title: Windows 8

text: A vertical toolbar known as the charms (accessed by swiping from the right edge of a touchscreen, swiping from the right edge of a touchpad, or pointing the cursor at hotspots in the right corners of a screen) provides access to system and app-related functions, such as search, sharing, device management, settings, and a Start button. The traditional desktop environment for running desktop applications is accessed via a tile on the Start screen. The Start button on the taskbar from previous versions of Windows has been converted into a hotspot (or "hot corner") in the lower-left corner of the screen, which displays a large tooltip displaying a thumbnail of the Start screen. However, Windows 8.1 added the start button back to the taskbar after many complaints, but removed the preview thumbnail. Swiping from the left edge of a touchscreen or clicking in the top-left corner of the screen allows one to switch between apps and Desktop. Pointing the cursor in the top-left corner of the screen and moving down reveals a thumbnail list of active apps. Aside from the removal of the Start button and the replacement of the Aero Glass theme with a flatter and solid-colored design, the desktop interface on Windows 8 is similar to that of Windows 7.


title: Windows 8

text: Several notable features were removed in Windows 8; support for playing DVD-Video was removed from Windows Media Player due to the cost of licensing the necessary decoders (especially for devices which do not include optical disc drives at all) and the prevalence of online streaming services. For the same reasons, Windows Media Center is not included by default on Windows 8, but Windows Media Center and DVD playback support could be purchased in the "Pro Pack" (which upgrades the system to Windows 8 Pro) or "Media Center Pack" add-on for Windows 8 Pro. As with prior versions, third-party DVD player software can still be used to enable DVD playback.


title: Windows 8

text: Backup and Restore, the backup component of Windows, was deprecated. It still shipped with Windows 8 and continues to work on preset schedules, but it was pushed to the background and can only be accessed through a Control Panel applet called "Windows 7 File Recovery". Shadow Copy, a component of Windows Explorer that once saved previous versions of changed files, no longer protects local files and folders. It can only access previous versions of shared files stored on a Windows Server computer. The subsystem on which these components worked, however, is still available for other software to use.


title: Windows 8

text: The minimum system requirements for Windows 8 are slightly higher than those of Windows 7. The CPU must support the Physical Address Extension (PAE), NX bit, and SSE2. Windows Store apps require a screen resolution of 1024×768 or higher to run; a resolution of 1366×768 or higher is required to use the snap functionality. To receive certification, Microsoft requires candidate x86 systems to resume from standby in 2 seconds or less.


title: Windows 8

text: Microsoft's Connected Standby specification, which hardware vendors may optionally comply with, sets new power consumption requirements that extend above the above minimum specifications. Included in this standard are a number of security-specific requirements designed to improve physical security, notably against Cold Boot Attacks.


title: Windows 8

text: 32-bit SKUs of Windows 8 only support a maximum of 4 GB of RAM. 64-bit SKUs, however support more: Windows 8 x64 supports 128 GB while Windows 8 Pro and Enterprise x64 support 512 GB.


title: Windows 8

text: In January 2016, Microsoft announced that it would no longer support Windows 8.1 or 7 on devices using Intel's Skylake CPU family effective July 17, 2018, and that all future CPU microarchitectures, as well as Skylake systems after this date, would only be supported on Windows 10. After the deadline, only critical security updates were to be released for users on these platforms. After this new policy faced criticism from users and enterprise customers, Microsoft partially retracted the change and stated that both operating systems would remain supported on Skylake hardware through the end of their Extended support lifecycle. Windows 8.1 remains officially unsupported on all newer CPU families, and neither AMD or Intel will provide official chipset drivers for Windows operating systems other than Windows 10. However, in August 2016, Microsoft again extended the Skylake support policy until the end of support for Windows 7 and 8.1 (2020 and 2023, respectively).


title: Windows 8

text: Microsoft released minimum hardware requirements for tablet and laplet devices to be "certified" for Windows 8 and defined a convertible form factor as a standalone device that combines the PC, display, and rechargeable power source with a mechanically attached keyboard and pointing device in a single chassis. A convertible can be transformed into a tablet where the attached input devices are hidden or removed leaving the display as the only input mechanism. On March 12, 2013, Microsoft amended its certification requirements to only require that screens on tablets have a minimum resolution of 1024×768 (down from the previous 1366×768). The amended requirement is intended to allow "greater design flexibility" for future products.


title: Windows 8

text: Updated certification requirements were implemented to coincide with Windows 8.1. As of 2014, all certified devices with integrated displays must contain a 720p webcam and higher quality speakers and microphones, while all certified devices that support Wi-Fi must support Bluetooth as well. As of 2015, all certified devices must contain Trusted Platform Module 2.0 chips.


title: Windows 8

text: Windows 8 is available in three different editions, of which the lowest edition, branded simply as "Windows 8", and "Windows 8 Pro", were sold at retail in most countries, and as pre-loaded software on new computers. Each edition of Windows 8 includes all of the capabilities and features of the edition below it, and add additional features oriented towards their market segments. For example, "Pro" added BitLocker, Hyper-V, the ability to join a domain, and the ability to install Windows Media Center as a paid add-on. Users of "Windows 8" can purchase a "Pro Pack" license that upgrades their system to "Windows 8 Pro" through Add features to Windows. This license also includes Windows Media Center. "Windows 8 Enterprise" contains additional features aimed towards business environments, and is only available through volume licensing. A port of Windows 8 for ARM architecture, Windows RT, is marketed as an edition of Windows 8, but was only included as pre-loaded software on devices specifically developed for it.


title: Windows 8

text: Windows 8 was distributed as a retail box product on DVD, and through a digital download that could be converted into DVD or USB install media. As part of a launch promotion, Microsoft offered "Windows 8 Pro" upgrades at a discounted price of US$39.99 online, or $69.99 for retail box from its launch until January 31, 2013; afterward the "Windows 8" price has been $119.99 and the Pro price $199.99. Those who purchased new PCs pre-loaded with Windows 7 Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate between June 2, 2012, and January 31, 2013, could digitally purchase a Windows 8 Pro upgrade for US$14.99. Several PC manufacturers offered rebates and refunds on Windows 8 upgrades obtained through the promotion on select models, such as Hewlett-Packard (in the U.S. and Canada on select models), and Acer (in Europe on selected Ultrabook models). During these promotions, the Windows Media Center add-on for "Windows 8 Pro" was also offered for free.


title: Windows 8

text: Unlike previous versions of Windows, Windows 8 was distributed at retail in "Upgrade" licenses only, which require an existing version of Windows to install. The "full version software" SKU, which was more expensive but could be installed on computers without an eligible OS or none at all, was discontinued. In lieu of full version, a specialized "System Builder" SKU was introduced. The "System Builder" SKU replaced the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) SKU, which was only allowed to be used on PCs meant for resale but added a "Personal Use License" exemption that officially allowed its purchase and personal use by users on homebuilt computers.


title: Windows 8

text: Retail distribution of Windows 8 has since been discontinued in favor of Windows 8.1. Unlike 8, 8.1 is available as "full version software" at both retail and online for download that does not require a previous version of Windows in order to be installed. Pricing for these new copies remain identical. With the retail release returning to full version software for Windows 8.1, the "Personal Use License" exemption was removed from the OEM SKU, meaning that end users building their own PCs for personal use must use the full retail variant in order to satisfy the Windows 8.1 licensing requirements. "Windows 8.1 with Bing" is a special OEM-specific SKU of "Windows 8.1" subsidized by Microsoft's Bing search engine.


title: Windows 8

text: The three desktop editions of Windows 8 support 32-bit and 64-bit architectures; retail copies of Windows 8 include install DVDs for both architectures, while the online installer automatically installs the variant corresponding with the architecture of the system's existing Windows installation. The 32-bit variant runs on CPUs compatible with x86 architecture 3rd generation (known as IA-32) or newer, and can run 32-bit and 16-bit applications, although 16-bit support must be enabled first. (16-bit applications are developed for CPUs compatible with x86 2nd generation, first conceived in 1978. Microsoft started moving away from this architecture after Windows 95.)


title: Windows 8

text: The 64-bit variant runs on CPUs compatible with x86 8th generation (known as x86-64, or x64) or newer, and can run 32-bit and 64-bit programs. 32-bit programs and operating system are restricted to supporting only of memory while 64-bit systems can theoretically support of memory. 64-bit operating systems require a different set of device drivers than those of 32-bit operating systems.


title: Windows 8

text: Windows RT, the only edition of Windows 8 for systems with ARM processors, only supports applications included with the system (such as a special variant of Office 2013), supplied through Windows Update, or Windows Store apps, to ensure that the system only runs applications that are optimized for the architecture. Windows RT does not support running IA-32 or x64 applications. Windows Store apps can either support both the x86 and ARM architectures, or compiled to support a specific architecture.


title: Windows 8

text: Following the unveiling of Windows 8, Microsoft faced criticism (particularly from free software supporters) for mandating that devices receiving its optional certification for Windows 8 have secure boot enabled by default using a key provided by Microsoft. Concerns were raised that secure boot could prevent or hinder the use of alternate operating systems such as Linux. In a post discussing secure boot on the "Building Windows 8" blog, Microsoft developer Tony Mangefeste indicated that vendors would provide means to customize secure boot, stating that "At the end of the day, the customer is in control of their PC. Microsoft's philosophy is to provide customers with the best experience first, and allow them to make decisions themselves." Microsoft's certification guidelines for Windows 8 ultimately revealed that vendors would be required to provide means for users to re-configure or disable secure boot in their device's UEFI firmware. It also revealed that ARM devices (Windows RT) would be required to have secure boot permanently enabled, with no way for users to disable it. However, Tom Warren of "The Verge" noted that other vendors have implemented similar hardware restrictions on their own ARM-based tablet and smartphone products (including those running Microsoft's own Windows Phone platform), but still argued that Microsoft should "keep a consistent approach across ARM and x86, though, not least because of the number of users who'd love to run Android alongside Windows 8 on their future tablets." No mandate is made regarding the installation of third-party certificates that would enable running alternative programs.


