Recent Developments
Despite a much smaller presence in the overall gaming market, some platform games continue to be successful into the seventh generation of consoles. 2007 saw the release of Super Mario Galaxy and Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction to positive critical and fan reaction. Super Mario Galaxy went on being awarded the Best Game of 2007 on high-profile gaming websites including GameSpot, IGN, and GameTrailers, and is currently the second most critically acclaimed game of all time according to GameRankings. In 2008, LittleBigPlanet paired traditional 2D platform game mechanics with physics simulation and user created content, earning strong sales and critical reaction. Electronic Arts released Mirror's Edge, which coupled platform gameplay with a first-person camera, but avoided marketing the game as a platformer because of the association the label has with games geared toward younger audiences. Sonic Unleashed featured stages containing both 2D and 3D styles of platform gameplay; this formula was also used in Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations. Two Crash Bandicoot platform games were also released 2007 and 2008.
Nintendo has created a surge in recent years releasing numerous platform games, to high sales. New Super Mario Bros. was released in 2006 and has sold 18.45 million copies worldwide and is the best-selling game for the DS, and the fourth best-selling non-bundled video game of all time. Super Mario Galaxy has 8.04 million sales, while Super Paper Mario, Super Mario 64 DS, Sonic Rush, Yoshi's Island DS, Kirby Super Star Ultra, and Kirby: Squeak Squad also have strong sales, and keep the genre alive. Super Smash Bros. Brawl's solo (and sometimes co-op) mode could also be considered a platform game.
After the success of New Super Mario Bros., recent years have shown renewed interest in 2D platformers, which can be attributed both to handheld consoles such as the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable, and low-risk downloadable services offered by WiiWare, Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and Steam. These range from classic revivals such as Bionic Commando: Rearmed, Contra ReBirth and Sonic the Hedgehog 4, to original titles like Splosion Man and Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure. Wario Land: The Shake Dimension, released in 2008, was a platformer that featured completely two-dimensional graphics, offering a rich visual style. Other games such as Braid, A Boy and His Blob, and The Behemoth's BattleBlock Theater also use completely 2D graphics. New Super Mario Bros. Wii is particularly notable, as unlike the majority of 2D platformers in the 21st century, it was a direct release for a non-portable console, and not restricted on a content delivery network. The success of New Super Mario Bros. Wii lead to Nintendo releasing similar 2D platformer games for their classic franchises the following year, namely Donkey Kong Country Returns and Kirby's Epic Yarn.
In 2009 independent developer Frozenbyte released Trine, a 2.5D platform game that mixed traditional elements with more modern physics puzzles. The game proved to be a commercial success, eventually selling more than 1.1 million copies and spawned a sequel, Trine 2, which was released in 2011. The 2D platformer Rayman Origins, was also released in 2011 as a retail title on several platforms.
Read more about this topic: Platform Game, History, Third Dimension
Famous quotes containing the word developments:
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—C. Vann Woodward (b. 1908)
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