Good PC platformers? (Single Player)

[Mischief Maker]

Volgarr the Viking has whetted my appetite for platformers on the PC and I'm looking for a good one (mechanics-wise) to sink my teeth into for the next couple months.

Rayman Origins seems to be the default choice, but are there any diamond-in-the-rough indie games that I'd enjoy more? Dustforce? Explodemon? Giana Sisters? Something else?

[lilmanjs]

Try games from Nifflas. He has a good mix of hard and not so hard games.

[Pteriforever]

How about An Untitled Story? It's really good imo

[Obiwanshinobi]

In 3D I liked Rayman 2: The Great Escape and I-Ninja best. Apparently there is a PC port of Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg (haven't played any version yet). If ball-rolling games count, there's Ballmania and more (Switchball uses PhysX).

[Ruldra]

Maldita Castilla

[brentsg]

Valdis Story looks awesome on Steam but haven't played it yet.

Not sure it's exactly the kind of game you're looking for..

[Ghegs]

Oniken
Noitu Love 2: Devolution

[Jonathan Ingram]

La Mulana

[null1024]

Noitu Love 2: Devolution

I looked at the trailer and got the biggest Treasure vibe out of that.

[Edmond Dantes]

Duke Nukem 1 and 2
the entire Commander Keen series
Jill of the Jungle
Xargon
supposedly Jazz Jackrabbit is good

Not sure about 3D platformers since I don't play them often.

[hecheff]

If you don't mind dying too much (but with carried-over stats for each iteration), try out the indie-game Rogue Legacy.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Rosenkreuzstilette is a solid doujin Megaman-clone.

MegaMari's also fun too, Touhou-themed.

Not strictly a platformer, but Ikachan (same creator as Cave Story) is fun to play, even if it's a short game.

[Ed Oscuro]

I love Xargon, but it's average at best. Do like the sense of exploration and adventure but it only plays so well.

Ditto for pretty much any game I've played that I can think of, like Bio Menace. Probably true also of Alien Carnage (Halloween Harry) and Monster Bash (Graveyard). I was also disappointed to discover recently that Dark Castle (the nostalgic Mac favorite) really isn't very playable.

[replayme]

Super Meat Boy. It's incredibly cheap during Steam sales.

I'd recommend Braid too, as well as Fez. Mark of the Ninja is also meant to be a very good 2D stealth platforming game.

Guacamelee has an interesting art direction. I don't like the style, but it's nicely animated, and has gotten really good reviews in the past.

Everyone raves about Spelunky, but I don't see the appeal personally.

Regarding 3D games? Rayman 2 (although incredibly linear) is superb. Still holds up well today. You can pick it up pretty cheaply on Gog.com.

[null1024]

Not strictly a platformer, but Ikachan (same creator as Cave Story) is fun to play, even if it's a short game.

Ikachan is depressingly short but pretty nice. I still dunno how that got a 3DS eShop port, it's way too short.
Very proto-Cave Story feel to it.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Ikachan is depressingly short but pretty nice. I still dunno how that got a 3DS eShop port, it's way too short.
Very proto-Cave Story feel to it.

Did they add any extra content to the game or is it basically a straight-up port? It's really a shame, it feels like it's got so much more potential to have more interesting areas to explore, but it's short enough that it felt more like a teaser! But maybe it's supposed to be a short 'n sweet game.

[Mischief Maker]

I wish the Trine games weren't so goddamn boring, they're so PRETTY!

[BrianC]

Ikachan is depressingly short but pretty nice. I still dunno how that got a 3DS eShop port, it's way too short.
Very proto-Cave Story feel to it.

Did they add any extra content to the game or is it basically a straight-up port? It's really a shame, it feels like it's got so much more potential to have more interesting areas to explore, but it's short enough that it felt more like a teaser! But maybe it's supposed to be a short 'n sweet game.

Form what I heard and saw in videos, it's a mostly straight up port. It looks like a couple small corridors may have been added, but the game is still extremely short.

[Zaarock]

La Mulana

Seconding this.

I wasn't really into the riddle aspect that much but the solid level design and mechanics easily made up for it. Some of the boss fights are also very impressive IMO.

