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The collectathon genre of games has been seeing a resurgence in recent years to the pleasure of many gamers. While it could be argued that the golden era of the collectathon genre came during the release of the Nintendo 64 and the PlayStation, that doesn’t mean there haven’t been some excellent collectathon titles over the years.
The genre typically features a colorful cast of characters in some unique worlds as they collect a wide array of different items for one reason or another. Some titles have hundreds of different things to collect while others can have thousands of different items to collect across the expansive worlds.
10 Yooka-Laylee
A game that was inspired by the classic Banjo-Kazooie franchise, Yooka-Laylee did a lot to revive the interest in collectathon games for the modern generation. Gamers who grew up games like Banjo-Kazooie will feel right at home playing through the 2017 title.
While there is plenty to collect in the game, players will find themselves focused on tracking down pagies, which allow players to travel from world to world. The pagies also expand the various worlds that the player can explore opening new opportunities for item collecting.
9 Yoshi’s Story
There are plenty of collectathon games where a majority of the collecting simply extends the gameplay or unlock new things. In Yoshi’s Story, collecting all the fruit you can find is integral to progressing through the game in one of the more cute and relaxing collectathons.
The player chooses their favorite color of Yoshi and must move from each stage, collecting fruit in order to end each level. While the game is quite linear, there are plenty of stages to choose from, and many secrets to find within each level.
8 Banjo-Tooie
The sequel to Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, did its best, but didn’t quite live up to the reputation of the original in the eyes of many gamers. The sequel did a great job of creating a whole new series of worlds to explore, and with even more things to collect inside of each one.
While there are lots of things to collect, the most important things are the jiggies, which are essentially little puzzle pieces that must be collected to progress through the game. The shifted focus to more puzzle-solving over exploration may have been the cause of the slight dip in quality.
7 Super Mario 64
There are a lot of things that could be said about Super Mario 64, but with the game being re-released on the Nintendo Switch’s Nintendo 64 online service, it’s safe to say it’s a game that is always in demand. While it may be a relatively simple collectathon, Mario 64 excels in every genre it falls into.
Players must make their way through the different paintings in Peach’s castle to collect various power stars. Those stars act as a kind of key that allows the player to progress further into the castle and eventually take down Bowser. The game even offers secret stars to find and a star is rewarded in each stage where 100 coins are found.
6 SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle For Bikini Bottom
The success of the SpongeBob SquarePants television series practically ensured that it would receive plenty of video games, but it’s likely that few people expected a game of such high quality from it. The game features multiple playable characters and a level selection that is shockingly varied.
Throughout the game, players will be able to collect golden spatulas, lost socks, and even a few golden pairs of underwear. All of the collectibles come with their own unique rewards or bonuses so it’s well worth tracking down the occasionally rather unique collectibles.
5 A Hat In Time
For fans of platformer-collectathons with cute characters and fun, but challenging gameplay, it’s hard to do better than the 2017 hit game, A Hat In Time. If players get their hands on the additional content on offer, they have access to six different sprawling worlds to explore.
The main collectibles in the game are the timepieces, and 69 of them need to be collected in order to progress through the game. While the overall collecting aspect of this game may be smaller when compared to other titles, the strength of the gameplay and the replayability of A Hat In Time keeps the lower number of collectibles reasonable.
4 Snake Pass
While some gamers may be surprised to see Snake Pass here, it’s how unique the game is that keeps people’s attention. While the game is a platformer, it’s actually a puzzle-platformer that made the bold decision to make players control a snake.
In each level, the player is tasked with solving puzzles and collecting various keystones in order to complete the level. While the puzzles can make replayability less desirable, the fun and sometimes challenging control scheme is likely to put any player to the test.
3 Banjo-Kazooie
Between Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie, most fans seem to gravitate toward the original for the superior experience. The iconic open levels that entice just about every player that picks up the game into exploring every nook and cranny make the game infinitely replayable to some.
While there are once again plenty of collectibles to choose from, the main collectible that players are tasked with finding is the jiggies that are hidden throughout the game world. Jiggies act as the players progress gate through the game and some must be offered to unlock new worlds to explore.
2 Donkey Kong 64
During the prime of the Nintendo 64 it was hard to go wrong whenever gamers picked up a game developed by Rare. One of their classics was Donkey Kong 64, a sprawling collectathon that challenges even the most involved collectathon enthusiasts.
If you’re the kind of gamer who believes more is better when it comes to collectathons, Donkey Kong 64 and it's over 3000 collectibles is probably for you. With some of the best levels in gaming, plenty of characters to choose from, and a charming hub world, Donkey Kong 64 is a classic in the eyes of many.
1 Super Mario Odyssey
Super Mario Odyssey jumped into the hearts of every collectathon lover when it was released on the Nintendo Switch in 2017. It can be argued that the only real collectible is the countless moons throughout the game, but that would be short-sighted.
Coins are collectible as always in a Mario game, but there are also tons of costumes, plenty of cosmetics for your ship, and plenty of unique coins that must be collected in order to even get any of those bonus items.