A platform game is a video game which requires an avatar to jump to and from suspended platforms and/or over obstacles to advance the game. The player must control these jumps to avoid the avatar falling from platforms or missing necessary jumps. The most common unifying element of games of this video game genre is the jump button. "Jumping" may include swinging from extendable arms, as in Ristar or Bionic Commando, or bouncing from springboards or trampolines, as in Alpha Waves. These mechanics, even in the context of other genres, are commonly called platforming, a verbification of platform. Games where jumping is automated completely, such as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, fall outside of the genre. Platform games originated in the early 1980s, followed by 3D successors, which were popularized in the mid-1990s. The term itself describes games where jumping on platforms is an integral part of the gameplay, and came into use some time after the genre had been established, but no later than 1983. However, it is not a pure genre and is very frequently coupled with elements of other genres, such as the shooter elements in Contra, the adventure elements of Flashback or the RPG elements of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Wikipedia [ - ]

A platform game is a video game which requires an avatar to jump to and from suspended platforms... [ + ]