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2D side scrolling games were still popular in browser Flash games until the mid 2000s. I remember playing a few of them on Miniclip and other websites. Shoutout

2D side scrolling games were still popular in browser Flash games until the mid 2000s. I remember playing a few of them on Miniclip and other websites. Shoutout to anyone who remembers Bonus.com around the year 2000. The website was an ad infested mess, but also home to some decent games.

b1ue64 4y ago
2d side scrolling games are still popular today*
- Insanity 4y ago
  I’m not sure if it is at the same level though. Both in terms of how mainstream they are and the calibre/size of the development studios behind them. I can’t off the top of my head think of a modern “AAA” sidescroller.
  - bee_rider 4y ago
    Have they done a 2D Mario recently?
    - lostgame 4y ago
      They're rumoured to be working on it: https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/mario-games-2d-nintendo-switch-report/ https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/mario-games-2d-nintendo-sw... There was also New Super Mario Bros. and New Super Mario Bros DS which were fantastic. There's also Super Mario Maker...so; yeah.
    - simongray 4y ago
      The last two installments of Mario had 2D sections and prior to that Nintendo had several releases of 2D Mario games used as launch games for their platforms.
  - HideousKojima 4y ago
    Sonic Mania?
  - gmnash 4y ago
    Metroid Dread maybe? Amazing game either way.
  - spywaregorilla 4y ago
    Metroid Dread is probably the latest significant AAA sidescroller.
    - hoherd 4y ago
      Samus Returns was also incredible.
    - wincy 4y ago
      Lol that game makes me so stressed. When the robot shows up I experience dread, so mission accomplished. I had to stop playing it after awhile I just didn’t find the “Dread” parts fun. I’ll go play something less stressful like Elden Ring.
    - ghostwriter 4y ago
      Aside the name, what does make Metroid Dread a triple-A title, though? After playing Blasphemous, Huntdown, Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth, and a few others for the past year, I can't say Metroid Dread has a distinctive trait that would make it standing out as AAA. The competition from indie studios is tough nowadays, many of them release AAA-grade titles without labelling them as such.
      - spywaregorilla 4y ago
        AAA used to simply imply good graphics. These days it tends to refer to that and the hand-craftedness of things. Like every moment being designed for some player impact. The new Tomb Raiders are the most emblematic of this imo, though not in a good way. AAA games tend not to feel like a set of standard mechanics and actors arranged in different levels. They have a lot more special circumstances. Worst case this is just cut scenes. Commonly it's special control schemes for specific situations that break the standard game design and may be cool or may suck. I haven't played any of these titles, including Metroid so I can't comment. But... idk Hollow Knight was an excellent 2d side scroller with beautiful art that was clearly not AAA to no detriment, imo. Nintendo does things their own way too so it's always funky. In my headcannon this transitioned most clearly with the cultural shift of Halo 3 being AAA to CoD4 being AAA.
  - CM30 4y ago
    Not sure if Wii U is modern, but since it's on Switch too... Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze? That's 100% a triple A 2D platformer, with incredible graphics, some damn impressive level design that takes advantage of multiple foreground layers and numerous interconnected level specific mechanics and one of the best soundtracks in recent times.
    - 8n4vidtmkvmk 4y ago
      there's a newish crash bandicoot too
  - unixhero 4y ago
    Trine
  - lightedman 4y ago
    "I can’t off the top of my head think of a modern “AAA” sidescroller." Dead Cells is great.
  - semi-extrinsic 4y ago
    Rayman Legends on Nintendo Switch (2017) is one example, I guess?
  - LegitShady 4y ago
    Ori and the blind forest?
  - syntheweave 4y ago
    They really don't have to be "AAA" to be a decent product. My nieces and nephew(ages 4-6) are all playing a Hotel Transylvania app on their tablets, which is a pretty straightforward collectathon platformer with a gajillion levels and a three-star ranking to encourage them to speedrun it. There are a lot of games like it, but as a plain-vanilla flavor of platformer it definitely does the job, and those kinds of games are F2P and generally well produced, with plenty of animation; the mobile market has some of the most extravagant budgets for 2D gaming, it just doesn't read as "premium" because of the business model and positioning. When we go upmarket from that it's more often a sidestep into indie games, which can address a specific niche better.

