History of the Metroidvania: From Metroid to Hollow Knight

"Metroidvania" is a blend of the names of two game series: Nintendo's Metroid and Konami's Castlevania (known in Japan as Akumajō Dracula). It's an unusual term in that a genre name comes from specific games, but it's now so widely used that it's a tag attached to thousands of games on Steam.

In this post, we look at what Metroidvania means, how the design that began with Metroid in 1986 became a formula through two masterpieces in the 1990s, and how it bloomed again in indie games in the 2010s.

What Is a Metroidvania?

A Metroidvania is a subgenre of action-adventure. In Japan it is also called "exploration action" (探索型アクション). Its key features are:

• One large map made up of interconnected rooms.
• You can't go everywhere from the start; blocked paths open only after you obtain specific items or abilities.
• When you gain a new ability, you return to places you've already been to find hidden paths and shortcuts (backtracking).
• The map is nonlinear, but in practice there is a main route the designers intended.

For example, getting a double jump lets you climb a high cliff, and gaining the ability to shrink lets you pass through narrow tunnels. This structure, where abilities are keys, is the biggest thing that sets the Metroidvania apart. Early titles were mostly 2D side-scrollers, but today the term is also applied to 3D and top-down games.

Origin of the Term

It's unclear who first coined the word "Metroidvania." Koji Igarashi, assistant director of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, has said it wasn't his term. Game journalist Jeremy Parish helped popularize it but said he learned it from Scott Sharkey, his colleague at 1UP.com.

Some people object to the name. Because it comes from specific game titles, it doesn't directly describe how the games play. Just as "Doom clone" in the 1990s eventually gave way to "first-person shooter," others have proposed alternative names such as "platform adventure." Japanese game magazine Famitsu noted in 2020 that the Japanese spelling メトロイドヴァニア had only become common relatively recently in Japan.

Origins: Metroid and Simon's Quest

Games like this did not appear out of nowhere with Metroid; there are earlier examples such as Below the Root (1984). However, the work considered to have influenced the genre most is Metroid, released by Nintendo in 1986 for the Famicom Disk System and NES.

Nintendo aimed to make a nonlinear adventure that stood apart from other games of the time. Unlike power-ups in other games, which were mostly temporary, abilities gained in Metroid were permanent, and players had to use them to retrace their steps.

Around the same time, Konami's Castlevania (1986) was a linear action game in which you cleared stages in order. But in 1987, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest tried a nonlinear structure in which you could move freely between towns and fields. Later entries in the series returned to a linear structure, though, and Simon's Quest was criticized for being too vague about where to go next.

The 1990s: Two Masterpieces Set the Formula

Super Metroid (1994)

Super Metroid, developed by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems for the Super Famicom, greatly refined the series' approach to exploration. It introduced an inventory screen, an automatically drawn map, and eight-directional shooting, and added diverse areas and many secrets. These secrets also let players skip the designers' intended order, which made it a long-standing favorite of the speedrunning community.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997)

Koji Igarashi of the Castlevania series had a problem: experienced fans breezed through stages quickly, while new players got stuck at certain sections. So he introduced a structure like The Legend of Zelda, in which you explore a large world and collect key items. He also added role-playing elements in which the character grows through experience points.

Released on the PlayStation, Symphony of the Night sold poorly at first but kept selling through word of mouth and became a classic hidden gem. Most later Castlevania games followed this approach, and the formula was refined further in sequels on the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS. Igarashi himself said Symphony of the Night was influenced more by Zelda than by Metroid, while still considering the name Metroidvania a good fit.

Key Titles at a Glance

The 2000s Onward: A Revival Led by Indie Games

Indie developers played a big role in bringing the Metroidvania back into the spotlight. Cave Story (2004), made single-handedly by Daisuke Amaya, was an homage to classic games including Metroid. It showed how big a game one person could make and helped establish the 2D platformer as a staple format for indie games.

Chair Entertainment regarded Super Metroid as "the pinnacle of 2D game design" and made Shadow Complex (2009). After that, DrinkBox Studios' Guacamelee! (2013), Moon Studios' Ori and the Blind Forest (2015), and Team Cherry's Hollow Knight (2017) won acclaim one after another.

Hollow Knight was made by a small team in Adelaide, Australia, who developed an idea that started at a game jam into a full game through crowdfunding. Its sequel, Hollow Knight: Silksong, was announced in 2019 and released on September 4, 2025.

The genre's original creators joined this movement too. In May 2015, Koji Igarashi launched a Kickstarter campaign for Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, which became the most-funded video game on Kickstarter at the time. The game was released in 2019.

Design Traits: What Makes a Good Metroidvania

Koji Igarashi named as core elements of the genre a map that encourages exploration while guiding players along the main route, and features that always let players know where they are. Building on this, the design principles of the Metroidvania can be summarized as follows.

1. Abilities as keys: A new ability is both a combat upgrade and a means of opening new areas. Players get that moment of realization: "Oh, now I can reach that spot I couldn't climb before."
2. Memorable areas: Moon Studios, makers of the Ori series, has said that players remembering places is itself central to the design. Each area needs a distinct color palette, mood, and music so players don't get lost.
3. Reducing the burden of backtracking: Save points, fast-travel points, and new shortcuts cut down on tedious travel in the late game.
4. Environmental storytelling: Many modern Metroidvanias tell their world's story through backgrounds and structures rather than cutscenes or dialogue.
5. The challenge of interconnected design: Because every area is linked, changing a single ability means re-examining the whole game. The team behind Ori and the Will of the Wisps also cited this as a difficulty of developing in the genre.

Metroidvanias Today

Today the Metroidvania is one of the most active genres in indie games. As of early 2025, more than 2,200 games on Steam carried the Metroidvania tag. Blends with other genres are common as well. Motion Twin's Dead Cells mixes a Metroidvania structure with roguelite elements, and the Metroid Prime series brought the same style of exploration into first person. Action RPGs like Dark Souls, where tough bosses effectively act as gates, are also discussed as examples influenced by the Metroidvania.

Recently, a subgenre called "Metroidbrainia" has also come up often. In these games, the player's knowledge rather than abilities opens the way. Everywhere is accessible from the start, but you can't progress because you don't know how. Outer Wilds (2019) is considered the defining example, and Fez, The Witness, Tunic, and Animal Well are discussed as part of the same family.

The history of the Metroidvania is a history of answers to the question of how to design "the joy of exploration." The thrill of returning with a new ability to the wall that once blocked you has been the greatest force sustaining this genre from 1986 to today.

References

• Metroidvania — Wikipedia
• Metroidvania — Wikipedia (Korean)
• Super Metroid — Wikipedia
• Castlevania: Symphony of the Night — Wikipedia
• Hollow Knight — Wikipedia