7 great Metroidvania games | Smash Jump

It has become difficult to keep track of all the Metroidvania releases in recent times. A Metroidvania game is a side-scrolling platformer where players explore labyrinth-like structures, finding new items often by defeating enemies which allow you to progress to new parts of the map finding secrets along the way. While titles like Hollow Knight, Ori and the Blind Forest, Timespinner, and Chasm are great games with many quality-of-life additions that make the Metroidvania experience flow smoothly, what about the old guard of the genre, Metroid and Castlevania? The genre’s namesakes are rarely spoken of when we talk about the new metroidvania games.

However, not all Metroid and Castlevania games can be counted as Metroidvanias. For example, the old Castlevania games are pure platformers, with linear progression so don’t technically count as Metroidvania games. Also, the Metroid Prime games are first-person exploration games, so again don’t count as Metroidvania games. This article looks at 7 classic Metroid and Castlevania games that actually fit the genre definition of “Metroidvania.”

Despite graphically resembling an archaic video game relic, the original black and white (or green if you’re playing it on the DMG Game Boy) Metroid 2 on Game Boy was a massive leap forward from the NES Metroid as it introduced a game world and character design that is much more similar to modern interpretations. The game featured a labyrinthine Metroidvania game world to explore. The goal of the game is to hunt the 40 alpha metroids (baby metroids) that have colonized the planet SR388. Samus has her classic moves and she finds different upgrades around the game world which allows access to previously impassable areas in classic Metroidvania style.

Metroid 2: Return of Samus received a long awaited upgraded version when Metroid: Samus Returns released on 3DS in 2017. The title switched up the name of Metroid 2, and also blessed the game with new graphics that were up to 3DS standards. It was a swan song for the 3DS and retained its classical Metroidvania gameplay. There were also many unofficial upgraded versions, including a ROM hack that added color to the original Game Boy game and the Another Metroid 2 Remake, a high definition sprite-based remake that caused some controversy and was released before the 3DS version.

The DS Castlevania games use the PS1 classic Castlevania: Symphony of the Night as a model that they try to replicate. The art in these games is more refined and detailed than the GBA Castlevanias due to the increased graphical power of the Nintendo DS. These games are relatively time-consuming to beat, compared to many modern Metroidvania games.

Your character levels up like in an RPG and has weapons and armor that the player can collect to equip their character and make them strong in order to destroy the monstrous creatures that exist in the game. Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin implements a feature that allows you to switch freely between the two characters, Jonathan and Charlotte. This allows the player to use each character’s unique abilities when it is necessary. The animation is crisp and the art is beautiful, but most importantly, Portrait of Ruin is a rich Metroidvania experience, with complex hidden paths, sprawling dungeons, and cool secrets.

This Castlevania game pushes the GBA to its graphical limits. It is a 2D side-scrolling title that wouldn’t look out of place on the PS1 or Sega Saturn. Similarly to Portrait of Ruin which was released quite a while after Harmony of Dissonance, it is a metroidvania in the vein of Symphony of the Night.

HoD was released in 2002 and follows Juste Belmont, of the famous fictional vampire-hunting family the Belmonts. With the new Castlevania: Nocturne anime Netflix series being popular, it’s fun to play the old games and discover the history of the characters. Unlike the Metroid games, the Castlevania games have more of a focus on story. However, the core experience is the Metroidvania aspect of the games. This involves exploring, defeating enemies to find new items, using items to access new areas, and repeat. Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance includes a diverse range of enemies, multiple weapons/armor to find, and great animations and sprite work.

Metroid Dread, the long-anticipated sequel to Metroid Fusion (which is itself a sequel Super Metroid) was first rumored to be a DS game all the way back in 2005. However, Yoshio Sakamoto and the other developers decided that the current systems weren’t powerful enough to bring his vision of Metroid Dread into reality. Because of this, the game only properly started development when a system with the power of the Nintendo Switch arrived.

From my understanding, the complexity of Sakamoto’s vision for Metroid Dread involved having a “chase” mechanic where Samus would flee from a scary enemy that would evoke “dread” in the player. Metroid Dread was released on Switch in 2021 and is the best-selling game in the Metroid series, selling over three million copies. Metroid Dread is a modern Metroidvania classic, and probably the most modern and the biggest release of all the games on this list.

Alongside Metroid Dread, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night sits parallel to it as the king of the Metroidvanias. The original game was a 2D graphical marvel for the PS1 that pushed the 32-bit system to the max. The game also received a Saturn release. However, both those versions of Symphony of the Night are now super expensive, and rare. Possibly because of that, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night has also been released on Android.

Symphony of the Night has an amazing Gothic art style, precise gameplay, smooth animations, and an amazing soundtrack. If there’s one Metroidvania you should play, it’s Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.

Metroid Fusion was released at the same time as the Gamecube’s Metroid Prime back in 2002. While Metroid Prime boasted fully 3D graphics and was a more ambitious experience, Metroid Fusion was the more traditional Metroid experience. It was the Metroidvania that we had all been hoping for since the release of Super Metroid (and maybe Metroid 2 if we didn’t have a Super Nintendo).

In terms of story, Metroid Fusion follows on from Super Metroid, technically making it Metroid 4. The game has a high difficulty level and nice side-scrolling gameplay. The game looks to be between 16 and 32-bits in terms of graphics, and implements a good use of color. Overall, Fusion was a must-have game during the early years of the GBA. However, its impact pales in comparison to the last game on our list.

Super Metroid starts with its now iconic battle with Ridley and escape from Ceres Station. This cinematic experience sets the tone of epicness for the rest of the game, and the rest of the game lives up to it, in terms of atmosphere, graphics, exploration, and sound. Super Metroid helped lay the foundations of the Metroidvania genre. It featured a complex world, where you’d forge your own path through exploration and item finding. It also featured a map, which seems obvious now, but back then, it was actually one of the first games to include a map. It also featured varied enemies and grotesque huge creatures that acted as bosses. The Super Nintendo was pushed to its limits. Overall, Super Metroid was a great game. It rivals Metroid Dread in being the best in the series.

The Metroidvania genre is one of the most popular platforming subgenres in gaming at the moment. Its origins are in the Metroid and Castlevania games of the ’90s and early 2000s, but Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night are more specifically the games that inspired the genre. However, it could be argued that the recent release of Metroid Dread has perfected the metroidvania genre.

Of course, there are other games like Hollow Knight, a few Wayforward developed titles, and maybe Chasm or TimeSpinner that have been high-quality recent Metroidvania entries. There’s no new Castlevania Metroidvania game that can compete with Metroid Dread, although Konami may want to start developing the franchise again and release a Castlevania for current systems. Hopefully, we’ll get some more Metroidvania game news in the coming months.