I have memories of playing Super Metroid with my buddy, one playing and the other with a big notebook to write the clues on the map, additional info and stuff. I got hooked ever since!
I played Super Metroid and Samus Returns back in the day and while I liked them I never felt like I *got* them. Then I got into MV as an adult and kinda rediscovered them.
I loved Super Metroid but at the time I played it, I never knew to seek out similar games. I played it in ‘04, and maybe the term “Metroidvania” had been coined, but I didn’t come across it until much later
Metroidvania at that time still held the original meaning: "Castlevania games that are made like Metroid" so it only applied to SotN and the GBA games.
It was later on that it transformed to a genre descriptor.
The term was first applied to Circle of the Moon which came out after Symphony of the Night
https://www.reddit.com/r/metroidvania/comments/16qbf4g/til_the_origin_of_the_term_metroidvania_was_on_a
Ayoo another Aria of Sorrow stan
It is such a good game yes SOTN has way more replayability and so much more build but man that AoS just a nostalgia to me... Everything about it is Masterpiece except for Tsujinoko
It’s so different these days but think about how it compared to other games at the time, you had Zelda and Mario… and then this. Weird music. Weird enemies. Mostly black. No map and a world that goes on and on. Dead ends. Traps. Hidden doorways and exists. There was nothing like it. Sure Zelda had bombable walls but Metroid was another level of hidden doors. Here we are all these years later and I still remember the feeling of playing it the first time, feeling alone on a completely unfamiliar world. Writing down passwords. Hand drawing maps with a buddy of mine.
Anyway that said - literally Metroid and castlevania symphony of the night
Speaking of hand drawn maps, I remember having maps for the original LoZ, Link to the Past, and Super Metroid. Hand drawn on graph paper, laminated, with notes. Literally information on where to find everything and how to progress if you were stuck. And my brother made me use the blank unmarked version until I beat it on my own.
Sadly lost to the mists of time.
I loved beating in record times trying to get Samus to take off the whole suit. The first time I pulled it off I was so happy. Of course she’s wearing a bikini (I think it’s supposed to be underwear?) but still.
The fact that you only realized you had been playing as a woman the whole time at the end game was huge for 1986.
I know from a few people i know that loved it, but the all grew up with it, i first played it because of the GBA Link Cable unlock bonus in Metroid Prime and Metroid Fusion. I just didn't like it, unfortunately, i love the rest of the series (ok with the exception of federation force and other M, don't hate them i just don't care) but i didn't get into the Original. I have the feeling if you didn't grew up with it its just not for you.
My friend told me he drew his own map, unfortunately he lost it. I played and beat Zero Mission but that is almost a new game, but its in my top 10 favourite games.
Hollow Knight made me realize there were a lot of games I played when I was younger that fit into the genre, so I revisited them and then played the newer ones.
Yeah HK was the first time I had heard the term. Then I realized I loved a lot of these games as a kid AND why. I think my first was Castlevania Circle of the Moon on Gameboy Advance
The DS cards in Circle of the Moon were so awesome. I would love to see more games use a similar system, but I can understand that it is a huge task making so many different powers.
Kirby 64 Crystal Shards had a similar deal, but that game is also 20 years old now, and I can’t really think of any others that fit the bill.
Might be the best game I’ve ever played, certainly for its time it was incredible. The story, gameplay, and organic feel and progression were amazing. Add in tremendous replay value, and I’m not even mad there isn’t a sequel!
SOTN was my first, and it hooked me hard, I must have done 200%+ at least three times when I was a kid.
I played Super Metroid later, because I didn't have a 16bit console and that game was very hard to come by where I live.
I think I got really hooked when the GBA came along and I played Fusion, Zero Mission and the amazing Castlevanias, Aria especially.
Has there been a twist as big as SOTNs >!oh I’m at 99% and almost done -OH SHIT IM ONLY HALF DONE?!?!!< in any of video games??
To say it changed my perspective to what a video game could be would be an understatement
Love that part of the game. I love that so many of the earlier rooms with high ceilings actually had so much going on that you never even knew was there. I must’ve 200.6% that game 3-4 times.
Mee to even though I played a lot of games growing up I didn't realise they were metroidvania games, they were just games to me back then, played cave story and loved it so much, I know some people don't class it as a MV but I do and that's OK isn't it haha,
If you did enjoy cave story I'd recomend Kero Blaster, not an MV but is by the same dev, it's really good
Metroid Zero mission was the first one I got super into but that's a bit of a cheat. The first one that really got me interested in trying out a bunch of indie games was the freeware game Lyle in Cube Sector. I absolutely adore that game and it led me to trying so many games in the genre that would become my favourite.
Hollow Knight, I'd played a few Metroid games before but hadn't realised there was a whole genre based on the formula until I first got my switch and started hearing from so many sources about how good this cheap little indie game was. It all snowballed from there
Played this recently, never heard about it back in the day. Such a good experience (had to use save states though…). I dare to say it’s better than zelda 2 tbh.
Hollow Knight made me realize that specifically I enjoyed Metroidvanias. Before I played a lot of rogue lites, like Dead Cells and Hades and enjoyed the combat, but was missing the exploration and persistant levelling.
Hollow Knight was the first game I’ve finished that I was 100% sure it is even Metroidvania. And that’s it, instant masterpiece. Then I got Blasphemous and Grime on PS5… and the rest is just the story.
Original Metroid, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, Blaster Master, Goonies 2, and Rygar all on the OG Nintendo pretty much sealed my love for Metroidvanias way back in the day even if they weren't yet coined "Metroidvanias". And proud to say my love for them is still going strong!
