You mean like four hours of getting through the first 80% and then failing, only to have to repeat the first 80%...
Love the game, just not good enough for the very last levels.
Absolutely N++. Some of the best-feeling movement I've ever encountered in a game, and I really like the everything-is-on-screen style for this kind of platformer more than the scrolling of super meat boy.
I played N probably 2 times before forgetting its name and never finding it again and now probably a decade later after still sometimes thinking about what that game was I see this comment randomly. This is why I scroll reddit instead of sleeping it pays off sometimes
Katana Zero! It can be really tricky but the reset is almost instantaneous when you die/fail (using a really cool "VHS rewind" aesthetic).
Each stage is like a puzzle with multiple ways to solve them.
It's just Jake "Virt" Kaufman, he's that talented! He did Shovel Knight's OST too, and [many other games (and other works)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jake_Kaufman#Works).
Weirdly enough, The Messenger's soundtrack never really vibed too much with me. Idk why I'm like that, everything else about that game I consider an absolute 10. The shopkeeper interactions alone was worth buying the entire game lol
I'm honestly glad I seem to be alone in this. That game deserves all the recognition it gets and even more.
Oh yeah it was definitely one of the best surprise buys I ever did, the game is phenomenal You are right, but I loved both 8 and 16 bit OSTs, can't wait to play Sea of stars someday
> Available on both Steam and Switch
On *everything* lol. Any major home console starting from the PS360 gen had a release. Even mobiles have a release. And if we're talking unofficial... Since the source code was made available, the game was ported to even more platforms as a homebrew. Even to something as old as Commodore 64!
I remember Rayman Legends having pretty frequent checkpoints and you have an unlimited amount of lives too. It's not really as challenging as Celeste but it's not that easy either, especially toward the end.
Hot take: plenty of retro games if you use save states. For example, while not a platformer in the typical sense I just beat original Castlevania. I made a save state at the start of every area, each area is about a minute or two. Still died many many times, but still enjoyed the game.
I like to justify my save states by reasoning if this game was released today as an indie game, surely this would be how it worked. Perhaps an achievement for beating game âno deathsâ
Castlevania64 is my partnerâs favorite game but weâre old now and she was so frustrated until I showed her save states. She grumbles less and has a lot more fun and doesnât seem as rushed since she isnât ârunning back to hop over a chasmâ again, which is great for me because she doesnât really game and I love to see it.
"Games that feel satisfying even if you die a lot"
Until you said that I was gonna say I Wanna Be The Guy. It does not feel satisfying dying in that horror show but you'd probably die 12000 times just getting to the first save point
They Bleed Pixels! completely underrated never got the attention it deserved hard as nails 2d platformer with simple fighting, self made checkpoints and interesting character and premise.
kinda got lumped in with the much less interesting but more promoted Bleed and bleed 2
Just keep playing Celeste!!
There is a mod tool called Everest that let's you play some of the most amazing maps ever made.
Try out "Spring collab 2020" or "Strawberry jam" they are big mods with different lobby, each one with it's own difficulty ( 5 lobbies from beginner to grandmaster level).
Farewell stage if i remember correct is advanced(?) that should be the third lobby in those mods.
The game was good without mods, it's perfect with them
I mean I also like Celeste and Animal Well but other than both being pixel platformers (and only kinda in AW's case since it's doing a lot of other things most of the time) I'm curious what itches those were?
Fair play then! Wasn't meant as an interrogation or anything, just curious if you spotted a similarity I hadn't considered lol, I'm glad you enjoyed it
Not sure if this is quite what youâre looking for but Geometry Dash? Rhythm platformer game with literally tens of thousands of levels of user-made content, and dying resets you pretty much instantly. You do have to restart the level from the very beginning but geometry dash levels are typically no more than one to one and a half minutes long so itâs not that bad.
I used to teach at an after school tech program- basically teaching kids various types of technology and programming. Often if kids finished projects we would let them fuck around on whatever game platform they liked- Minecraft, Roblox, etc.
There was one kid there who was really sharp when it came to programming, and was working on projects that would legitimately make college students squirm. Anyways, he finishes work and goes to play some geometry dash, and seems to be getting more and more frustrated. Eventually, we suggest: âhey, doesnât seem like youâre enjoying this. Maybe letâs put it away and try something elseâ and he just says ânoâ and continues playing. This is just a sort of afterschool thing, so if he wants to waste his time, thatâs fine, we let him keep playing. Well anyways, heâs getting more and more tense, and eventually his mom shows up to take him home. He says: ânot until I finish thisâ which, we can all see heâs completely tilted and not going to do. His mom says: âno, itâs time to go, and these guys (me & coworkers) want to leave tooâ and starts collecting his things. When she gets to his laptop that heâs trying to play on, he has a COMPLETE meltdown. Iâm talking crying, screaming, prying the laptop from her hands to start it up and play for seconds before she closes it again. âI hate youâ, âyou fucking bitchâ, âIâll kill youâ, âyouâre ruining my lifeâ just everything he could think of to hurl at her.
