Knack certainly isn't a platformer. R & C has a little bit of platforming, but it's mostly a third person shooter. 

And Yooka-Laylee is a collect-a-thon platformer, not an action platformer. It's nothing like Knack or R & C.

The only reason people call those two franchises a platformer is because they have cartoony graphics. Tell me, is God of War also a platformer? 

Games don't need to be Retro at all. They should however try to do more in term of gameplay. A game needs to be easy to pick up and play, it should be self-explanatory. If you need a big ass tutorial for your game that bores the shit out of the player for 45 mins, you're doing it wrong. On the other hand, games need enough depth to motivate you for a long time and multiple play-throughs. Easy to learn, hard to master is the magic formula. Many games of the past had such qualities, like Mega Man, Metroid or Super Mario. You can play these and a shitload of other old games until this very day and have a blast with it.

Many, if not most, modern titles lack such well crafted gameplay. Too many times a boring story is presented as the main deal, gameplay falls short. Think about Call of Duty or Uncharted. Sure, first play-through is a lot of fun and all, but would you ever touch those games again? I know I wouldn't. What I'm missing today is the magic that only games are able to achieve. Gaming was always about interactivity. About doing what you want. But while graphics are crushing throzgh the roof, gameplay too many times takes the exact different route. Despite all that hardware power I keep getting messages like "Get back to the battlefield!", "Don't go there!", "Do this and that first!" or some shit. Add some lame cutscenes and I'm bored to death.

Back in the days there was no holding hands. When I wasn't ready for a region in Link to the past or Final Fantasy, I found out the hard way. The games allowed me to do what I wanted to do without restrictions. I could kill each and every civilian in Half-Life, while in HL2 that's not possible anymore. I could kill my own party members in Baldur's Gate or go insane in the middle of town for no goddamn reason. Today's games? Sorry no, you have to follow the script!

Do you know what I mean? I don't feel like the player anymore, I often feel like an actor thatbhas to do everything the director tells him. Even in praised games like the last of us. I want more freedom again and less boring stories. More exploring, more challenges, more secrets. All that stuff. The style of a game doesn't matter at all. If the game itself is good, I'll take it no matter what it looks like. GTA 4 looked insanely real for its time and I loved it. But I also love cartoony games like Mario or something. It really doesn't matter, it's all about the gameplay and I am certain that it's only because of changes in gameplay that games today feel so much different and more and more people like to play older games again.

So you haven't played Knack. 

More AAA all ages titles (that aren't Lego) would be nice. Heck, even some "AA" would work. Something to attract the kids away from their stupid tablets & phones.

More actual platformers would be great, too. Yes, we have a bunch right now, but most of them fall into the 'Physics-Based Puzzle / Platformer' dumpster, the 'Die Until You Succeed' Meatboy clone factory, or are labeled as platformers simply because they either are 2D and have a jump button or its aesthetic is all-ages cartoony (see: Knack). One reason I really like the Shantae games & backed Adventures of Pip was this thirst.

So you've never played a platformer. 

Like I said in the other thread, as long as the game is fun and doesn't look awful, I'm fine with it being fancy or simplistic

You're really sitting here telling that a game you haven't played isn't in the genre that it's in? 

I mean...okay I guess.

Cup Head

more cartoony/retro style games? no not really. there are plenty. they just need more attention. i would say we need more platformers not necessarily more cartoony games.

You do realize we have this thing called youtube, right? I've watched let's plays of many games I never bothered playing. It's quite obvious you don't have any real arguments as to why Knack is supposedly a platformer anyway.