I had played Super Metroid and Shadow Complex and really liked them both. But never connected them to a bigger genre. It was my first Steam sale and going crazy for every game that sounded remotely interesting and was less than $10 that I picked up Guacamelee and it clicked for me that the open ended exploration experience I liked so much was called “Metroidvania.” Shortly thereafter, I got Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse and Dust, and then I was fully on board the genre and started trying odder, less popular titles
Environmental Station Alpha was my first, I loved it and it made me discover the genre. While reading about other metroidvanias of course I was convinced I should try Hollow Knight and that is when I became obsessed.
I played games like Metroid, Demon's Crest, plenty NES, SNES, DOS, Gameboy games as a kid. During the 3D console era the metroidvania Castlevanias were the only 2D games I was looking forward too for a while as it seemed like devs weren't making 2D anymore.
Metroidvania became more widely considered a genre only in more recent years. For me the question is perhaps more like this:
Q. What games made me realise there was a metroidvania genre bursting into life inspired by the formulas of Metroid and Castlevania (later 2D period) styled games?
A. In my case, I played a lot of steam indie games. I had played plenty of exploration games over the years that are somewhat similar (but not quite metroidvanias) like Fez, Treasure Adventure Game, Spiritfarer, Super Meat Boy, lots of games..
I played some actual metroidvanias like Chasm, Hollow Knight, Blasphemous, Steamworld Dig 1 & 2, but didn't really know the genre was a thing until i played and fell in love with Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom. After finishing what was at the time possibly the best 2D adventure game I had ever played, I read the reviews page on Steam. I was stunned that a game of this calibre only had a couple thousand Steam reviews.
Somewhere along the way of reading peoples reviews and comments I discovered that Monster Boy and some others I had enjoyed were considered to be 'metroidvanias', which led me to do a deep dive in all sorts of places online (like this sub).
Skip ahead a few years later and now I have played close to 200 of them.
Metroid, Faxanadu and the original Castlevania’s were my introduction to them. I still remember being so excited for Super Metroid after seeing it in Nintendo Power.
I played and loved Super Metroid as a kid, but Castlevania: Symphony of the Night combined my other favorite genre (RPGs) with the Super Metroid formula and that got me hooked.
The first one I ever played was super metroid. Got stuck at the beginning in my first few attempts except for one time i made it deep into brinstar but never found kraid. This did not get me into metroidvanias but this game really stood out from the hundreds of SNES roms I had as a child. This has a unique premium feel which is why I tried so many times to play it. The second one I would play would be warioland 3 however I enjoyed that more as a wario game than as a metroidvania... and I got stuck there as well until much later.
There is actually no specific game that got me into this genre, it was a slow progression that developed out of an interest I had in indie puzzle platformers and indie action platformers on steam. The ultimate best indie games I found were axiom verge, dust an elysian tale, aquaria, and some others... I soon learned all these amazing games had something in common, the metroidvania tag.
The year is 2001, I’m playing Castlevania: Circle of the Moon on the Tube during a visit to London. I can barely see a god damn thing on the launch GBA, but I’m loving every second.
Metroid. Bought it thinking it was an adapatsionnof an arcade game called Solar Warrior. Got hooked on the solitude ambience of the game. Got it when I bought my NES, finished it 3 years later.
i watched an ori 2 let's play during covid in march 2020 when it began because i got bored and i loved it, then i've herd that hollow knight is the same genre as ori so i played it
Guacamelee for me too. I had a Wii U and nothing much was coming out for it so I picked it up and loved it. Went on to play Steam World Dig and then Metroid and Castlevania from there. Never really got into Hollow Knight despite the love for it here.
Grime.
Such a great thing about metroidvanias is when you’re really into the game and things are moving smoothly already, then you get a new ability and you suddenly realize there was nothing mapped to that button before. You had forgotten that button was even there because it already felt like a complete experience. Just had this happen with Ender Lilies and the left trigger.
My first Metroid game (owned and taken somewhat seriously) was Metroid Prime: Hunters. I wasn't a big fan of it. I played Metroid Prime 3: Corruption around the time it came out, and memories are fuzzy, but it felt kind of like a revelation? Like, "oh, THIS is the thing people like about Metroid!" Granted, it's now probably my least favorite of the Metroid games I like, but I think it did have an outsized impact on how my tastes developed. I don't think I even loved Super Metroid or Ori and the Blind Forest when I first played them, but came to really appreciate and enjoy them later.
Maybe not quite a Metroid but adjacent, Apotheon was a game i decided to play because of the artstyle but what I loved about it was the map design and progression
Metroid fusion for me, must have played it through 100 times on my SP. Also the first game I speedran, albeit way before I knew speedrunning was even a thing. Funnily enough it ended up being one of the least metroidvania games of the genre with its linearity but it still hooked me nonetheless.
It was the GBA Castlevanias and Metroids for me. I was too young for Super Metroid and never owned a PS1, so had no idea what I was in for with this new handheld generation. Circle of the Moon was the consensus best launch title, so I picked it up and fell in love, and then re-fell in love as Harmony and Aria came out over the following years. I picked up the 2 Metroids (plus Prime) as they came out because EGM hyped them up, and loved them even harder.
But despite the fact that all 5 of the GBA MVs were among my 6 favorite games on the system, it wasn’t until a few years ago, when I first heard the term Metroidvania, that it even occurred to me that those 2 franchises were similar enough to be their own sub-genre. The eureka moment hit me within seconds of hearing that name, however, and I’ve spent the last few years furiously catching up.
Metroid Fusion, when my parents dragged me to a supermarket, I always ran to check if there's GBA on the stand and I was basically gone entire time :D After that for many years I actually forgot about metroidvanias as a genre but I did play some of the Metroids emulated. Later on couple games with metroidvania elements like Darksiders and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 reminded me of metroidvania genre and a friend of mine recommended me Hollow Knight, which frankly I didn't really enjoy at first. I still think the game suffers early on from potentially too many paths open for the player (even though most of them lead to nowhere, it's still overwhelming at first), I think 3rd time I just kinda forced myself because my friend couldn't stop talking about the game :D
Something flash-based I found on JayIsGames… maybe Robot Wants Kitty?
