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128-399: Freedom Planet is a 2014 platform game developed and published by American video game designer Sabrina DiDuro, for her studio GalaxyTrail. The player controls one of three anthropomorphic animal protagonists: the dragon girl Lilac, the wildcat Carol, or the basset hound Milla. Aided by a duck-like alien named Torque, the girls attempt to defeat the evil Lord Brevon, who plans to steal

256-536: A DRM-free game file, the official two-disc soundtrack, an instruction manual and Steam key, along with various custom-designed collectibles. Steam and Wii U versions of Freedom Planet combined have sold over 250,000 times as of June 2016. A version for the Nintendo Switch was released by Marvelous Inc. and Xseed Games on August 30, 2018. Quality of life updates present in the Switch version as well as

384-657: A miniboss in the middle of each level and a main boss at the end, after which the story is advanced by cutscenes . Because of its aesthetics, level design , and fast-paced gameplay, Freedom Planet has been compared to the Sonic the Hedgehog games released for the Sega Genesis in the early 1990s. Unlike in Sonic , the player character has a hit point meter instead of a ring -based health system. To refill this meter,

512-608: 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

640-452: 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,

768-401: 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

896-455: 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. HUD (video gaming) In video gaming , the HUD ( heads-up display ) or status bar is the method by which information is visually relayed to the player as part of a game's user interface . It takes its name from

1024-522: A HUD including Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U . Multi-screen gaming systems, particularly the Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS handheld systems, can also assign HUD information to one screen while showing gameplay in another. Prolonged display (that stays on the screen in a fixed position, remaining static) of HUD elements on certain CRT -based screens may cause permanent damage in

1152-462: 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

1280-481: 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 ,

1408-525: 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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1536-410: A cycle of three fast but weak punches, which is changed into a single strong claw attack while rolling or pouncing. The pounce acts as Carol's double jump, slightly moving her forward. Her special attack is a series of rapid kicks which steadily consume a fifth of the energy gauge and give her invincibility. Collecting a fuel tank mid-stage allows her to change into a "motorcycle mode", where her top speed

1664-483: A different form brought an end to the war. Once Milla has fully recovered, Torque says goodbye to the girls and returns to space, with the promise that he will one day meet them again. Freedom Planet was conceived in late 2011 by American game designer and programmer Sabrina DiDuro, who had just founded the independent developer GalaxyTrail Games a few years prior. Using the Multimedia Fusion 2 engine,

1792-460: A dive kick from midair. The Dragon Cyclone, used by pressing jump midair, lets Lilac spin like a spinning top and deal touch damage but also acts as a double jump with reduced gravity. Pressing the special button with a full energy gauge activates the Dragon Boost, an eight-directional air dash that deals heavy touch damage and makes her temporarily invincible. Carol regularly attacks with

1920-450: 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

2048-530: A full version of the game was funded through Kickstarter , it was taken to Steam Greenlight and approved for Steam . Its release was first projected for early 2014, then delayed to June 30. Shortly before that date, it was delayed again to July 19; the developers wanted to promote the game at a convention in Miami , Florida, and to avoid competition from the heavily discounted products in Steam's Summer Sale. The game

2176-514: A full-overview mini-map with fog of war . Typically this information is represented numerically, with the health level being a number from 0–100 (percent): 100 representing full health and 0 representing empty, no health or death . However, many other methods of visual representation can be used. For instance, certain games employ a "health bar" which empties as the player becomes hurt such as Tekken , Street Fighter , and many others. Armour levels are also commonly monitored, either through

2304-471: A grotesque monster that attacks the other protagonists, who are forced to render her unconscious. Enraged, Lilac and Carol attack and defeat Brevon, but the Kingdom Stone is destroyed and he escapes. Shortly after the battle, Milla awakens in a medical tent, and everyone sees the sky lit up by swirling, crystalline energy released from the Kingdom Stone. The realization of the Kingdom Stone persisting in