A hard game to get started in but once you do it's very rewarding (sort of like Demon's Souls, I wonder why La Mulana is so unpopular regardless)

[Ruldra]

I wonder why La Mulana is so unpopular

Probably because the puzzles are so goddamn obscure and you end up having no idea what to do next.

I played it for about 2-3 months, got REALLY far (killed 5 guardians IIRC), but gave up in frustration. I'd get stuck, wander around for a few days until I accidentally find a solution to one puzzle, progress a bit and then get stuck again. The secret rooms in particular were pissing me off to no end, they hold items required to progress and you need to whip every wall in the game to find them. The obscure cartridge combinations you needed to find on your own were another can of worms.

I wonder how many players legitimately made it to the end without using a guide.

[evil_ash_xero]

You have to use a guide. That's it's only real shortcoming. If they would have toned down on that, it would probably be a much more popular(and better) game.

I beat it, but I used a guide religiously, as my riddle solving skills are...not my gaming strength.

[Zaarock]

I wonder why La Mulana is so unpopular

Probably because the puzzles are so goddamn obscure and you end up having no idea what to do next.

I played it for about 2-3 months, got REALLY far (killed 5 guardians IIRC), but gave up in frustration. I'd get stuck, wander around for a few days until I accidentally find a solution to one puzzle, progress a bit and then get stuck again. The secret rooms in particular were pissing me off to no end, they hold items required to progress and you need to whip every wall in the game to find them. The obscure cartridge combinations you needed to find on your own were another can of worms.

I wonder how many players legitimately made it to the end without using a guide.

Yeah, I agree with that. I started using a guide for the puzzles around the middle of the game since I was getting very frustrated in the same way.

They intend for the sequel (which is coming out this year?) to have less obscure puzzles which sounds nice.

In my second playthrough I started to realize that there are a good amount of fairly direct hints for almost every puzzle spread around the world in the text tablets, but the locations are so random and the world so huge that it's unlikely that you'll find them unless you keep backtracking to places at random (which isn't very fun)

[Ruldra]

In my second playthrough I started to realize that there are a good amount of fairly direct hints for almost every puzzle spread around the world in the text tablets, but the locations are so random and the world so huge that it's unlikely that you'll find them unless you keep backtracking to places at random (which isn't very fun)

Not only that, but the hints themselves are so obscure you only understand what they mean AFTER you complete the puzzle.

[soprano1]

How about An Untitled Story? It's really good imo

Tried this one, got an error: "Failed to load game data. File seems corrupted"

[Vexorg]

Some of the ones I've played recently:

- Dust: An Elysian Tail -- I haven't played it much, but it reminds me a lot of the various Vanillaware games in a good way.

- Terraria: More of a sandbox type game (originally something of a 2D Minecraft clone) that's evolved into a reasonably decent action game. This one can also be had cheap off of the various Steam sales, and also has console and mobile releases.

- Some of the various platformers made by Hamumu (http://hamumu.com/game.php?sec=FREE) are decent little free games. Robot Wants Kitty is a good one to start with, and there are several others in that series.

[Mischief Maker]

- Dust: An Elysian Tail -- I haven't played it much, but it reminds me a lot of the various Vanillaware games in a good way.

No no no! Don't encourage anyone to waste their money on this game!

PROS:

- Pretty sprites
- Pretty music
- Pretty particles

CONS:

- Combat system is completely broken. You can attempt to wade into the sea of enemies, utilizing parries and throws strategically, OR you can have your fairy shoot a magic missile and do an M. Bison aerial spin dash which instantly conjures hundreds of projectiles that wipe out the enemy group and drive your combo meter hundreds of hits higher than you could by fighting normally.

- The RPG system is completely broken. You can equip items with damage MULTIPLIERS that stack, allowing you to wipe out every screen of enemies in an instant.

- I goddamn hate games that dish out violence on an invisible rail, rewarding me with point and XP bonuses for beating up the enemies mercilessly, then when I kill the first boss the game does an about face and says, "YOU MONSTER! ALL THOSE HUNDREDS OF ENEMIES YOU JUST KILLED HAD A MOTHER! DID YOU ENJOY KILLING THEM, YOU SICK FUCK?!!" Go to Hell, videogame, you're not going to broaden my horizons with this furry bullshit.

I hope Valdis Story fares better.

[Ed Oscuro]

furry bullshit

Fucking knew it