Yes, completely agree.
Im mad about themed approach - this concept is also quite close to
human psychology� Imagine (for example) you are going to the silver-pass ring on a concert and there is also a golden ring nearby. When you get to that, you discover there is another "purple" super close almost under the stage space � When you played the golden rare in MtG (past tense intentional) or when you progress through yellow, green, blue and you work your *** of to get to red level. When you beat that there is the final orange theme�. :) funny but we like to assign simple descriptors to differnet states (that can be or are not similar�).
ok enough philosophy :)
"the Marios" and similar classic platformers possess "simplistic complexity" - difficult to describe. And that characteristic in game design is the most difficult to achieve (great job Markus Persson! :) ).
Wrangler: you have one classic on the list that I would say goes on the limit of more involved platformers - Castlevania - with RPG or even adventure approaches. Castlevania series (ok not all of them) is definitely a masterpiece where core mechanics is made fun. (Symphony of the Night). Who doesnt like to destroy candles :)))
Yes some more involved
adventure or even RPG-platformers can be one of the most fun games of all time. OK this moment Flashback bumped in my head.
byebye
moxBorealis
p.s. I know why Flashback. Because I read about its remake recently � what did they do??? noooooo�.. :)