Platform Racing is an online multiplayer webgame released in June 2007 by Jiggmin. Exactly What It Says on the Tin, this game was inspired by Mario Kart, but takes the concept in a 2D platforming direction. Though taken down as it was no longer deemed worthwhile to run the servers, this title received millions of plays and set the identity for future installments.
In May 2008, just under a year later, a sequel, Platform Racing 2 released to huge success, receiving over 33 million plays, making it among the most successful independent Adobe Flash games at its peak. In addition to various quality of life improvements, the sequel's biggest draw was the introduction of a Level Editor, allowing the game to be dominated by community sourced levels. Upon completing (or forfeiting) a level, players can rate a level from one to five stars, where the highest rated go on "Today's Best," or for consistently high-rated levels, "All Time Best." Although Flash player has since been taken down, the game can still be played here
, via download.
A third game, Platform Racing 3, was released in 2010 on Sparkzworks. While it never achieved the notoriety of its predecessor, it too made several upgrades from the previous, most notably, a block editor that allowed users to make blocks with custom art and properties. While officially, it has been shut down, a fan relaunch is available here.
The Platform Racing series contains examples of:
- Anti-Frustration Features: Safety nets allow players who fell off the course respawn immediately, instead of waiting until they reach the level’s lowest point.
- Art Course: A popular genre of level is to focus less on level design and more on making art with the in-game tools. Of particular note is Special Efex, a campaign level from the third game.
- Automatic Level: Another popular genre, using arrows, mines, and gravity rotation to create spectacle, instead of a traditional race.
- Character Level: Players gain experience by completing races, doing well in said races, and playing regularly. Each level up is good for an additional point to speed, acceleration, or jump stats.
- Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat: On Zerostar(¬¬), there's a way to block players behind you from finishing the race. However, doing so takes enough time where anyone reasonably close will catch up, and if anyone is that far behind, you can almost certainly win outright.
- Double Jump: Zigzagged. Players have a single jump by default, but if they pick up a super jump item, they can use it from ground or air, the latter giving this effect.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: You race through platforming levels.
- Gangplank Galleon: Razorblade from the second game has players board a pirate ship and race to the top of the sail.
- Homage:
- Mario Bros remix and Yoshi’s Island from the second game’s campaigns lift design elements from Super Mario Bros. and Yoshi's Island, the former a little more directly.
- Heatwave 5 from the third game is indirectly modelled after Marble Zone, while other levels are called Doodle Jump and Rainbow Road. No points for guessing the latter two’s inspiration.
- Jump Physics: As expected, players can jump several times their height and have a lot of control over their middair momentum.
- Lethal Lava Land: Volcanic Inferno and Mount Magma from the second game both take place in fiery rock structures.
- Level Ate: Candyland from the second game features gingerbread, peppermints, and other sweets. The third game features a sequel, aptly titled Candyland 3.
- Level Editor: Introduced in the second game, allowing players to upload their own levels. Taken up a level in the third game by introducing a block editor.
- Level in the Clouds: The Islands In The Sky, from the fifth PR2 campaign is Exactly What It Says on the Tin.
- The Lost Woods: The Mysterious Forest from the third game takes place in the woods and uses a very dark palette.
- Metropolis Level: Its New York! and Urban Race from the second game. The former has you race across the tops of skyscrapers, while the latter is a high speed road race.
- Noob Cave:
- The first level in the original, Newbieland, teaches players basic game mechanics
- In PR2, the first level in each campaign is similarly informative, each with a spin to fit the campaign’s theme.
- No Plot? No Problem!: Zig-Zagged. While some levels individually have storylines, the majority, and the games as a whole, do not.
- Player Creation Sharing: The second and third entries each have a Level Editor, with many user-levels being added to the campaign.
- Prehistoria: Cretaceous Race and Stone Age from the second game take place during dinosaurs and cavemen, respectively.
- Play Every Day: PR2 has a welcome back bonus, giving players 1000 experience for playing once a day.
- Remixed Level:
- Mario Bros Speed is identical to Mario Bros Remix, except all items are speed boosts.
- Luna Temple V3 is a space themed reskin of Soul Temple, with a few tweaks to match the setting.
- Space Zone: There’s an entire campaign in the second game dedicated to space levels. Rainbow Road and Eclipse Theory from PR3 also fit the bill.
- Underground Level: The bulk of Gold Rush and Cavernous from PR2.
- Unintentionally Unwinnable:
- Though rare, every once in a while, a confined level may have its route blocked by moving blocks.
- Also rare, players with the warp item can sometimes reach unintended areas with no means to get back on the course.
- Water Is Blue: Water blocks, plus the decorative water on most levels, are solid blue.
- Yellow Lightning, Blue Lightning: The icon and effect for lightning item are distinctly yellow.
