Platformer News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

Footage of what's claimed to be an «internal demo» of LittleBigPlanet Hub – the free-to-play PS3 exclusive announced initially, and expected to be released, in 2013 – has popped up online.

Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown, Ubisoft's highly polished prototypical Metroidvania, was released last month and instantly earned its place on our list of the best of the genre. Now Ubisoft Montpellier say they're planning free updates to add extra content and modes, with the first to arrive soon.

Ubisoft has teased its future plans for Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, saying the acclaimed Metroidvania will be getting new content and modes in free updates starting «soon».

Epic Mickey, Warren Spector's action-platforming love letter to early period Disney, is heading to PC more than a decade after its original Wii exclusive release. It'll arrive as Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed, a "remake" with modern graphics and controls.

To borrow from Game of Thrones, Minter is coming (please read that in Ned Stark's voice). Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story — an interactive documentary experience for PC, Xbox, PlayStation and Switch — will release next month, on 13th March.

Hi-Fi Rush will skip the current Nintendo Switch and instead arrive on the console's currently-unannounced successor. That's according to a report from Insider Gaming, which states that the absence of a Switch version of the game in yesterday's Xbox multi-platform announcement was due to it launching on Nintendo Switch 2 instead.

Xbox has announced a PlayStation release date for Sea of Thieves, its popular pirate live service game from British studio Rare.

A PlayStation 5 release date for the currently-Xbox console exclusive Hi-Fi Rush has found its way onto the internet.

Nintendo will hold its next Direct showcase today, Wednesday 20th February at 2pm UK time.

Undersea Soulslike Another Crab's Treasure now has a release date, as announced at today's Nintendo Direct.

SEGA has announced Super Monkey Ball: Banana Rumble for Switch. It will launch on June 25, 2024.

The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series versions of Bang-On Balls: Chronicles will launch on March 5, publisher Untold Tales and developer Exit Plan announced. The new versions will run in 4K resolution and 60 frames per second, and be available as a free upgrade for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One owners.

Jump King is a simple, brutal, bastard of a platformer in which you attempt to steer a king towards the top of a single tower using his chargeable jump. Misjudge a particular jump by over- or undercharging it, maybe bounce back off a wall, and you may find yourself tumbling all the way back to the beginning again.

Following mounting reports Xbox is preparing for some kind of multiplatform future, Microsoft has confirmed it'll be bringing four previously Xbox-exclusive first-party titles to PlayStation 5 and Switch later this year, with more likely to come in the future.

In the past few years, Metroidvanias and action-adventure platformers have seen a resurgence. Ori and the Blind Forest, Hollow Knight and Dead Cells have breathed new life into the genre, bringing fresh ideas to its established ethos. There's also a renewed appetite for challenging games. Dark Souls came around in 2011 and redefined what one could take away from a video game. They can be fun, sure. But they can be punishing, too. Fast forward a decade, and we now have people playing Elden Ring with a steering wheel. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Ubisoft's latest Metroidvania action-adventure platformer, assimilates elements from these games and subgenres to tread familiar ground, but it does so in its own unique ways.

Xbox has rolled out a new update for February, adding touch controls in remote play and more.

A report by the French video game workers union has raised concerns from staff at Life is Strange and Vampyr developer Don't Nod.

Xbox president Sarah Bond reportedly told staff that «every screen is an Xbox». These words come ahead of Microsoft's business update later today, in which the company is expected to lay out its plans to publish some Xbox games on PlayStation and Nintendo platforms.

SUNSOFT has released the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 versions of Trip World DX via PlayStation Store for $19.99 / £15.99 / €19.99.

Steam Next Fest may be over for another few months, but dozens of demos are still alive and kicking, it seems - which is good news for me, who still has a good half dozen on my to do list, and also good news for you, as it means you still have time to check out the really quite good demo for Stand-Alone, a fast, 2D hack and slasher where you play as a robot-powered sheep packing a very large sword. Wolves have broken into your home and murdered all your friends, but you play as the one sheep who got away - or rather, a sheep that's been fused with a surprisingly powerful robot capable of producing a honking great greatsword to make their escape with. Thus begins the wolves' hot pursuit - not least because this robot also seems to be kind of sleeper agent for them - and your roguelike-shaped quest to avenge your fallen friends.

Former lead designer Sébastien Benard has further discussed the decision made by publisher Motion Twin to end Dead Cell's development — something he previously dubbed «the worst imaginable asshole move».

