Aztec and Conan were great platformers back on the old Apple \\ computers.

Not sure, but I started playing Escape Goat the other night and enjoyed it quite a bit. Not really into platformers per se, but I do play them on occasion. Giana Sisters is nice too.

Platformers must do something right or why would 7 out of 20 of the bestselling games worldwide be platformers?

I could be wrong, but wasn't the original Prince of Persia (1989) considered a platformer? Otherwise, what genre would it fall into?

You know what my dad says about RPGs? "I hate those games where you have those characters following you around, and when there's a fight, you just sit and watch some numbers go up. Ooh, ten damage! What's the point? You're not even playing anything."

For that matter, why would I want to manage a fast food restaurant, or plant some flowers, or click on men's faces? You can reduce any genre to a mindless embarassment.

The platformer is a deceptively broad genre. You have your basic jump-and-run or collectathon platformers (Mario), your puzzle platformers (The Lost Vikings), your exploratory unlock-based platformers (Metroid), your combat platformers (Contra), and so on, and they all play differently, even within subtype. Take half a step back and look at platformers' cousins such as scrolling shooters and beat-em-ups, and it gets even more varied.

Fast forward in time a bit. Tomb Raider IS a platformer, descended from Prince of Persia. Devil May Cry is descended from brawlers like Final Fight. Duke Nukem Forever is less of a shooter than Duke Nukem II, a platformer. During the 32-bit and 64-bit console eras, developers spent a ton of time and effort trying (and usually failing) to bring classic 2D platforming gameplay into 3D space. Eventually they gave up.

In general, though, a good platformer, in my opinion, will create technical and demanding gameplay from simple, responsive controls and tight level design with minimal scripting. For bonus points, throw in some badass boss fights. Those are solid design goals for any action game, I'd say.

By the way, the phrase "Nintendo hard" exists for a reason. Many of those classic console platformers are hard as nails compared to the marshmallow shooters we get today.

I'm someone who barely plays anything that isn't an RPG or FPS in some form, but even I know the PC is about all genres and all control methods meshed together, to the user's preference.

It's what makes our platform awesome.

'Someone never play "I wanna be the guy" and "Braid"

You make it sound like it's a bad thing. I'll gladly take some more platformers, as long as they're good -- And most of the ones you listed happen to be excellent.

Currently addicted to Spelunky, in case the icon didn't give it away, and I also started playing Trine for the first time.

Platformers are easy to make and cheap to produce for.

Is "well-balanced level of challenge" another way of saying "Prepare to die. A lot."? :D

Actually, I mostly wanted to thank you for mentioning Rogue Legacy, because I haven't really heard of it before and it looks really fun. And my "shopping list" keeps growing... ;)

Good point, what's the deal with Mario being such a successful brand? One might think after 30 years of jumping around with the same onedimensional character, gaming society moves on?

I personally love platformers but I usually just don´t care about Mario titles. Yeah, I played Super Mario Bros 1, 2 & 3 back in the day, but they didn´t amaze me that much and I think I haven´t even completed any of them. There´s something about them I just don´t like. On the other side, I loved both Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy. Those two titles are all about 3D platforming exploration. You have a somehow big level with tons of things to do, and you must explore the entire level to get everything. I would say too that Super Mario 64 has more in common with Tomb Raider gameplay wise than Super Mario Bros: It´s all about controlling all your different jumps and other movements to reach a part of the level.

Personally, it´s not about the character, the story, or even the graphics. A good platformer needs good gameplay: You should be able to play right away without any kind of tutorial or manual, but you will need to know the main engine like your own hand if you want to master it. In that matter, they are like shmups: Everybody can move around a screen a shoot from the first play, but few will master the game totally.

And I´m not even talking about bosses. If there´s a genre where bosses shine is this one. There are even some platformers (like Dynamite Headdy), where there are more bosses than actual stages. A good boss fight is one of the most awesome experiences in videogames.

BTW, I´m not talking about generic platformers which are just Mario clones with a jump, maybe a run button, and meh level designs, I´m talking about the good ones. I know there´s plenty of bad platformers too out there, just like in any other genre.

hey shut the fuck up

Platformers are kind of hit or miss for me. They tend to be a bit repetitive or, worse, only possessing one solution per level. Not all of them though. And every genre has its awesome games and terrible games. Currently I am enjoying the everloving life out of Trine II and Mark of the Ninja. Both platformers at their core, yet brilliantly done with tight controls and truly challenging puzzles with multiple solutions. Or at least, I think so. :D

I think it is because they are pretty easy to make, compared to many other types of games. Most gaming legends seem to have started by making a 2D platformer, so you are now just seeing the first games of future legends. :)

E.g., the makers of Gears of War series started their career with games like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F04Cl4sxy0o

And the makers of Rage started with something like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyTDI2ATb6k

That said, I still enjoy many of the modern platformers, e.g. LIMBO, Giana Sisters, Trine 1-2 etc. I don't feel they are an obsolete genre any more than e.g. pinball games are.