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How to read this list
The picks below are grouped by the kind of platforming they emphasize, rather than arranged as a measured scorecard. A game may also belong to action, adventure, or exploration genres; it is included when navigating jumps, routes, and movement challenges is central to the experience. The selection aims to show what different kinds of platformers do especially well, not to claim that one style is universally superior.
2D side-scrolling platformers
Super Mario Bros. 3
A landmark in side-scrolling design, Super Mario Bros. 3 makes its stages feel varied through new movement possibilities, distinct obstacles, and optional routes. Its appeal is not only historical: the basic act of running and jumping remains clear, while the changing level ideas keep it from feeling like a sequence of identical tests.
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Tropical Freeze is a strong pick for players who want precise, momentum-aware 2D movement and stages built around their own ideas. Its level design changes the rhythm and demands from one setting to the next, rewarding careful timing without reducing every challenge to the same jump. Nintendo’s editorial selection of 2D platformers also includes it among examples of the genre’s range: Nintendo’s 2D platforming selection.
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Sonic Mania
Sonic Mania centers speed and momentum rather than the measured, stop-and-start rhythm common to many platformers. Its stages invite players to learn routes and make use of Sonic’s movement, while alternate paths give repeat runs a reason to feel different. It is a good fit for players who enjoy mastering a route as much as reaching the end.
Precision platforming
Celeste
Celeste builds its challenge around a compact set of movement abilities used in increasingly demanding combinations. Its carefully arranged rooms make failure informative: a missed dash or mistimed jump usually points toward a specific adjustment. It also offers assist options, making it possible to tailor the challenge rather than treating one difficulty level as mandatory. Nintendo includes Celeste in its selection of 2D platformers, alongside games with very different tones and structures (Nintendo’s 2D platforming selection).
Rank #2
- 50 Exciting Levels: Explore iconic locations from the Dog Man universe, including the City Hall, Giant Marshmallow Factory, and the Police Station. Each location offers platforming and puzzle-solving challenges.
- Teamwork: Switch between Dog Man and his Supa Buddies, each with their own special abilities, to overcome obstacles and defeat bosses. o Dog Man: Digs underground and glides through the air. o Li’l Petey: Hacks gadgets and fits into small spaces. o 80-HD: Pushes heavy objects and jumps long distances.
- Fun Gadgets: Unlock new gadgets and abilities as you progress, like a grappling hook, rocket boots and power gloves to navigate through the levels. Puzzles and Bosses: Use your brain to solve puzzles and defeat unique bosses. Each boss fight requires clever use of your team’s abilities.
- Humor and Action: Enjoy funny dialogue, amusing interactions, and non-stop action that keeps you engaged in Dog Man’s world. Rewards and Collectibles: Revisit levels with new gadgets to find secret areas, and rescue the missing Comic Club members.
- Art Style: Great animations inspired by the books, with comic-style sound effects that add a fun, cartoonish touch to the action.
Super Meat Boy
Super Meat Boy is for players who want fast retries and demanding jumps. Its short stages make it easy to attempt a difficult sequence again, and its tight focus keeps the challenge centered on movement and timing. The trade-off is that its intensity can be tiring; it is a better choice for players who enjoy repetition in pursuit of a clean run than for those seeking a relaxed tour.
Exploration-heavy action-platformers
Hollow Knight
Hollow Knight sits at the boundary between platformer and action-adventure. Traversing its interconnected world and learning how its spaces connect are as important as jumping, while combat and exploration occupy much of the experience. It belongs on a platformer list for players who like movement challenges embedded in a larger world, but it is less purely focused on stage-by-stage jumping than a side-scroller such as Celeste. Nintendo’s 2D platforming selection includes it as another example of the category’s breadth (Nintendo’s 2D platforming selection).
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3D platformers
Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64 helped establish how players could move through and interact with a 3D platforming world. Its importance is more than a historical footnote: it shifted the design problem from judging jumps across a flat screen to navigating space, controlling direction, and choosing how to approach objectives. TIME’s all-time video-game list identifies it as a game that shaped how players interact with 3D worlds (TIME’s list).
Super Mario Odyssey
Super Mario Odyssey is an action, platformer, and adventure game for Nintendo Switch, according to Nintendo’s UK product page. It makes 3D movement feel expressive by letting Mario use Cappy as an improvised platform, turning an ability into a way to reach and rethink spaces. The game also lets players switch between Regular Mode and Assist Mode at any time, a useful option for players who want help with the challenge without committing to a separate version. Nintendo’s Mario history places Odyssey in 2017 and Super Mario 3D World in 2013 (Nintendo’s Mario history).
Super Mario 3D World
Super Mario 3D World offers a more stage-based form of 3D platforming than Odyssey’s broader spaces. Its compact courses make objectives and hazards easy to read, while changing abilities and level ideas keep the focus on adapting to each stage. It is a useful counterpoint to sandbox-style 3D platformers: the pleasure comes from a succession of shaped, replayable courses rather than roaming one large world. Nintendo’s Mario history dates it to 2013 (Nintendo’s Mario history).
Why other all-time lists may rank games differently
Rankings depend on what they value. TIME’s list highlights Donkey Kong’s role in popularizing platform games and Super Mario 64’s influence on interaction in 3D worlds (TIME’s all-time list). GamesRadar+ describes a broader ranking approach that considers influence, innovation, legacy, social impact, critical reception, and enduring playability (GamesRadar+ ranking-method document). Those criteria can support different defensible selections; this list gives lasting playability and the distinct feel of movement and level design substantial weight.
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