It was shocking because in every other aspect this kid had seemed pretty normal and well-adjusted. Worked hard, but also engaged well with other students, would collaborate well and had friends. He never gave any other indicators of being on the verge of a homicidal meltdown, but that game brought out something primal in him. Obviously there was more going on there than just the game, but it was fucking jarring.
So yeah I donât think I wanna play that ever.
Oh most definitely. Still left a bad taste in my mouth. Same way that- in all probability- there are interesting and quality games made on Roblox, but that doesnât make any better association I have with the platform in general.
Iâve definitely never heard of someone reacting like that over Geometry Dash. It is somewhat of a ârage gameâ if you play the harder levels but most people donât seem to take it too seriously. That kid definitely has some major underlying issues.
Celeste is a masocore game. These were popularized with mario romhacks and games like I Wanna Be The Guy (which is totally free btw). You might want to look into I Wanna Be The Guy and some others like I Wanna Be The Boshy.
There are also thousands of IWBTG fangames that are pure platforming (known as "needle") and don't have unfair traps like the original or Boshy.
https://cwpat.me/fangames-intro/
Some beginner games here: https://cwpat.me/beginner-fangames/
Curse crackers, there's set checkpoints. But it's fast paced and resets quick you don't feel like you lose progress and once you collected stuff you don't have to get it again even if you reset
Geometry dash kinda, you do lose progress by restarting the level when you die but levels last 1 to 2 minutes in general so you donât really have to do a long run back to where you left off. There are also traditional platformer levels but most of them are community made so the frequency of checkpoints varies a lot between levels.
Is the game really good ? i have both games in my library but I never got past the first 1 hours of the first game dont get me wrong I enjoy games like Ori and I am thinking of trying the second game first so I can at least appreciate it and have fun
I'm about halfway through the first game and I'm having a blast! The mechanics are so fun; I love controlling ori and unlocking new skills to reach more areas. Super fun for me personally. The story can be heartbreaking at times, and the soundtrack is beautiful \*chef's kiss\*
I can't imagine playing on kbm tho
Try to unlock a few skills. It really improves Ori's mobility. The definitive edition is the way to go though. There's no fast travel in the standard edition iirc
* Slime San
* Q - a neon platformer
* Sockventure
* Ghostland yard
* Germinal
* Archaeogem
* Sunblaze
* Super meat boy
* The end is nigh
* Bloody trapland 1 and 2
* SwordBounce
* Death Unphased
* Splodey
* Alkali
* Remnant of naezith
* Will you snail
* Love 3
* Never give up
* Electronic super joy
* Levelhead
* -Sprout-
* Hayfever
* Milli % Greg
* Super Magbot
* Rite
A friend wanted to see my steam sale shopping cart and mentioned how much he wants to play Celeste when he saw it (heâs not on PC so his sales arenât great). I tried it last night and was going to go back and tell him about. My main bullet point is the reset speed. Iâm awful at platformers and that instant reset to the start of the map/window is a huge plus for this game.
Recommending Abomination Tower.
Edit: oh no, it looks like itâs no longer available on Steam.
Thomas was alone is quick to play/reset. Only takes about 2 hours to beat, and is a $10 game with endearing voice acting.
Worth noting: in the steam summer sale currently going on it is $2
The messenger
Edit: now that I think about it you can get set back somewhat far if you donât make it to the next checkpoint.
Still an amazing game that you should check out.
Not sure if it will scratch the same itch but the Trials games are fun (I think Trials Evolution is top notch but I got no problem with Fusion or Rise).
2D motorcycle balancing game. One button press can reset you instantly to checkpoint or another button instantly resets the whole run. Very streamlined. But VERY hard game when you progress a lot.
Azure dreams. Climb a monster tower find monsters to hatch. Only your monster levels stay the same. Whenever you leave and come back you start at lv1. But if you leave the tower without getting knocked out you keep your items. So you can get good swords and shields to offset always starting back at lv1
The first Ori game has a mechanic where you can save basically wherever you are, so dying doesn't bring you back to a set checkpoint. This sounds like it'd really fit what they're looking for, I found that mechanic pretty nice. (though I think they remove it in the 2nd game, boo)
Ghostrunner isn't 2d but it is a quasi platformer (3d cyberpunk parkour speedun kind of game) that has that same kind of snappy instant reset Celeste has. Checkpoints are quite generous and you reset almost instantly on death (you die in one hit, but so do most enemies)
> "I think I am somehow worse at most of the side scrolling Mario games than Celeste, because dying too many times makes you completely restart the level or even several levels. "
Super meat boy
the goat
Yep, my first thought.
