Summary
- BattleBlock Theater by The Behemoth offers quirky humor, challenging gameplay, and extensive customization options for avatars.
- Yoshi's Crafted World provides a visually stunning platformer with limited customization options beyond costumes.
- Sonic Forces stands out for its creative character customization options and fan-focused content in the Sonic franchise.
A lot of players grew up playing the NES when it debuted in 1985 in North America. Their game of choice at the NES launch had to be Super Mario Bros., which took the nation by storm, leading to tons of merchandise, sequels, and even cartoons. Mario helped define the platformer genre, and many games would come to dethrone the king, from Crash Bandicoot to Sonic the Hedgehog.
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The gaming world is big enough for all of these mascot characters to exist, and all of these franchises are great. However, some players like customizing their characters more like in RPGs. There have been platformers that have offered customization, so let’s go through the best ones and rank them based on creativity and how good their platforming is.
6 Battleblock Theater
A Bizarre Followup To Castle Crashers
BattleBlock Theater
- Released
- April 3, 2014
WHERE TO PLAY
BattleBlock Theater was the next game from The Behemoth, the studio that made a hit on the Xbox 360 indie marketplace with Castle Crashers. BattleBlock Theater has that same weird energy that its predecessor had with weird NPCs and enemies, a narrator that showed distaste for the player, and an out-of-this-world soundtrack.
Levels were short and challenging 2D affairs akin to something more like Super Meat Boy than Super Mario World. Players could customize their avatar with various heads from aliens to pyramids, and also color their bodies. The further they got, the more items would appear. The best part was the co-op, which allowed four players to frolic around levels and cause mischief online.
5 Yoshi's Crafted World
Boxing For Dinosaurs
Yoshi's Crafted World
- Released
- March 29, 2019
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E For Everyone due to Mild Cartoon Violence
- Developer(s)
- Good-Feel
- Genre(s)
- Platformer
- Platform(s)
- Switch
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
Yoshi's Crafted World was indeed a platformer, but one with less creativity beyond costumes. Players could choose the color of their Yoshi at the start of levels and then dress them in various cardboard costumes, which added to the DIY theming of the game.
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It’s not as cool as creating a Yoshi with specific colors and patterns, but it’s more customization than other Mario games have offered. Options aside, it’s a great platformer with a stunning visual style that often gets overlooked on Switch.
4 Sonic Forces
A Fan’s Dream
Sonic Forces
- Released
- November 7, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E10+ For Everyone 10+ // Fantasy Violence
- Developer(s)
- Sonic Team
- Genre(s)
- Platformer, Shooter, Fighting, Adventure
The Sonic franchise has had a huge presence online with the rise of the Internet in the late 90s and early 2000s. Fans have been making content for years, from games to comics, and Sonic Forces finally gave them an official outlet to showcase their creativity.
Players could make a character based on a few different creatures and customize their body with colors, clothes, and accessories, more of which would unlock as the game went on. It’s not the best Sonic game in the franchise, but it should be noted as a standout entry that gave fans what they wanted with a pretty creative host of levels.
3 Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space
Gotta Go Back In Time
Blinx 2: Masters of Time & Space
- Released
- November 18, 2004
WHERE TO PLAY
- Platform(s)
- Xbox (Original)
The original Xbox didn’t get a lot of platformer exclusives on the console, but two are notable. The first game, Blinx: The Time Sweeper, starred the titular cat who went through time fixing anomalies. In the sequel, Blinx 2: Masters of Time and Space, Blinx took on more of a side role, and players could instead make their own fuzzy character.
Also, the game was split between levels with time officers and levels wherein players could cause havoc in time with the pig-like Tom Tom Gang. It was a risky sequel with a lot of ideas thrown at the wall, complete with multiplayer, too, and fans were there for it even though it didn’t make a huge splash on Xbox.
2 Tearaway
Don’t Shoot The Messenger
Tearaway
- Released
- November 20, 2013
- ESRB
- e
- Developer(s)
- Media Molecule
- Platform(s)
- PS Vita
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
Tearaway was a unique platformer by the same devs as LittleBigPlanet, Media Molecule. It was a PS Vita exclusive wherein players could customize their avatar’s envelope-like face along with their body. In the remake on PS4, they added a female option but kept the customization options overall relatively low.
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While the avatar customization wasn’t as wild as LittleBigPlanet’s options, the gameplay was more creative, which used every button and motion control the PS Vita system and PS4 controller were capable of. Both versions are worth a playthrough to see all the little differences.
1 LittleBigPlanet 2
A Stitched Together Sequel
LittleBigPlanet 2
- Released
- January 18, 2011
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- E For Everyone due to Comic Mischief, Mild Cartoon Violence
- Developer(s)
- Media Molecule
- Genre(s)
- Platformer
- Platform(s)
- PS3
The first game in the franchise was unique as it gave players a way to make their own levels on top of customizing their male and female Sackboys with tons of clothing patterns and colors. LittleBigPlanet 2 was a big leap forward, which smoothed out gameplay hiccups like tightening the platforming as well as making levels more memorable.
There was a new host of creative tools, too, to make more than just platforming levels. On top of that, the clothing choices were upgraded, and some fun costume crossover packs made the Sackboys even cuter, like turning them into Final Fantasy 7 characters or DC superheroes.
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