Metroid....-vania?

[Ryan Hughes]

You must've seen a different story to metroid than I did, the origin of metroid I saw was that it was based mostly on the film alien (hence the name dropping of ridley and the idea of a female protagonist) and the idea of navogating a metrolink underground railway (hence the name metroid, metro-oid).

I definitely wouldn't call Simons quest a metroidvania either, as the upgrades you get a rarely about progressing, they're more about weapon upgrades.

And what did I say that contradicted any of that? Well, Escapist has gone downhill, as it seems all people that I talk to know have the reading comprehension of second-graders.

Now hey now there's no need for insults and especially not insulting my reading ability as you make a grammatical error in your post (know =/= now).

Your post was that Simons quest was the inspiration for the concepts and general tone of metroid and I was suggesting Metroid was based more on the movie Alien.

Grammatical error? are you referring to starting the post with the word "and"? That is not an error, it was intentional. That rule is not taken seriously by any linguist or writer. Nor is the split infinitive, nor is ending your sentence in a preposition. The last example, by the way, appears to be wholly the invention not of linguists or writers, but of Victorian tabloid editors wishing to specifically use it as a shibboleth. Poe often began his sentences with the word "and," and in The Masque of the Red Death even began a paragraph with the word "but."

What you misunderstand is the meaning of the word "influence" as opposed to "inspiration." Influence shares a Latin root with "influenza," while "inspire" literally means: "breathed from God," and shares roots with the words perspire, aspire, and of course respire and respite. Indeed, the first word can be taken either as -in this case- a pre-release inspiration or as a post-release effect on improvements made in the sequels. But, my subsequent sentence clarifies the meaning well: I am speaking of post initial release confluence between the two game series, beginning roughly in 1986 or '87. But, even speaking wholly of pre-release inspiration, one can argue that the film Alien is indeed a throwback to earlier 1950s and 60s horror films, which were popular in Japan during the post-war period of reconstruction, and upon which much of the Castlevaina mythos is based. So, the point stands either way.

Moreover, there are obvious influences from Caslevania to Metroid in terms of its boss fights, their structure, pacing, and interval, among many other things. Castlevania was initially the lesser-selling of the two franchises, but wide gaps between sequels in Metroid allowed Castlevania to close the distance by the 32-bit era. The two influenced one another as well as took inspiration from similar sources outside the medium, and indeed, grew together in an inexorable way so that neither game would be what it eventually became without the other. This is what I meant, in a far greater number of words, so I repeat myself: the two series grew up together, and those that coined the term "Metroidvania" were well aware of this.

 

[The_Blue_Rider]

Its just gaming slang that stuck. I say it fits the definition pretty well but if you use "Metroid-like" the crowd is going to understand as well.

Also strangely both Castlevania and Metroid stopped making "Metroidvanias" all together (except on handhelds)... WHY!? Ah, anyway that's another topic.

Depends on how you define it really. If you ignore the 2d Element, all of the metroid prime series still follows the basic logic of a metroidvania...

As for Other M... That's even more clear, since large portions of it are 2d environments. (And the plot backflips it had to do to get the usual item progression into the game are a big contributor as to why everyone hates it so much)


To me the core of the gameplay style is basically Freely explorable world with the bounds defined by the character's abilities.
(Which increase over time depending on new items or whatever else the setting can come up with.)

Basically, an environment where you can go anywhere you like, but some parts appear to be blocked off until you gain a new ability.
(Which is where the progression comes in. It's not progression in the sense that most RPG's use it. It's progression in the sense that you literally gain entirely new abilities that let you do new things)

Actually, come to think of it, there's at least some degree of overlap with how Zelda functions in terms of gameplay mechanics...

I remember there was an interview maybe a year or two ago where the guy behind Castlevania discussed the term "Metroidvania" and basically admitted that they were actually thinking about and taking inspiration from The Legend of Zelda games rather than the Metroid series

 

[CrystalShadow]

Its just gaming slang that stuck. I say it fits the definition pretty well but if you use "Metroid-like" the crowd is going to understand as well.

Also strangely both Castlevania and Metroid stopped making "Metroidvanias" all together (except on handhelds)... WHY!? Ah, anyway that's another topic.

Depends on how you define it really. If you ignore the 2d Element, all of the metroid prime series still follows the basic logic of a metroidvania...

As for Other M... That's even more clear, since large portions of it are 2d environments. (And the plot backflips it had to do to get the usual item progression into the game are a big contributor as to why everyone hates it so much)


To me the core of the gameplay style is basically Freely explorable world with the bounds defined by the character's abilities.
(Which increase over time depending on new items or whatever else the setting can come up with.)

Basically, an environment where you can go anywhere you like, but some parts appear to be blocked off until you gain a new ability.
(Which is where the progression comes in. It's not progression in the sense that most RPG's use it. It's progression in the sense that you literally gain entirely new abilities that let you do new things)

Actually, come to think of it, there's at least some degree of overlap with how Zelda functions in terms of gameplay mechanics...

I remember there was an interview maybe a year or two ago where the guy behind Castlevania discussed the term "Metroidvania" and basically admitted that they were actually thinking about and taking inspiration from The Legend of Zelda games rather than the Metroid series

Hehe. Figures. No wonder I get that vibe from that style of game. Makes you wonder if metroid itself was at all influenced by that...

 

[Sinister Minister]

Y'know, it's the weirdest thing. I heard it be called "Castleroid" before I ever heard "Metroidvania", but after that, I never heard that silly first term again. I feel now like that was some weird hallucination.