Give me your top ten action-platformers (2D sidescrolling action

1. Ninja Spirit
2. Holy Diver
3. Shinrei Jusatsushi Taromaru
4. Shatterhand
5. Ninja Gaiden
6. Ninja Five-O
7. Hagane
8. Strider 2
9. The Adventure of Little Ralph
10. Castlevania Bloodlines

Rocket Knight Adventures
Mega Turrican
Shinobi 3

in addition to pretty everything else already mentioned. Although I'm not really sure run-and-guns like Contra and Alien Soldier count as platformers in any way.

>>2940419
Well, what makes a game like that less of a platformer than, say, Castlevania or Rocket Knight? You do just as much platforming in Contra games as you do in those, really.

>>2940475
Simply put, a platformer has challenge derived from the platforming. In Hard Corps, the challenge comes only from the enemies and not whatsoever from any sort of need to do tricking jumping and platforming. The jumping is just a means of moving and nothing more. Alien Soldier even moreso; the levels are just an overture for the real meat of the game, which is the boss fights.

>>2940534
But both games have plenty of environmental hazards that you have to maneuver around using your jump and other mobility tools. If you're the person above, wouldn't you say Rocket Knight Adventures or Shinobi 3 are the same?

1. Revenge of Shinobi
2. Ninja Spirit
3. E- Swat
4. Ghouls n Ghost
5. Shadow of the Beast (dare you to beat it)
6. Decap Attack
7. Cold Shadow
8. Earthworm Jim
9. Atomic Robo Kid
10. The Ninja

>>2940006
Akumajou Densetsu (NES)
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PSX)
Mega Man X (SNES)
Psychic Killer Taromaru (Saturn)
Socket (Genesis)
Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy (Neo Geo)
X-Men (Genesis)
Zillion (SMS)