Mega Man ZX
3 out of 5. Combining Mega Man X with Metroidvania level design seems like a match made in heaven, but Mega Man ZX needed some significant changes to make it really work.
AeternoBlade
2.5 out of 5. AeternoBlade ambitiously tackles deep concepts like time travel and psychological character development, but its obsession with padding its length is detrimental to the experience.
Castlevania: The Lecarde Chronicles
3.5 out of 5. A strong Classicvania experience with some of the series’ later mechanics mixed in. A worthwhile playthrough assuming you don’t have any technical issues.
Strider (2014)
4 out of 5. A pure adrenaline filled power trip with that signature Capcom campiness. It will provide ample excitement from start to finish, or you can take a break from that to find more collectables.
Leowald
2.5 out of 5. High levels of customization and novelty mitigate some floaty controls and repetitive design, however beyond that there’s still something truly special about Leowald that can’t be scored
Zeran’s Folly
1.5 out of 5. Initial impressions are good, but gradually the story, boss, and level design completely fall apart, leaving behind only vulgar jokes and wasted potential.
Castlevania Anniversary Collection
4 out of 5. Its only “Metroidvania” game, Simon’s Quest, may be skippable for most players, but the rest of these games are must have hard-but-fair classics. Save states help with accessibility.
Castle in the Darkness
3.5 out of 5. Filled to the brim with creativity even with all of its many references to 80s game culture. The punishing difficulty will cut you down to the bone, but if that’s your jam, it’s amazing.
Omega Strike
2 out of 5. Has a few good ideas that it repeats too much to fill up its playtime, making for a rather bland and decidedly average experience overall. Not bad, but not unique enough to recommend.
The Messenger
5 out of 5. A nearly flawless execution of both linear platforming and non-linear level design. As icing on the cake, also has tremendously entertaining characters and fun narrative surprises.
Cave Story
5 out of 5. While relatively linear and more story focused, Cave Story provides some of the best challenging shooter-platformer gameplay available. Full of secrets to uncover and lovable characters.