Poll of the Day > Which do you prefer: 2D or 3D platformers?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Mario 64 and Odyssey are some of my favorite platformers of all time, so 3D.

A lot of my favorite games are 2D platformers, but I voted 3D because I'm always wanting more 3D platformers

Every time a platformer is 2D when it should be 3D I get sad.

Kirby, Yoshi... but tbh being 3D didn't save Kirby from being for 5 year olds.

They're radically different experiences, I find. 3D puts more focus on exploration and understanding how levels fit together to work your way through them, 2D puts more focus on moment-to-moment platforming action and precision. Some of them kind of blur the line, like Mario pre-Odyssey was evolving closer and closer to being the same sort of game as a 2D platformer but in 3D (peaking with 3D World), but by and large that's the main difference between them. Generally, I would say I like 3D platformers better, but that's a definite apples to oranges comparison and if I'm in the mood for a 2D platformer, a 3D one isn't going to scratch that itch no matter how good it is.

Yellow posted...

Kirby, Yoshi... but tbh being 3D didn't save Kirby from being for 5 year olds.

To be fair, Kirby's always been designed to be accessible. From day 1 of the series, it was meant to be a platformer that anyone can enjoy, and it hasn't really strayed from that core mandate. I don't think that's a bad thing, and Forgotten Land was an absolute blast even if it wasn't the most difficult.

2D, absolutely. I generally didn't enjoy 3D games on consoles, and I especially wouldn't now, now that I've experienced kb+m.

I can't stand 3D platformers or any fast paced game with a free form camera that you have to constantly micro manage for that matter.

Judgmenl posted...

I can't stand 3D platformers or any fast paced game with a free form camera that you have to constantly micro manage for that matter.

skill issue

DirtBasedSoap posted...

skill issue

I don't see an issue with this. You can't architect highly complicated control systems.

I've never had that problem in my life, guess I'm just built different

I love 2.5d platformers a lot, especially Klonoa and others in the 5th generation.
3d can be really fun and have levels to get "lost" in but then that's the issue: empty levels where you're lost instead of having fun.
So I guess I'd take a good 3d platformer over 2d but 2d in general probably. I love sonic adventure for instance.

Judgmenl posted...

I don't see an issue with this. You can't architect highly complicated control systems.

if youve played enough 3D platformers, moving the camera becomes second nature

2D platformers generally are more consistent when it comes to quality.

I like a lot of 3D platformers (even divisive ones like Donkey Kong 64), but sometimes I find them repetitive and boring. Super Mario Odyssey really had to fight to hold my attention.

Maybe if they actually made them difficult, while we try to stimulate ourselves again, instead of insisting video games are for children, we wouldn't dissociate while trying to play the latest Nintendo game

I can't decide.

I prefer 2D. 3D usually makes me dizzy.

Crash Bandicoot (PS1) is the best of both worlds

3D definitely

Definitely 2D. 3D platformers always seem slow and boring to me.

Rayman Origins and Legends are incredible

SMB3 and World are incredible

There are some enjoyable 3D platformers but imho they don't reach quite the same zenith that 2D platformers reach. Not sure it's possible to have a 3D platformer tuned to near-perfection largely because

Dikitain posted...

3D platformers always seem slow to me.

2D platforms. I find 3D platformers to be bland and/or mildly irritating. Of course it depends on the series too.

Guess I don't have a preference. Either way it better be really good or I'm going to get bored really fast.

2D will age better, obviously. But I loved games like Mario Galaxy and Banjo Kazooie

FrozenBananas posted...

2D will age better, obviously. But I loved games like Mario Galaxy and Banjo Kazooie

Super Mario Galaxy hasn't aged well?

Dikitain posted...

3D platformers always seem slow and boring to me.

I feel like that's kind of inevitable. If you consider a difficult 2D platformer that requires fast-paced, pixel-perfect execution, directly translating that same speed and demand for precision into 3D means you've got that same difficulty plus the need to control a camera and deal with an extra dimension of precise aiming, which is obviously much, much more difficult than the 2D equivalent. That means that in order to have comparable difficulty, the speed and precision have to be toned down to leave room for the other challenges, which inherently makes them less exciting and makes developing the skills needed to handle that kind of overall difficulty less enjoyable and satisfying. That, in turn, tends to drive developers to focus less on making 3D platformers about executing difficult platforming and more about exploring and solving puzzles that can be made more interesting in a complex 3D environment than they could in a 2D stage.

That's mostly why I don't really consider them to be the same genre, at least not to an extent that directly comparing them is reasonable. The most basic concept is all that really unites them. The core design philosophies that build on that concept are quite different from each other, resulting in very distinct experiences.

Demons Souls was the best 3d platformer.

The first Sly Cooper is so damn good

2D generally, although I love Banjo, Crash, and the 3D Mario games

I love both but 3D platformers are probably my overall favorite genre.

I'm all about games with interesting movement mechanics where there's potential for a lot of tech and 3D platformers generally have a lot of that.

My favorite platform games by far are the Prinny games, and those are 2D. I also really like Mario Maker insanity. So yeah, all in 2D for me.

3D platformers are fine, but they have to be as jank-free as possible.

2.5D

lowercase

manhookcardoor posted...

Super Mario Galaxy hasn't aged well?

its aged well enough but I dont think it will age as well as 2D platformers

FrozenBananas posted...

its aged well enough but I dont think it will age as well as 2D platformers

By and large, by the end of the N64/PS1 era, developers had a good enough handle on camera controls that I wouldn't say aging is really a problem for 3D platformers (outside of graphics, which isn't really specific to 3D platformers). SMG's controls don't really qualify as "dated," so I wouldn't say it's going to have any difficulty aging.

I don't play many platformers but a well done 2D platformer is classic

adjl posted...

By and large, by the end of the N64/PS1 era, developers had a good enough handle on camera controls that I wouldn't say aging is really a problem for 3D platformers (outside of graphics, which isn't really specific to 3D platformers). SMG's controls don't really qualify as "dated," so I wouldn't say it's going to have any difficulty aging.

I dunno, the wii mote was super awkward for some of the parts. Like when youre walking and balancing on top of a ball or whatever, and you had to aim the wiimote in a weird direction

sure, its more of a wii / motion control problem but Galaxy was built around that. Its still one of my favorite games though

FrozenBananas posted...

I dunno, the wii mote was super awkward for some of the parts. Like when youre walking and balancing on top of a ball or whatever, and you had to aim the wiimote in a weird direction

sure, its more of a wii / motion control problem but Galaxy was built around that. Its still one of my favorite games though

That's not really a matter of aging poorly, though. That's just garden-variety wonky controls. Aging poorly more commonly refers to control problems that are a consequence of developers not really knowing how to make the control scheme work because there isn't enough precedent for them to draw on (SM64's camera being a prime example of this). If they just had an idea that didn't work out, that's just a mistake.

No preference, I'm not really into platformers.

acesxhigh posted...

Demons Souls was the best 3d platformer.

currently farming hard stone chunks in DeS. fuck this game @acesxhigh

Generally 2D, but partly because most of my favorite platformers are 2D.

Honestly, when platformers move from 2D to 3D, they often kinda start to change genres, which is another issue. Metroid was a 2D platformer series, but Metroid Prime started to takes things into more of a FPS direction, ultimately culminating in a PvP component. The Mega Man Legends games felt more like an RPG. Then the Sonic franchise started to do a lot of weird stuff in general.