Numerous excellent platforming games were released in 2023; nonetheless, these ten stand out as some of the best platforming experiences of the year.
One of the earliest game genres is platformers, frequently connected to beloved properties like Mario and Sonic. The genre has developed from the initial days of running and jumping, usually adding other mechanics like Contra’s running and gunning, Braid’s puzzle-style obstacles, or even the RPG elements found in games like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
Platforming games released this year were incredibly varied, offering players various choices from first-person action, puzzle platformers, and music-infused experiences to everything in between. Even Nintendo released a brand-new Super Mario Bros. game for those who preferred a more conventional platforming experience. The top ten platformers that came out in 2023 are listed here, in no particular order, because there are so many to choose from.
ASTRAL ASCENT
Astral Ascent blends Rogue-lite components with the traditional 2D side-scrolling platformer gameplay style within a contemporary fantasy setting. Thanks to hundreds of upgradeable spells that may be chosen from or combined for various style effects, players can choose from four distinct heroes, each of whom can be tailored entirely to their play style. Players have been raving about Astral Ascent’s unique boss encounters, which pit them against the 12 Zodiacs. Even better, Astral Ascent offers a two-player option and support for lone gamers.
Even after losing, players keep getting better because every run offers fresh chances to improve skills or find new ones. Through subsequent game runs, characters will continue to reveal additional information about the universe or themselves. Every level includes plenty of platforming over diverse created settings to uncover hidden mysteries or use powers to solve some simple puzzle components in addition to battle.
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Disney’s Illusion Island
Disney Illusion Island is a classic platformer that combines Metroidvania-style gameplay with a 2D side-scrolling gameplay mechanic. Players will run and jump through Monolith Island as Donald, Goofy, Mickey, or Minnie. Players must avoid attacks since no direct combat options exist, not even during the different boss encounters. Alternatively, players can use moves unique to their platform to damage the boss indirectly.
Players will be able to gain new skills for the characters as they advance through the game, including the ability to wall jump, swing, and more. These provide players with more options for navigating a level and allow them to use their newfound powers to go back in time and find hidden collectibles.
Ghostrunner 2
The follow-up to One More Level’s 2020 debut release, Ghostrunner 2, is a nominee for Best Action Game at The 2023 Game Awards. While keeping the lightning-fast, one-hit-kill combat and first-person perspective gameplay, Ghostrunner 2 advances the series with new features like a stamina meter, a motorcycle that can be driven, and new special abilities like Shadow, which makes the main character, Jack, invisible.
Players will use various skills, such as rushing, wall-running, sliding, and grappling hooks, to reach higher ledges and swing around the levels to navigate the newly enhanced Ghostrunner 2 world in between the action. Since Ghostrunner 2’s stories aren’t linear like those in the original game, players can arrange their paths to avoid tricky areas or sneak up on waiting adversaries.
Hi-Fi Rush
A game called Hi-Fi Rush was one of the biggest surprises of 2023; it was revealed and published on the same day. The most surprising thing about Hi-Fi Rush is that it was created by Tango Gameworks, a company best known for its survival horror series The Evil Within and established by Shinji Mikami, the former director of Resident Evil. In addition to having a significantly brighter color scheme and tons of stylistic appeal, Hi-Fi Rush is about as opposite of a game as they get since its primary gameplay mechanism is synchronizing player actions to the beat of each level of music.
Players will sprint, dash, and jump across the game’s several linear stages, including boss fights and action-packed fight scenes. While striving to stay on beat, players must navigate and explore each level to locate hidden trinkets and other resources. They can also upgrade their talents to unlock new moves, abilities, and bonuses. A level choice option allows completists to return and find secrets, overcome difficulties, and find anything else they might have missed the first time.
JUSANT
Jusant is a puzzle platformer from Don’t Nod, the French studio behind IPs like Remember Me, Life is Strange, and the upcoming Banishers: Ghost of New Eden. The game requires players to ascend a lonesome tower. Because of its immense size, this enormous edifice has several distinct biomes, each with its mechanics and ways to navigate it. Jusant mainly relies on the surroundings to communicate the story because it lacks language. Players discover more about the civilization and what happened to them.
Jusant uses a different climbing technique than many other platformers, requiring players to place their hands on raised surfaces to ascend. In addition, there’s a stamina meter to keep track of when climbing, gear to help with backtracking like ropes and pitons, and occasionally, riddles and environmental exploration. In addition to providing the player with hints when needed, the companion character Ballast will awaken the nature imprisoned in these places, creating new pathways and adding color to the environment.
