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96-821: Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest is a 1995 platform game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It was released on 21 November 1995 in Japan, 4 December in North America, and 14 December in Europe. It is the second installment of the Donkey Kong Country series and the sequel to Donkey Kong Country (1994). Players control Diddy Kong and his girlfriend Dixie Kong , who must rescue Donkey Kong after he

192-435: A boss fight , which is required to be defeated in order to progress to the next world. Similar to its predecessor, the player-characters may neutralise most hostiles by jumping on their heads, cartwheeling through them, or throwing a barrel at them. When hit by an enemy, the active character leaves the screen, thus control will switch to the other character. The player can reclaim their partner from marked DK barrels throughout

288-408: A mine cart , grappling onto vines, and beehive levels which feature sticky honey-covered surfaces. As with its predecessor, the game features barrels that will propel the player in any direction they are facing. Aside from checkpoint barrels, some give the player temporary invincibility or an "animal friend". Bonus barrels hidden throughout the game transport the player to a bonus game , which features

384-608: A true 3D platformer is a French computer game called Alpha Waves , created by Christophe de Dinechin and published by Infogrames in 1990 for the Atari ST , Amiga , and IBM PC compatibles . Bug! , released in 1995 for the Saturn , has a more conservative approach. It allows players to move in all directions, but it does not allow movement along more than one axis at once; the player can move orthogonally but not diagonally. Its characters were pre-rendered sprites, much like

480-452: A 1980 arcade release by Universal , is sometimes credited as the first platformer. Another precursor to the genre from 1980 was Nichibutsu 's Crazy Climber , in which the player character scales vertically scrolling skyscrapers. The unreleased 1979 Intellivision game Hard Hat has a similar concept. Donkey Kong , an arcade video game created by Nintendo and released in July 1981,

576-401: A 2D plane are called 2.5D , as they are a blend of 2D and 3D. The first platformers to simulate a 3D perspective and moving camera emerged in the early-mid-1980s. An early example of this was Konami 's Antarctic Adventure , where the player controls a penguin in a forward-scrolling third-person perspective while having to jump over pits and obstacles. Originally released in 1983 for

672-417: A 3D Sonic game, Sonic Adventure , for its Dreamcast console. It used a hub structure like Super Mario 64 , but its levels were more linear, fast-paced, and action-oriented. Minigame A minigame (also spelled mini game and mini-game , sometimes called a subgame or microgame ) is a short game often contained within another video game . A minigame contains different gameplay elements and

768-462: A balance between open-ended and guided exploration. Another platform-adventure released that year, Pony Canyon 's Super Pitfall , was critically panned for its vagueness and weak game design. That same year Jaleco released Esper Boukentai , a sequel to Psychic 5 that scrolled in all directions and allowed the player character to make huge multistory jumps to navigate the vertically oriented levels. Telenet Japan also released its own take on

864-520: A bop" and that when combined with its accompanying level, it was "one of the most transcendent platforming moments in the genre". In 2018, Complex ranked the game 17th on their "The Best Super Nintendo Games of All Time". A direct sequel, Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! , was released for the SNES in 1996 to positive reviews. In the game, Dixie Kong and Kiddy Kong must find both Donkey and Diddy Kong, who have disappeared while exploring

960-481: A bouncing car that jumps on various platforms such as buildings, clouds, and hills. Jump Bug offered a glimpse of what was to come, with uneven, suspended platforms, levels that scroll horizontally (and in one section, vertically), and differently themed sections, such as a city, the interior of a large pyramid, and underwater. Irem's 1982 arcade game Moon Patrol combines jumping over obstacles and shooting attackers. A month later, Taito released Jungle King ,

1056-525: A brief burst of episodic platformers where the first was freely distributed and parts 2 and 3 were available for purchase. The abundance of platformers for 16-bit consoles continued late into the generation, with successful games such as Vectorman (1995), Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995), and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (1995), but the release of new hardware caused players' attention to move away from 2D genres. The Saturn , PlayStation , and Nintendo 64 nevertheless featured

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1152-463: A challenge such as eliminating all enemies in order to earn a "Kremcoin". In addition, there are some barrels that can only be activated by a specific character. Players may earn extra lives by collecting balloons, earning 100 bananas or collecting four letters which spell "KONG". The player can achieve a maximum completion score of 102% for their save file by completing all levels and bosses, completing all bonus challenges, collecting all DK coins within

1248-450: A forward-scrolling effect similar to Sega's 1985 third-person rail shooter Space Harrier . 3-D WorldRunner was an early forward-scrolling pseudo-3D third-person platform-action game where players were free to move in any forward-scrolling direction and could leap over obstacles and chasms. It was notable for being one of the first stereoscopic 3-D games . Square released its sequel, JJ , later that year. The earliest example of