Microsoft's Xbox and PC exclusive Pentiment will make its way to PS5 and Nintendo Switch, alongside the previously-leaked Hi-Fi Rush.

Former lead designer and developer on Dead Cells Sébastien Benard has called the decision to end development on the game «the worst imaginable asshole move» by publisher Motion Twin.

When I first saw Never Grave: The Witch And The Curse rising up the Steam Next Fest charts at the end of last week, I thought, "Oh! That's a neat Hollow Knight-looking Metroivanida roguelike, I'll definitely give that a go." And having played its demo over the weekend, I can confirm: it's certainly an intriguing little thing that I'll be keen to keep an eye on when it launches into early access, possibly sometime next month.

Publisher Super Rare Originals and developer Bynine Studio will release Nintendo 64-style collectathon platformer Cavern of Dreams for Switch on February 29 for $12.99 / £9.99 / €12.79, the companies announced.

Dead Cells developer Evil Empire is no longer working on the game, bringing to a close five years of updates.

Dead Cells developers Motion Twin have announced their roguelike Metroidvania will receive its final update with the launch of the appropriately titled Update 35: 'The End Is Near'. It's been a pretty great run as these things go: over the course of five years, Dead Cells has received four major DLC expanions, a mobile release and, of course, 35 of those big title updates. However, current custodians Evil Empire are now moving on to greener, "secret projects"-flavoured pastures - the emphasis being on pastures plural there, if their Xweet about it is anything to go by, too.

When playing any character-driven videogame I sometimes experience a sensation akin to my eyes unfocussing, and remember that I'm not, strictly speaking, controlling a body in a world, but interacting with a simulation that includes representations of a body and a world. The character is just an interfacial node in a vast tangle of visible and invisible elements; by moving the character, I cause objects, surfaces, creatures to load or unload, spring into motion or change colour and a million things besides.

Palworld developer Pocketpair has dropped a new Steam demo for its upcoming Metroidvania, Never Grave: The Witch and The Curse.

One game I heard and saw a lot last year but absolutely did not play was Pizza Tower, a fast and fiendish platformer inspired by the Wario Land games. A lot of people seem delighted to rocket around in the colourful adventures of pizzeria proprietor Peppino Spaghetti. People who are younger than me. People whose hands aren't gnarled claws. People who don't have one foot in the grave. It'll happen to you too. In the meantime, I hope you've enjoyed it, and suspect you might be keen to see more of the new playable character coming free in a future update.

Berserk Boy first appeared on Steam in 2022 and immediately impressed as a fast-paced action platformer inspired by classics such as Mega Man. Then it vanished from Steam - and re-appeared, and vanished again, and so on.

High-speed action platformer Berserk Boy will launch for Switch and PC via Steam on March 6, developer BerserkBoy Games announced.

Who'd have thought toilet plungers would make for such good jumping assistants when it comes to propelling yourself over big, thorny brambles and angry animals? Well, clearly the trio of developers at Phoenix Blasters did, as their upcoming platformer Telmari puts them front and centre as its main form of traversal. Your titular tiny heroine can't jump very far on her own, you see, so to save her beloved sunflowers from the spiky thorns of an ominous-looking tree, she'll need to fire them around the environment to help hoist her over obstacles to get to the, err, root of the problem. I've been playing its Steam demo this morning, and while it's a little rough around the edges, there's definitely something here for those trained in the Super Meat Boy school of pixel perfect platforming.

Nintendo will stream its previously planned Legend of Zelda and Splatoon live concerts.

Splatoon 3's campaign DLC Side Order finally has a release date: 22nd February.

Swedish video game holding company Thunderful Group is to implement a «restructuring programme», which will see around a fifth of its workforce laid off.

I enjoy Games Done Quick, an organisation that raises money for charity (this year is the Prevent Cancer Foundation) by playing games at peak efficiency. If you've never watched it before, I recommend loading up the Twitch stream at about 1am and sort of gently dissociating while someone plays an 80s NES game you've never heard of. Speaking of, one of the headline acts for this year's stream - which is running through to this Sunday 21st - was Peanut Butter, a shiba inu trained to press buttons on command, "playing" a NES game that came out in 1985. Although Peanut Butter obeyed his training, some technical issues colluded to snatch a world best time from him - but he raised many thousands of dollars, so good for him.

The previously-delayed Lost Legends of Redwall: The Scout Anthology has been postponed again — this time until 20th February.

