Best Platformer of 2018 - Article
by Evan Norris , posted on 31 December 2018 / 5,115 Views
With so many interesting platformers emerging from the independent game space, it doesn't seem like the genre will want for great games any time soon. In 2018, indie titles mixed with a brand new Kirby campaign and an inventive PSVR adventure with great results. Fans of all platforming stripes were satisfied. Titles like Guacamelee! 2 and Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom scratched the itch for platform-adventure; indie darling Celeste satisfied the need for a McMillen-esque tough-as-nails platformer; GRIS delivered a thoughtful, contemplative take on the ancient genre; Kirby Star Allies leaned into cooperative play; and Astro Bot Rescue Mission pushed platforming into a new dimension.
The Shortlist:
Astro Bot Rescue Mission
Celeste
GRIS
Kirby Star Allies
Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom
The Winner:
Celeste
Celeste provides almost everything you'd want in a platformer: lovely pixel art; heavenly music; a meaningful story about doubt, anxiety, depression, and reconciliation; and, most importantly, accessible and flexible controls. Across several sites on a towering mountain named Celeste, players guide a young woman across hundreds of bite-sized platforming rooms. Some are straightforward, some devilish. One of the many beauties of Celeste is that players who wish to enjoy the sincere story can take the path of least resistance while battle-hardened platform fans can tackle optional "strawberry" rooms and B-sides—more punishing remixed versions of classic levels. Challenging, beautiful, and relevant, Celeste is our pick for best platformer of 2018.
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I’d definitely have given it to Astro Bot, but I’m biased.
Why is Kirby Star Allies even on the shortlist? Isn't it like universally considered really average? Iconoclasts, Dead Cells, Dandara, Yoku's Island Express, there were so many great platformers/metroidvanias this year that should get some recognition!
I agree about Kirby. Don't Metroidvania's fall under Action/Adventure though?
Pure Action, maybe, but Action/Adventure no. That category is for very different games (AC Odyssey, RDR2, GoW and Spider-Man are Action/Adventure, Dead Cells for example has nothing to do with them). Since VGChartz has both a “Best Action/Adventure Game” and a “Best Shooter”, I'm gonna guess there's no “Best Action Game”, and so metroidvanias should be on the “Best Platformers” list.
I personally wouldn't consider them pure Action or Platformer games so Action/Adventure is the best fit for them IMO.
If VGChartz considers metroidvanias Action/Adventure games, they completely snubbed those games I mentioned.
Oh right I forgot they already did that category. At the very least Dead Cells deserves to get a nomination somewhere.
Haven't played any of them, but i definitely want to check out Celeste.
Awesome to see so much gameplay variety included in a whole genre (Metroidvania, co-op, story-telling, skill-based, etc ...) !
GRIS should be on this list.
Kirby is such a nice boi that he allowed Celeste to win, just a wholesome award.
Well-deserved, though I feel Dead Cells is a better platformer (albeit a slightly different genre).
Game is several years old
Ports and remasters are excluded from competing for obvious reasons.
