30 Incredible Xbox One Platform Games

For many of us, platformers were our first exposure to video games. Today, we’re living in a platformer renaissance. Tons of them have come out over the last five years and really reinvigorated the genre. A great platformer just feels right. What are your options if you’re playing on an Xbox One? We looked for the titles that have the tightest controls, the most original ideas, and the most interesting environments to come up with this list of the best Xbox One platform games.

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#30 Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

Platform: PC PS5 XSX|S Switch PS4 Xbox One
Release Date: January 18, 2024

Epic | PlayStation | Xbox | Nintendo

Platforming games are eternal for a simple reason: they work. You can do all sorts of things with them while also maintaining the “core concepts” that made them so great in the early days of gaming. With The Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, you’re going to get the feeling that Ubisoft wanted to go back to its roots and highlight the fun of jumping around from spot to spot while fighting enemies on the fly.

That’s what you’ll do with Sargon as you attempt to platform your way through a cursed world to save the prince who was kidnapped. You’ll wield time powers and special abilities to help you get through each area, so stay sharp and don’t miss a jump!

#29 Tembo the Badass Elephant  

• Developer: Game Freak
• Publisher: Sega

Tembo is an elephant commando and his job is to save his town from destruction at the hands of the evil PHANTOM. This game is reminiscent of old Sonic the Hedgehog titles, with some Metal Slug thrown in for good measure. Tembo jumps and butt-stomps his way through the PHANTOM forces, collecting golden peanuts and charging (literally) headlong into enemies. You’ll want to break as many PHANTOM tanks, structures, and soldiers as possible, while rescuing hostages scattered throughout each level.

A lot of folks were pretty surprised to see Tembo the Badass Elephant come out of Game Freak, known primarily for developing the long-running Pokémon series, but as it turns out this isn’t their first crack at the action-platformer: they also made Drill Dozer for the Game Boy Advance back in 2005.

#28 Yooka-Laylee

• Developer: Playtonic Games
• Publisher: Team17

The development team at Playtonic Games features several former key staff members from Studio Rare. As such, the team opted to make a spiritual successor to one of their most successful titles, Banjo-Kazooie. Much like Banjo-Kazooie, Yooka-Laylee includes tons of items to collect during your platforming adventure. Also similar to Banjo-Kazooie, players will control two main characters who must stop the evil Dr. Quak from stealing all world literature and selling it for profit. Much like the previous entry, this is a welcoming platformer that isn’t too difficult.

#27 A Hat in Time

• Developer: Gears for Breakfast
• Publisher: Humble Bundle

In 2017, the developers at Gears for Breakfast released a platformer resembling a beloved platform title released for the Nintendo 64. A Hat in Time feels similar to Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie, with an emphasis on collecting missing pieces scattered through the game world. Players take on the role of a young girl named Hat Kid who has the ability to travel through space. On her way home. she is intercepted by a Mafia group under the control of the evil Mustache Girl. Now stuck, players are forced to battle against the Mustache Girl and gather the timepieces before her goons manage to collect them all.

#26 Unravel

• Developer: Coldwood Interactive
• Publisher: Electronic Arts

From Coldwood Interactive comes Unravel, a beautiful title telling a story of a small figure made from red yarn. Players are tasked with exploring a detailed world and locating memories. Being made of yarn, to progress, our protagonist must unravel itself to reach new areas. This is a puzzle game as much as it is a platformer, and as our adorable yarn figure loses more and more yarn, gamers must figure out a means to claim more thread or use what’s available to reach new areas.

#25 Mega Man 11

• Developer: Capcom
• Publisher: Capcom

The Mega Man franchise received a brand new installment in 2018, once again featuring Mega Man as he embarks on a quest to defeat Dr. Wily. Within the game, Dr. Wily has his eight Robot Masters ready to stop players as they progress through the game. However, it looks like Mega Man has a few new tricks up his sleeve such as the ability to manipulate time along with delivering more powerful attacks than ever before. Players will also find that there are a few game modes such as Time Trials and Missions. Likewise, you can find yourself battling it out with your friends or other players on the Global Leaderboard.

#24 Unravel Two

• Developer: Coldwood Interactive
• Publisher: Electronic Arts

Speaking of Unravel, Unravel Two was a surprise release during E3 2018. The big change-up in this title is the addition of two-player local multiplayer co-op. Similar to the previous title, players will control a pair of yarn creatures that must make their way through a series of increasingly difficult levels. With a limited amount of yarn attached to their bodies restricting their movement, each level requires a bit of puzzle-solving in order to progress. With new hostile enemies and locations to deal with, players will desperately need the help of a friend in order to progress through the game.

