I want a resurgence of platformers for upcoming consoles

[duffmanth]

I don't know if it's just me, but with the recent release of Ducktales Remastered and Rayman Legends coming up, I really want platformers to come back in a big way on PS4 etc. Growing up in the late 80's and early 90's, platformers were the best games around in my opinion, everything from Mario to Ducktales to Mega Man, and everything in between. I also really miss the great platformers from the PS1 and PS2 days like Jak and Daxter, Spyro, Crash, Rayman, etc.

[Tanooki]

I agree but the industry likes to blow large sums of cash on what they consider AAA genres and franchises to play it safe and stay afloat due to their dangerous and poor business models they adopt. Aside from Nintendo don't expect too many console game makers to bother popping a platformer game out unless it is a download because they're just not seen as desirable enough to bother. They probably are, but when you feed the market certain stuff others tend to get ignored and shoved to the side. These companies deep down know these games work but they're fine relegating them to the "inferior" secondary tier market of handhelds and download services annoyingly.

[duffmanth]

I agree but the industry likes to blow large sums of cash on what they consider AAA genres and franchises to play it safe and stay afloat due to their dangerous and poor business models they adopt. Aside from Nintendo don't expect too many console game makers to bother popping a platformer game out unless it is a download because they're just not seen as desirable enough to bother. They probably are, but when you feed the market certain stuff others tend to get ignored and shoved to the side. These companies deep down know these games work but they're fine relegating them to the "inferior" secondary tier market of handhelds and download services annoyingly.

Yeah I agree, studios will probably keep milking FPS' for all they're worth, but hopefully some great platformers will come along, whether they're PSN downloads, handhelds, or disc based games. I have a feeling with how hard Sony is pushing it's indie developer program, there will hopefully be some great and cheap platformers in the PSN store.

[Aussie2B]

I'd like to see more platformers too. And I'd like to see the quality of the few that are coming out improve as well. The ridiculously slippery, piss-easy, derivative New Super Mario Bros. games aren't cutting it.

Personally, I think platformers have been in decline ever since gaming went 3D. Some people talk about the 32/64-bit generation as if platformers (3D ones, that is) were king, and while many of the biggest selling games of that time were platformers, it really didn't seem like other publishers were bothering with platformers that much, not like in prior generations. Once you set aside the big-name stuff from Nintendo, Rare, and the likes of Crash and Spyro, what's left? There are some junk licensed platformers targeted at little kids and a small amount of original third party platformers that mostly suck, but I find it difficult to find worthwhile third party platformers from back then. Pickings got even slimmer with the following generation, and now? Forget about it. Now our options are pretty much half-baked indie games that are simply ripping off the classics or industry releases that are either remakes or so derivative that they may as well be remakes. I guess the industry thinks platformers are synonymous with nostalgia these days, so good luck if you want platformers to actually tread new ground.

On the other hand, I don't expect a genre to stay on top forever. There are a lot of gamers who bemoan the deluge of platformers in the 8 and 16-bit generations. There's no denying that there were plenty of "me too" releases back then that weren't really worth playing. But I think the state of platformers could be better off, even as a niche genre. I mean, look at shmups. They were huge once upon a time, but now they're deader than platformers and considered the sole territory of niche gamers. But the genre has actually evolved since its heyday. In fact, it's only in its waning years that the whole "bullet hell" concept really took shape. And when shmup developers make a new game, they just aim to create something new and fun. The game isn't elbowing you in the ribs over and over going "HEY, remember Gradius?"

[Gameguy]

Personally, I think platformers have been in decline ever since gaming went 3D.
It's not just you. Plus beat 'em ups weren't as good after that either, it's why I still focus mainly on games from the 90's or earlier.

[duffmanth]

I'd like to see more platformers too. And I'd like to see the quality of the few that are coming out improve as well. The ridiculously slippery, piss-easy, derivative New Super Mario Bros. games aren't cutting it.

Personally, I think platformers have been in decline ever since gaming went 3D. Some people talk about the 32/64-bit generation as if platformers (3D ones, that is) were king, and while many of the biggest selling games of that time were platformers, it really didn't seem like other publishers were bothering with platformers that much, not like in prior generations. Once you set aside the big-name stuff from Nintendo, Rare, and the likes of Crash and Spyro, what's left? There are some junk licensed platformers targeted at little kids and a small amount of original third party platformers that mostly suck, but I find it difficult to find worthwhile third party platformers from back then. Pickings got even slimmer with the following generation, and now? Forget about it. Now our options are pretty much half-baked indie games that are simply ripping off the classics or industry releases that are either remakes or so derivative that they may as well be remakes. I guess the industry thinks platformers are synonymous with nostalgia these days, so good luck if you want platformers to actually tread new ground.

On the other hand, I don't expect a genre to stay on top forever. There are a lot of gamers who bemoan the deluge of platformers in the 8 and 16-bit generations. There's no denying that there were plenty of "me too" releases back then that weren't really worth playing. But I think the state of platformers could be better off, even as a niche genre. I mean, look at shmups. They were huge once upon a time, but now they're deader than platformers and considered the sole territory of niche gamers. But the genre has actually evolved since its heyday. In fact, it's only in its waning years that the whole "bullet hell" concept really took shape. And when shmup developers make a new game, they just aim to create something new and fun. The game isn't elbowing you in the ribs over and over going "HEY, remember Gradius?"

