Best games
Best Platformer games of 2001
The 9 best Platformer games released in 2001, ranked from 3,646 critic and player ratings.
The best Platformer game of 2001 is Super Smash Bros. Melee, with a critic score of 100/100 — updated September 2026.
How this ranking is built
- Games are ranked on the aggregated critic score out of 100 imported from IGDB and Metacritic, never on Tier's own grades.
- A game only enters the ranking with at least 80 external ratings, so a single enthusiastic review never outranks a proven classic.
- Community grades from F to S are shown next to every game, and only stated as a fact above 5 Tier ratings.
- Release window covered: 2001.
- 9 games are listed on this page, carrying 3,646 ratings between them.
- Rankings are recomputed hourly; this one was last rebuilt on 29 September 2026.
Top 9
01
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Super Smash Bros. Melee is the second installment in the Super Smash Bros. series and the follow-up to the Nintendo 64 title. It includes all playable characters from the first game, and also adds characters from franchises such as Fire Emblem, of which no games had been released outside Japan at the time. Super Smash Bros. Melee builds on the first game by adding new gameplay features and playable characters: it's major focus is the multiplayer mode, while still offering a number of single-player modes.
100
/100
02
Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2
Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World is a remake of Super Mario World for the Game Boy Advance starring Mario's dinosaur friend Yoshi for the first time. Super Mario Advance is a four-part series for the GBA with Super Mario games of the NES and SNES era. The remakes came with adjusted graphics, sound and additional content. Each game of the series includes additionally the arcade-classic "Mario Bros" which can be played in multiplayer via link cable.
92
/100
03
ICO
An action-adventure game in which a boy is abandoned and taken to a massive castle by his people. After exploring it for a while, he meets a girl who speaks a different language than him, then decides to get both of them out of the castle grounds by leading her along, in order to escape the shadow-like creatures that frequently try to kidnap the girl.
90
/100
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Super Smash Bros. Melee is the second installment in the Super Smash Bros. series and the follow-up to the Nintendo 64 title. It includes all playable characters from the first game, and also adds characters from franchises such as Fire Emblem, of which no games had been released outside Japan at the time. Super Smash Bros. Melee builds on the first game by adding new gameplay features and playable characters: it's major focus is the multiplayer mode, while still offering a number of single-player modes.
100
/100
02
Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2
Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World is a remake of Super Mario World for the Game Boy Advance starring Mario's dinosaur friend Yoshi for the first time. Super Mario Advance is a four-part series for the GBA with Super Mario games of the NES and SNES era. The remakes came with adjusted graphics, sound and additional content. Each game of the series includes additionally the arcade-classic "Mario Bros" which can be played in multiplayer via link cable.
92
/100
03
ICO
An action-adventure game in which a boy is abandoned and taken to a massive castle by his people. After exploring it for a while, he meets a girl who speaks a different language than him, then decides to get both of them out of the castle grounds by leading her along, in order to escape the shadow-like creatures that frequently try to kidnap the girl.
90
/100
04
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy is a 2001 platform video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the Sony PlayStation 2 on December 4, 2001, as the first game of the Jak and Daxter series. The game follows the protagonist, a young teenager named Jak, as he tries to help his friend Daxter after he is transformed into an "ottsel", a fictional hybrid of an otter and a weasel. The game offers a large range of missions, collectables and objectives, often in the form of minigames, which provide a variety of gameplay experiences, as well as puzzles and platforming stages, which are completed by the player to proceed with the story.
90
/100
05
Sonic Adventure 2
Sonic Adventure 2 is the sequel to Sonic Adventure. It was the final Sonic game for the Dreamcast after Sega discontinued the console. Two new playable characters were introduced, Shadow and Rouge, who would go on to become two of the most recurring characters in the Sonic series. The story features good vs evil: Sonic, Tails and Knuckles attempt to save the world, while Shadow, Doctor Eggman and Rouge attempt to conquer it. The levels are divided into three gameplay styles: fast-paced platforming for Sonic and Shadow, multi-directional shooting for Tails and Eggman, and action-exploration for Knuckles and Rouge.
79
/100
06
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2
Soul Reaver 2 picks up where Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver left off, with Raziel having just plunged through the Chronoplast time portal in his relentless pursuit of Kain. Over the course of his quest for revenge, Raziel must unearth the mysteries of Nosgoth’s ancient races, expose the machinations behind the corruption of the Pillars, and the vampire genocide. Throughout the game, Raziel acquires numerous new abilities, weapon enhancements, and spells, all of which are critical to the completion of his epic adventure. Soul Reaver is a third-person combat adventure filled with devious puzzles and kick-ass combat. Fly, swim, jump, and even travel from the material world to the spectral realm to overcome obstacles and conquer your enemies. With over 40 abilities to choose from, no two fights will ever be the same.
