Top 10 best platform games on Android (2012)

Perhaps I shouldn't have 'jumped' (sorry) at the chance to write a list of the seminal platform games available on Android because, in stark contrast to other formats throughout history, there really aren't that many of them.

Nintendo's SNES, for example, featured more than 100 million of the things, all released on a single day, and all of a passable standard.

Some minor exaggeration aside, the golden age of gaming was brimming with Marios, Sonics, and James Ponds, yet sales-wise the once-mighty platformer has fallen on hard times (the antics of a certain Italian plumber excluded).

Fortunately, the success of PC indie games like VVVVVV (now on 3DS) and mobile platforms like Android have rejuvenated interest in traditional bouncing pastimes, and we can only hope that soon there'll be enough quality jumping (and, even better, double-jumping) experiences around on Android to fill up a top 20.

Meanwhile, here is a selection of ten genuine platforming gems to get to grips with on your Android blower or tablet. Before you ask, though, there are no endless-runners, Canabalt-alike 'survivathons' here. No, to get in this top ten, you ideally need meticulously crafted stages, D-pad controls, and lots and lots of jumping.

Also, if you believe there's a glaring omission in this round-up, stop hopping around in a Wario-esque fury and let us know in the comments below.

Bit of a controversial start this, since Mobigame's semi-sequel doesn't feature one of the cardinal rules of platform games laid out above: there's no jumping.

Edge Extended does have "meticulously crafted stages" and (optional) "D-pad controls", though, and it's so elegantly constructed that it would have been downright cruel to leave it out.

This is platforming at its purest, with every movement of your humble cube across the angular landscape being fraught with danger: the danger of tumbling into the endless black abyss at every 'edge'. It starts simply enough, as you get to grips with the mechanics of rolling the cube up just one ledge at a time, but it rapidly expands into squared-off mazes filled with lifts, sliding bridges, and perilous gaps to avoid.

The clean retro visuals and ambient soundtrack mean Edge Extended is a sublime platforming concoction that could only be enhanced by adding in some light jumping. To clarify: everything can be improved by jumping.

Despite actually remembering when it launched (a fact that adds a few more grey hairs just thinking about it), I never actually got to play Sonic CD until it landed on my trusty 'droid.

You had to have more cash than my 12-year-old self could dream of to actually own a Sega CD system, let alone buy the game itself.

Fortunately, 19 years later, you can pick up the critically lauded, yet commercially unsuccessful, Sonic CD for just a tiny fraction of this cost, and all the years of waiting have not diminished its charms. Resurrected by a dedicated emulation fan and picked up by Sega to turn it into an official port, this is the blue hedgehog at his fastest and, arguably, most imaginative.

The streamlined, multi-layered levels of the core game - in which gaining enough speed sends you to a 'Future' version of the stage that twists the track design - make for a frantic, dizzying roller coaster ride that's about as pure as platforming can get.

With the aforementioned hedgehog probably needing a hip replacement to get through his latest adventures, it's up to newbies like Roboto to dazzle us with old skool gameplay spruced up by shiny Unity-powered visuals.

Its developer Fenix Fire admits to taking heavy design cues from the early days of Mario and Sonic, yet Roboto still feels like a fresh platforming experience.

After his girlfriend gets kidnapped (*cough* Mario), the hoverboard-toting tin man goes on a 2D adventure crammed with lots of leaping, floating, and laser blasting. Admittedly, his mode of transport has a tendency to roll off platforms at points or conk out of juice right over a hazard, but there's a ramshackle quality here that keeps you smiling as you hit restart for the thousandth time.

I'll admit to not going back to the terrifically tricky Stardash since finishing my review in September, but that's only because I feared what might happen to my phone (and the nearest window) if I got stuck on the same stage again.

Still, OrangePixel's follow-up to the ruthlessly hard Meganoid was never going to be a walk in the park. No, this is hardcore platforming so blissfully old skool it comes with graphics and music seemingly lifted straight from Super Mario Land on the original Game Boy.

Just getting from one end of the brief stages to the other is a nerve-jangling journey crammed with potential death traps - from holes in the grounds to spikes and one-touch-kill enemies.