1344-534: A geyser at the heart of Crocodile Isle. They once again defeat K. Rool, who is hurled into the geyser, causing it to clog up and explode. The explosion causes all of Crocodile Isle to sink, as the Kongs watch K. Rool escape on a small sailboat. Development of Diddy's Kong Quest began shortly after the release of Donkey Kong Country , but before its commercial success; the employees of Rare desired to present new concepts. Rare founder Tim Stamper served as director of

1440-609: A high quality of animation. The 1988 shareware game The Adventures of Captain Comic was one of the first attempts at a Nintendo-style platformer for IBM PC compatibles . It inspired Commander Keen , released by id Software in 1990, which became the first MS-DOS platformer with smooth scrolling graphics. Keen's success resulted in numerous console-styled platformers for MS-DOS compatible operating systems, including Duke Nukem , Duke Nukem II , Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure , and Dark Ages all by Apogee Software . These fueled

1536-631: A number of successful 2D platformers. The 2D Rayman was a big success on 32-bit consoles. Mega Man 8 and Mega Man X4 helped revitalize interest in Capcom 's Mega Man character . Castlevania: Symphony of the Night revitalized its series and established a new foundation for later Castlevania games. Oddworld and Heart of Darkness kept the subgenre born from Prince of Persia alive. The difficulties of adapting platformer gameplay to three dimensions led some developers to compromise by pairing

1632-442: A play on the word "conquest". The game was announced at E3 1995 . A Virtual Boy port was in development at one time but never released. Like its predecessor, Diddy's Kong Quest uses Silicon Graphics (SGI) and Advanced Computer Modelling (ACM) rendering technology, in which pre-rendered images are modelled as 3D objects and then transformed into 2D sprites and background layers. The game's pirate-themed narrative and level design

1728-441: A quarter and a third of all console games. By 2006, the genre had experienced a decline in sales, representing a 2% market share as compared to 15% in 1998. In spite of this, platformers are still being commercially released every year, including some which have sold millions of copies. A platformer requires the player to maneuver their character across platforms to reach a goal while confronting enemies and avoiding obstacles along

1824-536: A secret level. Some time after Donkey Kong Country , Donkey Kong is relaxing on the beach, until he is ambushed by the Kremlings. He gets kidnapped and brought to Kaptain K. Rool, King K. Rool's moniker in this game, who then demands the Banana Hoard he unsuccessfully tried to steal in the previous game for a ransom from the Kongs. Instead of complying, Diddy Kong and his girlfriend Dixie resolve to go to

1920-470: A shift in design. Later 3D platformers like Banjo-Kazooie , Spyro the Dragon , and Donkey Kong 64 borrowed its format, and the "collect-a-thon" genre began to form. In order to make this free-roaming model work, developers had to program dynamic, intelligent cameras. A free camera made it harder for players to judge the height and distance of platforms, making jumping puzzles more difficult. Some of

2016-406: A side-scrolling action game some platform elements: jumping between vines, jumping or running beneath bouncing boulders. It was quickly re-released as Jungle Hunt because of similarities to Tarzan . The 1982 Apple II game Track Attack includes a scrolling platform level where the character runs and leaps along the top of a moving train. The character is little more than a stick figure , but

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2112-725: A teenager with a rebellious personality to appeal to gamers who saw the previous generation of consoles as being for kids. The character's speed showed off the hardware capabilities of the Genesis, which had a CPU clock speed approximately double that of the Super NES. Sonic 's perceived rebellious attitude became a model for game mascots. Other companies attempted to duplicate Sega's success with their own brightly colored anthropomorphisms with attitude. These often were characterized by impatience, sarcasm, and frequent quips. A second generation of platformers for computers appeared alongside

2208-485: Is a 2D side-scrolling platformer in which the player controls either Diddy Kong or his childhood friend Dixie Kong through 52 varying levels over eight different worlds. The main objective of the game is to rescue Donkey Kong from King K. Rool. The game features a wide number of enemies, which include land-based reptilian Kremlings, rats, porcupines, bees, and vultures. Enemies in underwater sections include pufferfish , stingrays and piranhas. Each world culminates with

2304-488: Is central to the genre, though there are exceptions such as Nintendo 's Popeye and Data East 's BurgerTime , both from 1982. In some games, such as Donkey Kong , the trajectory of a jump is fixed, while in others it can be altered mid-air. Falling may cause damage or death. Many platformers contain environmental obstacles which kill the player's character upon contact, such as lava pits or bottomless chasms. The player may be able to collect items and power-ups and give

