Retro Gamer issue 37...top 25 platformers...no Miner 2049er at all

[tom]

As voted for by UK readers. Not actually a bad list of top 25, but omitting Miner 2049er is just a serious crime. Million selling game, one of the first cross-licensed console/computer games. But truthful, not many Brits knew of Miner 2049er, except Matthew Smith's Manic Miner, which he personally said, was a rip-off of Miner 2049er.

Here you go:

25...Castle of Illusion
24...New Zealand Story
23...SMB
22...Tomb Raider
21...Pitfall!
20...Monty on the Run
19...Super Castlevania IV
18...Bruce Lee
17...Super Ghouls & Ghosts
16...Banjo Kazooie
15...Flashback
14...Castlevania Symphony of the Night
13...Sonic
12...Impossible Mission
11...Yoshis Island
10...Rainbow Islands
09...Prince of Persia
08...Chuckie Egg
07...Bubble Bobble
06...Jet Set Willy
05...Sonic 2
04...Super Mario 64
03...Super Mario Bros 3
02...Manic Miner
01...Super Mario World

[FantasiaWHT]

Wow, just the one Sonic game! Kinda sad And it's ranked below Rainbow Islands, ouch

[josekortez]

I'm looking forward to that issue, however, it won't hit newsstands here in the States unless next month.

[Kid Ice]

While Miner 2049er would certainly make my top 10, I'm not surprised they left it out. It's often forgotten about for some reason.

Tomb Raider a platformer?

[Snapple]

Wow, they actually included Castle of Illusion. Props for that.

[josekortez]

They let their readers decide, which is why there might be certain games on there that some people wouldn't choose. I remember reading in issue 35 where they said they weren't going to limit the idea of what a "platformer" is to just 2D or 3D, so maybe adventure games counted too.

[Nebagram]

Wow, just the one Sonic game! Kinda sad And it's ranked below Rainbow Islands, ouch

Number 2 was also on there in 5th, mate. Bit disappointed that Sonic 3 was left out- it & S&K has always been my favourite of the series- but overall it's a pretty solid list.

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

I can't really see any reason for more than one 2D Sonic game on a list like this. Sonic Team changed so little in each new game that they're all more or less the same game when it comes down to it. Sonic Chaos and Sonic Triple Trouble on the 8-bits were the only ones that really broke the mold a bit (and were better for it in my opinion).

It's also an international crime to rank the original Super Mario Bros. at #23 behind pretty much everything else including...Monty On The Run (?) and Bruce Lee (?!).

The list is also kind of short on the great mid-'90s mascot platformers like Ristar and Rocket Knight Adventures. Certainly a Kirby game belongs on any list of great platformers, too.

And while I agree it's nice to see Castle Of Illusion made the list, I think there's even better Disney-based platformers out there, like World Of Illusion or Mickey Mania and also some of the movie licensed ones like Aladdin and the Lion King.

The list kind of seems like a weird mix of obscure computer platformers (which may not have been so obscure in the U.K.) and pack-in and other million-selling console games.


...word is bondage...

[cyberfluxor]

Pretty decent list, don't agree with all the Mario games clustered at the top though.

[Mayhem]

It was a poll taken over a number of UK based retro forums (including the RG forum itself, GamesTM and NTSC-UK)... must admit there were a few surprises and a few non-surprises...

[Melf]

I'm glad to see Castle of Illusion included, but Super Mario World over Mario 3? Mario 3 was leagues better.

[tom]

coming to think of it,
Donkey Kong and Mario Bros should have been included as well.

[Ackman]

WHAT NO DONKEY KONG COUNTRY!? 1 or 2 THIS LIST is blasphemy, feh.

[Kevincal]

I think this list would be in a VASTLY different order if the polls were taken in the U.S... For instance...SMB...23rd?!?!? Are you KIDDING me!? lol Sonic 13th? Everyone knows this and Mario are the greatest platformers of all time and really there is no arguing that...is there? Yoshi's Island most def. should be in the top 5 too... And lastly, Mario 3 and Mario World need to be swapped around! Mario 3 is just such a freaking incredible game.

[Push Upstairs]

I think SMW being listed before "Mario 3" instantly nullifies that list.

[FantasiaWHT]

Why all the strong passion for SM3 > SMW? I've never encountered that before, at least not in such concentrated form. To all of you, what makes 3 better than World?

[tom]

3 was new, exciting, groundbreaking even.
world was just a re-hash of that, even the book Game Over states this.

[Push Upstairs]

What Tom said.

[Mayhem]

I still prefer SMW though...

[diskoboy]

Retro Gamer lost all credibility, to me, when I read their article on the Sega Saturn a month or two ago, and they listed the best games for the system.

They said a bunch of other craptacular Saturn games were better than Panzer Dragoon Saga.

PDS was waaaaaaaaaaaaay down on the list.

Now back to the topic at hand: Donkey Kong, Metroid, Rayman 1 or 2, Zillion 1, or Jet Set/Grind Radio aren't on that list?? BAH!!!

Partial credit for putting Impossible Mission so high on the list. But I don't think it's better than SotN.