#23 Trials Fusion

• Developer: RedLynx
• Publisher: Ubisoft

This might look like a motorcycle game, but at its heart, it’s a speed-focused platform title. If you’re new to Trials, the idea is to drive a dirt bike along a track to the end of a level, shifting your weight forward and back to stay upright throughout all the insane jumps, flips, catapults, and explosions that happen along the way.

Fusion offers a single-player story mode to the formula, but it keeps the same addictive time trial elements – it’s always possible to shave another couple tenths of a second off a run, or maybe just make it to the end without falling off during your next time around. There’s also four-player head-to-head racing, plus a fully-featured level editor. Once you’ve played through all the tracks in the game (plus six DLC packs), you can try out homemade tracks handpicked by the Red Lynx team.

#22 Trials Rising

• Developer: RedLynx
• Publisher: Ubisoft

If you haven’t already played a Trials game, you’ll definitely want to pick up Trials Rising. The game was unveiled during Ubisoft’s E3 2018 press conference and developers promised much more chaotic and insane courses for players to complete. As always, you’ll control a motorcycle across several courses all while avoiding outlandish obstacles. Thanks to the motorcycle physics, players will make some over-the-top crashes. It’s all part of the fun.

#21 Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee – New ‘n’ Tasty

• Developer: Just Add Water
• Publisher: Oddworld Inhabitants

The New ‘n’ Tasty edition of 1997’s Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee isn’t your standard remaster–it’s a complete rebuild of the original game in an entirely new, fully 3D engine. While Oddworld looked quite nice when it launched in the ‘90s, it hasn’t aged well. The New ‘n’ Tasty version brings the game bursting into the modern era with fantastic, painstakingly modeled environments and characters.

The game’s mechanics definitely hold up as it’s a unique take on the platform genre, where you’ll more often be avoiding enemies than jumping on their heads. Instead, you move forward by sneaking, or by using enemy behaviors and environmental hazards to clear your path. As a slave at RuptureFarms, an industrial meat packaging factory, Abe discovers that their next planned product involves an unpleasant ingredient: him, and his fellow workers.

#20 Spyro Reignited Trilogy

• Developer: Toys for Bob
• Publisher: Activision

Spyro is back! Fans of the old-school Spyro titles can revisit the popular platformer once again with the Reignited Trilogy. Players will get the first three Spyro titles in their full HD glory, and while the visuals of the three games have been greatly overhauled, the level layouts are true to the originals. When it comes to platformers, you can’t do much better than the little purple dragon.

#19 Super Time Force Ultra

• Developer: Capybara Games
• Publisher: Capybara Games

The pixel-art style in Super Time Force Ultra may put some players off, but we think it looks great. The environments all have their own distinct design, weapon effects pop, and the characters themselves bring a lot of pizzazz to this fun little title. The time-altering mechanics set up all kinds of crazy action-based puzzles, including fun boss fights. While they seem impossible to complete in the time limit at first, as you add more and more characters to the fight, you’ll eventually take them down in a couple seconds.

#18 Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

• Developer: ArtPlay, Inti Creates
• Publisher: 505 Games

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night gained quite a bit of attention when it was first announced, as the project was led by former Castlevania series producer Koji Igarashi. This Metroidvania title invites players to explore, craft new weapons, and find new armor as they engage with a stunning narrative. This story follows an orphan named Miriam who has been cursed by an alchemist and is slowly finding her skin turned to crystal. To stop the curse, she must explore a castle to find the one behind it, Gebel, who, as it turns out, had suffered the same condition. It’s been a long wait for Castlevania to make a big comeback, but this game should appease some fans.

#17 Sonic Mania

• Developer: PagodaWest Games, Headcannon
• Publisher: Sega

Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game staple. Decades have passed since the first Sonic title was released, but Sonic games are still being pumped out. Sonic Mania is a side-scrolling platformer that fans of the original Sonic the Hedgehog game will love, keeping the original platforming setup and the speed that fans of the blue hedgehog love. However, gamers can expect new boss fights, expanded levels, and elements new to the franchise. There’s a good chance this could be your child’s first entry to the Sonic IP outside of the recent live-action film adaptations.

#16 Little Nightmares

• Developer: Tarsier Studios
• Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment

In Little Nightmares, players will be taking on the role of a young girl named Six who had been kidnapped from her home and forced to work at a place known as The Maw, an underwater resort. The resort caters to the powerful elite, forcing Six to serve their needs. One day, Six is presented with a way back to freedom, though during her journey out of the unpredictable world of The Maw, Six catches the glimpse of the corruption of modern happiness. This is a spooky one.