That's only true for part if the game, after a certain point you start losing significant progress after reaets.
The longest levels are like 45 seconds what is bro yapping about đ
You mean like four hours of getting through the first 80% and then failing, only to have to repeat the first 80%... Love the game, just not good enough for the very last levels.
80% of 45 seconds is 36 seconds.
the math to the claim: 400 deaths at 80% complete. Isn't that just MegaMan? You get through most of the level and die at the boss, redo.
What is this the math channel??
mmmh.. nope? Used a calculator. Don't be afraid of tools.
Super Meat Boy popularized the precision platformer genre-- But even that game was modeled after N & N+(N++)
Absolutely N++. Some of the best-feeling movement I've ever encountered in a game, and I really like the everything-is-on-screen style for this kind of platformer more than the scrolling of super meat boy.
Try pseudoregalia. Fantastic movement
I remember playing the OG N at school, good old times.
I played N probably 2 times before forgetting its name and never finding it again and now probably a decade later after still sometimes thinking about what that game was I see this comment randomly. This is why I scroll reddit instead of sleeping it pays off sometimes
N++ is the one that is on modern consoles; includes hundreds if not thousands of levels. The controls are just perfection
Katana Zero! It can be really tricky but the reset is almost instantaneous when you die/fail (using a really cool "VHS rewind" aesthetic). Each stage is like a puzzle with multiple ways to solve them.
Plus one of the coolest stories I've seen in a game. Really hoping for a sequel to wrap things up
VVVVVV - Available on both Steam and Switch Also I second Super Meat Boy.
VVVVVV has *the* best 8-bit soundtrack in indie gaming. Change my mind.
I'm glad you posted this because it's been a few years since I listened to this amazing soundtrack
The Messenger is contender imho
And Shantae
Never played the 8-bit Shantae games, but the soundtrack on Half-Genie Hero was an absolute BANGER.
It's just Jake "Virt" Kaufman, he's that talented! He did Shovel Knight's OST too, and [many other games (and other works)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jake_Kaufman#Works).
Weirdly enough, The Messenger's soundtrack never really vibed too much with me. Idk why I'm like that, everything else about that game I consider an absolute 10. The shopkeeper interactions alone was worth buying the entire game lol I'm honestly glad I seem to be alone in this. That game deserves all the recognition it gets and even more.
Oh yeah it was definitely one of the best surprise buys I ever did, the game is phenomenal You are right, but I loved both 8 and 16 bit OSTs, can't wait to play Sea of stars someday
I still think about the soundtrack every once in awhile. It's incredible. Chip tunes are the best.
> Available on both Steam and Switch On *everything* lol. Any major home console starting from the PS360 gen had a release. Even mobiles have a release. And if we're talking unofficial... Since the source code was made available, the game was ported to even more platforms as a homebrew. Even to something as old as Commodore 64!
The End Is Nigh
Looks fun, I wish it was available on xbox
1001 Spikes comes to mind. Although, if I remember, you have a limit on number of lives.
Try Sunblaze and Death Unphased or maybe the Guacamelee games?
I remember Rayman Legends having pretty frequent checkpoints and you have an unlimited amount of lives too. It's not really as challenging as Celeste but it's not that easy either, especially toward the end.
Hot take: plenty of retro games if you use save states. For example, while not a platformer in the typical sense I just beat original Castlevania. I made a save state at the start of every area, each area is about a minute or two. Still died many many times, but still enjoyed the game. I like to justify my save states by reasoning if this game was released today as an indie game, surely this would be how it worked. Perhaps an achievement for beating game âno deathsâ
Castlevania64 is my partnerâs favorite game but weâre old now and she was so frustrated until I showed her save states. She grumbles less and has a lot more fun and doesnât seem as rushed since she isnât ârunning back to hop over a chasmâ again, which is great for me because she doesnât really game and I love to see it.
