Platformers.

[Rostum]

Are platform games a dying craze? There are some very decent platform games out there - but it seems hardly anyone are interested in them. What do you guys think? Should people be more interested in them? Why do you think they should?

Hmm, just wondering I guess.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Technological advancements have allowed fighting in games to become increasingly more fun, so instead of having tons of games where you jump around a lot and occasionally fight something (platformers), we now have tons of games where you fight constantly and occasionally jump somewhere (beat'em-ups).

[Dreddz]

The last Platformer game i heard of ( and played ) was Jak 3
I dont think Platformers are dying out, I think people just should give them a chance..

[Chris]

But in all seriousness, they don't make 'em like they used to.

[Craig]

Platformers are the Pop Music of the gaming world.

[Markus. D]

in the gaming world i live for platformers... like PN03, iggy's reckin balls, DK1,2,3.

castlevanias on gba are fun aswell.

[Dreddz]

But in all seriousness, they don't make 'em like they used to.
True True, the days of Crash and Spyro are over, but we do have Ratchet and Jak ( although Jak has turn to racing )
I would like it if they made more I-Ninja games, they were good




Platformers are the Pop Music of the gaming world.
Very True...lol

[Lionx]

Well platformers are sort of a dying breed these days, very little people play them and appreciate them hence why i dont really like American taste in games(one reason anyway). I certainetly see no appeal to FPS games that relies heavily on graphics besides the skill, but even then most FPS games are unbalanced in terms of weapons and is visually unappealing to me(too realistic, games could be realistic but its old stuff these days, bring in the Wind Waker innovation). So these are mainly for platformer people and maybe oldschoolers. Many people dont find Klonoa or Megaman platform games appealing but you really have to play them to know, either that or you have to grow up knowing that the gaming industry was revived by platform games and a little guy dressed in red.

Current generations dont care, most Americans are graphics whores or realistic graphics ONRY. Really stops alot of games comming here that are very appealing (to me anyway).

BOOM HEADSHOT!!!...what happened to the Boing? :x

[Ryth]

Platformers are starting to die yes. Crash and Spyro suck now. The Jak trilogy is over and they're making a racing game after that'll be it, Ratchet is going for a new Unreal Tournament style with Deadlocked so yeah its going to die but games like Physconauts helps keeps tghe platformimg genre's heart beating but I don'y have much hope...Mario 128 might help bring it back.

[Lionx]

What do you mean by suck? And if the reasons you will state make it suck, what will make them not suck? Some platform games i am not too interested in, however Sonic and Klonoa and those types of games always appealed to me. So if people say they suck, what must change while keeping a platformer, platformer?

[Ryth]

I liked Klonoa as well....I forgot about Klonoa heh heh sorry...the 3D Sonic's aren't fun because of bad camera, levels, and such for me anyway and the 2D Sonics nowadays (Advance) aee too similar but are at least better than Sonic Adventure and well for Crash and Spyro well 'sucking' was too harsh...for Crash anyway. Spyro's games lately are uninspired with dull cliche' levels with no innovation no challenge I could find. Crash suffered from these flaws too but less then Spyro did, I found Twinsanity mildly fun. It needs good level design, personality, AI, camera, which some Platformers seem to lack nowadays.

[SomethingBig]

I'm disgusted and shocked that not one person has mentioned Sands of Time.

[Mo-Nercy]

I played Ratchet and Clank (the latest one, dunno what it's called) at my cousin's place. It was hard as! Controls are impossible! :( I couldn't help but think how much platformers had evolved from the ol' jump to kill things Mario/Crash genre. The new guys are lugging an entire arsenal of weapons, I so can't get into it.

[Buster Sword Strike]

Platformers are the Pop Music of the gaming world.

Then Mario's the M.J. The only good game. And it ivolves Bowser raping a princess!

[Lindy]

Technological advancements have allowed fighting in games to become increasingly more fun, so instead of having tons of games where you jump around a lot and occasionally fight something (platformers), we now have tons of games where you fight constantly and occasionally jump somewhere (beat'em-ups).
Where does Viewtiful Joe lay, pray tell?

