10 Best Platformers on Nintendo Switch (2025)

Platformers from back in the day have a unique signature play style and design, influenced heavily by the OGs: Super Mario, Kirby, Donkey Kong, and so on. Today, though, the play styles and design have evolved to include 3D movement and gameplay.

You have action-oriented platformers, and even Metroidvanias that have a deeper exploration and puzzle-solving that truly make for a satisfying run. Tag along while we explore the best platformers on Nintendo Switch this year. 

What is a Platformer Game?

A platformer is about controlling the main character as they move from one end of a stage to the other, often culminating in a boss fight. Through stages, you’ll often engage in running, dashing, and jumping mechanics, as well as more complex combat moves like air dashes. You may also solve puzzles and dodge obstacles.

Best Platformers on Nintendo Switch

The best platformers on Nintendo Switch will have you rolling in laughter, furrowing your eyebrows in concentration, and deeply engrossed in beating stage after stage.

10. Kaze and the Wild Masks

It’s definitely a wise choice for Kaze and the Wild Masks to go the ‘90s classics route, particularly because the graphics have been modernized to look sharp and clean. Journeying across Crystal Islands is a bliss, as you control Kaze on a quest to save their friend Hogo from a curse that is spreading in the world. 

A relatively compelling story for an adventure that will constantly surprise you, be it the creatures looking like vegetables or optimizing the power of the wild masks that can make you fly and swim the seas.

9. Cuphead

The developers of Cuphead sat back at the gameplay discussion meeting and decided, yup, we’ll only be designing bosses as enemies. And a good, nah, fantastic job they did, managing to come up with such unique, out-of-this-world designs. And not just in appearance but in mechanics, too, each enemy challenges you in so many unique, bizarre ways. 

When you hear Cuphead is among the toughest games ever, I pray you won’t take it lightly. But at the very least, I hope the 1930s cartoons’ aesthetic will offer a pleasant enough background for your troubles.

8. Mega Man 11

“It’s a huge success!” As I’m sure Mega Man fans will be happy to know learning there’s a platforming entry called Mega Man 11. The very definition and idea behind “looks good, feels good” all throughout your playthrough.

I love how the graphics blend a somewhat robotic, futuristic look with a playful aesthetic prominent in the best, classic platformers. Duly enough, as Mega Man goes head-to-head with robot masters and takes their weapons for himself.

7. Celeste

There’s so much to love about Celeste: the best example of a great platformer done right in all of its gameplay elements. Levels are complex, and navigating them feels tight and fluid. Absolute precision is needed to jump and dodge obstacles.

But also, the fighting mechanics and story haven’t been left to chance. In fact, you might want to play with a box of tissues nearby because of the emotional story infused with the gameplay mechanics’ most intense moments.

6. Ori and the Will of the Wisps

Guiding little Ori on their daring journey to discover their true destiny is most surprising and fulfilling. You learn a great deal through the eyes of Ori, and the world itself isn’t too hard on the eyes. Gorgeous, in fact, are the graphics, meshing perfectly with the striking art, emotional story, and stunning soundtrack.

Spells, spirit weapons, and attacks on hand, hurry on to Ori and the Will of the Wisps and discover what towering enemies and exotic worlds await.

5. Degrees of Separation

Facebook and social media have made the degrees of separation between people who know each other much smaller. Degrees of Separation, the platforming game on Nintendo Switch, has nothing to do with that.

It’s a story of Ember and Rime, two contrasting people with powers of heat and cold. Through either solo or co-op play, they must learn to navigate their hot and cold landscapes, leaning on each other for navigational and combat support.

4. A Hat In Time

By simply stitching hats, a little girl discovers the power of traveling through space and time. And naturally, A Hat in Time takes her (and you) to the wildest of places, meeting all kinds of strange folk. The hats are your means of travel and exploration, each time learning new secrets and fueling your motivation to discover more.

3. Inside

Of the best platformers on Nintendo Switch, Inside is pretty unique. It’s won several awards, including for the best art and game design. And you can appreciate so, given that the entire game has been shot in black, white, and grey colors.

It’s a haunting of a boy, finding himself alone at the center of a dark project. You must help him navigate a dark, moody place with an unsettling atmosphere safely and soundly.

2. The Plucky Squire

The Plucky Squire is also a unique platformer, where the hero of a children’s book is cast out into the real world by the book’s villain. Now, you must help them navigate a 3D world in a child’s bedroom, seeking to return to the storybook’s 2D world, and defeat the villain once and for all.

A happy ending must be the conclusion of the storybook for its young readers to remain shielded and protected.

1. Super Mario Bros. Wonder

There are so many Super Marios we could pick for the best platformers on Nintendo Switch. But Super Mario Bros. Wonder, I feel, does the franchise justice. Just as flamboyant as you might expect the levels to be, with lots of vibrant color and detail. 

Add the power of the Wonder Flowers, which can make bizarre stuff happen, like bringing pipes to life and turning Mario into a giant Spike-Ball. It’s a world of wonder, indeed, the flowers essentially influencing your abilities and transforming the stages, too.