Platform game

Platform games were a very popular genre of video games from the early 1980s to the mid 1990s, now all but forgotten by the majority of gamers and developers. Games like Tomb Raider may be seen as modern versions of platform games, and many of the old platformer franchises live on in 3D form.

Tradtionally, the platform game usually scrolls right to left, with the playable character viewed from a side angle. The character climbs up and down ladders or jumps from platform to platform, fighting enemies, and often has the ability to gain powers or weapons.

(Incomplete) chronology of significant platform games

Space Panic	(Universal, 1980)
Donkey Kong	(Nintendo, 1981)	First game featuring Mario
Super Mario Bros.	(Nintendo, 1985)
Mega Man	(Nintendo, 1987)
Haunted Castle	(Konami[?], 1988)	Predecessor of the Castlevania series
Super Mario 3	(Nintendo, 1990)	Highest grossing console game before Pokemon
Commander Keen	(id Software, 1990)	First major PC platformer
Sonic the Hedgehog	(Sega, 1991)
Mario 64	(Nintendo, 1996)

(I don't know why this is doing this. Changing the table align to "center" fixes it, but that looks funny. I've tried putting in the and tags, and it's not that.)

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Platform games with their own page:

• Commander Keen series
• Donkey Kong Country series
• Kid Icarus
• Metroid
• Megaman series
• New Zealand Story
• Sonic the Hedgehog series
• Super Mario Brothers series

External Links

• http://dmoz.org/Games/Video_Games/Platform/