Platformers as a Genre

When going through my list of which platformers to talk about, I was astounded to realize just how many I had played. In order not to gush, I try to stick to one great example that I think exemplifies the genre. However, this was much harder than I anticipated with Platformers, as it seems just about every game from my childhood was a platformer. Some of the most notable games in history have been platformers, such as Super Mario Bros, Donkey Kong Country, Sonic the Hedgehog, Castlevania, and so on. This is because back when games were 2D, the best way to make the game world interesting was to have the player jump around in it. Like Castlevania, the first thing that comes to mind when saying a lot of these games isn’t really platformer per se, but they have enough intricate terrains that require precision jumps and clever navigation of the world that it easily settles into this genre.

This only continued into the 3D world, as developers were—and are—still making incredible games for the genre. Games like Banjo-Kazooie, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, and, well, more Mario became console staples, while new games like A Hat in Time find innovative ways to keep the genre alive. Normally this is where I’d say, “most of these games don’t count because they don’t fit into the specific definition of the genre,” but that’s just it: they still do. As basic as it sounds, a good platformer only requires the player to master the movement of their character and then reward exploration with this mastery. This can apply to many games, yet often doesn’t. You can jump in Halo or World of Warcraft, but because there isn’t a sense of mastery over these abilities, they don’t aim to be platformers.

Mastery of Movement

Because movement is the core of a platformer, giving the player interesting ways to move is paramount. In a good platformer, you often start with just jumping and running, yet add to those movements as time goes on. However, in a great platformer, you don’t need much more than that. While adding abilities to change how well the player platforms are a great way to keep the gameplay fresh, many popular titles were able to simply ramp up the difficulty of the rooms as you progress, forcing the player to get better and better with their basic jumping and running.

That isn’t to say new movements isn’t crucial to a good platformer. Even some of the oldest games of the genre have flying, swimming, and racing sections. These help to break up the gameplay, as you can't expect the player to only run and jump forever. This also comes with the fact that many platformers include a combat system. Some way to have the player fight back against enemies rather than jumping over them. Boss fights tend to just be a platforming challenge, as you need to run and jump through attacks until they are vulnerable for a simple attack. Coupling interesting combat with the player’s mastery of movement can harmonize into a brilliant game.

Reward of Exploration

What’s platforming without having a reason to platform. Sure, there’s to get to the other side, but true mastery of movement means you can get to places that others who are just playing through the game wouldn’t even think to check. Take a Megaman as an example. For the most part, the point of the game is to shoot enemies and that’s it. You do have to jump around to hit the enemies, but otherwise, you’re just shooting enemies and moving forward. However, a skilled player looking to find all the secrets can find powerups and unlockables by using their mobility to reach places an inexperienced player wouldn't even think to check.

This is crucial to a good platformer, as it gives the player a desire to master their movement. If players learn exactly how their character moves to the point that they can time a double-jump perfectly but there is nowhere for that to be useful, then there was no reason to master their movement. Getting better at headshots in a shooter makes the player feel like they are improving. If the player has no reason to improve with their mobility in a platformer, they may as well not have it.

Great Example

I feel like I’ll be betraying my childhood by only picking one, as I grew up with some great examples like Super Mario Sunshine, Yoshi’s Island, Mickey’s Circus, and even Littlebig Planet, but I think one game that does a great job at sticking to the core of platformer gameplay is Donkeykong Country 2. The combat is negligible, as you can only jump on heads or roll through them, and the movement itself has two consistent facts. Diddy is fast, Dixie can hover. With the exception of minigames and mounts, this fact never changes. It’s how you use these mechanics that have to improve. 

Every boss is a test of patience, consistently platforming to avoid danger until the player gets an opening to retaliate. Every obstacle can be overcome by running and jumping. All that changes is how the levels require the player to do so. Better yet, despite each character having different capabilities, neither are required to get through the game. However, if they want to discover everything the game as to offer, using each Kong can yield different hidden locations that only they can reach. There’s a reason this franchise is still coming out with games to this day.

Not So Great Example

Now that all the praise is out of the way for Donkey Kong, let's look at how it can be done wrong. In Donkey Kong Country Returns, the player is still given two characters that have different characteristics. The difference is, in single-player mode, those differences are not explored. The player either has Diddy alive and can jetpack or doesn’t. There is no benefit or strategy to having one vs the other, the player is just blatantly at a disadvantage. 

The other trouble is how the platforming is presented. The game is almost always rushing the player to move forward quickly, be it from single-use platforms to encroaching lava.

The game may train the player that hammers drop at a certain speed throughout the level, so the player adjusts their speed to compensate for avoiding hammers while moving quickly enough to keep ahead of the rush mechanic. Then, to really keep the player on their toes, the hammers will drop at a different rate with no different telegraph that leads to an instant-death (despite adding health to the game). Donkey Kong Country Returns becomes a consistently punishing speedrun that requires remembering exactly each threat. It isn’t mastery when it’s memorization.

Overall

Many many games can be called platformers, and many have the right to do so. Despite my reference, I wouldn't necessarily call games like Castlevania a platformer alone, as that is not the core of gameplay. Wikipedia shows at least seven subgenres that come from platformers because of how integral platforming is to other genres. Instead, a good platformer uses platforming as its gameplay and rewards the player just for getting good at that. The genre has had great improvements over the years and is only getting more popular when coupled with some of the newest famous titles. Yet it makes you wonder; how often do we really jump in our own lives?