Why do people insist on calling Another World a platformer? This is an action-adventure game and moments where you have to jump from platform to platform are rather scarce, the game also does not really encourage verticality. I mean there is just very little "platforming" here which is reduced to making timed jumps. Where's the platformer in that?

Compare this to Heart of Darkness. Now that was a platformer! You had verticality there plus plenty of jumping and climbing, often mixed with combat and puzzle-solving.

I agree that Another World is not much of a platformer, but I would also say that it isn't entirely an action-adventure game either. I would say that it is a puzzle game with action elements. The game does not reward players who run full speed with guns blazing. In fact, it typically punishes that type of behavior. However, certain puzzles do indeed require the use of a quick trigger finger, so that action element is still there. The bulk of the game is more focused on learning the correct way to proceed through a room or area. Since certain parts of the game cannot be completed without performing certain actions in a particular order, it is definitely more of a puzzle game than anything else. Of course, no matter what genre you feel the game belongs to, it's brilliant and an absolute classic.

This is why I'm often confused by arguments over genres. Does it really matter whether people call Another World a platformer, or an action adventure, or a puzzle game? Not really, to me. These are just poor attempts to describe to other people what it's like, by trying to categorize it. But the reason Another World is so great is that it does't limit itself by trying to fit into a specific box, re-using gameplay conventions simply because that's how other games did it. Instead it ignores genre conventions and does its own thing, which is a big reason why it's so striking and interesting.

That's true... in a lot of cases, genre labels can be useful. But I think relying on them too heavily just results in too many games that are very similar. People have an idea of what a first-person shooter is, so they just make another one like that, rather than thinking of ways to improve or differentiate it. I wonder whether we'd see more interesting games if we didn't have such strong genre definitions.

But maybe not, who knows?

Anyway, your point about the puzzle aspects of Another World are interesting, and I think I might agree with you. But I also understand those who call it a platformer, since it has the familiar side-on perspective and even some jumping. I also think it borrows from the point-and-click adventure genre, in that every new screen is unique (unlike most platformers which use tiles to create screens out of familiar building blocks). And one could even argue that the puzzle aspects are similar to adventure games, albeit without the usual inventory, and many of the "die a few times before you can figure it out" designs were used in older adventure games too. Then the combat is action-oriented, even if it does require strategic thinking in addition to quick reflexes. And there are cool cinematic cutscenes too. Definitely an interesting mix of stuff.

By the way, on the subject of whether or not it's a platformer, many consider Another World to be one of the first games in the "cinematic platformer" sub-genre. Prince of Persia is the other classic example of this, although Prince of Persia had levels made up of tiles as opposed to Another World's unique screens. The idea with these games was that the player character moved in a realistic manner, as opposed to something like Mario where the character can jump several times his own height. In Another World and Prince of Persia, the character mostly just jumps forwards, although in Prince of Persia he can also jump up to grab a ledge overhead and pull himself up. These games often tended towards a more puzzle-like approach as well, as evidenced by Prince of Persia's numerous pressure plates, gates and traps. Prince of Persia certainly has more jumping and platforms in it than Another World does, but there are definitely similarities -- even the swordfighting in Prince of Persia requires strategic thinking like the gunplay in Another World.

It is definitely true that Another World has far fewer platforms and jumping than other platformers, even cinematic platformers, but the character movement is similar, which is why many people consider the game a platformer.