Retro Arena: Classic 8-bit platformers

[Leon Retro]

Donkey Kong - 1981
Pitfall - 1982
Mario Bros. - 1983
Chuckie Egg - 1983
Manic Miner - 1983
Pitfall 2: Lost Caverns - 1984
Jet Set Willy - 1984
Bomb Jack - 1984
Thing on a Spring - 1985
Monty on the Run - 1985
Dynamite Dan - 1985
Super Mario Bros. - 1985
Alex Kidd in Miracle World - 1986
Bubble Bobble - 1986
Wonder Boy - 1986
The Great Giana Sisters - 1987
Super Mario Bros. 2 - 1988
Super Mario Bros. 3 - 1988
Psycho Fox - 1989
Kirby's Adventure - 1993

Here we have a collection of classic 8-bit platformers. Choose 5 games that you like the most.

(I decided that only choosing three games is a bit restrictive. But it's fine to choose less than five.)

[Neon Ignition]

-Bubble Bobble
-Super Mario Bros
-Super Mario Bros 3

and then I'm going off-spec for my last two (though one is harder to define as 8-bit era:

-New Zealand Story
-Duck Tales

[ZipZap]

Bubble Bobble
SMB
SMB3

...are the easy picks.

Despite the bugs and its flaws, Jet Set Willy would also have to go in there. It's the first game I really loved. I know that mansion so well and I still admire the creativity of Matthew Smith for designing it. There's some really nice sprite work for the time as well.

It's a little hard to pick a fifth. I quite like Wonderboy and Manic Miner. I feel that I really need to properly play SMB2 and Alex Kidd at some stage. Monty on the Run has a has some pretty good music!

[Leon Retro]

New Zealand Story

I always think of it as a 16-bit game that was also converted to 8-bit systems. But now I realise that it ran on 2 x Z80 @6MHz. So obviously 2 Z80s gave enough horsepower to run the arcade game. I guess that approach was more affordable for Taito at the time.

-Duck Tales

I had that as the last game on the list, but then decided to go with Kirby. As much as DuckTales is a very good platformer, I decided it doesn't get much recognition in the UK. I remember Kirby's Adventure got good reviews and was a nice companion to the original Game Boy Kirby game.

[Leon Retro]

Jet Set Willy would also have to go in there. It's the first game I really loved. I know that mansion so well and I still admire the creativity of Matthew Smith for designing it. There's some really nice sprite work for the time as well.

I also have a soft spot for Jet Set Willy. I wouldn't say it's a great platformer compared to most of the others listed, but I think it has charm and attractive sprite art. Nostalgia definitely plays a big part. Also, I prefer to play Manic Miner these days.

I feel that I really need to properly play SMB2

It's completely different to other Super Mario games, but excellent in its own right. I've always loved it since getting a copy back in 1989. Easily one of my favourite 8-bit platformers.

Monty on the Run has a has some pretty good music!

I went for that game in the series as I've noticed that it gets lots of love on the C64. That's partly down to the excellent music. From what I've read about the series, Monty on the Run received very good reviews back in the day.

[Team Andromeda]

WonderBoy - The best ever and I still remember me and my brother making mum mad, after staying up till 3am playing the game on Christmas day (when 1st had my Master System)

Manic Miner - Pixel perfect platform perfection.

Bomb Jack- Me and my mates used the play the ZX Spectrum port, for hours on end

[Leon Retro]

WonderBoy - The best ever

You really need to change your forum name to 'Wonder Boy'

Manic Miner - Pixel perfect platform perfection.

A really nice slice of Spectrum magic. Easily one of my favourite 8-bit computer games.

Bomb Jack- Me and my mates used the play the ZX Spectrum port, for hours on end

I loved the arcade version -- looked magical at the time. Then I enjoyed the 8-bit home ports, even if they were quite dodgy.



Some clever person made a near arcade perfect port for the Amiga called 'Bomb Jack Beer Edition'. Much better than the weak port we got back in the day.

[samanosuke]

Right, obvious ones out the way (Bubble Bobble, Mario, Mario 3) my other two picks are:

Monty on the Run - absolutely loved the Speccy version BitD as this, along with Pac Land in our local boozer, was what got me into gaming in the first place. A truly captivating platformer that still stands up today. Only thing wrong with it is the ridiculous game-breaking freedom kit which, thanks to online guides, becomes a moot point in the modern age.

