For the Metroidvania die hards, fans, curious, and even genre initiates, what is the one Metroidvania I could play (or replay) to understand what you think makes the genre tick? Which one best exemplifies all the components you like that gel together in one game as perfectly as you feel is possible? And why?
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I’d say Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, or Metroid Fusion. Aria has a super fun collecting mechanic, where every enemy can give you a unique ability, and Fusion just rules.
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Can you elaborate on what makes you like Fusion? I’m always curious what fans of Fusion like about it.
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I was 12 when I first played this game, so there’s some nostalgia goggles on.
Amazing atmosphere. The music really sells the isolation on the space station. Samus’s only point of contact with the outside world is an AI that may or may not be trustworthy. Plus it has one of the scariest enemies ever in a game.
It also has a surprisingly strong story. I became pretty invested in Samus as a character in this game.
It’s also just very fun. Samus has a fun kit, and exploring and shooting is a good time.
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Aria of Sorrow is a great callout, it’s such a breezy fun ride!
And then Metroid: Zero Mission is another really well-rounded one. It controls wonderfully, is plenty approachable for newcomers, and has a bunch of fun secrets and sequence breaks available for old-timers. Plus it’s all wrapped up within like 5 hours, which is lovely.
Metroid Dread feels a little too directed early on, but otherwise I’d say it’s one of the best modern metroidvanias. Incredibly fluid controls, peerless encounter design, and a cool story for Samus told mostly wordlessly. Sequence breaks take a bit of digging to find, but really open up the game and make planning out a speedrun route surprisingly engaging. And the late game is just aces, both for the sense of mastery you feel when revisiting early areas, and for the way its shinespark puzzles recontextualize familiar spaces to make them feel brand new.
Lastly, King’s Field 4 is so moody and labyrinthine and interconnected that it’ll probably always be my favorite in terms of pure exploration.
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It’s a boring answer, but Symphony of the Night is easily my favorite. A game that completely won me over, and I’m generally ambivalent toward the genre. (I’ve tried several times to get into the Metroid series, but always get lost and bored… and I don’t think Samus controls very well, sorry.) I’m trying to think what I like best about SotN, but it kinda just feels like everything is firing on all cylinders. The controls, physics, abilities, upgrades, locations, enemies, bosses, pacing, pixel art, music, balance of difficulty, feeling of progress, allowance for experimentation, ease of navigation… Each of these things is excellent. And perhaps it’s no surprise, when this is the follow-up to Rondo of Blood, the greatest 16-bit classic-vania IMO… which notably included hidden exits in stages, providing multiple routes through the game. The series experimented with non-linear level design a couple times beforehand (Vampire Killer, Simon’s Quest), but this is where they finally perfected it.
I still need to play the GBA and DS Castlevania entries. Someday…
Other metroidvanias I have enjoyed:
- Guacamelee!
- Tomomi
And perhaps this doesn’t count, but a sorta proto-metroidvania I dug:
- Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap (I recommend the very slick remake)
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I suppose this counts as a metroidvania… Minishoot’ Adventures is amazing. Usually the sore spot I have with these kind of non-linear exploration games with lots of biomes is feeling like your forward momentum is cut short: whether you’re just straight-up lost or caught up on a hard boss. And while Minishoot’ Adventures had lots of labyrinths and tough bosses to boot, it never felt like I hit a wall with progression. It just had this golden flow that kept on going from the beginning to its very conclusion. Despite in not being a traditional metroidvania, I suppose you could say its the one game where the genre “clicked” for me. I try not to use this term lightly, but I think it is a masterpiece.
What other metroidies have I really liked (that haven’t already been rightly mentioned here)? Thinking of the best aspects of the genre I’ve seen… I think Axiom Verge is a really solid one, it kind of has the entire suite of mechanics and level design I have come to expect from these type of games. I really like the alien atmosphere, too. I would like to play through the sequel someday.
Cave Story still blows my mind. It just has its own original identity, the story and world really gel with the design and it all works. I said earlier I don’t say it lightly, but you know what—masterpiece #2 right here!
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I love Wonder Boy and the Dragon’s Trap remake. Made me excited for any project to Lizardcube and Dot Emu work on.
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For some reason Axiom Verge always comes to mind. I think it just did a fun job of making exploring engaging as you gained new abilities, and the world building helped keep me invested. I really ought to get around to the sequel.
I kind of consider Cave Story to be a mini metroidvania. A nice little sampler, without any bloat.
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I agree with this exactly. Rondo of Blood is peak Castlevania, and Symphony of the Night is the mold from which all Metroidvania after were borne.
I usually struggle to identify what defines a Metroidvania. SotN feels like Super Metroid, but it’s a Castlevania game, is that where the -vania comes from? Is it the RPG-esque leveling and gear? Those don’t exist in prior Castlevania games, though.
I guess I personally define Metroidvanias as large maps gated by item and skill discovery. Why they all aren’t just Metroid-likes, then, I don’t know.
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I’ve always wondered if that is partially due to not wanting to classify fantasy/horror games under the name of a Sci-Fi game, and so Metroid represents one half and mania is the other half, signifying that there are multiple genres under the umbrella term.
