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Classic platforming games are a gaming genre that’s been around since the early years of console gaming. The world’s most recognisable gaming mascot, Mario, hails from a long-running series of platformers. We’re willing to bet that if you’re even somewhat familiar with video games, you’ve played at least one platformer before. That’s simply how ubiquitous the genre is with gaming.
What many aren’t ready for when they boot up a platformer, however, is the gulf between different platformers and how hard it can be to pick up new ones. Newcomers to the genre struggle with challenging games and drop the genre. So, what can we do to fix this issue?
What is a Platforming Game?
Super Mario Bros kicked off platforming games, also called platformers, in 1997. The gameplay is simple: jumping from platform to platform, hence the name. Developers add challenges by having new levels with new obstacles and gimmicks for players to overcome. The whole while, the game scrolls through the level, giving players a tangible sense of achievement as they progress.
Over time, the genre has evolved, with both 2D and 3D platformers now existing. A whole slew of subgenres also exists, with such examples as Metroidvanias garnering their audiences. But, at its core, the fundamental blueprint of a platformer remains the same. Precisely control your character, moving them past obstacles to reach your destination in a game.
Today, we hope to teach all of you these fundamentals, allowing anyone to learn how platformers work. Once you’ve learned the basics of this genre, you’ll be able to piece together how to play any platformer, working through their extra quirks and mechanics without too much difficulty. By the end, with some practice and experience, you’ll hopefully have a decent mastery of these games.
Learning the Basics of Platforming with Super Mario Bros
When it comes to picking up the basics, there is no better game than Super Mario Bros. While it’s an older game, it’s also the perfect platformer. It distils the basic building blocks of the genre into a simple, easy-to-digest format. Playing Super Mario Bros. acquaints you with everything you could encounter in other games moving forward. So, let’s begin dissecting this classic.
First things first, you’ll want to acquaint yourself with your character. In this case, it’s Mario, the portly Italian plumber, a true video game icon. Here, in his first starring appearance, he’s nothing more than a bunch of pixels. Still, he’s your main character, so it’s up to you to guide him through the coming levels.
You’ll quickly realise by fiddling with your controller that Mario is quite simple to understand. Pressing left and right makes him move in both respective directions. Pressing up doesn’t make him do anything, but you’ll find that pressing the A button makes him jump. Holding B makes him run faster; with that, you’re now familiar with Mario’s basic movement.
Now that you’re well acquainted with Mario’s options, it’s time to take a look at the challenges posed by the game. These come in the form of enemies like Goombas, as well as platforms that you need to jump between. Both provide a different type of challenge, with the same solution but different approaches.
For enemies, like with anything in a platformer, you’ll want to jump over them. Instinctively, this should come to you naturally since that’s your only option around an obstacle. But, if you’re not great at it yet, you may stomp on the enemy, defeating it. Now you’re incentivised to be more precise with your jumps, which will come in handy soon.
Later in the level, once you’ve had some practice with enemies, the game then introduces bottomless pits. Falling into one of these instantly kills Mario, and that’s not good. Now, to get over these, you’ll learn to use your speed and build up momentum. Combining this with your jump, you’ll learn how to get past this obstacle. The game throws it at you a few more times, and by then, you’ll be good at it.
With these simple steps, you can now beat any obstacle the game throws at you. You see, in Super Mario Bros, every obstacle is a variation of these two problems, and the solutions are the same, but with different timing needed. Once you’ve learned these basic principles, the rest of the game is a matter of mastering them.
Learning the subtle nuances of jumping and avoiding obstacles is surprisingly all you need to understand the rest of the genre. With this, you’re now prepared to tackle every other platforming game on the planet. While they may add unfamiliar mechanics, as long as you know the core basics, you should be able to work your way through with what you have.
A Guide to Other Mechanics You May Encounter
While Mario is undoubtedly fun, many game developers quickly came to realise the limitations that come with his move set. Where Nintendo has managed to innovate by slowly adding more to its repertoire, other games introduced new mechanics, expanding the scope of what’s possible within the genre. We’ll go through some of these so that you won’t be too shell-shocked seeing them for the first time.
1. Double Jumping
Perhaps one of the most popular secondary platforming mechanics. As the name implies, the double jump is a second jump you can activate whilamidof the first jump. It’s usually a simple mechanic, giving players more precision or a safety net for jumps. In some guys, it’s intended to give the player a bit more height with their jumps.
While the double jump is common in many platformers like A Hat in Time, it has some variations. The air dash is a spin on the double jump, allowing users to do a dash in mid-air that goes in any direction. This is a key mechanic in the hit indie platformer Celeste, and is prevalent in many faster-paced platformers. In any case, any form of double jump is intuitive and easy to understand.
Some of the most iconic double jumps in gaming include Yoshi’s Flutter Jump from Yoshi’s Island, Kirby’s multiple float jumps, and the Celeste air dash we mentioned earlier. They’re all slightly different but are fundamentally double jumps, highlighting the sheer gameplay variety within the genre.
