15 Best Linear Games You Need to Play [2023 Edition]

#9. DONKEY KONG COUNTRY: TROPICAL FREEZE

2D sidescrolling platformers aren’t as commonly found as they once were back in the medium’s early days (especially not good ones), but Donkey Kong Country: Tropic Freeze is not only one of the genre’s best offerings in recent years, it’s probably one of the best 2D platformers of all time, period. It’s hard to think of many games that are capable of exhibiting the level of creativity and ingenuity that a single level of Tropical Freeze does, and it’s a game that does so on a consistent basis. Combine that with tight controls and mechanics, and you get nothing short of a masterpiece.