b1ue64 4y ago

2d side scrolling games are still popular today*

Insanity 4y ago
I’m not sure if it is at the same level though. Both in terms of how mainstream they are and the calibre/size of the development studios behind them. I can’t off the top of my head think of a modern “AAA” sidescroller.
- bee_rider 4y ago
  Have they done a 2D Mario recently?
  - lostgame 4y ago
    They're rumoured to be working on it: https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/mario-games-2d-nintendo-switch-report/ https://comicbook.com/gaming/news/mario-games-2d-nintendo-sw... There was also New Super Mario Bros. and New Super Mario Bros DS which were fantastic. There's also Super Mario Maker...so; yeah.
  - simongray 4y ago
    The last two installments of Mario had 2D sections and prior to that Nintendo had several releases of 2D Mario games used as launch games for their platforms.
- HideousKojima 4y ago
  Sonic Mania?
- gmnash 4y ago
  Metroid Dread maybe? Amazing game either way.
- spywaregorilla 4y ago
  Metroid Dread is probably the latest significant AAA sidescroller.
  - hoherd 4y ago
    Samus Returns was also incredible.
  - wincy 4y ago
    Lol that game makes me so stressed. When the robot shows up I experience dread, so mission accomplished. I had to stop playing it after awhile I just didn’t find the “Dread” parts fun. I’ll go play something less stressful like Elden Ring.
  - ghostwriter 4y ago
    Aside the name, what does make Metroid Dread a triple-A title, though? After playing Blasphemous, Huntdown, Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth, and a few others for the past year, I can't say Metroid Dread has a distinctive trait that would make it standing out as AAA. The competition from indie studios is tough nowadays, many of them release AAA-grade titles without labelling them as such.
    - spywaregorilla 4y ago
      AAA used to simply imply good graphics. These days it tends to refer to that and the hand-craftedness of things. Like every moment being designed for some player impact. The new Tomb Raiders are the most emblematic of this imo, though not in a good way. AAA games tend not to feel like a set of standard mechanics and actors arranged in different levels. They have a lot more special circumstances. Worst case this is just cut scenes. Commonly it's special control schemes for specific situations that break the standard game design and may be cool or may suck. I haven't played any of these titles, including Metroid so I can't comment. But... idk Hollow Knight was an excellent 2d side scroller with beautiful art that was clearly not AAA to no detriment, imo. Nintendo does things their own way too so it's always funky. In my headcannon this transitioned most clearly with the cultural shift of Halo 3 being AAA to CoD4 being AAA.
- CM30 4y ago
  Not sure if Wii U is modern, but since it's on Switch too... Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze? That's 100% a triple A 2D platformer, with incredible graphics, some damn impressive level design that takes advantage of multiple foreground layers and numerous interconnected level specific mechanics and one of the best soundtracks in recent times.
  - 8n4vidtmkvmk 4y ago
    there's a newish crash bandicoot too
- unixhero 4y ago
  Trine
- lightedman 4y ago
  "I can’t off the top of my head think of a modern “AAA” sidescroller." Dead Cells is great.
- semi-extrinsic 4y ago
  Rayman Legends on Nintendo Switch (2017) is one example, I guess?
- LegitShady 4y ago
  Ori and the blind forest?
- syntheweave 4y ago
  They really don't have to be "AAA" to be a decent product. My nieces and nephew(ages 4-6) are all playing a Hotel Transylvania app on their tablets, which is a pretty straightforward collectathon platformer with a gajillion levels and a three-star ranking to encourage them to speedrun it. There are a lot of games like it, but as a plain-vanilla flavor of platformer it definitely does the job, and those kinds of games are F2P and generally well produced, with plenty of animation; the mobile market has some of the most extravagant budgets for 2D gaming, it just doesn't read as "premium" because of the business model and positioning. When we go upmarket from that it's more often a sidestep into indie games, which can address a specific niche better.