Best Platform Games (2D Gameplay only) For Each System

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 5:13 pm

Yeah, everybody who loves Castleroids should enjoy MMZX a lot.

Ayanami · Post by **Ayanami** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 1:31 am

Personal Favs

NES - Mega Man 2, Mega Man 3, Ninja Gaiden, Kirby's Adventure and Mario Bros 3
Genesis - Sonic 2, Alisia Dragoon, Castlevania Bloodlines and Shinobi 3
SNES - All of the Mega Man Xs. Both Castlevanias. Super Mario World, Super Metroid
PSX - Castlevania SotN
Saturn - Astal

I can't think of any thing else. Super Metroid is probably my favorite platformer all together.

Did any one play Mega Man Network Transmission. The platformer Mega Man on GameCube? How was that game?

Kiken · Post by **Kiken** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 3:11 am

Danny mentioned Klonoa 2, so I'll add the original Klonoa (風のクロノア) for PS1. It uses pre-rendered sprites over polygonal backgrounds.

zero.otaku · Post by **zero.otaku** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 4:53 am

Ceph wrote:Today I got a real gem: The Adventures of Lomax for PS1. Beautiful hand-drawn multi-layer parallax 2D graphics with some zoom effects, by good ol' Psygnosis of Amiga fame.
Next to Symphony of the Night this is probably the best looking PS1 platformer, and it plays very well, too! Lomax requires both reflexes and strategy, and with 40 levels of increasing difficulty it provides a long challenge. Luckily there is a password function.

If you like platformers, you need this game.

I lucked out and found this in amazing condition at a Game Stop a few years back after ogling Game Fan screen shots of it for what seemed like an age. I agree that it's quite well done, the visuals are indeed something to behold - very similar in style to Flink for Sega CD which I think was developed by the same people.

RoninBuddha · Post by **RoninBuddha** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 6:15 am

i'd give a call out to Umihara Kawase too..

esp. UHK Shun for the PS1,. simple yet brilliant..

frustrating too

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 10:17 pm

I'll post some of my favorites for each system:

Genesis: Sonic 1, Sonic 2, Sonic 3/Knuckles, Ristar, Revenge of Shinobi, Shinobi 3, Mega Turrican, Strider, Ghouls 'n Ghosts, Dynamite Headdy, Aladdin, Contra Hard Corps

SNES: Yoshi's Island, Super Mario All-Stars, Super Mario World, Super Ghouls 'N Ghosts, Demon's Crest, Super Castlevania IV, Goemon 2, Goemon 4, Mega Man X, Contra III

DS: Kirby Canvas Curse, Sonic Rush, New Super Mario Bros, Yoshi's Island 2, Castlevania Portrait of Ruin

GCN: Viewtiful Joe

GB b/w: Donkey Kong, Wario Land, Wario Land II, Super Mario Land, Super Mario Land 2, Castlevania II:Belmont's Revenge, Mega Man: Dr. Wily's Revenge, Mega Man IV, Mega Man V, Bionic Commando

GBC: Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, Wario Land 3, Rayman, Bionic Commando

N64: Goemon's Great Adventure, Mischief Makers

Game Gear: Tails' Adventure, Sonics (aside from Sonic Blast), GG Shinobi II: The Silent Fury, Ristar

GBA: Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World (IMO, the addition of Luigi and how the game keeps track of the Yoshi coins add to the game), Wario Land 4, Castlevania Circle of the Moon, Castlevania Aria of Sorrow, Stafi 2, Astro Boy, Mega Man Zero, Mega Man Zero 3.

NES: Castlevania 1-3, Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros 2, Super Mario Bros 3, Bionic Commando, Rygar, Ninja Gaiden 1-2, Contra, Batman, Ghosts 'n Goblins, Bubble Bobble, Goonies, Goonies 2

PS1: Castlevania Symphony of the Night, Rayman, Metal Slug X

NeoGeo: Metal Slug 1, Metal Slug 2, Metal Slug X, Metal Slug 3, Top Hunter

2600: Pitfall, Pitfall 2, Joust, H.E.R.O., Keystone Kapers

Arcade: Black Tiger, Magic Sword, Vs. Super Mario Bros, Snow Bros, Toki, Joust, Major Havoc, Contra, Vs. Goonies, Donkey Kong, Bubble Bobble, Parasol Stars, Rolling Thunder, Quartet, various others.

Koa Zo · Post by **Koa Zo** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 5:07 am

GG - Zenki

Ceph · Post by **Ceph** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 11:21 pm

Yet another recommendation: A very late Mega Drive game, Pulseman, from 1994. Why Sega let this one stay in Japan is beyond me, it's fantastic.

http://www.mobygames.com/game/genesis/p ... creenshots

EDIT: I just noticed that The Coop listed Pulseman. Anyway, great game - deserves to be mentioned twice.

