The Rise Fall and Rebound of 3D Platformers

The Rise, Fall, and Rebound of 3D Platformers

In the early days of 3D, the platformer was king on consoles. But when studios oversaturated the market, and players began to move to more “sophisticated” genres, you didn’t see many run and jump stars in the limelight beyond the occasional Mario or Sonic release. However, in recent years, that’s begun to change. Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we’re exploring the rise, fall, and rebound of the 3D platformer.

The Platformer style has always been one that’s easier to digest. With roots dating back to the much simpler times of the early 80s, they would have to be. This is how the 8 and 16-bit days became defined by sidescrolling platformers. Every studio both big and small released games with their own platforming stars, some more than one. You had everything from big-name IPs like “Super Mario” to random franchise tie-ins like McDonalds-brand “M.C. Kids” to completely out-there ideas like “Boogerman,” and everything in between.

When console games made the jump to 3D, the platformer took on a new persona, defined by vibrant, colorful worlds, and the utter sense of wow at the evolution in what was possible with controls and mechanics. Although there had been a handful of 3D platformers before, 1996 was its true dawn. It was first, and arguably best-defined by “Super Mario 64.” Nintendo delivered a perfect transition from 2D to 3D, with a castle packed full of engaging playgrounds, and enticing challenges and secrets.

1996 also saw the release of Naughty Dog’s “Crash Bandicoot.” Similarly defined by its lush, often detail-packed levels, it focused more on tight gameplay within more linear levels as opposed to Mario’s sandbox approach. Although it didn’t come with the same groundbreaking sense of freedom, it was a more than enjoyable alternative for PlayStation players. However, as with every genre’s jump to the new perspective, not every game handled the transition well. “Bubsy 3D” was released the same year, and is world-famous for how terrible it is.

Of course, Bubsy was nowhere near big enough to halt the momentum. It wasn’t long before other studios began to follow in the footsteps of Mario and Crash, as a multitude of new mascot platformers burst onto the scene in just a few years. Croc, Gex, Spyro, Glover, Banjo-Kazooie, Chameleon Twist, Ape Escape. Not to mention other older franchises making the jump, like “Pac-Man,” “Rayman,” and “Sonic,” around the same time, nor the sequels that any of those games spawned. From 1996 to 1999, 3D platformer fans were in a golden era. So, where did it go downhill?

Well, you could argue that so many prominent releases in such a short window, all of which use the same basic structure, caused players to grow tired of the formula. Some retrospective reviewers actually pinpoint a specific game, 1999’s “Donkey Kong 64,” as being the peak that saw the genre’s eventual decline. Developed by Rare, a studio known for great platformers like “Banjo-Kazooie” and DK’s “Country” series on the SNES, it is now infamous for its amount of collectables. Some feel it took the collect-a-thon nature built into 3D platformer DNA and went overboard.

Still, we can’t place all the blame on a single game. As we’d see well into the 2000s, the 3D platformer persisted. But things only got more crowded. Mario, Sonic, Rayman, Spyro, and Crash all got more sequels. Studios still kept trying their hand at new characters like Ty the Tasmanian Tiger, Kao the Kangaroo, Blinx the Time Sweeper, and the cast of “Super Monkey Ball.” Also, the genre wasn’t just home to original video game characters, but an army of ones established elsewhere. A ton of licensed properties got 3D platformers throughout the decade; everything from “SpongeBob SquarePants” to the “Scooby-Doo” gang, from Mr. Bean to various Disney and Pixar movies.

This made for a large group of games that felt very similar, even if they ranged drastically in quality. This was the case in the days of 2D as well. But now, shooters, racers, action-adventure games, and RPGs were all evolving in unique ways. Elsewhere, Sony’s first-party 3D platformers succeeded, at least for a time, by evolving and mixing in elements from other genres; stealth for “Sly Cooper,” over-the-top action in “Ratchet & Clank,” and all the 2000s edge it could muster for the “Jak & Daxter” sequels. Not long after capturing the joy of players everywhere, the traditional 3D Platformer was dying.

