As we wave goodbye to another generation of consoles, even the most loyal Xbox fan would be hard-pressed not to admit that they were a bit short-changed when it came to exclusives. Whereas Sony provided players with numerous excellent exclusives like Marvel’s Spider-Man, God of War, and Bloodborne, the Xbox One struggled to find any sort of consistency in terms of exclusive releases. Microsoft appears to have ditched their strategy of deprioritizing exclusives with their purchase of ZeniMax Media and subsequently Bethesda. Microsoft flexing their financial muscle like this implies that Xbox fans will be enjoying plenty of triple-A exclusive games with the Xbox Series X and S.
Unfortunately, this battle between Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo to provide the best exclusives will result in many gamers never getting the chance to play numerous excellent games. The Ratchet & Clank series is a sad case in particular, as none of the series’ many entries have ever appeared on an Xbox console. Thankfully, Xbox players don’t have to search too hard to find similar platformers on Microsoft’s home consoles.
10 Super Lucky’s Tale
Super Lucky’s Tale is a sequel to Lucky’s Tale, an Oculus Rift VR launch title. The 2017 sequel ditched the use of VR and tried to bring gamers back to the golden days of platformers and collect-a-thons like Banjo-Kazooie.
Despite being a throwback, the game seemingly isn’t aimed at older audiences who are looking for some nostalgia, but instead for younger audiences, indicative of the game’s simplicity. The simplicity undoubtedly holds it back from being a top platformer, but it’s still an excellent game for younger audiences, and completing it 100% is challenging enough for it to be worth experienced players considering.
9 Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time
In terms of difficulty, Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is on the other side of the spectrum to the aforementioned Super Lucky’s Tale. Toys For Bob acknowledged that a large chunk of people buying the latest Crash Bandicoot game will have perfected the original PS1 trilogy. Consequently, Toys For Bob significantly ramped up the difficulty in It’s About Time with longer levels, tougher enemies, and trickier platforming sections.
Moreover, completing the game 100% is excruciatingly difficult. There are far more boxes to collect in each level, challenging flashback tapes, and frustratingly short platinum relic times that require players to perfect not just the levels, but the fiddly triple spin.
8 Rayman Legends
Rayman Legends sticks out on this list as it is predominantly a 2D platformer and consequently may seem like an odd comparison to the 3D Ratchet and Clank series. However, Rayman Legends is such an excellent modern platformer, with some of the most well-designed and enjoyable levels in the genre’s history, that it would be crazy not to recommend it.
Rayman Origins, Legends‘ predecessor, is also worth checking out. The games received two of the best Metascores on this list at 87 and 91 respectively. This great reception made a sequel to the 2013 game seem inevitable, but sadly there has been no indication from Ubisoft that such a thing is in the works.
7 Yooka-Laylee
Yooka-Laylee had a ton of hype behind it before its 2017 release and it became the fastest game to reach $1 million on Kickstarter in 2015. The game was developed by many of Rare’s former employees, leading fans to believe that the new mascots would finally deliver the modern sequel to Banjo-Kazooie that they had been crying out for.
Unfortunatley, Yooka-Laylee didn’t live up to expectations, with the main criticism ironically being that it was too similar to the classic N64 game. However, now that the dust has settled and the high expectations have subsided, Yooka-Laylee is deservedly being recognized as one of the Xbox One’s best 3D platformers. The game is worth considering for its fantastic, open levels that offer great collect-a-thon entertainment. Playtonic Games seemingly took the aforementioned criticism to heart though, as the sequel to Yooka-Laylee, Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, drastically changed the direction of the series.
6 SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle For Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated
Battle for Bikini Bottom was, and as the Rehydrated remake proved, still is, a game that divides most fans and critics. This is best exemplified by the game’s PS4 Metacritic page, as it has a Metascore of 68, but a user score of 8.9.
This jarring difference makes sense when playing the game as objectively it doesn’t have any gameplay mechanics that one could point to and say are better than any top game in the platforming genre. But subjectively, the game is great fun to play as it is bursting with color, charisma, and nostalgia for fans of the Nickelodeon show.
5 Banjo-Kazooie
There isn’t much to say about Rare’s classic collect-a-thon Banjo-Kazooie that hasn’t already been said. The game revolutionized the collect-a-thon genre by filling its iconic, open levels to the brim with well-hidden items that often required the player to learn new gameplay mechanics or continuously improve upon their use of the pre-existing ones.
The once N64 exclusive came to the Xbox 360 a few years after Microsoft purchased Rare. Fans haven’t given up hope for a new entry in the series and will be hopeful the Xbox Series X|S will finally be the console to house a new game with the bear and bird.
4 Psychonauts
Double Fine hit the ground running with their first full release being Psychonauts, a surprise success that forced its way into the limelight of the gaming industry in 2005. The game offers many great platforming sections and collect-a-thon elements that you would expect in a top platformer, but it differentiates itself with its implementation of psychic abilities that offer unique gameplay mechanics rather than just being a gimmick. Furthermore, Psychonauts, like Ratchet & Clank, has more dialog than most platformers that enhances the game’s world with numerous entertaining characters with well written and funny lines.
Thankfully, Psychonauts is no longer grouped in with the unfortunately high number of great platformers that have been devoid of a modern sequel. Xbox Game Studios announced that they’re teaming up with the original’s developer Double Fine to release Psychonauts 2 in 2021.
3 A Hat In Time
Similarly to Yooka-Laylee, A Hat In Time started life as a Kickstarter project that promised to bring gamers back to the golden days of platformers and collect-a-thons. The game didn’t disappoint with its brilliantly designed open levels and heartwarming art-style that makes A Hat In Time an absolute joy to play.
The game was nominated for Destructoid’s Best PC Game of 2017 award but lost out to the revolutionary battle-royale game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.
2 Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
Crash Bandicoot was Sony’s attempt to create their own mascot to rival Nintendo’s Mario. The fact that the orange marsupial has appeared on a whole manner of non-Sony consoles, specifically Xbox, is indicative of Crash not reaching those lofty heights. Naughty Dog, the developer of the original PS1 trilogy, can’t be faulted for Crash’s shortcomings though as they did their part by creating three fantastic 3D platformers.
The N. Sane Trilogy is a remake of the PS1 trilogy that plays more like a remaster as very little is changed in terms of level design. This isn’t an issue though, as Naughty Dog’s levels still hold up today and offer the best 3D platforming on this list.
1 Spyro Reignited Trilogy
The Spyro Reignited Trilogy is the most obvious choice for this list as Insomniac Games, Ratchet & Clank‘s developer, developed the PS1 trilogy that the Reignited Trilogy remade. Unfortunately, the Spyro series took a sharp decline in quality when Insomniac Games left the project to create Ratchet & Clank. This decline in quality led to many fans giving up on the series, and the games stopped coming after 2008’s Dawn of the Dragon.
Ten years later though, Toys For Bob and Activision breathed new life into the series with their excellent remake of the classic PS1 trilogy. Considering Toys For Bob and Activision recently teamed up to make a direct sequel to the Bandicoot’s original trilogy, there is reason to be hopeful that the purple dragon will get the same treatment.
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