77
/100
07
Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro
Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro is an action-adventure video game developed by Vicarious Visions and published by Activision for the PlayStation in 2001. It is the sequel to Neversoft's Spider-Man title, which was released the previous year. The game follows Spider-Man as he attempts to stop another old nemesis Electro from obtaining a source of power known as the Bio-Nexus Device. Game bosses include Shocker, Hammerhead, Lizard, Sandman and the exclusive charged-up Hyper-Electro.
74
/100
08
Half-Life: Blue Shift
Made by Gearbox Software and originally released in 2001 as an add-on to Half-Life, Blue Shift is a return to the Black Mesa Research Facility in which you play as Barney Calhoun, the security guard sidekick who helped Gordon out of so many sticky situations.
71
/100
09
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is the first Harry Potter video game for the PlayStation, and one of several different games based on the book and movie. This version is a three-dimensional action adventure, where Harry must complete a number of challenges in order to pass his first year of studies at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Successful completion of the tasks often results in house points for Harry's house Gryffindor and failure in some deducts points, so the race for the House Cup can stay open until the end.
60
/100
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy is a 2001 platform video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the Sony PlayStation 2 on December 4, 2001, as the first game of the Jak and Daxter series. The game follows the protagonist, a young teenager named Jak, as he tries to help his friend Daxter after he is transformed into an "ottsel", a fictional hybrid of an otter and a weasel. The game offers a large range of missions, collectables and objectives, often in the form of minigames, which provide a variety of gameplay experiences, as well as puzzles and platforming stages, which are completed by the player to proceed with the story.
90
/100
05
Sonic Adventure 2
Sonic Adventure 2 is the sequel to Sonic Adventure. It was the final Sonic game for the Dreamcast after Sega discontinued the console. Two new playable characters were introduced, Shadow and Rouge, who would go on to become two of the most recurring characters in the Sonic series. The story features good vs evil: Sonic, Tails and Knuckles attempt to save the world, while Shadow, Doctor Eggman and Rouge attempt to conquer it. The levels are divided into three gameplay styles: fast-paced platforming for Sonic and Shadow, multi-directional shooting for Tails and Eggman, and action-exploration for Knuckles and Rouge.
79
/100
06
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2
Soul Reaver 2 picks up where Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver left off, with Raziel having just plunged through the Chronoplast time portal in his relentless pursuit of Kain. Over the course of his quest for revenge, Raziel must unearth the mysteries of Nosgoth’s ancient races, expose the machinations behind the corruption of the Pillars, and the vampire genocide. Throughout the game, Raziel acquires numerous new abilities, weapon enhancements, and spells, all of which are critical to the completion of his epic adventure. Soul Reaver is a third-person combat adventure filled with devious puzzles and kick-ass combat. Fly, swim, jump, and even travel from the material world to the spectral realm to overcome obstacles and conquer your enemies. With over 40 abilities to choose from, no two fights will ever be the same.
77
/100
07
Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro
Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro is an action-adventure video game developed by Vicarious Visions and published by Activision for the PlayStation in 2001. It is the sequel to Neversoft's Spider-Man title, which was released the previous year. The game follows Spider-Man as he attempts to stop another old nemesis Electro from obtaining a source of power known as the Bio-Nexus Device. Game bosses include Shocker, Hammerhead, Lizard, Sandman and the exclusive charged-up Hyper-Electro.
74
/100
08
Half-Life: Blue Shift
Made by Gearbox Software and originally released in 2001 as an add-on to Half-Life, Blue Shift is a return to the Black Mesa Research Facility in which you play as Barney Calhoun, the security guard sidekick who helped Gordon out of so many sticky situations.
71
/100
09
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is the first Harry Potter video game for the PlayStation, and one of several different games based on the book and movie. This version is a three-dimensional action adventure, where Harry must complete a number of challenges in order to pass his first year of studies at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Successful completion of the tasks often results in house points for Harry's house Gryffindor and failure in some deducts points, so the race for the House Cup can stay open until the end.
60
/100
Frequently asked questions
What is the best Platformer game of 2001?
Super Smash Bros. Melee currently tops the ranking with a score of 100/100 across 1,071 ratings. Ranking updated September 2026.
How is this ranking built?
Games are ranked on their aggregated critic score out of 100, with a minimum vote threshold so a single glowing review never outranks a proven classic; the Tier community's own F-to-S grades are shown alongside each game.