2400-474: Is in a vector game called Major Havoc , which comprises a number of mini-games, including a simple platformer. One of the first raster -based platformers to scroll fluidly in all directions in this manner is 1985's Legend of Kage . In 1985, Enix released the action-adventure platformer Brain Breaker . The following year saw the release of Nintendo's Metroid , which was critically acclaimed for

2496-438: Is kidnapped by King K. Rool . The game is set on Crocodile Isle, with eight worlds of varying environments, totaling 52 levels . The game uses the same Silicon Graphics (SGI) technology from the original, which features the use of pre-rendered 3D imagery. Diddy's Kong Quest received acclaim, being widely regarded as one of the greatest 2D platformers ever made. Praise was directed at its graphics, gameplay, and soundtrack. It

2592-498: Is often smaller or more simplistic than the game in which it is contained. Some video games consist entirely of minigames which tie into an overall theme, such as Olympic Decathlon (1980). Minigames can also be used to represent a specific experience, such as hacking , lock picking , or scanning an area, that ties into a larger game. Some games are made up of many minigames strung together into one video game, such as Nintendo 's WarioWare series (which are called microgames in

2688-465: Is the endless runner , where the main character is always moving forward and the player must dodge or jump to avoid falling or hitting obstacles. Various names were used in the years following the release of the first established game in the genre, Donkey Kong (1981). Shigeru Miyamoto originally called it a "running/jumping/climbing game" while developing it. Miyamoto commonly used the term "athletic game" to refer to Donkey Kong and later games in

2784-626: The Atari 2600 , with 256 horizontally connected screens, became one of the best-selling games on the system and was a breakthrough for the genre. Smurf: Rescue in Gargamel's Castle was released on the ColecoVision that same year, adding uneven terrain and scrolling pans between static screens. Manic Miner (1983) and its sequel Jet Set Willy (1984) continued this style of multi-screen levels on home computers . Wanted: Monty Mole won

2880-683: The MSX computer, it was subsequently ported to various platforms the following year, including an arcade video game version, NES , and ColecoVision . 1986 saw the release of the sequel to forward-scrolling platformer Antarctic Adventure called Penguin Adventure , which was designed by Hideo Kojima . It included more action game elements, a greater variety of levels, RPG elements such as upgrading equipment, and multiple endings . In early 1987, Square released 3-D WorldRunner , designed by Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nasir Gebelli . Using

2976-690: The Mario and Zelda games, Geoff and Tim Follin 's music for Plok! , and synthesizer-based film soundtracks released in the 1980s as influences in creating the music for the Donkey Kong Country series. As with its predecessor, the music was produced for the SNES's SPC700 chip for the game to sound similar to the Korg Wavestation synthesizer. The game's soundtrack was the focus of an OverClocked ReMix collaboration, Serious Monkey Business . The final track, "Donkey Kong Rescued",

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3072-530: The Master System with Alex Kidd in Miracle World . It has horizontal and vertical scrolling levels, the ability to punch enemies and obstacles, and shops for the player to buy power-ups and vehicles. Another Sega series that began that same year is Wonder Boy . The original Wonder Boy in 1986 was inspired more by Pac-Land than Super Mario Bros. , with skateboarding segments that gave

3168-631: The Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985, became the archetype for the genre. It was bundled with Nintendo systems in North America, Japan, and Europe, and sold over 40 million copies, according to the 1999 Guinness Book of World Records . Its success as a pack-in led many companies to see platformers as vital to their success, and contributed greatly to popularizing the genre during the third and fourth generations of video game consoles. Sega attempted to emulate this success with their Alex Kidd series, which started in 1986 on

3264-633: The sixth best-selling game on the SNES . The game received critical acclaim, winning various Game of the Year Awards. The SNES version holds an aggregate score of 92% at GameRankings , whereas the Virtual Console re-release and the Game Boy Advance version both hold a score of 80% at GameRankings and Metacritic , respectively. The graphics and gameplay were the most praised aspects of the game. Scary Larry of GamePro hailed

3360-537: The virtual camera , it had to be constrained to stop it from clipping through the environment. In 1994, a small developer called Exact released a game for the X68000 computer called Geograph Seal , which was a 3D first-person shooter game with platforming. Players piloted a frog-like mech that could jump and then double-jump or triple-jump high into the air as the camera panned down to help players line up their landings. In addition to shooting, jumping on enemies

3456-599: The 1980 arcade video game Space Panic , which has ladders but not jumping. Donkey Kong , released in 1981, established a template for what were initially called "climbing games". Donkey Kong inspired many clones and games with similar elements, such as Miner 2049er (1982) and Kangaroo (1982), while the Sega arcade game Congo Bongo (1983) adds a third dimension via isometric graphics . Another popular game of that period, Pitfall! (1982), allows moving left and right through series of non-scrolling screens, expanding