Imhotep · Post by **Imhotep** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 2:10 am

Super Mario Bros. 3 is the best in my opinion.

Has Kitchen Panic been mentioned? It's on PS1, and it's my favourite post-16-Bit platform game.

junkeR · Post by **junkeR** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 2:21 am

I highly recommend Mischief Makers on the N64.

It was a real refreshing change in most platformers I've played. And, another plus is that Treasure made it!

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 12:16 pm

I've been playing some Pulseman... it is very nice, but I find it a bit difficult. Maybe I just don't get the hang of it.

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 3:40 pm

Found Pulseman easy and far too repetitive (too many identical looking levels in a stage) myself. Reminded me of Zool in fact with its super-colorful yet super-boring level design (except Pulseman actually has fluid controls). But whatever floats your boat.

Kaiser · Post by **Kaiser** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 6:39 am

I'll recommend some now then later

PSX: Castlevania: SOTN the insta winner in 2D, Klonoa

PS2: Klonoa 2, Contra: Shattered soldier

GBA: Megaman zero series, Sonic advance series both series are quite nice

J-Manic · Post by **J-Manic** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 7:51 am

just a few of my personal favorites:

Mega Turrican (Genesis)
Shinobi III (Genesis)
Super Turrican (SNES)
Super Turrican II (SNES)
Castlevania: SOTN (Playstation)
Castlevania Chronicles (Playstation)
Strider 2 (Playstation)
Mega Man X4 (Playstation)
Rayman 2 (Dreamcast)
Sonic Adventure (Dreamcast)

Frederik · Post by **Frederik** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 5:58 pm

Ceph wrote:Astro Boy for GBA deserves a mention in this thread. Played it for the first time yesterday. If you own a Gameboy Advance/DS you owe it to yourself to buy this right now; you can currently get it new for ~12 USD.

Actually, it even has some sort of combo system - chain together different attacks (punch, punch, kick, laser, etc) and your score gets multiplied, and I remember trying to score attack some parts of the game. And even though Gunstar Super Heroes was a total pushover and way too short, I hope that Treasure will produce a platformer for the DS.

The fact that a lot of platformers have a score bar provides pretty interesting score challenges. "Uuuh boy! Today I broke the WR score in Super Mario World!"

BrianC · Post by **BrianC** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 6:55 am

FrederikJurk wrote:
Ceph wrote:Astro Boy for GBA deserves a mention in this thread. Played it for the first time yesterday. If you own a Gameboy Advance/DS you owe it to yourself to buy this right now; you can currently get it new for ~12 USD.
Actually, it even has some sort of combo system - chain together different attacks (punch, punch, kick, laser, etc) and your score gets multiplied, and I remember trying to score attack some parts of the game. And even though Gunstar Super Heroes was a total pushover and way too short, I hope that Treasure will produce a platformer for the DS.

I didn't mind the shortness of GSH at all. What did bother me was how some sections were a bit uneven and how too much of the game consists of levels that pay homage to the original Gunstar. Most of the grunts are a pushover and many bosses were too easy, even on hard, but some parts are challenging (though a certain part was challenging for the wrong reasons), though no where near the level of Astro Boy. I liked GSH, but I felt that it should have been more fresh. If the game was the same size, but had more challenging and more unique levels (and no crappy helicopter level), I would have liked it much better.

That's another good point you made about Astro Boy. That combo system along with the ability to knock enemies into other enemies definitely adds some depth to it.

I'm hoping that Treasure will make a platform game for the DS too, though Bleach DS 2nd sounds pretty interesting.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Fri Feb 23, 2007 10:17 am

Started playing Pulseman again. I guess you're not really supposed to do all that fancy shmancy shit. Makes the game a lot easier, yes. Still enjoyable.

Ceph · Post by **Ceph** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 4:57 pm

When looking for games with Strider-like gameplay, I discovered Run Saber for SNES (by Atlus). It's actually not half bad, way better than that awful Strider Returns by U.S. Gold. Give it a try If you're in need of a Strider-fix, you may like it.

Ceph · Post by **Ceph** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 5:14 pm

Since it was recommended a few times in this thread I got Astal today. Very good looking indeed, though your sprite is a little large. I'll have to play it some more later.

Rob wrote: Decapattack is underrated for Genesis.

http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.off ... Id=3158520

Decap Attack is actually the localized (or should I say bastardized) version of "Magical Hat", which features different graphics/sprites/levels and is supposedly a harder game. I only have Magical Hat and I can confirm its difficulty. I wonder which game is actually better? Maybe I'll get a copy of Decap Attack next.

Post by **Shatterhand** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 5:43 pm

I know it's a late reply.

But Herr Schatten... Fire & Ice is a little rare here. I've seen it being sold in stores a long time ago, but at that time I had no idea it was a Brazil only release. I bet most people who own the game today are hardcore SMS collectors who KNOW its value. There are a lot of SMS and Mega-Drive collectors here, considering the popularity of both systems (I think there's no other country where the SMS was more popular than here...)

