The 6 Early Pioneers of 3D platforming!

Super Mario 64 and Crash Bandicoot are the two earliest 3D platformers many people remember. Later in the conversation, games like Spyro the Dragon or Banjo-Kazooie are mentioned. And though they're great games, they're not pioneers like the six games I've picked out. All 6 of these games came out between 1995 and 1996 - too close to each other to take ideas from each other, and both show the wildly different takes different developers had on what it meant to be a "3D platformer".

I promise you Bubsy 3D is just subpar and not as horrible as people say it is.

[Frustratedartist]

What people don't understand about Bug! is that it was a blast to play when it came out (I speak from experience of course, had the PC version on my Windows 95). It looked and felt like nothing else. The levels of this game felt huge, there were tons of exploration to do. I get that nowadays this game seems linear and unpolished (and perhaps it is), but when it came out, it blew our minds. And I still enjoy playing it today.

Not to mention seeing Sonic in a different game. That was the first crossover I've seen in my life. That stuff was beyond mind blowing.

[chfgn]

If you have an interest in this topic I strongly suggest checking out Star Fox 2. Technically released in 2017 and technically not a platformer, but it was completed in 1995 and it has a lot of 3D platforming sections. The on-foot sections of Star Fox 2 show a lot of Miyamoto’s early 3D experiments that led directly into Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time.

[twobitsnick]

My guess is that forcing the camera down in Floating Runner helps preserve the framerate. Maybe they could have had it tilt up but the framerate would falter, and that's what they decided to prioritize.

[md-]

I appreciate these videos detailing this era of gaming, takes me back to growing up in the 90s with some of these games

[SuperMarioFan]

Missed opportunity to bring up Croc since that started out as a Yoshi game that predated SM64.

[robiocraft]

Wow the Bubsy camera has a bit of a slow windup making its gameplay a bit unpleasant to watch for longer periods. I’m glad future 3D games fixed it

[jonathanmarois]

I came to see if you know your stuff and talked about *Jumping Flash...* I'm happy!

[lukecwolf]

Nice to look at Bubsy with an open mind as the terrible game it is that still managed to overclock ps1 graphics with its 3d playstyle

[Supervocetubeia]

The "try to turn around in a small platform" statement is where you show you didn't play the game on an original N64 controller.

[IanDerp]

This is a really well made and edited video! Keep up the good work :)

[nngnnadas]

I think crash is has to be regarded as less open than bug. If only because it's a road rather than a maze.

[FernandoSanchez]

I think it would have been better to replace Bug with Tomb Raider, I know the game is an action adventure but the 3D platforming is still a key aspect of the game.

[gooeydude]

I think Bubsy 3D has a good soundtrack, especially in Daze of Thunder

[tombruncker]

Only reason I say Mario 64 is more important than Crash Bandicoot is because of Mario’s camera system and Mario 64’s legacy

[razorbackroar]

Nice video my brother looking forward to your future products

[trapez]

Star Fox 2 has 3d platforming sections but it wasn’t released until way later

[maroon]

I'll take off bug! since this game is a 2.5D. I'll replace it with PANDEMONIUM which came out in 96 for the ps1 and saturn in 1997. Which is a 3d platform game.

[overwatch]

The hugh open worlds of Super Mario 64 were insane in 1996.

[randomistough]

if bubsy 3d was a pioneer than we'd make another Titanic situation.

[ianriemer]

I wonder which game went into production first.