Guides & Editorials

The best 3D platformers on PS4 and PS5

Run, jump and collect everything in sight with this selection of essential 3D platformers available for PlayStation consoles.

Iconic platforming heroes

Play with platforming royalty

The latest 3D platformers starring some of the genre’s most recognized and celebrated characters.

Astro's Playroom

Included with every PlayStation 5 console, Team ASOBI’s brief-but-brilliant platformer is an incredible showcase for the console and the DualSense wireless controller, as well as a joyful celebration of PlayStation history. Explore the diverse worlds that exist within your PS5, all populated by hundreds of tiny Bots, inventive enemies and ingenious gadgets.

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Sonic Frontiers

Discover the joys of ‘open-zone platforming’ as you send the Blue Blur rocketing around the Starfall Islands. Explore five massive overworld areas at high velocity, defeat strange robotic enemies with all-new battle moves, take on side quests and even indulge in a spot of fishing with Big the Cat. This is 3D Sonic back to its best.

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Sackboy: A Big Adventure

The knitted star of the Little Big Planet series gets a hand-crafted game of his own. Play solo or stitch together a team of two to four players as you journey to save the hessian inhabitants of Craftworld from the villainous Vex. Bursting with creativity and joyous surprises, this is a fittingly crafty adventure for a true PlayStation icon.

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Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time

Arriving 22 years after the third installment, this suitably subtitled sequel proves that the demented platforming marsupial - and his sister Coco - haven’t lost a step in the intervening years. The series’ notoriously tricky difficulty hasn’t diminished either, with certain levels and Trophies designed to push even the most seasoned Crash veterans to their limits.

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3D platformer FAQs

Collect some knowledge

Platform games—or platformers—task players with navigating stages, usually by leaping between gravity-defying platforms, collecting power-ups, avoiding traps and bottomless pits, and defeating enemies.

Compared to traditional side-scrolling 2D platformers, 3D platformers provide greater freedom of movement, creating more opportunities for exploration. This has allowed the genre to flourish, as evidenced by this diverse selection of PlayStation greats.

The first officially recognized 3D platformer is 1990’s Alpha Waves, also known as Continuum. However, rather than sparking an explosion of 3D platforming, this abstract and highly experimental game stood alone for several years until 1995’s Jumping Flash! bounded onto PlayStation (PS1).

This first-person platformer stars a robotic bunny called Robbit and holds the Guinness World Record for “First platform videogame in true 3D”. If you’d like to try this piece of groundbreaking history for yourself, Jumping Flash! is available as part of the Classics Catalog, available to all PlayStation Plus Premium members.

As the name suggests, 2.5D platformers sit somewhere between traditional 2D platforming and the more contemporary 3D platformers. 2.5D platformers tend to play like side-scrolling platformers, but utilize 3D graphics to create the illusion of depth and movement in a three-dimensional space.

For example, you could climb a staircase that curves around the outside of a tower simply by moving forward, with the game’s camera moving around the environment to give the impression that you’re ascending a three-dimensional structure.

Imaginative platformers

Leap into worlds of imagination

These 3D platformers are the stuff of dreams – and nightmares.

Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series

Klonoa: Door to Phantomile and Klonoa 2: Lunatea’s Veil return in remastered form to celebrate the series’ 25th anniversary. Both games have received HD graphic upgrades and adjustable difficulty levels, while the action remains entirely faithful to the PS1 and PS2 originals. Navigate vivid dream worlds that blend 3D environments with traditional side-scrolling platforming.

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Psychonauts 2

It’s rare that a platformer’s story is as compelling as its action, but Double Fine’s wildly imaginative sequel does a double-fine job with its narrative. As the acrobatic Raz, newest recruit of international psychic espionage organization the Psychonauts, you’ll explore the deepest corners of people’s minds, battling literal inner demons and alleviating emotional baggage.

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Little Nightmares II

Young Mono is trapped in a nightmarish world, with only Six – star of the original Little Nightmares – to help him. This ‘suspense adventure’ game recalls the twisted worlds of Tim Burton, placing our cardboard box-wearing hero in a series of deadly scenarios as he seeks to survive a world twisted by the sinister Signal Tower.

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Retro-inspired platformers

Classically trained collectathons

These modern platformers look to the greats of the past for inspiration.

Demon Turf

This striking rogue-lite platformer might only feature one level, but don’t be fooled; there’s still plenty of challenge to be found here. As ambitious young demon Beebz, you’ll need serious skill to scale the Jester’s impossibly high tower in a single attempt. Unlock new powers and choose your own checkpoints in the race to become the new queen of Demon World.

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Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair

The unlikely chameleon and bat duo return for a 2.5D adventure that lets you tackle its final level whenever you want – just don’t expect to survive it. Explore a 3D hub world filled with its own secrets, puzzles and collectibles, and use special switches that drastically alter the platforming stages.

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A Hat in Time

The early years of 3D platforming inspire this eclectic and eccentric tale of Hat Girl and her search for the missing Time Pieces. Stitch together new hats that will allow you to explore every corner of a planet rich with interesting characters to meet, delightful biomes to explore and magical missions to complete.

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Action platformers

Never stop never stopping

Momentum is everything in these hyper-kinetic takes on the genre.

Neon White

Leap, air dash and blast your way through Heaven’s bite-sized, demon-filled, intricately designed assault courses, accompanied by an all-time great soundtrack. The ingenious Soul Cards system will inspire you to take on levels over and over again, as you attempt to shave milliseconds off your best times long after the intriguing story is over.

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Solar Ash

Heart Machine, the creators of the sublime Hyper Light Drifter, deliver another otherworldly gem. Skate through the surreal remains of vast bygone worlds, grinding and grappling your way towards unforgettable boss encounters that echo PlayStation classic Shadow of the Colossus. Will you save your home from the all-consuming Ultravoid?

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Ghostrunner

A platformer for grown-ups, this hardcore first-person dash ‘n’ slash is a cyberpunk tale of revenge. As an advanced blade fighter, you’ll utilize parkour and your mastery of the katana to climb Dharma Tower, a megastructure housing the last remnants of humanity. Precision and reflexes rule in a world where one mistake means death.

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Classics Catalog platformers

Blasts from the past

Rediscover platforming classics of yesteryear, all included with a PlayStation Plus Premium membership.

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Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy

Following on from its success with Crash Bandicoot, Naughty Dog introduced the iconic pairing of teenager Jak and his wisecracking ottsel (not quite an otter, not quite a weasel) friend Daxter. Explore lush fantasy environments as you seek out precious power cells and Precursor orbs. Also available are sequels Jak II and Jak 3, which introduce weapons and vehicles to the mix.

Ape Escape

The first game to require the then-revolutionary DualShock controller for PS1, this simian-snatching escapade utilized the analog sticks for precise movement and control of hero Spike’s memorable gadgets, including the iconic Time Net. For more ape adventures, check out Ape Escape 2 and Ape Academy.

Ratchet & Clank

This is where the adventures of the gun-toting Lombax and his tiny robot companion all began. Journey through the galaxy and deploy 36 imaginative weapons and gadgets in your efforts to halt Chairman Drek’s planet-annihilating plans. The Classics Catalog is brimming with Ratchet & Clank games: 10 in total!

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