title: Windows 8

text: Several notable video game developers criticized Microsoft for making its Windows Store a closed platform subject to its own regulations, as it conflicted with their view of the PC as an open platform. Markus "Notch" Persson (creator of the indie game "Minecraft"), Gabe Newell (co-founder of Valve and developer of software distribution platform Steam), and Rob Pardo from Activision Blizzard voiced concern about the closed nature of the Windows Store. However, Tom Warren of "The Verge" stated that Microsoft's addition of the Store was simply responding to the success of both Apple and Google in pursuing the "curated application store approach."


title: Windows 8

text: Reviews of the various editions of Windows 8 were mixed to negative. Tom Warren of "The Verge" said that although Windows 8's emphasis on touch computing was significant and risked alienating desktop users, he felt that Windows 8 tablets "[make] an iPad feel immediately out of date" due to the capabilities of the operating system's hybrid model and increased focus on cloud services. David Pierce of "The Verge" described Windows 8 as "the first desktop operating system that understands what a computer is supposed to do in 2012" and praised Microsoft's "no compromise" approach and the operating system's emphasis on Internet connectivity and cloud services. Pierce also considered the Start Screen to be a "brilliant innovation for desktop computers" when compared with "folder-littered desktops on every other OS" because it allows users to interact with dynamic information. In contrast, an "ExtremeTech" article said it was Microsoft "flailing" and a review in "PC Magazine" condemned the Metro-style user interface. Some of the included apps in Windows 8 were considered to be basic and lacking in functionality, but the Xbox apps were praised for their promotion of a multi-platform entertainment experience. Other improvements and features (such as File History, Storage Spaces, and the updated Task Manager) were also regarded as positive changes. Peter Bright of Ars Technica wrote that while its user interface changes may overshadow them, Windows 8's improved performance, updated file manager, new storage functionality, expanded security features, and updated Task Manager were still positive improvements for the operating system. Bright also said that Windows 8's duality towards tablets and traditional PCs was an "extremely ambitious" aspect of the platform as well, but criticized Microsoft for emulating Apple's model of a closed distribution platform when implementing the Windows Store.


title: Windows 8

text: The interface of Windows 8 has been the subject of negative reaction. Bright wrote that its system of hot corners and edge swiping "wasn't very obvious" due to the lack of instructions provided by the operating system on the functions accessed through the user interface, even by the video tutorial added on the RTM release (which only instructed users to point at corners of the screen or swipe from its sides). Despite this "stumbling block", Bright said that Windows 8's interface worked well in some places, but began to feel incoherent when switching between the "Metro" and desktop environments, sometimes through inconsistent means. Tom Warren of "The Verge" wrote that the new interface was "as stunning as it is surprising", contributing to an "incredibly personal" experience once it is customized by the user, but had a steep learning curve, and was awkward to use with a keyboard and mouse. He noted that while forcing all users to use the new touch-oriented interface was a risky move for Microsoft as a whole, it was necessary in order to push development of apps for the Windows Store. Others, such as Adrian Kingsley-Hughes from ZDNet, considered the interface to be "clumsy and impractical" due to its inconsistent design (going as far as considering it "two operating systems unceremoniously bolted together"), and concluded that "Windows 8 wasn't born out of a need or demand; it was born out of a desire on Microsoft's part to exert its will on the PC industry and decide to shape it in a direction—touch and tablets – that allows it to compete against, and remain relevant in the face of Apple's iPad."


title: Windows 8

text: In 2013, Frank X. Shaw, a Microsoft corporate vice president, said that while many of the negative reviews were extreme, it was a "good thing" that Microsoft was "listening to feedback and improving a product".


title: Windows 8

text: The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) reported a decline in Microsoft's customer satisfaction, the lowest it has been since Windows Vista.


title: Windows 8

text: Microsoft says that 4 million users upgraded to Windows 8 over the weekend after its release, which CNET says was well below Microsoft's internal projections and was described inside the company as disappointing.


title: Windows 8

text: On November 27, 2012, Microsoft announced that it had sold 40 million licenses of Windows 8 in the first month, surpassing the pace of Windows 7.


title: Windows 8

text: However, according to research firm NPD, sales of devices running Windows in the United States had declined 21 percent compared to the same time period in 2011. As the holiday shopping season wrapped up, Windows 8 sales continued to lag, even as Apple reported brisk sales. The market research firm IDC reported an overall drop in PC sales for the quarter, and said the drop may have been partly due to consumer reluctance to embrace the new features of the OS and poor support from OEM for these features. This capped the first year of declining PC sales to the Asia Pacific region, as consumers bought more mobile devices than Windows PCs.


title: Windows 8

text: Windows 8 surpassed Windows Vista in market share with a 5.1% usage rate according to numbers posted in July 2013 by Net Applications, with usage on a steady upward trajectory. However, intake of Windows 8 still lagged behind that of Windows Vista and Windows 7 at the same point in their release cycles. Windows 8's tablet market share also grew steadily, with 7.4% of tablets running Windows in Q1 2013 according to Strategy Analytics, up from nothing just a year before. However, this was still well below Android and iOS, which posted 43.4% and 48.2% market share respectively, although both operating systems had been on the market much longer than Windows 8. Strategy Analytics also noted "a shortage of top tier apps" for Windows tablets despite Microsoft strategy of paying developers to create apps for the operating system (in addition to for Windows Phone).


title: Windows 8

text: In March 2013, Microsoft also amended its certification requirements to allow tablets to use the 1024×768 resolution as a minimum; this change is expected to allow the production of certified Windows 8 tablets in smaller form factors—a market which is currently dominated by Android-based tablets. Despite the reaction of industry experts, Microsoft reported that they had sold 100 million licenses in the first six months. This matched sales of Windows 7 over a similar period. This statistic includes shipments to channel warehouses which now need to be sold in order to make way for new shipments.


title: Windows 8

text: In January 2014, Hewlett-Packard began a promotion for desktops running Windows 7, saying that it was "back by popular demand". Outside sources have suggested that this might be because HP or its customers thought the Windows 8 platform would be more appropriate for mobile computing than desktop computing, or that they were looking to attract customers forced to switch from XP who wanted a more familiar interface.


title: Windows 8

text: In February 2014, Bloomberg reported that Microsoft would be lowering the price of Windows 8 licenses by 70% for devices that retail under US$250; alongside the announcement that an update to the operating system would allow OEMs to produce devices with as little as 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB of storage, critics felt that these changes would help Windows compete against Linux-based devices in the low-end market, particularly those running Chrome OS. Microsoft had similarly cut the price of Windows XP licenses to compete against the early waves of Linux-based netbooks. Reports also indicated that Microsoft was planning to offer cheaper Windows 8 licenses to OEMs in exchange for setting Internet Explorer's default search engine to Bing. Some media outlets falsely reported that the SKU associated with this plan, "Windows 8.1 with Bing", was a variant which would be a free or low-cost variant of Windows 8 for consumers using older versions of Windows. On April 2, 2014, Microsoft ultimately announced that it would be removing license fees entirely for devices with screens smaller than 9 inches, and officially confirmed the rumored "Windows 8.1 with Bing" OEM SKU on May 23, 2014.


title: Windows 8

text: On the information gathered by Net Applications, adoption rate in March 2015 for Windows 8.1 was at 10.55%, while the original Windows 8 was at 3.52%.


title: Windows 8

text: In May 2014, the Government of China banned the internal purchase of Windows 8-based products under government contracts requiring "energy-efficient" devices. The Xinhua News Agency claimed that Windows 8 was being banned in protest of Microsoft's support lifecycle policy and the end of support for Windows XP (which, as of January 2014, had a market share of 49% in China), as the government "obviously cannot ignore the risks of running an OS without guaranteed technical support." However, Ni Guangnan of the Chinese Academy of Sciences had also previously warned that Windows 8 could allegedly expose users to surveillance by the United States government due to its heavy use of Internet-based services.


title: Windows 8

text: In June 2014, state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) broadcast a news story further characterizing Windows 8 as a threat to national security. The story featured an interview with Ni Guangnan, who stated that operating systems could aggregate "sensitive user information" that could be used to "understand the conditions and activities of our national economy and society", and alleged that per documents leaked by Edward Snowden, the U.S. government had worked with Microsoft to retrieve encrypted information. Yang Min, a computer scientist at Fudan University, also stated that "the security features of Windows 8 are basically to the benefit of Microsoft, allowing them control of the users' data, and that poses a big challenge to the national strategy for information security." Microsoft denied the claims in a number of posts on the Chinese social network Sina Weibo, which stated that the company had never "assisted any government in an attack of another government or clients" or provided client data to the U.S. government, never "provided any government the authority to directly visit" or placed any backdoors in its products and services, and that it had never concealed government requests for client data.


title: Windows 8

text: A feature update to Windows 8 known as Windows 8.1 was officially announced by Microsoft on May 14, 2013. Following a presentation devoted to it at Build 2013, a public beta version of the upgrade was released on June 26, 2013. Windows 8.1 was released to OEM hardware partners on August 27, 2013, and released publicly as a free upgrade through Windows Store on October 17, 2013. Volume license customers and subscribers to MSDN Plus and TechNet Plus were initially unable to obtain the RTM version upon its release; a spokesperson said the policy was changed to allow Microsoft to work with OEMs "to ensure a quality experience at general availability." However, after criticism, Microsoft reversed its decision and released the RTM build on MSDN and TechNet on September 9, 2013.


title: Windows 8

text: Windows 8.1 addressed a number of criticisms faced by Windows 8 upon its release, with additional customization options for the Start screen, the restoration of a visible Start button on the desktop, the ability to snap up to four apps on a single display, and the ability to boot to the desktop instead of the Start screen. Windows 8's stock apps were also updated, a new Bing-based unified search system was added, SkyDrive was given deeper integration with the operating system, and a number of new stock apps, along with a tutorial, were added. Windows 8.1 also added support for 3D printing, Miracast media streaming, NFC printing, and Wi-Fi Direct.


title: Windows 8

text: Microsoft marketed Windows 8.1 as an "update" rather than as a "service pack", as it had done with such revisions on previous versions of Windows. Nonetheless, Microsoft's support lifecycle policy treats Windows 8.1 similarly to previous Windows service packs: upgrading to 8.1 has been required to maintain access to mainstream support and updates after January 12, 2016. Although Windows 8 RTM is unsupported, Microsoft released an emergency security patch in May 2017 for Windows 8 RTM, as well as other unsupported versions of Windows (including Windows XP and Windows Server 2003), to address a vulnerability that was being leveraged by the WannaCry ransomware attack. Updates to apps published on Windows Store after July 1, 2019, will not be available to Windows 8 RTM users.


