A platformer is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels with uneven terrain and suspended platforms of varying height that require jumping and climbing to traverse. Other acrobatic maneuvers may factor into the gameplay, such as swinging from vines or grappling hooks, jumping off walls, gliding through the air, or bouncing from springboards or trampolines.
Star Fox Adventures is a 2002 action-adventure game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo. The game had a long development cycle starting in 1997. Originally developed as Dinosaur Planet with Rare-created characters as the protagonists, Nintendo producer Shigeru Miyamoto convinced Rare to redesign the game as part of the Star Fox franchise. The game’s initial planned release on the Nintendo 64 was cancelled, with development ultimately shifting forward one hardware generation to the GameCube.
Solar Jetman: Hunt for the Golden Warpship is a multidirectional shooter video game developed by Zippo Games and Rare and published by Tradewest for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released in North America on 14 October 1990 and in Europe by Nintendo on 26 September 1991. The game is the third installment of the Jetman series and was later re-released by Nintendo for their NES-based PlayChoice-10 arcade system in the United States in 1990.
Rad Racer, known as Highway Star in Japan, is a racing video game developed and published by Square for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1987. In this game, players drive a Ferrari 328 or a generic Formula One racing machine through a racecourse. The game was released in North America and Europe months after its debut. The title became well known for being one of two titles from Square that made use of stereoscopic 3D, which was made possible by wearing a pair of anaglyph glasses. Square president Masafumi Miyamoto initially conceived the game as an opportunity for developer Nasir Gebelli to demonstrate his 3D programming skills. Gebelli developed, and often drew by hand, the graphics for the game's 3D mode.
Strider, released in Japan as Strider Hiryū, is a hack-and-slash platform game released in arcades in 1989 by Capcom. Set in a dystopian future where Earth is ruled by the tyrannical Grandmaster Meio, it follows the titular Strider named Hiryu as he attempts to end his tyrannical reign for good. The game resulted from cooperation between Capcom and manga publisher Moto Kikaku. It marked the video game debut of Strider Hiryu, after the character was introduced in the 1988 manga Strider Hiryu.
Strider 2, released in Japan as Strider Hiryū 2, and then as Strider Hiryū 1&2, is a platform video game. It is developer and publisher Capcom's 1999 sequel to the original Strider. This game is the second sequel to Strider produced, following U.S. Gold's 1990 noncanonical Strider II, a game with which Capcom was not directly involved. The Capcom-produced Strider 2 makes no references to the Western-only Strider Returns/Strider II. The game was released for arcades in 1999 and was ported to the PlayStation in 2000.
"Game over" is a message in video games which informs the player that their play session has ended, usually because the player has reached a loss condition. It also sometimes appears at the successful completion of a session, especially in games designed for arcades, after the player has exhausted the game's supply of new challenges. The phrase has since been turned into quasi-slang, usually describing an event that will cause significant harm, injury, bad luck, or even death to a person.
Gravitar is a color vector graphics multidirectional shooter arcade video game released by Atari, Inc. in 1982. Using the same "rotate-and-thrust" controls as Asteroids and Space Duel, the game was known for its high level of difficulty. It was the first of over twenty games that Mike Hally designed and produced for Atari. The main programmer was Rich Adam and the cabinet art was designed by Brad Chaboya. 5,427 cabinets were produced. An Atari 2600 version by Dan Hitchens was published by Atari in 1983.
Bionic Commando is a video game franchise consisting of an original arcade video game released in 1987 and several later versions and sequels. The games are platform games in which, with two exceptions, the player cannot jump. A bionic arm is used to cross gaps and climb ledges. The player character, Nathan "Rad" Spencer, uses this as a grappling gun/hook to swing, climb and descend through levels. Seven games have been released, from the original 1987 Bionic Commando to 2011's Bionic Commando Rearmed 2. The series is based in an alternate timeline in which Nazism is not completely eradicated following World War II.
Armed and Dangerous is a 2003 shooter video game created by Planet Moon Studios and released by LucasArts. It is a third-person action-adventure shooter which parodies video games and other media such as The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Monty Python and the Holy Grail, using humorous in-game dialogue and cutscenes. The game features known actors and voice actors such as Brian George as main hero Roman, Jeff Bennett, John Mariano and Pat Fraley as his sidekicks Jonesy, Rexus and Q (respectively) and Tony Jay as villain King Forge.
