Oh you.

I'd definitely recommend Duke Nukem 1+2. Especially the first one. Extremely precise controls, more emphasis on exploration and action than reflexes and no life system. If you die, you're just reset to the beginning of the level with no further penalty.

Hocus Pocus was also rather forgiving and straightforward, if I remember correctly.

Cave Story. A Metroid-esque game with a charming story. Again, more focused on action than pure platforming. Also free (get the "Cave Story Deluxe Package").

Spelunky, maybe?

I'm guessing someone here didn't try for the true ending of Cave Story.

I'm glad there are other fans of these games around. Especially the often-forgotten Heart of Darkness. Some of these perhaps offer more challenging sections, but I think most are still easier than some of the other games mentioned in the thread - La-Mulana? Rogue Legacy? VVVVVV? Damn.

I meant the original one. The rest don't really belong in this group. It had no real jumping sections (and couldn't due to how it was animated), and its combat was fairly slow. There were some segments where one had to react quickly, as with all these games, but not *that* quickly, in my opinion.

Ah, well. This could easily be a miss - I never finished them. Had to return the CDs.

I wish GOG could release this one, I'd like to replay it. I agree about the timing, but I consider that to be the gameplay - you'd still get surprised and die even with good reflexes. Then you figure it out - essentially solve the puzzle (including combat) - and go through it. There was a remake? Anyway, I played the DOS version. REminiscence is an engine re-implementation, and while it's nice one can combine different assets (DOS, Amiga, Sega CD), I sort of prefer the simplicity of running it in DOSBox.

No...
*hangs head in shame*

Depends on your defininition of easy and hard. I wouldn't suggest La-Mulana and Rogue Legacy to people not that into platformers either, but VVVVVV isn't as hard as everyone's saying. Yes, it has a few really challenging and even frustrating sections, but like I said you have checkpoints, infinite lives and tries and don't lose much progress when you fail. Prince of Persia might not be that hard if you look at individual challenges, but it is timed (one hour?), your life energy is finite and you can't save your progress, and if you fail, IIRC you have to start all over. Compare the frustration of losing the game shortly before you reach the ending after playing for an hour to repeating a tough challenge 20 times in the span of five minutes or so.

A game on a timer, where the goal is to speedrun the levels, might not be that good a suggestion for the OP, even if it's not really reflex based.

Well, in this case I would still prefer the Amiga version and WinUAE.

Most of these indie plattformers are, in my opinion, downright sadisctic and should not be played when you don't have a masochistic streak.

I also love cinematic platformers. These are games that actually have a real sense of gravity and weight to them. Every step matters.
And Heart of Darkness is just amazing.

Are you sure about that? I dig out the original game every once in a while, and it does have quite a lot of pretty harrowing jumping sections and crazy timing puzzles. It is easier than the second one, for sure, but not by much, I think.

Yeah, I've replayed Abe's Exoddus recently and that game is quite heavy on puzzles that require you to run from an angry mob of monstrosities, so if your timing isn't 100% perfect, you're screwed.

Agreed. I think the main problem is getting it to run on modern machines. You can technically play it, but the colours will be a horrid mess.
And the trial and error thing is pretty much the nature of these games. It's often more about finding the right rhythm or path for a given scene than a pure execution challenge.

Oh, yes. It was quite awful.
It did include the original, though, presented in the most wretched way possible.

Without any of the music and in a small window right?

Exactly. Plus, it's shown within an arcade cabinet (which really makes no sense) and there is a constant rain animation to the left and the right.

I find it funny how justanoldgamer asks for something simple and you guys recommend him La Mulana, Unepic, Spelunky... :)

And no Braid recommendation? Tsk, tsk, you disappoint me goggers...

Oh fine, I'll recommended Braid the moment it gets a fun and interesting story.

I Assumed it was limited to GoG games since he mentioned he already has a ton in his library. He likely doesn't want to buy another one.

Of the GOG platform games, I think unepic is probably the least reflex intensive, but I've never tried Spelunky. Braid is another good game though.

You need reflexes for Spelunky.