title: Windows 8

text: Retail and OEM installations of Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro, and Windows RT can be upgraded through Windows Store free of charge. However, volume license customers, TechNet or MSDN subscribers and users of Windows 8 Enterprise must acquire a standalone installation media for 8.1 and install through the traditional Windows setup process, either as an in-place upgrade or clean install. This requires an 8.1 specific product key.


title: Platform game

text: A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels that consist of uneven terrain and suspended platforms of varying height that require jumping and climbing to traverse. Other acrobatic maneuvers may factor into the gameplay, such as swinging from vines or grappling hooks, jumping off walls, air dashing, gliding through the air, being shot from cannons, or bouncing from springboards or trampolines. Games where jumping is automated completely, such as 3D games in "The Legend of Zelda" series, fall outside of the genre.


title: Platform game

text: The genre started with the 1980 arcade video game, "Space Panic", which includes ladders, but not jumping. "Donkey Kong", released in 1981, established a template for what were initially called "climbing games." "Donkey Kong" inspired many clones and games with similar elements, such as "Miner 2049er" (1982).


title: Platform game

text: During the peak of platform games' popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s, platform games were estimated to consist of between a quarter and a third of all console games, but have since been supplanted by first-person shooters. By 2006, the genre had experienced a decline in popularity, representing a 2% market share as compared to 15% in 1998; however, the genre still exists in the commercial environment, with a number of games selling in the millions of units.


title: Platform game

text: A platform game requires the player to maneuver their character across platforms, to reach a goal, while confronting enemies and avoiding obstacles along the way. These games are either presented from the side view, using two-dimensional movement, or in 3D with the camera placed either behind the main character or in isometric perspective. Typical platforming gameplay tends to be very dynamic and challenges a player's reflexes, timing, and dexterity with controls.


title: Platform game

text: The most common movement options in the genre are walking, running, jumping, attacking, and climbing. Jumping is central to the genre, though there are exceptions such as Nintendo's "Popeye" (1982). In some games, the trajectory of a jump is fixed, but others it can be altered in mid-air. Falling from considerable height often causes damage or death. Many platform games contain environmental obstacles which kill the player character upon contact, such as lava pits or bottomless chasms.


title: Platform game

text: Through the various areas of the game world, player may be able to collect items and powerups that can come in handy for different situations, and give the main character new abilities for overcoming adversities.


title: Platform game

text: Most games of this genre consist of multiple levels of increasing difficulty, that may also be interleaved by boss encounters, where the character has to defeat a particularly dangerous enemy in order to progress. Usually the level order is pre-determined, but some games also allow players to navigate freely throughout the game world, or may feature different paths to take at certain points. Simple logical puzzles to resolve and skill trials to overcome are another common element in the genre.


title: Platform game

text: A more modern variant of platform games (generally 3D scrolling), called "runners", have the main character always moving forward at high speed while the player must direct it properly to not make it fall or crash against obstacles, and manage to reach checkpoints on time. Due to the relative simplicity of the controls, this kind of game works well on mobile devices and has become popular in recent years.


title: Platform game

text: Various names were used in the years following the release of the first established title in the genre, "Donkey Kong" (1981). Shigeru Miyamoto originally called "Donkey Kong" a "running/jumping/climbing game" while developing it. Miyamoto commonly used the term "athletic game" to refer to "Donkey Kong" and later games in the genre, such as "Super Mario Bros." (1985).


title: Platform game

text: "Donkey Kong" spawned a number of other games with a mix of running, jumping, and vertical traversal, a novel genre that did not match the style of games that came before it, leaving journalists and writers to offer their own terms. "Computer and Video Games" magazine, among others, referred to the genre as "Donkey Kong-type" or "Kong-style" games. "Climbing games" was used in Steve Bloom's 1982 book "Video Invaders" and 1983 magazines "Electronic Games" (US)—which ran a cover feature called "The Player's Guide to Climbing Games"—and "TV Gamer" (UK). Bloom defined "climbing games" as titles where the player "must climb from the bottom of the screen to the top while avoiding and/or destroying the obstacles and foes you invariably meet along the way." Under this definition, he listed "Space Panic" (1980), "Donkey Kong", and "Frogger" (1981) as climbing games.


title: Platform game

text: In a December 1982 "Creative Computing" review of the Apple II game "Beer Run", the reviewer used a different term: "I'm going to call this a ladder game, as in the 'ladder genre,' which includes "Apple Panic" and "Donkey Kong"." That label was also used by "Video Games Player" magazine in 1983 when it named the Coleco port of "Donkey Kong" "Ladder Game of the Year".


title: Platform game

text: Another term used in the late 1980s to 1990s was "character action games", in reference to games such as "Super Mario Bros.", "Sonic the Hedgehog", and "Bubsy". It was also applied more generally to side-scrolling video games, including run-and-gun shooters such as "Gunstar Heroes".


title: Platform game

text: "Platform game" became a standard term in the late 1980s, popularized by its usage in the United Kingdom press. By 1989, British magazines were using the term "platform" games to refer to the genre; examples include referring to the ""Super Mario" mould" (such as "Kato-chan & Ken-chan") as platform games, or calling "Strider" a "platform and ladders" game.


title: Platform game

text: Platform games originated in the early 1980s. Most early examples of platform games were confined to a static playing field, generally viewed in profile, and were based on climbing mechanics between platforms rather than jumping. "Space Panic", a 1980 arcade release by Universal, is sometimes credited as the first platform game. Another precursor to the genre from 1980 was Nichibutsu's "Crazy Climber", in which the player character scales vertically scrolling skyscrapers. The unrleleased 1979 Intellivision game "Hard Hat" has a similar concept.


title: Platform game

text: "Donkey Kong", an arcade game created by Nintendo and released in July 1981, was the first game to allow players to jump over obstacles and gaps. It is widely considered to be the first platform game. It introduced Mario under the name Jumpman. "Donkey Kong" was ported to many consoles and computers at the time, notably as the system-selling pack-in game for ColecoVision, and also a handheld version from Coleco in 1982. The game helped cement Nintendo's position as an important name in the video game industry internationally.


title: Platform game

text: The following year, "Donkey Kong" received a sequel, "Donkey Kong Jr." and later "Mario Bros.", a platform game with two-player cooperative play. It laid the groundwork for other two-player cooperative platformers such as "Fairyland Story" and "Bubble Bobble".


title: Platform game

text: Beginning in 1982, transitional games emerged that did not use scrolling graphics, but had levels that span several connected screens. David Crane's "Pitfall!" for the Atari 2600, with 256 horizontally connected screens, became one of the best-selling games on the system and was a breakthrough for the genre. "" was released on the ColecoVision that same year, adding uneven terrain and scrolling pans between static screens. "Manic Miner" (1983) and its sequel "Jet Set Willy" (1984) continued this style of multi-screen levels on home computers. "" won the first award for Best Platform game in 1984 from "Crash" magazine. Later that same year, Epyx released "Impossible Mission", and Parker Brothers released "Montezuma's Revenge", which further expanded on the exploration aspect.


title: Platform game

text: The first platform game to use scrolling graphics came years before the genre became popular. "Jump Bug" is a platform-shooter game developed by Alpha Denshi under contract for Hoei/Coreland and released to arcades in 1981, only five months after "Donkey Kong". Players control a bouncing car that jumps on various platforms such as buildings, clouds, and hills. "Jump Bug" offered a glimpse of what was to come, with uneven, suspended platforms and levels that scrolled horizontally and, in one section, vertically.


title: Platform game

text: Irem's 1982 arcade game "Moon Patrol" combines jumping over obstacles and shooting attackers. A month later, Taito released "Jungle King", a side-scrolling action game with parallax scrolling and some platform elements: jumping between vines, jumping or running beneath bouncing boulders. It was quickly re-released as "Jungle Hunt" because of similarities to Tarzan.


title: Platform game

text: The 1982 Apple II game "Track Attack" includes a scrolling platform level where the character runs and leaps along the top of a moving train.


title: Platform game

text: The character is little more than a stick figure, but the acrobatics evoke the movement that games such as "Prince of Persia" would feature. "B.C.'s Quest For Tires" was released by Sierra On-Line in 1983 on the ColecoVision and several home computers. The game has large, side-scrolling levels and simple platform gameplay in which players jump over oncoming pitfalls and obstacles, much like "Moon Patrol". The same year, a scrolling platform game appeared on the Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit computers called "Snokie". It added uneven terrain and an emphasis on precision jumping.


title: Platform game

text: Based on the Saturday morning cartoon rather than the maze game, Namco's 1984 "Pac-Land" is a bidirectional, horizontally-scrolling, arcade platformer with walking, running, jumping, springboards, power-ups, and a series of unique levels. Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani described the game as "the pioneer of action games with horizontally running background." According to Iwatani, Shigeru Miyamoto described "Pac-Land" as an influence on the development of "Super Mario Bros.".


title: Platform game

text: Nintendo's "Super Mario Bros.", released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985, became the archetype for many platform games. It was bundled with Nintendo systems in North America, Japan, and Europe, and sold over 40 million copies, according to the 1999 Guinness Book of World Records. Its success as a pack-in led many companies to see platform games as vital to their success, and contributed greatly to popularizing the genre during the 8-bit console generation.


title: Platform game

text: Sega attempted to emulate this success with their "Alex Kidd" series, which started in 1986 on the Master System with "Alex Kidd in Miracle World". It had horizontal and vertical scrolling levels, the ability to punch enemies and obstacles, and shops for the player to buy power-ups and vehicles. Another Sega platformer series that began that same year is "Wonder Boy". The original "Wonder Boy" in 1986 was inspired more by "Pac-Land" than "Super Mario Bros.", with skateboarding segments that gave the game a greater sense of speed than other platformers at the time, while its sequel, "Wonder Boy in Monster Land" added action-adventure and role-playing elements. "Wonder Boy" in turn inspired games such as "Adventure Island", "Dynastic Hero", "Popful Mail", and "Shantae".


