The Best Metroidvanias by Console Generation – Charting the History of Gaming’s Most Famous Portmanteau, Part 1

Xanadu: Dragon Slayer II

• Release Date — October 27, 1985
• Publisher — Nihon Falcom
• Developer — Nihon Falcom
• Platforms — PC-8801

Nihon Falcom has a slew of legendary and important titles in its back catalog, not the least of which are The Legend of Heroes and Ys. Before The Legend of Heroes series began in earnest, though, it came about as an offshoot of the Dragon Slayer franchise, a loosely connected series of action RPGs that, despite their substantial commercial success in Japan, mostly failed to make their way to the West. The second Dragon Slayer game, Xanadu, is a surprising proto-Metroidvania that incorporates ability-gating, backtracking, non-linear exploration, and labyrinthine dungeons a full year before Nintendo released Metroid. Going back and playing Xanadu (whether via emulation or on the Sega Saturn release of Falcom Classics) shows just how innovative it was, and the seeds it planted for the genre are still bearing fruit in modern titles like Astalon or Pampas & Selene.

Metroid

• Release Date — August 6, 1986
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Developer — Nintendo R&D 1, Intelligent Systems
• Platforms — Famicom Disk System, NES

Despite games like Xanadu and even Brain Breaker arriving before it, Metroid marks the official establishment of one-half of the Metroidvania genre’s foundations, and it’s hard to overstate the influence the title had on subsequent action platformers. As a lone bounty hunter isolated on a strange alien planet, players must acquire various upgrades and tools to reach new, previously inaccessible regions of an impressively vast and interconnected map, all while engaging in some very smooth platforming and combat that is far ahead of earlier “proto-vanias”. The biggest misstep Nintendo makes with Metroid, mostly due to technical limitations, is its absence of an in-game map, which required players to make hand-drawn maps on graph paper at the time of its release (which, thankfully, has been replaced with full-color detailed map readouts available from a simple Google search).

Still, Metroid is one of the most important and foundational games on the NES. Additionally, it’s one of a select few releases on Nintendo’s industry-reviving console responsible for starting its own subgenre while also moving the needle forward for every other action-adventure game following in its wake. It might be a bit rough to go back to today, but it was revolutionary for its time and its influence would only continue to reverberate for years after its release.

Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest

• Release Date — August 28, 1987
• Publisher — Konami
• Developer — Konami
• Platforms — Famicom Disk System, NES

While most people consider Symphony of the Night to be the point at which the Castlevania series began taking inspiration from Metroid (thus, marking the beginning of the Metroidvania genre), Konami’s first attempt at a Metroid-like Castlevania game is actually 1987’s Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest. Like Metroid, exploration in Simon’s Quest is non-linear and requires players to gain certain abilities or upgrades before they can progress deeper into the main adventure (a mechanic known as “ability-gating”, a cornerstone of the Metroidvania subgenre). Of course, also like the original Metroid, Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest is often more obtuse than it needs to be, and there are parts of the game that come across as being impossible without the aid of a guide (or, at the time of its release, an issue of Nintendo Power).

Despite its faults, though, Simon’s Quest is an incredibly important title, both in the grander scheme of the NES library and as a foundational step toward the growth of the Castlevania franchise. The game’s embracing of experimentation would lead to further innovation in Castlevania III and the 16-bit entries that followed, paving the way for the “Vania” in Metroidvania.

Faxanadu

• Release Date — November 16, 1987
• Publisher — Hudson Soft, Nintendo
• Developer — Hudson Soft
• Platforms — NES

One of the only Dragon Slayer games to ever make its way to the West in an official capacity, Faxanadu is the follow-up to the third game in the series Romancia and is a similar action RPG. However, where Romancia was developed in-house by Nihon Falcom with assistance from Compile, Faxanadu comes from the team at Hudson Soft, who absolutely knocked it out of the park when it came to crafting a compelling adventure with some light RPG-style progression and ability-gating across its interconnected fantasy world.

While its predecessor Xanadu qualifies as a “proto-Metroidvania”, Faxanadu is a full-blown Metroidvania years before the term would ever exist, compiling all the subgenre’s major elements into one of the NES’ best and most underrated games. As the best Metroidvanias do, each new upgrade or piece of equipment in Faxanadu recontextualizes its world and makes traversal easier than it was before, incentivizing backtracking and return trips to previously explored areas.

