I want to discuss these five games: Sonic Adventure, Maximo: Ghosts to Glory, Super Mario Sunshine, Wario World, and Kya: Dark Lineage

Heroism: MARIO – SONIC – EVERYONE ELSE

Each embodies different traits that separate themselves from the others and can be considered a special type of platformer.

Mario = super jumper.
Sonic = the fastest thing alive.
Wario = the “bull-dozer”, a strong and self-indulgent character.
Maximo = the standard ‘stodgy’ grounded character with less super abilities, although he is the only character here that can double jump.
Kya = the magic board-rider and regular skydiver.

Momentum: THE NATURE OF PLATFORMING

All the games have a certain sense of speed obtainable (momentum-gaining) to them except Maximo. I am not a fan of plodding around in slower, “thud”-stop momentum-poor games. I like the physics engine in controlling Sonic and Mario the most out of every platformer made that gen.

Why each particular game listed is necessary to play for the 3D platformer experience:

Sonic Adventure – the rollercoaster-esque Sonic levels are the vital platforming experience. There wasn’t any other game out there matching this on its release.

Maximo: Ghosts to Glory – A game that keeps you on your toes throughout. Lives matter and the player can only save with a save token. No filler. Skillful hacking at enemies by gauging their distance from the length of your sword. Careful jumps onto small platforms routinely encroached by enemies. A straightforward 2D to 3D translated experience.

Super Mario Sunshine – The pinnacle of 3D Mario movement. Extraordinarily stylish. Super Mario Sunshine has the most advanced engine out there. Simply put: Mario is active force while the other platforming characters require more assistance from stage elements/course design for platforming goodness. Mario has the best momentum-gaining mechanics.

Wario World – This game is vital, despite my rating it a 3/5, for experiencing the core elements (e.g. glue globes, hit feedback, boss design, serene music in otherworldy levels, block design: the aesthetic, sizes, coalescing movement) are fantastic. The glue globes in particular allow for rotational movement on objects that way ahead of the other platformer games. Nice short game to breeze through.

Kya: Dark Lineage – This gamehas platforming pushed to the X-treme. Hard edge. Meaner, faster. The regular skydiving and magic boarding — the use of gravity — something I am not aware exists in other platformer games to that degree. First game I’ve seen where the enemies go all ‘Devil May Cry‘ on your character (they shoot guns so rapidly the player can get air juggled). The aesthetics are more earthy than all the other games but it makes up for it with its speed and scale.

Play Session: SECTION PENDING!