title: Platform game

text: Scrolling platform games went portable in the late 1980s with games such as "Super Mario Land", and the genre continued to maintain its popularity, with many games released for the handheld Game Boy and Game Gear systems.


title: Platform game

text: One of the first platform games to scroll in all four directions freely and follow the on-screen character's movement is in a vector game called "Major Havoc", which comprises a number of mini-games, including a simple platformer. One of the first raster-based platform games to scroll fluidly in all directions in this manner is 1984's" Legend of Kage".


title: Platform game

text: The following year saw the release of a more successful open-world platform-adventure, Nintendo's "Metroid", which was critically acclaimed for having a balance between open-ended and guided exploration. Another platform-adventure released that year, Pony Canyon's "Super Pitfall", was critically panned for its vagueness and weak game design. That same year Jaleco released "Esper Boukentai", a sequel to "Psychic 5" that scrolled in all directions and allowed the player character to make huge multistory jumps to navigate the vertically oriented levels. Telenet Japan also released its own take on the platform-action game, "Valis", which contained anime-style cut scenes.


title: Platform game

text: In 1987, Capcom's "Mega Man" introduced non-linear level progression where the player is able to choose the order in which they complete levels. This was a stark contrast to both linear games like "Super Mario Bros." and open-world games like "Metroid". GamesRadar credits the "level select" feature of "Mega Man" as the basis for the non-linear mission structure found in most open-world, multi-mission, sidequest-heavy games. Another Capcom platformer that year was "Bionic Commando", a multidirectional-scrolling platform-action game which introduced a grappling hook mechanic that has since appeared in dozens of platform games, including "Earthworm Jim" and "Tomb Raider".


title: Platform game

text: By the time the Genesis and TurboGrafx-16 launched, platform games were the most popular genre in console gaming. There was a particular emphasis on having a flagship platform title exclusive to a system, featuring a mascot character. In 1989, Sega released "Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle", which was only modestly successful. That same year, Capcom released "Strider" in arcades, which scrolled in multiple directions and allowed the player to summon artificial intelligence partners, such as a droid, tiger, and hawk, to help fight enemies. Another Sega release in 1989 was "Shadow Dancer", which is a game that also included an AI partner: a dog who followed the player around and aid in battle. In 1990, Hudson Soft released "Bonk's Adventure", with a protagonist positioned as NEC's mascot. The following year, Takeru's "Cocoron", a late platformer for the Famicom allowed players to build a character from a toy box filled with spare parts.


title: Platform game

text: In 1990, the Super Famicom was released in Japan, along with the eagerly anticipated "Super Mario World". The following year, Nintendo released the console as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in North America, along with "Super Mario World", while Sega released "Sonic the Hedgehog" for the Sega Genesis. "Sonic" showcased a new style of design made possible by a new generation of hardware: large stages that scrolled in all directions, curved hills, loops, and a physics system allowing players to rush through its levels with well-placed jumps and rolls. Sega characterized Sonic as a teenager with a rebellious personality to appeal to gamers who saw the previous generation of consoles as being for kids. The character's speed showed off the hardware capabilities of the Genesis, which had a CPU clock speed approximately double that of the Super NES.


title: Platform game

text: Sonic became a new model for mascots, particularly for his perceived attitude, which characterized him as a rebel. This attitude soon became popular as companies attempted to duplicate Sonic's success with their own brightly colored anthropomorphisms. These often were characterized by impatience, sarcasm, and frequent quips.


title: Platform game

text: A second generation of platform games for computers appeared alongside the new wave of consoles. In the latter half of the 1980s and early 1990s, the Amiga was a strong gaming platform with its custom video hardware and sound hardware. The Atari ST was solidly supported as well. Games like "Shadow of the Beast" and "Turrican" showed that computer platform games could rival their console contemporaries. "Prince of Persia", originally a late release for the 8-bit Apple II in 1989, featured a high quality of animation.


title: Platform game

text: The 1988 shareware game "The Adventures of Captain Comic" was one of the first attempts at a Nintendo-style platformer for IBM PC compatibles.


title: Platform game

text: It inspired "Commander Keen", released by id Software in 1990, which became the first MS-DOS platformer with smooth scrolling graphics. Keen's success resulted in numerous console-styled platformers on the PC, including "Duke Nukem", "Duke Nukem II", "Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure", and "Dark Ages" all by Apogee Software. These fueled a brief burst of episodic platform games where the first was freely distributed and parts 2 and 3 were available for purchase.


title: Platform game

text: The abundance of platformers for 16-bit consoles continued late into the generation, with successful games such as "Vectorman" (1995), "" (1995), and "Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island" (1995), but the release of new hardware caused players' attention to move away from 2D genres. The Sega Saturn, PlayStation, and Nintendo 64 nevertheless featured a number of successful 2D platform games. The 2D "Rayman" was a big success on 32-bit consoles. "Mega Man 8" and "Mega Man X4" helped revitalize interest in Capcom's Mega Man character. "" revitalized its series and established a new foundation for later "Castlevania" games. "Oddworld" and "Heart of Darkness" kept the subgenre born from "Prince of Persia" alive.


title: Platform game

text: The difficulties of adapting platform gameplay to three dimensions led some developers to compromise by pairing the visual flash of 3D with traditional 2D side scrolling gameplay. These games are often referred to as 2.5D. The first such game was the Sega Saturn launch title, "Clockwork Knight" (1994). The game featured levels and boss characters rendered in 3D, but retained 2D gameplay and used pre-rendered 2D sprites for regular characters, similar to "Donkey Kong Country". Its sequel improved upon its design, featuring some 3D effects such as hopping between the foreground and background, and the camera panning and curving around corners. Meanwhile, "Pandemonium" and "Klonoa" brought the 2.5D style to the PlayStation. In a break from the past, the Nintendo 64 had the fewest side scrolling platformers with only four; "Yoshi's Story", "", "Goemon's Great Adventure", and "Mischief Makers"—and most met with a tepid response from critics at the time. Despite this, "Yoshi's Story" sold over a million copies in the US, and "Mischief Makers" rode high on the charts in the months following its release.


title: Platform game

text: The term "3D platformer" usually refers to games with gameplay in three dimensions and polygonal 3D graphics. Games that have 3D gameplay but 2D graphics are usually included under the umbrella of "isometric platformers", while those that have 3D graphics but gameplay on a 2D plane are called "2.5D", as they are a blend of 2D and 3D.


title: Platform game

text: One of the first platformers with 3D graphics was Sega's "Congo Bongo" in 1983. The first platformers to simulate a 3D perspective and moving camera emerged in the early-mid-1980s. An early example of this was Konami's platform game "Antarctic Adventure", where the player controls a penguin in a forward-scrolling third-person perspective while having to jump over pits and obstacles. Originally released in 1983 for the MSX computer, it was subsequently ported to various platforms the following year, including an arcade version, NES, and ColecoVision.


title: Platform game

text: 1986 saw the release of the sequel to forward-scrolling platformer "Antarctic Adventure" called "Penguin Adventure", which was designed by Hideo Kojima. It included more action game elements, a greater variety of levels, RPG elements such as upgrading equipment, and multiple endings.


title: Platform game

text: In early 1987, Square released "3-D WorldRunner", designed by Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nasir Gebelli. Using a forward-scrolling effect similar to Sega's 1985 third-person rail shooter "Space Harrier". "3-D WorldRunner" was an early forward-scrolling pseudo-3D third-person platform-action game where players were free to move in any forward-scrolling direction and could leap over obstacles and chasms. It was notable for being one of the first stereoscopic 3-D games. Square released its sequel, "JJ", later that year.


title: Platform game

text: The earliest example of a true 3D platform game is a French computer game called "Alpha Waves", created by Christophe de Dinechin and published by Infogrames in 1990 for the Atari ST, Amiga, and IBM PC compatibles.


title: Platform game

text: "Bug!", a Sega Saturn game that was released in 1995, offered a more conservative approach to true 3D platforming. It allowed players to move in all directions, but it did not allow movement along more than one axis at once; the player could move orthogonally but not diagonally. Its characters were pre-rendered sprites, much like the earlier "Clockwork Knight". The game played very similarly to 2D platformers, but it was considered a true 3D title, and let players walk up walls and on ceilings. It has a sequel called "Bug Too!".


title: Platform game

text: In 1995, Delphine Software released a 3D sequel to their 2D platformer "". Entitled "Fade to Black", it was the first attempt to bring a popular 2D platform game series into 3D. While it retained the puzzle-oriented level design style and step-based control, it did not meet the criteria of a platform game, and was billed as an action adventure. It used true 3D characters and set pieces, but its environments were rendered using a rigid engine similar to the one used by "Wolfenstein 3D", in that it could only render square, flat corridors, rather than suspended platforms that could be jumped between.


title: Platform game

text: Sony adopted an existing project by developers Naughty Dog: "Crash Bandicoot". Crash remained Sony's unofficial mascot for the next several years before switching to multi-platform releases in the following console generation.


title: Platform game

text: Sega had tasked their American studio, Sega Technical Institute, with bringing Sonic the Hedgehog into 3D. Their project, titled "Sonic Xtreme", was to have featured a radically different approach for the series, with an exaggerated fisheye camera and multidirectional gameplay reminiscent of "Bug!". Due in part to conflicts with Sega Enterprises in Japan and a rushed schedule, and the game never made it to market.


title: Platform game

text: In the 1990s, platforming games started to shift from pseudo-3D to "true 3D," which gave the player more control over the character and the camera. To render a 3D environment from any angle the user chose, the graphics hardware had to be sufficiently powerful, and the art and rendering model of the game had to be viewable from every angle. The improvement in graphics technology allowed publishers to make such games but introduced several new issues. For example, if the player could control the virtual camera, it had to be constrained to stop it from clipping through the environment.


title: Platform game

text: In 1994, a small developer called Exact released a game for the X68000 computer called "Geograph Seal", which was a 3D first-person shooter game with platforming. Players piloted a frog-like mech that could jump and then double-jump or triple-jump high into the air as the camera panned down to help players line up their landings. In addition to shooting, jumping on enemies was a primary way to attack. This was the first true 3D platform-action game with free-roaming environments, but it was never ported to another platform or released outside Japan, so it remains relatively unknown in the West.


