Game Groups > Genre: Cinematic Platformer

Cinematic platformers are a sub-genre of platform games that attempt to combine traditional challenges of the genre with realistic structure and presentation. These games often feature puzzle-solving elements and setpieces, and play considerably slower than more "jump and run"-oriented titles. They avoid the abundance of power-ups and score-increasing items and instead emphasize the vulnerability of the protagonist, forcing the player to carefully plot every move (sometimes in a trial-and-error pattern) to overcome obstacles and avoid falling damage. Protagonists in cinematic platformers are normally realistically proportioned, with special attention paid to animation and precise acrobatic moves (climbing, hanging on ledges, rolling, etc.).

The genre was defined and popularized by Prince of Persia (1989). Other notable examples include French-developed platformers such as Another World (1991). Many of the genre's gameplay elements were carried over as it shifted to 3D. This group, however, only includes two-dimensional cinematic platformers, particularly because the line between various platform genres tended to blur with the advent of 3D.