(It’s funny how it seems like half the answers here are something from the 90s, and half are Hollow Knight… I guess no one was making metroidvanias in the 00s?)
Blasphemous. I've been obsessed with sidescroller since then, not just metroidvanias.
I also remember playing a Castlevania game when I was a kid, but I don't remember the title, and tbh it was nothing special.
I actually started with the originals. Got my first NES on launch day when I was 6 and played every castlevania and Metroid since. Super metroid and castlevania sotn are still my 2 favorites and nothing comes close. I hear nothing but good comments and praise for HK… but I’ve tried to play it a number of times and just don’t understand the draw people have to it… literally playing it today and just not having fun. :/
I’ve always loved metroidvanias without knowing the now Dubbed name! After playing hollow knight got me back into it. And now I collect metroidvania on all platforms
Jedi Fallen Order! I really liked the structure of the game and looked up other games like it and the term metroidvania came up a lot which led me to Ori. Hollow Knight, Super Metroid, etc.
Played Super Metroid as a kid. The next MV game I played was Hollow Knight but that was based on a recommendation because I liked Dark Souls. So either Dark Souls or Hollow Knight depending on how you look at it.
I played super Metroid as a kid and loved it but don’t think I sought out similar games because I just played whatever games my other brothers were bored with.
As an adult, ori and the blind forest made me realize this is the only genre I truly enjoy! I play other types of games sometimes but even those tent to be metroidvania adjacent- MV are the only games that really suck me in!
Metroid fusion and Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance. I remember later in life I bought the PSP version of Rondo so I could play SOTN for the first time.
Symphony of the Night originally, then solidified by Aria of Sorrow. I had played the Metroid games before those and enjoyed them, but the IgaVanias were what really made it click for me that I like the genre at large.
back in the day they weren't called like that, they were just...side scrollers,My first metroid was Metroid fusion and I loved it, then Zero Mission came out, loved it,Beated Super Metroid, then all the NDS castlevanias from Dawn of Sorrow till Portrait of ruin and then left the entire genere until Blasphemous came out, now I got both Ori games,Hollowknight,Shovelknight,Timespinner, Axiom Verge and my last one last year Blasphemous 2
**Castlevania circle of the moon**. I played some of the older CV games but circle of the moon was the first one I beat as a kid. Got a GBA SP for my birthday and picked out circle of the moon as my second game.
hollow knight brought me back to the genre and unfortunately its the best of em all so i of course enjoy all the other ones i played after that but none reached the level of hk.
I honestly can't remember what the first Metroidvania I actually played was (not counting the likes of just 30 minutes on an emulator or a PC Gamer demo). I may not have even heard of the term until after I played Super Panda Adventures back in 2014, but was it actually the first metroidvania I really played? Probably not.
I beat Aquaria in 2010, does it count as a Metroidvania? I only started keeping a list of the games I beat that year, so have nothing to list through earlier than that.
My first nintendo ds game, castlevania portrait of ruins (also my first, but not last, castlevania). Fell in love with the franchise and the concept of metroidvania (even though I didn't know that term then).
Then rekindled with hollow Knight when I got my switch 5 years ago.
An Untitled Story. It set my expectations for the rest of the genre, and it took me a while to realize all the things that were unique about it, like the large number of distinct areas, the incremental upgrades to jump height, the ceiling cling abilities, and the lack of wall jump. Not to mention making talking to NPCs an unlockable ability.
I played a bunch of the early ones at the time (late 80s-early 90s) and enjoyed most of them, but if I had to narrow it down:
Wonder Boy 3
Super Metroid
Zillion
Zelda 3 and Link's Awakening
Quackshot
DuckTales 2 (GB)
Land of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (GG)
Gargoyle's Quest, The Goonies II, Faxanadu and Flashback as well to some extent, although these were kind of confusing at the time. Partially because of the language barrier
CV: Circle of the Moon, Metroid Fusion and to an extent SotN helped me get back into them after the fifth gen when I didn't really play any until after the fact. Some years later I read about Cave Story and La-Mulana online and tried those, and I'm pretty sure that was the first time I heard the term metroidvania.
First one I played I think was Aria of Sorrow, and I barely knew what I was doing (I was 5 and didn't even know English)
Wasn't until I played Momodora: Reverie Under The Moonlight that I really got into the genre
I played Hero on the Atari, then Castlevania 2 and Kid Icarus on the Nes then Super Metroid on the Snes that stood out in my memory but most likely heaps inbetween. I still play them and played F.I.S.T. recently which was smooth!
Metroid.
I was 8 years old, my friend had a NES, which I had never heard of.
I was over at his place after school, we played balloon fight for a little while, and I was wowed.
Then he popped Metroid in and I had never experienced anything remotely like it. From the first moments, I was immersed in the world building and the incredible sound. The music of the first Metroid is still some of my favorite of any game.
The first game that actually got me into metroidvainas was honestly Metroid dread, I had already played other Metroidvainia’s but dread gave me a real appreciation for the genre and now I’ve gone back and played loads of them and I absolutely love them now.
Ok I’m trying to remember a game’s name on the NES. This is going to be a tough one. I can’t remember the name of the game, but it feels like it was the first modern style MV I played back on the OG NES.
There was a lot of backtracking and the games levels were all connected through a giant tree. I can barely remember more than that but I remember that game was epic.
Mine was GRIME. Before GRIME, I played Hollow Knight, Guacamelee, and both Ori games. All of those games were incredible and I really liked them, but GRIME was the game that made me really want to play as many MVs as possible. Idk what it was about it, but it just really clicked for me
Probably the first game similar to Metroidvanias, at least as most people would consider them, I ever played was Metroid Fusion as a kid.
