video game), Trine'', a 2.5D platform game that mixed traditional elements with modern physics puzzles. The game sold more than 1.1 million copies, and a sequel, ''Trine 2'', came out in 2011. The year 2017 saw the release of several 3D platformers, leading the media to speculate about a revival of the genre. These included ''Yooka-Laylee'' and ''A Hat in Time'', both crowdfunding, crowdfunded on the website Kickstarter. ''Super Mario Odyssey'', which returned the series to the open-ended gameplay of ''Super Mario 64'', became one of the best-selling and best-reviewed games in the franchise's history. ''Super Lucky's Tale'' and an HD remaster of ''Voodoo Vince'' came out for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One. ''Snake Pass (video game), Snake Pass'' was called a "puzzle-platformer without a jump button." The ''Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy'' for PlayStation 4 sold over 2.5 million copies in three months, despite some critics noting it was harder than the original games. The next few years saw more remakes of 3D platformers: ''Spyro Reignited Trilogy'', ''SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated'' (2020), and a remake of 1998's ''MediEvil (2019 video game), MediEvil'' for PS4. In the ninth generation of consoles, the platform game remains important. ''Astro Bot Rescue Mission'' (2018), a PlayStation VR game, was followed by ''Astro's Playroom'' (2020), which came pre-installed on every PlayStation 5. ''Sackboy: A Big Adventure'' (2020), developed by Sumo Digital, was a PlayStation 5 launch title. ''Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time'' (2020) was released to critical praise. ''Bowser's Fury'' (2021), a short campaign added to the Switch port of ''Super Mario 3D World'', bridged the gap between the gameplay of ''3D World'' and that of ''Super Mario Odyssey, Odyssey''. ''Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart'' (2021) was one of the first PlayStation 5-exclusive games made by Insomniac. On August 25, 2021, the Kickstarter-funded ''Psychonauts 2'' was released to critical acclaim.

Subgenres

This list some definable platform games in the following types, but there are also many vaguely defined subgenres games that have not been listed. These game categories are the prototypes genre that recognized by different platform styles.

Puzzle-platform game

Puzzle platformers are characterized by their use of a platform game structure to drive a game whose challenge is derived primarily from Puzzle video game, puzzles.

's 1983 release ''Door Door'' and Sega's 1985 release ''Doki Doki Penguin Land'' (for the SG-1000) are perhaps the first examples, though the genre is diverse, and classifications can vary. ''Doki Doki Penguin Land'' allowed players to run and jump in typical platform fashion, but they could also destroy blocks, and were tasked with guiding an egg to the bottom of the level without letting it break. ''The Lost Vikings'' (1993) was a popular game in this genre. It has three characters players can switch between, each with different abilities. All three characters are needed to complete the level goals. This subgenre has a strong presence on handheld systems. ''Wario Land 2'' moved the Wario series into the puzzle-platform genre by eliminating the element of death and adding temporary injuries, such as being squashed or lit on fire, and specialized powers. ''Wario Land 3'' continued this tradition, while ''Wario Land 4'' was more of a mix of puzzle and traditional platform elements. The Donkey Kong (1994 video game), Game Boy update of ''Donkey Kong'' was also successful and saw a sequel on Game Boy Advance: ''Mario vs. Donkey Kong''. ''Klonoa: Empire of Dreams'', the first handheld title in its series, is also a puzzle-platform game. Through independent game development, this genre has experienced a revival since 2014. ''Braid'' uses time manipulation for its puzzles, and ''And Yet It Moves'' uses frame of reference rotation. In contrast to these Side-scrolling video game, side-scrollers, ''Narbacular Drop'' and its successor, ''Portal (video game), Portal'', are first-person games that use portals to solve puzzles in 3D. Since the release of ''Portal'', there have been more puzzle-platform games which use a first-person camera, including ''Purity'' and ''Tag: The Power of Paint''. In 2014, Nintendo released ''Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker'' which uses compact level design and camera rotation in order to reach the goal and find secrets and collectibles. Despite lacking jump ability, Toad (Nintendo), Toad still navigates the environment via unique movement mechanics.

