I like the fact that Metroidvanias tend to be graphically beautiful with a thought-provoking atmosphere. I prefer story-based games over abstract games. I enjoy well-tuned real-time combat mechanics. These games tend to be among my favorites for several reasons. However, games which present a top-down perspective are just as common and tick all the same boxes with titles like The Legend of Zelda and going back even earlier to 1980 with the Atari 2600's Adventure. Metroidvanias traditionally are platformers, that is, they use a side-view perspective in a 2-D gravity-bound environment. It wasn't until the late 1990s that the game really started to be identified as a unique genre with the release of Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. The genre is named after two pioneer franchises, Metroid and Castlevania, but the style of game play predates them both with origins in the early 1980s with games like Montezuma's Revenge, Pitfall II: Lost Caverns, and Below the Root. Metroidvanias typically require the player to increase the strength of their character by finding items or upgrading statistics as the player progresses through the game's story line.
One of the games that pioneered the genre.Ī Metroidvania is a genre of video game succinctly described as a 'combat adventure.' Metroidvanias marry reflexive combat action mechanics with a lot of adventure elements.
