10 Best Platformers on Xbox Series X|S

A platformer does not need the same kind of challenge every time. Xbox Series X|S can offer a precise escape, a playful 3D space or a route best negotiated with somebody beside you. These selections favor movement with a clear identity, including older Xbox games where backward compatibility is part of the recommendation.

Looking for somewhere to start?

• Psychonauts 2 for imaginative 3D exploration.
• Ori and the Will of the Wisps for fluid movement and discovery.
• Unravel Two for local cooperative puzzles.

10. KLONOA Phantasy Reverie Series

Best for two dreamlike platforming stories · Xbox Series X|S · Solo; limited local support co-op

Klonoa travels through worlds shaped by dreams, meeting people whose cheerful appearance does not make their troubles trivial. This collection contains Door to Phantomile and Lunatea’s Veil, each with its own journey.

You grab enemies and use them for throws or extra height, turning their placement into part of the platforming puzzle. Routes bend through 3D scenery while keeping movement on a guided path.

It is the quieter choice for players interested in a distinctive older design. The local support role is limited, so expect the main experience to remain a solo adventure rather than equal two-character cooperation.

9. Kaze and the Wild Masks

Best for classic-style precision · Xbox One version playable on Series X|S · Single-player

A curse spreads across the Crystal Islands, sending Kaze on a journey to save a friend. The colorful setting takes a familiar rescue premise and fills the route with considerably less friendly vegetation.

Mask powers temporarily change your movement, while the regular stages emphasize readable jumps, secrets and careful momentum. Optional collectibles give experienced players a reason to make a clean second pass.

Kaze is a good match for someone who wants traditional side-scrolling stages without a large surrounding progression system. The challenge comes from learning a course, not from collecting enough equipment to overpower it.

8. BattleBlock Theater

Best for comedy with precise jumps · Xbox 360 version through backward compatibility · Solo; local or online co-op

A shipwreck strands a group of friends in a theater run by hostile cats, who demand dangerous performances. The absurd setup gives every stage the air of a show that badly needs a different producer.

Jumping, hazards and throwable tools build compact challenges that can be solved carefully or made considerably less orderly by a partner. Cooperative routes add reasons to interact beyond simply standing on the same screen.

This older recommendation remains useful for a pair who enjoy clear goals and a little friction. On Series X|S, the Xbox 360 release runs through backward compatibility; it is not a separate native Series edition.

7. Unravel Two

Best for a connected couch adventure · Xbox One version playable on Series X|S · Solo or two-player local co-op

Two Yarnys survive an unsettled beginning and travel together through landscapes built at a much larger scale. Their connecting thread makes companionship part of every route rather than a theme saved for cutscenes.

One character can provide an anchor while the other swings or climbs. A solo player manages both, but a pair can trade ideas and timing directly as the puzzles become more involved.

It is a useful recommendation for players who prefer cooperation to racing. This is local co-op, not an online campaign, and its best moments come from turning a shared understanding into a successful crossing.

6. Little Kitty, Big City

Best for low-pressure urban climbing · Xbox Series X|S · Single-player

A cat ends up far from its apartment and must work out how to get home through an unfamiliar neighborhood. Other animals have requests, opinions and very little interest in keeping the trip efficient.

You climb, jump, investigate and create small disturbances while expanding where the cat can go. Exploring the streets turns everyday objects into obstacles and occasional opportunities for entirely unnecessary mischief.

This is the relaxed recommendation between the harder games in the lineup. It is about inhabiting a small space playfully, with a homeward goal that leaves plenty of room to become distracted by something at street level.

5. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

Best for agile combat and traversal · Xbox Series X|S · Single-player

Sargon enters Mount Qaf to rescue a prince and finds a place where time is behaving badly. The mountain’s strange history turns the mission into a much larger investigation.

Dashes, jumps and time-related powers open routes through an interconnected map. Fights demand their own timing, while the ability to record locations helps you remember why an obstacle was worth returning to.

It fits players who want demanding platforming inside a substantial action adventure. The traversal remains engaging between bosses, and the map gives each new movement ability somewhere interesting to prove its value.

4. Ori and the Will of the Wisps

Best for movement-led exploration · Xbox Series X|S · Single-player

Ori’s search for Ku leads into a forest struggling with loss and decay. The emotional premise is simple, leaving the world’s inhabitants and landscapes to give the journey its character.

New traversal skills connect exploration to a growing sense of control. Combat is more developed than in Blind Forest, but the pleasure of linking abilities across gaps and hazards remains central.

For this platformer list, Ori earns its place through the feel of moving across a world you gradually understand. Revisited areas become opportunities to use a new skill gracefully rather than just collect what was previously out of reach.

3. SONIC X SHADOW GENERATIONS

Best for replayable high-speed routes · Xbox Series X|S · Single-player

A disturbance through time gives Sonic reason to revisit familiar stages, while Shadow follows a separate conflict shaped by his past. The paired campaigns make this more than a simple presentation update.

You learn routes through momentum, timing and character-specific movement. Shadow’s abilities reshape traversal, while Sonic Generations offers its own contrast between classic and modern stage approaches.

This is the choice for players who enjoy finishing a course and immediately knowing where they lost time. The learning happens through replay, with smoother movement providing a more satisfying reward than the completion mark alone.

2. Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time

Best for demanding obstacle courses · Xbox Series X|S · Single-player campaign; local turn-taking modes

Neo Cortex’s latest escape creates trouble across time and space, sending Crash and Coco through a sequence of increasingly improbable locations. The plot provides permission for stages that refuse to stay in one era.

Masks temporarily alter rules such as gravity or the behavior of obstacles. The main campaign is already demanding, while extra objectives and alternate perspectives give confident players much more to practice.

Pick this when you want a clear course to master rather than a large world to roam. Local modes involve taking turns; they do not turn the story into simultaneous two-character co-op.

1. Psychonauts 2

Best for characterful 3D worlds · Xbox Series X|S · Single-player

Raz’s dream job becomes complicated by secrets inside the Psychonauts organization. To help, he enters minds that turn the owners’ memories and anxieties into places with their own architecture.

Psychic abilities connect combat, puzzle-solving and movement. New environments change the expression of those tools, giving you reasons to pay attention beyond spotting the next collectible.

It leads this Xbox selection because the platforming has something to say about the people behind each level. The story and stage design support each other, making it an especially good pick when mechanical variety and memorable characters matter equally.

Which should you play next?

Choose Psychonauts 2 for a character-led journey, Ori for movement that grows with the world, or Unravel Two for a shared couch game. Our Best Adventure Games on Xbox Series X|S guide offers broader journeys when the adventure matters more than the next jump.