Of course, it never fully died. Just…almost did. Mario and Sonic carried on in the 2010s, having roots that were far too deep to be affected. But many of their former contemporaries fell by the wayside. “Crash” and “Spyro” went down in quality following the departure of their original developers, eventually petering out in the late 2000s, and wouldn’t be seen until remake trilogies later in the 2010s. Sony’s first party franchises, namely “Ape Escape,” “Jak & Daxter,” and “Sly Cooper” each disappeared, and haven’t received new games in well over a decade. In general, licensed games also saw a steep decline in output, which was actually a good thing. But as the landscape changed, and players gained access to games that were bigger, grittier, and more sophisticated, it seemed the time of the 3D platformer, outside of Nintendo and Sega’s mascots, was at an end. But as the old adage goes, things aren’t always what they seem.

Throughout the 2010s, we saw a huge boom across the indie game space. Plenty of those developers took it as an opportunity to create games inspired by their childhood. And since so many of them grew up playing 3D platformers, we have those developers to partially thank for the genre’s recent revival. Although independent creators released retro-inspired titles throughout the decade, 2017 deserves special mention as the most important year for 3D platformers since before their downfall. On the AAA side, Nintendo released the incredible “Super Mario Odyssey,” while “Crash” fans finally got to enjoy their favorite marsupial again with the “N. Sane Trilogy.” On the indie side of things, “Banjo-Kazooie” fans got spiritual successors in “Super Lucky’s Tale” and “Yooka-Laylee,” the latter of which was developed by some former employees of Rare. And while both of those games would need later releases to reach their full potential, the passion felt for the N64 days was real.

Also that year was “A Hat in Time,” as big a love letter to those early 3D platforming days as you can get. It had a ridiculously successful Kickstarter campaign, earning almost ten times its initial goal. This, along with a multitude of other indie releases, showed that there was still a lot of love for these types of games, when done right. And as we’d see throughout the following years, more studios would take notice.

While the influx of 3D platformers from indie creators has never wavered over the last decade, releases from larger studios show they’ve also moved back into the general space. Spyro got his remake trilogy a year after Crash, who himself starred in an excellent revival game in 2020, “Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time.” Sonic, of course, has never slowed down, and even went open-world in 2022 with “Frontiers.” Nintendo unsurprisingly supported 3D Mario again, with the Switch port of “3D World” coming with the smaller campaign, “Bowser’s Fury.” But it has also shown an interest in bringing other platforming franchises into another dimension. 2022’s “Kirby and the Forgotten Land” was the first fully 3D platformer for the character. And 2025’s “Donkey Kong Bananza” was the franchise’s first 3D game since the N64 scapegoat in 1999, and was a commercial success and critical darling to boot. Then you have PlayStation, whose focus on cinematic action adventure throughout the 2010s would make you think they wouldn’t want anything to do with something as whimsical as a 3D platformer. Yet, it also eventually noticed the retro trend. It brought its “LittleBigPlanet” star, Sackboy, to the third dimension in 2020. Ratchet and Clank made a comeback in 2021, after being absent since a 2016 remake, and from a new game since 2013. Of course, the most noteworthy contribution Sony has made to recent 3D platformers is Astro Bot, whose first game was released in 2018 and whose 2024 adventure earned multiple Game of the Year awards.

Some players still speak of the 3D platforming boom with fond nostalgia. But recent years show that style of games is clearly in the middle of a revival, from the quietest independent corners to the biggest stages at awards shows. Thankfully, with how much space that certain juggernaut genres take up these days, it seems unlikely that oversaturation will become another issue. With the future looking bright, maybe we’ll see more forgotten IPs return like “Psychonauts,” which got a sequel sixteen years after the original. Hopefully, we’ll see creativity flourish in varied ways beyond what is simply expected of a 3D platformer, like Hazelight Studios’ focus on co-op and ever-changing mechanics or Day 4 Night Studios’ upcoming meta take, “Bradley the Badger.” Regardless, seeing something once so fundamental to video games come back in such a strong way has been incredible for fans who have yearned to see its return.

We are certainly happy to see a new age for the 3D platformer, but we naturally want to hear from you, too. What’s been your favorite modern 3D platformer? What older franchises would you like to see return? Share your thoughts in the comments, and we’ll see you next time.