2432-416: A hedgehog, was redesigned to be a dragon after criticism about her similar looks to Sonic were made. The design of Robotnik's replacement Lord Brevon, originally named Dr. Brevon, was inspired by Dr. Sloth, one of DiDuro's favorite characters from Neopets . The soundtrack was composed by DiDuro in collaboration with Leila "Woofle" Wilson and Claire "Blue Warrior" Ellis, the latter having contributed to two of

2560-609: 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

2688-434: A lot of variance with regards to the display of other information. Some games permanently display all the weapons a character is currently carrying, others rely on a pull up weapon selector. Inventory or storage space may also be permanently overlaid over the screen, or accessed via a menu. Alternatively, only a limited number of items stored in the inventory might be displayed at once, with the rest being rotated into view using

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2816-644: A notable example being Resident Evil 2 . In rare cases, no HUD is used at all, leaving the player to interpret the auditory and visual cues in the game-world. Ico has no HUD, fitting with the game's calmer style by not including many traditional game-like elements. Another method of improving realism and immersion in games is through the implementation of dynamic HUDs such as the HUD in Red Dead Redemption 2 . These types of HUDs reduce screen clutter by only displaying specific bits of information when

2944-631: 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

3072-441: 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

3200-470: A reversible poster, as well as a Genesis-style case. Tony Ponce of Destructoid reacted positively about the demo for Freedom Planet and commented that it was "nice to see a well-established style or formula applied to a new world with original characters". Similarly, Eurogamer 's Jeffrey Matulef described the game's preview as "an indie Sonic -esque platformer done right", and enjoyed the redesigned health system. Dominic Tarison of IndieStatik complimented

3328-540: A separate readout, or as part of the health system. For example, some Halo games use one recharging shield bar, acting as the health level. When this is depleted the player can only take a few more hits before their death. The same goes in Destroy All Humans! , but in the form of the player's shields. Traditionally, games used lives to represent health. Every time the main character was injured they would lose one of their limited lives. Another way to display

3456-508: A set order and lead to alternating paths by jumping off of them in succession. Milla, who does not have an energy gauge, can create a cube of energy by holding down the attack button, which she can then throw at enemies. Holding down the special button lets her pull out her shield that can reflect projectiles. Pressing "special" while holding a cube lets Milla use the Super Shield Burst, a strong mid-range beam which pushes Milla in

3584-470: 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

3712-406: 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

3840-725: 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

3968-406: Is Horizon Zero Dawn , which allows player to set the display of each element to always appear, show only when relevant, or never display. Despite the modern dominance of 3D graphics in games, HUDs are frequently rendered with a 2D look, often using sprites . Sometimes, for the sake of narrative and spatial immersion , information normally displayed in the HUD is instead disguised as part of

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4096-520: Is captured and tortured by Brevon. Meanwhile, Carol and Milla ally with Spade to storm the base, where they rescue Torque and Lilac. They are all separated in the ensuing conflict. Neera finds Lilac, arrests her, and brings her back to Shang Tu, where the Magister determines that she is innocent and sends her on a mission to recover an artifact containing information about the Kingdom Stone and their history in return of clearing her name. After she delivers,

4224-488: 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

4352-412: Is excellent). He praised the colorful and detailed backgrounds, expressive character animations, sound effects, and music. Khan agreed: he commented that "every inch of it exud[es] artistic diversity with high resolution sprites that resemble the quality of yesteryear". He called the audio a "nice mix of catchy chiptune style melodies with infectious synthetic beats". Both Khan and 4Gamer were intrigued by

4480-474: 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

4608-443: Is increased and her acceleration doubled. During "motorcycle mode", the double jump becomes a rolling attack and gets the same properties as Lilac's cyclone move. Pressing "special" on-ground triggers a nitro boost that consumes energy. For vertical mobility, the normal Carol is able of doing a wall jump , "motorcycle mode" Carol can ride up walls. Another set piece only Carol can interact with properly are jump pads, which are placed in