title: Platform game

text: The following year, Exact released their follow-up to "Geograph Seal". An early title for Sony's new PlayStation console, "Jumping Flash!", released in April 1995, kept the gameplay from its precursor but traded the frog-like mech for a cartoony rabbit mech called Robbit. The title was successful enough to get two sequels and is remembered for being the first 3D platformer on a console. Rob Fahey of Eurogamer said "Jumping Flash" was perhaps "one of the most important ancestors of every 3D platform game in the following decade." It holds the record of "First platform videogame in true 3D" according to "Guinness World Records". Another early 3D platformer was "Floating Runner", developed by a Japanese company called Xing and released for PlayStation in early 1996, before the release of "Super Mario 64". "Floating Runner" used D-pad controls and a behind-the-character camera perspective.


title: Platform game

text: In 1996, Nintendo released "Super Mario 64", which is a game that set the standard for 3D platformers. It let the player explore 3D environments with greater freedom than was found in any previous game in the genre. With this in mind, Nintendo put an analog control stick on its Nintendo 64 controller, a feature that hadn't been seen since the Vectrex but which has since become standard. The analog stick provided the fine precision needed with a free perspective.


title: Platform game

text: In most 2D platformers, the player finished a level by following a path to a certain point, but in "Super Mario 64", the levels were open and had objectives. Completing objectives earned the player stars, and stars were used to unlock more levels. This approach allowed for more efficient use of large 3D areas and rewarded the player for exploration, but it meant less jumping and more action-adventure. Even so, a handful of boss levels offered more traditional platforming. Until then there was no settled way to make platform games in 3D, but "Super Mario 64" inspired a shift in design. Later 3D platformers like "Banjo-Kazooie", "Spyro the Dragon", and "Donkey Kong 64" borrowed its format, and the "collect-a-thon" genre began to form.


title: Platform game

text: In order to make this free-roaming model work, developers had to program dynamic, intelligent cameras. A free camera made it harder for players to judge the height and distance of platforms, making jumping puzzles more difficult. Some of the more linear 3D platformers like "" and "Wario World" used scripted cameras that limited player control. Games with more open environments like "Super Mario 64" and "Banjo Kazooie" used intelligent cameras that followed the player's movements. Still, when the view was obstructed or not facing what the player needed to see, these intelligent cameras needed to be adjusted by the player.


title: Platform game

text: In the 1990s, RPGs, first-person shooters, and more complex action-adventure games captured significant market share. Even so, the platformer thrived. "Tomb Raider" became one of the bestselling series on the PlayStation, along with Insomniac Games' "Spyro" and Naughty Dog's "Crash Bandicoot", one of the few 3D games to stick with linear levels. Moreover, many of the Nintendo 64's bestsellers were first- and second-party platformers like "Super Mario 64", "Banjo-Kazooie", and "Donkey Kong 64". On Windows and Mac, Pangea Software's "Bugdom" series and BioWare's "MDK2" proved successful.


title: Platform game

text: Several developers who found success with 3D platformers began experimenting with titles that, despite their cartoon art style, were aimed at adults. Examples include Rare's "Conker's Bad Fur Day", Crystal Dynamics's "" and "", and Shiny Entertainment's "Messiah".


title: Platform game

text: In 1998, Sega produced a 3D Sonic game, "Sonic Adventure", for its Dreamcast console. It used a hub structure like "Super Mario 64", but its levels were more linear, fast-paced, and action-oriented.


title: Platform game

text: Nintendo launched its GameCube console without a platform game. However, it released "Super Mario Sunshine" in 2002, the second 3D "Mario" platformer.


title: Platform game

text: Other notable 3D platformers trickled out during this generation. "" was a spiritual heir to the "Ghosts'n Goblins" series, "Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg" offered Yuji Naka's take on a "Mario 64"-influenced platformer, Argonaut Software returned with a new platformer named "Malice", games such as "" and "" were attempts to modernise classic video games of the 1980s using the 3D platformer genre, "Psychonauts" became a critical darling based on its imaginative levels and colorful characters, and several franchises that debuted during the sixth generation of consoles such as "Tak", "Ty the Tasmanian Tiger", "Ape Escape" and "Sly Cooper" each developed a cult following. In Europe specifically, the "Kao the Kangaroo" and "Hugo" series achieved popularity and sold well. "Rayman"s popularity continued, though the franchise's third game was not as well received as the first two. "" brought the popular "Oddworld" franchise into the third dimension, but future sequels to this game did not opt for the 3D platform genre.


title: Platform game

text: Naughty Dog moved on from "Crash Bandicoot" to "Jak and Daxter", a series that became less about traditional platforming with each sequel. A hybrid platformer/shooter game from Insomniac Games called "Ratchet & Clank" further pushed the genre away from such gameplay, as did Universal Interactive Studios' rebooted "Spyro" trilogy and Microsoft's attempt to create a mascot for the Xbox in "". Ironically, Microsoft later found more success with their 2003 take on the genre, "Voodoo Vince".


title: Platform game

text: In 2008, Crackpot Entertainment released "Insecticide". Crackpot, composed of former developers from LucasArts, for the first time combined influences from the point and click genre LucasArts had been known for on titles such as "Grim Fandango" with a platformer.


title: Platform game

text: The platformer remained a vital genre, but it never regained its old popularity. Part of the reason for the platformer's decline in the 2000s was a lack of innovation compared to other genres. Platformers were either aimed at younger players or designed to avoid the platform label. In 1998, platform games had a 15% share of the market, and an even higher share in their prime. Four years later that figure had dropped to 2%. Even the acclaimed "Psychonauts" saw modest sales at first, leading publisher Majesco Entertainment to withdraw from high-budget console games, though its sales in Europe were respectable.


title: Platform game

text: In the seventh generation of consoles, despite the genre having a smaller presence in the gaming market, some platform games found success. In 2007 "Super Mario Galaxy" and "" were received well by both critics and fans. "Super Mario Galaxy" was awarded the Best Game of 2007 by high-profile gaming websites like GameSpot, IGN, and GameTrailers. At that point, according to GameRankings, it was the most critically acclaimed game of all time. In 2008, "LittleBigPlanet" paired traditional 2D-platformer gameplay with physics simulation and user created content, earning it strong sales and good reviews. Electronic Arts released "Mirror's Edge", which coupled platform gameplay with a first-person perspective, although they did not market the game as a platformer because of the association of the label with games made for kids. "Sonic Unleashed" featured stages with both 2D and 3D platform gameplay, a formula used later in "Sonic Colors" and "Sonic Generations". Moreover, two "Crash Bandicoot" platform games were released in 2007 and 2008.


title: Platform game

text: The popularity of 2D platformers rose in the 2010s. Nintendo revived the genre. "New Super Mario Bros." was released in 2006 and sold 30 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling game for the Nintendo DS and the fourth best-selling non-bundled video game of all time. "Super Mario Galaxy" eventually sold over eight million units, while "Super Paper Mario", "Super Mario 64 DS", "Sonic Rush", "Yoshi's Island DS", "Kirby Super Star Ultra", and "" also sold well.


title: Platform game

text: After the success of "New Super Mario Bros.", there was a spate of 2D platform games. These ranged from revivals like "", "Contra ReBirth", ", and" "Rayman Origins" to original titles like "Splosion Man" and "Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure". "", released in 2008, was a 2D platformer with a rich visual style. Later games like "Limbo", "Super Meat Boy", "Braid", "A Boy and His Blob", and The Behemoth's "BattleBlock Theater" also used 2D graphics. "New Super Mario Bros. Wii" is especially notable because unlike most 2D platformers in the twenty-first century, it came out for a non-portable console and was not restricted to a content delivery network. A year after the success of "New Super Mario Bros. Wii", Nintendo released more 2D platformers in their classic franchises: "Donkey Kong Country Returns" and "Kirby's Return to Dream Land". In 2012, they released two more 2D platformers: "New Super Mario Bros. 2" for the 3DS and "New Super Mario Bros. U" for the Wii U. Nintendo also experimented with 3D platform games that had gameplay elements from 2D platform games, leading to "Super Mario 3D Land" (2011) for the 3DS and "Super Mario 3D World" (2013) for the Wii U, the latter having cooperative multiplayer. Both were critical and commercial successes.


title: Platform game

text: Besides Nintendo's games, indie games in the late 2000s and the 2010s helped grow the platform-game market. Indie platform games had a stronger focus on story and innovation. In 2009, independent developer Frozenbyte released "Trine", a 2.5D platform game that mixed traditional elements with modern physics puzzles. The game sold more than 1.1 million copies, and a sequel, "Trine 2", came out in 2011.


title: Platform game

text: The year 2017 saw the release of several 3D platformers, leading the media to speculate about a revival of the genre. These included "Yooka-Laylee" and "A Hat in Time", both crowdfunded on the website Kickstarter. "Super Mario Odyssey", which returned the series to the open-ended gameplay of "Super Mario 64", became one of the best-selling and best-reviewed games in the franchise's history. "Super Lucky's Tale" and an HD remaster of "Voodoo Vince" came out for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One. "Snake Pass" was called a "puzzle-platformer without a jump button." The "Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy" for PlayStation 4 sold over 2.5 million copies in three months, despite some critics noting it was harder than the original games. The next few years saw more remakes of 3D platformers: "Spyro Reignited Trilogy", "" (2020), and a remake of 1998's "MediEvil" for PS4.


title: Platform game

text: In the ninth generation of consoles, the platform game remains important. "Astro Bot Rescue Mission" (2018), a PlayStation VR game, was followed by "Astro's Playroom" (2020), which came pre-installed on every PlayStation 5. "" (2020), developed by Sumo Digital, was a PlayStation 5 launch title. "" (2020) was released to critical praise. "Bowser's Fury" (2021), a short campaign added to the Switch port of "Super Mario 3D World", bridged the gap between the gameplay of "3D World" and that of "Odyssey". "" (2021) was one of the first PlayStation 5-exclusive games made by Insomniac. On August 25, 2021, the Kickstarter-funded "Psychonauts 2" was released to critical acclaim.


title: Platform game

text: This list some definable platform games in the following types, but there are also many vaguely defined subgenres games that have not been listed. These game categories are the prototypes genre that recognized by different platform styles.


