Best platforms without a jump button

Summary

• Plants can be creative without relying on jumping.

• Games like Lost Vikings, snake passage, and Till They offer unique movements.

• Captain Ropucha, Locoroco, and Marble Madness Show Jumping is not necessary in platforms.

There is something almost sacred to jump platform. At this point it is muscle memory – press A, jump over the gap, land on something head and repeat. However, some developers looked at the ancient formula and said, “No, let's do something strange instead.” Surprisingly, they did not get with it-they did so that it works by holding much more players than the usual Hop-and-Bop routine could ever have.

They are platforms that throw away the jump button out of the window And forcing players to think differently. Some use gravity. Some rely on physics. Some simply transform the whole idea of ​​movement on their own puzzle. But everyone proves that jumping is not the heart of the platform, but creativity is.

7

Lost Vikings

Three Vikings, one brain and still no jump button

Lost Vikings He made team mysteries long before it was trendy. Published in 1992 Silicon & Synapse – which later became Blizzard – this is less about reflexes and more about the strategy. Players switch between the three Viking brothers: Erik, who can run quickly and disappear through the walls; Baleog, who swings with a sword and shoots arrows; and OLAF, who carries a shield that doubles as a parachute and a temporary elevator.

Except for Erika, none of the two Vikings can jump. Not a small jump. And because the players have to reach the end of the level with all three Vikings in the curtain, it is not enough to get to the end with a jump. The whole design therefore leans into a vertical passage through problems, not a platform in a traditional sense. Do you need to reach a higher ledge? Stack Olaf's Shield under Erik. Do you need to hit a remote switch? Baleog's arrows can do it. Each level is a brain determination and success depends on learning how to handle each viking as an instrument in a strange, Norwegian set of tools.

The controls now feel old school, but the design still holds. It is one of the few platforms that makes players feel cleverly without letting them brute. It is also worth mentioning Lost Vikings We managed to slip into a dry, confident sense for humor long before he became a blizzard.

6

Snake pass

SLITRING is a new jumping

Most platforms are about air time. Snake pass It's about friction. Players control the noodles of the snake – which has suitably zero limbs and no ability to jump. The movement is based on physics from top to bottom. Slittering UP Pols, wrapping around structures, using momentum to throw ahead – every centimeter of progress is earned with deliberate championship of movement.

It's not just a trick. The actual tension is the real tension when trying to angle the nudes in order so that its tail does not slip from a narrow bamboo beam and climbing towards the collector. The game was built in Unreal Engine 4 and the simulation of physics behind it is what defines the whole experience. There's a gentle, almost meditative rhythm Snake pass Once the players get it. And even though it starts peacefully, later levels absolutely require tight adhesion to the unusual locomine mechanics of the game.

5

Till

Till There is a platform where the movement comes at the price – and this price throws into the air. There is no jump button. Instead, the players throw the bombs under each other to go into the air, reach the ledges or bounce off the walls. It's chaotic, it's chaotic and somehow it's also one of the most accurate movements of movement as soon as players get to the rhythm.

He is a spiritual cousin for games like Celeste or Super Meat Boy Regarding difficulty and fixed levels, but with one main reversal: movement is delayed. Each action must be planned, timed and performed in medium or medium interrogation. Incorrect placement of the bomb and it is a long fall on the tips below.

A surprising amount of softness is involved Till. Speedrunners have already transformed this into a kind of gymnastic demonstration, chaining of explosions to cross massive gaps without touching the ground. It is one of those platforms that looks chaotically from the outside, but reveals deep inner logic as soon as players learn how to dance with the radius of the explosion.

4

Toad Captain: Treasure Tracker

Hunting Treasures where gravity is doing jumping for you

Toad Captain: Treasure Tracker He is adorable, yes, but he is also quietly one of the smartest platforms Nintendo. The toad cannot jump. Not because he forgot, but because his backpack is too heavy – a detail that is cute and gently brilliant because it transforms the players approaching every stage.

Vertical still plays a huge role, but these are stairs, elevators, rotating levels and gravitational tricks. Each level is like a little diorama that invites players to spin it, looked inside and solved it like Rubik's cube. Enemies will become part of a puzzle rather than obstacles to be dupid, and movement is more about planning routes than about reaction to danger.

Originally minigam in The world super mario 3D, Toad captain He was so well accepted that he spread to a separate title. And it is easy to understand why – few platforms have taken such a hard attitude against jumping and still managed to feel this liquid and play satisfactorily.

3

Locoroco

Colored balls that roll better than jump

IN Locoroco“Everything is soft, hidden and set to a soundtrack that sounds as if an imaginary creature choir has been recorded. Under the cheerful aesthetics, however, is one of the most creative approaches to the platform in the game that refuses to let the player jump at all.

The movement is not tied to the figure – it is tied to the world itself. Players lean the environment on the left and right to lead locorocos through the terrain, let them bounce, roll and move forward. Pressing both triggers makes them hop, but it is not a direct jump – it is the equivalent of the world that turns down and up and releases the blob in the air.

There is also a smart mechanic where the blob can be divided into smaller balls to fit through narrow spaces, and then reform on the other side. Somehow, this strange setting never feels like a restriction. If anything at all, it causes the level to feel more vivid, as if the whole world danced along with the player's action.

2

Marble Madness

Tilt, roll, repeat

Marble Madness It does not bother avatars, protagonists or narrations. Just a ball, timer and gravity as an ally and enemy. Published in Arcades in 1984 and later transferred to domestic systems, it is one of the first examples of the platform without a jump button and still holds better than any right.

Players control marble and lead it through a number of courses filled with obstacles by direct marble command. It sounds simple, but movement based on physics makes every slope, corner and ramp test the timing and spatial awareness test. One incorrect angle and marble is outside the ledge or breaks into pieces.

What is wild is, as precise expects players, even though they offer such little control. The isometric view in combination with the acceleration of acceleration even changes the basic curve into a miniature combat fight. It is criminal, it is a twitch and paved the way for countless physical platforms for decades later.

1

Vvvvvvv

Sometimes it is up down and that's the whole point

VVVVVV It takes gravity and turns it into a control scheme. Instead of jumping, the players completely turn over the direction of gravity – it collapses up and rises down. This is the only tool available, but it's all that the game has to turn simple levels into brutal, accurate gloves based on accuracy.

This minimalist platform, designed by Terry Cavanagh, does not waste time explaining nothing. Within a few minutes, players are stuck between the tips above and below, they are forced to overturn the gravitational agent and thread the needle between the dangers. The movement will never change, but the complexity of each level constantly increases until it feels like a rhythmic reflective test.

Despite his basic art and soundtrack to tune chips, VVVVVV He managed to earn the reputation of one of the best modern examples of independent platforms. Some of this comes from how readable everything is: enemies, danger, speed of movement – all gently tuned to reward skills without any more than one mechanic. No upgrades. No power-ups. Just gravity and pain.