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That’s it exactly, from what I have heard in most discussions regarding the matter. Symphony of the Night can be boiled down to Super Metroid + RPG-style leveling and gear. It’s rare nowadays to not have those elements in games of this subgenre. Notably, the SotN devs credited the Zelda games as a primary influence, rather than Metroid. Which makes sense, Zelda games had a similar structure for progression.
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Interesting. Question: Do MVs have to be horizontal screen “scrollers,” then, rather than overheard or 3D? Because at its core, you could say Zeldas (overwhelmingly) aren’t level based and don’t have a rotating roster of equipment (as much as SotN or Final Fantasy, let’s say). Which gives us Action/Adventure games with more defined gears/abilities/upgrades like Lagoon, Crystalis, LttP, and all the titles in that family.
An interesting Zelda (so adventure I guess) and Metroidvania blend was the Alwa games, which progressed like a MV but the abilities made it feel more Zelda related. AND THEN we have our modern Soulslike MVs like Blasphemous and Last Faith. Funny how small adjustments to the sliders can change the genre around.
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Originally, the metroidvania label was popularized by Jeremy Parish and other folks from the Retronauts podcast, and was used to specifically refer to the Castlevania games that played like Metroid. Once those games stop getting made in 2008 with Order of Ecclesia, the term kinda got unmoored from that definition and has slowly morphed to its current usage, which I’d say covers basically anything inspired by Super Metroid or SotN.
Like y’all say, it definitely seems like there’s an emerging distinction between more “Vania-y” games that emphasize RPG equipment and stats, and more “Metroid-y” games centered on gating through movement abilities. And yeah, a lot of these games are pulling elements from Zelda and Souls as well, which makes the whole genre feel pretty nebulous.
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It generally fells like the term Metroidvania isn’t particularly useful as things have evolved. And I know there is a critical moment to land on a better term, but no one really has.
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My faves are the ones I’m capable of beating. So far, that’s Axiom Verge, Laika, Celeste (with cheats) and Vigil: The Longest Night. I am curious about trying Hollow Knight eventually but need to go in accepting I possibly never finish it.
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I do think that Ori and the Blind Forest and Will of the Wisps are both great examples of a series that takes aspects of the exploration in both Metroid and Castlevania styles, relating the former through the expansion of the world and possibility space gated by movement upgrades, and the latter through the incremental passive upgrades gained by levelling up the skill tree. In Ori’s case I particularly like the emphasis on movement; a lot of metroidvania games require a good deal of precision in combat, but I like that Ori tips the scales way towards instead prioritising precise platforming and the full extent of the characters moveset to survive. As someone who is way more into the platforming parts of these games than the combat parts, I enjoy this kind of focused experience. The level design all feels like a playground for your nimble movement and I think that’s great.
It’s unfortunate that the founders are massive dickheads. There are clearly many talented folks at the studio that have done wonderful work. I have no idea if the people that did that work are still present for No Rest for the Wicked, not that I’m particularly interested. Don’t really know what the story is over there anymore.
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Hollow Knight. Besides pristine controls it has one of the best maps to explore, get lost in, find secrets and shortcuts in. It’s very non-linear, each person’s playthrough can be different.
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Great discussion thread. I love metroidvania games! I played Metroid Zero Mission, Castlevania Aria of Sorrow this year and I am about to finish Dawn of Sorrow on the ds. I think Hollow Knight has improved upon the formula with huge awesome map with distinct areas and great atmosphere. It’s one of my favorites of all time. But if you just want to understand Metroidvania, I think Zero Mission or Aria of Sorrow is better because you can finish in 5-10 hours.
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Metroid, and especially Castlevana have a few different game formats so I tend to define “metroidvania” in my mind as: Platformer with combat elements that has an explorable world that gradually expands in size and scope when the capabilities of the protagonists increase.
That being said the…
The metroidvania grandparents:
Progenitor / 1st one = Metroid for NES
2nd entrant = Castlevania II for NES (not really so for Castlevania I & III)
Peak entries:
Super Metroid
Metroid Zero (GBA)
Castlevania SOTN
Castlevania Circle of the Moon / Aria of sorrow (GBA)
Top modern entries:
Deedlit wonder
The Messenger
Prince of Persia Lost Crown
Metroid Dread
Nintendo switch Era has been amazing as metroidvanias found a “home” on TV again. What happened during GBA/DS era is metroidvanias moved to handheld becuase “TV was only for 3D”. That was when we got Castlevania Lords of Shadow and Metroid Prime. While Metroid Prime gets much praise, I always felt the 3D Metroid games had the gradually expanding world but lacked in the area of fun platforming. This is why Switch-era has been so good, many of the 2-D metroidvania made it onto steam (then also Switch) found their way back to the TV and by virtue also made their way onto Playstation and Xbox. There are a lot notables that come out and have their own twists like teslagrad, owl-boy, shadow-labyrinth, ender-lilies to name a few. Some of these entries I personally don’t enjoy as much as those on the list up above but they are all great in their own way.
Poster BMO: thanks for starting the topic its pretty fun to read all the replies on favorites
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