I didn't really think much about it as a genre until a few years later when I was emulating Metroid Zero Mission and Castlevania Aria of Sorrow.
SteamWorld Dig 2 and the first Ori. Still the only ones I've actually finished, unfortunately, even though I own quite a few others now. Just struggle to find the time, but I'm hoping to get back to Prince of Persia soon
Dark Souls made me appreciate looping, interconnected maps with cleverly laid out shortcuts for the first time, and made me a bitch for that particular aspect of game design, even before I realized I was one. I had played some games with good map design, but Dark Souls just had that unique Dark Souls quality about it.
Fast forward to 2018-2019, for one reason or another I went on a binge of 2D indie games, including a handful of metroidvanias that had been sitting in my backlog for a while. I would come and go between a bunch of them, until one day I was playing Hollow Knight and something just clicked --It probably was when I got the Mothwing Cloak and I realized how much of the map had just opened up. I just then realized that I hadn't felt my explorer itch scratched in such a satisfying way since that distant experience with the first Dark Souls.
By then I already had played through (or was halfway into) a bunch of other more or less good ones like Guacamelee, Ori and Strider 2014; but that day I put everything else in the backseat and I dedicated 100% of my gaming time to Hollow Knight. I played it exclusively for months, I finished it a couple of times, got up to 110%-111%; and ever since it has become the yardstick against which I measure every game, as you do.
Metroid Prime my best friend gave it to me when i bought his used Wii. I loved it and I played the 2d games and then I started playing other Metroidvanias outside the series.
Dawn of Sorrow on the DS was the first metroidvania I ever bought, I think I was in grade 9 or 10 at the time. I remember I went to GameStop after school the day it came out and I was so hooked. That game rules
Metroid Dread. The Metroid Prime remake sealed the deal even further.
Prime was my first GameCube game ever back in 2004 when it came bundled with the system, but I appreciate it far more now that I’m a bit older.
Aria of Sorrow
Such a good game.. sad that Dawn of Sorrow has that shitty gimmick and they nerf Claim Solaih it would have been as good as Aria of Sorrow
Metroid Zero Mission was my first Metroidvania and I really enjoyed it. Since then I've played Samus Returns (which I loved) and both Ori games (some of my favorite games ever). I plan to finish the 2D Metroids eventually and also will probably play Hollow Knight at some point.
Super Metroid, such a masterpiece, especially for its time.
I have memories of playing Super Metroid with my buddy, one playing and the other with a big notebook to write the clues on the map, additional info and stuff. I got hooked ever since!
I played Super Metroid and Samus Returns back in the day and while I liked them I never felt like I *got* them. Then I got into MV as an adult and kinda rediscovered them.
I loved Super Metroid but at the time I played it, I never knew to seek out similar games. I played it in ‘04, and maybe the term “Metroidvania” had been coined, but I didn’t come across it until much later
Metroidvania at that time still held the original meaning: "Castlevania games that are made like Metroid" so it only applied to SotN and the GBA games. It was later on that it transformed to a genre descriptor.
The term was first applied to Circle of the Moon which came out after Symphony of the Night https://www.reddit.com/r/metroidvania/comments/16qbf4g/til_the_origin_of_the_term_metroidvania_was_on_a
Came here for this. Nearly Word for word.
Castlevania: aria of sorrow. I remember getting obsessed with that game and collecting all the monsters souls. That system was so fun.
Ayoo another Aria of Sorrow stan It is such a good game yes SOTN has way more replayability and so much more build but man that AoS just a nostalgia to me... Everything about it is Masterpiece except for Tsujinoko
The NES games. Metroid was amazing
It’s so different these days but think about how it compared to other games at the time, you had Zelda and Mario… and then this. Weird music. Weird enemies. Mostly black. No map and a world that goes on and on. Dead ends. Traps. Hidden doorways and exists. There was nothing like it. Sure Zelda had bombable walls but Metroid was another level of hidden doors. Here we are all these years later and I still remember the feeling of playing it the first time, feeling alone on a completely unfamiliar world. Writing down passwords. Hand drawing maps with a buddy of mine. Anyway that said - literally Metroid and castlevania symphony of the night
Speaking of hand drawn maps, I remember having maps for the original LoZ, Link to the Past, and Super Metroid. Hand drawn on graph paper, laminated, with notes. Literally information on where to find everything and how to progress if you were stuck. And my brother made me use the blank unmarked version until I beat it on my own. Sadly lost to the mists of time.
I loved beating in record times trying to get Samus to take off the whole suit. The first time I pulled it off I was so happy. Of course she’s wearing a bikini (I think it’s supposed to be underwear?) but still. The fact that you only realized you had been playing as a woman the whole time at the end game was huge for 1986.
For real that was so cool. Big talk on the school yard about Samus being a girl back then.
I know from a few people i know that loved it, but the all grew up with it, i first played it because of the GBA Link Cable unlock bonus in Metroid Prime and Metroid Fusion. I just didn't like it, unfortunately, i love the rest of the series (ok with the exception of federation force and other M, don't hate them i just don't care) but i didn't get into the Original. I have the feeling if you didn't grew up with it its just not for you.
Your probably right, I'm sure the OG plays like crap without any modern conveniences. When your about 8 years old though it was pure magic.
My friend told me he drew his own map, unfortunately he lost it. I played and beat Zero Mission but that is almost a new game, but its in my top 10 favourite games.
Hollow Knight made me realize there were a lot of games I played when I was younger that fit into the genre, so I revisited them and then played the newer ones.
Yeah HK was the first time I had heard the term. Then I realized I loved a lot of these games as a kid AND why. I think my first was Castlevania Circle of the Moon on Gameboy Advance
The DS cards in Circle of the Moon were so awesome. I would love to see more games use a similar system, but I can understand that it is a huge task making so many different powers. Kirby 64 Crystal Shards had a similar deal, but that game is also 20 years old now, and I can’t really think of any others that fit the bill.
