横向卷轴游戏，亦被称为横版闯关游戏。特色是游戏中角色通常由左方往右方移动，镜头（即玩家看到的屏幕画面）对着角色侧面，跟随着角色右移，右方陆续出现各种物品或角色。角色透过飞行与跳跃等也可以有限度地往上、下方向行动，但是只能微小程度或者完全不能靠近与远离镜头。例如《超级玛利欧》里的主角不断往右方移动，利用跳跃或滑翔等方式通过障碍物，不断前进。在进入3D时代之前，动作游戏通常为此类。著名的横向卷轴游戏还有《洛克人》、《魔界村》、《音速小子》等。

A side-scrolling game, side-scroller or 2D is a video game in which the gameplay action is viewed from a side-view camera angle, and the onscreen characters generally move from the left side of the screen to the right (or less commonly, right to left) to meet an objective. These games make use of scrolling computer display technology. The move from single-screen or flip-screen graphics to scrolling graphics, during the golden age of video arcade games and during third-generation consoles, would prove to be a pivotal leap in game design, comparable to the move to 3D graphics during the fifth generation.