title: Platform game

text: Puzzle platformers are characterized by their use of a platform game structure to drive a game whose challenge is derived primarily from puzzles.


title: Platform game

text: Enix's 1983 release "Door Door" and Sega's 1985 release "Doki Doki Penguin Land" (for the SG-1000) are perhaps the first examples, though the genre is diverse, and classifications can vary. "Doki Doki Penguin Land" allowed players to run and jump in typical platform fashion, but they could also destroy blocks, and were tasked with guiding an egg to the bottom of the level without letting it break.


title: Platform game

text: "The Lost Vikings" (1993) was a popular game in this genre. It has three characters players can switch between, each with different abilities. All three characters are needed to complete the level goals.


title: Platform game

text: This subgenre has a strong presence on handheld systems. "Wario Land 2" moved the Wario series into the puzzle-platform genre by eliminating the element of death and adding temporary injuries, such as being squashed or lit on fire, and specialized powers. "Wario Land 3" continued this tradition, while "Wario Land 4" was more of a mix of puzzle and traditional platform elements. The Game Boy update of "Donkey Kong" was also successful and saw a sequel on Game Boy Advance: "Mario vs. Donkey Kong". "", the first handheld title in its series, is also a puzzle-platform game.


title: Platform game

text: Through independent game development, this genre has experienced a revival since 2014. "Braid" uses time manipulation for its puzzles, and "And Yet It Moves" uses frame of reference rotation. In contrast to these side-scrollers, "Narbacular Drop" and its successor, "Portal", are first-person games that use portals to solve puzzles in 3D. Since the release of "Portal", there have been more puzzle-platform games which use a first-person camera, including "Purity" and "". In 2014, Nintendo released "" which uses compact level design and camera rotation in order to reach the goal and find secrets and collectibles. Despite lacking jump ability, Toad still navigates the environment via unique movement mechanics.


title: Platform game

text: The run-and-gun platform genre was popularised by Konami's "Contra". Among the most popular games in this style are "Gunstar Heroes" and "Metal Slug". Side-scrolling run-and-gun games marry platform games with shoot 'em ups, with less tricky platforming and more shooting. These games are sometimes called platform shooters. The genre has arcade roots, so these games are generally linear and difficult.


title: Platform game

text: There are games which have a lot of shooting but do not fall in this subgenre. "Mega Man", "Metroid", "Ghosts 'n Goblins", "Vectorman", "Jazz Jackrabbit", "Earthworm Jim", and "Turrican" are all platformers with shooting, but unlike "Contra" or "Metal Slug", platforming, as well as exploring and back-tracking, figures prominently. Run-and-gun games are generally pure, and while they may have vehicular sequences or other shifts in style, they have shooting throughout.


title: Platform game

text: Cinematic platformers are a small but distinct subgenre of platform games, usually distinguished by their relative realism compared to traditional platformers. These games focus on fluid, lifelike movements, without the unnatural physics found in nearly all other platform games. To achieve this realism, many cinematic platformers, beginning with "Prince of Persia", have employed rotoscoping techniques to animate their characters based on video footage of live actors performing the same stunts. Jumping abilities are typically roughly within the confines of an athletic human's capacity. To expand vertical exploration, many cinematic platformers feature the ability to grab onto ledges, or make extensive use of elevator platforms.


title: Platform game

text: As these games tend to feature vulnerable characters who may die as the result of a single enemy attack or by falling a relatively short distance, they almost never have limited lives or continues. Challenge is derived from trial and error problem solving, forcing the player to find the right way to overcome a particular obstacle.


title: Platform game

text: "Prince of Persia" was the first cinematic platformer and perhaps the most influential. "Impossible Mission" pioneered many of the defining elements of cinematic platformers and is an important precursor to this genre. Other games in the genre include "" (and its 2013 remake), "Another World", "Heart of Darkness", the first two "Oddworld" games, "Blackthorne", "Bermuda Syndrome", "Generations Lost", "Heart of the Alien", "Weird Dreams", "Limbo", "Inside", "onEscapee", "Deadlight", and "The Way".


title: Platform game

text: Games in the genre are most commonly called "comical action games" (CAGs) in Japan. The original arcade "Mario Bros." is generally recognized as the originator of this genre, though "Bubble Bobble" is also highly influential. These games are characterized by single screen, non-scrolling levels and often contain cooperative two-player action. A level is cleared when all enemies on the screen have been defeated, and vanquished foes usually drop score bonuses in the form of fruit or other items. CAGs are almost exclusively developed in Japan and are either arcade games, or sequels to arcade games, though they are also a common genre among amateur "doujinshi" games. Other examples include "Don Doko Don", "Snow Bros." and "Nightmare in the Dark".


title: Platform game

text: Isometric platformers present a three-dimensional environment using two-dimensional graphics in isometric projection. The use of isometric graphics was popularized by Sega's arcade isometric shooter "Zaxxon" (1981), which Sega followed with the arcade isometric platformer "Congo Bongo", released in February 1983. Another early isometric platformer, the ZX Spectrum game "Ant Attack", was later released in November 1983.


title: Platform game

text: "Knight Lore", an isometric sequel to "Sabre Wulf", helped to establish the conventions of early isometric platformers. This formula was repeated in later games like "Head Over Heels" and "Monster Max". These games were generally heavily focused on exploring indoor environments, usually a series of small rooms connected by doors, and have distinct adventure and puzzle elements. Japanese developers blended this gameplay style with that of Japanese action-adventure games like "The Legend of Zelda" to create games like "Land Stalker" and "Light Crusader". This influence later traveled to Europe with Adeline Software's sprawling epic "Little Big Adventure", which blended RPG, adventure, and isometric platforming elements.


title: Platform game

text: Before consoles were able to display true polygonal 3D graphics, the ¾ isometric perspective was used to move some popular 2D platformers into three-dimensional gameplay. "Spot Goes To Hollywood" was a sequel to the popular "Cool Spot", and "Sonic 3D Blast" was Sonic's outing into the isometric subgenre.


title: Platform game

text: Many games fuse platform game fundamentals with elements of action-adventure games, such as "The Legend of Zelda", or with elements of RPGs. Typically these elements include the ability to explore an area freely, with access to new areas granted by either gaining new abilities or using inventory items. Many 2D games in the "Metroid" and "Castlevania" franchises are among the most popular games of this sort, and so games that take this type of approach are often labeled as "Metroidvania" games. "" popularized this approach in the "Castlevania" series. Other examples of such games include Hollow Knight, both games in the "Ori" series (Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps), "", "Tails Adventure", "Cave Story", "Mega Man ZX", "Shadow Complex," .


title: Platform game

text: Early examples of free-roaming, side-scrolling, 2D platform-adventures in the vein of "Metroidvania" include Nintendo's "Metroid" in 1986 and Konami's "Castlevania" games: "Vampire Killer" in 1986 and "" in 1987, "The Goonies II" in 1987 again by Konami, as well as Enix's sci-fi Sharp X1 computer game "Brain Breaker" in 1985, Pony Canyon's "Super Pitfall" in 1986, System Sacom's "Euphory" in 1987, Bothtec's "The Scheme" in 1988, and several "Dragon Slayer" action RPGs by Nihon Falcom such as the 1985 release "" and 1987 releases "Faxanadu" and "Legacy of the Wizard".


title: Platform game

text: Auto-runner games are platform games where the player-character is nearly always moving in one constant direction through the level, with less focus on tricky jumping but more on quick reflexes as obstacles appear on screen. The subcategory of endless runner games have levels that effectively go on forever, typically through procedural generation. Auto-runner games have found success on mobile platforms, because they are well-suited to the small set of controls these games require, often limited to a single screen tap for jumping.


title: Platform game

text: Game designer Scott Rogers named side-scrolling shooters like "Scramble" (1981) and "Moon Patrol" (1982) and chase-style gameplay in platform games like "Disney's Aladdin" (1994 8-bit version) and "Crash Bandicoot" (1996) as forerunners of the genre. "B.C.'s Quest for Tires" (1983) has elements of runner games, keeping the jumping of "Moon Patrol", but replacing the vehicle with a cartoon character.


title: Platform game

text: In February 2003, Gamevil published "Nom" for mobile phones in Korea. The game's designer Sin Bong-gu, stated that he wanted to create a game that was only possible on mobile phones, therefore he made the player character walk up walls and ceilings, requiring players to turn around their mobile phones while playing. To compensate for this complication, he limited the game's controls to a single button and let the character run automatically and indefinitely, "like the people in modern society, who must always look forward and keep running".


title: Platform game

text: While the concept thus was long known in Korea, journalists credit "Canabalt" (2009) as "the title that single-handedly invented the smartphone-friendly single-button running genre" and spawned a wave of clones. "Fotonica" (2011), a one-button endless runner viewed from the first person, that was described as a "hybrid of "Canabalt"s running, "Mirror's Edge"s perspective (and hands) and "Rez"s visual style".


title: Platform game

text: "Temple Run" (2011) and its successor "Temple Run 2" are popular endless running games. The latter became the world's fastest-spreading mobile game in January 2013, with 50 million installations within thirteen days.


title: Connor McDavid

text: Connor Andrew McDavid (born January 13, 1997) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Oilers selected him first overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.


title: Connor McDavid

text: McDavid spent his childhood playing ice hockey against older children. Coached by his father, McDavid won four Ontario Minor Hockey Association championships with the York Simcoe Express, but he left the team in 2011 to join the Toronto Marlboros of the Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL). There, McDavid was named the GTHL Player of the Year and the winner of the Tim Adams Memorial Trophy. He was granted exceptional player status in 2012 by Hockey Canada, which allowed him to begin playing junior ice hockey at the age of 15. The Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) selected him first overall in that year's draft, and he played there until 2015. McDavid's OHL career concluded with a 2014–15 season in which he recorded 120 points and received a number of OHL and Canadian Hockey League (CHL) awards, including the Red Tilson Trophy, Wayne Gretzky 99 Award, and CHL Player of the Year awards. McDavid also represented Canada at several international competitions during this time, winning gold medals at the 2013 IIHF World U18 Championships and 2015 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.