3552-468: The Enchanted Castle , which was only modestly successful. That same year, Capcom released Strider in arcades, which scrolled in multiple directions and allowed the player to summon artificial intelligence partners, such as a droid, tiger, and hawk, to help fight enemies. Another Sega release in 1989 was Shadow Dancer , which is a game that also included an AI partner: a dog who followed

3648-480: The Hedgehog into 3D. Their project, titled Sonic Xtreme , was to have featured a radically different approach for the series, with an exaggerated fisheye camera and multidirectional gameplay reminiscent of Bug! . Due in part to conflicts with Sega Enterprises in Japan and a rushed schedule, the game never made it to market. In the 1990s, platforming games started to shift from pseudo-3D to "true 3D," which gave

3744-527: The Kremling's home island, Crocodile Isle, to rescue Donkey Kong. Together, they travel through Crocodile Isle and are helped on their way by an assortment of animals to defeat Kaptain K. Rool. Diddy and Dixie eventually battle and defeat K. Rool, releasing Donkey Kong in the process. K. Rool manages to escape though, and shortly after, Diddy and Dixie confront him in the Lost World, a secret area powered by

3840-602: The Lost World and visiting each of the four Kong family members at least once. The game is Dixie Kong's first appearance in the Donkey Kong franchise. Other characters include Cranky Kong , situated in "Monkey Museum", who is back due to "popular demand" to divulge secrets of the game world and provide comic relief, as well as offer advice. Wrinkly Kong, the wife of Cranky Kong and grandmother of Donkey Kong, makes her first appearance in this game. She runs an educational facility called "Kong Kollege", where she gives guidance to

3936-742: The Northern Kremisphere, which has been invaded by the Kremlings. It was further followed by a succession of more related Donkey Kong video games, such as Donkey Kong 64 in 1999 and Donkey Kong Country Returns in 2010. Diddy's Kong Quest was later released for the Game Boy Advance in November 2004 and the Wii's Virtual Console in May 2007. It was made available for the Wii U and New Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console in 2015 and 2016, respectively. It

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest - Misplaced Pages Continue

4032-469: The United Kingdom press. Examples include referring to the " Super Mario mould" (such as Kato-chan & Ken-chan ) as platform games, and calling Strider a "platform and ladders" game. The genre originated in the early 1980s. Levels in early platform games were confined to a single screen, viewed in profile, and based on climbing between platforms rather than jumping. Space Panic ,

4128-455: The Year". Another term used in the late 1980s to 1990s was "character action games", in reference to games such as Super Mario Bros. , Sonic the Hedgehog , and Bubsy . It was also applied more generally to side-scrolling video games , including run and gun video games such as Gunstar Heroes . Platform game became a common term for the genre by 1989, popularized by its usage in

4224-529: The acrobatics evoke the movement that games such as Prince of Persia would feature. B.C.'s Quest For Tires (1983) put a recognizable character from American comic strips into side-scrolling, jumping gameplay similar to Moon Patrol . The same year, Snokie for the Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit computers added uneven terrain to a scrolling platformer. Based on the Saturday morning cartoon rather than

4320-415: The basis for the non-linear mission structure found in most open-world, multi-mission, sidequest -heavy games. Another Capcom platformer that year was Bionic Commando , which popularized a grappling hook mechanic that has since appeared in dozens of games, including Earthworm Jim and Tomb Raider . Scrolling platformers went portable in the late 1980s with games such as Super Mario Land , and

4416-459: The boundaries" of the console and that every detail was "devilishly handsome", and also praised the handling of the gameplay as being "pushed to a climax". The music also received widespread praise, and is considered one of the greatest video game soundtracks of all time . The track "Stickerbush Symphony" has received particular critical acclaim. Writing for Kotaku , Ethan Gach called it "melancholic and reflective" while still "up-tempo enough to be

4512-518: The console as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in North America, along with Super Mario World , while Sega released Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Genesis . Sonic showcased a new style of design made possible by a new generation of hardware: large stages that scrolled in all directions, curved hills, loops, and a physics system allowing players to rush through its levels with well-placed jumps and rolls. Sega characterized Sonic as

4608-421: The criteria of a platformer, and was billed as an action adventure . It used true 3D characters and set pieces, but its environments were rendered using a rigid engine similar to the one used by Wolfenstein 3D , in that it could only render square, flat corridors, rather than suspended platforms that could be jumped between. Sega had tasked their American studio, Sega Technical Institute , with bringing Sonic

