The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human
4 out of 5. While its story may be a case study in ludo-narrative dissonance, The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human provides a unique underwater take on metroidvania design with some great bosses.
Vigil: The Longest Night
4 out of 5. Greater than the sum of its parts. If you enjoy exploring an open Metroidvania world with the occasional amazing boss fight, then its charms can easily outweigh its flaws.
Alwa’s Legacy
4 out of 5. A magic based puzzle platformer with unique Zelda-like dungeons and a large overworld full of optional secrets. Excellent level design and clever gimmicks makes exploration a delight.
Bone Appetit
4 out of 5. A delightfully open-ended Metroidvania that asks you to forge your own path to its final encounter, with a few twists to encourage resource planning and player expression.
Super Metroid
5 out of 5. A nearly perfect example of what a “Metroidvania” can accomplish. Even compared to the advancements found in later 2D Metroid entries, Super Metroid holds up remarkably well.
AM2R – Another Metroid 2 Remake
5 out of 5. AM2R manages to update Metroid II with Metroid Zero’s mechanics in a way that not only honors the original’s vision, but sets a standard that remakes and Metroidvania games can aspire to.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
4.5 out of 5. Improved combat, a plethora of new mechanics and areas, and an emotional continuation of the story that The Blind Forest started makes this a must play for fans of the original game.
Lootbox Lyfe
4 out of 5. A treasure trove of platforming challenges, with plenty of options to accommodate players of all skill levels. It can be punishingly brutal, or you can just enjoy relaxing exploration.
Metroid Zero Mission
5 out of 5. Thanks to numerous enhancements for both old and new Metroid series players, this remake of the original Metroid may be the best entry point into the Metroidvania genre.
SteamWorld Dig 2
4.5 out of 5. Ramps up everything from the first game to the next level, not the least of which being the Metroidvania Style exploration. It’s a beautiful combination of genres fit to please fans of either.
Outbuddies
3 out of 5. Local Co-op. An Exploration focused Metroid-like with some fascinating co-op features. Sequence breaking is a strong feature and it is especially fun to break the game with a friend.
Knifeboy
3 out of 5. The unique world and story defies Knifeboy’s otherwise unpolished exterior, creating what may be a genius satire. To any believer in games as a form of artistic expression; check this out.
Blaster Master Zero
3.5 out of 5. A magnificent remake of the 1988 classic bringing its unique dual-genre gameplay to the modern generation with accessibility and new surprises. It’s not perfect, but a great launch point.
Xeodrifter
3.5 out of 5. A short and sweet interpretation of “Metroidvania”, with just enough subversion of expectations to make it worth checking out. Some repetitiveness might be a turn off, but still good.
Demon Peak
3 out of 5. Some of the design and lack of polish makes it feel unfair, but it’s still the kind of unfair that feels satisfying to conquer – if you enjoy that kind of thing. The Price is Right.
Grizzland
4 out of 5. A fascinating short and sweet mystery game that uses Metroidvania tropes to allow the player to explore and come to their own conclusions. Recommended as a relaxing unfolding enigma.
Metamorfose S
2.5 out of 5. In spite of some wonky physics and production values, Metamorfose S still manages to be a decent game. If you enjoy the Igavania classics, then you’ll like exploring the castle here.
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
4.5 out of 5. With a little patching, Bloodstained could surpass the best of the Igavania genre. As-is it’s still one of the best Igavanias yet.
Castlevania Portrait of Ruin
4 out of 5. The Portrait levels add variety – as well as fluff – to the Castle formula, but the most fun comes from the host of powers and weapons to try out between the two characters you play.
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.
Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow
4 out of 5 – An excellent follow up to Aria of Sorrow with improvements and additional RPG elements. Some new features could have used a little more thought, but overall meets the Castlevania standard
Castlevania Aria of Sorrow
5 out of 5. Even with the limitations of the GBA hardware, Aria of Sorrow is packed with variety and flavor, and is perhaps the best work Koji Igarashi has ever been a part of.
Robot Wants It All
4 out of 5. Join Robot in six challenging games with twelve remixes. A compilation of some of the best Mini Metroidvania games, with a wide variety of modifications that up the replay value to 11.
Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance
3 out of 5. Highly ambitious considering the Gameboy Advance limitations, but its attempt to expand on what Symphony of the Night accomplished resulted in a lot of content that feels like padding.
Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap
3.5 out of 5 – Either a magnificent example of how graphics can improve gameplay, or a superior way to enjoy a classic on modern platforms. Either way this is a fun blast from the past.
Castlevania Symphony of the Night
5 out of 5. To this day, Symphony of the Night oozes with the passion of a group of artists doing what they love. Down to the tiniest detail it’s hard not to appreciate everything this game is.
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
4.5 out of 5. Metroid Prime 2’s focus on exploration and atmosphere demonstrates spectacularly the high potential for the 3D Metroidvania. While not perfect, it’s a standout in gaming history.
Metroid Prime
3.5 out of 5. As the series’ first foray into the 3D environment, Retro Studios nailed the feel and style of the series while also adapting popular-for-the-time action adventure game puzzles.
Alwa’s Awakening
3.5 out of 5. A slower-paced puzzle platformer with unique spell casting challenges. Excellent level design makes finding collectables a treat. Stumbles slightly at the end but still well-recommended.
Feudal Alloy
3.5 out of 5. Not the sprawling epic that some of the upper tier Metroidvanias can be, but still provides a relaxing RPG Dungeon Crawl with meticulous level design and tight controls.