Super Mario Bros

Nintendo's 1985 Super Mario Bros established the run-and-jump platformer template that decades of later games would build on, momentum-based jumps that go higher the longer you've been running, tight level design where every pipe and gap teaches a rule before testing it.

Because running speed directly affects jump height and distance, building up speed before a long gap rather than jumping from a standstill tends to clear obstacles a stationary jump can't. Learning a level's enemy placements through repeated attempts, rather than reacting fresh each time, is really how the game's later, tighter platforming sections get cleared reliably. Super Mario Wonder carries the same platforming foundation into a much more visually unpredictable, modern take on the series.