4704-419: The earlier Clockwork Knight . The game plays very similarly to 2D platformers, but lets players walk up walls and on ceilings. In 1995, Delphine Software released a 3D sequel to their 2D platformer Flashback . Entitled Fade to Black , it was the first attempt to bring a popular 2D platformer series into 3D. While it retained the puzzle-oriented level design style and step-based control, it did not meet

4800-417: The first Final Fantasy (1987), in which a 15 puzzle in the form of an Easter egg can be uncovered by entering a specific sequence of inputs while piloting a ship. It was added into the game by programmer Nasir Gebelli despite it not being part of Squaresoft 's original game design. The PocketStation for PlayStation and VMU for Dreamcast accessories allowed the user to download minigames from

4896-521: The first award for Best Platform game in 1984 from Crash magazine. Later that same year, Epyx released Impossible Mission , and Parker Brothers released Montezuma's Revenge , which further expanded on the exploration aspect. The first platformer to use scrolling graphics came years before the genre became popular. Jump Bug is a platform-shooter developed by Alpha Denshi under contract for Hoei/Coreland and released to arcades in 1981, only five months after Donkey Kong . Players control

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4992-552: The first game. In a separate review regarding the Game Boy Advance version, Provo praised the graphics as richer and "livelier" than those of the original. In a retrospective review, Mark Birnbaum of IGN stated that whilst its predecessor "boasted some of the most beautiful graphics" on the SNES at the time, Diddy's Kong Quest offered a superior experience due to its detail, smooth animation and varying colour palette. Jeff Pearson of Nintendojo stated that Rare improved

5088-541: The foreground and background, and the camera panning and curving around corners. Meanwhile, Pandemonium and Klonoa brought the 2.5D style to the PlayStation . In a break from the past, the Nintendo 64 had the fewest side scrolling platformers with only four; Yoshi's Story , Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards , Goemon's Great Adventure , and Mischief Makers —and most met with a tepid response from critics at

5184-470: The game a greater sense of speed than other platformers at the time, while its sequel, Wonder Boy in Monster Land added action-adventure and role-playing elements. Wonder Boy in turn inspired games such as Adventure Island , Dynastic Hero , Popful Mail , and Shantae . One of the first platformers to scroll in all four directions freely and follow the on-screen character's movement

5280-511: The game as being longer, more graphically impressive, and more fun than the original Donkey Kong Country , and having some of the most cleverly illustrated levels ever seen on a home system. He gave it a perfect 5/5 in all four categories (graphics, sound, control, and FunFactor), but said that some levels are too difficult for younger players. Aaron Kosydar of AllGame thought that Diddy's Kong Quest ' s graphics were superior to that of its predecessor. Dan Whitehead of Eurogamer said that

5376-410: The game's cast due to Nintendo's concerns over her sexually provocative nature. The design choice to have Diddy and Dixie transform into the friendly animals that were initially mounted in the previous game was made out of concerns over sprite size; additionally, Gregg noted that having the two player characters clinging onto a parrot would significantly reduce its maneuverability. Donkey Kong Country 2

5472-454: The game, whereas his colleague Brendan Gunn, who had worked on the original, returned to design the game. In response to complaints from veteran gamers, the game was designed to be more challenging than its predecessor. Several working titles were considered, including DK Rescue! , Diddy's Day Out , Diddy's Wild Country , and Diddy's Wild Frontier . Diddy Kong's Quest was decided on, but was slightly altered into Diddy's Kong Quest to create

5568-436: The game. If both characters die, the player will lose a life and will restart from either the beginning of the level or from the last checkpoint , which comes in the form of a star-painted barrel. If the player loses all of their lives, the game will end. Diddy and Dixie have unique attributes; Diddy is more agile and will run faster, whereas Dixie has a higher jump and can spin her hair in order to glide. The player can pick up

5664-498: The gameplay from its precursor but traded the frog-like mech for a cartoony rabbit mech called Robbit. The title was successful enough to get two sequels and is remembered for being the first 3D platformer on a console. Rob Fahey of Eurogamer said Jumping Flash was perhaps "one of the most important ancestors of every 3D platformer in the following decade." It holds the record of "First platform videogame in true 3D" according to Guinness World Records . Another early 3D platformer

5760-457: The genre continued to maintain its popularity, with many games released for the handheld Game Boy and Game Gear systems. By the time the Genesis and TurboGrafx-16 launched, platformers were the most popular genre in console gaming. There was a particular emphasis on having a flagship platform title exclusive to a system, featuring a mascot character. In 1989, Sega released Alex Kidd in

