Best Platformer Games on the Xbox One

Platformer Games are one of the things the Xbox One is genuinely for. The ones worth playing start with Ori and the Blind Forest, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Cuphead.

The Xbox One and Platformer Games

A generation where the first-party output thinned and the value moved to the subscription. The library's highlights are mostly the games that arrived through it.

This is one of its strengths. Indies, heavily — Ori, Cuphead, Celeste, Hollow Knight, Inside — plus Forza Horizon, which is the best arcade racing series being made.

Filtering to platformer means you want the movement itself to be the pleasure. It is the right filter when the thing you liked was getting from one place to another.

The Platformer Games Worth Playing

  1. 1. Ori and the Blind Forest

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  2. 2. Ori and the Will of the Wisps

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  3. 3. Cuphead

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  4. 4. Sunset Overdrive

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  5. 5. Recore

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  6. 6. Inside

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  7. 7. Celeste

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

  8. 8. Hollow Knight

    Follow the link for hand-written recommendations if you want more like it.

What Makes a Good Platformer Game

A game you can judge in ten seconds. Platformers live or die on the jump, and a good one feels right before anything else happens.

Weight. Platformers rarely carry a story you will think about afterwards, and the collectible-led ones can become checklists if you let them.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best platformer game on the Xbox One?

Ori and the Blind Forest is the usual first answer, and there are 8 in the library we cover.

Was the Xbox One good at platformer games?

Yes — it is one of the things the machine is known for, and there are 8 in the library we cover.

What separates a good platformer from a bad one?

Whether the move set is complete early. The great ones give you everything in the first level and spend the rest asking better questions of it; the weak ones drip-feed abilities to disguise thin level design.

2D or 3D?

Different games. 2D platformers are about precision on a single screen; 3D ones are about reading space and camera. Each pick below says which it is.

How is this list put together?

From the games this site covers on the Xbox One, matched against hand-mapped gameplay categories rather than a storefront's genre tag. A page only exists where there are at least four, which is why some console and genre combinations have no page at all.

Platformer Games on Other Consoles

More From the Xbox One

Or browse the whole Xbox One library.