All Platformer Games with Pre-Orders (2023)

Everyone’s favorite pink puffball is back for another romp in Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe, a 2D action-platformer developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo. The game initially debuted on the Wii U in 2011 and is now getting a rerelease due to popular demand. A strange dimensional rift appears in the sky on the planet Popstar, Kirby’s home. Out emerges a damaged alien ship which immediately begins to descend crashing into the ground.

Kirby and friends rush to the scene to find an almost fully wrecked ship and an alien named Magalor caught in the wreckage, this event stirs an adventure of epic proportions. Kirby’s Return to Dreamland will be available on Nintendo Switch in February 2023.

Set out on a journey to help Magalor reassemble his ship by collecting the parts that scattered across the map during his crash landing. The parts include 120 energy spheres that powered the ship as well as wings, oars, a mast, and its emblem.

Kirby’s iconic copy abilities are back and they’re ramped up to 11. With the introduction of 5 powered-up Super Abilities, gain incredibly destructive power over the environment and enemies for a limited time.

The game supports up to 4 players, so you can get 3 of your friends to help you out in finding the pieces of the wreck as well as take part in wacky mini-games.

Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe Pre-Order Bonuses →

In Spongebob Squarepants The Cosmic Shake, the power to make any wish a reality is handed to Bikini Bottom’s finest, what could possibly go wrong? If you guessed “everything” you would be correct. Overloaded with excitement, the dynamic duo go on a wishing spree which eventually rips the very fabric of reality.

The events trigger a number of portals to distant worlds popping up everywhere sucking in our friends from Bikini Bottom. Developed by Purple Lamp and published by THQ Nordic, Spongebob Squarepants The Cosmic Shake will be available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, and Nintendo Switch.

Embark on a perilous journey through 7 wildly captivating wish worlds such as Wild West Jellyfish Fields and Halloween Rock Bottom. The worlds present different challenges and have their own unique features.

All characters from the original series are present and are voiced by their original voice actors, making the game feel like one long interactive episode. The soundtrack is also rich with over 100 songs including the iconic Sweet Victory.

Spongebob Squarepants The Cosmic Shake Pre-Order Bonuses →

Thrust into a mysterious ancient island while in search of the Chaos emeralds, Sonic must maneuver his way out of this strange island in Sonic Frontiers. Embark on an exhilarating high-velocity odyssey as everyone’s favorite blue hedgehog uncovering the secrets of the island all while fending off attacks from the dangerous creatures that live on the island.

Developed by Sonic Team and published by SEGA, Sonic Frontiers is an action-adventure platformer coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC this Autumn.

Zip around 5 large open zones in regular Sonic fashion, with each zone presenting different ways to traverse them at speeds only Sonic could achieve.

Things are not as they seem on the island as there is a mystery yet to be uncovered of an ancient civilization that has now been enslaved by a mechanized threat with Sonic being their only hope.

Sonic Frontiers Pre-Order Bonuses →

Sackboy A Big Adventure is an adorable platformer developed by Sumo Sheffield and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Nefarious plans have been hatched by the dastardly Vex that threaten to transform Craftworld into a barren wasteland. There lies a prophecy yet to be realized of a knitted knight of legend who would save Craftworld and the sack-folk from a perilous future. It is up to Sackboy to answer the call, rise as a hero and fulfill his destiny, but he’s going to need all the help he can get.

Sackboy A Big Adventure was released in 2020 for the PlayStation 5 but is set for a release this Autumn on Microsoft Windows.

Play the game with all new settings that crank the experience up to 11 with 21:9 ultra-widescreen support, faster load times, and enhanced frame rate support of up to 120fps.

Hop into the action solo or with your consort of cronies exploring the lush jungles, frozen tundras, and deepest depths of the sea all in this chaotically wonderful experience.

Sackboy A Big Adventure Pre-Order Bonuses →

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania is a puzzle-strategy game where you take control of a monkey inside of a ball, rolling and bouncing around avoiding obstacles and completing challenges. Developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by Sega, Super Monkey Banana Mania is a remaster of three games in the series: Super Monkey Ball, Super Monkey Ball 2, and Super Monkey Ball Deluxe and will be released this Autumn.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania will be available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Windows.

Experience 300 beautifully recreated levels as AiAi, MeeMee, GonGon, Baby, YanYan, or Doctor as you race to stop the evil scientist Dr. Bad-Boon from destroying your home and stealing all your bananas.

