Improvised Platform

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Faced with an impassable obstacle, such as a body of water, characters create improvised platforms in order to transverse safely.

The ability to create platforms to cross wide gaps is a common Power-Up in platformers/action-adventure games.

See also Stepping Stones in the Sky and Lily Pad Platform. May overlap with Bridge Logic.

Examples of Improvised Platform include:

Literature

• In the Mabinogion, the giant Bendigeidfran lets his men use him as a bridge. A fo ben, bid bont ("He who would be a head, let him be a bridge")!

Toys

• Bionicle: Kopaka uses his ice Elemental Powers to create a pillar of ice for him and Matoro to land on after being ambushed near a cliff by a Nui-Rama.

Video Games

• Donkey Kong Country 3: one level requires the Kongs to throw barrels in the water as platforms, since the water is occupied by a Nibbla.
  • Squitter, one of the animal companions in Donkey Kong Country 2 and 3, lets you create platforms out of webs.
• One of the brush techniques in Okami creates lily pads on water for you to stand on.
• Super Mario Galaxy 2 has the Cloud Cap which makes clouds under Mario.
• Several of the Mega Man games have a power that lets you summon up to three platforms.
  • The first game had a weapon that allowed you to fire a temporary platform from his arm cannon, and was necessary to complete the game.
  • Mega Man 2 had the "1", "2", and "3" devices, which created platforms of various types: "1" were platforms that floated up in midair, "2" was a platform that traveled horizontally, and "3" climbed against walls.
  • Later games featured Mega Man's canine sidekick Rush, whose "Rush Jet" functioned as a moving, midair platform. Rush also gained Spring and Marine versions.
  • Mega Man 5 had the "Super Arrow", which stuck to walls and could be used as temporary platforms.
  • Mega Man 9 had the "Concrete Shot", which upon impact created a temporary block to stand on.
• In the first Mega Man X game, it was Ice Shot, when charged to full.
  • X2 had Crystal Hunter, which trapped weaker enemies in crystal blocks that you could step on.
  • Ditto Frost Spear in X3, but only when in the water (it becomes a large ice block underwater).
  • In X4, it was Lightning Web.
• Half-Life: you put bits of scrap and other rubbish on the sand to avoid disturbing the Antlions.
• In Scribblenauts, you can write the name of any object you want, such as "dock" or even "floating platform".
• I Wanna Be the Guy: in the second screen, you need to shoot one of the spikes on the wall to knock it over and use it as a platform.
  • Also, when fighting Birdo and Zangief, you have to jump on the things they shoot at you to be able to shoot at the boss.
• Metroid: the Ice Beam and Ice Missile are used to make improvised platforms out of things such as enemies.
  • From Super Metroid on, the fight against Kraid always features Samus needing to jump on the things Kraid shoots at her in order to reach his face.
• Valkyrie Profile
• The ice arrows are used to make platforms on the water in the Great Bay Temple of The Legend of Zelda Majoras Mask.

Western Animation

• Ben 10 Alien Force - Ultimate Alien: Gwen uses mana to create platforms.