Run-and-gun platform game

The run-and-gun platform genre was popularised by Konami's ''Contra (video game), Contra''. Among the most popular games in this style are ''

'' and ''Metal Slug''. Side-scrolling run-and-gun games marry platform games with shoot 'em ups, with less tricky platforming and more shooting. These games are sometimes called platform shooters. The genre has arcade roots, so these games are generally linear and difficult. There are games which have a lot of shooting but do not fall in this subgenre. '' Mega Man'', '' Metroid'', ''Ghosts 'n Goblins'', ''Vectorman'', ''Jazz Jackrabbit'', ''

'', and ''Turrican'' are all platformers with shooting, but unlike ''Contra'' or ''Metal Slug'', platforming, as well as exploring and back-tracking, figures prominently. Run-and-gun games are generally pure, and while they may have vehicular sequences or other shifts in style, they have shooting throughout.

Cinematic platform game

Cinematic platformers are a small but distinct subgenre of platform games, usually distinguished by their relative realism compared to traditional platformers. These games focus on fluid, lifelike movements, without the unnatural physics found in nearly all other platform games. To achieve this realism, many cinematic platformers, beginning with ''Prince of Persia (1989 video game), Prince of Persia'', have employed rotoscoping techniques to animate their characters based on video footage of live actors performing the same stunts. Jumping abilities are typically roughly within the confines of an athletic human's capacity. To expand vertical exploration, many cinematic platformers feature the ability to grab onto ledges, or make extensive use of elevator platforms. As these games tend to feature vulnerable characters who may die as the result of a single enemy attack or by falling a relatively short distance, they almost never have limited lives or continues. Challenge is derived from trial and error problem solving, forcing the player to find the right way to overcome a particular obstacle. ''Prince of Persia (1989 video game), Prince of Persia'' was the first cinematic platformer and perhaps the most influential. ''

'' pioneered many of the defining elements of cinematic platformers and is an important precursor to this genre. Other games in the genre include ''Flashback: The Quest for Identity, Flashback'' (and its Flashback (2013 video game), 2013 remake), ''Another World (video game), Another World'', ''Heart of Darkness (video game), Heart of Darkness'', the first two ''Oddworld'' games, ''Blackthorne'', ''Bermuda Syndrome'', ''Generations Lost'', ''Heart of the Alien'', ''Weird Dreams'', ''Limbo (video game), Limbo'', ''Inside (video game), Inside'', ''onEscapee'', ''Deadlight'', and ''The Way (video game), The Way''.

Comical action game

Games in the genre are most commonly called "comical action games" (CAGs) in Japan. The original arcade ''

'' is generally recognized as the originator of this genre, though ''

'' is also highly influential. These games are characterized by single screen, non-scrolling levels and often contain cooperative two-player action. A level is cleared when all enemies on the screen have been defeated, and vanquished foes usually drop score bonuses in the form of fruit or other items. CAGs are almost exclusively developed in Japan and are either arcade games, or sequels to arcade games, though they are also a common genre among amateur dojin soft, ''doujinshi'' games. Other examples include ''Don Doko Don'', ''Snow Bros.'' and ''Nightmare in the Dark''.

Isometric platform game

Isometric platformers present a three-dimensional environment using two-dimensional graphics in isometric projection. The use of Isometric graphics in video games, isometric graphics was popularized by Sega's arcade isometric shooter ''Zaxxon'' (1981), which Sega followed with the arcade isometric platformer ''Congo Bongo'', released in February 1983. Another early isometric platformer, the ZX Spectrum game ''Ant Attack'', was later released in November 1983. ''Knight Lore'', an isometric sequel to ''Sabre Wulf'', helped to establish the conventions of early isometric platformers. This formula was repeated in later games like ''Head Over Heels (game), Head Over Heels'' and ''Monster Max''. These games were generally heavily focused on exploring indoor environments, usually a series of small rooms connected by doors, and have distinct adventure and puzzle elements. Japanese developers blended this gameplay style with that of Japanese action-adventure games like ''The Legend of Zelda (video game), The Legend of Zelda'' to create games like ''Land Stalker'' and ''Light Crusader''. This influence later traveled to Europe with Adeline Software's sprawling epic ''Little Big Adventure'', which blended RPG, adventure game, adventure, and isometric platforming elements. Before consoles were able to display true polygonal 3D graphics, the ¾ isometric perspective was used to move some popular 2D platformers into three-dimensional gameplay. ''Spot Goes To Hollywood'' was a sequel to the popular ''Cool Spot'', and ''Sonic 3D Blast'' was Sonic's outing into the isometric subgenre.