Super Monkey Ball Mania is fun for the whole family with 12 multiplayer levels with an online leaderboard but no online mode. It makes up for its lack of an online mode with four-player local multiplayer guaranteeing hours of fierce light-hearted competition for all to enjoy.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania Pre-Order Bonuses →

Get to experience a modern re-skin of an already amazing sonic adventure in Sonic Colors Ultimate. Sonic Colors was released in 2010 to much appreciation by sonic fans due to its faithful level design and vibrant art style. Sonic Colors Ultimate aims to make a good game even better with visual improvements such as support for 4k resolution and 60 frames per second gameplay among others.

Developed by Blind Squirrel Games and published by Sega, Sonic Colors Ultimate will be coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC this Autumn.

The evil Dr. Robotnik has created an amusement park by enslaving a race of wisps to power it, it’s up to sonic to put an end to this. With the help of the wisps along with Sonic’s lightning-fast speed, unlock unique abilities to thwart the plans of evil Dr. Robotnik and free the wisps.

Spend time exploring, fighting, and most definitely running through six unique levels each with special obstacles to keep you engaged for hours in what is Sonic’s greatest outing yet.

Sonic Colors Ultimate Pre-Order Bonuses →

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is the next chapter in the titular duo’s intergalactic adventures. Developed by Insomniac Games, it serves as a sequel not to the 2016 reboot of the series, but to the older PS3 title Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus. That being said, the developers have stressed that Rift Apart has a stand-alone storyline and is a great starting point even if you aren’t familiar with the series.

In Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Ratchet and Clank are separated by a dimensional rift and traverse multiple realities to stop Dr. Nefarious from wiping out all organic life. They join forces with a female Lombax resistance fighter, a new playable character.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Pre-Order Bonuses →

Balan Wonderworld is a whimsical 3D platformer centered around the mysterious Balan theater. Led by the titular maestro Balan, the stars of the show Emma and Leo utilize special abilities from over 80 different costumes as they adventure in the bizarre land of Wonderworld filled with colorful inhabitants, tricks, and traps.

The game supports two-player couch co-op, allowing players to cooperate as Leo and Emma and combine the abilities of different costumes to open new paths through Wonderworld.

Balan Wonderworld Pre-Order Bonuses →

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury is an enhanced Switch port of the original Super Mario 3D World for Wii U from 2013. New features include faster movement speed for Mario, Luigi, Peach, and Toad, online multiplayer with up to three other players, and a Snapshot mode. But the largest addition by far is Bowser’s Fury: a standalone, free-roaming adventure that involves Mario teaming up with Bowser Jr.

The game also supports amiibo. The upcoming Cat Mario and Cat Peach amiibo grant power-ups in the main portion of the game, while Bowser and Bowser Jr. amiibo can be used in the new Bowser’s Fury adventure.

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury Pre-Order Bonuses →

Little Nightmares II follows the macabre adventure of Mono, a young boy trapped in a world distorted by the humming transmission of a distant Signal Tower. Guided by Six, the yellow-raincoated girl from the previous installment, he sets out to discover the secrets of the Signal Tower and save Six from her terrible fate. They will solve intricate puzzles, discover the mysteries of the Pale City, and fight to escape its fearsome residents.

The game comes in three different editions and also has an exclusive pre-order bonus, all detailed after the jump.

Little Nightmares II Pre-Order Bonuses →

Developed by the two-man team of Edelweiss, Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin is a cross-genre title that combines side-scrolling combat with a crafting and farming simulation. It follows a young harvest goddess Sakuna, who is banished from the celestial capital, where she lived in lazy luxury, to an untamed island teeming with demonic beasts. There, she finds her calling farming rice and bettering the lives of the mortals in the local mountain village. The game is inspired by Japanese mythology, albeit with some original twists, and features a charming cel-shaded art style.

Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin Pre-Order Bonuses →

Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is a platformer developed by Toys for Bob and published by Activision. It is a sequel to the 1998 Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped. After Neo Cortex and N. Tropy escape their space-time prison and launch an assault on the entire universe, Crash and Coco set out to collect the Quantum Masks and save the day.

The masks are more than just a story element and will grant new powers. The Time Mask, for instance, slows time while the Gravity Mask allows Crash and Coco to walk on ceilings. The game can be played in Retro mode with limited lives or in a more forgiving Modern mode where dying only sends the player back to the latest checkpoint.

Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time Pre-Order Bonuses →

To commemorate the he 35th anniversary of their Super Mario franchise, Nintendo is launching Super Mario 3D All-Stars: a bundle of three 3D platformers remastered for Nintendo Switch. These include Super Mario 64 (1996), Super Mario Sunshine (2002), and Super Mario Galaxy (2007). In addition to the games themselves, Super Mario 3D All-Stars also includes the games’ original soundtracks (for a total of 175 tracks) that can be listened even while the screen is off.

