Aplatform fighter is asub-genre offighting games that emphasizes free 2D movement, often with floating platforms that can be traversed on, similar to aplatformer game. The central gameplay involves combat between two or more player-controlled characters, with the goal of attacking an opponent's character until they are defeated.
Unlike other fighting games, platform fighters typically do not have ahealth bar, instead the damage that a player's character has taken increases the distance they are launched when hit by an attack. Opponents are defeated when they leave the boundaries of the arena.
While there have been some 2D fighting games that have used mechanics like platforms in stages like inSavage Reign, these games are not considered platform fighters as they play like traditional 2D fighting games with an added gimmick.[1] ThoughThe Outfoxies was an early example of many of the mechanics featured in most platform fighters, the subgenre would be most defined by the release ofSuper Smash Bros. in 1999, which was the first game in the subgenre to achieve wide success and defined the mechanics for most games that followed.[2] After the release of the originalSuper Smash Bros., many companies would release their own games similar in style with some being crossover games likeDreamMix TV World Fighters[3][4] or games with licensed characters likeDigimon Rumble Arena[5] andBattle Stadium D.O.N.[6][7]Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up was notably developed by a studio that contributed toSuper Smash Bros. Brawl.[8]
In the mid-2010s, indie developers began developing fighting games that imitated the mechanics ofSuper Smash Bros., includingRivals of Aether,Brawlout, andBrawlhalla.[9][10] It was around this time that the term "platform fighter" began to be used more frequently to refer to games similar toSuper Smash Bros.[11] Following the success ofSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate in 2018, new platform fighters have emerged based on various licensed properties, such asNickelodeon All-Star Brawl,Fraymakers,[12] andMultiVersus.[13]
