10 Best Platformers on PlayStation 5 (2025)

Whether you’re looking for a tough challenge or a quick breeze from one end of the stage to the other, we’ve got just the perfect platformers for you to try out on PlayStation 5. They can help you sharpen your timing and precision, as you jump onto precariously placed, moving platforms and dodge obstacles. 

And the best platformers come with a tight combat system as well, challenging you to take down pesky to more challenging bosses. Regardless of what you’re looking for, I guarantee the list of the best platformers on PlayStation 5 below will cater to your specific needs.

What is a Platformer Game?

A platformer game is about controlling the main character across stages filled with puzzles, obstacles, and enemies. You explore diverse worlds divided into stages that make up levels you need to beat through to the end, through traversal mechanics like jumping and climbing, and combat systems like kicking, melee attacks, and ranged weapons.

Top Platformers on PlayStation 5

PlayStation has far outdone itself, providing sleek visuals and smooth controls for the best platformers on PlayStation 5 below.

10. Astro’s Playroom

For a game that won Game of the Year at the Game Awards and the DICE Awards, you know it’s going to be a blast. Not even the fact that it’s a platformer meant to showcase all that the PlayStation 5 console can do should deter you from trying it out.

In Astro’s Playroom, you’re a little bot exploring the PS5 console. No, really. The four worlds, while super creative with nature and bots, sure do showcase all the innovative features of the PS5 DualSense controller. Moreover, the game already comes pre-loaded on your console for free. So, why not?

9. Sackboy: A Big Adventure

For a mascot wearing a brown sack with a zipper and bulging black eyes, you know the world and mechanics are about to get wild. Sackboy: A Big Adventure is an immensely creative game, featuring levels you downright get lost in.

Simply vibrant, varied, and with the wildest ideas you can think of. From lush jungles to underwater realms, Sackboy and his friends go over and beyond to stop the evil Vex from destroying Craftworld.

8. Psychonauts 2

Whatever shrooms feel like, the things you see, I think, might be what the Psychonauts 2 experience is. All of that bustling color creates a psychedelic journey. But it also comes with the heaviest themes in the world.

For instance, there’s a coffin-level exploration of death, alongside unraveling other alcoholism and gambling themes. I mean, it tracks, given that the main character, Raz, journeys into the minds of others to help them as a member of the Psychonauts organization. Just wild.

7. Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time

Crash and his buddies are back, this time diving headfirst into the multiverse. They bend reality with their abilities throughout alternate dimensions. Using the Quantum Masks scattered in the multiverse, Crash and Coco can evade obstacles in fun ways.

For veterans, you’d be happy to know that Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time still makes room for the classic formula, in addition to merging with fresh ideas.

6. Mega Man 11

Speaking of classics, Mega Man 11 makes sure to maintain the iconic series’ blend of 2D action-platforming with some fresh ideas. You control 3D character models in the most vibrant and detailed levels, learning new abilities.

For instance, the Double Gear system boosts your speed and power, and you need to defeat enemies to inherit their gear. A nice touch is how every new gear acquired transforms the blue bomber bot’s appearance with an exquisite level of detail.

5. Yooka-Laylee

Next on the best platformers on PlayStation 5 is Yooka-Laylee, featuring two main characters: Yooka, “the green one,” and Laylee, “the bat with the big nose.” Characters in the game’s big open world are just as vibrant and unique, alongside shiny collectibles you collect throughout an epic adventure. 

4. Sonic Frontiers

Sonic Frontiers is possibly the best platforming entry in the series, with the best level design, environments, and overall performance. You’re in search of the Chaos Emeralds so the worlds don’t collide. But end up stranded on an ancient island full of robotic hordes.

Cue a breathtaking exploration of a beautiful world, intense action against mysterious creatures, and dashing about an open world like a lightning bolt.

3. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

While the best platformers we’ve seen so far have been bustling with color and warmth, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night chooses the path of gothic horror instead. It’s a side-scrolling RPG taking you to 19th-century England.

Here, you explore a demon-infested castle, seeking to save yourself from a body crystallization curse by defeating the summoner, Gebel. The visuals have an anime vibe, and come loaded with lots of opportunities to hack-and-slash through countless minions and bosses.

2. Cuphead

Cuphead, on the other hand, has the old 1930s cartoon vibe, making it a unique platformer worth checking out. The watercolor backgrounds and traditional hand-drawn cel animation make it stand out in the sea of platformers today. But the gameplay is also divine, with a heavy focus on bosses.

With a buddy in tow, you can switch to local co-op and maybe make the brutal difficulty a little easier on you. Overall, lots of hidden secrets, weapons, super moves, and strange worlds await unlocking in this strange and bizarre world.

1. A Hat In Time

As we wind up, let’s explore one more entry to the best platformers on PlayStation 5 called A Hat in Time. This one’s all cute and adorable, perfect for gamers of all ages. It’s a 3D platformer with so much variety, implemented via special hats you make that can have you time-travel across time and space.

As a result, the world exploration seems endless, each new map bringing with it its unique creatures and lore. You’re to recover Time Pieces across the worlds you visit. But not at all pressured for time, as you often find yourself distracted by all the unique discoveries you make in each world.