5856-413: The genre, such as Super Mario Bros. (1985). Donkey Kong spawned other games with a mix of running, jumping, and vertical traversal, a novel genre that did not match the style of games that came before it, leaving journalists and writers to offer their own terms. Computer and Video Games magazine, among others, referred to the genre as "Donkey Kong-type" or "Kong-style" games. "Climbing games"

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5952-403: The graphics for Diddy's Kong Quest , and that the character animations appeared "much smoother and more cartoon like" in contrast to the computer-generated feel of the original. Pearson also heralded the background designs as reaching "newer heights" of quality. A reviewer of Cubed3 heralded the visuals as "unbelievable" for a 16-bit game. A reviewer of Jeux Video stated that the game "pushed

6048-451: The graphics of the game were similar to the first Donkey Kong Country installment, although he praised them both as "impressive". However, Whitehead expressed concern over the lack of ambition from the sequel, stating that the gameplay uses the defense of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". Reviewing the SNES version, Frank Provo of GameSpot heralded the graphics as "more detailed" although admitting that it appeared stylistically similar to

6144-426: The intention to increase female representation in video games were an influence in the matter. The ponytail was initially given to create a trailing visual effect when Dixie runs, and Gregg decided to put the ponytail to use upon seeing this effect in action. The concept of Dixie descending by using her ponytail as a helicopter blade was then created. Due to the time-consuming nature of the modeling process, Diddy's model

6240-454: The levels were open and had objectives. Completing objectives earned the player stars, and stars were used to unlock more levels. This approach allowed for more efficient use of large 3D areas and rewarded the player for exploration, but it meant less jumping and more action-adventure . Even so, a handful of boss levels offered more traditional platforming. Until then there was no settled way to make 3D platformers, but Super Mario 64 inspired

6336-451: The main character new abilities for overcoming adversities. Most games of this genre consist of multiple levels of increasing difficulty that may be interleaved by boss encounters, where the character has to defeat a particularly dangerous enemy to progress. Simple logical puzzles to resolve and skill trials to overcome are other common elements in the genre. A modern variant of the platform game, especially significant on mobile platforms,

6432-489: The maze game, Namco's 1984 Pac-Land is a bidirectional, horizontally-scrolling, arcade video game with walking, running, jumping, springboards, power-ups , and a series of unique levels. Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani described the game as "the pioneer of action games with horizontally running background." According to Iwatani, Shigeru Miyamoto described Pac-Land as an influence on the development of Super Mario Bros. . Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. , released for

6528-405: The more linear 3D platformers like Tork: Prehistoric Punk and Wario World used scripted cameras that limited player control. Games with more open environments like Super Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie used intelligent cameras that followed the player's movements. Still, when the view was obstructed or not facing what the player needed to see, these intelligent cameras needed to be adjusted by

6624-534: The new wave of consoles. In the latter half of the 1980s and early 1990s, the Amiga was a strong gaming platform with its custom video hardware and sound hardware . The Atari ST was solidly supported as well. Games like Shadow of the Beast and Turrican showed that computer platformers could rival their console contemporaries. Prince of Persia , originally a late release for the 8-bit Apple II in 1989, featured

6720-646: The other character and throw them in any direction, similar to barrels. The game also features "animal friends", which returns from its predecessor. Playable animals include Squitter the spider , Rambi the rhino , Rattly the snake , Enguarde the swordfish and Squawks the parrot . These animals have unique abilities, such as Rambi's ability to charge at enemies, Squawks' ability of flight, and Rattly's ability to jump extreme heights. The game features environmental effects throughout some levels, which include fog, rain, and thunderstorms. Some levels feature different mechanics and settings, such as underwater sections, riding

6816-408: The platform-action game, Valis , which contained anime -style cut scenes . In 1987, Capcom 's Mega Man introduced non-linear level progression where the player is able to choose the order in which they complete levels. This was a stark contrast to both linear games like Super Mario Bros. and open-world games like Metroid . GamesRadar credits the "level select" feature of Mega Man as

6912-416: The play area. Nintendo 's flagship Super Mario Bros. (1985) was a defining game for the nascent genre, with horizontally scrolling levels and the player controlling a named character—Mario, which became a mascot of the company. The term platform game gained traction in the late 1980s, as did the alternate form platformer . During their peak of popularity, platformers were estimated to comprise between

7008-561: The player around and aid in battle. In 1990, Hudson Soft released Bonk's Adventure , with a protagonist positioned as NEC 's mascot. The following year, Takeru's Cocoron , a late platformer for the Famicom allowed players to build a character from a toy box filled with spare parts. In 1990, the Super Famicom was released in Japan, along with the eagerly anticipated Super Mario World . The following year, Nintendo released