Wonderboy III: The Dragon’s Trap - it’s not in the list, but it effing well should be!

[QualityChimp]

Super Mario Bros is great.
Bomb Jack is also *ahem* the bomb.

My favourite on that list is easily Wonderboy, though.

[Leon Retro]

Wonderboy III: The Dragon’s Trap - it’s not in the list, but it effing well should be!

I decided to only include the original Wonder Boy, as it's a straight platformer. There are plenty of games I could have included, but I think I included lots of popular platformers.

Bomb Jack is also *ahem* the bomb.

*ahem* It's also 'bombtastic'.

My favourite on that list is easily Wonderboy, though.

A really simple but fun platformer. Deserves more recognition.



I remember really liking this advert in magazines.

[gunrock]

Bubble Bobble (C64 is pretty good)
Miner 2049'er (I preferred Bounty Bob Strikes Back or Bagitman)
Chuckie Egg

Honorable mentions: C64 version of Mario Bros was good (ignoring the flickering sprites). The Perils of Willy (Vic 20) - Miner Willy greatness on a **** system.

It's not really my genre and I never got the Japanese consoles. Pitfall was groundbreaking at the time compared to say, Battle (concept and gfx, at least. Lots of fun to be had).

[Cepp]

I'm not the biggest fan of Ducktales. I think Chip n' Dale: Rescue Rangers is the better Disney platformer on NES.

From that list for me it would be:

SMB3: Greatest platformer of all time (yes, better than SMW).
SMB: Just an amazing game and leap forward for the genre. I want to try beating it using game genie code: XYAGEP.
Alex Kidd in Miracle World: The first game I ever played. It's janky in that SMS kind of way but I legitimately love this game.
Wonderboy: Very simple but fun and addictive, especially on the SMS.
SMB2: I could have exchanged this with Kirby tbh, it's a good game but I don't love it as much as the above 4.

I have never heard of Thing on a Spring before today.

I do have a lot of fond memories of playing Mario Bros on the Atari 2600. I'm pretty sure that was my introduction to Mario.

[Leon Retro]

Miner 2049'er (I preferred Bounty Bob Strikes Back or Bagitman)

Yeah, Bounty Bob is really good. I need to play Bagitman.

The Perils of Willy (Vic 20) - Miner Willy greatness on a **** system.

Yeah, one of the best Vic-20 games.

Pitfall was groundbreaking at the time compared to say, Battle (concept and gfx, at least. Lots of fun to be had).

I don't think I played it back in the day, but I can certainly see why it was a groundbreaking game. I quite enjoy playing both Pitfall games now and then.

[Leon Retro]

I'm not the biggest fan of Ducktales. I think Chip n' Dale: Rescue Rangers is the better Disney platformer on NES.

They're both good, but DuckTales does get quite a lot of praise from American retro gamers. The modern remake highlights how well regarded the original game is.

Personally, I'd rather play 'Gimmick!' when it comes to NES platformers. But I didn't include it because the topic isn't a celebration of good to great NES platformer games.

SMB3: Greatest platformer of all time (yes, better than SMW).

Lots of people say they prefer SMB3 over SMW. I really like both, but SMW is my favourite.

Alex Kidd in Miracle World: The first game I ever played. It's janky in that SMS kind of way but I legitimately love this game.

I wish it had come with my Master System, because I'd probably have nostalgia for it now. But I never played it back in the day. I'm not a fan of any Alex Kidd games, but I did quite enjoy Alex Kidd in Shinobi World the last time I had my Master System set up.

SMB2: I could have exchanged this with Kirby tbh, it's a good game but I don't love it as much as the above 4.

I'm a big fan of SMB2, so it's easily included in my five choices. I really love everything about it.

I have never heard of Thing on a Spring before today.

I haven't played it for decades, so I don't know how it stands up today. But I do know the C64 version has excellent music that people still enjoy listening to.

[gunrock]

[MENTION=2924]Leon Retro[/MENTION]:Thing On A Spring's music was a great, early-ish Rob Hubbard tune. The game itself, from memory, was really difficult because the key conceit was that the character was bouncing the whole time (being a spring-bodied entity), thus harder to control.
In many ways, a bit like the beautiful to look at, but hard to play, Cauldron II.