Platform-adventure game

Many games fuse platform game fundamentals with elements of action-adventure games, such as ''

'', or with elements of Role-playing video games, RPGs. Typically these elements include the ability to explore an area freely, with access to new areas granted by either gaining new abilities or using inventory items. Many 2D games in the '' Metroid'' and ''Castlevania'' franchises are among the most popular games of this sort, and so games that take this type of approach are often labeled as "Metroidvania" games. ''Castlevania: Symphony of the Night'' popularized this approach in the ''Castlevania'' series. Other examples of such games include Hollow Knight, both games in the ''Ori'' series (Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps), ''Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap'', ''Tails Adventure'', ''Cave Story'', ''Mega Man ZX'', ''Shadow Complex,'' DuckTales: Remastered. Early examples of Open world, free-roaming, side-scrolling, 2D platform-adventures in the vein of "Metroidvania" include Nintendo's Metroid (video game), ''Metroid'' in 1986 and Konami's ''Castlevania'' games: ''Vampire Killer'' in 1986 and ''Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, Simon's Quest'' in 1987,Jeremy Parish
Metroidvania Chronicles II: Simon's Quest
1UP.com, June 28, 2006 ''The Goonies II'' in 1987 again by Konami, as well as

's sci-fi Sharp X1 computer game '' Brain Breaker'' in 1985,

's '' Super Pitfall'' in 1986, System Sacom's ''System Sacom#For computer, Euphory'' in 1987, Quest Corporation, Bothtec's ''The Scheme'' in 1988, and several ''Dragon Slayer (series), Dragon Slayer'' Action role-playing game, action RPGs by Nihon Falcom such as the 1985 release ''Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu, Xanadu'' and 1987 releases ''Faxanadu'' and ''Legacy of the Wizard''.

Auto-runner games are platform games where the player-character is nearly always moving in one constant direction through the level, with less focus on tricky jumping but more on quick reflexes as obstacles appear on screen. The subcategory of endless runner games have levels that effectively go on forever, typically through procedural generation. Auto-runner games have found success on mobile platforms, because they are well-suited to the small set of controls these games require, often limited to a single screen tap for jumping. Game designer Scott Rogers named Side-scrolling video game, side-scrolling shooters like ''Scramble (video game), Scramble'' (1981) and ''

'' (1982) and chase-style gameplay in platform games like ''Disney's Aladdin (1994 video game), Disney's Aladdin'' (1994 8-bit version) and ''Crash Bandicoot (video game), Crash Bandicoot'' (1996) as forerunners of the genre.''Swipe This!: The Guide to Great Touchscreen Game Design'' by Scott Rogers, Wiley and Sons, 2012 ''B.C.'s Quest for Tires'' (1983) has elements of runner games, keeping the jumping of ''Moon Patrol'', but replacing the vehicle with a cartoon character. In February 2003, Gamevil published ''Nom'' for mobile phones in Korea. The game's designer Sin Bong-gu, stated that he wanted to create a game that was only possible on mobile phones, therefore he made the player character walk up walls and ceilings, requiring players to turn around their mobile phones while playing. To compensate for this complication, he limited the game's controls to a single button and let the character run automatically and indefinitely, "like the people in modern society, who must always look forward and keep running". While the concept thus was long known in Korea, journalists credit ''Canabalt'' (2009) as "the title that single-handedly invented the smartphone-friendly single-button running genre" and spawned a wave of clones. ''Fotonica'' (2011), a one-button endless runner viewed from the first person, that was described as a "hybrid of ''Canabalt''s running, ''Mirror's Edge''s perspective (and hands) and ''Rez (video game), Rez''s visual style". ''Temple Run'' (2011) and its successor ''Temple Run 2'' are popular endless running games. The latter became the world's fastest-spreading mobile game in January 2013, with 50 million installations within thirteen days.

References

External links

Platform games
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