I'm looking for some good 2D linear action platformers — something like the classicvanias or Ninja Gaiden.

[ONecessario]

Just like the title says, i am looking for good 2d linear action platformer games — whether fast-paced like Ninja Gaiden, Shadow of the Ninja, or Alien Soldier, or slow-paced like the classicvanias or ActRaiser.

The linear part is important, so please refrain from metroidvania recommendations.

It doesn't matter to me if the game is retro or indie.

Appreciate it in advance!

 

[Akiba]

Klonoa Door to Phantomile, Klonoa 2 Lunatea's Veil and Empire of Dreams are all ones I can vouch for though anything in the Klonoa franchise is sure to be a banger, and lets not forget, its so good, it makes one of the main cast of Friends play with his pants down.

RIP Matthew Perry, I genuinely enjoyed your body of work as an actor and voice actor

Okay yeah 2.5D sure but hey, not a metroidvania right?

 

[Yousef]

Contra and metal slug definitely fit what you’re looking for. Ducktales and Darkwing Duck too.

 

[Scotty]

May I suggest "Ghost Sweeper Mikami: Joreishi wa Nice Body" for the SNES? Developed by Natsume, It's a Japan only side-scroller based on the (underrated) anime of the same name. It plays similarly to the first "Power Rangers" SNES game (also by Natsume), but better IMO. It's also English friendly.

 

[Stingy Perry Stingy Perry]

The Shinobi series for the SEGA Genesis/MegaDrive.

 

[RanmyakuIchi's icon RanmyakuIchi RanmyakuIchi]

The Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon games are deliberate homages to the 8-Bit era of Castlevania and might be up your alley.

 

[elwynd16x]

Front Mission: Gun Hazard. Our resident @Strategist rcommended it in an overview here; last review in the article. I think its got what you're looking for and more.

 

[Retro1234]

Turcan 1 and 2, Skyblazer, Actraiser II of the top of my head.

 

[secreto7]

Gunstar Heroes, Dynamite Headdy, Ristar, Shovel Knight, Gravity Circuit, Blazing Chrome, Oniken

 

[Carlnshake Carlnshake]

I know what you mean, sometimes you just want the platforming challenge, and not wandering around looking for stuff

 

[Morgana Veil]

BloodRayne Betrayal and Iron Meat are pretty good

Post automatically merged: Today at 5:05 AM

BloodRayne Betrayal - Kind of a mix of Castlevania and Ninja Gaiden. Not a Metroidvania
Iron Meat - Contra cranked up to 11 on the gore factor. Still awesome.

 

[Carlnshake Carlnshake]

Splatterhouse or Wanpaku Graffiti on nes

 

[Bakuma1997]

Freedom Planet can be seen as the sum of Sonic's Good Parts, the story takes some dark turns when the villan shows up, but otherwise is a colorful and light game

Megaman 11 is all you need in a Megaman game except the graphics are now 3D

Now if you want some sadism and/or are interested in Spaniard Folklore, you can play Locomalito's (Yes that's his name) Maldita Castilla, think of it like if instead of being based in SOTN, Blasphempus was based in Ghost and Goblins

And Lastly if you don't consider Wario Land Linear, you can't go wrong with Pizza Tower, AKA Stressed Italians can supprass the speed of lighr: The game

 

[CyberRabbit]

Does Celeste count or not?

 

[moonbits]

Strider 2

 

[Dyne]

I would suggest trying Cyber Shadow. Its on Steam and all consoles I think
Very fun game if you like old Ninja Gaiden type games

 

[Kremiso]

Turrican 2 AGA

Turrican II - The Final Fight - AGA by Sonic Sloth

Remake of the PC-DOS version for AGA Amigas

sonicslothgames.itch.io

 

[Morgana Veil]

Does Celeste count or not?

I would say yeah