The R360 is a motion-based arcade cabinet produced by Sega. It was first released in Japan in 1990, and internationally a year later. Being short for "Rotate 360", the R360 is noteworthy for its ability to spin 360 degrees in any direction on two metal axis, allowing the player to freely move as the cabinet mimics the in-game action, including the ability to turn completely upside down. A safety bar and four-point safety harness are utilized to keep players in the seat as the machine moves. An emergency stop button is also present both inside the machine and on the attendant tower.
Assault is a 1988 multi-directional shooter arcade game developed and published by Namco. It was licensed to Atari Games for release in North America. Controlling a caterpillar-tread self-propelled gun, the player is tasked with completing each of the game's eleven stages while shooting enemies and avoiding projectiles. It uses a twin-stick control layout, similar to games such as Battlezone. The plot involves the human race searching for new planets after Earth reaches its maximum population - after discovering an exo-planet 35,000 light years away from the Milky Way, they enslave the planet's natives and take control, leading to the planet's native population vowing to abolish the humans and bring peace to their world. The protagonist who rides the aforementioned self-propelled gun which players control, is one such native.
M.C. Kids is a 1992 platform video game developed and published by Virgin Interactive. It was initially released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in February 1992 in North America, and by Ocean Software in May 1993 in Europe. As a licensed product for the McDonald's fast food restaurant chain, the game stars two children named Mack and Mick who venture into the fantasy world of McDonaldland in order to return Ronald McDonald's magical bag which has been stolen by the Hamburglar. The game was created by four people in eight months: Darren Bartlett Gregg Iz-Tavares and Dan Chang (programming) and Charles Deenen (audio).
Artillery games are two or three-player video games involving tanks trying to destroy each other. The core mechanics of the gameplay is almost always to aim at the opponent(s) following a ballistic trajectory. Artillery games are among the earliest computer games developed; the theme of such games is an extension of the original uses of computer themselves, which were once used to calculate the trajectories of rockets and other related military-based calculations. Artillery games have been described as a type of "shooting game", though they are more often classified as a type of strategy video game.
Osman is a side-scrolling action platforming game produced by Mitchell Corp. that was released as a coin-operated arcade game in 1996. Many ex-Capcom staff including Kouichi Yotsui, worked on the original arcade version of Strider and designed Osman as an unofficial sequel to Strider. Yotsui directed both titles.
San Francisco Rush: Extreme Racing is a video game developed and published by Atari Games. This game was first released in arcades in 1996 and was ported to Nintendo 64 in 1997 and the PlayStation in 1998. San Francisco Rush: Extreme Racing is the first game in the Rush series.
Bucky O'Hare is a 1992 platform game for the Nintendo Entertainment System based on the comic book series of the same name. The game was developed, under the direction of Masato Maegawa, by Konami, which also published it in North America in February 1992 and in Europe on February 18, 1993. Graphics were created by Kaname Shindoh, Madonna Taira, and Toshiharu Furukawa, and the music was composed by Tomoko Sumiyama.
LittleBigPlanet is a puzzle platform video game series created and produced by British developer Media Molecule and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Most games in the series put a strong emphasis on user-generated content and are based on the series' tagline "Play, Create, Share". The tagline represents the three core elements of the series: playing alone or with others locally or online, creating new content using the in-game creation tools, and sharing creations and discoveries online with other players.
Samsara is a single-player, puzzle platform video game in which players guide the protagonist Zee and a "shadowed echo" to safety by dropping objects with different forms and behaviours into two mirrored gameplay areas separated by the surface of a pool. Samsara was released on 6 February 2018 for Microsoft Windows, macOS and Xbox One. The developer, Auckland based Marker Limited, states that versions for iOS and Android will follow shortly afterwards. Samsara is an original title from Marker, a New Zealand development studio best known for its contract work.
Dracula's Castle is the main setting of the video game Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997), which was designed by Koji Igarashi. Players control the protagonist Alucard as they explore the castle, which was based on the traditional depiction of Castle Dracula from the horror novel by Bram Stoker and related media, and is one of numerous incarnations in the Castlevania series. Upon defeating Shaft, a minion of Dracula, players are able to enter the Inverted Castle, an upside down version of the original castle that was included because the designers wanted to add more content without having to create new assets. The Inverted Castle served as inspiration for multiple games, such as 2014's Strider and Igarashi's Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.
