Platforming as a genre seems to have all but died out in today’s video gaming world with Nintendo keeping it alive with the occasional Mario and Kirby installment. Despite the apparent “moving on” to other gameplay styles, platforming is still well-loved by many gamers who grew up in the late 1990s and early 2000s with games such as “Crash Bandicoot," “Spyro," “Super Mario 64” and other 3D platformers. Here is a list of some of the best 3D platformers out there.

1. "Prince of Persia: Sands of Time"

A reboot of a much older, two-dimensional platformer, “Prince of Persia: Sands of Time” follows the adventure of an Arabian prince who finds a dagger that can reverse the flow of time. Mechanically, this allows the player to recover from accidentally leaping into a six-story chasm by watching the prince grandly leap backwards into the air to the platform he just fell off. The environments in the game are quite stunning, large palaces and the like, and merge well with the prince’s acrobatic moveset.

2. "Crash Bandicoot: Wrath of Cortex"

“Crash Bandicoot” was developer Naughty Dog’s first series, and have recently made the popular “Uncharted” and “The Last of Us” games. The “Crash” games are 3D platformers, but most levels are a corridor design, meaning you can only progress forward while moving side to side and jumping to get around obstacles and enemies. While “Wrath of Cortex” was on the PlayStation 2 and developed by Traveler’s Tales rather than Naughty Dog, it is still a fantastic game with the occasionally frustratingly difficult levels and undeniably “Crash Bandicoot” music. “Wrath of Cortex” also features an entertaining cast of villains whose presence can really be felt in each world.

3. "Donkey Kong 64"

Donkey Kong is often known for the classic arcade game named after him and his 2D platforming series “Donkey Kong Country," however his first, and so far only, 3D game has quite the charm to it. “Donkey Kong 64” is a great platformer featuring several primate characters to play as, fantastic world design, and an abundance of collectables. Altogether, a standard formula for its time but the game still does everything right. Each character feels different, the worlds have extremely fitting and catchy music, and the game features a fantastic multiplayer mode. The multiplayer pits players against each other in surprisingly large arenas, leaving them to duke it out with the character’s food based guns (Donkey Kong’s bazooka shoots coconuts and Diddy Kong’s pistols fire peanuts) and orange grenades.

4. "Super Mario Sunshine"

“Super Mario Sunshine” is the GameCube’s follow-up to “Super Mario 64,
and while many platforming fans herald “64” as one of the best platformers of all time, “Sunshine” has a few points that earn it this spot on the list. While the world design in “64” is nothing short of extensive, “Sunshine” gets an easy win with a tropical island setting. With music to match, this quickly wins me over with its charm. Following this up, the worlds all feel connected in “Sunshine” and the hub area has missions of its own, whereas in “64” the hub had only a couple of short missions and little personality. Finally, the main gimmick of “Super Mario Sunshine," the water cannon/jetpack, is a ridiculous amount of fun to use and integrates well with the platforming,

5. "Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy"

Alongside “Sly Cooper” and “Ratchet and Clank," “Jak and Daxter” was a flagship of the PlayStation 2. While all series had varying levels of platforming across their respective series, the first “Jak” game, “The Precursor Legacy," is a purebred platformer. Plenty of jumps, enough collectables to build a house with, and an animal sidekick, “Jak and Daxter” could have slid into the masses, but truly gorgeous world design, an atmospheric story and character interactions, alongside a seamless world give “The Precursor Legacy” the edge it deserves.

While the story is mostly served in the opening and closing cutscenes, the voice acting makes every cutscene a joy to watch. Jak is easy and rewarding to control, and the seamless world means no loading screen or even pauses when entering a new area (with two exceptions). Altogether, “The Precursor Legacy” is as good as 3D platformers get.

While the genre may be less than active today, the platforming world of video games is well worth the trip. There are countless games that test your jumping and exploring ability, and these can be the most enjoyable and the most frustrating games you may ever play.