Best Platformers On PS4

Key Takeaways

• 3D platformers have seen a resurgence, with PS4 offering side-scrolling platformers at a lower price to compensate for less content.
• Platformer games will continue to evolve with new tech, with titles like Crash Bandicoot 4 and Psychonauts 2 leading the way.
• Nostalgic platformers like Super Meat Boy and Fez bring challenging gameplay and unique mechanics to the table, delighting players.

There was once a time when the platforming genre dominated the home console market. Mascot characters like Mario, Sonic, and Donkey Kong were driving forces behind not just the sales of their own games but the sales of their consoles. The genre continued to succeed when gaming made the switch from 2D to 3D in the late 90s; Sonic and Donkey Kong struggled to adjust in the long term, but Mario continued to thrive, and new characters like Crash Bandicoot and Spyro began to emerge.

Despite the eighth generation of consoles offering developers the opportunity to make games at an even larger scale than ever before, the PlayStation 4 saw platformers, in particular side-scrolling platformers, make a return. The genre seems to have found its place in modern gaming by reducing its price to compensate for the lack of content in comparison to open-world adventures.

Updated on December 9, 2024, by Mehrdad Khayyat: Platformer is probably one of the most economical genres in gaming when it comes to hardware capabilities, but it also delivers a quite satisfying experience with endless innovations in gameplay.

It doesn’t matter how advanced the console hardware becomes in the future, the platformer games will continue to exist, and they will also make use of the new tech to make dreams come true. Things that have not been possible with the older tech.

20 Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty!

Solve Puzzles And Survive The Evil Factory

• Available Platforms: PS4, Linux, PC, Mac, Xbox One, PS3, PS Vita, Wii U, Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch
• Release Date: July 22, 2014

Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty! is a remake of the original entry in the series, Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee, which was first released in 1997. The game comes with a 3D environment while keeping its core gameplay mechanics intact.

Like the original, New ‘n’ Tasty is a side-scrolling, cinematic platformer filled with tricky puzzles to solve and an excellent dark, atmospheric art design. A sequel was released in April 2021 titled Oddworld: Soulstorm, though the game failed to impress fans and critics, it was still fun enough to be worth buying for an Oddworld fan.

19 Ratchet And Clank

Setting The Foundation For A New Beginning In The Series

2016’s Ratchet & Clank served as a reboot of the Ratchet & Clank series, which began on the PlayStation 2 back in November 2002. As mentioned before, the PlayStation 2 era of gaming was a difficult time for platform games, as the industry was shifting more towards action-heavy titles. Insomniac Games found a great balance between action and platforming with Ratchet & Clank, a winning formula that has served them well for nearly two decades now.

Ratchet & Clank (2016) was particularly praised by critics for its stunning visuals and art direction that made the game’s levels a joy to traverse. This version also set the foundation for future entries in a reinvented world. The gameplay mechanics were modernized in the reboot, and the storytelling was significantly improved.

18 Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time

Revisiting The Old Formula In The Crash Bandicoot Series

The Crash Bandicoot series’ last few years have been a delight for fans of the franchise, with remakes for the beloved PlayStation 1 racing and platforming games being followed by a direct sequel to 1998’s Crash Bandicoot: Warped. The resurgence has given hope to those wanting to see their favorite childhood games getting a modern sequel and has been a prime example of how great remakes can be for an IP.

Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time sees the series return to its corridor platforming roots, with a few moments of adult humor and brutal difficulty level that shows the developers had Crash‘s older audience in mind when making the game. It’s About Time delivers a nostalgic experience for the old-school fans of Crash, especially when it used to be developed by Naughty Dog.

17 Super Meat Boy

The Dark Souls Of Platformer Games

From one tricky platformer to another, Super Meat Boy was first released on Xbox 360 back in 2010 and was a pioneer of the indie platforming genre, which is thriving today. The game took platforming back to its roots with a side-scrolling perspective and small, contained levels while also implementing new ideas such as instant resets and the absence of lives which has become the norm in platforming today.

Super Meat Boy finally received a sequel over ten years after its initial release, titled Super Meat Boy Forever. However, that game struggled to impress with many people being put off by its auto-runner movement. Super Meat Boy is widely known as the Dark Souls of side-scrollers, and it really needs deep focus and dedication to complete the game without getting mad!

