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These games are not interchangeable. The best next game depends on whether you want familiar stage-by-stage rhythm, momentum, demanding precision, or a larger world built around discovery.
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At a glance: which 2D platformer should you play next?
| Game | Best match for | Movement feel | Structure | Challenge profile | Play style |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rayman Legends | A modern successor to mascot platformers | Responsive, playful, acrobatic | Stage-driven | Accessible with optional harder goals | Primarily a pick-up-and-play platformer, with multiplayer appeal |
| Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove | Retro-style fans who want an 8-bit adventure | Deliberate, jump-focused, pattern-based | Stage-driven campaigns | Classic challenge with checkpoints and experimentation | Campaign-focused action platforming |
| Celeste | Players who want exact, demanding movement | Precision-first air control and dashes | Hand-crafted rooms | High, but built around rapid retries and learning | Solo challenge platformer |
| Hollow Knight | Exploration, combat, and ability progression | Measured movement supporting combat and traversal | Large interconnected world | Variable; discovery and boss fights create the main pressure | Solo action-adventure |
| Ori and the Will of the Wisps | Fluid traversal, puzzles, and an emotional adventure | Fast, flowing, increasingly expressive | Exploration-led world with ability progression | Moderate overall, with demanding sequences | Solo adventure |
| Sonic Origins | Replaying classic Sonic campaigns at speed | Momentum-driven running and rolling | Original stage-based campaigns | Classic trial-and-error difficulty | Solo retro collection |
The table is a design guide, not a ranking. There is no common, reliable cross-game statistic for sales, review averages, completion rates, or playtime that would make a numerical ranking meaningful.
How to choose after a classic platformer
Decide whether you want stages or a world
Classic mascot games usually teach you a compact rule set, introduce it in a level, and then remix it before the stage ends. Rayman Legends and Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove follow that immediately readable, stage-driven rhythm. You can play one level, stop, and return later without reconstructing a map.
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Hollow Knight and Ori and the Will of the Wisps use a different loop. Areas connect into a larger world, and new abilities change which routes are reachable. That structure rewards remembering landmarks and returning to earlier locations. It is a better fit if the satisfaction of finding the next path matters as much as clearing the current screen.
Choose momentum or precision
Sonic Origins preserves the appeal of speed, slopes, rolling, and learning how a route flows. Celeste is almost the opposite: its rooms are built around deliberate inputs, short attempts, and correcting one mistake at a time. Rayman Legends sits between those extremes, emphasizing readable acrobatics without making every jump a technical exercise.
Match the difficulty you actually want
“Hard” means different things in these games. Celeste asks for execution and gives you frequent opportunities to retry. Hollow Knight places more pressure on combat, navigation, and discovering what to do next. Sonic Origins can be unforgiving because the original games expect repeated runs and route knowledge. Shovel Knight evokes the older checkpoint-and-pattern model, while Rayman Legends is generally the safest choice for a broad range of players.
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Rayman Legends is the most immediately family-friendly recommendation. Shovel Knight deliberately looks and sounds like an 8-bit adventure. Celeste is a focused, personal climb built around challenge. Hollow Knight is atmospheric and mysterious. Ori combines painterly presentation with emotional storytelling. Sonic Origins is a preservation-minded way to revisit the original Sonic campaigns rather than a new interpretation of them.
Rayman Legends: the closest modern all-rounder
Why it follows a classic Mario-style game so well
Rayman Legends is the easiest recommendation when you want the familiar cadence of a mascot platformer without simply replaying the same game. Its levels are immediately legible: move through a contained stage, react to hazards, collect or rescue what the level presents, and keep going. The game’s emphasis is on movement, timing, and visual surprise rather than on building a character or decoding a large map.
PC Gamer has identified it as a strong choice for players looking for the Mario mold, and Nintendo includes it in a 2D-platforming roundup. That positioning is useful because Rayman Legends does not require a genre reset. You can bring the instincts you developed in a classic side-scroller and start playing effectively within minutes.
Rank #2
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What the movement feels like
The controls favor quick reactions and expressive traversal. Jumps, wall interactions, swings, and other acrobatic actions are arranged so that a successful run feels like a sequence rather than a single isolated leap. The game is approachable on a first pass, yet optional objectives and more demanding stages give experienced players reasons to revisit levels.