title: Connor McDavid

text: After finishing his junior hockey career, McDavid joined the Oilers for their season. Despite missing three months of his rookie season due to a fractured clavicle, he was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team and was a finalist for the Calder Memorial Trophy. The following year, the Oilers appointed a 19-year-old McDavid the youngest captain in NHL history. Recording 100 points during the season, McDavid also became the youngest player to win the Art Ross Trophy for the leading scorer in the NHL. He was also awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy, Ted Lindsay Award, and was selected to the NHL First All-Star Team. Although the Oilers missed the Stanley Cup playoffs during the next two seasons, McDavid scored 41 goals in consecutive years. He injured his knee in the final game of the season but underwent a nonsurgical rehabilitation process that allowed him to return in time for the start of the season. In , despite the COVID-19 pandemic shortening the NHL season to only 56 games, McDavid recorded 100 points for the fourth time in his career.


title: Connor McDavid

text: McDavid is considered one of the best players in the NHL by other players, fans, and journalists, and he has drawn comparisons to players such as Sidney Crosby and Wayne Gretzky. His opponents have praised his speed on the ice, and McDavid has won Fastest Skater at the NHL All-Star Skills Competition three times. He is a four-time NHL First Team All-Star, a four-time recipient of the Art Ross Trophy, a three-time winner of the Ted Lindsay Award, and one of only two playersafter fellow Oilers captain Wayne Gretzky in to unanimously win the Hart Memorial Trophy.


title: Connor McDavid

text: McDavid was born on January 13, 1997, in Richmond Hill, Ontario. His mother Kelly played one year of recreational ice hockey as a child before turning her attention towards skiing, while his father Brian was a high school ice hockey player and dedicated Boston Bruins fan. McDavid began playing hockey around the age of three, practicing on rollerblades in the family basement. He began playing organized youth hockey the next year, as his parents lied about his age to allow him to play with the other five-year-olds. When he was six, the local youth hockey association in his hometown of Newmarket forbade McDavid to play against older children, and his parents, believing that he would be "bored out of his mind" in house league hockey, enrolled him in an Aurora, Ontario, hockey program. From there, he won four Ontario Minor Hockey Association championships with the York Simcoe Express, a team coached by his father. In 2009, McDavid participated in the Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with his York Simcoe team, which also featured future professional ice hockey player Sam Bennett.


title: Connor McDavid

text: In 2011, McDavid left the Express for the Toronto Marlboros of the Greater Toronto Hockey League (GTHL), the team that he and his father had defeated in the previous year's Ontario Hockey Federation championship. The decision came at a social cost, as he lost many of the friends that he had made with York Simcoe. He won the GTHL Player of the Year Award in 2012 after scoring 33 goals and recording 39 assists in 33 regular-season games. McDavid added another 19 points (11 goals and eight assists) in seven OHL Cup games, the most by any player since Sam Gagner recorded 17 points in five games during the 2005 tournament. Although he received the Tim Adams Memorial Trophy as the tournament MVP, McDavid's team was defeated 2–1 in the OHL Cup final by the Mississauga Rebels.


title: Connor McDavid

text: Although McDavid contemplated playing NCAA Division I hockey, he ultimately decided to enter the junior ice hockey circuit as an adolescent rather than waiting to begin a college career. McDavid applied for exceptional player status through Hockey Canada, and after passing through evaluations of his athleticism, academics, and maturity, he was allowed to enter the junior hockey draft at the age of 15 rather than 16. He was only the third Ontario Hockey League (OHL) player to be granted such an exception, following John Tavares in 2005 and Aaron Ekblad in 2011. On April 7, 2012, the Erie Otters selected McDavid first overall in the 2012 OHL Priority Selection, and he signed with the team that June. As the first overall selection in that year's OHL draft, McDavid was the recipient of the 2012 Jack Ferguson Award.


title: Connor McDavid

text: McDavid joined the Otters for the 2012–13 season, where he scored his first OHL goal on September 21, in an 8–2 loss to the London Knights. That October, he was named the OHL Rookie of the Month after recording at least one point in all 10 games he played. He took home the award again in November with a rookie-leading 17 points in 13 games. That same month, McDavid became the youngest OHL player ever to participate in the Subway Super Series. In January and February, the physical toll of moving from minor to junior hockey, as well as frustration playing for the last-place Otters, limited McDavid's effectiveness on the ice, and his scoring began to slow. On March 10, 2013, despite the Otters falling 6–4 to the Owen Sound Attack, McDavid picked up his 37th assist of the season, setting a franchise record for rookie assists. It was also his 62nd point of the season, tying with Tim Connolly for the most rookie points in Otters history. He went on to record four more points in the regular season, breaking Connolly's record. McDavid finished his rookie season with 25 goals and 41 assists in 63 regular-season games, second in scoring to Nikolay Goldobin among all OHL rookies. In addition to being named to the OHL First All-Rookie Team, McDavid took home the 2013 Emms Family Award for OHL rookie of the year. He was also a finalist for CHL Rookie of the Year, a title which ultimately went to Valentin Zykov of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar.


title: Connor McDavid

text: In contrast to their poor finish during the previous season, the Otters opened the 2013–14 season with 25 points in their first 15 games, including a 10-game winning streak. During this stretch, McDavid personally had five goals and 28 points, three points behind OHL leader and teammate Connor Brown. He was named the OHL Player of the Month in October and received another Subway Super Series selection, appearing as the youngest player in the tournament for the second year in a row. After experiencing two consecutive four-point outings in an 11–2 win against the Plymouth Whalers and 6–1 victory over the Windsor Spitfires in March, McDavid was named both the OHL and CHL Player of the Week. Later that week, his 25th goal of the season helped the Otters to reach 100 points as a team for the first time since 2001. He finished the regular season fourth in the OHL with 99 points (28 goals and 71 assists) in 56 games. His 20 penalty minutes, meanwhile, were the lowest among the top 12 scorers in the league, and McDavid was awarded the William Hanley Trophy for the most sportsmanlike player in the OHL. With a 92 per cent average at McDowell High School, McDavid both won the 2014 Bobby Smith Trophy for the OHL's Scholastic Player of the Year and was named the 2014 CHL Scholastic Player of the Year. He was also named to the OHL Second All-Star Team alongside Otters defenceman Adam Pelech and coach Kris Knoblauch. The Otters, meanwhile, finished the regular season second in the OHL, and McDavid added an additional four goals and 19 points in 14 postseason games before Erie fell to the Guelph Storm in the Western Conference finals.


title: Connor McDavid

text: The Otters named McDavid their captain for the 2014–15 season during training camp. McDavid recorded at least one point in all but one of the first 18 games of the season and led the OHL with 51 points before breaking his hand in a fight with Bryson Cianfrone of the Mississauga Steelheads on November 11. McDavid had already recorded a goal and assist at the time of his injury, giving him a Gordie Howe hat trick, but was forced to miss both the Subway Super Series and several regular season games. He missed six weeks of the regular OHL season, first to injury and then international competition, before returning on January 8 for a 4–3 defeat from the Sarnia Sting. Shortly after his return, McDavid was named the captain of Team Cherry at the 2015 CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game; teammate Dylan Strome was selected to captain Team Orr. After recording his first OHL hat-trick on February 25 against the Guelph Storm, McDavid recorded his 100th point of the season with a goal and assist against the Owen Sound Attack. He was the fourth OHL player that season to reach 100 points, doing so in only 38 games due to his injury, and was named OHL Player of the Month for February. He finished the regular season with 44 goals and 120 points in 47 games, with at least one point in all but two of those games, and he led the OHL with a +60 plus–minus rating.


title: Connor McDavid

text: At the end of the 2014–15 season, McDavid received a number of awards from the OHL and CHL. In addition to winning the Bobby Smith Trophy and CHL Scholastic Player of the Year for the second consecutive year, he was also named to the OHL First All-Star Team, received the Red Tilson Trophy for the most outstanding player in the OHL, the CHL Player of the Year title, and the CHL Top Draft Prospect Award. Although the Otters were defeated in the J. Ross Robertson Cup finals by the Oshawa Generals, McDavid recorded 21 goals and 49 points in 20 postseason games, including two goals and six points in five championship series games, and received the Wayne Gretzky 99 Award for the most valuable player in the OHL playoffs. With five individual OHL awards in his three-year career, McDavid also finished his junior hockey tenure as the most decorated player in league history. Altogether, McDavid had 285 points in his career with the Otters, 24 fewer than franchise leader Brad Boyes, and led the franchise with 188 assists.


title: Connor McDavid

text: The Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL), who were coming off of a 24–44–14 season, selected McDavid first overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. On July 3, 2015, he signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the team; the total deal was worth $11.3 million, including up to $3.775 million annually in bonus incentives. He made his NHL debut on October 9, 2015, nearly scoring twice but stopped by Brian Elliott both times in a 3–1 loss to the St. Louis Blues. His first goal came five days later in his third NHL game, when McDavid scored on Kari Lehtonen in the second period of a 4–2 loss to the Dallas Stars. On November 3, McDavid suffered a fractured left clavicle after a collision into the boards with Brandon Manning and Michael Del Zotto of the Philadelphia Flyers. At the time of the injury, he had five goals and 12 points through 13 games. He missed a total of 37 games with the injury, by which point the Oilers had fallen well out of playoff contention, but returned on February 3 for a goal and two assists in Edmonton's 5–1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. On February 11, while facing his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs, McDavid was involved in all five of the Oilers' points: in addition to scoring twice, he also had assists on every part of Jordan Eberle's hat trick. That single-game performance helped boost McDavid to tenth overall in NHL rookie scoring despite playing in only 19 games of the season. Despite appearing in only 45 games due to injury, McDavid finished his rookie season with 16 goals and 32 assists, fourth in rookie scoring. He was the second runner-up in Calder Memorial Trophy voting, behind Shayne Gostisbehere and winner Artemi Panarin, and all three players were named to the 2015–16 NHL All-Rookie Team.


