GAMER LOUNGE 20XX (NO CASUALS!!)

[Dolphman]

Those two games alone seem to be bringing back the mascot platformer genre that's being almost dead since the late 90s and early 2000s.
Back in the day, there were interesting concepts but also poorly executed, even downright ripping off Sonic. Like Bubsy and Awesome Possum.
We did get a few good ones, like Zool and Jazz Jackrabbit. With the latter being self aware that it copied Sonic while parodying it as well.

Though there are ones that stray away from the inspiration. The current Giana Sisters games now avoid being Mario clones, because that was the reason the original C64 game got pulled off the shelves back in 1986/87, which resulted it being the most pirated game for the system.

Plus we're getting games following Banjo-Kazooie's footsteps like Yooka-Laylee, The Legend of El Lobodestroyo and A Hat in Time.
But the latter is ignored by many because of the asshole creator.