Ubisoft has updated its subscription model, and said consumers need to be «comfortable with not owning [their] game».

The developer of the recently struck down Portal N64 port has shed some more light on what happened and told fans to not be mad at Valve.

Given the sheer quantity of games releasing on Steam these days, having a neat little elevator pitch for your game can be vital in helping it stand out. For example, if I get an email saying a game is like "Obra Dinn meets such and such" or "Into The Breach but a deckbuilder", that's like personal catnip to me, and can be a handy indicator of whether I should investigate further - maybe watch a gameplay trailer for it, say, or see if it's got a demo. Case in point: this is exactly how I stumbled upon the upcoming Donkey Kong Country-esque platformer Windswept last week, although instead of an email, I saw it on the growing "Your game is too much like..." thread over on Xwitter - which is definitely worth a browse if you have very niche interests in need of a good scratch.

Ubisoft will fix a small amount of text-to-speech generated dialogue in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown as part of a future update.

Momodora: Reverie Under The Moonlight has been on my 'to play' list since a friend mentioned it several years ago. It's been a long enough time that a sequel has emerged. Momodora: Moonlit Farewell is out now and like its predecessor is a 2D action platformer about smashing and dodging enemies.

In a move that feels a little like being catapulted back in time several decades, Ubisoft has released a free playable Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown demo — for Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, and PC — ahead of the game's full launch next week.

Konami has announced Felix the Cat, a collection of two classic Felix the Cat titles for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Switch, running in Limited Run Games‘ Carbon Engine. A release date was not announced.

Konami has announced Rocket Knight Adventures: Re-Sparked, a collection of classic games for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Switch, running in Limited Run Games‘ Carbon Engine. A release date was not announced.

Nintendo has shed light on the new features available in its Mario vs. Donkey remake for Switch.

The Switch version of side-scrolling puzzle platformer The Pedestrian will launch on January 18, developer Skookum Arts announced.

Following speculation Microsoft may be considering bringing its acclaimed Hi-Fi Rush to Switch, new reports have claimed the company has also been looking into a PlayStation and Switch release for developer Rare's acclaimed multiplayer pirate adventure Sea of Thieves.

A recently released fan mod for Portal 2 adds 40 new test chambers for players to wrap their heads around, including new mechanics and a brand new story.

A report which stated that Microsoft was set to launch an «acclaimed» first-party title on a rival console platform has sparked further suggestion that a Nintendo Switch release for rhythm brawler Hi-Fi Rush is in the works.

A new tweet from the official Spyro the Dragon Twitter/X account has sparked hopes that a new instalment could be on the way.

Portal: Revolution is an eight hour fan-made Portal 2 prequel, with 40 new test chambers, voiced characters and new puzzle mechanics. It looks seriously impressive and it's out now, with a trailer below.

Ubisoft's upcoming 2.5D Metroidvania game Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown has been developed to be «accessible by design», with a host of features that aim to make it an approachable release for all.

I have been bouncing off Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, partly because the new protagonist design leaves me cold, and partly because it being a 2D affair has me yearning for something closer to the 1989 Apple II original, with its finicky platforming and sword-fighting. Katharine says it's decent, however, and the latest trailers are intriguing. One is an overview of the new metroidvania's locations, of which you can read much more in Katharine's last preview. The other is a quick dive into the game's approach to accessibility, which appears to be a lot more holistic than you'll find in many games.

Korean publisher Nexon have been fined 11.6 billion won - around $8.9 million - for secretly altering the drop rates of coveted items in free-to-play MMO gacha game MapleStory. The fine, issued by the Korea Fair Trade Commission, is the largest penalty ever doled out for violation of South Korea's Act on Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce.

The Entertainment Software Rating Board has rated Little Nightmares: Enhanced Edition for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC.

A «FrostyFest Update» is coming to Splatoon 3 in the new year.

If you’re looking for something short, free, simple of concept and pleasant of execution to play this Decemberween, may I recommend Grimhook, a first-person action-platformer which had the misfortune to launch on 9th December, while the entire videogame journalism profession were recovering from the Geoffapocalypse. Here’s the setup: you are an irreverent young man called Dart exploring a bunch of caves with the aid of a grappling hook and a grumpy goddess trapped in a pebble.

Super Mario Run, Nintendo's first mobile game to feature its moustachioed mascot, has been updated with a tie-in to recent Switch game Super Bros. Mario Wonder.

