21. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi Island (SNES) - 1995This is a game that I only had the opportunity to play thanks to emulation, as I never owned it on console. Yoshi Island is a bit of a departure for the main Mario series. The main character you control is Yoshi, who carries around baby Mario on his back. When you get hit, baby Mario starts floating off in a bubble and you have to retrieve him before the short timer runs out, or you die. Ok, that description doesn't make it sound good at all, and admittedly, the sound of baby Mario crying is pretty obnoxious, but beyond that is a strong platformer that's a lot of fun. As Yoshi, you can hover, eat enemies and turn them into eggs, shoot eggs, and ground pound, which has all become standard for the character since. The game has a hand drawn crayon drawn look that sets it apart from previous Mario games, and typically catchy music from Koji Kondo.
This one might not be for every oldschool Mario fan, but I enjoyed it.
Oh, and I can't discuss this game without mentioning this section of the game-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQ1OclnEKAQ20. Trine (PC) - 2009Here's another game I only played for the first time recently, in fact I bought and played it not long after Limbo. I'd heard about this for years as being a great modern platformer, so as soon as it went on sale on Steam, I nabbed both Trine and Trine 2.
Trine is a 2D platformer that has a unique blend of elements. It has a medieval setting, and you have 3 characters you can freely switch between, each one with different abilities. There's a knight who has the close combat skills, able to use a sword to kill enemies, and you can aim your shield to protect yourself from any direction. There's the thief, who can shoot arrows, and has a grappling hook to help make your way through the levels and find secret areas. And last but not least, the wizard, who can use his magic to conjure boxes and platforms, and move other objects to solve physics puzzles. There's plenty of stuff to collect in each level to upgrade your characters with new abilities, which adds even more to the gameplay.
The great thing about the physics element is that there's no set way to solve a problem and progress. I'll come up with my own way to get past an obstacle, then watch a walkthrough video and see someone else do it completely differently. It means you're rarely stuck trying to figure out the one solution to a problem. The controls are great, being not too difficult to learn and remember, but requiring some skill to master. The graphics are also very nice, about as much as my lowly graphics card can handle.
After finishing Trine, I moved on to Trine 2, but they made some changes that made it not as fun for me, despite some amazing creative additions to the gameplay.