2. Superjumps
Superjumps are another self-explanatory game mechanic in that it allows you to charge a massive jump. First introduced in Super Mario Bros. 2 (also known as Doki Doki Panic), it was used to access alternate paths and challenges within levels. In the earlier days of gaming, it was a fairly popular mechanic. Nowadays, it’s less common and often a lot more straightforward in its utilisation.
Nowadays, super jumps tend to be relegated to metroidvanias, where it’s great for gating off progress to late-game areas. As a result, you can find it in popular games like Hollow Knight, Guacameleed Ori and The Blind Forest. Of course, as the originator of the mechanic, it’s also prominent in Super Mario Bros. 2, returning in some of the sequels in a neutered form.
3. Pogo Jumps
Pogo jumping tends to be more niche, but it’s been making a bit of a resurgence lately. Many games recently, namely beloved indie titles Shovel Knight and Hollow Knight, have reintroduced the mechanic to great fanfare. Pogo jumping involves using a weapon or tool to bounce off the floor, effectively creating a pogo effect.
It was first found in the original Ducktales game for NES, known for it tight-level design and great soundtrack. Since then, it’s made sparse appearances up until its recent second wind. It’y one of the more demanding mechanics in terms of skill, but it’s also a lot of fun to master and utilise in a proper playthrough.
4. Floating
Floating is a platforming mechanic that’s not necessarily popular but surprisingly prevalent. Floating mechanics can vary across different platforming games, but they generally involve granting the player character additional airtime or the ability to control their descent. Games like Shovel Knight creatively use the mechanic to create fun and tricky challenges.
Most platforming games offer a character or power-up that enables floating for brief periods. While it can be used for some extra distance, it can also be used as a safety net for more precise jumps. This mechanic originated in Super Mario Bros. 2 and has since seen multiple iterations in different games.
5. Wall Climbing / Wall Jumping
Here’s a popular one, wall climbing and wall jumping! We’ve rolled these into one because they’re fundamentally so similar. Wall jumping is the ability for your character to jump to a wall, hold onto it, and then jump off. Wall climbing is the same thing, just with continuous jumps against the same wall to propel you higher in a level.
Wall climbing and wall jumping have been in games for a long time, with the first known instance being in the game Strider by Capcom. Since then, the mechanic’s been adopted by series like Megaman X and even the Super Mario series. Of particular note is the wall jumps implementation in the Prince of Persia series, adding smooth movement and execution to create the best version of this mechanic by far.
Suggested Platforming Games for Beginners
Now that you’re more than familiar with the basics and more advanced mechanics, it’s time to expand your knowledge of platformers by playing them! Don’t worry; we’ve prepared a slew of options for you. These are all games that should be pretty easy to pick up and play, even if you haven’t fully mastered the basics. Most importantly, the games are fun, so let’s get right into it!
1. Sonic Mania
Sonic Mania is the critically acclaimed platforming game from Sega and developer Christian Whitehead of Headcannon. Released in 2017, the game looks to recapture the lost essence of what made the classic Sonic games great. As a platforming game for beginners, Sonic Mania is the best the franchise has to offer, being accessible, reasonably challenging and a ton of fun to play.
When it comes to sheer gameplay variety, Sonic Mania offers the most in terms of options. With five playable characters and a wonderful bevy of creative zones to play through, you really can’t go wrong with this title. Perhaps most importantly, it’s easily available on practically any platform. If you’re looking for a good old traditional platformer, then Sonic Mania is a great place to start.
2. Super Lucky’s Tale
Super Lucky’s Tale is less popular than some of its contemporaries on this list, which is a shame! When it comes to fun platformers, Super Lucky’s Tale practically has it all. With charmingly vibrant graphics and tight, responsive gameplay, Super Lucky’s Tale works great if you’re looking for a nice, relaxing platformer to play. The level design here isn’t too challenging, making it great for newcomers.
It’s available on most platforms, and if you have kids, this one’s great as a first platformer. We really can’t recommend it enough. The only downside to Super Lucky’s Tale is that if you’re a highly skilled platformer player looking for a challenge, you aren’t finding it here. It’s not too easy, but it won’t pressure you to improve your skills, either.
3. Donkey Kong Country
For most gamers, Donkey Kong Country is a classic that needs no introduction. Featuring the eponymous Donkey Kong, the game was developed by Rareware back in its golden age. Even back then, people knew they had a true gem on their hands with this game. Nowadays, despite its age, it still feels fresh, with great controls, a memorable soundtrack and unmistakable amounts of charm.
For people new to the genre, Donkey Kong Country is a great starting point. It’s got all the best things the genre has to offer sans the parts that hold it back. It isn’t necessarily the easiest game on this list, but the level of challenge never goes overboard, and most importantly, it’s so much fun! So, if you’re ready to go a little bit bananas, then Donkey Kong Country is your game.