16 Cuphead

A Challenging Action Platformer With Stunning Visuals

Originally released on Xbox One and PC in 2017, Cuphead finally made its way to Sony’s console in 2017. Cuphead was developed and published by Studio MDHR, who took inspiration from 30s cartoons for the game’s art style, which won Best Art Direction at The Game Awards 2017.

Except for a few run and gun levels scattered through the game’s overworld, Cuphead is essentially a boss rush. This doesn’t mean that the game is too simplistic or will be over quickly, though, as Cuphead‘s bosses provide some of the toughest challenges from the PS4’s lifecycle.

15 Spelunky 2

A Worthy Sequel For The Roguelike Platformer After A Decade

Released 12 years after the original Spelunky, Mossmouth brought its 2D side-scrolling IP back to critical acclaim. The game puts the player in the shoes of Ana, the daughter of the first game’s protagonist.

Mossmouth kept the core gameplay of Spelunky 2 similar to the game’s predecessor but found ways of improving the pre-existing mechanics while also throwing in a few new ones. One new mechanic came in the form of ridable mounts, taking players back to the nostalgic days of Mario and Yoshi. The core gameplay is about digging through the terrain and completing objectives without dying to traps or hostile creatures.

14 Psychonauts 2

Coming Back In Style With Better Visuals, Story, And Gameplay

Psychonauts 2 is a rare case of a game published by Xbox Game Studios being available on the blue brand of console. PlayStation’s platforming fans were certainly thankful for this, as Psychonauts 2 was not only one of the best platformers of 2021 but one of the best games of that year, period.

Like its predecessor, Psychonauts 2 stands out with its creative level designs and variety of psychic powers at the player’s disposal that lead to some ingeniously imaginative platforming sequences. The game also delivers a light-hearted but engaging story, something that Double Fine excels at.

13 Sonic Mania Plus

The Expanded Version And Savior Of Sonic Mania

Sonic Mania was originally released back in 2017 with the promise of returning to the roots by revisiting some of the older worlds and missions in the franchise. While the game was a fun experience, it didn’t manage to bring the old-school experience

Thankfully, SEGA didn’t leave the game and released an expanded version in 2018 named Sonic Mania Plus. This version added some new playable characters as well as a few new modes and some gameplay refinements.

12 Little Nightmares

Combining Platformer Challenges With A Horrifying Theme

Little Nightmares is one of the few games that managed to deliver a horrific adventure in the framework of a side-scroller platformer. The game follows a little child who wakes up in a doomed home and soon finds out they are surrounded by cannibals.

All three iterations of Little Nightmares manage to maintain a good balance between platforming puzzles and mysterious environment design, accompanied by some well-thought incidents to pump adrenaline into players.

11 Dead Cells

A Brutal Action-Platformer For The Dedicated

The Metroidvania genre had a surprising but welcome resurgence during the eighth generation of console, as titles like Ori and the Will of the Wisps and Hollow Knight proved that the classic style of play had a place in modern gaming.

Dead Cells is an extremely ambitious game that tried to combine a range of genres, including platforming, action, roguelike, and Metroidvania. The game was highly praised for how well it blended the many genres and for the design of its procedurally generated levels.

It’s a brutal roguelike that requires both fast reactions and good combat skills. However, the game is also quite punishing, as a single death will send the player back to square one!

10 Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition

A Light-Hearted Metroidvania With Little But Impactful Innovations

Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition is yet another excellent modern Metroidvania title. The game was initially released on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita in 2013 before the wonderfully titled Super Turbo Championship Edition brought the game to eighth-generation consoles and PC.

Much like Dead Cells, DrinkBox Studios’ Guacamelee! integrates multiple genres into its gameplay; platforming and beat ’em up-action are the game’s main styles of play as players progress through the beautifully designed Metroidvania map.

9 Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown

Nailing It With A New Direction In The Series

The Prince of Persia franchise was always known for its platformer challenges, but translating the game into a 2D side-scroller was something new, and Ubisoft nailed it with The Lost Crown.

It’s a shame that the French publisher shut down the studio behind Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. The game was widely acclaimed for its numerous creative platformer mechanics, massive open-world maps, and an abundance of mysteries to solve.