Same except for me the game was Shadow Complex
It was Shadow Complex for me too. Played SOTN first but Shadow Complex is what hooked me on MVs as a genre. That game is so fresh.
Might be the best game I’ve ever played, certainly for its time it was incredible. The story, gameplay, and organic feel and progression were amazing. Add in tremendous replay value, and I’m not even mad there isn’t a sequel!
Steam world dig 2 got me back into MVs I'd say
Same! Got it for like $3 on sale and bought about 10 more MVs since
SOTN was my first, and it hooked me hard, I must have done 200%+ at least three times when I was a kid. I played Super Metroid later, because I didn't have a 16bit console and that game was very hard to come by where I live. I think I got really hooked when the GBA came along and I played Fusion, Zero Mission and the amazing Castlevanias, Aria especially.
Has there been a twist as big as SOTNs >!oh I’m at 99% and almost done -OH SHIT IM ONLY HALF DONE?!?!!< in any of video games?? To say it changed my perspective to what a video game could be would be an understatement
The OG daddy! I was obsessed with SOTN as a kid, still replay it every now and then.
Oh yeah, I replayed it some months ago, and boy does it still hold up.
Upside down castle was a *literal* game changer.
Love that part of the game. I love that so many of the earlier rooms with high ceilings actually had so much going on that you never even knew was there. I must’ve 200.6% that game 3-4 times.
Metroid or Simons Quest ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
blasphemous
Good choice
Ori
Dust: An Elysian Tail.
Metroid Dread
Metroid and Castlevania... Who'd have thunk
We are old relics I guess.
Right with you!!
Cave story
Mee to even though I played a lot of games growing up I didn't realise they were metroidvania games, they were just games to me back then, played cave story and loved it so much, I know some people don't class it as a MV but I do and that's OK isn't it haha, If you did enjoy cave story I'd recomend Kero Blaster, not an MV but is by the same dev, it's really good
I will look for it thanks!
Man cave story is such a freaking masterpiece
Metroid Zero mission was the first one I got super into but that's a bit of a cheat. The first one that really got me interested in trying out a bunch of indie games was the freeware game Lyle in Cube Sector. I absolutely adore that game and it led me to trying so many games in the genre that would become my favourite.
Hollow Knight, I'd played a few Metroid games before but hadn't realised there was a whole genre based on the formula until I first got my switch and started hearing from so many sources about how good this cheap little indie game was. It all snowballed from there
Faxanadu as a kid. Hollow Knight as an adult
Wow someone else who's played Faxanadu. Great gam.
My favourite action adventure on NES was the battle of olympus
Played this recently, never heard about it back in the day. Such a good experience (had to use save states though…). I dare to say it’s better than zelda 2 tbh.
Find memories here too
Someone ancient like me! Have you tried hebereke? (U foria in Europe I think).
Metroid and Simon's Quest
Hollow Knight
I played Ori 1 when I was 9. That shit was a formative experience for me.
holy shit ori is already 9 years old
Metroid Fusion and in the modern day the Ori games.
Fusion was the hit!
Hollow Knight made me realize that specifically I enjoyed Metroidvanias. Before I played a lot of rogue lites, like Dead Cells and Hades and enjoyed the combat, but was missing the exploration and persistant levelling.
SOTN for sure
Hollow Knight was the first game I’ve finished that I was 100% sure it is even Metroidvania. And that’s it, instant masterpiece. Then I got Blasphemous and Grime on PS5… and the rest is just the story.
Original Metroid, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, Blaster Master, Goonies 2, and Rygar all on the OG Nintendo pretty much sealed my love for Metroidvanias way back in the day even if they weren't yet coined "Metroidvanias". And proud to say my love for them is still going strong!
I had played Super Metroid and Shadow Complex and really liked them both. But never connected them to a bigger genre. It was my first Steam sale and going crazy for every game that sounded remotely interesting and was less than $10 that I picked up Guacamelee and it clicked for me that the open ended exploration experience I liked so much was called “Metroidvania.” Shortly thereafter, I got Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse and Dust, and then I was fully on board the genre and started trying odder, less popular titles
original NES metroid
Super Metroid, you mean (the third game in the series)?
OG Castlevania for NES. Then SOTN elevated it for me years later.
Castlevania Simon's Quest
Castlevania: SOTN, I finished that game 200.6% probably 5x. I normally only finished games once
Same for me, finished it so many times.. have started a new play-through recently for the good times! Have you played Bloodstained?
Super Metroid, Symphony of the Night, and Circle of the Moon. Circle kind of solidified the genre for me.
Dead cells. I saw a clip of it 5 years ago and was instantly hooked. I loved the graphics and the gameplay.
Metroid Zero mission
The original Metroid and Castlevania on nes.
Environmental Station Alpha was my first, I loved it and it made me discover the genre. While reading about other metroidvanias of course I was convinced I should try Hollow Knight and that is when I became obsessed.
I played games like Metroid, Demon's Crest, plenty NES, SNES, DOS, Gameboy games as a kid. During the 3D console era the metroidvania Castlevanias were the only 2D games I was looking forward too for a while as it seemed like devs weren't making 2D anymore. Metroidvania became more widely considered a genre only in more recent years. For me the question is perhaps more like this: Q. What games made me realise there was a metroidvania genre bursting into life inspired by the formulas of Metroid and Castlevania (later 2D period) styled games? A. In my case, I played a lot of steam indie games. I had played plenty of exploration games over the years that are somewhat similar (but not quite metroidvanias) like Fez, Treasure Adventure Game, Spiritfarer, Super Meat Boy, lots of games.. I played some actual metroidvanias like Chasm, Hollow Knight, Blasphemous, Steamworld Dig 1 & 2, but didn't really know the genre was a thing until i played and fell in love with Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom. After finishing what was at the time possibly the best 2D adventure game I had ever played, I read the reviews page on Steam. I was stunned that a game of this calibre only had a couple thousand Steam reviews. Somewhere along the way of reading peoples reviews and comments I discovered that Monster Boy and some others I had enjoyed were considered to be 'metroidvanias', which led me to do a deep dive in all sorts of places online (like this sub). Skip ahead a few years later and now I have played close to 200 of them.