title: Connor McDavid

text: On October 5, 2016, the Oilers named McDavid their captain for the season. At 19 years and 266 days old, McDavid became the youngest captain in NHL history, unseating Gabriel Landeskog, who was 20 days older when he became captain of the Colorado Avalanche in 2012. After a 10-game goal drought early in the season, McDavid recorded his first NHL hat-trick on November 19 in a 5–2 victory over the Dallas Stars. The following month, he scored his first shootout goal against Ben Bishop to defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3–2. With two assists against the New Jersey Devils on January 13, McDavid became the first player to reach 50 points during the 2016–17 season. Five days later, he recorded his 100th NHL point with an assist on Zack Kassian's goal against the Florida Panthers. He reached the milestone in only 92 games, following Wayne Gretzky (61 games) and Blair MacDonald (85) as the third-fastest Oiler to reach 100 career points. With a league-leading 16 goals and 56 points halfway through the season, McDavid earned his first NHL All-Star Game selection in 2017, playing on the same line as Anaheim Ducks rival Ryan Kesler for the Pacific Division team. He also won Fastest Skater at the NHL All-Star Skills Competition with a time of 13.02 seconds. In the final regular-season game of the year, McDavid recorded two assists to finish the season with 100 points. In doing so, he became the youngest player to win the Art Ross Trophy for the NHL scoring leader since a 19-year-old Sidney Crosby won in the season. Playing in all 82 games of the season, McDavid recorded 30 goals and 70 assists, with at least one point in 59 games and a 14-game point streak to close out the regular season.


title: Connor McDavid

text: The Oilers ended a 10-year playoff drought on March 29, 2017, when they defeated the Los Angeles Kings to clinch a berth in the 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs. McDavid scored his first NHL postseason goal short-handed in the Oilers' 2–0 shutout win over the San Jose Sharks in the opening-round series. Edmonton defeated the Sharks in six games of the best-of-seven series and went on to face the Ducks in the second round of playoffs. That series went to seven games, with the Oilers falling 2–1 in the winner-takes-all match. McDavid added five goals and nine points in 13 playoff games before elimination. Once the Stanley Cup playoffs concluded, McDavid was honoured at the 2017 NHL Awards with the Hart Memorial Trophy for the most valuable player in the NHL, the Ted Lindsay Award for the most outstanding player as decided by the National Hockey League Players' Association, and a selection to the NHL First All-Star Team at centre.


title: Connor McDavid

text: On July 5, 2017, McDavid signed an eight-year, $100 million contract extension with the Oilers, which went into effect at the beginning of the season. His second hat-trick, meanwhile, came in the first game of the season, when McDavid scored every Edmonton goal in their 3–0 shutout of the Calgary Flames. With a team-leading 14 goals and 45 points by the halfway point of the season, McDavid won the fan vote to captain the Pacific Division at the 2018 NHL All-Star Game, his second such selection. He successfully defended his Fastest Skater title at the Skills Competition, completing the course in 13.454 seconds to narrowly defeat Brayden Point of the Tampa Bay Lightning. On February 5, shortly after the All-Star Game, McDavid had his first NHL four-goal game with a 6–2 win over the Lightning, breaking Edmonton's 0-for-17 power play cold streak in the process. McDavid's third hat-trick of the season came on February 18, when he broke both the Oilers' six-game losing streak and the Colorado Avalanche's 10-game at-home winning streak. While the Oilers finished the season well outside of playoff contention, finishing 17 points behind the Avalanche in the wild-card race, McDavid set career highs with 41 goals and 108 points, and he led the NHL with 84 even-strength points. Although his team's poor performance left McDavid out of serious contention for the Hart Trophy, he became the first player to receive the Art Ross Trophy in back-to-back years since Jaromír Jágr in 2000 and 2001. McDavid additionally took home the Ted Lindsay Award and was named to the NHL First All-Star Team.


title: Connor McDavid

text: With a point in all nine of the Oilers' first goals of the 2018–19 season, McDavid broke Adam Oates's record, set in when Oates was involved in the Detroit Red Wings' first seven goals of the season. With an overtime goal against the Chicago Blackhawks on October 28, McDavid became the first Oiler to record at least 17 points through the first 10 games of an NHL season since Mark Messier in . On December 13, with two assists in his 240th NHL game, McDavid became the ninth player to reach 300 points before his 22nd birthday and tied Evgeni Malkin of the Penguins as the 21st century NHL player to reach the milestone in the fewest games. While serving as the Pacific Division captain at his third consecutive NHL All-Star Game, McDavid set an NHL record with his third Fastest Skater victory, defeating Jack Eichel and Mathew Barzal with a speed of 13.378 seconds. On February 22, McDavid received a two-game suspension from the NHL Department of Player Safety for what was deemed an illegal check to the head of New York Islanders defenceman Nick Leddy. He finished the season with a career-tying 41 goals, as well as a career-high 75 assists and 116 points, and he came in third behind Sidney Crosby and Nikita Kucherov in Hart Trophy voting. McDavid also received his third NHL First All-Star Team selection, finishing ahead of Crosby in voting for centre.


title: Connor McDavid

text: On April 6, 2019, the final game of the Oilers' regular season, McDavid crashed into the Calgary Flames' net at a velocity of over , slamming his left knee into the post. He was diagnosed with a complete tear of the posterior cruciate ligament and popliteus muscle, tears to both the medial and lateral meniscus, and a tibial plateau fracture. With the Oilers already eliminated from possible playoff contention, McDavid elected not to undergo surgery but to participate in an extensive rehabilitation program that would allow him to return in time for the beginning of the 2019–20 season. The season also saw significant developments for the Oilers as a team, with general manager Peter Chiarelli sacked midway through after years of criticism for his inability to assemble a competitive team around McDavid. Subsequently, Ken Holland was hired as the team's new general manager.


title: Connor McDavid

text: McDavid started the season as the NHL First Star of the Week with 12 points through the first five games of the year, all of which the Oilers came back from behind to win. With the first goal of his hat-trick against the Anaheim Ducks on November 10, McDavid reached 400 NHL points in 306 games, joining Sidney Crosby as the only other active NHL player to reach the milestone in that many games. It was also 64 days before his 23rd birthday, making McDavid the eighth player to record 400 points before turning 23. Five days later, McDavid recorded another hat-trick as part of a career-high six-point game against the Colorado Avalanche. Although he reached 50 points on December 1 in a 3–2 win against the Vancouver Canucks, McDavid's scoring pace began to slow after his pair of hat tricks: he recorded 48 points in the first 25 games of the season but only 10 in the next nine, a stretch which also included four pointless outings. McDavid made his fourth All-Star Game appearance in 2020 as captain of the Pacific Division. He was kept from a fourth consecutive Fastest Skater win by Mathew Barzal, who finished the course in 13.175 seconds, ahead of McDavid's 13.215-second lap.


title: Connor McDavid

text: With their February 9 outing against the Nashville Predators, during which Draisaitl scored twice and McDavid had an assist, the pair became the first teammates to reach 30 goals and 80 points apiece in 55 games since Mario Lemieux and Jaromír Jágr with the Pittsburgh Penguins during the season. McDavid injured his knee in a collision with Dante Fabbro during the second period of that game, and although the knee itself did not suffer any serious damage, MRI scans revealed a quadriceps injury. He missed six games before returning on February 23 for a three-point outing in the Oilers' 4–2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings. By the time that the NHL indefinitely suspended the season on March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, McDavid had 34 goals and 97 points in 64 games. When the NHL returned to play that July for the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs, McDavid was one of 31 skaters that the Oilers took into their quarantine bubble. He added an additional five goals and nine points in four postseason games before the Chicago Blackhawks eliminated the Oilers in the qualifying round. That included a postseason hat-trick in Game 2 to help the Oilers to a 6–3 win.


title: Connor McDavid

text: In the second game of the season, McDavid scored the first hat-trick of any player that year as the Oilers won 5–2 against the Vancouver Canucks. With eight goals and 14 assists in the first 11 games of the season, McDavid joined Wayne Gretzky as the only Oilers in history to reach 20 points in 11 games during back-to-back seasons, a feat for which he was named the NHL North Division Star of the Month for January. His 500th career point came on an assist against the Winnipeg Jets on February 17. The point came in McDavid's 369th NHL game, tying Sidney Crosby as the eighth-fastest player to reach the milestone. Four days later, he had a natural hat-trick and a five-point game in a 7–1 rout of the Calgary Flames. He won the North Division Star of the Month again for March after recording 23 points in 14 games, including an 11-game point streak between March 6 and 29. On May 9, 2021, in only the 53rd game of the pandemic-shortened season, McDavid reached his 100th point of the year in a four-point outing against the Canucks. He was the first player to reach the milestone in so few games since Mario Lemieux during the season. He finished the regular season with 33 goals and 72 assists for a league-leading 105 points in 56 games, 21 more than runner-up and teammate Leon Draisaitl, and took home his third career Art Ross Trophy. At the end of the regular season, he was named to his fourth NHL First All-Star Team, won his third Ted Lindsay Award, and joined Wayne Gretzky as the only players in the 97-year history of the award to win the Hart Memorial Trophy by unanimous selection.


title: Connor McDavid

text: The Oilers were unexpectedly swept by the Winnipeg Jets in the first round of the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs, with McDavid recording only one goal and three assists in the four-game series. The officiating standards during the playoffs subsequently became a public point of contention, with McDavid joining many fans and commentators in saying that referees allowed the Jets' players to foul him with impunity. It was noted that McDavid did not draw a single penalty during the series against the Jets, and had only drawn one in the preceding year's playoff series against the Blackhawks. McDavid asked that referees "call the rule book, that's what it's there for."


title: Connor McDavid

text: McDavid began the season on a 17-game point streak, which came to an end on November 23, 2021, in a 4–1 loss to the Dallas Stars. It was the eighth-longest point streak to begin a season in NHL history and third-longest for the Oilers, behind Wayne Gretzky's 51- and 30-game streaks in and , respectively. While the Oilers started the season with a franchise-best 9–1 record, McDavid and Leon Draisaitl became the first pair of Edmonton teammates to individually reach 20 points within the first 10 games of the season since Gretzky and Jari Kurri in . After an excellent start to the season, both the Oilers and McDavid began suffering a marked decline in results, culminating in a 2–11–2 stretch of games in December and January. By early February they had dropped out of a playoff spot. Amidst extensive media discussion of the Oilers' lack of depth scoring and questionable goaltending, general manager Holland fired coach Dave Tippett and replaced him with Jay Woodcroft, previously the coach of the Oilers AHL affiliate Bakersfield Condors.