So ya wanna know about video game genres? Let's start with the platfomer!

When I first subscribed to Nintendo Power magazine many years ago, I was an ardent gamer, yes, but there were a few terms that frequently came up in the magazine that I didn't have a clue about. Most of them related to video game genres in one way or other. FPS, RPG, platfomer...what?!

Nintendo's most famous franchise being Super Mario and all, I thought it prudent to begin with the category that Super Mario belongs to: the platform genre. Even though we all know what a platform is, the idea of a platform video game is a little vague. Why can't Mario games just be "save the princess" games or something like that? Well, video games are different from other mediums because they can be controlled, right? So video game genres revolve around how the games are controlled. Platform games involve platforms. The player controls the character and uses jumps or other forces to land on platforms and avoid pitfalls. It's really important that platformers have some way for the player to jump at will, otherwise you'd be hard pressed to correctly identify a game as a platformer.

And, really, it's as simple as that. Super Mario games are of the platform genre. Some other examples include Rayman Origins, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Kirby's Return to Dreamland, and Mutant Mudds. Play a platformer for yourself today!