4736-465: 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

4864-463: Is unlocked in the character's time attack mode, wherein the player tries to finish the level in the fastest possible time. Players earn achievements by accomplishing certain goals, such as completing the game as a character or defeating an end boss with a special move. The game begins as Sash Lilac and Carol Tea—an anthropomorphic dragon and wildcat —rescue a duck-billed creature named Torque after his spacecraft crash lands. At Torque's request,

4992-626: 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

5120-683: 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

5248-530: 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

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5376-694: 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

5504-615: The Wii U in October 2015, for the PlayStation 4 in 2017, and for the Nintendo Switch in August 2018. The game received largely positive reviews; critics praised its gameplay, visuals, music, aesthetics, sense of humor and balance of Sonic elements with original content, but were mixed on its pacing, voice acting, story and the abundance of long cutscenes. A sequel, Freedom Planet 2 ,

5632-447: The [ and ] keys. In order to maintain the suspension of disbelief , some games make the HUD look like a real HUD within the context of the game's world. Many first-person vehicle simulation games use this technique, showing instruments and displays that the driver of the vehicle would be expected to see. The displays in the helmet in the action-adventure game game Metroid Prime or Star Wars: Republic Commando also mimic

5760-412: The head-up displays used in modern aircraft . The HUD is frequently used to simultaneously display several pieces of information including the player character 's health points , items, and an indication of game progression (such as score or level ). A HUD may also include elements to aid a player's navigation in the virtual space, such as a mini-map . While the information that is displayed on

5888-537: 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

6016-599: 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

6144-468: 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

6272-554: The Genesis era, concurred with Khan. Polygon 's Griffin McElroy argued that Freedom Planet successfully performs "a difficult balancing act, borrowing and transforming elements from games like Sonic the Hedgehog and Rocket Knight Adventures without coming off as derivative". McElroy and Pablo Taboada of the Spanish-language website MeriStation both compared the game to the work of developer Treasure . Taboada lamented

6400-438: The HUD depends greatly on the game, there are many features that players recognize across many games. Most of them are static onscreen so that they stay visible during gameplay. Common features include: There are also trends common among genres and platforms. Many online games show player names and a chat text box for talking to the other players. RTS games tend to have complex user interfaces, with context-sensitive panels and

6528-411: The HUD into just the lap counter, position counter and the game's "power play" meter, all floating within the car's rear bumper, and completely dropping out common racing game elements such as lap timers or speedometers to reduce clutter and distractions. Some console video games are able to display an HUD on video game controllers that contain a smaller second screen that accompanies the gameplay on

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6656-476: 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

6784-400: The Kingdom Stone and conquer the galaxy. While the game focuses on fast-paced platforming, its levels are interspersed with slower action scenes. DiDuro first began developing Freedom Planet as a Sonic the Hedgehog fangame using characters created by DeviantArt user Ziyo Ling for its main cast. Early into development, she lost interest in creating a derivative work and reconceived

6912-460: The Magister reveals that Zao has challenged Shuigang for the Stone. Lilac rejoins her friends and convinces Shang Mu and Shang Tu to unite against Dail and Brevon's army. During the battle, Brevon announces that his ship is repaired, and Lilac, Milla, and Carol board it. The team combats Brevon's minions, including his AI assistant Syntax and a mutated Serpentine. Brevon captures Milla and turns her into

7040-450: The Magister, as Neera accuses them of trying to cover up Zao's crimes. After an unsuccessful attempt of Milla to break out of jail, Torque is acquitted when Lilac falsely pleads guilty. Lilac, Carol, and Milla quickly break out together to reunite with Torque, only to see him captured by Brevon and Serpentine. Carol quarrels with Lilac and storms off. Lilac sends Milla to find her and then goes to save Torque from Brevon's nearby base, but she

