Platform game

A platform game, sometimes referred to as a platformer or a jump 'n' run game, is a subgenre of action video games in which the primary purpose is to move the player character from one place in an area to another. The term "platform game" is commonly shortened to "platformer." The levels of platform games are distinguished by their uneven topography and dangling platforms of variable heights, both of which need the use of leaping and climbing abilities in order to be traversed. Other acrobatic moves, such as hanging from vines or grappling hooks, leaping from walls, air dashing, gliding through the air, being blasted from cannons, or rebounding from springboards or trampolines, may be included into the gameplay of the game. Games that include totally automatic leaping, such as the three-dimensional entries in The Legend of Zelda series, are not considered to be part of this genre.

The first game in the genre was an arcade video game called Space Panic, which was released in 1980. The game has ladders but does not contain leaping. The video game Donkey Kong, which was first published in 1981, is credited for laying the groundwork for what were at the time known as "climbing games." Donkey Kong was the model for a great number of imitation games and games with gameplay characteristics quite similar to those of the original (1982).

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, when platform games were at the height of their popularity, it was believed that platform games made up between a quarter and a third of all console games. However, first-person shooters have since overtaken platform games as the most popular kind of console game. Despite the fact that the genre's popularity had decreased by 2006, as compared to its market share of 15% in 1998, it is still present in the commercial environment, as shown by the fact that a number of games have sold millions of copies.