8 Fez

Mind-Bending Puzzles In A Complex World

Fez is a puzzle-platformer that blends 2D and 3D gaming by letting players rotate a three-dimensional world to change their two-dimensional view. It was widely acclaimed for the innovation in the gameplay, resulting in the birth of amazingly creative puzzles.

What makes Fez even more special is its open-ended world that rewards exploration and allows players to discover the mystries hidden in the world by changing their perspective.

7 Astro Bot Rescue Mission

The Unexpectedly Amazing New IP From Team Asobi

Astro Bot Rescue Mission differentiates itself from the other games on this list by being a virtual reality title. The game was developed by Team Asobi, which was still a part of Japan Studio at the time. Astro Bot Rescue Mission was a great advert for VR as it showed just how enjoyable a platform game could be on the futuristic device.

A sequel, titled Astro’s Playroom, was released as a free launch title for the PlayStation 5 and effectively acted as a tech demo for the console and its controller. Like its predecessor, the game delighted fans and critics as it oozes fun and charm.

6 Rayman Legends

The Final Iteration Of Ubisoft’s Best Ever Platformer Franchise

Once Ubisoft’s leading game series, Rayman carved a space in the crowded 2D side-scrolling genre of platformers with the original Rayman in 1995, before drastically changing styles with the 3D Rayman 2: The Great Escape four years later; ensuring that the mascot character didn’t fall behind after Super Mario 64 revolutionized the genre.

Rayman Legends, along with its predecessor Rayman Origins, was fundamental in bringing side-scrolling platformers back into the mainstream. The games combined beautiful modern visuals with smooth platforming gameplay that even managed to make underwater levels enjoyable. And let’s not forget about the amazing soundtrack in Rayman Legends, which is a massive part of its enjoyable gameplay.

5 Shovel Knight

An Unforgiving Platformer For Retro Gamers

Released by Yacht Club Games one year after Ubisoft’s Rayman Legends, Shovel Knight has found its way onto almost every major console under the sun since its humble beginnings on Kickstarter.

Shovel Knight takes players on a nostalgic trip back to the side-scrolling platformers of the Nintendo Entertainment System with its 8-bit graphics. The game has an unforgiving nature and punishes players for the slightest of mistakes, which makes every little victory count.

4 Inside

A Story-Heavy Experience With Lots Of Puzzles To Solve

The successor to Limbo, Playdead initially released Inside on the Xbox One in 2016 before coming to all other major systems. Much like its predecessor, the game has an ambiguous story that is still being debated today.

Much like Limbo, Inside is a puzzle-platformer that has a far slower and more methodical speed than the usual fast-paced platforming games that most players are accustomed to. The game takes a “less is more” approach to its sound, as the game is predominantly silent except for sound effects and musical cues.

3 Celeste

A Gold Standard Among The Modern Side-Scrollers

Celeste was developed and published by Matt Makes Games, who also released the critically acclaimed action title TowerFall. Celeste puts players in control of Madeline, who attempts to climb Celeste Mountain.

The game offers difficult platformer challenges in a variety of worlds, following a mysterious but engaging story. The soundtrack in Celeste is a masterpiece to the point that sometimes the player may stop playing and just listen to the music instead.

2 Journey

A Relaxing Platformer With Mesmerizing Environment

Journey was originally released on the PlayStation 3 in 2012, before being ported to the PlayStation 4 just over three years later. The adventure-platformer will only take most players a couple of hours to beat, though its gameplay experience still lives fondly in the memories of many players.

Due to its short length and emphasis on trying to invoke a sense of emotional attachment to the protagonist and any companions, the platforming sections in Journey are few and far between. Still, it’s worth checking out for fans of the genre for the encapsulating journey that the game takes players on, partnered with its wonderful art design.

1 It Takes Two

Redefining 3D Platformer With Deep Focus On Cooperation

It Takes Two didn’t win the Game of the Year award lightly. Hazelight indeed raised the bar for 3D platformers with It Takes Two, by introducing so many incredible puzzles that need not one, but two players coordinated with each other to solve them.

At a time when not many games consider couch co-op, It Takes Two once again brought this type of game mode back to the trends besides supporting the online co-op mode. And the result was nothing short of a masterpiece.