this post was submitted on 06 Sep 2025
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Metroid (1986) on NES—the cartridge in all its gray-plastic glory.

This is my favorite Nintendo franchise, the very reason “Metroidvania” is even a word. Not a Miyamoto joint but a Yokoi production, and you can feel it—tougher, sharper, with real bite. Few games of that era had this much atmosphere, this much mystery, or were simply this fun.

Honestly, it’s probably the biggest reason I still keep an NES hooked up.

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[–] chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Castlevania 2: Simon’s Quest follows the formula. Unlike the first game, Simon’s Quest is an open world game with lots of backtracking. It has experience points, shops to buy things, and puzzles to solve by using key items in the right locations.

The game also features upgradable whips, secondary weapons to find, and even a day/night cycle.

Metroid didn’t pioneer the progressive tool-based unlocking system anyway though. The Legend of Zelda was built on that concept and released before Metroid (in Japan; in the US Metroid was released a week before LoZ, but both were a year after the Japanese releases).

[–] Minnels@lemmy.zip 2 points 11 months ago

Imagine getting a new Metroid released and then a week later a new Zelda is released in this day and age.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 1 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

I immediately questioned myself about Simon's Quest but couldn't remember if it had tool based progression or just your standard kind of RPG backtracking. I didn't play it nearly as much as any others (excluding ghe 64 one which is best forgotten).

But very true about Zelda. Maybe they should be called Metzeldvanias? 🤔

[–] chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world 1 points 11 months ago

SQ has a bunch of tool stuff going on. The crystals which unlock certain areas (functioning as keys), the relics of Dracula which let you see things you couldn’t otherwise or break certain blocks, the holy water which can be used as both a weapon and as a tool for detecting false floors, and oak stakes which you need to pierce the protective spells around Dracula’s relics.