Move Over 3D: 2025 Is Serving the Best 2D Platformers Since the SNES
This year has delivered a concentrated wave of new 2D platformers from both indie teams and established studios. Many notable titles arrived in 2025, covering Metroidvanias, action-platformers, puzzle-platformers and roguelikes.
- Three back-to-back releases that drew attention: Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance and Hollow Knight: Silksong.
- Several other standouts across subgenres, including Öoo, Blade Chimera, Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist, Shadow Labyrinth, The Rogue Prince of Persia and Bionic Bay.
- A mix of developers and publishers releasing both retro-styled and modernized 2D designs in 2025.
Major releases and their sequence
Three high-profile 2D releases arrived in close succession this year. First, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound was released in late July 2025 and attracted positive attention for its pixel-art presentation. Then, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance followed in August 2025, positioning itself as a fast-action title that references the Shinobi series. Finally, Hollow Knight: Silksong, developed by Team Cherry, released in 2025 as a new Metroidvania entry from the Hollow Knight team.
Other notable 2D games in 2025
Öoo shipped this year as a compact puzzle-platformer built around a single core mechanic: a player-controlled caterpillar that drops bombs. The game explores that mechanic across short, puzzle-focused stages.
Blade Chimera arrived earlier in 2025 from Team Ladybug and WSS Playground. It is an action-focused Metroidvania-style game that leans on mobility and combat systems.
Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist released in 2025 as an atmospheric Metroidvania with hand-drawn art and boss encounters.
Shadow Labyrinth, published by Bandai Namco, appeared this year and experiments with Pac-Man mechanics in new contexts.
The Rogue Prince of Persia released in 2025 as a roguelike action-platformer that draws mechanical inspiration from Dead Cells-style mobility and procedural runs.
Bionic Bay is a Limbo-inspired puzzle-platformer that emphasizes physics-based puzzles, including gravity changes and object-swapping mechanics.
Developers and publishers
Team Cherry is the developer behind Hollow Knight: Silksong. Team Ladybug and WSS Playground developed Blade Chimera. Bandai Namco published Shadow Labyrinth. Kepler Interactive is associated with Bionic Bay in published materials. Other titles this year come from a variety of independent teams and smaller studios.
Where these games sit now
After release, some of these titles reached high positions on digital storefront charts. For example, Hollow Knight: Silksong appeared on Steam’s top charts following its launch. Additionally, several 2D releases received coverage from critics and community outlets throughout 2025.
What this means for players
In 2025, players could choose from a wider-than-usual selection of 2D platformers spanning multiple subgenres. As a result, there are options for fans of tight action, puzzle design, procedural runs and exploration-based Metroidvanias.
Overall, the year’s slate shows that developers continue to invest in 2D design. Titles released in 2025 include both retro-styled pixel work and modern, hand-drawn approaches, and they cover a range of difficulty and scope.
