Uploaded June 2022 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago

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I couldn't find a good one so I made my own. The goal here was to highlight a few notable ones from each year, not list every single game.
A (pretty much) complete documentation of the subgenre's early history can be found on my site: alexlandgren.wixsite.com/platform-adventure
Old version of the site: platformadventure.weebly.com

00:06 Below the Root
00:25 Journey to the Centre of the Earth
00:44 Brain Breaker
01:03 Legend of the Golden Talisman
01:24 Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu
01:44 Arac/Spiderbot
02:04 Metroid
02:24 Space Hunter
02:44 The Sacred Armour of Antiriad
03:04 Milon's Secret Castle
03:24 Goonies II
03:44 Zelda II
04:05 Zillion
04:25 Knightmare II: The Maze of Galious
04:46 Legacy of the Wizard/Dragon Slayer IV
05:06 Rygar (NES)
05:26 Castlevania II
05:46 Tengoku Yoitoko
06:06 Battle of Olympus
06:27 Blaster Master
06:47 Draconus
07:07 Spellcaster/Kujaku Ou
07:28 Exile (the UK game)
07:48 Clash at Demonhead
08:07 Strider (NES)
08:28 Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap/Monster World II
08:48 Gargoyle's Quest
09:08 Corporation/Cyber-Cop
09:28 Adventures of Rad Gravity
09:49 Magician
10:09 Fantastic Dizzy
10:30 Ufouria
10:51 Wonder Boy in Monster World/Monster World III
11:10 Metroid II
11:29 Quackshot
11:49 Popful Mail (first version)
12:10 Ghoul School
12:31 GI Joe: The Atlantis Factor
12:50 Ultima Underworld
13:10 Gargoyle's Quest II
13:31 Flashback
13:51 Ultima Underworld II
14:11 Wonderland Dizzy
14:30 TMNT III (GB)

Note that some footage uses a later version of a game:
Xanadu: Dragon Slayer II (1987 MSX version used, original is for the PC-88)
Fantastic Dizzy (1993 MD version used, original is for the NES)
Popful Mail (1994 PCE CD version used, original is for the PC-88; this one's unusual in that the MCD and SNES versions are pretty different from this version as well as from each other)

End track: AdhesiveWombat - Night Shade