Genesis Chiki Chiki Boys is excellent Capcom platforming fun. Even if it is a little on the easy side, the game really pushes you to do the no-miss clear, because you just cannot buy the best weapon/armor upgrades that makes the end of the game extremely manageable if not trivial.
I always love the whole Capcom shop thing they have in their early games (e.g. Black Tiger, Chiki Chiki, Forgotten Worlds) - it's a simple addition but it adds a whole lot of enjoyment to a game. In Chiki you start out buying potions and lives just to survive (because you are not good at the game yet), but as your skill level increases you are buying exclusively the upgrades, and maybe some magic if you have cash to blow.
The game is full of hidden gold stashes, which makes jumping around slashing everything extra fun and rewarding. I don't know if I'd call it an essential platformer but it is high-quality.
I should also mention that I finally beat Marvel Land, a Namco platformer, last week. I had put it down due to other things, but I finally decided to finish it. The game really stops fucking around by the end. The platforming challenges are just positively hellish by the final worlds, requiring precise jumps, extremely narrow timing, and a solid grasp of li'l Talmit's momentum and slightly slippery movement. Speaking of which, the entire last world is an ice stage, making things even worse!
The abundance of warp zones makes for a bizarrely disorienting experience. You can feasibly skip half the game, though if you don't beat each world's boss, you are at a big disadvantage when you fight the final boss, King Mole. The warp zones are everywhere, and some are invisible, waiting to reward an intrepid explore, or punish a foolish player for jumping where he shouldn't have. As was mentioned over a year ago, one such warp is in the final level, warping back to the beginning of the game! Luckily, if you still have the high-jump powers, you can manage to warp right back without a fuss, but it causes a momentary skip of a heartbeat and an "oh fuck!
" by the player.
I know how you feel.
