Platform game, or platformer, is a video game genre characterized by jumping to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles. It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps. The most common unifying element to these games is a jump button; other jump mechanics include swinging from extendable arms, as in Ristar or Bionic Commando, or bouncing from springboards or trampolines, as in Alpha Waves. These mechani...
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Platform game, or platformer, is a video game genre characterized by jumping to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles. It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps. The most common unifying element to these games is a jump button; other jump mechanics 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 the term "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, and 3D successors 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...
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