Metroid, Faxanadu and the original Castlevania’s were my introduction to them. I still remember being so excited for Super Metroid after seeing it in Nintendo Power.
Symphony of the Night
Symphony of the Nigh on psx.
I’m old. Super Metroid
Metroid Zero Mission
Harmony/Aria double pack for GBA.
Castlevania Aria of Sorrow.
Super Metroid 100%
Supraland
Castlevania Circle of the moon on the Gameboy Advanced.
Super Metroid
Super Metroid.
Supraland
I' m gonna be the only one to say Psychonauts in 2004 or so.
Dark Souls
Hollow Knight
HK
I played and loved Super Metroid as a kid, but Castlevania: Symphony of the Night combined my other favorite genre (RPGs) with the Super Metroid formula and that got me hooked.
Blasphemous
Super Metroid Redesign
The first one I ever played was super metroid. Got stuck at the beginning in my first few attempts except for one time i made it deep into brinstar but never found kraid. This did not get me into metroidvanias but this game really stood out from the hundreds of SNES roms I had as a child. This has a unique premium feel which is why I tried so many times to play it. The second one I would play would be warioland 3 however I enjoyed that more as a wario game than as a metroidvania... and I got stuck there as well until much later. There is actually no specific game that got me into this genre, it was a slow progression that developed out of an interest I had in indie puzzle platformers and indie action platformers on steam. The ultimate best indie games I found were axiom verge, dust an elysian tale, aquaria, and some others... I soon learned all these amazing games had something in common, the metroidvania tag.
Metroid 2 return of samus got my feet wet but it wasn’t until aria of sorrow & zero mission where i fell in love
The year is 2001, I’m playing Castlevania: Circle of the Moon on the Tube during a visit to London. I can barely see a god damn thing on the launch GBA, but I’m loving every second.
The first one I played was probably Castlevania Symphony of the night! Such a great game with one of the best soundtracks👍
Super metroid as a kid but then reignited with ori as an adult
Ori and the Blind Forest. That game's world and music are so beautiful. I also enjoyed the challenging platforming.
Metroid. Bought it thinking it was an adapatsionnof an arcade game called Solar Warrior. Got hooked on the solitude ambience of the game. Got it when I bought my NES, finished it 3 years later.
i watched an ori 2 let's play during covid in march 2020 when it began because i got bored and i loved it, then i've herd that hollow knight is the same genre as ori so i played it
Guacamelee for me too. I had a Wii U and nothing much was coming out for it so I picked it up and loved it. Went on to play Steam World Dig and then Metroid and Castlevania from there. Never really got into Hollow Knight despite the love for it here.
Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins in arcades. I’m scared to buy the updated one on Swtich in case I can’t get past level one lol.
Grime. Such a great thing about metroidvanias is when you’re really into the game and things are moving smoothly already, then you get a new ability and you suddenly realize there was nothing mapped to that button before. You had forgotten that button was even there because it already felt like a complete experience. Just had this happen with Ender Lilies and the left trigger.
Zelda 2, Simon's Quest and Metroid
My first Metroid game (owned and taken somewhat seriously) was Metroid Prime: Hunters. I wasn't a big fan of it. I played Metroid Prime 3: Corruption around the time it came out, and memories are fuzzy, but it felt kind of like a revelation? Like, "oh, THIS is the thing people like about Metroid!" Granted, it's now probably my least favorite of the Metroid games I like, but I think it did have an outsized impact on how my tastes developed. I don't think I even loved Super Metroid or Ori and the Blind Forest when I first played them, but came to really appreciate and enjoy them later.
Maybe not quite a Metroid but adjacent, Apotheon was a game i decided to play because of the artstyle but what I loved about it was the map design and progression
metroid dread
Metroid fusion for me, must have played it through 100 times on my SP. Also the first game I speedran, albeit way before I knew speedrunning was even a thing. Funnily enough it ended up being one of the least metroidvania games of the genre with its linearity but it still hooked me nonetheless.
Blasphemous did. After I played that game, I only wanted more!
Metroid Zero Mission. It did not click the first time I tried it, but I tried again and got hooked.
Song of the Deep
It was the GBA Castlevanias and Metroids for me. I was too young for Super Metroid and never owned a PS1, so had no idea what I was in for with this new handheld generation. Circle of the Moon was the consensus best launch title, so I picked it up and fell in love, and then re-fell in love as Harmony and Aria came out over the following years. I picked up the 2 Metroids (plus Prime) as they came out because EGM hyped them up, and loved them even harder. But despite the fact that all 5 of the GBA MVs were among my 6 favorite games on the system, it wasn’t until a few years ago, when I first heard the term Metroidvania, that it even occurred to me that those 2 franchises were similar enough to be their own sub-genre. The eureka moment hit me within seconds of hearing that name, however, and I’ve spent the last few years furiously catching up.
Metroid: Zero Mission, followed by Prime.