I don't feel like listing all my fav platform games, as most people won't care enough to play them if they don't know it, or will reply with a "Yeah, that was awesome" if they had played it.

But I want to add: Arabian Nights on Amiga was amazing. From the same creators of the also great Soccer Kid. Krisalis should had done more platform games instead or re-releasing Manchester United games every year, they obviously knew how to good ones.

And instead of playing Mega Turrican ,play Turrican 3 on Amiga.. the music sounds SOOO MUCH better.

Lomax begun its development as a sequel to Flink... that's why they look so similar

And.. oohh... Skullmonkeys on PS1. This is a very fun game,...

Ceph · Post by **Ceph** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 5:54 pm

Fire & Ice is probably better on Amiga anyway.

Concerning Mega Turrican, the Amiga game is actually inferior (it was a less than perfect port of the MD game). Of course the music is fantastic on Amiga and way superior (as usual).

Shatterhand wrote: I don't feel like listing all my fav platform games, as most people won't care enough to play them

I'd be very interested in learning about good platform games I don't know about, and I'd surely check them out if I got the chance. Feel free to list all your favorites

Post by **Shatterhand** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 6:09 pm

Ceph wrote:Fire & Ice is probably better on Amiga anyway.

Concerning Mega Turrican, the Amiga game is actually inferior (it was a less than perfect port of the MD game). Of course the music is fantastic on Amiga and way superior (as usual).

Shatterhand wrote: I don't feel like listing all my fav platform games, as most people won't care enough to play them
I'd be very interested in learning about good platform games I don't know about, and I'd surely check them out if I got the chance. Feel free to list all your favorites

I'll do it at a later point, now I am at work

From what I know, athough the MD version of Turrican 3 was released first, the Amiga version was developed first... there was info regarding this on Factor 5's page , maybe it's still there.

And why the MD version is superior? The only advantage I can think is that the MD version plays on full-screen and score info and stuff is on top of the screen, while the Amiga version has a "panel" for all the info, reducing the size of the main screen. No big thing IMO, and I'd prefer better music than "full-screen"

PaCrappa · Post by **PaCrappa** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 6:57 pm

I think most of my faves have been mentioned. If not they probably will be soon enough.

Magical Hat is better than Decapattack. It's been a very long time now but I have both and very dutifully gave them a side by side comparison. The whites-only yankee rehash doesn't stack up but isn't a horrible game in itself.

Astal is quite possibly the most overrated/worst game ever. It's as if we found the greatest painter on Earth, gave him the best paints and canvas money could buy and he comes back with an exquisitely detailed painting of a donkey eating a dog turd. Oh it's exquisite and one would certainly wonder how much time and effort went into its creation but it's still just a donkey eating a dog turd. To be specific, all those fancy graphics still look stupid because the design aesthetic is just plain poor and misguided. The gameplay would be weak even if the controls weren't suspect. But they are so it's extra weak. This is one of those turds that the same cast and crew of Sega heads will point to in any PS1 vs Mighty Saturn themed argument like it proves the Saturn is the bestest ever at 2D. Meanwhile games with fairly simple graphics like Magical Hat on the Mega Drive provide ten times the fun.

Pa

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 9:15 pm

Ceph wrote:I wonder which game is actually better? Maybe I'll get a copy of Decap Attack next.

I think Decapattack is better. Possible reason: I seem to recall the controls feeling more like the supremely clunky Master System game Psycho Fox. Decap's controls are very fast and smooth, even if the character slides around a bit. Soundtrack and graphics also preferred.

jeremycarrier · Post by **jeremycarrier** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 9:28 pm

Just want to add Donkey Kong Country 2 to this. It IS after all, the best 2d platformer EVER(Screw YI, that shit got tedious halfway through).

Koa Zo · Post by **Koa Zo** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 9:44 pm

PaCrappa wrote:Astal is quite possibly the most overrated/worst game ever. (...)
Pa

I couldn't agree more.
No matter how hard I tried to like the game I just couldn't get over how slow and plodding the pace was.

Ceph · Post by **Ceph** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 9:53 pm

Thanks for telling me this now, after I bought it.

Twiddle · Post by **Twiddle** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 9:56 pm

jeremycarrier wrote:Just want to add Donkey Kong Country 2 to this. It IS after all, the best 2d platformer EVER(Screw YI, that shit got tedious halfway through).

ahaha

ahaha

hahaha

hahaha

Rob · Post by **Rob** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 10:05 pm

Speaking of awesome SNES platformers we can't forget

.

The Coop · Post by **The Coop** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 11:22 pm

PaCrappa wrote:Astal is quite possibly the most overrated/worst game ever.

I thought that was Final Fantasy VII.