7104-405: The player more control over the character and the camera. To render a 3D environment from any angle the user chose, the graphics hardware had to be sufficiently powerful, and the art and rendering model of the game had to be viewable from every angle. The improvement in graphics technology allowed publishers to make such games but introduced several new issues. For example, if the player could control

7200-1048: The player. In the 1990s, RPGs , first-person shooters , and more complex action-adventure games captured significant market share. Even so, the platformer thrived. Tomb Raider became one of the bestselling series on the PlayStation , along with Insomniac Games ' Spyro and Naughty Dog 's Crash Bandicoot , one of the few 3D games to stick with linear levels. Moreover, many of the Nintendo 64 's bestsellers were first- and second-party platformers like Super Mario 64 , Banjo-Kazooie , and Donkey Kong 64 . On Windows and Mac , Pangea Software 's Bugdom series and BioWare 's MDK2 proved successful. Several developers who found success with 3D platformers began experimenting with titles that, despite their cartoon art style, were aimed at adults. Examples include Rare 's Conker's Bad Fur Day , Crystal Dynamics 's Gex: Deep Cover Gecko and Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver , and Shiny Entertainment 's Messiah . In 1998, Sega produced

7296-401: The player. Swanky Kong runs a game show quiz where the player may complete quizzes and earn extra lives. Funky Kong offers an aeroplane that allows the players to switch between already completed worlds. Additionally, the player can meet a large Kremling called "Klubba", at "Klubba's Kiosk", who demands fifteen Kremkoins from the characters if they want to travel to the "Lost World" and complete

7392-407: The previous game. Miyamoto offered different motifs to adorn Dixie's beret with, including a banana, a heart and a logo, namely one inspired by that of the musical group ABBA . Rare incorporated the idea for a logo and placed a small version of the company's own on Dixie's beret in early promotional art. The creation of Dixie came at the expense of Donkey Kong's fiancée Candy Kong, who was removed from

7488-601: The series), Universal 's Video Action , David Whittaker's Lazy Jones and the mobile game Phone Story . Some similar games specifically developed for multiplayer are considered party games , such as the Itadaki Street series by Square Enix and Nintendo's Mario Party series. In party games, minigames usually involve performing an activity faster or collecting more of a specified item than other players to win; some may be entirely luck. The Final Fantasy series includes minigames in every entry, since

7584-425: The team decided to cast Diddy Kong as the main character as opposed to Donkey Kong. Mayles said that he dared to do without the iconic character of the series because his team's youth (Mayles himself was 23 during development) allowed them to disregard risks. The team preserved the gameplay mechanic of controlling two characters, which led into the creation of Dixie Kong. While Donkey and Diddy Kong controlled similarly,

7680-417: The team decided to establish a character with different abilities to force the player to change between characters regularly. To achieve this difference, the team gave Dixie the ability to hover and descend gradually. Dixie was modeled and animated by Steve Mayles. According to Gregg, the choice to introduce a female character was decided before the creation of her ponytail, and neither the hovering mechanism nor

7776-489: The time. Despite this, Yoshi's Story sold over a million copies in the US, and Mischief Makers rode high on the charts in the months following its release. The term 3D platformer usually refers to games with gameplay in three dimensions and polygonal 3D graphics. Games that have 3D gameplay but 2D graphics are usually included under the umbrella of isometric platformers , while those that have 3D graphics but gameplay on

7872-540: The top down perspective, Frogger (1981) as climbing games. In a December 1982 Creative Computing review of the Apple II game Beer Run , the reviewer used a different term: "I'm going to call this a ladder game, as in the 'ladder genre,' which includes Apple Panic and Donkey Kong ." That label was also used by Video Games Player magazine in 1983 when it named the Coleco port of Donkey Kong "Ladder Game of

7968-437: The video game industry internationally. The following year, Donkey Kong received a sequel, Donkey Kong Jr. and later Mario Bros. , a platformer with two-player cooperative play . It laid the groundwork for other two-player cooperative games such as Fairyland Story and Bubble Bobble . Beginning in 1982, transitional games emerged with non-scrolling levels spanning multiple screens. David Crane's Pitfall! for

8064-455: The visual flash of 3D with traditional 2D side scrolling gameplay. These games are often referred to as 2.5D. The first such game was Saturn launch title , Clockwork Knight (1994). The game featured levels and boss characters rendered in 3D, but retained 2D gameplay and used pre-rendered 2D sprites for regular characters, similar to Donkey Kong Country . Its sequel improved upon its design, featuring some 3D effects such as hopping between