Metroid II: The Return of Samus

• Release Date — January 21, 1992
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Developer — Nintendo R&D 1
• Platforms — Game Boy

The first Metroid sequel, Metroid II: The Return of Samus, does a surprising amount of heavy lifting when it comes to moving the needle forward for the Metroidvania subgenre, with many of its best innovations having a direct impact on the hugely important third game in the series. But one aspect of Metroid II that doesn’t get brought up enough, and one that is arguably its most important contribution to the MV genre, is sequence-breaking. Thanks to the Spider Ball item, players can reach areas that should be, in theory, impossible to reach, allowing them to complete sections of the game out of order and opening up the opportunity for challenge or speed runs.

Beyond its implementation of sequence-breaking, though, Metroid II sets up the series as an interconnected narrative and advances Samus’ character arc. It’s a pivotal middle chapter in the franchise that gave the Metroidvania portmanteau half of its name and one of the Game Boy’s best exclusives.

Wonder Boy in Monster World

• Release Date — October 25, 1991
• Publisher — Sega
• Developer — Westone
• Platforms — Sega Genesis

Westone’s Wonder Boy in Monster World isn’t the first game in the series, nor is it the first Wonder Boy game to implement Metroidvania mechanics, but it is arguably the best Wonder Boy game and an essential Metroidvania that continues to inspire a whole subset of titles in the genre. Wonder Boy in Monster World is a pretty straightforward action RPG with hack-and-slash combat, but its use of an interconnected world and ability-gating often see it listed as one of the few Metroidvanias to ever release on the Sega Genesis. Notably, the Western version of the title introduced an important innovation to the genre in the form of periodic save points dispersed throughout the map, which would become a Metroidvania staple in subsequent games.

Super Metroid

• Release Date — March 19, 1994
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Developer — Nintendo R&D 1, Intelligent Systems
• Platforms — SNES

1994’s Super Metroid represents the culmination of all the best ideas from the first two games in the Metroid series, firmly establishing the core tenets of what would eventually come to be known as the Metroidvania subgenre of action platformers. While the game does see Samus return to the same planet as the original Metroid, Zebes, the map has been completely redesigned to reflect the destruction of Mother Brain’s base that occurred at the end of that first chapter in Samus’ saga. And though that map is somewhat smaller than what most modern Metroidvania fans might expect from a genre entry today, the world of Super Metroid is densely packed with dozens of items to uncover, hidden passages, and opportunities for sequence-breaking and speedrunning.

That narrative conceit to the game’s world echoes throughout every moment of Super Metroid, underscoring the game’s sense of isolation and tension as Samus once again strives to stop Mother Brain from using the last Metroid in existence to raise a biological army. Tying the whole experience together is some of the best presentation of any 16-bit game and some of the smoothest platforming and combat, cementing Super Metroid as a timeless classic whose innovations continue to reverberate across multiple console generations.

The Legend of Xanadu

• Release Date — February 18, 1994
• Publisher — NEC
• Developer — Nihon Falcom
• Platforms — PC Engine CD

Technically the final mainline game in the Dragon Slayer series before Nihon Falcom would pivot to focus on its offshoot, The Legend of Heroes, The Legend of Xanadu is an excellent and overlooked title in the PC Engine CD library, picking up where the original Xanadu left off as a sort of action RPG/Metroidvania hybrid. Like the original Xanadu, The Legend of Xanadu features both overhead exploration and side-scrolling combat and platforming, tasking players with navigating a sprawling interconnected world as they progress through the main quest. While it does share more similarities with the Ys series than most Metroidvania titles, twin emphases on ability-gating and non-linear exploration/progression are what set The Legend of Xanadu apart from being your typical action RPG or action-adventure game.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

• Release Date — March 20, 1997
• Publisher — Konami
• Developer — Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo
• Platforms — PlayStation, Sega Saturn

If Super Metroid is technically where the “Metroid” in Metroidvania comes from, then the “Vania” half can undoubtedly be attributed to the 1997 classic Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. A direct sequel to the excellent Akumajō Dracula X: Chi no Rondo (Castlevania: Rondo of Blood) on the PC Engine CD, Symphony of the Night is both a major leap forward for the Castlevania series and marks the first true “Metroidvania”, combining the elements commonly associated with both franchises into a compelling package unlike anything else on the PlayStation or Sega Saturn. Unlike previous Castlevania games, which split each section of exploring the titular castle into distinct stages, Symphony of the Night presents players with a massive interconnected map to explore that’s bursting with secrets, upgrades, equipment, and opportunities for sequence breaking. Yes — the core elements of the Metroidvania are all present and accounted for.

Further, Symphony of the Night marks Koji Igarashi’s series debut as a scenario writer, programmer, and director, paving the way for him to take the series’ helm on the Game Boy Advance. While we didn’t know it at the time, Igarashi’s contributions to Castlevania and the series’ renaissance during the 6th console generation practically laid the foundations for the genre’s current popularity, and none of it would be possible without Symphony of the Night.

