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super metroid is my goat
I'm a metroid fusion guy myself.
Both are fantastic for different reasons. Dread is the best cause it has both
I like Metroidvanias when they actually make use of the benefits of their genre and have some element of non-linearity, such as Hollow Knights. There are a lot of "Metroidvanias" out there that give the genre a bad name by just being a linear game (in terms of progression) with ludicrous backtracking.
Metroid fusion made me crazy this way. Linear metroidvania
It was the fourth game and the last portable one was also pretty linear. Its a good game if you dont expect it to be something it isn't.
Order of Ecclesia has the best combat. Fight me
I'm more of a classic Castlevania head for sure. Give me a bunch of levels and crisp controls and that's all I need from a game, even if it's balls hard that's fine as long as it's fair. I've tried to get into SOTN and other games in that style (including most Metroid titles) and I always bounce off.
That said, the so-called "metroidbrainia" genre is quickly emerging as one of my favorites, so maybe it's just the games that are closely modeled after SOTN/Metroid that I don't like.
Metroidvania 100%
Also, funny enough, I just beat Castlevania Revamped which is a fan remake of the first Castlevania in the Metroid style. Strongly recommend!
i like metroidvanias in general but I actually prefer classic castlevania because I'm not the biggest fan of the RPGish elements. Rondo of Blood is peak classicvania.
classic castlevania for sure, f*cking love me a good sidescroller and they got BARNGER ahh music
Classic all the way and I will writeabout it at length tomorrow. Irs bed time.
Ooh, I'd be interested in this! I've only ever played post-SotN games (including SotN, Circle of the Moon, and the three DS games), all of which I enjoyed (although I didn't 100% SotN because the inverted castle just drags on). Nowadays, I tend to prefer games which focus on a core set of mechanics rather than a bunch of unlocks and drops and equipment and whatnot, so I think the classic Castlevania gameplay would appeal to me, but I'm not sure where to start.
Start with the first one on NES. On break at work rn, castlevania effort post later
Symphony of the Night is one of the greatest games ever made and more people should play it - I say this having played it in my mid-20s way after it released without any accompanying nostalgia. Most other Castlevania games that came out after it are meh but playable, others are good. Castlevania 1 and 3 are really good, perfectly enjoyable for what they are. 2 sucks, obviously. I haven't played other classic ones.
Outer Wilds is a metroidvania
I prefer the IGAvanias but I like the classics too. CV3 (JP version), SCV4, and RoB being my favorites and Bloodlines, x68k version (aka Chronicles), and CV2 with romhacks for balance changes being good too
I don't know, but the Ori games are wonderful
Playing Simon in Smash bros and refusing to touch any of the actual Castlevania games.
Simon's Quest is my favorite Castlevania, probably because SOTN didn't come out until I was a grown-ass adult and didn't have a PSX for quite a while there. I also like Zelda II: The Adventure of Link quite a bit, so there's that, too.
You didn't mention the PC Engine, which is where the best Castlevania, Rondo of Blood, is 
Really just metroid tbh. I don't think I've ever actually finished a whole castlevania
I Really Like Classic Castlevania and Have Beef With the Metroid Style Ones Even Though I Still Enjoy Them:
Got through the Dominus Collection recently and while Im mostly gonna pick on Dawn of Sorrows for examples here, im gonna stick to things that apply to all of the Metroid Style Castlevanias to different degrees. I've beaten every 2D castlevania that is reasonable to beat (so no haunted castle and never played the Gameboy ones) been a huge fan for over 20 years and replay a handful every October.
So first off, why I love the classic style:
I think what I enjoy about them is what other people get out of Dark Souls. It's a very methodical game, your jumps are committed, there is a decent amount of wind up on the whip attack and you're a sitting duck on stairs not to mention the knock back. This is because you shouldn't treat it like other action platformers. Its not reflex based so much as planning based. There is old school trial and error but its less in executing something difficult mechanically but managing your limitations by being prepared. Knowing when to pick up what subweapon or more specific when to not use holy water or the cross depending on the game. There is a designed way to go about each room and theyre all sorta puzzles in that regard. Once you've got it figured out you can blast through places you've been before no problem as well because it is very deterministic. Don't want Medusa heads coming at you from behind? Don't turn around cause the side of the screen you're facing is where they spawn from. They're also not super complex but you gotta execute really well over like a half hour to beat the games once you've gotten to know the levels. At its best classicvania is a fantastically designed blend of level design and character limitations. The first game on the NES shows this super well. It seems like its really hard but if you approach it how its meant to be played, slowly and methodically, its not that hard. Nothing else was or is really like that.
For noobs start with super castlevania 4 cause its easy af and then try the first one on NES. 3, Bloodlines and Rondo are my other faves.
