On June 10 of 2020, Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX was announced. The world was stunned as the last entry, a platformer called Alex Kidd in Miracle World, was released in 1986. It was originally Sega’s response to the Super Mario series and it was a serious one, met with critical acclaim and fan delight. Sega eventually decided to give its time to the Sonic franchise, but it took the company 34 years to realize that it had likely left some magic on the table.
For a variety of reasons, some games shine but never get another turn in the spotlight. To see platform games cut down when they still have so much to offer is cruel to fans of the genre. This list is a call to action for developers and gamers to work together and resuscitate titles that never really died because they didn’t get another chance to live. Some call it a reboot, but perhaps the better term is a refresh.
10 Limbo
Limbo came onto the scene challenging everything. Game devices, like Game Boy Color, have been adding color, but Limbo reversed course with black, white, and greyscale shading. Additionally, the character and his enemies were faceless, the music was full of rolling echoes, and the camera would blur the focus to indicate depth.
Independent studio Playdead decided to take their first global success and move on to a different title, Inside. But while Inside borrowed from a handful of elements of Limbo, it did not capture the layered and artistic brilliance of this first masterpiece.
9 Space Panic / Apple Panic
Metacritic scores often miss the mark on great platform games, but this game comes from an era where Metacritic wasn’t even around to judge it. Considered by many to be the very first platformer of all time, Space Panic was better known by its unauthorized copy, Apple Panic.
While all modern platforms can credit this title with their origins, there are a few elements that would do well among the current gaming generation. Apple Panic did not require unrealistic jumping capabilities and not all the moves had to be going horizontally or upwards. The challenge of losing elevation has rarely been explored since.
8 Tearaway
Tearaway and Tearaway Unfolded are only forgotten by those who never got a chance to play the titles. The latter is still considered one of the best games to ever be released on PlayStation Plus. So why has the world not seen another entry since 2015?
The marketing team for Sony on the Tearaway series either made a very bad decision or had some very bad luck. Commercial failure was an inevitability when Tearaway Unfolded debuted the same week as Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Until Dawn, Super Mario Maker, and Mad Max.
7 Beat Sneak Bandit
There are very few reviews on Metacritic for Beat Sneak Bandit, but all of them are positive, netting a very rare 90+ overall score for this little-known title. In 2012, this game set a unique standard with the reliance of gameplay on music. Companies like Nintendo understand that a game should have good music, but even these giants hesitate to make it critical to success.
So why has this game not taken off while other titles have? Sadly, the game is restricted to the iOS platform, so the vast majority of gamers will never have any idea what platforming goodness they are missing out on.
6 Pitfall!
Early generation gamers probably recognize this entry as the very first console platformer they played. Pitfall! was the first one to gain widespread success after the production of the Atari 2600.
Players haven’t forgotten this title, so why is it on this list? Sadly, Activision has repurposed the Pitfall! franchise and moved it from platformer to endless runner. It’s alright for games to change, just ask God of War, but this switch in the genre came with a real loss of identity for the brand.
5 Cordy
Cordy was an instant success of iOS and Android platforms when it launched in 2011. The fun and smooth-playing platformer was such a smash hit that before the end of the next year, Cordy Sky and Cordy 2 also launched with reviews stating that they were just as charming as the original.
But as of 2020, the Cordy series finds itself absent among the best Free-To-Play games available. GSN (Game Show Network) Games acquired SilverTree Media and it’s assumed that the previous developers have moved away from this brilliant platformer and are currently working on games more consistent with the vision of the new ownership.
4 Pac-Land
It’s tough for even the most dedicated of Pac-Man trivia fans to recall a time when Namco took a step away from the 2D arcade pellet-eater and tried their hand in platforming. The game was good enough and moved the needle when it came to side-scrolling action.
But Pac-Land needs a reboot because of how much it would mean to the personalities involved. Mario and Sonic, through modernization on their platformers, gained personalities and relationships, which created a more immersive world. Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, Inky, Blinky, Pinky, Clyde, and Sue have a potential for individual personality traits and player connection that is, as of yet, unrealized.
3 Doodle Jump
Unlike a few of the other entries on this list that were lost because they got stuck on mobile devices, Doodle Jump made the jump onto consoles and handheld devices like the Xbox 360 Kinect and Nintendo 3DS.
So why has this 2009 game not received a serious sequel or reboot yet? It’s possible that Lima Sky likes it to just be an underground cult classic. The studio partnered with Skillz in 2016 to add a tournament mode. Still, outsiders hope that the title will get the opportunity to be remembered by general audiences once again.
2 Knytt
Swedish freeware developer Nifflas (birthname Nicklas Nygren) was responsible for the development of several adorable platformers, but perhaps none were as beloved by his fans as much as the games of the Knytt series.
Knytt received four major installments: Knytt, Knytt Stories, Knytt Experiment, and Knytt Underground. Sadly, after 2013, Nifflas pursued other projects (his latest was 2017’s Uurnog) but fans of the easy, simple, clean, and fun Knytt are hopeful that another reboot is on the horizon.
1 Another World
PC gamers who did not own consoles remember Another World as perhaps the first platformer they were introduced to. The scenery was beautiful and while the gameplay itself was nothing groundbreaking, its story-driven approach was unique for the genre.
Another World isn’t considered a high-grossing game that never got a sequel because it technically did get a follow-up with Heart of the Alien. It was only released in North America and for the Sega CD system. Leaving its PC gamers behind, the sequel, predictably, failed miserably. Fans can still hope that Another World will get an actual opportunity to make a modern impact.
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