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Who should choose it
- Choose Rayman Legends if you want colorful, stage-based platforming with a low barrier to entry.
- Choose it if you may be playing alongside other people and want a format that is easy to understand at a glance.
- Choose something else if your priority is a punishing precision test, deep combat, or a large map with secrets behind ability gates.
Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove: the clearest retro homage
What makes it different from a simple old-game imitation
Nintendo describes Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove as the full Shovel Knight action-adventure series with an 8-bit retro aesthetic. That makes it the most direct answer to “What modern 2D platformer feels like the classics?” in this group. It uses familiar visual language, enemy patterns, stage entrances, checkpoints, and boss encounters, but packages them as a complete collection rather than a single short campaign.
The shovel is both a weapon and a movement tool. You can attack from above, bounce off objects, and read enemy placement in a way that recalls older action-platformers while still giving the game its own rules. The result rewards players who like learning a level’s rhythm and then replaying it more cleanly.
Why Treasure Trove is the version to look for
The name matters: Treasure Trove refers to the complete Shovel Knight action-adventure series, not merely one campaign. If you want the broadest version of this retro-style experience, check that the listing specifically says “Treasure Trove” and confirm which platform edition you are buying. Storefront names and included content can change by region or edition.
Who should choose it
- Pick Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove if 8-bit presentation and classic stage design are the main attraction.
- Pick it if you prefer deliberate jumps, enemy patterns, and checkpoints over free-form exploration.
- Pick another game if you want modern cinematic presentation or a story built around a large interconnected map.
Celeste: the precision choice
What the game asks of you
The official site calls Celeste a “super-tight, hand-crafted platformer” and frames it around helping Madeline survive her journey to the top of Celeste Mountain. That description captures the design: each room is a compact movement problem, and success comes from understanding the route, controlling momentum, and making a sequence of jumps and dashes reliably.
Celeste is demanding, but its structure makes failure productive. Attempts are short, the next try is immediate, and a failed jump usually tells you exactly which part of the sequence needs adjustment. The challenge is not based on making you repeat a long stage after every mistake; it is based on asking for cleaner execution in the next room.
Rank #3
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How it compares with a classic mascot platformer
Do not choose Celeste expecting a relaxed collectathon. Its focus is narrower and more technical. There is less emphasis on wandering through a themed level and more on mastering a chain of inputs. If you enjoy the moment when a difficult room finally becomes automatic, Celeste is the strongest fit in this list.
Platforms and edition caution
The official site lists Celeste for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, itch.io, Steam, and the Epic Games Store. Availability, pricing, and edition details can change, so verify the current storefront listing for your region before purchasing.
Who should choose it
- Choose Celeste if precision, repetition, and measurable improvement are more important than exploration.
- Choose it if you want a solo game that respects short sessions and immediate retries.
- Choose something else if you mainly want speed-running momentum, combat, or a broad adventure map.
Hollow Knight: the exploration-heavy step up
Why it feels unlike a traditional stage-based platformer
Nintendo describes Hollow Knight as “a classically styled 2D action adventure across a vast interconnected world.” That is the key distinction. Instead of selecting a self-contained level and moving straight to the goal, you explore a continuous map, fight enemies, gain abilities, and use new capabilities to understand places that were previously inaccessible.
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What to expect from the difficulty
Hollow Knight’s difficulty is less uniform than Celeste’s. Ordinary traversal may be manageable while a boss or unfamiliar area demands several attempts. Progress depends on learning enemy behavior, managing risk, and remembering how locations connect. If you want every obstacle to be a compact, self-contained test, Celeste is more focused. If you want challenge embedded in a world that you gradually understand, Hollow Knight is the better choice.
Who should choose it
- Choose Hollow Knight if exploration and discovery are central to why you play platformers.
- Choose it if combat and ability progression sound as appealing as jumping.
- Choose another game if you want a short, linear route with no map-based backtracking.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps: fluid movement and emotional adventure
Where Ori fits in the lineup
Ori and the Will of the Wisps is the choice for players who want platforming to feel graceful and expressive. Nintendo includes it among its platforming recommendations, and its identity comes from the combination of fluid traversal, puzzles, painterly presentation, and a more emotional adventure.
