I like the variant used in modern Nintendo platformers - they use shadow maps like basically everything else nowadays, but the player characters shadow is rigged to always be cast straight down regardless of where the actual light sources are. That helps the player gauge where they're going to land after a jump like a classic blob shadow, but with the visual fidelity of a proper shadow.

IIRC in dark environments they also rig the shadow to be brighter than the ground to make sure it remains visible.