Metroidvanias We'd Like to See

By Squalid Pumpkin - 9/30/09

While I'll admit I've had my qualms with Castlevania games continuing the formula set in motion by Symphony of the Night, which was originally inspired by Super Metroid, that's mostly because I expect something new from the series. The Castleroids generally have a working formula - create a big map with a few interesting puzzles and interactive environments here and there, give you a system that acts as a companion to your main weapon, allow you to collect items throughout the game and unlock new areas while returning to old ones and getting once unreachable items, all the while an RPG-worthy story unfolding before you. Recently, they've tried to deviate from previous Metroidvanias after they perfected the magic system with Dawn of Sorrow, like with Portrait of Ruin's partner system or Order of Ecclesia's overworld map, but they can only go so far away within a complicated formula.

And while the Symphony-esque titles offer lots of playtime, it's in their sheer size that they do this. But there's a certain magic to the classics you can just pick up and play for short periods of time and be entirely immersed, or party games like Super Smash Bros. that you can rent for a night with friends where playing them over and over with only minor alterations to gameplay allows for a brand new experience each time. That's why I put forth A Call To Action concerning ideas for new Castlevania games. The Castlevania series has been in ruts before - a slew of straight linear platformers like Dracula X for the SNES or Castlevania Legends for the Game Boy are considered some of the series' worst. As for other series, they could experiment with the Symphony formula the way it experimented with the Super Metroid formula, and if history's lessons come through it could bring just as much freshness to the genre as SotN did in 1997.

Mega Man, Kirby, Sonic's Miles "Tails" Prower and more have already come to the dark side, but there still lies potential with other series. So these are my ideas...

Metroidvania Super Mario Bros. - Mario games are almost always solid - safe and experimental in just the right doses. With the New Super Maio Bros. for the DS and Wii as well as Metroid: Other M and Mega Man 9 for WiiWare , it seems Retro Fever is in the air, and any winter now it could escalate to something like this. They can keep it within the realm of Mario's straightforward platforming while adding an interesting new system like Super Mario Sunshine's FLUDD device. It could also feature such of Mario's buddies as Luigi, Wario, and Donkey Kong. The Wario games have always proven themselves to be quirky and different (like WarioWare - whose addled imagination did that come from?), the N64 Donkey Kong games were certainly full of exploration, and Luigi's had his Castlevania-esque moments in Luigi's Mansion. This would become the everyman's Metroidvania - not appealing only to lovers of Castlevania's gothic tone or Metroid's sci-fi aspects, but to gamers all over the world.

Metroidvania Sonic the Hedgehog - The recent Sonic the Hedgehog games have turned out too much like race tracks, the levels designed to get you to the finish line as fast as possible rather than hinder you so you can interact with the puzzles and obstacles the stages have to offer. So if a Metroidvania Sonic the Hedgehog within a contained map were to be made, the emphasis would not be on going over-the-top with Sonic's and his friends' speed so as to open up all the other physical possibilities the earlier games allowed for. Not that there'd be no speed-crazy moments, which would definitely set it apart from Tails Adventure (the closest thing to a Sonic the Hedgehog Metroidvania). The Sonic the Hedgehog series, with its loopty-loops, peach-and-brown checkered walls and emerald-scavenging, would be perhaps the most interesting venture into Metroidvania Land of this list.

"The Great Maze" in Super Smash Bros. Brawl certainly opens up possibilities for future Mario and Sonic Metroidvanias.

Metroidvania Starfy - The main draw of the Starfy games is the underwater platforming. You don't just walk left-and-right and jump, you swim in all directions - this simple quirk is one of those minor but fundamental changes that turns a game from just okay to golden. This allows for more non-linear gameplay, and is the main reason why Starfy should go Metroidvania. In recent games one collects items like clothes and gachapon toys, and collecting is one feature of Metroidvania video games. Though this game may end up similar to Aquaria, Starfy is a much more commercial series.

These are my ideas. Don't like 'em? Write in with your own. Come on - is this a full-blown Call to Action or just a minor Fall Distraction?!

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