While the Mario games may draw the most attention of any platformers, the genre is rich with huge platformer series as well as unique indie titles. From the Sonic franchise to more recent games that brought something new to the table like LittleBigPlanet, there is a lot to enjoy in a genre that has always put fun, intuitive gameplay at the forefront.

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Some titles have risen to the top as the best of the platformers outside of Nintendo's flagship series, and the review aggregator Metacritic makes it possible to see which games critics consider to be the very best in the genre.

Rayman Origins (2011) - 92

A boss fight in Rayman Origins

Returning to the roots of the Rayman series, Origins features inventive side-scrolling platforming in a beautifully colorful world with great music to boot. The story follows Ubisoft's goofy protagonist and his friends as they fight the evil creatures that have invaded the Glade of Dreams, and provides the perfect background for a ton of cooperative platforming action.

The game's lighthearted tone and sense of humor also helped boost its appeal in a genre where simple fun is often the biggest selling point. Because of this winning combination, Rayman Origins won praise both from critics and users, with its critic score of 92 making it marginally the highest-rated Rayman game ahead of its follow-up title Rayman Legends.

Conker's Bad Fur Day (2001) - 92

Conker holding money

In a genre that tends to feature a lot of clean games for all the family to enjoy, Conker's Bad Fur Day is a big change of pace. The N64 title used its outrageous nature as a selling point, reveling in the lowbrow humor and irreverence that set it apart from pretty much any other game around at the time of its release.

Though some things about Conker's Bad Fur Day have aged poorly, it remains an interesting subversion of video game conventions while also having an entertaining variety of gameplay to keep the player engaged. The game's vulgar sense of humor may put off a lot of people, but for gamers who can see the funny side, there is a reason why the game remains one of the highest-rated platformers on Metacritic.

Banjo Kazooie (1998) - 92

Banjo-Kazooie Music Played To Clean Turtles

Having risen to recognition with the widely-praised Donkey Kong Country and its sequels for the Super Nintendo, Rare (known as RareWare at the time) had already established a reputation for producing great platformer games. In 1998, they lived up to it in style with their first large-scale 3D platformer for the N64 in the form of Banjo Kazooie.

Using the abilities of the titular Banjo and Kazooie, the player is tasked with stopping the evil witch Gruntilda in an adventure that takes them across nine nonlinear worlds. Fun and inventive, the game has a charm that still holds up today and explains why it maintains a very high 9.1 average user score on Metacritic along with its impressive critic score.

Sonic CD (2011) - 93

A screenshot of Sonic navigating one of the stages in Sonic CD.

Though it was originally released nearly 20 years earlier in 1993, Sonic CD's revamp for PC, consoles, and mobile won over critics and fans all over again in 2011. Taking the fast-paced platforming gameplay the Sonic games are famous for and adding in a huge amount of variety in levels as well as even better graphics proved to be a winning formula for the best Sonic game Sega has released.

Sonic CD's unique mechanic of being able to travel through time and experience different versions of a stage with alternative layouts and graphics was a memorable addition. With the quality of soundtrack people had come to expect from the series as well as improved graphics, Sonic CD was a part of what made the blue hedgehog a worthy rival to Mario for the title of king of the platformers.

Cave Story (2012) - 93

Cover art for Cave Story

Made by just one person and initially self-published, Cave Story is a great example of how important indie games are to the platform game genre. With 2D side-scrolling combat in the style of Metroid and Castlevania and endearing retro graphics, the game was able to find a strong following before it was ported to the 3DS in 2012 with added content.

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The game also has a charming story that puts the player in the position of a robot named Quote who wants to escape from the dangerous cave they find themselves in. At the same time, Quote and the player learn more about the world as well as the robot's own backstory, uncovering a deep and interesting plot.

INSIDE (2016) - 93

The water girl in INSIDE

The Successor to Limbo and made by the same studio, INSIDE is a puzzle-platformer with an impressively tense atmosphere and a dark color scheme to match. The artistic direction immediately sets the game apart from others not just in the oppressive 2.5D environments but also in the way the game uses light to draw the player's attention to important details.

The puzzles make good use of the game's environments and, though some can be tricky, the game rewards players who persevere with a fascinating open-ended story that leaves a lot open to the player's interpretation.

Braid (2009) - 93

Gameplay from the indie puzzle platform game Braid

An innovative puzzle platformer, Braid was originally developed by the indie studio Number None and released on Xbox Live Arcade in 2008 before being ported for PC and PS3 in 2009. The game was immediately a critical hit due to its originality and its interesting use of different game mechanics, including giving the player the ability to manipulate time with different effects.

The player progresses through the game finding puzzle pieces that allow them to piece together the story. Though the game is short, it managed to capture the imagination of a lot of players and its critical rating of 93 on Metacritic shows just how much acclaim the indie title received.

 Ori And The Will Of The Wisps (2020) - 93

Ori fights a massive monster boss in the Nintendo Switch game Ori and the Will of the Wisps.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps was the perfect follow-up to Moon Studios' already highly successful Ori and the Blind Forest with even more beautiful visuals and engaging action-packed platforming. The sequel continues in the first game's "Metroidvania" style in which the player picks up more abilities as they go, allowing them to backtrack and unlock new areas.

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Though Ori and the Will of the Wisps doesn't do too much different from the first game, with convenient features like a new autosave function among the best changes, it still forms an amazing experience well worth having for anyone who enjoyed the first game or just looking for an adventure that looks and sounds incredible.

Celeste (2018) - 94

Gameplay from Celeste

Beautifully creative and notoriously difficult, Celeste may have had humble beginnings as a simple platformer with pixel graphics but it is nevertheless one of the very best platforming experiences to be found outside of the Mario series. The game turns the simple idea of a character wanting to climb a mountain into a rich and rewarding experience that not many other games can rival.

Ranking among the hardest platformer games of all time, Celeste is not a game for everyone, though it alleviates the potential frustration of its high difficulty with tight mechanics and an enjoyable soundtrack. Most importantly, the level design is consistently fantastic and there is good reason why it is ranked so highly on Metacritic.

LittleBigPlanet (2008) - 95

Sackboy from LittleBigPlanet waving while sitting on a globe.

Few games can match LittleBigPlanet for creativity. With a huge amount of mechanics and different ways for the player to interact with their environment, the game seems to provide almost endless possibilities. The story mode alone provides a good amount of content, with puzzles that often require the player to think out of the box and work cooperatively with others.

Living up to its "Play. Create. Share" tagline, though, the game truly opens up in the way it allows players to be even more creative and make their own levels. With so much possibility, it is almost limiting just calling LittleBigPlanet a platformer and that's a big part of the reason why it's one of the best titles to play outside of the Mario games.

NEXT: 10 Best Mario Games Everyone Should Play