10 Best Platformers on PlayStation 5 (2026)

It’s very easy for platformers to feel like running across the same screen, only with a few items changed. But the best platformers on PlayStation 5 ensure that no run ever feels the same. You’ll still be fighting enemies, solving puzzles, and discovering hidden shortcuts, but it’ll often be at places you don’t expect.

Level design is everything in the best platformers on PlayStation 5, where our top-ranking game, A Hat in Time, takes advantage of discovering diverse places on Earth and in the cosmos, while Cuphead devises so many unique boss battles that’ll have you cursing under your breath and still wanting to try and try again.

What is a Platformer Game?

A platformer game is about guiding a character from point A to point B, ensuring that they survive any onslaught of enemies, hazards in their path, and solve puzzles that get them through to the next stage.

Top Platformers on PlayStation 5

Gathering the best platformers on PlayStation 5 hasn’t been an easy task at all, but I’m certain you’ll find my selections worthy.

10. Astro’s Playroom

If you can believe it, a platformer game whose goal was to help users navigate PlayStation 5’s features has turned out to be one of the best platforming experiences you’ll ever experience. And even several gaming awards have agreed that Astro’s Playroom is truly one of a kind.

Its world resembles the PlayStation 5 console, with navigation and exploration using the PS5’s haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. You enjoy the best that the current-gen console has to offer, exploring Astro’s playroom and jamming to 3D audiotech on compatible headphones.

9. Sackboy: A Big Adventure

Following closely is Sackboy: A Big Adventure, which is actually a spin-off from LittleBigPlanet’s Craftworld. For one of PlayStation’s most popular mascots, I suppose it’s only fair that they receive the best that the console’s hardware has to offer,

The epic 3D platforming adventure you’ll embark on is one to remember, with its crazy ideas and creativity. Hot air balloons fly above you, moving on to greenery jungles and the underwater realms. Even space colonies are included here for a truly bonkers adventure.

8. Psychonauts 2

Some of the best platformers on PlayStation 5 totally blew my mind based on the novel ideas they experimented with. Among them is Psychonauts 2, which already had me hooked with its premise of working for a psychic organization. 

I knew the missions I’d be on would be unexpected when the main character, Raz, and his friends are able to platform through the minds of both friends and enemies, all hoping to defeat a bloody psychic villain.

7. Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time

Meanwhile, you have the Crash series that has already established itself in terms of catchy music and controls. The series has polished its act over the years, so that Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time already knows all it needs to do to stick its landing.

Not to mention its time-traveling ideas that I’m a sucker for, when the marsupials of the franchise have a blast shattering through worlds in the multiverse. Here, reality has no definite rules, and every new universe surprises you with its unique characters and bosses.

6. Mega Man 11

Mega Man 11 is an established platformer on PlayStation 5 as well. Except this time, I was so used to the classic series that the new modern entry totally blew my mind. What modern hardware can do for retro games, revamping their visuals while still retaining the hand-drawn environments and detailed 3D character models from the original games.

5. Yooka-Laylee

How can you say no to a name like Yooka-Laylee? I already know I’m about to have a cheeky and carefree time just by reading through the blurb. You have massive, breathtaking worlds you can explore, with casts including a bat with a big nose. You also have shiny collectibles to collect, controlling the Yooka-Laylee buddy duo.

4. Sonic Frontiers

Sonic is the type of character who’ll thrive in so many genres, but platforming is a particularly curious branch because of his exquisite speed. And true to word, Sonic Frontiers captures the blue hedgehog’s speed, all across an open-zone world. 

You’re running out of time before the world collides, thus giving you more incentive to find all the missing Chaos emeralds and break necks while at it.

3. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

While Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night can be off-putting for the easy queasy, it’s among the best platformers on PlayStation 5 for its clean, anime visuals. The visuals are actually gothic-horror themed, adding an entry you might not usually see in the side-scrolling world. 

It’s set in 19th century England as well, and deals with demon-infested castles, a paranormal force that haunts them, among many more rich lore ideas behind curses and saving humanity.

2. Cuphead

Say you always breeze through platformers? You haven’t played Cuphead, have you? I thought the 1930s cartoon art style and watercolor backgrounds would be the standout feature for me. But not even close.

The boss battles on here are the primary focus of your galavanting across strange worlds. Every boss is unique in appearance and attacks. And they will almost always push you to the brink of madness purely from how difficult they are to outsmart and finally put down.

1. A Hat In Time

After a game like Cuphead, you’ll definitely want to play a feel-good platforming game on PlayStation 5 like A Hat in Time. I love the idea behind gifting the people that you meet with hats that you actually stitch. And besides the hats looking adorable and distinct, they also have special powers. 

Through your stitched hats, you can time-travel across time and space, discovering new giant worlds that seldom grow boring. Within these worlds and shattered Time Pieces that you must recover to save the world. What huge responsibilities the little girl in A Hat in Time has. Fortunately, they have you to guide them in every step.