We all have a sweet spot for things we loved as a kid. I'm old, and during my formative years we didn't have any of these newfangled 3-D games. We had 2-D, and we liked it. Happily, it seems that 2-D platformers are making a comeback. Here are my three favorites: Hollow Knight - Beautifully drawn, tight and accurate controls, huge world to explore. Similar in many ways to one of my all-time favorites, Castlevania Symphony of the Night. Metroidvania style game in the best sense of the word. You can expect 20-40 hours of gaming gold out of this one (depending on how much you want to chase 100% completion). I bought it at full price - $15 - and I'd say it's worth at least twice that amount. It's been incredibly relaxing just re-exploring the map with each power-up, seeing what new areas I can access. Overall, I'd give this game a 9/10. I'm knocking a point off because I find the mapping system annoying. First, you've got to use a power up slot just to see where you are on the map. Second, the map does not update in real time. You have to return to a save point to have the newly-explored areas marked. My biggest complaint about this updating system is that, unless you pay closer attention that I care to, you can leave areas unexplored that you have to come back for later. Others have complained that you have to find the map maker on each area in order to get map access, but I thought that was fun. Rogue Legacy - I don't typically beat games more than once. I've gone through Rogue Legacy 4 or 5 times. Each additional play through leads to stronger and stronger enemies. It just doesn't get old, it's monster slaying done perfectly. The unique aspect of this game is that each time you die (and you will die) you get new traits. Color blind? Near sighted? Flatulent? Gay? Check, check, check, and check. There are tons of modifiers that get added to the game's classes, leading to varied gameplay. And you've got to take it for what it is - an interesting new challenge. In addition, the castle is generated anew with each life. Exploring a new castle with a new character keeps the replay value high. I got this one on the cheap, but it's worth the full price of admission. 10/10 - very highly recommended. Shovel Knight - Want to beat people with a shovel? How about a little pogo jumping....with a shovel? This one reminds me of the early MegaMan games. You progress through the worlds (with some ability to choose the order) and gain new power-up abilities. Once gained, the power ups are always available - you can cycle through them in real time...just like MegaMan. Maybe the best part of this game is that the developers just don't know when to quit. About the time I beat the game, they released a second campaign where you play as the Plague Knight. This is not just a reskin - it's a completely different playstyle. And in the last few weeks, they've added a third campaign - Specter Knight. I've only played a few minutes with Specter, but once again it's a completely different playstyle than the two before it. The Steam store page says King Knight is coming, as is a 4 player battle mode. 9/10. If you're into platforming, I'd highly recommend each of these games. There are others, such as Cave Story + and Guacamelee! that are also good, but just slightly below the three listed above. Also, I have no opinion on Owlboy. I just picked it up in the Humble Bundle, but haven't had a chance to play it yet. Really looking forward to it. With the Steam summer sale coming up, you might watch for these to go on sale. I'd like to hear about any other games of this style that you particularly enjoy. I find it hard to wade through the vast quantity of shit games on Steam. Just because it's retro-pixel-platforming doesn't make it good. It was just by chance that I heard about Hollow Knight, so I'm sure there are tons of gems I'm missing out on.
There are a few more I'd add to this list. First Axiom Verge is literally a Metroid clone and it's one of the best clone games I've ever played. The dev came up with a bunch of new gadgets and weapons compared to normal Metroid and it's very challenging. The whole game also oozes H.R. Giger with some really bizarre looking backgrounds that work really well in pixel art. I remember the story not being amazing but honestly I didn't care too much about that in the Metroid games either. The other game I'd really recommend is Salt and Sanctuary which is more or less Dark Souls meets Castlevania. It's really hard although not quite as hard as Dark Souls and it has a lot of freedom for the order to do things in. I never actually finished this one due to a combination of getting burned out on souls style games and my GPU dying (for some reason this 2D game cannot run on integrated graphics). My favorite little feature in the game is before a few boss fights there will be a some corpses hanging that are recent players who died fighting the boss.
Thanks for the recommendations, I've been meaning to check out more platformers but haven't known where to start. Hollow Knight looks good, I'll definitely be looking out for it on sale.
Owlboy is a must for any platformer enthusiast. Amazing graphics, crisp gameplay and a charming story. Small Indie team, big heart, can't wait to see what they'll come up with next!
