Exclusivity is the pet peeve of many gamers. Not only does it prevent players from enjoying some of the most critically acclaimed single-player franchises of all time, like The Legend of Zelda or God of War, but it can also cause them to miss out on multiplayer fun with friends if they own different systems. Unfortunately, exclusive titles don’t seem to be dying out, and they are expected to be a prominent feature of the ninth generation of home consoles.
However, one of the great things about the gaming industry today is that the enormous amount of games releasing every year provide players with tons of alternative options to exclusive titles. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury was released exclusively on the Nintendo Switch this year to the envy of many gamers. Thankfully though, there are tons of Xbox titles that offer similarly enjoyable platforming experiences for fans of Microsoft’s home console.
10 New Super Lucky’s Tale
As the title suggests, New Super Lucky’s Tale is an expanded and improved version of Super Lucky’s Tale, which was released at the end of 2017. New Super Lucky’s Tale improvements include better-designed levels and much-needed tweaks to the game’s camera.
New Super Lucky’s Tale certainly isn’t the most challenging platformer in the world, but it manages to remain interesting for more experienced players with its collectathon elements. To complete the game 100%, players need to complete multiple objectives in each level, such as collecting 300 coins and solving a hidden puzzle.
9 Celeste
From one of the Xbox’s most laid-back platformers to one of its most testing, Celeste was released at the start of 2018 and quickly drew comparisons to Super Meat Boy for its punishing but rewarding difficulty. Beating Celeste normally provides a tough platforming challenge, though it only tells part of the story. Completing the game 100% is one of modern gaming’s hardest tasks, as players need to collect difficult-to-reach strawberries, complete tricky B-side tapes, find the well-hidden Crystal Hearts, and much more.
Celeste‘s difficulty is far from being just a gimmick, as it ties into the game’s touching story. Matt Makes Games’ platformer was extremely well-received upon release, exemplified by its whopping 94 Metascore on Xbox One.
8 Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time
In June 2017, Vicarious Visions and Activision teamed up to release a remake of the classic PlayStation 1 Crash Bandicoot trilogy. The game was extremely well received, earning both critical and commercial success; consequently, talk began circulating about a brand new adventure for the mascot platformer. Activision didn’t disappoint and announced that they were teaming up with Toys For Bob to release a direct sequel to Crash Bandicoot: Warped.
Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time was released in October 2020 and provided players with one of Crash’s best adventures yet. Much like Celeste, beating the game normally is challenging enough, yet the difficulty still manages to crank up far higher when attempting to complete it 100%.
7 Psychonauts
Another classic platformer that has recently delighted fans with a grand return is Psychonauts. Xbox Game Studios’ Psychonauts 2 hasn’t been released yet, though it’s been announced and is expected to hit stores at some point this year.
The original Psychonauts was published by Majesco Sales and differentiated itself from other platformers with its emphasis on psychic themes. Not only does the story revolve around a summer camp of gifted psychic children, but the playable character, Razputin, has multiple abilities which players can utilize. Raz’s psychic powers through the game include invisibility, telekinesis, and levitation.
6 A Hat In Time
A Hat in Time is one of gaming’s many crowd-funding success stories. The game was advertised on Kickstarter, where it smashed its $30,000 goal with an eye-watering $296,360 pledged. Consequently, A Hat In Time had a huge weight of expectations on its shoulders. Although it didn’t reach the heights of some of the platforming genre’s top titles, it was well-received by both fans and critics, scoring between 74 and 79 on Metacritic across its four releases.
As for the game itself, A Hat In Time is similar to New Super Lucky’s Tale in the sense that it takes inspiration from classic collectathon titles like Banjo-Kazooie. The game made great use of the money pledged, creating visually impressive and well-designed open levels for players to explore.
5 Ori and the Wills of the Wisps
The Metroidvania genre has had a fairly impressive resurgence in recent years, with games like Hollow Knight and Guacamelee 2! revitalizing the playstyle. One other title that has helped recapture the Metroidvania magic is Ori and the Will of the Wisps, which is today recognized as being one of Xbox Game Studios’ best releases during the eighth generation of console.
The game has beautiful, nature-inspired visuals just like its predecessor but expands upon it by implementing open-world elements such as numerous side quests.
4 Spyro Reignited Trilogy
Much like the aforementioned Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, 2018’s Spyro The Dragon was a well-received remake of the original PlayStation 1 trilogy. The game provided great value for money, as all three games have fantastic collectathon levels that each take a good amount of time to complete 100%.
The release of Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time has unsurprisingly got fans of the purple dragon excited that their beloved franchise will also be receiving a new entry. Although nothing has been confirmed, it does seem as though a new Spyro game could be in the works, as Crash Bandicoot 4 has a hidden easter egg that appears to tease Spyro 4.
3 Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair
Much like A Hat In Time, the Yooka-Laylee franchise began life as a highly anticipated crowd-funding project. However, Playtonic Games Yooka-Laylee wasn’t as well-received when it initially hit stores, with criticisms of its level-design resulting in Metascores as low as 68 on PlayStation 4.
Many people thought that the poor reception would mark the end of the franchise, though a new game was released just a couple of years later. Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair came out in October 2019 and was far better received than its predecessor. The game took a change of direction, ditching its Banjo-Kazooie influences in favor of side-scrolling Donkey Kong Country–like platforming.
2 Banjo-Kazooie
There’s a reason why Banjo-Kazooie has already been mentioned so many times in this list, as Rare’s classic platformer is one of the most influential collectathon’s of all time. The game differentiated itself from the majority of platformers at the time of its release, with its comparatively huge levels that were filled to the brim with things to do and collect.
Despite releasing all the way back in 1998, players don’t need to worry too much about how to play the game today, as it’s available on Microsoft’s Game Pass service.
1 Rayman Legends
Rayman has always held a fairly odd place in the platforming genre. Despite the limbless hero featuring in some of the most critically acclaimed games in the genre’s history, the limbless hero is often forgotten when the best franchises are mentioned, and Ubisoft seem to see Rayman as secondary to their action & adventure games. Hopes of Ubisoft returning to their platforming hero in the near future appear to be slim, but thankfully he has numerous excellent titles to keep fans busy.
Although the first two Rayman games are classics, Rayman Legends is the best pick to play today. The game has some of the most well-designed platforming stages in the genre’s side-scrolling history, with plenty of secrets hidden within.
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