There are few words that tickle our nostalgia bones like “collectathon” does. Exploring 3D locales and collecting MacGuffins by the truckload are simple gratifications that reward our curiosity and love of increasing numbers. Many of the biggest hits from early 3D gaming like Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie built upon those foundations, making “collectathon” a word that instantly brings to mind jagged and colorful polygons. That genre has also rarely been seen since the advent of HD consoles… until last year!
2017 saw the releases of Yooka-Laylee, A Hat in Time, and Super Mario Odyssey, all collectathons greeted with enthusiasm and hype. Last year meant many things to games, but to platforming enthusiasts, it meant the resurgence of a long-dormant subgenre. Because I’m too stubborn to let this new age of collectathons fade out of my grasp, I’m going to recap how these games were received and how they impacted the recent history of collectathons. Afterwards, we’ll take a look at the forecast for this genre’s near future and why it’s heading in that direction.
via destructoid https://www.destructoid.com/reflecting-on-the-recent-history-and-future-of-the-collectathon-platformer-498916.phtml