Platform game
Platform games were a very popular genre of video games from the early 1980s to the mid 1990s, now all but forgotten by the majority of gamers and developers. Games like Tomb Raider may be seen as modern versions of platform games, and many of the old platformer franchises live on in 3D form.Tradtionally, the platform game usually scrolls right to left, with the playable character viewed from a side angle. The character climbs up and down ladders or jumps from platform to platform, fighting enemies, and often has the ability to gain powers or weapons. Later on, the term came to describe games where jumping on platforms was the main gameplay focus, as opposed to shooting being the main gameplay focus. These include games like Super Mario Brothers and Donkey Kong Country.
Chronology of significant platform games
- Space Panic (Universal, 1980)
- Donkey Kong (Nintendo, 1981) - first game featuring Mario
- Pitfall (Activision, 1982)
- Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo, 1985)
- Mega Man (RockMan) (Nintendo, 1987)
- Haunted Castle (Konami, 1988) - predecessor of the Castlevania series
- Super Mario 3 (Nintendo, 1990) - highest grossing console game before Pokemon
- Commander Keen (id Software, 1990) - first major PC platformer
- Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega, 1991)
- Mario 64 (Nintendo, 1996)
- Commander Keen series
- Donkey Kong Country series
- Kid Icarus
- Metroid
- MegaMan (RockMan) series
- New Zealand Story
- Prince of Persia
- Sonic the Hedgehog series
- Super Mario Brothers series
- Castlevania series
- Captain Claw
- Contra/Probotector series
- Crash Bandicoot series
- Dig Dug
- Donkey Kong
- Jak and Daxter
- Kirby series
- Ghouls 'n Ghosts series
- Lionheart
- Lode Runner
- Metroid series
- Mega Man (RockMan) series
- Ratchet and Clank
- Rayman series
- Sonic the Hedgehog series
- Super Mario Brothers series
- Wario Land series