4. Shovel Knight
Considering how much people still talk about Shovel Knight, it’s hard to believe the original game is nearly a decade old! Shovel Knight is a love letter to the retro days of platformers. It takes the best parts of the games, takes away a lot of the frustrating level design choices, and gives it a nice, new sheen of beautiful 8-bit visuals. It’s practically iconic now, with Shovel Knight making tons of guest appearances everywhere.
You can’t go wrong with Shovel Knight, especially as a beginner. Just like Super Mario Bros, the game takes careful steps to ensure you understand the basics through its level design alone. By the time you’re done with the first level, you should already have a good understanding of how Shovel Knight handles. There’s not much else to say here; if Shovel Knight looks fun to you, then give it a look!
5. Super Mario Odyssey
We covered the first proper Super Mario Bros. game at the beginning of this post, so it only makes sense that we cover the latest in the franchise! Super Mario Odyssey features open-ended levels filled with collectables, secrets, and charming characters. It introduces new mechanics gradually, allowing players to become comfortable with Mario’s abilities, such as jumping, wall jumping, and throwing his cap to possess enemies and objects.
The game’s forgiving difficulty curve, combined with its delightful visuals and catchy music, ensures an engaging and accessible experience for beginners. You really can’t go wrong with a Mario game, especially if you’re just looking to have a fun time. It’s a Nintendo classic, a carefully crafted experience that’s enjoyable no matter what your skill level is.
6. Rayman Legends
Rayman Legends is a game that’s underrated in its representation. Despite critical acclaim from critics and players, it doesn’t nearly come up as much as it should in conversations. Visually stunning and vibrant with a charming cast of characters, there’s plenty to love here. Get lost in its whimsical environments, and enjoy a delightfully upbeat and fun soundtrack that complements the gameplay perfectly.
Rayman Legends offers a mix of traditional platforming levels and rhythm-based challenges, which adds a unique twist to the gameplay. Despite this, it manages to keep itself accessible to beginners, even with its many additions. The inclusion of cooperative multiplayer also allows friends to join in, making it a great game to enjoy with others while learning the ropes of platforming. Just an all-around phenomenal game, one you don’t want to miss out on!
7. Super Metroid
Looking to get into metroidvanias? It’s an extremely fun subgenre of platformer, with a greater emphasis on exploration and the addition of mechanics from other genres on top of that. The best game to help you bridge that gap has got to be Super Metroid, the SNES classic. It’s a time-tested game, still retaining its spot as the best-selling game in its franchise and an overall blast.
Join bounty hunter Samus Aran as she navigates fights through colonies of space pirates to save the last living Metroid. It’s a hook and a story that’s locked into gaming history, and if you haven’t experienced it yet, then you owe it to yourself to check it out.
8. Ori and the Blind Forest
Ori and the Blind Forest is a visually stunning and emotionally captivating platforming game available on multiple platforms, including Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PC. While it presents a moderate level of challenge, it offers an immersive and memorable experience for beginners seeking a more artistic and narrative-driven platforming adventure.
In the game, players control Ori, a guardian spirit, as they traverse a breathtakingly beautiful forest, solving puzzles and facing challenging platforming sequences. Ori and the Blind Forest features tight controls, rewarding exploration, and a touching story that unfolds throughout the game. With its atmospheric visuals, enchanting music, and emotionally charged narrative, it’s a platforming game that can resonate deeply with beginners looking for a captivating journey.
9. Little Nightmares
Looking for something a little bit different? Maybe you’re a big fan of horror, and you’d like to see something a little scarier. In that case, Little Nightmares stands out with its stunning visuals and haunting ambience, creating a sense of unease and suspense. The game’s unique art style and sound design contribute to its immersive and atmospheric experience.
The game follows a young girl named Six as she navigates a dark and mysterious world known as The Maw. Solve puzzles, and avoid menacing enemies as you slowly discover the secrets of the world. The platforming elements in the game are relatively straightforward, allowing beginners to focus on the atmospheric storytelling and puzzle-solving aspects. It’s a great introduction to puzzle platformers.
10. Kirby’s Return to Dreamland
As a beginner, you can never go wrong with a Kirby game! Kirby games are always reliable for fun and simple gameplay, a core tenet of the series that’s stuck with it throughout the years. Kirby’s Return to Dreamland, in particular, is pretty recent, and it’s got plenty to offer gamers. With a forgiving difficulty curve, the series’ iconic copy abilities and a charming presentation, it’ll be tons of fun.
Kirby’s Return to Dreamland was released for the Nintendo Wii console in 2011. Known as Kirby’s Adventure Wii in Europe and Kirby of the Stars Wii in Japan, it received rave reviews and revitalised the Kirby franchise worldwide. Recently, the game received a remake on the Nintendo Switch with tons of new content available, meaning if you’re going to check it out, there’s no better time than now.
A Wrap-Up For Prospective Platformer Players!
For all of you prospective platformer players, we hope this post has inspired you to give the genre a try! They’re insanely fun games, and there’s nothing as satisfying as beating a platformer by yourself, taking the culmination of your skill and ability to overcome the challenges put before you. It’s truly one of the best feelings in gaming. For now, though, have fun and stay tuned!