Best Platform Game

[Steven]

SMW and SM All-Stars are indeed great platformers, but the one I feel should be mentioned in this topic is DOREMI FANTASY on Super Famicom. It stars Milon (Milon's Secret Castle) and is by Hudson(soft)

Absolutely BRILL platformer with all the classic themes you could ever want (ice, fire, woods, etc) and it's all done in a very polished package. It's about as charming as video games can get.

Highly recommended. It sadly is quite scarce and expensive. But trust me, you'll want to have a hard copy of this fine gem.

1 of the best I've ever played. I give it an enthusiastic 9.5/10

[goemon]

Nobody's mentioned any Goemon games yet? My favorite is Ganbare Goemon: Space Pirate Akogingu. Perfect control, killer sprite-based graphics, 3D robot fights, and great level design. It's my favorite Goemon game and one of my favorite platformers.

Another good platformer on the Japanese PS is Kitchen Panic (also available for Win 98). You play a potato who has to go through a kitchen taken over by canned goods to reclaim the stolen stew. The bulk of the game involves puzzles and jumping with very little enemy interaction.

[RCM]

In no order:

Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)

Sonic 2 (Genesis)

Shinobi 3 (Genesis)

Legendary Axe (TG16)

Donkey Kong Country (SNES)

Aladdin (Genesis)

Sonic Adventure (Sonic's portion, DC)

and so many more

[Technosis]

Amiga
4) Killing Gameshow

I forgot all about this one. The Genesis port Fatal Rewind seemed to get lost in the shuffle, like many Amiga ports to the consoles. I don't know if Killing Gameshow ever got a sequel?

[Gandhara]

Here's some great ones not mentioned yet:

C-64: Mayhem in Monsterland and Great Giana Sisters, the platforming Queen!

NES: loved Mystery Quest a game I never hear mentioned.

SNES: Super Bonk

Game Boy: Samurai Kid

GBA: Sonice Advance 1&2

SMS: Alex Kidd in Shinobi World

Genesis: Valis Syd - imo the best one on the system

BBC Micro: Citadel and Castlequest

Atari 8 bit: Caverina

32X: Knuckles Chaotix (It's good it's just a little too long and tiresome)

[suckerpunch5]

GCN: Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, Prince of Persia: Sands of Time

PS1: Tomb Raider

[KeyserSoze61]

SNES: Super Bonk

I just finished it, really found it too easy. Still a great game, but I found the TG Bonk's to be a bit more rewarding.

Rocket Knight Adventures (Genesis), Pandemonium (Saturn), Kid Icarus (NES), Cool Spot (SNES), Earthworm Jim (Genesis/SNES), Duck Tales (NES) are some good ones, some of which havent been mentioned.

[courtesi96]

Don't ask me why but I've always been fond of Zool on the Jaguar for some reason.

[Barbarianoutkast85]

SNES- Super Mario World, or one of the Donkey Kong Country's
GEN- Sonic & Knuckles
PS1- Crash Bandicoot

Those are my votes

[Superman]

Any Super Mario game from the NES and Super Mario world on SNES.

There are lots of good platform games (Sonic games for example), but Mario games just seem to play the best.

[RPG_Fanatic]

Super Mario World is the best ever.

[grolt]

There will always be the shout outs for the Mario and Sonic games, but recently my time with the Sega Master System and the Sega Saturn have provided me with a lot of platforming delight.

Without a doubt the best Platformer never mentioned yet is ASTAL. Most 32-bit games age poorly because of blocky polygons, but man, this game looks like a collection of paintings. Every sprite is so vivid, and the levels are filled with shining and shimmering backgrounds and foregrounds of fantasy. It's a beautiful game with the typically melodramatic, cutesy story we know and love from Sega. The game play is highly unique too, with the coupling of a bird (that can alternately be controlled by the second player) to help with attacks, secrets and replenishing health. It's a short game, and you can't save, but man, what a beautiful, memorable experience.

Another game not mentioned is ALEX KIDD: THE LOST STARS for the SMS. Most people frowned because it did away with the difficulty and awesome monetary system in the original, but if you consider the game on its own, and of its time, it's quite the achievement. There's early instances of sound sampling done pretty well ("FIND THE MIRACLE BALL!") and the graphics are incredibly colorful (in that Sega way) and lush, with gigantic sprites and little to no slow down. Technically, it's one of the most graphically impressive games in the 8-bit era. It's an incredibly easy game to play, and pretty short too, but it creates a totally involving psychadelic atmosphere and has an amazingly addicting soundtrack. And it has a naked bad guy with a mohawk that shits out blue skulls at you. I Kidd you not.

WONDER BOY IN MONSTER LAND and WONDER BOY III: THE DRAGON'S TRAP are both amazing games - that they came out in the 8-bit era is insane, because they trump any platformer from that era in terms of graphics, gameplay and depth. Customizing your characters with new shields and faster shoes is just so much fun. Mario who?

On the Saturn I also dug the CLOCKWORK KNIGHTS quite a bit. Although more or less 2D, the three dimensional level renders really make for a unique gaming experience. There are a lot of different paths one can take, and the gameplay experience is different each time you saddle up with your wind-up knight and his stuffed horse. The creativity is in full force in this game, with a wonderful Toy Story-like realization of childhood playthings. The bosses, surely the highlight, are extremely diverse and masterful in design. Not the longest game, not the greatest, but one that definitely opened the door to conceiving of the platformer on more than just a two dimensional plain.