Igavania: I love Metroid, I love the Metroidvania genre. Castlevania sucks at that genre imo and here's why:
Level design: big open rooms and long hallways! If you go through a specific door you get a setting change whether it makes any sense or not. It feels often like the randomly generated a map and then added enemies and graphics. The backtrack is absolutely absurd. Which is made even more frustrating because the map is bare bones. In metroid you at least could see the color coding of the doors so you knew after missiles to maybe check out all the red doors. Castlevania you go all over the entire fucking castle to all the dead ends on your map as you try to recall which ones had the obstacle you can now pass. 2/3 or so of those options will be a dead e d with an item that is maybe useful but probably isn't. You can kinda tell where you'll need a double jump or flying cause the upper part of a large area isn't filled but thats it. This results in a lot of aimless wandering to try to find where you need to go, which is a massive pain in the ass because of...
The RPG mechanics:
This makes all this backtracking and whatnot hard to tolerate. Unless youre over leveled enemies take either wayyy too ma y hits or you've been through that room and fought those enemies so often that the 3-4 they take gets old fucking fast. Metroid's beam upgrades and missiles mean very early on you can easily clear enemies in places youre backtracking through so you dont have to stop amd fight an Iron Knight or Golem in a hallway that they clip through the ceiling so there is no choice but to grind through that shit all the time. Once again, it feels borderline procedurally generated. And cause you now have an expandable health bar and healing items, youre expected to get hit. And that will gradually wear you down when you are just trying to rush through enemy hallways so you can find where the fuck to go next. Playing DoS recently had me explore, get worn down, get to the nearest warp, go back to the start, restock potions there, go back to the warp and then go back through the gauntlet of enemies to where I was before. It sucked.
In conclusion, classic castlevania is tightly designed around a character with intentional limitations that lead to a unique and challenging but fair game experience you cant get anywhere else. Igavania throws fucking everything at the wall and fails to notice they dont blend well.
@AernaLingus@hexbear.net you expressed interest in this rant
Thanks for the tag! Definitely sums up a lot of the issues I have with the Igavania games. I absolutely love the aesthetic of the later 2D Castlevania games, the soundtracks always slap, and it's definitely satisfying to demolish enemies with your giant fuck-you Claimh Solais or what-have-you, but the experience of actually trying to clear the whole game can be a slog (once again, the inverted castle...dear god). And the random drops...don't get me started on the random drops.
Also, this is reminding me that I also really need to beat a 2D Metroid. I vaguely remember playing Fusion a bit, but I'm pretty sure I never owned it, so it might have been a borrowed cart or something. Maybe I'll check out Zero Mission.
Your description of the classic Castlevania games is really enticing! Don't have time to play much today, but I just got in a quick run and had fun with it! Felt pretty stupid dying to the first boss, but I easily beat him on the second try with the axe. Got absolutely bodied by the Medusas once I went up the first set of stairs after encountering them (it was very much an 
situation) and game overed, but getting wrecked by Medusas while trying to climb a tower is the quintessential Castlevania experience, so I didn't mind. Look forward to getting in a proper play session! Also, now that I've read the manual I understand what the whip and II/III power-ups do. Side note: damn, the Japanese manual is way nicer—look at those full-color illustrations and screenshots! I love how they have a little explanation and diagram showing how to roll your right thumb over the buttons to jump and use the whip in midair.
And if I get too frustrated, it's nice to know I can always throw in the towel and give Super Castlevania IV a try!
I am absolutely HYPED to hear about you learning the NES game. My issue with super is the controls are too good. There's a bit of air control and being able to whip in 8 directions makes the subweapons basically useless. But it plays closer to a non castlevania and kinda eases you in. The stair Medusa room with I believe an axe knight is your firsr real challenge. Remember Medusas spawn from the direction you're facing so dont turn aro8nd unless youre gonna commit to that direction, cause if you turn around and then turn back a medusa head will.come from behind, you'll have to turn around to kill that one and then you have em coming from both sides. The first game might be an all time fave for me just because you end out memorizing every little detail, its a really short game and pretty easy to beat once you have it all down. Its almost like playing a song. Very rhythmic. And remember where I said ar the beginning that it reminds me of what I think people like about dark souls (not a fan myself) and the fact you are gonna die and retry a lot is part of it. If youre running an emulator, save state for each room on the first play and then parse it down gradually until you do a legit run
For 2D metroid, zero mission is a fine start and has the best controls. Super is actually as good as the hype makes it out to be, but ZM is a good way to familiarize yourself. They're all really easy games aside from Dread, metroid dread ironically has a lot of stuff from NES castlevania that I like, mostly in the EV zones and the boss fights
The Metroidvania ones are great. The action ones I always found awkward to control and usually too hard or unrewarding to slog through.
this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2025
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