With Christmas barely a week away, it's time to start celebrating my own RPS Christmas traditions. Games to play, songs to time, surprises to spring. Let's start with a wee surprise. Pull on your mittens, fill your flask with cocoa, and clip-click-skkrachk those ski boots, for it is time to play the free downhill slalom game Skeal.

Rare footage of Super Mario 64's multiplayer mode has seemingly popped up online.

Sonic Mania Plus is heading to mobile via the Netflix app next year.

The original creators of Jet Set Radio are involved with the series' new games announced last week.

In a reminder that 2023 continues to be a rotten ol’ year for the people making games, no matter what Geoff Keighley and Gonzo might tell (or not tell) you, indie devs Triple Topping Games have laid off the entire studio’s staff after declaring bankruptcy.

Last night brought a first look at Tales of Kenzera: Zau, a personal project from Abubakar Salim — the voice of Bayek in Assassin's Creed Origins and star of HBO's Raised by Wolves.

EA have announced Tales of Kenzera: Zau, a side-scrolling metroidvania from Surgent Studios, the developer founded by voice actor Abubakar Salim. It's being published under the EA Originals label, and is inspired by the myths of African Bantu cultures. It's also something of a memorial project, shaped by Salim's own experiences of grief, though you might not get that impression from the trailer, which is a blaze of magical battles and aerial stunts.

Sonic the Hedgehog publisher Sega has announced five new projects at The Game Awards this evening: new chapters in a slew of classic franchises.

Well, I bet you didn't see this coming from Ori And The Blind Forest developers Moon Studios, did you now? Then again, neither did I. Announced during tonight's Game Awards, No Rest For The Wicked is quite a different kettle of cursed fish compared to Moon's previous games, but I'm also quietly intrigued by it at the same time. For starters, this is an online ARPG that combines the top-down combat of games like Diablo 4 with the patient, weighty boss battles of your Elden Soulslikes. Come and watch its reveal trailer below to find out more.

Ubisoft will be releasing a demo for Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown ahead of its release in January, a leaked Game Awards trailer has revealed. Posted earlier this evening by PlayStation Brazil's YouTube channel, the trailer has since been taken down, but not quite fast enough to prevent some folks from downloading it and plastering it all over the internet (good spot, VGC). Apparently the demo is coming January 11th - one week before the game's full release on January 18th.

Looks like there is going to be a Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown demo.

I have said it before and I will say it again, Jack Black is the gift that keeps on giving.

Humble Bundle has announced the games available in its monthly Humble Choice subscription for December.

When first I learned of Born Of Bread, it was getting towards lunchtime - yes, 10.30am absolutely counts as "getting toward lunchtime" - and my brain was immediately filled with savoursome thoughts of simulated baking. Born of Bread isn't actually a baking sim. Even better than that: it's some kind of spin on vintage Ninty RPG Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, except that instead of being made of paper, the main character Loaf is made of living dough... but kind of looks like he's made of paper, this being a 2.5D game with flat character art. Look, just watch the trailer while I make myself a sandwich.

Publisher ININ Games and developer Westone Bit Entertainment will release Clockwork Aquario for Xbox Series and Xbox One via Microsoft Store on December 7, the companies announced.

Sonic Dream Team, the forthcoming mobile game, will put players in an «exhilarating flow state», according to Sega Hardlight studio creative director Dan Rossati.

Post-apocalyptic cyberpunk action platformer Dark Light will launch for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 on January 30, 2024, developer Mirari & Co. announced.

Last week I wrote up an irreverent cyberpunk ninja game called Ninja Issen. The just announced Quantic River, which Graham tossed into the Maw last night, is that game played straight. In Fluidfury Interactive's new dystopian slasher, you are a resurrected cyborg who, for reasons not currently given, must katana the limbs off a bunch of other dudes in a lean and nasty 2.5D metropolis.

If you are in the mood for a game about dancing around screens full of energy beams and projectiles, searching for that fleeting window of space in which you can stop and perform an attack, I recommend trying the demo for Ninja Issen. If you miss 8 or 16-bit platformers like Shinobi or the original Ninja Gaiden, I also recommend trying the demo for Ninja Issen. If you liked The Messenger - classique Ninja Gaiden's greatest heir - but wished it was More Cyberpunk with cheesy PG-rated holographic dancing girls and Comix Zone-style story panels, I also also recommend trying the demo for Ninja Issen.