#15 Rogue Legacy 

• Developer: Cellar Door Games
• Publisher: Cellar Door Games

Nothing gets a games website comments section going quite like the improper use of the word roguelike. Regardless of how it’s categorized, Rogue Legacy is a great entry into the Xbox One’s catalog of platform games. Dungeons are procedurally-generated and are full of increasingly deadly enemies, traps, and gigantic bosses. You’ll pick up coins by defeating baddies and smashing furniture. Here’s where Rogue Legacy gets interesting: you use the loot you pick up on dungeon runs to buy better armor and weapons for your character, who will be the son or daughter of whoever you died as on that run. You’ll pick from three random progeny, and they’ll each have a set of quirks that can change the way you play – sometimes they’ll be nearsighted, prone to cursing, or abnormally tall or short.

#14 Shovel Knight

• Developer: Yacht Club Games
• Publisher: Yacht Club Games

Shovel Knight is a love letter to the classic era of gaming. This old-school feeling 2D hack and slash title follows Shovel Knight on a grand quest to save his partner, Shield Knight, who has been stuck in a sealed tower. With the tower finally open once again, Shovel Knight takes his chance to defeat the enemy bosses and hostile creatures along the way in hopes of making a daring rescue. As mentioned, the game feels like an old retro title that might have come from the Nintendo Entertainment System era, and with its tight controls, it’s a game that’s tough to put down.

There are several campaigns to enjoy, so you’ll have plenty of content to enjoy with the available expansion packs. Thanks to an update, there is now cooperative gameplay in which a secondary player can join in as another Shovel Knight to help out in battle. Players will be able to share the same resources that are collected along the way, and there’s even the ability to revive a fallen player.

#13 Cuphead

• Developer: StudioMDHR
• Publisher: StudioMDHR

Cuphead is seeing a resurgence in popularity following the recent Netflix television series. You play as the titular Cuphead while a second player can take control of his brother Mugman as you’re taken through several levels and boss fights to repay your debt to the Devil. The game utilizes an incredible hand-drawn aesthetic and features a soundtrack that will absolutely be remembered for years to come. A new DLC titled The Delicious Last Course was released in June, where you can enjoy a new story–and some challenging new battles–with your buddies. If you’re a fan of boss battles and stress, look no further.

#12 Little Nightmares 2

After the success Tarsier Studios had with Little Nightmares, a sequel was unavoidable. The game is a follow-up to the first installment with Six escaping the Maw. However, you will not be playing as Six but instead as a new protagonist named Mono. Players are in for a new horror treat as Mono and Six will be escaping more hostile enemies as they attempt their journey to sanctuary. With that said, much like the first game, Little Nightmares 2 focuses on players using stealth to keep out of sight of the hostile enemies that lurk around the map.

#11 Guacamelee  

• Developer: DrinkBox Studios
• Publisher: DrinkBox Studios

One of the best in the genre over the last couple of years, Guacamelee combines the unlockable open-world of the best Metroidvanias with a combo-based combat system from brawlers. As the game progresses, you find new abilities to use against enemies that deepen the solid fighting system. Guacamelee is also downright gorgeous. It’s a whimsical, colorful world with masterfully-crafted characters and animations set in a world of Mexican folklore. As Juan, you are resurrected as a magical luchador wrestler and must save El Presidente’s daughter from an evil skeleton from the Land of the Dead. It manages to treat its subject matter respectfully without ever taking itself too seriously.

#10 Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time

• Developer: Toys For Bob
• Publisher: Activision 

Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time was a bit of a surprise since fans hadn’t received a new mainline installment to the Crash Bandicoot franchise in years. There is a makeshift cooperative game mode here called Pass N. Play. With this, players can setup up a game campaign with up to four players. When one player dies, the game will have players pass the controller to the secondary player, and they will get a chance to complete the level. Meanwhile, the game itself will keep track of score points and lives.

#9 Ori and the Will of the Wisps

• Developer: Moon Studios
• Publisher: Microsoft Studios

Coming off the highly successful Ori and the Blind Forest video game release, the development studio was hard at work preparing for their next big installment, Ori and the Will of the Wisps. The game remains a platform adventure title with Metroidvania elements throughout where players will need to find new abilities in order to reach new platforms and areas previously unattainable. Besides platforming and puzzle-solving, Ori and the Will of the Wisps follows a powerful narrative journey where players will attempt to uncover the secrets behind the lost ones.

#8 Ori and the Blind Forest

• Developer: Moon Studios
• Publisher: Microsoft Studios

A masterclass in platform game design, Ori and the Blind Forest combines fluidity of character movement with brilliant level design in a large Metroidvania style adventure about a tiny, glowing woodland creature who is trying to heal a diseased land. The controls are Swiss-clock precise, making Ori feel wonderful, and each new move you learn gives you new ways to float and fly around the world while making new areas accessible in a classic Metroidvania fashion. It’s all very carefully designed, and each move, enemy, and hazard fits together into a seamlessly cohesive whole.

It’s also one of the most jaw-dropping beautiful platform games ever made. The environments are richly textured, conjuring up the forest from Don Bluth’s The Secret of NIMH, and the music and story set a somber tone that underscores the blight that’s fallen upon your woodland home. Ori and the Blind Forest is definitely a game that you’ll want to play multiple times.