7168-484: The Shang Tu officers General Gong and Neera Li, who doubt that the Stone is threatened. The protagonists arrive just as the Stone is stolen by Spade, a henchman hired by Zao. After the shrine collapses, Carol is separated from Lilac and pinned by rubble, but gets saved by the timid basset hound Milla ( / ˈ m iː l ə / ) Basset. That night, Torque tells Lilac, Carol, and Milla that he is an alien sent to apprehend

7296-469: 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 ,

7424-517: The United States, with its art direction carrying East Asian influences, such as medieval Chinese art inspiring its background visuals . With development focused on the Windows platform, the game started out as a demo first released in August 2012 and was, after a successful Kickstarter campaign, released in its entirety via Steam in July 2014. Freedom Planet was later released for

7552-455: 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

7680-529: 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

7808-415: 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

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7936-456: The bug had taken so long to detect because it only occurred in retail versions of the console, preventing GalaxyTrail and Nintendo from learning of the issue. The bug required a hard reset of the system to address the problem, which could potentially cause damage to the Wii U hardware. The bug was eventually fixed, and the game was successfully released on the eShop on October 1; customers who had tried

8064-549: 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

8192-421: 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

8320-419: 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

8448-521: 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

8576-482: 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

8704-487: The full version, Jahanzeb Khan of Hardcore Gamer felt that it was a worthy successor to the 1994 game Sonic 3 & Knuckles - which he considered the series' pinnacle - and that it was "perhaps the most Sonic game to have come out since 1994, one that feels like a true evolution and more importantly a resounding step forward". Jonatan Allin of the Danish version of Eurogamer , who had not enjoyed any Sonic games since

8832-470: 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

8960-406: The game in either the "Adventure" mode with all cutscenes or "Classic" mode, which omits them In Adventure mode, upon first starting the game, players are only given the option to select from either Lilac or Carol after a cutscene, in which the two temporarily split up. Milla is unlocked by clearing the second stage, Relic Maze, as either Lilac or Carol. Once a stage been cleared for the first time, it

9088-523: The game received updates, such as an update in December 2015 that made Milla accessible in Adventure mode. Updates to make Torque and Spade playable characters were planned for release in 2016 but have been postponed to focus on the sequel. Another reason, according to DiDuro, were her displeasure with the way Torque felt in the existing stages. Freedom Planet was first released as a demo for Microsoft Windows in August 2012, to positive reception. After

9216-408: The game started off as a Sonic fangame ; a version of the game only seen in early footage show rings and Doctor Eggman as the game's main antagonist. Early on, DiDuro had decided that the Sonic affiliation would hold back the game. By the time of the first publicly released demo, the rings were replaced with red leaves and the characters' abilities were altered. Charging energy for special moves

9344-488: The game was intended to be a small Flash game to "hone [her] skills as a game designer" but quickly grew to become a full indie game set in an original universe. After struggling to find a fitting name for the game, it was made up of the first two words that came in DiDuro's mind, "freedom" and "planet". Freedom Planet originally began as a direct homage to Sonic . ... As work on the game continued, I felt more and more like it

9472-467: The game's "new and unfamiliar configuration" of elements from classic 16-bit games, but criticized the amount of viewable gameplay area. John Polson of IndieGames.com believed that "the spectacles like loops and wall runs ... [are not] as magical to do or watch" as in Sonic games, but he encouraged platformer fans to download the demo. Nathan Grayson of Kotaku praised the demo for its balance of Genesis Sonic elements and original content: he described

9600-510: The game's East Asian visual style. Taboada believed that each character was likable and interesting to play. Allin found himself unexpectedly captivated by the story, which he guessed many players would miss due to impatience with cutscenes. A direct sequel, Freedom Planet 2 , was released on September 13, 2022 for Windows, with console versions published by Xseed Games released in April 4, 2024. Platform game The genre started with

