Best Platforming Games of 2019

It’s award season here at Twinfinite! Today, we’re looking back at the best platforming games from 2019. Voted on by our editors, these were the best games that emphasized traditional action-platforming style gameplay.

Let’s start with some honorable mentions, followed by our two runners-up, and of course, our overall winner for 2019.

Best Platforming Games of 2019

Honorable Mention: Yoshi’s Crafted World

Features Editor Greysun Morales: Yoshi’s Crafted World is one of the most charming and adorable platformers of the year that can’t help but make you smile from ear to ear while playing.

The visually impressive cardboard look of the environments and stages really bring the world to life and even though the difficulty is set pretty low, there are some hardcore platforming challenges that await players once you finish up the main story.

The bosses are also super inventive, there are tons of collectibles to go back and retrieve, and several other challenges that makes Yoshi’s Crafted World an awesome platformer for anyone of any age on the Switch. 

Plus, there’s also a silly but fun cooperative mode that is great at introducing someone to platformers for the first time or just a way to force your partner to play games with you.

Best Platforming Games of 2019

Second Runner-Up: Yooka-Laylee and The Impossible Lair

Editor-in-Chief Ed McGlone: I’m going to have to be the one to stick up for Yooka-Laylee and The Impossible Lair here on staff for Twinfinite. While a few staffers played and enjoyed the game, I found myself in love with it and I think it should be considered one of the more underrated games of 2019.

The effort on the end of Playtonic of creating a rich, expansive, and creative 2D/3D world is fantastic.

The overworld of Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is probably the best platformer overworld since Super Mario World, and it might be one of the most/fun interesting to explore of all-time.

There are secret exits from levels that will take you to hidden areas on the map, new levels themed around alternate stats that you can unlock by solving puzzles on the map, and plenty of nooks and crannies to explore that will reward you with neat Tonics to change up your gameplay.

The levels themselves are among the most creative I’ve played in years, and stands up with the best of this generation. The design and themes in each level are wonderful. There’s varied environments, lots of secrets paths to explore and the level states offer significant twists that make the same area feel completely new and fresh.

I was really looking forward to a refined sequel to the original Yooka-Laylee game, but now I’m not so sure. Perhaps Playtonic should stick to 2D platforming until they get the green light to take on Banjo-Kazooie again? Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is that good.

Best Platforming Games of 2019

First Runner-Up: Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

Contributor Aaron Greenbaum: We all know that pitching a Kickstarter campaign that relies on nostalgia isn’t a recipe for guaranteed success. Koji Igarashi gambled when he created Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, which is a spiritual successor to his magnum opus Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. However, Igarashi managed to craft an excellent platformer title that won the hearts of gamers the world over.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night feels more like a Castlevania game than recent Castlevania titles. Movement is satisfyingly weighty; jumps aren’t floaty but give you enough airtime to effectively explore locales, and attacks have a slight, realistic delay that conveys a sense of impact as your weapon digs into demon flesh.

Better yet, Bloodstained is bursting with collectible weapons, armors, and spells, some of which completely change how you traverse the game’s levels and fight enemies, as well as open up new locations. The gameplay loop makes every second rewarding, whether you barely scrape by as you explore a secret laboratory or kill the same enemies over and over to craft powerful, nigh-game breaking weapons.

In many ways, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a best hits of Metroidvania game design. Everything gamers love about the genre is out in full force, and all the features flow together and build upon each other to produce an experience that is never tedious or boring.

Bloodstained is among not only the best platformers of 2019, but right there with the best of the entire generation. The mind boggles trying to consider how Igarashi will one-up himself for his next game.

Best Platforming Games of 2019

Winner: Super Mario Maker 2

Editor-in-Chief Ed McGlone: While Nintendo created the tools and foundation for our pick for the best platforming game of 2019, the community is what makes Super Mario Maker 2 great.

Finally free from the shackles of the Wii U and the 3DS, Super Mario Maker 2 lets the series take full flight with much improved online features including new online multiplayer and co-op maps.

It’s very easy to find well-made courses across themes that span nearly the entire history of 2D Mario games; some of which are up there with some of the most creative Mario levels that Nintendo has created themselves.

It’s not a huge shock that Super Mario Maker 2 is great though. After all, it’s a seemingly never-ending supply of fun, silly, and creative platforming courses all within the time-tested and polished 2D Mario gameplay.

Rather, what I found most surprising is how accessible and fun it is to create courses in Super Mario Maker 2. I don’t have a creative bone in my body. I literally failed 8th grade Art class one semester. But, even I was enamored with the course creation tools in Super Mario Maker 2 and found creating courses to be way easier and more fun than I ever thought it would be. Seeing people play, enjoy, and “like” your courses is a great feeling.

With Super Mario Maker 2 continuing to receive updates, I will likely be continuing to check in on the latest and greatest from the community well into 2020 and beyond.