1. Long Jumps / Double Jump
Notable games: Super Mario 64, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
As I already stated the jump is one of the most important parts of any platform game. I’m sure developers spend hours getting their jump just right– the right height, the right speed, the right distance. Once they get it down they develop an entire game around it, and usually the standard jump is all you will ever need to complete the game. But sometimes the developers throw in something extra for the benefit of their more skilled player base. The first long jump I remember is the crouch jump from Super Mario 64 that let skillful players sequence break areas all over that game. During my second playthrough of Super Mario Galaxy I had a lot of fun looking for places I could cut corners using long jumps, and how quickly I could beat certain levels. Double jumps serve a similar purpose, but are often implemented as an upgrade required for progression. Still this doesn’t stop it from being fun to use and experiment within the game world, as is the case for many modern Castlevania games.
That’s it for my personal platforming favorites. Please let us know some of yours in the comments below!