8160-428: The way. These games are either presented from the side view, using two-dimensional movement, or in 3D with the camera placed either behind the main character or in isometric perspective . Typical platforming gameplay tends to be very dynamic and challenges a player's reflexes, timing, and dexterity with controls. The most common movement options in the genre are walking, running, jumping, attacking, and climbing. Jumping

8256-413: Was Floating Runner , developed by a Japanese company called Xing and released for PlayStation in early 1996, before the release of Super Mario 64 . Floating Runner uses D-pad controls and a behind-the-character camera perspective. In 1996, Nintendo released Super Mario 64 , which is a game that set the standard for 3D platformers. It let the player explore 3D environments with greater freedom than

8352-505: Was a primary way to attack. This was the first true 3D platform-action game with free-roaming environments, but it was never ported to another platform or released outside Japan, so it remains relatively unknown in the West. The following year, Exact released their follow-up to Geograph Seal . An early title for Sony's new PlayStation console, Jumping Flash! , released in April 1995, kept

8448-532: Was found in any previous game in the genre. With this in mind, Nintendo put an analog control stick on its Nintendo 64 controller, a feature that had not been seen since the Vectrex but which has since become standard. The analog stick provided the fine precision needed with a free perspective. In most 2D platformers, the player finished a level by following a path to a certain point, but in Super Mario 64 ,

8544-457: Was influenced by designer Gregg Mayles 's fascination with the Golden Age of Piracy . The team attempted to maintain the sense of speed and requirement of timing from the previous game. To avoid reproducing the same game entirely, Mayles altered the gameplay to be less linear and more encouraging of exploration, while respecting the basics of fluidity and speed. In order to surprise players,

8640-695: Was later released on the Nintendo Switch via the Nintendo Switch Online service on September 23, 2020. In the United States, the game's Game Boy Advance version sold 630,000 copies and earned $ 19 million (~$ 27.6 million in 2023) by August 2006. During the period between January 2000 and August 2006, it was the 41st highest-selling game launched for the Game Boy Advance , Nintendo DS or PlayStation Portable in that country. Platform game The genre started with

8736-741: Was released worldwide in late 1995. In Australia, Nintendo released the Donkey Kong Country 2 Pirate Pak, a limited edition bundle of the game and SNES console. The game was re-released for the Game Boy Advance in 2004. The soundtrack of Diddy's Kong Quest was composed by David Wise and was released in the United States as The Original Donkey Kong Country 2 Soundtrack . The soundtrack maintains similarity to its predecessor with its prominent percussion and eclectic genres ranging between big band , disco and hip hop . The melodies and rhythms are largely comical in tone, but occasionally melancholic. Certain themes are reminiscent of compositions by Vangelis and Phil Collins . Wise cited Koji Kondo 's music for

8832-513: Was remixed by David Wise himself, featuring Grant Kirkhope on electric guitar and Robin Beanland on trumpet. Upon release, retailers struggled to meet the demand for the game. Diddy's Kong Quest sold a combined 4.37 million copies in the United States and Japan on the SNES; the total number of copies sold in Japan at 2.21 million, and 2.16 million in the United States. It was the second best-selling game of 1995 , after Yoshi's Island , and

8928-418: Was the first game to allow players to jump over obstacles and gaps. It is widely considered to be the first platformer. It introduced Mario under the name Jumpman. Donkey Kong was ported to many consoles and computers at the time, notably as the system-selling pack-in game for ColecoVision , and also a handheld version from Coleco in 1982. The game helped cement Nintendo's position as an important name in

9024-402: Was the second-bestselling game of 1995, and the sixth-bestselling game on the SNES . It was re-released for the Game Boy Advance (GBA) in 2004. The game was made available for download on the Virtual Console for the Wii and Wii U in 2007 and 2015, respectively. It was followed by Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! in 1996. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest

9120-410: Was used as the base for Dixie; the ponytail was then added, the clothes were changed, and his features were made more feminine. Nearly fifty names were considered for Dixie, including Didene, Dee, Daisy, Dandi, Dolly, Dizzie, Danni, Dippy and Ducky. The team initially opted for Diddiane before finally deciding on Dixie. Shigeru Miyamoto participated in the creation of the game's characters, as he had for

9216-540: Was used in Steve Bloom's 1982 book Video Invaders and 1983 magazines Electronic Games (US)—which ran a cover feature called "The Player's Guide to Climbing Games"—and TV Gamer (UK). Bloom defined "climbing games" as titles where the player "must climb from the bottom of the screen to the top while avoiding and/or destroying the obstacles and foes you invariably meet along the way." Under this definition, he listed Space Panic (1980), Donkey Kong , and despite

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