Notably, both the physical and digital availability of Super Mario 3D All-Stars will be time-limited, with the sales ending in March 2021.

Super Mario 3D All-Stars Pre-Order Bonuses →

With the launch of Catherine: Full Body on Switch confirmed, owners of Nintendo’s console will soon be able to step into the shoes of 32-year-old slacker Vincent and experience the dark and mature storyline involving a love square between himself, his long-term girlfriend Katherine, a seductive hottie he meets in a bar, Catherine, and his mysterious amnesiac neighbour, Rin.

Compared to the original Catherine, the Full Body version offers improved visuals, alternate endings, and a safety mode for the game’s puzzle sequences. It has launched for PlayStation 4 last year, so this article is concerned specifically with the upcoming Switch release.

Catherine: Full Body (Switch) Pre-Order Bonuses →

In a surprise announcement, Nintendo has revealed a new installment in the Paper Mario RPG-platforming series. Titled Paper Mario: The Origami King, it features a brand new story that involves Princess Peach being turned into an origami by King Olly, the ruler of the Origami Kingdom.

In contrast to the turn-based 2D combat of the previous Paper Mario titles, The Origami King features a new 360° ring-based battle system where Mario has to line up enemies to cause the most damage and chain attacks. Mastering the new system is said to require both puzzle-solving skills and a quick wit.

Paper Mario: The Origami King Pre-Order Bonuses →

Darksiders Genesis is an isometric hack-n-slash RPG developed by Airship Syndicate and published by THQ Nordic. It is a spin-off from the main Darksiders series, and stars Strife, the fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse, as well as his brother War. The player can switch between gunslinger Strife and swordsman War during gameplay, or tackle the game in a local or online co-op with a friend.

The game is already out on PC and Google Stadia, and has garnered generally favorable reviews. The console release is coming in February 2020, and as usual, there are some pre-order bonuses to take a look at.

Darksiders Genesis Pre-Order Bonuses →

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair is a spin-off platformer from Playtonic Games and Team17 that stars the chameleon Yooka and the bat Laylee. When their arch-nemesis Capital B concocts an evil plan to enslave a kingdom of bees, it is up to the buddy duo to save the day.

Unlike its 3D predecessor Yooka-Laylee, the spin-off is a side-scrolling 2.5D platformer in the style of Donkey Kong Country. It does however have a 3D Overworld that acts as a hub and contains secrets and puzzles.

Tonics that modify the gameplay or the visuals are making a return in Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, and there’s a total of 62 to collect. Four of them are offered as an exclusive pre-order bonus – details after the jump.

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair Pre-Order Bonuses →

Indivisible is a crowdfunded action RPG slash platformer from Lab Zero Games, the developer of Skullgirls. It follows Ajna, a “fearless girl with a rebellious streak”, who sets out on a quest to uncover the truth about her newly awakened powers and save the world of Loka. Along the way she encounters many Incarnations: unique characters who she can absorb and manifest to fight at her side.

The game features hand-drawn anime-style visuals and an opening animated by Studio Trigger. The composer of Indivisible‘s soundtrack is Hiroki Kikuta of Secret of Mana fame.

Indivisible Pre-Order Bonuses →

The three iconic heroes – Amadeus the Wizard, Pontius the Knight, and Zoya the Thief – join forces once again to rescue a young prince haunted by his own dark powers in Frozenbyte’s upcoming Trine 4. The game features varied 2.5D levels with challenging puzzles and foes, an expansive storyline, and a soundtrack by award-winning composer Ari Pulkkinen.

Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince can be tackled solo or in a co-op (local or online) with up to four people, with the puzzles scaling in difficulty depending on the number of players.

Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince Pre-Order Bonuses →

Catherine: Full Body is a remaster of the 2011 title Catherine – a puzzle platformer slash visual novel from Atlus. Besides improved visuals and gameplay, the remaster also adds a new character – the mysterious amnesiac, Rin, who moves in next door to protagonist Vincent – as well as alternate endings for both Catherine and Katherine.

Other additions include a new “Safety Mode” for those who just want to experience the story without struggling through the game’s punishing puzzles, as well as a ranked online battle system where players can get matched up randomly or with others around their skill level.

While Catherine: Full Body is available on both PlayStation 4 and PS Vita in Japan, it is a PS4-exclusive in the West. The game will ship with dual audio for those who prefer the original voice acting.

Catherine: Full Body Pre-Order Bonuses →