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 ass 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�.. :)