The Last Faith
The Last Faith is a game inspired by Konami’s Castlevania series. It started as a Kickstarter campaign. The Last Faith is a Metroidvania-style game that blends fighting and platforming elements. As upgrades are unlocked, players can return to previously closed doors or paths. The game offers players a variety of methods for dealing with the bosses and Gothic horrors that await them, combining ranged and melee combat with unique skills and magic.
Gamers assume control of Eryk, a figure who appears to awaken and lose memory of his history. Affected by a disease that seems to be weakening his conscience and mind, Eryk embarks on a dangerous quest to discover a remedy. The Last Faith will challenge players to find ways to navigate its terrain and offer novel boss encounters; new skills will help push the boundaries of what is possible even further.
Pizza Tower
Pizza Tower was an independent game that appeared suddenly at the beginning of 2023. After its release, it swiftly gained popularity and was among the highest-rated titles on Steam. Players assume the role of Peppino Spaghetti in this iconic 2D side-scrolling game, which comes with a threat from Pizzaface to demolish his failing restaurant. The tower acts as the game’s central core, connecting players to the five floors, each having four stages before a final battle.
The pixel art game draws inspiration from Nintendo’s Wario Land series and grants Peppino momentum-based skills to enable him to sprint up walls, overcome barriers, and defeat foes. These abilities include shoulder charge, roll, and slide. Several mysteries are hidden within each level, some of which even provide additional skills, appearances, or even animals that aid in opening boss encounters. Most classes end with a “Pizza Time” event that tests the player’s ability to get backward through the level to the start before the timer runs out. After that, the player receives a letter grade based on how well they played. This is the final step in the grading process.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a worthy addition to this list despite being categorized as an action-adventure game because of its level design, which heavily emphasizes sprinting, jumping, and using Jedi powers to negotiate platforms and terrain. There are plenty of lightsabers to be found. Still, players will mostly travel between these action-packed scenes and explore different, broader open levels to accomplish new goals or advance the game’s story.
In addition, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor has a ton of collectibles, such as essences or data discs, many of which are buried or deliberately positioned in difficult-to-reach places around the map, challenging the player’s platforming abilities. The optional Jedi Meditation Chambers are the best example; they usually involve a lot of platforming and puzzle-solving that leads to rewards and cosmetics connected to lightsabers. Respawn even tried to address some of the issues of the original game to facilitate exploration, including fast travel and ridable horses that let players go across these more expansive areas without relying only on their own skills.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Many players associate “Super Mario” with the platforming genre, so when Nintendo revealed a brand-new 2D Mario game for the summer of 2023, it took many by surprise. In Super Mario Bros. Wonder, players visit the Flower Kingdom, where they meet Prince Florian and view their Wonder Flowers, which are hidden treasures. Not predictably, Bowser appears, takes a Wonder Flower, and combines with Florian’s castle to unleash mayhem throughout the entire region.
Wonder’s gameplay satisfies every platforming requirement, bringing Mario and company back to the traditional side-scrolling experience as they conquer many worlds and their respective stages. Players can engage with a drill that lets them tunnel under or through ceilings, a fruit that transforms them into an elephant, and a flower that produces bubbles that can be utilized as temporary platforms or to trap adversaries in addition to the typical Mario powerups. Super Mario Bros. Wonder players can also find unique badges that offer advantages or alter standard gameplay, including the capacity to speedrun the entire level, go invisible, or grapple to ledges. The Wonder above Flowers is another trick Nintendo has up its sleeve; they cause distinct and downright strange effects on every level.
Vernal Edge
Vernal Edge, which has 2D-pixel visuals, combines platforming akin to Metroidvania with precise and fast-paced combat reminiscent of Capcom’s Devil May Cry series. Players may chain multiple blows and even juggle adversaries in midair thanks to the fighting system’s fast-paced combination of magical and melee skills. To get past the many obstacles and boss fights, players can use various defensive strategies, including parrying, air blocking, and reflecting attacks.
Vernal Edge heavily emphasizes exploration, with players using double jumps, sliding, sprinting, and wall leaping to navigate the levels to find secrets, powerups, abilities, and much more. Players can also use the airship to go to different parts of the broken kingdom, which unlocks a whole new map to explore and ultimately leads to faster-paced monster battles.