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.
An Untitled Story
4 out of 5. Maddy Thorson’s earlier work still holds up in terms of game design, offering a robust Metroidvania world to explore and plenty of precision platforming challenges.
Artifacts
3 out of 5. Strong level design in combination with novel concepts creates a fun risk/reward Metroidvania experience, even if a lot could be improved in terms of technical polish.
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.
Ato
4 out of 5. Frenetic gameplay and novel and deep mechanics are wrapped up by an emotional silent narrative, making Ato one of more memorable experiences within the Metroidvania genre.
Aquaria
3.5 out of 5. In spite of some rougher edges around its gameplay, Aqauria’s world is like no other, and if you allow yourself to be immersed within it, it will doubtlessly bind itself to your memory.
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
3.5 out of 5. Between its no-handholding castle and the card system, there are undeniably some impressive things about Circle of the Moon, but you do need to accept that you have to grind to get there.
Mask of Mists
3 out of 5 – A relaxing semi Zelda-like experience that will provide a pleasant five hours of basic gameplay to enjoy. It’s fun. It’s not a groundbreaking title but I don’t think it’s trying to be.
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.
Jumplord
3 out of 5. Nothing creates the feeling of being in an alien world like a game that does things completely different. Jumplord begins and ends with infinite jumping, but it’s more complicated than that.
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
2 out of 5. Metroid, we love you for what you started, but you’re really hard to play today.
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.
REDO!
4 out of 5. This Lovecraftian style survival horror side scroller successfully captures the sweet taste of release that can only come after feelings of absolute dread. Highly recommended.
Dreaming Sarah
3 out of 5. More of an Art Museum than a Metroidvania, every individual is going to take something different from it. You may get nothing more than a pleasant experience, or it could be much deeper.
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.
External Visions
2.5 out of 5. Some parts feel unfair, but the lesser design is counteracted by some interesting puzzle design, satisfying accomplishments, and interesting story concepts. Plus it’s free.
Sundered
4 out of 5. Local Co-op. Has some absolutely amazing moments that are padded out with grindier features, but the excellent multiplayer let’s you fill in those slower parts with social conversation.
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.
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.
Apoapsis
2 out of 5. A very impressive game for something that was made in 18 days, for which the developer should be congratulated. Competing with other available options though, it’s harder to recommend.
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.
Vision Soft Reset
4 out of 5. An incredible feat of innovative game design. Consider not only WHERE you need to use your upgrades to progress, but also WHEN to use them in this time-traveling gem.
Escape from Tethys
3 out of 5. More “Metroid-like” in that you power up entirely through what you find by exploring. Excellent map design and decent combat is held back by some lackluster production values.
Visual Out
3 out of 5. A weird exploration focused Metroidvania where you use abstract mechanics to progress. If you’re looking for something unusual, its moody atmosphere and narrative mystery can be intriguing
Porradaria 2: Pagode of the Night
1.5 out of 5. An amusing attempt at “So bad it’s good” camp that falls flat when it tries to also be a game. While intentionally bad is still bad, some might enjoy the humor anyway.
La-Mulana 2
4.5 out of 5. I suggest playing the first one first, but for those who have already done that and want more La-Mulana, this is really the only way to get it, and NIGORO delivers well.
Unworthy
4.5 out of 5. A Souls-like hybrid with a greater emphasis on its Metroidvania aspects. Unworthy is a fantastic example of a focused and well-realized experience, with challenging dungeons and bosses.
Mortal Manor
2.5 out of 5. Substance over style. If you can push past the incredibly frustrating process of getting good at the game, you can easily get your money’s worth in terms of time per dollar spent.