Every level requires the rote learning of safe routes, as well as where the collectible stars are stored, and this can deter more casual players or, indeed, anyone without a physical pad to help with the pixel-perfect bouncing OrangePixel demands.

With the ecstasy and agony of Stardash behind us, it's time to ease into the soothing, less demanding world of Cordy.

SilverTree Media's platformer is still one of the best games for showing off the graphical power of your Android, thanks to its dreamy, winding 2.5D stages and plinky plunky soundtrack.

There's no denying the immediate charm of Cordy's world, and the well-tailored controls, which take the form of over-sized icons for moving and jumping, make it a breeze to play. Admittedly, there's a bit of style over substance going on here (lots of style, to be fair), but it's a great game to unwind with after a tough day bouncing on enemy heads.

While the coffers of publisher YoYo Games are probably pretty full by now, thanks to the critical and commercial success of They Need To Be Fed, there are probably a fair few Android gamers who have yet to sample this fiendishly challenging title.

There are shades of the physics-platforming crowd here: your little alien character is actually rooted to whatever object he's standing on, to the point of being able to walk entirely around its surface. The only way to escape gravity's pull is to leap from object to object, avoiding spikes and other hazards along the way, until you land safely in a larger alien's mouth and are munched on.

From the starkly contrasting colour schemes to the twisted ending to each level, They Need To Be Fed oozes eccentricity, but it's grounded in solid mechanics that play into our gaming desire to collect every crystal, no matter the risk.

Neatly inverting the entire concept of platformers, Mr Karoshi is the first platform game in which the object is to land on the spike, burn to a crisp, or basically end up as gloopy man jam after being crushed by a heavy crate.

The suicidal Japanese salaryman who you have to try and kill is something of an indie game celeb - he first appeared in Flash form back in 2008. His Android exploits, however, were rewarded with a Pocket Gamer Gold Award from yours truly.

Yes, the 8-bit presentation is a little cheap and cheerful (like anything produced in GameMaker), but the endlessly innovative stages - some of which require platforming prowess, and some that actually require you to stop and really think for a moment - mean you'll be immediately hooked.

Mr Karoshi's streamlined touch control scheme - large arrows to move left and right - and generously sized jump button also keep the platforming tight and rarely too frustrating.

One of those rarest of beasts - a movie tie-in that doesn't make you want to slice off your fingers in protest at being forced to play it. Gameloft's take on the Tintin movie is, in fact, a genuine delight.

In many ways, this title plays out like an 'interactive film' rather than a game, for the narrative and the lovely art style undeniably take centre stage.

Moving Tintin through the 2.5D, and occasionally 3D, stages feels smooth and refined, and the broad mix of action (from basic jumping about to stealth and even Cut the Rope-style physics-puzzling) means there's nary a dull moment to be had.

A must-play for fans of the ski slope-haired sleuth, including those not particularly enamoured by Spielberg's CGI flick, The Adventures of Tintin is just the kind of quality tie-in gamers should expect from big-budget movies, yet rarely get.

Before Doodle Jump finally bounced over from iOS, Android gamers had to make do with clones like Abduction! This should have been a grim experience, but the marriage of a perpetually bouncing cow with the breezy presentation lent the game a certain charm and personality.

The sequel upped the usual high score-chasing ante by adding a range of different game modes. Along with the basic 'how high can you get?' climbathon, there's a Kids mode, where the cow can never fall. Oh, and a Story mode with different themed backgrounds.

They're not exactly revolutionary tweaks, but when combined with the intuitive tilt-based movement and stacks of power-ups, Abduction! 2 feels like a real expansion that's dangerously addictive.

Our final choice is something of an obscure one, unless you've been with Android from the start.

Replica Island started life as an open source title, with users able to create their own fiendish levels and upload them. Since then, it has been refined into a 40-level, story-based experience with a somewhat familiar green robot star.

Yes, you actually play as Google's iconic Android in a game that's light on originality, yet bursting with enthusiasm and underpinned by solid controls.

To navigate the maze-like levels, you can glide from left to right, jump (and fly for a short while), and perform crunching air-to-ground stomps on foes. Although it gets trickier later on, Replica Island is a smooth mover that will bring a grin to the face of any true Android addict.