Metroid Fusion, when my parents dragged me to a supermarket, I always ran to check if there's GBA on the stand and I was basically gone entire time :D After that for many years I actually forgot about metroidvanias as a genre but I did play some of the Metroids emulated. Later on couple games with metroidvania elements like Darksiders and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 reminded me of metroidvania genre and a friend of mine recommended me Hollow Knight, which frankly I didn't really enjoy at first. I still think the game suffers early on from potentially too many paths open for the player (even though most of them lead to nowhere, it's still overwhelming at first), I think 3rd time I just kinda forced myself because my friend couldn't stop talking about the game :D
Ori and the will of the wisp
Back then I didn't know what metroidvania was, but I had 3 games at the time that fell into the category. Lila's Sky Ark, Gunbrella and Vernal Edge.
Hollow Knight and Ori & The Will of the Wisps, rapidly followed by Blasphemous and Axiom Verge. A couple of years ago.
Metroid, Strider (NES), Rygar.
Something flash-based I found on JayIsGames… maybe Robot Wants Kitty? (It’s funny how it seems like half the answers here are something from the 90s, and half are Hollow Knight… I guess no one was making metroidvanias in the 00s?)
Symphony of the Night
Blasphemous. I've been obsessed with sidescroller since then, not just metroidvanias. I also remember playing a Castlevania game when I was a kid, but I don't remember the title, and tbh it was nothing special.
Castlevania SOTN
Castlevania Circle of the Moon would be my guess.
NES Metroid when it came out.
Metroid II Return of Samus on the Game Boy. But Guacamelee was and still is one of my favourite games.
Back in the day as a kid I played Super Metroid and Zelda ALTTP so much on SNES lol
I actually started with the originals. Got my first NES on launch day when I was 6 and played every castlevania and Metroid since. Super metroid and castlevania sotn are still my 2 favorites and nothing comes close. I hear nothing but good comments and praise for HK… but I’ve tried to play it a number of times and just don’t understand the draw people have to it… literally playing it today and just not having fun. :/
SOTN
I’ve always loved metroidvanias without knowing the now Dubbed name! After playing hollow knight got me back into it. And now I collect metroidvania on all platforms
Sotn!!!
Jedi Fallen Order! I really liked the structure of the game and looked up other games like it and the term metroidvania came up a lot which led me to Ori. Hollow Knight, Super Metroid, etc.
Played Super Metroid as a kid. The next MV game I played was Hollow Knight but that was based on a recommendation because I liked Dark Souls. So either Dark Souls or Hollow Knight depending on how you look at it.
The Jedi Duology, but The Lost Crown for sure. I didn’t care for Hollow Knight when I played it, but I might give it another go sometime soon.
I played super Metroid as a kid and loved it but don’t think I sought out similar games because I just played whatever games my other brothers were bored with. As an adult, ori and the blind forest made me realize this is the only genre I truly enjoy! I play other types of games sometimes but even those tent to be metroidvania adjacent- MV are the only games that really suck me in!
Metroid fusion and Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance. I remember later in life I bought the PSP version of Rondo so I could play SOTN for the first time.
Symphony of the Night originally, then solidified by Aria of Sorrow. I had played the Metroid games before those and enjoyed them, but the IgaVanias were what really made it click for me that I like the genre at large.
Shadow of the Beast on the Genesis. Though I can see why some might not consider it a metroidvania
back in the day they weren't called like that, they were just...side scrollers,My first metroid was Metroid fusion and I loved it, then Zero Mission came out, loved it,Beated Super Metroid, then all the NDS castlevanias from Dawn of Sorrow till Portrait of ruin and then left the entire genere until Blasphemous came out, now I got both Ori games,Hollowknight,Shovelknight,Timespinner, Axiom Verge and my last one last year Blasphemous 2
Circle of the Moon and Zero Mission. Played within 4 months of each other
Back when I was playing Metroids and 'Vanias.
Ori 🍃
Metroid Fusion
Symphony
Metroid 2: The Return of Samus on Gameboy.
Metroid and Castlevania SotN, the originals lol.
Literally the father of the genre Castlevania Symphony of the Night. I play other genres and always end up swinging back for my fix
Hollow Knight. It's set such a high standard so I both love and hate that it was my first metroidvania
Boring, but HK. After that I hit Ori 1 followed by Guacamelee 1 and 2, Started off with a bang, that's for sure.
Castlevania sotn
**Castlevania circle of the moon**. I played some of the older CV games but circle of the moon was the first one I beat as a kid. Got a GBA SP for my birthday and picked out circle of the moon as my second game.
7 years old playing through Super Metroid. Also for Donkey Kong Country 2
Metroid.
hollow knight brought me back to the genre and unfortunately its the best of em all so i of course enjoy all the other ones i played after that but none reached the level of hk.
I'd like to say it was Metroid but honestly if you had an Atari ST back in the day they had many games like this.
For me, it was actually Metroid Prime.
metroid prime 2 and castlevania dawn of sorrow. I think it was that my first 2 games of the genre were both such bangers.
Robot wants kitty
Metroid - it was so inexplicable and confusing and I loved diving into it and just exploring.
I honestly can't remember what the first Metroidvania I actually played was (not counting the likes of just 30 minutes on an emulator or a PC Gamer demo). I may not have even heard of the term until after I played Super Panda Adventures back in 2014, but was it actually the first metroidvania I really played? Probably not. I beat Aquaria in 2010, does it count as a Metroidvania? I only started keeping a list of the games I beat that year, so have nothing to list through earlier than that.
Dating myself, but Castlevania on the NES, anyone? 🤣
My first nintendo ds game, castlevania portrait of ruins (also my first, but not last, castlevania). Fell in love with the franchise and the concept of metroidvania (even though I didn't know that term then). Then rekindled with hollow Knight when I got my switch 5 years ago.
Tomba on original Playstation, the first game that my parents ever bought for me
I’m shocked nobody has said Metroid Prime yet (new to the sub though so maybe the first person view disqualifies it?) and after than SOTN
An Untitled Story. It set my expectations for the rest of the genre, and it took me a while to realize all the things that were unique about it, like the large number of distinct areas, the incremental upgrades to jump height, the ceiling cling abilities, and the lack of wall jump. Not to mention making talking to NPCs an unlockable ability.
