Why? Why is this genre of games so underrated now? Yes. I know why. 2D Platformers just aren't as popular as they were in their prime time. Many newer genres have more appeal such as 1st-person Shooters, Japanese RPGs, and other stuff. Yes. I know the Gameboy Advance and the DS have their fair bit of platformers, especially the Advance, but those are mostly 1st party remakes and Kirby games (still have to pick up CC for the DS). New! Super Mario Bros. could also be 2D, I guess. Super Paper Mario, I haven't played, but, it looks like a faithful game to the genre. Just remembered the newer Yoshi games, too. The Sonic Advance series is also great, with pretty much all of the stuff that made his first few games great. I've seen a fair bit of 3rd party platformers, but I haven't played them, to be honest. There's also some of the newer Megaman games as well. There's also Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins for the PSP, which I really need to get since I haven't played a single Ghosts 'n Goblins games yet. :( Alright, so there's a decent amount of 2D Platformers out, but it's still kinda underrated as a genre today. Some of the best for me include: The Super Mario series, of course, which includes the 3 NES games (if you count 2), the Famicom one (Lost Levels aka the TRUE 2nd game), the 2 SNES ones (excluding the 2 All Stars games), the 2 Gameboy games (Super Mario Land), and the remakes on the GBA. Oh! And Super Mario 64 and Mario Sunshine and Mario Galaxy, but those aren't 2D Platformers, now are they? (Great 3D Platformers, nonetheless!) Wonderful game that gave birth to, IMO, the best platformer series EVER. Adventure Island. Very hard compared to other games of its genre, though I've heard some of the NES Megaman games and Ghosts 'n Goblins are just as hard. I'm stuck on the 3rd level. :1 I've played some of the Super Adventure Island games for the SNES, which are fun, too, but not as fast. :'( The games have a really good soundtrack, from what I've heard from the 1st few levels. Master Higgins shares some traits with an all too similar platforming protagonist. Sonic the Hedgehog series on the Genesis. Fastest platformers around? Ohh yeah. Even, though the music is all MIDI-composed, still great especially Sonic 3. Sonic CD: The best. Sonic CD has some of the best level designs ever in a Sonic game. Kirby's Dreamland series. Including the 2 Gameboy games, the 1 NES one, the 2 SNES ones, and Kirby 64 (though, it's in 3D, still retains the earlier feel). Another example of how creative platformer games could get, notably Kirby's ability to suck in an enemy and gains its ability. Made even more interesting in the N64 one, where you could combine two abilities! Kirby Superstar DS is coming. Soon. Legend of the Mystical Ninja. I've only played this one-player. Though, I've heard it's more fun 2-player. The Yo-Yo is the best way to get through the game... if you can keep onto it long enough without getting hit. You could get it again, but it seems much harder to hit the enemies later without the Yo Yo. (Or to me it does, anyways :P) I'd love to play the N64 ones right about now. Ristar. Had the potential to be one of Sega's greatest franchises but instead was just kept as a Genesis game. Why, Sega? WHY? But, anyways. Everything about Ristar looks great. The colors, the characters, the fvcking backgrounds. The music was also ace and the some of the best ever. (I know I'm getting repetitive with the word "ever", but who can help it? I love these games!) Damn, Ristar's got some hot streets! 2D Metroid series! Absolute favorite for me! Love every single Metroid platformer game! The original NES one, the Gameboy one, the Super Nintendo one, and the 2 GBA ones! Unfortunately, I've played very little of Metroid Fusion but from what I've played, I loved it. Loved the whole idea of going deep inside the planet and going though long tunnels, especially in the earlier games! It was more eerie in a way! The original Metroid is hard, though, since you don't have a map, you're more bound to get lost easily. ^Most underrated in the Metroid series, IMO. The Overworld (or Underworld? LULZ) music is the best ever. And now or another personal favorite and the BEST 2D Platformer EVER. That's right. WARIO F*CKIN' LAND! Not only is it fun, it's portable! You can play 4/5 of the games on your Gameboy Advance! It's simple platforming but with a twist. Wario Land was like Super Mario Land 2 but even better with challenging levels and interesting events, such as the 1st few levels taking place on a beach and then later being flooded (which allows you to go back and find more treasure!). Wario Land 2 eliminated the need of a health bar in favor of more puzzling levels and more challenge, which was just about the best thing to EVER do in a platformer. Wario Land 3 also took out the health bar and in turn, gave MORE bigger levels and much more interesting features, such as the night-and-day feature, cause-and-effect treasures, and much more. Wario Land 4 added the health bar back but was one of the most prettiest on the GBA for its time (being released the same year as the GBA!). Not only that, but the levels were more flavorful and arranged in 4 different themes. The music is funk-based and that's just awesome for a video game. The bosses are fun, creepy, and drug-induced (seriously, there's a plant boss called "Cractus" which is in one of the pics above). Unfortunately, I haven't played Virtual Boy Wario Land (hey, who has?) but by the looks of it, it looks wonderful. Hell, even the red-and-black graphics make it look kinda eerie, which is what I bet they were going for, too, since [spoiler] the final boss is a scary genie's head. [/spoiler] Soon there'll be a new Wario Land game and that game'll be on the little white box we know as the Nintendo Revolution! That's right. A new Wario Land game since 2001. You don't know excited and orgasmic I am. Here's boxart and screenshots and here's a trailer for your pleasure: Wario Land Shake It trailer Anime intro to Wario Land Shake it Thank you, goodnight, bye!