10 of the best platforming games that don’t star Mario
Nintendo fans are spoiled for choice when it comes to platformers. On the Switch alone, there are more than a dozen games in the Super Mario franchise from across console generations that illustrate why Nintendo developers are the masters of the platforming genre — and that’s not even including games starring Donkey Kong, Kirby, and Nintendo’s smaller stars, like BoxBoy.
But there are plenty of great platforming games, on a wide range of systems, that don’t star Mario, his friends, and his rivals. Here are some of the best 2D and 3D platformers you can enjoy on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch — games that are more “pure” platformers, as opposed to combat-focused and exploratory Metroidvania-style games.
Where to play: Windows PC
Many platforming games try to be Mario. Pizza Tower strives to be his chaotic mirror-world version, Wario, and this fast-paced 2D platformer from indie dev Tour De Pizza is an homage to Nintendo’s Wario Land games. As hero and restaurateur Peppino Spaghetti, you explore and destroy the titular Pizza Tower by sprinting, jumping, and bashing your way through a stack of levels.
There’s an incredible amount of variety in those levels. Many come with their own gameplay gimmick that must be learned, under a certain amount of speed-platforming duress, to progress through and escape. Paired with a soundtrack infested with earworms and a ’90s Nicktoons aesthetic, Pizza Tower is one of the most inventive and finely crafted platformers in years. Not bad for an homage.
Where to play: Mac, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows PC, Xbox One
Shovel Knight is the most authentic retro game ever made, mining 8- and 16-bit nostalgia for classic platformers — most notably, the beloved 1989 NES game Ducktales — and smithing that memorial ore into a sharp, finely honed adventure. Shovel Knight uses its titular tool to great effect, letting the player flip over enemies, dig up treasure, and bounce over obstacles, enemies, and pits of spikes.
Shovel
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