Rank #4
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Rather than treating every jump as a separate test, Ori encourages you to maintain motion. As abilities expand, routes become more elaborate and movement chains become more satisfying. The game’s world supports exploration, but its emphasis is on how beautifully the character moves through that world.
How it differs from Hollow Knight
Both games combine exploration with ability progression, but they create different moods. Hollow Knight is more mysterious and combat-centered, with a world that often asks you to interpret where to go. Ori leans harder into visual spectacle, puzzles, and emotional momentum. Choose based on whether you want atmosphere and combat tension or fluid traversal and a more openly cinematic tone.
Who should choose it
- Choose Ori and the Will of the Wisps if movement itself is the main pleasure.
- Choose it if you want exploration supported by puzzles and a strong emotional presentation.
- Choose another game if you specifically want an 8-bit homage or the uncompromising room-by-room precision of Celeste.
Sonic Origins: when the classic answer is more Sonic
What is included
Sonic Origins is a remastered collection of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and Sonic CD. Nintendo describes it as a collection of those classic campaigns, making it the natural choice when finishing one classic favorite has made you want to revisit the rest of the same design tradition.
This is not a modern reinterpretation of momentum platforming. Its appeal is preservation and replay: learning how speed, slopes, springs, hazards, and alternate routes interact across the original games. The collection lets you compare how the formula develops from one campaign to the next.
Why momentum changes the experience
Sonic’s movement rewards planning ahead. Running quickly is useful, but speed without route knowledge can send you into hazards. The best play comes from learning when to accelerate, when to roll, and when to slow down. That makes Sonic Origins a strong follow-up for someone who enjoyed the feel of classic Sonic more than the broader mascot-platformer formula.
Who should choose it
- Choose Sonic Origins if speed, momentum, and replaying classic Sonic campaigns are your priorities.
- Choose it if you want several historically important 2D campaigns in one collection.
- Choose another game if you are looking for a newly designed world, a modern story, or precision rooms built around instant retries.
Best picks by the classic game you just finished
After a classic Mario game
Start with Rayman Legends if you want a similarly welcoming, stage-driven successor. Move to Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove if what you loved was the old-school rhythm of enemies, jumps, checkpoints, and boss fights. Choose Celeste when your favorite part was mastering increasingly exact movement rather than collecting power-ups.
Best Value
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After a classic Sonic game
Choose Sonic Origins first if you have not played the other classic campaigns. It preserves the speed-focused design instead of asking you to adapt to a different movement model. If you want a new game after that, Rayman Legends offers more immediate stage variety, while Ori and the Will of the Wisps offers a more fluid adventure structure.
After a classic Donkey Kong Country game
Rayman Legends is the safest broad recommendation for readable stages and expressive movement. Shovel Knight is better if you want a stricter retro presentation. Ori is the stronger alternative when you want exploration and movement abilities to become central to the adventure.
A practical decision path
- Want the closest all-purpose successor? Start with Rayman Legends.
- Want deliberate 8-bit nostalgia? Choose Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove.
- Want the hardest movement test? Choose Celeste.
- Want a large map and discovery? Choose Hollow Knight.
- Want graceful traversal and emotion? Choose Ori and the Will of the Wisps.
- Want more classic Sonic? Choose Sonic Origins.
Platform, edition, and purchase checks
Platform availability, prices, bundles, and included content are volatile. Check the current listing for your country before buying, especially for collections and editions that may use similar names. Celeste’s official site currently lists Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, itch.io, Steam, and the Epic Games Store; the other games’ exact current storefront coverage is not established here.
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For Shovel Knight, confirm that the product title says Treasure Trove if you want the complete named collection. For Sonic Origins, check which edition is listed and verify that the four campaigns named above are included. A platform logo or a similarly titled bundle is not, by itself, proof that every campaign or add-on is present.
The short answer
For most players leaving a classic mascot platformer, Rayman Legends is the best first stop because it keeps the clear, stage-based appeal while feeling modern. Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove is the strongest retro homage; Celeste is the precision specialist; Hollow Knight is the exploration-heavy action adventure; Ori and the Will of the Wisps is the fluid, emotional alternative; and Sonic Origins is the correct answer when the thing you want most is classic Sonic momentum.
Quick Recap
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