9728-474: The game's demo were rewarded with a 15-percent discount. On the American Nintendo eShop, Freedom Planet was a best-seller, peaking at the 2nd spot, right behind Super Mario Maker . In November 2015, GalaxyTrail joined forces with the subscription box company IndieBox distribute an exclusive physical release of Freedom Planet . This limited collector's edition box included a flash-drive with

9856-450: The game's obscurity and suggested that, had Treasure obtained the rights to Sonic and released Freedom Planet as an official sequel, it would have been more popular. Khan commented that the levels "never feel like they're over too soon nor do they drag on unnecessarily", and he appreciated the setpiece moments such as "explosive chase/escape sequences, maze like labyrinths, traps, and even shoot-'em-up style shooting segments". Taboada

9984-510: The game's tracks before leaving the project. DiDuro would often provide a base composition in MIDI format, with Woofle creating the final arrangement , but also create additional compositions. Voice actor Dawn M. Bennett , the voice of Lilac, provided voice samples for the tracks Relic Maze 1 and Pangu Lagoon 1 respectively. There were disagreements on the direction of the soundtrack sometimes, with DiDuro wanting "fast-paced and in-your-face from

10112-498: 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

10240-457: 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

10368-413: 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"

10496-438: The get-go" while Woofle aimed for more "fly-by-night"; starting "quieter and more happy" and progressively getting intense. Woofle mentioned the track Sky Battalion to have been the hardest thing to compose, stating that it was "the low point in [her] entire career", it wasn't a song that she felt was "appropriate for the game". Regardless, Woofle described DiDuro as "a great musician and (...) easy to collab with". Post-release,

10624-428: The group is suddenly attacked by Serpentine using one of his mechs. The delays given by the chase give Dail and Brevon's forces time to steal the relic. Afterward, Zao sends the protagonists as emissaries to Shang Tu to discuss an alliance against Shuigang. Traveling by airship, the team gets ambushed by Shuigang's sky battalion, and they crash into a river leading to Shang Tu. Arriving at the palace, they are detained by

10752-514: The idea of developing an Android version of Freedom Planet , but stated to be saving money to port the game to the PlayStation Vita . The game was released on the website GOG.com in late 2014. GalaxyTrail also developed versions for Mac OS X and Linux , which were released on Steam on April 17, 2015. A Nintendo's Wii U version was planned for release on the eShop online store for late 2015, later specified as August 13. A demo

10880-443: The in-game situation calls for it. For instance, when exploring on horseback, the player will only see the mini-map (and the horse's stamina meter if they are galloping). When the player enters combat, the game will display information related to ammunition amount and type along with the meters for player health, player stamina, "Dead Eye" ability, horse stamina and horse health. The racing game Split/Second purposefully concentrated

11008-497: The intergalactic warlord Arktivus Brevon, whose spacecraft wrecked on the planet. Brevon has invaded Shuigang, murdered its king, and brainwashed prince Dail to be his servant. He intends to steal the Stone to power his ship. The protagonists decide to reclaim the Stone from Zao, but they are accosted en route by Spade and Brevon's general, Serpentine. In a conversation with Spade, it's revealed that he secretly worked for his half-brother Dail all along. Talking to Spade soon falls short as

11136-454: 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

11264-510: The life in the HUD is demonstrated in Gears of War , where the characters life is displayed only when they are taking damage, in which case a red cog known as the Crimson Omen appears in the center of the screen. The more visible the Crimson Omen is, the more damage the player has sustained and the closer they are to death. This health system is known as the 'Red Ring' system. There is also

11392-451: 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,

11520-533: The main display. The Sega Dreamcast , released in 1998, uses a VMU on many games as a HUD. A notable example is Resident Evil 2 , Resident Evil 3: Nemesis and Resident Evil – Code: Veronica all using the VMU to show a mini version of the HUD, which displays the protagonists health and ammo. This feature returned with the introduction of the Nintendo Wii U , which uses the Wii U GamePad for some games as

