Platform games are characterized by the player making an action figure jump 'n' run from one platform to another inside a game display. These games originated in the early 1980's and became more sophisticated in the mid 1990's with 3D action and more involved gadgets and actions for the characters to complete.

The initial jump 'n' run games were very simple and stayed on a static single screen. Early versions of the jump 'n' run games were 'Frogger', and an advanced for the time period 'Donkey Kong'. Donkey Kong was a big advance in that it had several screens that advanced in difficulty. Donkey Kong was also famous for its introduction of the character 'Mario' which went on to become an icon in the jump 'n' run game industry. Donkey Kong and Mario gave Nintendo a leading edge in video games of the time.

In the early 80's personal computers jumped into the action games field and took advantage of the newer platforms being developed in order to advance gaming with, at the time, larger capacity memories of the computer.

It took several years for the scrolling ability that arcade games developed in the early 80's to be possible on home game units or computers. In 1983 Commodore 64 and Atari home computers offered a new version of the jump and run games that included a scrolling ability giving the games a wider scope. The first game offered by these computers was called 'Snookie' and the game's uneven ground and new emphasis on being able to accurately propel from one platform to another began a new era.

In 1984 'PacLand' was introduced with extra challenges including the jumping of hurdles in order to reach destinations. These developments lead to the ultimate jump 'n' run game of the time 'Super Mario Brothers'. These were still strictly arcade games due to their complexity until Nintendo once again sprang to the forefront of the home arcade game field and brought 'Super Mario' to their Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985. From that point on home video games became widely popular and the new package of games from Nintendo sold in excess of 40 million copies as the popularity spread.

Sega attempted to cash in on the new craze by offering more platform games that included elements of adventure in their games. Role playing along with specific action genres became a popular form of video games in the late 80's and new hand-held units made playing jump 'n' run games portable. In their early days hand-held units were limited and required more restricted areas of play and earlier versions of the jump 'n' run games regained popularity again until the units became more powerful and capable of greater memory in the 90's.

In the 90's the video game wars were in full swing between competing companies such as industry leader Nintendo and its competitors such as Sega. At the time the tendency was for branding of games with such mascot characters as Nintendo's Mario and Sega's attempt to gain control with "Sonic the Hedgehog". These cute characters often used sarcastic comments and funny quips to add elements of humor to the fun and hope to attract user's attention. That tendency was replaced in favor of high speed action in games such as the modern "Platform Racing 2", fantasy worlds such as "Fancy Pants Adventure", and retro games such as "Dino Run".

From single screen to 2D to 3D to whatever the future holds video games continue to hold the imagination and creativity of the action junkie in full grip. With advances in computer and gaming console technology the world of gaming shows no sign of stopping as new and improved gaming computers are developed constantly making more power, better graphic images and speed possible for the advancement of playing platforms.