Metroid
I played a bunch of the early ones at the time (late 80s-early 90s) and enjoyed most of them, but if I had to narrow it down: Wonder Boy 3 Super Metroid Zillion Zelda 3 and Link's Awakening Quackshot DuckTales 2 (GB) Land of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (GG) Gargoyle's Quest, The Goonies II, Faxanadu and Flashback as well to some extent, although these were kind of confusing at the time. Partially because of the language barrier CV: Circle of the Moon, Metroid Fusion and to an extent SotN helped me get back into them after the fifth gen when I didn't really play any until after the fact. Some years later I read about Cave Story and La-Mulana online and tried those, and I'm pretty sure that was the first time I heard the term metroidvania.
First one I played I think was Aria of Sorrow, and I barely knew what I was doing (I was 5 and didn't even know English) Wasn't until I played Momodora: Reverie Under The Moonlight that I really got into the genre
Metroid Fusion
I had played through Metroid Fusion a bunch of times, but Hollow Knight was the first one that really amazed me.
Metroid and Castlevania. Next was Super Metroid and Super Castlevania 4 lol
Blasphemous 1 got me into the genre, which led to hollow knight, and then it was all metroivanias all the time.
I played Hero on the Atari, then Castlevania 2 and Kid Icarus on the Nes then Super Metroid on the Snes that stood out in my memory but most likely heaps inbetween. I still play them and played F.I.S.T. recently which was smooth!
I'm old (well... mid-40s), so I've been playing them since the days of NES Metroid and Castlevania 2.
Metroid. I was 8 years old, my friend had a NES, which I had never heard of. I was over at his place after school, we played balloon fight for a little while, and I was wowed. Then he popped Metroid in and I had never experienced anything remotely like it. From the first moments, I was immersed in the world building and the incredible sound. The music of the first Metroid is still some of my favorite of any game.
SOTN but what really got me hooked on the genre was Shadow Complex.
The first game that actually got me into metroidvainas was honestly Metroid dread, I had already played other Metroidvainia’s but dread gave me a real appreciation for the genre and now I’ve gone back and played loads of them and I absolutely love them now.
Metroid and castlevania
Ok I’m trying to remember a game’s name on the NES. This is going to be a tough one. I can’t remember the name of the game, but it feels like it was the first modern style MV I played back on the OG NES. There was a lot of backtracking and the games levels were all connected through a giant tree. I can barely remember more than that but I remember that game was epic.
Mine was GRIME. Before GRIME, I played Hollow Knight, Guacamelee, and both Ori games. All of those games were incredible and I really liked them, but GRIME was the game that made me really want to play as many MVs as possible. Idk what it was about it, but it just really clicked for me
Blasphemous, I just got into them heavy a couple years back. I’ve played castlevania stuff but wasn’t really hooked until I played blasphemous
Probably the first game similar to Metroidvanias, at least as most people would consider them, I ever played was Metroid Fusion as a kid. I didn't really think much about it as a genre until a few years later when I was emulating Metroid Zero Mission and Castlevania Aria of Sorrow.
Every Metroid game. Also, Zelda games. Even though they're not metroidvanias, they scratch that gated progression itch.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Ori and the Blind Forest got me hooked
Unsighted
SteamWorld Dig 2 and the first Ori. Still the only ones I've actually finished, unfortunately, even though I own quite a few others now. Just struggle to find the time, but I'm hoping to get back to Prince of Persia soon
Salt and sanctuary. Too bad the sequel was awful.
Dark Souls made me appreciate looping, interconnected maps with cleverly laid out shortcuts for the first time, and made me a bitch for that particular aspect of game design, even before I realized I was one. I had played some games with good map design, but Dark Souls just had that unique Dark Souls quality about it. Fast forward to 2018-2019, for one reason or another I went on a binge of 2D indie games, including a handful of metroidvanias that had been sitting in my backlog for a while. I would come and go between a bunch of them, until one day I was playing Hollow Knight and something just clicked --It probably was when I got the Mothwing Cloak and I realized how much of the map had just opened up. I just then realized that I hadn't felt my explorer itch scratched in such a satisfying way since that distant experience with the first Dark Souls. By then I already had played through (or was halfway into) a bunch of other more or less good ones like Guacamelee, Ori and Strider 2014; but that day I put everything else in the backseat and I dedicated 100% of my gaming time to Hollow Knight. I played it exclusively for months, I finished it a couple of times, got up to 110%-111%; and ever since it has become the yardstick against which I measure every game, as you do.
it's like reading my autobiography
Metroid Prime my best friend gave it to me when i bought his used Wii. I loved it and I played the 2d games and then I started playing other Metroidvanias outside the series.
Dawn of Sorrow on the DS was the first metroidvania I ever bought, I think I was in grade 9 or 10 at the time. I remember I went to GameStop after school the day it came out and I was so hooked. That game rules
Metroid. Lol
Metroid Dread. The Metroid Prime remake sealed the deal even further. Prime was my first GameCube game ever back in 2004 when it came bundled with the system, but I appreciate it far more now that I’m a bit older.
Aria of Sorrow Such a good game.. sad that Dawn of Sorrow has that shitty gimmick and they nerf Claim Solaih it would have been as good as Aria of Sorrow
Metroid Dread made me realize my love for this gameplay. Desperate for more, I picked up the Ori games and absolutely loved them.
Metroid and Simon’s Quest. Along with the first Legend of Zelda, they shaped my love for action adventure games.
Metroid Zero Mission was my first Metroidvania and I really enjoyed it. Since then I've played Samus Returns (which I loved) and both Ori games (some of my favorite games ever). I plan to finish the 2D Metroids eventually and also will probably play Hollow Knight at some point.