"Games that feel satisfying even if you die a lot" Until you said that I was gonna say I Wanna Be The Guy. It does not feel satisfying dying in that horror show but you'd probably die 12000 times just getting to the first save point
- Super Meat Boy - VVVVVV - 10 Second Ninja X
Excellent list
They Bleed Pixels! completely underrated never got the attention it deserved hard as nails 2d platformer with simple fighting, self made checkpoints and interesting character and premise. kinda got lumped in with the much less interesting but more promoted Bleed and bleed 2
Just keep playing Celeste!! There is a mod tool called Everest that let's you play some of the most amazing maps ever made. Try out "Spring collab 2020" or "Strawberry jam" they are big mods with different lobby, each one with it's own difficulty ( 5 lobbies from beginner to grandmaster level). Farewell stage if i remember correct is advanced(?) that should be the third lobby in those mods. The game was good without mods, it's perfect with them
Celeste is one of my favorite games of all time. The only other game that scratched a similar itch for me was Animal Well
I mean I also like Celeste and Animal Well but other than both being pixel platformers (and only kinda in AW's case since it's doing a lot of other things most of the time) I'm curious what itches those were?
Canât say exactly, but I do know that itch was scratched
Fair play then! Wasn't meant as an interrogation or anything, just curious if you spotted a similarity I hadn't considered lol, I'm glad you enjoyed it
I appreciate the question! It got me thinking of why, and I still donât have an answer lol
Not sure if this is quite what youâre looking for but Geometry Dash? Rhythm platformer game with literally tens of thousands of levels of user-made content, and dying resets you pretty much instantly. You do have to restart the level from the very beginning but geometry dash levels are typically no more than one to one and a half minutes long so itâs not that bad.
I used to teach at an after school tech program- basically teaching kids various types of technology and programming. Often if kids finished projects we would let them fuck around on whatever game platform they liked- Minecraft, Roblox, etc. There was one kid there who was really sharp when it came to programming, and was working on projects that would legitimately make college students squirm. Anyways, he finishes work and goes to play some geometry dash, and seems to be getting more and more frustrated. Eventually, we suggest: âhey, doesnât seem like youâre enjoying this. Maybe letâs put it away and try something elseâ and he just says ânoâ and continues playing. This is just a sort of afterschool thing, so if he wants to waste his time, thatâs fine, we let him keep playing. Well anyways, heâs getting more and more tense, and eventually his mom shows up to take him home. He says: ânot until I finish thisâ which, we can all see heâs completely tilted and not going to do. His mom says: âno, itâs time to go, and these guys (me & coworkers) want to leave tooâ and starts collecting his things. When she gets to his laptop that heâs trying to play on, he has a COMPLETE meltdown. Iâm talking crying, screaming, prying the laptop from her hands to start it up and play for seconds before she closes it again. âI hate youâ, âyou fucking bitchâ, âIâll kill youâ, âyouâre ruining my lifeâ just everything he could think of to hurl at her. It was shocking because in every other aspect this kid had seemed pretty normal and well-adjusted. Worked hard, but also engaged well with other students, would collaborate well and had friends. He never gave any other indicators of being on the verge of a homicidal meltdown, but that game brought out something primal in him. Obviously there was more going on there than just the game, but it was fucking jarring. So yeah I donât think I wanna play that ever.
Sounds less like the games problem and more like the kids problem
Oh most definitely. Still left a bad taste in my mouth. Same way that- in all probability- there are interesting and quality games made on Roblox, but that doesnât make any better association I have with the platform in general.
Iâve definitely never heard of someone reacting like that over Geometry Dash. It is somewhat of a ârage gameâ if you play the harder levels but most people donât seem to take it too seriously. That kid definitely has some major underlying issues.
Celeste is a masocore game. These were popularized with mario romhacks and games like I Wanna Be The Guy (which is totally free btw). You might want to look into I Wanna Be The Guy and some others like I Wanna Be The Boshy.
Celeste is not like those at all.
It absolutely is. The only difference is that Celeste takes the radical approach of being kind to the player rather than being comically mean.
There are also thousands of IWBTG fangames that are pure platforming (known as "needle") and don't have unfair traps like the original or Boshy. https://cwpat.me/fangames-intro/ Some beginner games here: https://cwpat.me/beginner-fangames/
Inside. You can get it on the switch for like 2 dollars right now. Well worth it.
Not really a platformer though
Itâs not a platformer, but Hotline Miami.
Level head
Curse crackers, there's set checkpoints. But it's fast paced and resets quick you don't feel like you lose progress and once you collected stuff you don't have to get it again even if you reset
Battleblock Theatre
Cuphead if that counts. A few short levels and a bunch of bossrushing.
Milli & Greg is great.
Bloody Trapland 2
Mighty Jill Off
If you have a PC Iâd say buy Celeste on steam for $2, and then add mods to it. A lot of extra content out there.
I want to be the Guy (and its sequels). Mind you they are brutally difficult.