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon

• Release Date — March 21, 2001
• Publisher — Konami
• Developer — Konami Computer Entertainment Kobe
• Platforms — Game Boy Advance

After a handful of relatively unsuccessful games following in Symphony of the Night‘s wake (including a much-maligned transition to 3D), the series got back on track with 2001’s Castlevania: Circle of the Moon. Despite Koji Igarashi not being directly involved with the game’s production, it’s clear that the title owes a heavy debt of gratitude to Symphony of the Night, and we owe the existence of the term “Metroidvania” to Circle of the Moon. The term’s origins can be traced back to its use to describe Circle of the Moon and Symphony of the Night‘s gameplay at the time of its release, and many of the characteristics shared between both games are now commonly accepted elements of the subgenre that appear throughout the Castlevania franchise and beyond.

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance

• Release Date — June 6, 2002
• Publisher — Konami
• Developer — Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo
• Platforms — Game Boy Advance

After taking a hands-off approach with the Castlevania series’ return to 2D on the Game Boy Advance, series lead Koji Igarashi took on the role of producer for the franchise’s second Metroidvania on the handheld. Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance was released just a year after Circle of the Moon, and Igarashi clearly aimed to address many of the main criticisms pointed at that initial GBA Castlevania. The primary distinction between the two is Harmony of Dissonance‘s extremely bright presentation, a direct reaction to the darkness of Circle of the Moon that made playing the game somewhat difficult.

Ultimately, Igarashi and his team ended up overcorrecting from Circle of the Moon, with Harmony of Dissonance coming off as a bit garish in comparison to the other GBA Castlevania games. It also doesn’t help that the game’s approach to multiple maps is confusing at best and needlessly cumbersome at worst. But while Harmony of Dissonance might be the weakest of the trilogy, it’s still a worthwhile game that teed up what’s arguably the best title in the series.

Metroid Fusion

• Release Date — November 18, 2002
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Developer — Nintendo R&D 1
• Platforms — Game Boy Advance

Not content to let Castlevania have all the fun, Nintendo would finally bring the Metroid series back in 2002 with a double-whammy of releases. While GameCube owners would get the phenomenal 3D Metroidvania Metroid Prime, Game Boy Advance players got the sequel to Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion. In many ways, Fusion is the natural progression from Super Metroid and a prime example of how the genre should be tackled. Once again, Samus finds herself stranded in a labyrinthine map full of hostile enemies, perilous platforming challenges, and areas just out of reach that require her to scour the environment for upgrades.

But where Fusion sets itself apart from previous entries is its embracing of horror elements and a greater narrative focus. In terms of its gameplay, Metroid Fusion is simply more of what fans love about Metroid, Castlevania, and the Metroidvania subgenre. But its story, which fully leans into the horror and existential dread that the Metroid series had flirted with for years, adds an extra layer of incentive to immerse yourself in the game and its world, and it’s safe to say that the subgenre hasn’t been the same since.

Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow

• Release Date — May 6, 2003
• Publisher — Konami
• Developer — Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo
• Platforms — Game Boy Advance

There’s an urge to proclaim Castlevania: Symphony of the Night as both the best game in its respective series and one of the best Metroidvanias, but the cold hard truth is that Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow outdoes it on both fronts. For the series’ final entry on the Game Boy Advance, Koji Igarashi pulls out all the stops, introducing so many groundbreaking new mechanics that push the envelope for both Castlevania and Metroidvanias as a whole.

The Tactical Soul system is one of the best mechanics ever devised for a Metroidvania, giving players incentive to track down and kill each and every foe in the hopes of netting valuable rewards that have the capacity to transform their playstyle and unlock the furthest reaches of the map. And, thankfully, Aria of Sorrow is the GBA Castlevania that finally got the balance between light and dark right in its presentation and art direction.

Metroid: Zero Mission

• Release Date — February 9, 2004
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Developer — Nintendo R&D 1
• Platforms — Game Boy Advance

The original Metroid is such a groundbreaking and important game, but going back and playing that title in a modern context proved to be an exercise in frustration. Thankfully, we now have Metroid: Zero Mission, which reduces the need to play the NES version of Samus’ first adventure to be wholly unnecessary, except as a historical curiosity. Metroid: Zero Mission retains everything from the original Metroid, reimagines it using an art style closer to Super Metroid or Metroid Fusion, and even adds in some new content that enhances the experience without diluting the original vision. It’s both a prime example of how to do a great video game remake and one of the best Metroidvania games on a system that came to define and be defined by the subgenre.