#7 Rayman Legends

• Developer: Ubisoft
• Publisher: Ubisoft

It’s been a little while since we had a new Rayman title release onto the market. This long-running franchise has quite the fan base and you’ve likely enjoyed some of the earlier titles. If not, Rayman Legends is still a great jumping point if you’d like to play a fantastic platformer.

Overall, the game narrative is simple: a dark force has taken over the lands and captured the princesses. Now, it’s up to Rayman along with his friends in order to rescue them. The gameplay is simplistic and involves defeating enemies along with solving some puzzles that will allow the players to progress further into the campaign. What makes this a great co-op game is that the title will allow players to seamlessly drop into the level at any point.

#6 Olija

• Developer: Skeleton Crew Studio
• Publisher: Devolver Digital

Olija is about Faraday’s Quest, a journey in which you play as a man shipwrecked and lonely. You have a legendary harpoon, and it’s up to you to use that to help you along the way. You and other castaways have to team up and work together to leave the hostile country and return to their homelands.

#5 Death’s Door

• Developer: Acid Nerve
• Publisher: Devolver Digital

Death’s Door is another game you’ve probably heard quite a lot about. In this game, you play as a small crow known as a reaper who collects souls, defeating massive bosses along the way and trying to solve puzzles. Discover a conspiracy and try to stop the world from ending along the way. If you’re a fan of Zelda-like dungeon-diving and want to listen to a gorgeous soundtrack that will bring tears to your eyes, you’ve found the game for you.

#4 Inside

• Developer: Playdead
• Publisher: Playdead

Developed by Playdead, creators of the 2010 video game Limbo, players will find the same tone with Inside. In the game, players take on the role of a young boy who is forced to go through a harsh and dangerous dystopia. Much of the same gameplay mechanics are brought over to Inside from Limbo. With that said, gamers can also expect a dark and gloomy artistic title that will remain with them long after the credits roll.

#3 Celeste

• Developer: Matt Makes Games
• Publisher: Matt Makes Games

Celeste is a platformer developed under Matt Thorson and Noel Berry. The video game is a fast-paced platformer where players take control of a young girl named Madeline. Overall, the goal within the game is to climb up a massive mountain known as Celeste Mountain. This is an addictive platformer where players will have to make quick maneuvers around each level to avoid obstacles along with gathering collectibles along the way. There is also an engaging story that will pull players in as they find out more about the mountain and our heroine.

#2 It Takes Two

• Developer: Hazellight Studios
• Publisher: EA

It Takes Two stole the show in 2021, named Game of the Year and becoming one of the best co-op games on the market. The title is designed specifically for co-op split screen, meaning that you have to play with another player either in person or online. There are tons of unique game mechanics and puzzles to solve throughout, along with plenty of minigames. The underlying story might hit home for a lot of people and there are plenty of themes that can definitely bring tears to your eyes, but at the end of the day, this is just a fun title, plain and simple.

#1 Psychonauts 2

• Developer: Double Fine
• Publisher: Xbox Game Studios

Psychonauts 2 was in the making for six years. A sequel to a cult classic, you’ll be playing as an acrobat named Raz that uses psychic abilities to stop evil from ruining anything and everything. You’ll enter the minds of various characters, discovering clues and working out how best to manipulate them. The titles level design, visuals, and writing were applauded upon its release in 2021, and it’s very worth purchasing.

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Bonus

Skylar & Plux: Adventure on Clover Island

• Developer: Grip Digital
• Publisher: Grip Digital

Skylar & Plux: Adventure on Clover Island resembles past video game titles such as Ratchet & Clank. In this platformer, players take on the role of Skylar, our protagonist that was first kidnapped by the evil CRT and given a powerful mechanical arm with augmentations. Escaping the clutches of the evil CRT, Skylar teams up with a talkative sidekick, Plux, and sets off to be the island’s heroine. Players will battle against the evil CRT in hopes to rid his control over their home of Clover Island.

Volgarr the Viking  

• Developer: Crazy Viking Studios
• Publisher: Crazy Viking Studios

This is a game for players who pine for the old days of platform games being arcade-tough. Fortunately, Volgarr the Viking doesn’t make you pony up quarters every time you die, which will be often.

While it could be mistaken for a brawler, Volgarr is much more about careful memorization of enemy patterns and trap locations along with perfect execution. Death is always imminent – getting hit knocks off a piece of equipment or armor, similar to the classic (and brutally difficult) Ghouls ‘n Ghosts. Volgarr has tons of style, too. It’s a very obvious homage to the cabinet games of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s and features terrific art, enemy design, and music. Remember, though – this one is definitely aimed at the hardcore crowd.