Well lets hope Rayman Legends is the beginning of a platformer resurgence, the footage of it on IGN looks great.

[JakeM]

I wish Konami would make another 2D platformer for PS4 like SOTN. It would look just like it artistically, except in HD (if they need to do it that way), and have the castle and surrounding areas be ginormous. Stop putting the 2D games on handhelds, they dont look as good as they really can on a home console.

[bb_hood]

I wish Konami would make another 2D platformer for PS4 like SOTN. It would look just like it artistically, except in HD (if they need to do it that way), and have the castle and surrounding areas be ginormous. Stop putting the 2D games on handhelds, they dont look as good as they really can on a home console.

They already did that on ps3, check out Castlevania Harmony of Despair. Its 2D, graphics just like SOTN, each level is gigantic and multiplayer games are awesome. I think its 15$ in the psn store.

[The Adventurer]

It's not just you. Plus beat 'em ups weren't as good after that either, it's why I still focus mainly on games from the 90's or earlier.

Adventure games were also a casualty of the 3D revolution.



Though the advent of HD 2D graphics has done a little to start righting that ship I think. Beat-em-ups too. And actually Platformers for that matter. But pretty much always by small indie teams. Which sucks.

[Atarileaf]

Adventure games were also a casualty of the 3D revolution.



Man I miss lucasarts in its heyday. Some of the best adventure games ever made. Now the genre hardly exists anymore. All anyone wants is a goddamn gunsight on a screen anymore. FPS can suck it and die the horrible violent death they love to portray on screen.

[Tanooki]

Considering the board no wonder we have agreement on the losses of platformers, zelda like, final fight style stuff, and even platformer arcade/adventure style junk too like Strider on NES. I think the best platform anymore if you want real copies of your games probably is Nintendo and 3DS, affordable pricing and solid offerings but more could be done. The thing is some of the old 2D era big boys are suffering because of their bad business models and to save a buck anywhere we get stuck having it shoveled on download only services which I guess is better than nothing, but in time it will be a non-recoverable/usable loss which is sad. A real version you can use and use as long as your hardware exists or if you can buy another if it breaks, downloads are just rentals and it seems the stuff we like has been relegated greatly to rental status.

[Bojay1997]

I'm not following the OP, are you saying there is a lack of platformers on modern consoles? Are you just talking about 2D platformers? There are a ton of platformers on the PS3 and XBox 360, as well as PSN and XBL Arcade, many on the Wii and WiiU and a ton on handhelds. In fact, Sony has quite a few in the pipeline on Vita and PS3 including Tearaway, Ratchet and Clank Into the Nexus, Puppeteer, etc...Nintendo certainly has quite a few on the way for the WiiU including a new Donkey Kong Country game and Super Mario 3D. Frankly, there are more current and future release platformers this generation than I could ever get around to playing. That doesn't even take into account indie PC games, smartphone games and custom stuff made in Little Big Planet and Little Big Planet 2.

[treismac]

Personally, I think platformers have been in decline ever since gaming went 3D.


It's not just you. Plus beat 'em ups weren't as good after that either, it's why I still focus mainly on games from the 90's or earlier.

3D- with but a few exceptionally wonderful games- killed all that made video games special to me. Something about roaming about in a 3D environments across game after game after became very, very boring to me over time.


All anyone wants is a goddamn gunsight on a screen anymore. FPS can suck it and die the horrible violent death they love to portray on screen.

Here, here!!

[JSoup]

They already did that on ps3, check out Castlevania Harmony of Despair. Its 2D, graphics just like SOTN, each level is gigantic and multiplayer games are awesome. I think its 15$ in the psn store.

It's also on the 360.
It's also a horrible game.

[FFStudios]

The Xbone is going to be a First Person Shooter Simulator, I can almost guarantee it. I don't have too much hope for PS4 either, but their library of PSN games blows XBL's library out of the water.

[bb_hood]

It's also on the 360.
It's also a horrible game.

I think its pretty good, it is VERY hard starting without multiple players though.

[Niku-Sama]

rayman legacy?

meh....

[Aussie2B]

I should clarify my previous post. I think platformers have been in decline in terms of representation since 3D gaming began, not that the quality has declined from going 3D. I love me a good 3D platformer, every bit as much as a good 2D platformer. I just wish there were more of them. There's also the fact that the definition of "platformer" has only gotten looser and looser with 3D games. It seems like the early 3D platformers got it, keeping a large part of the focus on pulling off tricky jumps from platform to platform, like in the Bowser stage obstacle courses in Super Mario 64, but when it got applied to stuff like Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong 64, Jak & Daxter, and Ratchet & Clank, I think people forgot about the "platform" part in "platformer". Far too many so-called 3D "platformers" are more like Zelda-style adventure games than true platformers, seeing as the terrain is pretty flat and the games are more focused on exploring and finding collectables.

[Tanooki]

3D- with but a few exceptionally wonderful games- killed all that made video games special to me. Something about roaming about in a 3D environments across game after game after became very, very boring to me over time.



Here, here!!

Same here but equally so the camera in almost every last 3d platformer ranged from sketchy to crap. So, I equally so didn't enjoy fighting the camera as much as the intended challenge of the game too. You don't have to fight super mario bros 3 on how it puts the screen as you run through a stage.