While all eyes have deservingly been on Astro Bot and its spectacular platforming thrills in 2024, it’s easy to forget that a lot of lesser-known platformers have been quietly killing it this year. From completely unexpected sequels to 30-year-old games that you’ve probably never heard of to top-tier VR adventures and nostalgic fishing journeys that nearly live up to the games that inspired them, it’s been a heck of a year for one of gaming’s most popular genres.
As we reflect on the best games of 2024 throughout this month, we wanted to take a moment to highlight some lesser known platformers that didn’t get a spotlight this year. These five games may not have gotten the same attention as Astro Bot, but they’re proof that it’s not just gaming’s biggest companies that are keeping a classic genre alive.
Nikoderiko: The Magical World
Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, PC
Capitalizing on nostalgia isn’t always an easy thing. Developers have to nail all of the fundamentals of what players love about an older title while also providing enough modern flair to meet today’s standards. I haven’t seen many games pull this off as well as VEA Games’ Nikoderiko, a love letter to classic platformers like Donkey Kong Country and Crash Bandicoot that doesn’t shy away whatsoever from embracing the best parts of those experiences — even if it means essentially copying/pasting their features. The former is perhaps Nikoderiko‘s largest influence, as various parts of Donkey Kong Country have been lifted and placed into this title with great success, such as blasting between barrels, finding golden letters to spell out N-I-K-O in every level, familiar “collect-them-all” bonus stage designs, and even rideable animal companions. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?
As if that wasn’t enough to prove that Nikoderiko basically feels like a fresh Donkey Kong Country game with a new cast of characters, the talented David Wise returns to compose an excellent soundtrack three decades after he first created some of gaming’s most memorable music ever in Donkey Kong’s SNES outings. And though Nikoderiko‘s two playable characters, Niko and Luna, aren’t quite as memorable as Nintendo’s ape family, they’re still a blast to play with through a bright and colorful world full of creative level design and challenging platforming. There’s even local co-op available here, so grab a friend and go on a new adventure together!
Max Mustard
Platforms: PlayStation VR2, Meta Quest, PC
Look, Max Mustard is a silly name for a character — but her VR-only title is one of the most delightful experiences of 2024. Max Mustard takes place entirely within your VR headset as you control the game’s titular character through 40 lively levels filled to the brim with gorgeous art design, exciting challenges, and no shortage of neat little surprises. It’s actually shocking how similar this game feels to PlayStation VR’s Astro Bot: Rescue Mission in both design and quality. Both games take a traditional 3D platformer and give you full 360-degree camera control to make you feel less like a passive observer and more like an active part of the adventure. They both achieve this unique perspective so well that they never sacrifice excellent controls and user stability in the process.
Though its VR trappings certainly elevate the experience of Max Mustard, this mascot platformer hits all of the right notes as a platformer as a whole. Levels are a joy to navigate, with plenty of fun little secrets hidden throughout, controls are responsive and tight to ensure precise jumps and attacks, and Max’s goofy last name doesn’t hold her back from being a charismatic lead who easily wins over your heart within only a few minutes. To top things off, some levels even let you get in on the fun by granting you a plunger gun you can use in first-person to engage with the environment, take on bosses, or complete target challenges. All of these pieces come together to create a whimsical journey that anyone with a VR headset should check out.
Europa
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC
Not every platformer needs to be a frenetic journey overflowing with enemies and difficult obstacles. As a matter of fact, some of gaming’s most memorable quests take place in the quiet and peaceful moments between all the action. Similar to the reflective expedition you take in a game like Journey, Europa is far more interested in letting you take in its world at your own pace. Its gorgeous, open-ended environments sport an art style that’s very clearly inspired by the works of Studio Ghibli, and the game makes use of each bit of it to help tell a compelling story of isolation and uncertainty as seen through the eyes of an android boy named Zee, who finds himself searching an alien moon for clues about the disappearance of its inhabitants.
Europa eschews combat encounters and chooses instead to serve up environmental puzzles that you need to solve to proceed, as well as some mildly challenging platforming that makes consistent use of Zee’s jetpack. Flying and gliding around the lush landscape is a simple joy, though it all goes by rather quickly. The game can be beaten in around 3 to 4 hours, so it won’t be ideal for those looking for something more expansive. But for anyone with an afternoon to invest in an endearing platformer with a surprisingly touching story, Europa is one moon worth exploring.
Ufouria: The Saga 2
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, PC
There’s a good chance you’ve probably never heard of Ufouria: The Saga. The NES game, which never made its way to a North American release, received a mixed reception in Japan and Europe in 1991 and certainly hasn’t been held in the same regard as some of that era’s most well-known platformers in the decades since. So you’d probably be equally confused about how it landed a full-blown sequel over 30 years later. But that’s the timeline we’re living in, and honestly, I’m really glad to be here. This fun romp is simple, but satisfying to play, offering hours of fairly standard platforming fun that scratches an itch without demanding much too from the player. This kind of breezy experience is a great palette cleanser in a day and age where many platformers are eager to push the limits of our reflexes.
Ufouria: The Saga 2 impresses visually by blending fuzzy, almost fabric-styled characters and environments with paper-like backgrounds to create an art style reminiscent of newer entries in Nintendo’s Yoshi franchise. This storybook approach couples well with the wacky nature of the borderline nonsensical story and dialogue that brings together four unlikely characters — a penguin, a cat, a ghost, and a fish — each of whom possesses unique abilities necessary to pass certain obstacles in the world. You’ll have to switch between each of them on the fly to get through the bright and colorful levels, and you can even buy new skills for them all as you advance through the game, opening new pathways that give the title a Metroidvania-lite feel. As surprising of a sequel as Ufouria: The Saga 2 may be, its modernized take on the original’s bizarre world and characters results in an undeniably charming time, and it left me rooting for a third entry.
Akimbot
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, PC
The PlayStation 2 was home to some of the best 3D platformers of all time. It was a period in gaming that really cemented the fact that the collect-a-thon aspects people knew and loved could be blended with combat-heavy action to define the genre for years to come. Developer Evil Raptor seems to have understood that when it set out to create an action-platformer that feels straight out of that generation. The frenetic nostalgia bomb that resulted is Akimbot, which pulls from beloved franchises like Jak and Daxter and Ratchet and Clank to blend third-person shooting with platforming throughout a world where robots rule. Toss in an edgy main character and wisecracking sidekick, and it’s safe to say that the PS2-era vibe checks out.
Akimbot doesn’t quite reach the heights of the games it seeks to imitate, but it nevertheless sells that feeling of sitting on a couch in the early 2000s extremely well. A somewhat limited weapon and upgrade system and slightly repetitive level design aren’t enough to hold back the exciting moment-to-moment gunplay and shockingly smooth and precise platforming. Having previously released another old-school 3D platforming gem in 2020’s Pumpkin Jack, the team at Evil Raptor appears to have a type, and I’m excited to see what they cook up next.