VJ2 doesn't count, it was all SZ-RHOH.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Viewtiful Joe lies in Awesomeland.

[Lindy]

in the gaming world i live for platformers... like PN03, iggy's reckin balls, DK1,2,3.
Just noticed this small mention.

PN-03 is not a platformer in any way shape or form, it's more based upon old-style score-based Shmups, especially with the beautiful "No Miss" bonus you recieve upon completion of a room with no hits.
It lacks anything that could MAKE it a platformer, with very minimal platform action and the game based pretty much entirely on shooting and dodging hits.

That is not to say it isn't a good game, I certainly enjoy it, it has an awful lot of style, but it isn't a platformer.

[UWAOOOOU]

Jak and Daxter looked fun. I loved Spyro 1-3.

[Dreddz]

I'm disgusted and shocked that not one person has mentioned Sands of Time.
POP was not really a platformer, I thouhght it as action adventre with platform moments ( jumping from place to place ) ...

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Actually platforming was the heart of Sands of Time. The battles were just minor engagements you had to get through in order to reach the next huge platforming area. And that's how I like it.

[Dreddz]

i didnt really think it was a platformer, i thought the jumping bits were just orchistrated jumps....

[DMKA]

Crash games are hardly dead...you just aren't playing them.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

They are dead, because no one is playing them.

[Dreddz]

People are bored of the PS1 Platformers......thats why Crash is gone
I think they should bring back Gex, he was killer.....

[Lindy]

People WOULD be bored of PSX platformers because the only PSX games produced now are hopeless Yu-Gi-Oh and Duel Masters games, Crash spread onto the GBA and PS2, but nobody bought the games because they were just the same old over again.

[DMKA]

Well I still play them. Sorry for being behind the times.

[Lindy]

You're a real gaming anachronism.

[-N-]

vocabulary +5

I've always looked to the past for good platformers rather than to the future.

[Lindy]

2D platformers win over 3D, side-scrolling style though, not necessarily 2D graphics.

Also, Mischief Makers is the best platformer ever, no arguments or you die.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

SHAKE SHAKE!

[DMKA]

Also, Mischief Makers is the best platformer ever, no arguments or you die.
If it was on N64 it's not possible.

[Lindy]

This coming from a guy who still plays Crash Bandicoot games.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

BOY, AM I GLAD TO SEE YOU, MARINA!

[Dreddz]

2D platformers win over 3D
Cant agree with you there....

[Lionx]

Any reason why? I find 2-D platformers and 2 1/3(i think thats how you say it) to be much more fun than full 3-D ones like Mario 64 or Crash. Not that they sucked, but it just seemed that way and with 3-D you seem to be wanting more of an action genre.

[Lindy]

With the migration to 3D, platformers are now one of the weakest genres out there, yet back in 2D world, they were incredibly popular.

Heck, one of the biggest reasons Viewtiful Joe was so popular was that it had a 2D style.

[SomethingBig]

This coming from a guy who still plays Crash Bandicoot games.
Would you do me the honor of marrying me?

[Lindy]

If I wasn't taken, it would be my pleasure.

As long as I could be the hubby.

[Cloud No.9]

platform games have just became diluted. before there was a clear dividing line between plaformer and everything else. first of all there was platforms and a whole load of jumping. now the platforms are mostly gone and you can now shoot things, carry things, drive things, use stealth. it never used to be like that. platformer just merged with action in a way.

[Lindy]

Yoshi's Island was very much a platformer and you could shoot and carry things, the same applies to Mischief Makers.

[Cloud No.9]

it was but it was still a real platformer. not like the modern ones like ratchet and clank and jak and daxter. i think 3d caused the mergence. but there must have been a game that started all this..... can someone name it?

[Lindy]

I don't even try to call Ratchet and Clank a platformer though, I don't think anyone does, they're action games, same applies to Jak and Daxter (the latter two more than the first game), nobody is TRYING to call these games platformers.