11648-489: 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

11776-405: 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

11904-534: 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

12032-421: The newly added language options were released for the remaining versions soon after. In 2019, GalaxyTrail teamed up with Limited Run Games to distribute a physical release of the Switch version. Switch Limited Run #35: Freedom Planet and Freedom Planet Deluxe Edition , which includes a cover with interior art and full-color booklet, were up for pre-order. The Deluxe Edition also includes the two-disc soundtrack,

12160-561: The one found in the Mega Man X games for SNES . Milla's floating ability as well as the ability to pick up items are based on Yoshi 's flutter jump and Super Mario 2 's throwing mechanics respectively. While the game was developed in Denmark and the United States, its art direction was influenced by medieval East Asian art, particularly that of China . The game's visuals reference modern science fiction and fantasy as well. Much of

12288-404: The opposite direction. Milla can fly for a short time while holding the jump button midair by flapping her ears like wings. Milla is considered to be the hardest to play as, since she only has 6 life petals and even though she could heavily damage an enemy by throwing a cube or reflect projectiles, it would always take some time before she could summon an energy block again. The player may complete

12416-408: 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

12544-416: 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

12672-403: The playable characters make use of an "attack" and "special" button. Lilac and Carol both make use of an energy gauge on the heads-up display , which recharges on its own and limits the use of their special moves. The gauge can be recharged quicker by collecting crystals and keystones. Lilac's basic attacks consist of strong but sluggish hair whips, an uppercut into the air, a crouching kick, and

12800-561: 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

12928-492: The player collects red leaves dropped by enemies and scattered throughout levels. Lilac's and Carol's maximum health are seven leaves, Milla's is four. Being hit by enemies' and bosses' attacks reduces the character's health, and a life is deducted when no health remains. If all lives are lost, a game over screen appears, but the player may freely restart from the last checkpoint . Extra lives can be found within levels, as can shield and invincibility-type power-ups . Each of

13056-405: 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

13184-556: The player's point of view . A similar method is used in Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and Crysis . In some of these circumstances where the player and character within the game are meant to see the same "HUD" information, such as Halo , the term helmet-mounted display (HMD) would technically be more accurate. Some games, in an attempt to increase player immersion and reduce potential screen clutter, have most or all elements disappear when not needed (usually when

13312-1048: 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

13440-482: The players fight them with punches, kicks, and special attacks. In an interview, DiDuro described Freedom Planet as "a nod to '90s-style Japanese platform games, like Sonic , Mega Man , and a little bit of Gunstar Heroes ". Lilac's Dragon Boost is based on a game mechanic from Ristar , where the titular character slams its body against enemies similarly. Carol's Wild Kick ability resembles Chun-Li 's signature special attack, and her wall kick feels similar to

13568-475: The product as "a love letter to classic Sonic , except when it's not". He praised the game's enemies, but experienced minor control issues. Pacing was remarked to be slower than that of the Genesis Sonic games because of the added combat sequences, though Grayson felt that this gave the player time to explore and appreciate the level design. Grayson was critical of the voice acting. Ponce strongly praised

13696-405: The project as her own intellectual property . Sash Lilac, originally a hedgehog , became a dragon; antagonist Doctor Eggman was replaced by Lord Brevon with his eyebrows resembling Doctor Eggman's mustache; and the Sonic series' ring -based health system was abandoned. Further changes were suggested by fans and incorporated throughout development. Freedom Planet was developed in Denmark and

13824-458: The scenery or part of the vehicle in which the player is traveling. For example, when the player is driving a car that can sustain a certain number of hits, a smoke trail might appear when the car can take only two more hits, fire might appear from the car to indicate that the next hit will be fatal. Wounds and bloodstains may sometimes appear on injured characters who may also limp, stagger, slouch over or breathe heavily to indicate they are injured,