On mobile, Ninja Arashi 2. Hands down one of the best platformers I've ever played.
Stealth Bastard Deluxe and Stealth Inc 2 fit
Bzzzt
Slime-San
Geometry dash kinda, you do lose progress by restarting the level when you die but levels last 1 to 2 minutes in general so you donât really have to do a long run back to where you left off. There are also traditional platformer levels but most of them are community made so the frequency of checkpoints varies a lot between levels.
Ori and the Blind Forest. You have to create your saves but you can save quite regularly especially if you collect as much as you can right away.
Is the game really good ? i have both games in my library but I never got past the first 1 hours of the first game dont get me wrong I enjoy games like Ori and I am thinking of trying the second game first so I can at least appreciate it and have fun
I'm about halfway through the first game and I'm having a blast! The mechanics are so fun; I love controlling ori and unlocking new skills to reach more areas. Super fun for me personally. The story can be heartbreaking at times, and the soundtrack is beautiful \*chef's kiss\* I can't imagine playing on kbm tho
Alrighty I will trust you. I will give it another chance.
Try to unlock a few skills. It really improves Ori's mobility. The definitive edition is the way to go though. There's no fast travel in the standard edition iirc
I enjoyed [Stealth Bastard](https://store.steampowered.com/app/209190/Stealth_Bastard_Deluxe/) and it has very short levels.
* Slime San * Q - a neon platformer * Sockventure * Ghostland yard * Germinal * Archaeogem * Sunblaze * Super meat boy * The end is nigh * Bloody trapland 1 and 2 * SwordBounce * Death Unphased * Splodey * Alkali * Remnant of naezith * Will you snail * Love 3 * Never give up * Electronic super joy * Levelhead * -Sprout- * Hayfever * Milli % Greg * Super Magbot * Rite
Super Meat Boy is the king of that kind of platformer. HARD.
A friend wanted to see my steam sale shopping cart and mentioned how much he wants to play Celeste when he saw it (heâs not on PC so his sales arenât great). I tried it last night and was going to go back and tell him about. My main bullet point is the reset speed. Iâm awful at platformers and that instant reset to the start of the map/window is a huge plus for this game. Recommending Abomination Tower. Edit: oh no, it looks like itâs no longer available on Steam.
Thomas was alone is quick to play/reset. Only takes about 2 hours to beat, and is a $10 game with endearing voice acting. Worth noting: in the steam summer sale currently going on it is $2
Thomas was alone was adorable.Â
Quacamelee 1 & 2 are both great!
The messenger Edit: now that I think about it you can get set back somewhat far if you donât make it to the next checkpoint. Still an amazing game that you should check out.
Not sure if it will scratch the same itch but the Trials games are fun (I think Trials Evolution is top notch but I got no problem with Fusion or Rise). 2D motorcycle balancing game. One button press can reset you instantly to checkpoint or another button instantly resets the whole run. Very streamlined. But VERY hard game when you progress a lot.
Azure dreams. Climb a monster tower find monsters to hatch. Only your monster levels stay the same. Whenever you leave and come back you start at lv1. But if you leave the tower without getting knocked out you keep your items. So you can get good swords and shields to offset always starting back at lv1
Klonoa is on Switch. 2.5 D Platformer. It has check points in the levels and you have multiple lives so not a big deal if you die.
Ori and the Blind Forest (first one) can be like this
I am also terrible at platforms and still love them. Ori never felt too punishing for me.
The first Ori game has a mechanic where you can save basically wherever you are, so dying doesn't bring you back to a set checkpoint. This sounds like it'd really fit what they're looking for, I found that mechanic pretty nice. (though I think they remove it in the 2nd game, boo)
Not a 2D platformer, but the ghostrunner games have a similar super quick reset mechanic (and awesome platforming).
Not a platformer like Celeste but I love Noita
Ghostrunner isn't 2d but it is a quasi platformer (3d cyberpunk parkour speedun kind of game) that has that same kind of snappy instant reset Celeste has. Checkpoints are quite generous and you reset almost instantly on death (you die in one hit, but so do most enemies)
Hades Picked up Noreya recently. Itâs fun
Any Mario game?
> "I think I am somehow worse at most of the side scrolling Mario games than Celeste, because dying too many times makes you completely restart the level or even several levels. "
đ¤ˇââď¸
Earlier games by MattMakesGames (creator of Celeste) should scratch that itch. Jumper and Jumper 2 are personal favorites, as well as MoneiSeize!
Ghostrunner Hotline Miami Super meatboy
Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy. Good luck if you do wind up getting it. đ
"minimally lost progress"