Nintendo finally releasedMetroid Dreadafter almost 20 years sinceMetroid Fusion, and now,Metroid Prime 4is just around the corner. While Konami hasn’t released a newCastlevaniagame in ages, the series is being kept alive by its anime andguest appearances in other games. Yet, through all this time, the term ‘Metroidvania’ has endured to describe a genre of game that follows their style.
Metroidvanias have become a mainstay for developers, inspiring amultitude of indie titlesas well as a few big AAA efforts with their tight level design and encouragement of exploration. But what separates them from any other puzzle-platformer or action RPG? Here are the hallmarks of the genre.
The big key feature of Metroidvania games is their level design. Instead of being a linear set of stages, they offer players one big world to traverse, letting them move in any direction they like. It’s standard now, but back in the 1980s, players were conditioned by games likeSuper Mario Bros,Pitfall, andGalagato move right or up to progress. It was where the level ended and the next began.
So, getting a game where progress could be in any direction was a new experience. WhileMetroidwasn’t the first game to do this (see 1985’sBrain Breaker), it wasone of the firstto make this clear by planting some passages to the right that were too narrow to move through. This would make the player go left to discover the Morph Ball power-up, which would make them small enough to slip through those crevices and continue.
The Metroidvania games could be seen as a precursor to open-world games, but like the Morph Ball inMetroid, it would still limit access to trickier areas without a key item, skill, or power-up. More often than not, those new areas would also feature a puzzle or other challenge to give players time to test out their new toys, like inCastlevania: Symphony of the Night.
Players can go straight for the Caverns, but any dip in water hurts Alucard until he acquires the Holy Symbol (a snorkel) that allows him to explore the depths. Story progress is also locked behind a corridor full of spikes, but if Alucard uses the Bat form to echolocate through a spike puzzle elsewhere in the castle, he’ll find the Spike Breaker armor that makes Alucard snap the spikes with each step.
Metroidvania games do corral the player a bit to direct them to the next key sections, as some items are easier to find than others, and the most important ones will tend to be the most blatant. Yet, they won’t disallow keen players from experimenting with their basic moves to progress any way they like. They can go wherever their ingenuity will allow them.
Players could get the snorkel inSotNbefore they tackle Richter Belmont’s minotaur in the Colosseum. They could make Batman cleanseArkham Asylumof most of its Riddler Trophies before moving on to the Hospital or Penitentiary. Or they could use speedrun tricks to access areas inSuper Metroidthey usually wouldn’t be able to reach. It’s up to them to play the game however they like.
The larger the map, the more of a pain it is to backtrack. The Spike Breaker room inSotNis on the other side of the castle from the spiked corridor. Players have to travel through 3 sections just to go from the Agave Field to Desierto Caliente inGuacamelee. Even the alien charm ofMetroid Prime’s locations runs dry after the 5th visit.
Which is why these games will usually have a few shortcuts to reduce backtracking.Metroidtitles—and laterCastlevaniagames — would have warp rooms that would allow them to move to a closer location. Olmec Heads do the same thing inGuacamelee.But, if the gamedoesn’t use magic or sci-fi tech, likeBatman: Arkham Asylum, they’ll use extra vents, ducts, or other paths for the player to move through to reduce the journey.
The only punishment players will face for their wanderlust is coming across foes and obstacles that are well beyond their level. It’s one thing to come across an impassable obstacle, but another to see their game get ended by a swift axe swipe or a pouncing alien because they didn’t prepare themselves. Luckily, they can also berewarded for their explorationby coming across new items.
Most classic Metroidvanias will either hide these new upgrades in hidden rooms or other remote areas, often with some tricky enemies or challenges along the way. Then, once obtained, it’ll make those previously difficult bosses much more manageable. Usually, they’ll give the player a new, more powerful attack or increased defense. Others, like Mina’s Talisman inCastlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, don’t do much and are easy to ignore. But, if the player rushes into the end without it equipped, they’ll getanother ‘reward’ for their hastiness.
Preparation can only take a player so far if their character has all the health and attack power of a fly. Even with the strongest weapons or armor, they’ll need to beef themselves up. Usually, this comes in the form of pick-ups — likeSuper Metroid’s Energy Tanks, Missiles, and Power Bombs — or howSymphony of the Nightand its successors went with RPG-style stats.
With each enemy beaten or challenge completed, players can sometimes earn experience points to beef their stats up. TheCastlevaniagames would make them a largely passive boost to the numbers on the menu screen, while other Metroidvanias would make players choose between health, armor, or new moves to use. For example, Batman has to progress through the story inArkham Asylumto get the Explosive Gel, but the Inverted Takedown requires spending XP on the skill.
Does a Metroidvania need to be 2D to work? The most classic examples tend to stick to 2-dimensional movement, even if they throw in newfangled 3D graphics likeBloodstained: Ritual of the NightandMetroid Dread. For many, it represents the purest form of the genre. Not that it hasn’t been done remarkably well in 3D (Metroid PrimeandArkham Asylumbeing, perhaps, the brightest examples).
TheMetroid Primetrilogy of games managed it with a first-person view, whileBatman: Arkham AsylumandStar Wars Jedi: Fallen Orderfleshed out their metroidvania sensibilities as third-person adventures. The indie space has explored 3D Metroidvanias as well, like theCastlevania-inspiredPseudoregalia.Some even loosely consider theDark Soulsgames Metroidvanias with their sort-of open, sort-of linear structure — though they frequently rely on key items to advance, rather than abilities that unlock new areas to explore.