The last unsung hero of the platform world to me is MR. BONES. You won't find a more original experience than this. Every single level offers completely different gameplay dynamics, from flying through glass paintings to running on thin ice to telling jokes and my favorite, playing the guitar to a crowd of angry skeletons. Every level is totally original, and Mr. Bones as a character is too. The idea of losing body parts the more you get hit (and sometimes for strategy) is a great gimmick. The best though, is the soul that resonates throughout the game, thanks to the great blues music and the fleshed out FMVs that follow almost every level. Two discs of exploration and story amount to one of the most complete and satisfying platformers to come out on any system.

That should about do it for now!

[Yukio]

I believe that even if a game character have a gun (or shot using various weapons) the title still is a platform game.

SEGA Master System: Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Alex Kidd in Shinobi World, Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Chaos, Tom and Jerry, Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse, Fire & Ice, Sonic Blast, James Pond 2: Codename Robocod.

Fire & Ice, this game does have graphics that are even better than the ones on later games like Sonic Blast!
Fire & Ice
More screen captures of Fire & Ice
Screen shots of Fire & Ice running on a SEGA Genesis CDX with a adapter

SEGA Mega Drive: Ristar, Sonic series, Cadash, Tom and Jerry.
Ristar. The graphics of this SEGA Mega Drive cartridge are well draw. The bosses are even better and funnier than most bosses on Sonic games!

When I first saw this game (Ristar) I believed that this could be a Amiga game, but Ristar was a exclusive game for the SEGA Mega Drive. The same about the graphics into a lot of titles from SEGA for the SEGA Master System ...

Personal Computer: Jazz Jack Rabbit, Prince of Persia, Rayman, Croc the legend of Gobbos.

Matsushita (Panasonic) 3DO: GEX

I agreed with some mentions:
SEGA Mega Drive: Shinobi III [I also like the game Shadow Dancer], Toy Story, Castlevania Bloodlines (Vampire Killer)
Also like Midnight Resistance
Neo-Geo CD: Metal Slug 2
Atari 2600 VCS: Pitfall

[bombman]

Another game not mentioned is ALEX KIDD: THE LOST STARS for the SMS. Most people frowned because it did away with the difficulty and awesome monetary system in the original, but if you consider the game on its own, and of its time, it's quite the achievement.

The game is a mere port... a warm up for the fiendish arcade version. This one is less of a platformer in the traditional sense of moving forward and killing enemies... it's more of a dodging game, where the focus is on dodging things with pixel perfect precision. It's even worse than Juju Densetsu. Not a beginner's game by any means.

[Yukio]

Fire & Ice, this game does have graphics that are even better than the ones on later games like Sonic Blast!
Fire & Ice
More screen captures of Fire & Ice
Screen shots of Fire & Ice running on a SEGA Genesis CDX with a adapter

There is a review of this Fire & Ice game here!

[SpaceHarrier]

Donkey Kong Country

[kain]

NES - Super Mario Bros.
Genesis - Aladdin, Tiny Toon
PlayStation - Crash Bandicoot series

[eskobar]

There are too many plataform games for every system but i really like :

Skullmonkeys (PS1)
Klonoa (PS1)
Tomba (PS1)
Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
Mega Man 2 (NES)
Alex Kidd in Shinobi World (SMS)
Mc Donald's Treasureland Adventure (Genesis)
Braid (Xbox 360)

[SEGA_Queen]

Ah, platformers! One of favorite game genres. Here are my faves:

PS1 - Klonoa: DtP

PS2 - Klonoa 2, Sly Cooper series, Sonic Unleased (including the Werehog sections)

Genesis - Sonic series, Ristar, Rocket Knight Adventures

GBA - Drill Dozer, Sonic Advance series, Klonoa, Kirby

GC - Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg

DC - Sonic Adventure 1 & 2

DS - Sonic Rush games, Drawn to Life

GG - Sonic Triple Trouble

[kupomogli]

Castlevania series, Mega Man series, Magical Pop'n, Contra series, NES/SNES Mario series, New Super Mario Bros, Legacy of the Wizard, Little Big Planet, etc.

If I listed every platformer game I loved, including 3d and 2d, then it'd be a very long list.

[ButtonMasher123]

The 16 bit era was a golden age for platformers and my favorites, beyond the usual suspects, would have to be Ristar and Rocket Knight Adventures for the Genesis.

[DJTrueStory]

NES - MC Kids/Kirby
SNES - Out of This World/DKC 1+2+3 and SMBW 1+2 and lets not forget Micheal Jordon: Chaos in the Windy City
N64 - Michief Makers

[DJTrueStory]

Super Mario World is the best ever.

I used to play that game so much, I can beat the game through to the full 96.. I always kinda wanted a PAL version of the game to get that 97th level... never got a chance to plat it *sad face*

[Joe West]

the best platform game is: Super Mario 64

[DigitalSpace]

SNES (and all time favorite) - Super Mario World
2600 - Pitfall!
NES - Super Mario Bros. 3
Game Boy - Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
Genesis - Sonic 2
Game Gear - Sonic Chaos
N64 - Super Mario 64
PlayStation - Spyro The Dragon
PS2 - Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
GBA - Sonic Advance

A few more:

Dreamcast - Sonic Adventure
GBC - Earthworm Jim: Menace 2 The Galaxy
Neo-Geo Pocket Color - Sonic Pocket Adventure
DS - New Super Mario Bros.