[Rengori]

Technological advancements have allowed fighting in games to become increasingly more fun, so instead of having tons of games where you jump around a lot and occasionally fight something (platformers), we now have tons of games where you fight constantly and occasionally jump somewhere (beat'em-ups).
I'm still a fan of Megaman, Jak, Mario, Ratchet and Clank, and hell, I still go back to play the first three Spryo and Crash Bandicoot games. I love platformers! :love: Beat'em ups suck, they get repetitive very fast, and they don't f***in' die out (I'm looking at you, Dynasty Warriors). Platformers need to make a comeback. They actually provide challenge.

I played Ratchet and Clank (the latest one, dunno what it's called) at my cousin's place. It was hard as! Controls are impossible! :( I couldn't help but think how much platformers had evolved from the ol' jump to kill things Mario/Crash genre. The new guys are lugging an entire arsenal of weapons, I so can't get into it.
They did in Megaman. I had trouble using the weapons correctly the first time, but you get used to it.

[SomethingBig]

VJ is a sidescroller/beat 'em up, for people who got it mixed up. For people wanting a good platformer, Sands of Time is your best bet for the newer consoles.

[XxSephirothxX]

http://img325.imageshack.us/img325/8484/mischiefmakers9la.jpg
I always thought this game looked really cool, and way, way back before I had an N64 and thought they were the most amazing thing on the planet (Hey, I was in 3rd grade :p ) I saw one of my friends playing it and was totally confused but enthralled at the same time. I just recently played Gunstar Heroes, and that game is awesome.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

THROUGH FIRE, JUSTICE IS SERVED!

[Lindy]

Gunstar Heroes with less shooting, more platform action.

I'm sure I still have the N64 rom somewhere, I could send you it if I could find it.

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Your basic method of offense and defense is to grab things. Grab enemies and throw them into the ground, into spikes, into fire, into each other. Grab laser blasts that are shot at you to disintegrate them or turn them into health crystals. Grab incoming missiles and throw them back at the enemy. Grab a giant's fist and redirect his punch into his own face. Why are you hitting yourself, Migen?

And once you've grabbed something, you can shake it. Shake enemies to get health crystals or money crystals. Shake those missiles to make them bigger to deal even more damage. Shake switches to make a path or cause other phenomena to occur. Shake elastic branches to slingshot yourself around. There's a gun that you can grab; shake it to make it fire in three directions.

Then there's the pot that occasionally appears. You can throw items into it and then shake it to combine the items. Flowers combine to form a shuriken, shurikens combine to form a boomerang, small bombs combine to form a large bomb, etc. In one level, you even have an opportunity to throw jetpack soldiers into the pot and form a huge one that you can ride around on.

And that's just the primary stuff. On top of all that, you have all the crazy cool stuff that goes along with every great Treasure game: gigantic psychedelic bosses, wacky comedy, dodgeball matches, missile-surfing, ghost-collecting, tricycle-riding, bee-riding, ostrich-riding... There are many things you can ride.

HOW COULD I LOSE TO YOUUUUU

[Lindy]

Yeah, you covered it way better than I could, but then I'm lazy.

Plus Marina looks rather like a robotic nurse.

Treasure wins.

[DMKA]

This coming from a guy who still plays Crash Bandicoot games.
It's not like I was being serious...I just can't get the rom to work properly. x)

[Momiji]

People are losing interest in them because they get repetitive quickly, and they all seem to play the same, no matter the title.

[DMKA]

People are losing interest in them because they get repetitive quickly, and they all seem to play the same, no matter the title.
Actually, I think it's the other way around...people like repetition...otherwise people wouldn't be getting all whiny over the gameplay alterations in FFXII.

[Lindy]

Change incites fear, but for me IT EXCITES!

[Lionx]

If anything the Mario re-releases show that they can still be a huge hit, however not in the main generation consoles. 2-D still reigns in platformers and i hope innovation keeps comming, yet at the same time old games still get released as long as they are pretty solid.

[here for a limited time]

jak series r the best