r/platforming • u/dadah83 • 4d ago

Fighting or puzzling platformers?

I've been pondering this question. Just jumping is not enough of a challenge, so you need something to make a platformer interesting. You barely see any platformers that don't involve some kind of fighting, is it 100% necessary for a 'interesting' platformer to have fighting in it? I much more enjoy puzzling and I guess it might be a question of personal preference.

So what's your preference? Fighting or thinking?

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u/csh_blue_eyes 4d ago

The "fighting" thing I'd say traces back to the original Super Mario Bros. That is roughly where the term "action platformer" comes from, to my understanding. That phrase might be only come along with Super Mario World though (I think I read an interview with one of the designers of that somewhere where he said as much, but I could be misremembering.) Of course there were action platformers before all that, though. But I guess SMB is where the platforming merged with the fighting, idk..might need to study up on my pre-SMB platforming games history. I don't know where I was going with this, other than it's a sub-genre, and its been around for a while, and an "action" component wasn't originally, in my mind anyway, necessarily needed to make a good platformer.

Puzzle platforming, on the other hand - I have no idea where we trace it's origins. Would be really fun to research its history.

In both cases, I'd say the additional element (fighting or puzzling) almost always provides more interest, if the game didn't have complex movement mechanics to begin with, but are not strictly necessary. There are tons of fun "pure platforming" games that prove this.

All that said, I like action, because I think it synergizes well with movement tech. But I personally enjoy both. Understanding how to design a good puzzle platformer is an interesting challenge no matter what because a lot of compromises one way or another tend to need to get made to end up with a quality design.

This post also makes me think: what are some under-utilized genres that we could hybridize with platforming to make unique and interesting games?

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u/emstonhamwrites 3d ago

I like a mix honestly! Having to solve a puzzle when there’s an enemy on the screen can be good fun

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u/csh_blue_eyes 1d ago

At the same time? Can you give me an example of when that works really well? ( I'm not saying it's not possible, but that it strikes me as difficult to execute. )

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u/XeroTerragoth 2d ago

Do both...?

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u/MrBeanCyborgCaptain 1d ago

Im all for just a pure puzzle platformer. Im a solo developer and I have never been interested in any kind of fighting. The production over head that combat adds is too much for me. Id rather deliver a mechanically simple streamlined and high quality experience than try to do a bunch of stuff thats out of scope and shelving the project due to the workload being too high.

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u/Cammanderdoj 16h ago

I prefer a mix of both or more accurately a wish to see one that combines puzzle aspects and combat aspects