13952-457: The status they display is static), a method commonly referred to as a "dynamic HUD". In most cases, the player can display them all by pausing the game or pressing a button. Some games also give players control over the HUD, allowing them to hide elements and customize position, size, color, and opacity. World of Warcraft is notable for allowing players to significantly modify and enhance the user interface through Lua scripting . Another example

14080-664: The text in the game world is written in Chinese characters , and the logo includes a subtitle written in Japanese katakana , Furīdamu Puranetto ( フリーダム・プラネット ) , despite the game originally lacking Japanese language support. DiDuro's first attempt to design her own protagonist for the game was unsuccessful. Browsing on the art website DeviantArt , she soon discovered Chinese artist Ziyo Ling, requesting and getting permission to use her characters Sash Lilac, followed by Carol Tea and Milla, for her game. Lilac, originally conceived as

14208-417: The three set out to protect a powerful relic called the Kingdom Stone. This involves them in a conflict between three nations on their planet: Shuigang, a country militarized by its new king, Dail; Shang Mu, led by the wealth-obsessed Mayor Zao ( / ˈ z aʊ / or / ˈ ʒ aʊ / ); and Shang Tu, whose Royal Magister is unprepared for war. Lilac and Carol rush to the Kingdom Stone's shrine but are waylaid by

14336-489: 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

14464-540: 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

14592-437: 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

14720-455: 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

14848-400: The visuals, though criticized the bland foreground design. Polson noted minor audio and visual flaws, most notably the recycling of sound effects from Genesis Sonic games, but he lauded the game's music. Tarison praised the music and visuals, as well as the varied designs of the environments and playable characters. Freedom Planet was met with highly positive reviews upon release. Reviewing

14976-428: 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

15104-413: 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

15232-453: 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

15360-418: Was becoming a waste of time because I was ultimately creating [ sic ] something in the shadow of an established franchise and that it would never truly be my own work. So, I set out to try and design a main character that would pay homage to my main source of inspiration while still being unique enough to stand out on her own. — Sabrina DiDuro Before becoming its own intellectual property ,

15488-558: Was dependent on Lilac's movement speed was changed to be generating gradually instead as it proved too difficult to control. The physics and controls were also tweaked to be more responsive and tight; running up walls was made easier and jumps were less floaty to allow player to dodge enemy attacks more easily. While the game retained the "speed platform gameplay", it took it in a different direction by introducing combat mechanics based on one of Strife's earlier Sonic fan projects. According to DiDuro, instead of jumping on robots to destroy them,

15616-532: 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 ,

15744-399: Was mixed on the game's brevity: he thought it was suitable for speedrunning but unsatisfying for those seeking a deeper experience. By contrast, Japanese website 4Gamer stated that the game's quirks allowed one to play extensively without boredom, and Taboada enjoyed the large, Metroidvania -style levels. Regarding the game's visuals, Taboada said, "Técnicamente es excelso" (technically, it

15872-406: Was released as part of a promotion titled "Nindies@home", wherein players were invited to try several upcoming Wii U games between June 15 and 22. While it was still in production during the summer, the projected release date was delayed; the Wii U version was set back by a "console-freezing bug", which would postpone the Wii U release indefinitely until the issue was fixed. DiDuro later explained that

16000-573: Was released in September 2022 for Windows. Ports for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 , Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S , followed in April 2024. Freedom Planet is a 2D platform game . The player directs one of three characters —Lilac, Carol, or Milla—to run and jump through levels and destroy robotic enemies. Levels contain obstacles such as corkscrews, loop-the-loops , hills, ramps, and rock walls. The player fights

16128-482: Was released, after a third delay, on July 21, since Steam didn't allow games to be released on weekends. Coinciding with the game's release, GalaxyTrail released Freedom Planet - Official Soundtrack , a digital version of the soundtrack, as DLC. To advertise the game, GalaxyTrail created branded T-shirts, and Lilac was included as an easter egg in the 2013 game Sonic: After the Sequel . DiDuro considered and rejected

16256-418: 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

16384-540: 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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