History Main / Metroidvania

* ''VideoGame/{{Hebereke}}'' for the Famicom (and the Euro Release ''VideoGame/{{Ufouria}}''). Something about a drunk duck (''hebereke'' translates into ''stumbling drunk'') falling into an alternate dimension with his animal-ish friends who have to find a way back home (or so it appears). Plays like ''Metroid'' meets ''Mario''. All the sequels on the SNES completely abandoned this genre and are party games; until ''VideoGame/Uforia2TheSaga'' released in 2024

* ''VideoGame/{{Hebereke}}'' for the Famicom (and the Euro Release ''VideoGame/{{Ufouria}}''). Something about a drunk duck (''hebereke'' translates into ''stumbling drunk'') falling into an alternate dimension with his animal-ish friends who have to find a way back home (or so it appears). Plays like ''Metroid'' meets ''Mario''. All the sequels (on the SNES) completely abandoned this genre and are party games.

* ''VideoGame/LegendOfKalevala'' is an online [[UsefulNotes/AdobeFlash Flash]] Metroidvania by Dit Dah Games.

* ''VideoGame/BionicCommando'' (NES) and its remake.

* ''VideoGame/AbyssXZero'' A 3D spiritual successor to ''VideoGame/{{Unsighted}}''

* {{Roguelike}}s are often excluded due to ever-changing worlds and contested approach to "backtracking". Yet MV elements still wiggle in here and there.

* ''VideoGame/{{Mendacium}}'' looks like ''Hollow Knight'' in a reptilian theme and prehistoric setting.

* ''VideoGame/{{Mendacium}} looks like ''Hollow Knight'' in a reptilian theme and prehistoric setting.

** ''VideoGame/MegaManNetworkTransmission'' for the Platform/NintendoGameCube [[note]] is a GaidenGame in the ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' series (largely an homage to the classic verse, with platforming gameplay in classic 'verse level designs), whose main internet area qualifies for this. The main Internet alone branches to Lan's, Mayl's, and Dex's homepage, an outpost of Higsby's chip shop, the Zero Area and its guardian areas, the legendary WWW area, and the Undernet. There are alternate, disconnected areas, but most of the game occurs in the main Internet. [[/note]]

%%* ''VideoGame/{{Momodora}}''

* The older ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' games (The first 3 at least) are more linear than most examples; with a planet hopping level structure; but you will consistently unkock new weapon and movement upgrades that allow you to access new paths across the planets and are frequently required to backtrack for mainline progress. There are one off set pieces like Dogfights, Arena Battles, and Kaiju fights seperate from the main world but you can almost always return and replay these at any time.

* ''VideoGame/{{Mendacium}} looks like ''Hollow Knight'' in a prehistoric setting.

** ''VideoGame/MegaManZX Advent'' is a step back from ZX; with many missions taking place in self-contained areas. It wins back points by being more reliant on AbilityRequiredToProceed than its predecessors (and offering shapes to morph into with overlapping functions, thus offering multiple solutions to certain mazes and traps), introducing a ''Metroid''-inspired minimap and encouraging re-exploration of completed areas to apply your new abilities to find hidden stuff just as much as ZX did before it.
** ''VideoGame/MegaManNetworkTransmission'' for the Platform/NintendoGameCube is a GaidenGame in the ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' series (largely an homage to the classic verse, with platforming gameplay in classic 'verse level designs), whose main internet area qualifies for this. The main Internet alone branches to Lan's, Mayl's, and Dex's homepage, an outpost of Higsby's chip shop, the Zero Area and its guardian areas, the legendary WWW area, and the Undernet. There are alternate, disconnected areas, but most of the game occurs in the main Internet.
** The ROMHack ''VideoGame/Rockman4MinusInfinity'' uses this for [[TheMaze Wily St]][[MarathonLevel age 3]]. The previous stage's boss, Snatchman, is an EvilKnockoff of Mega Man that steals the first four weapons he uses. In Wily Stage 3, you must defeat the eight robot masters again, but for half of them you get their weapon back, and the other half doesn't give you anything. The maze-like structure of the level, which [[AllTheWorldsAreAStage uses the tiles and enemies of every previous stage]], also fits this trope well.
** The first ''VideoGame/MegaManLegends'' is a partial case; while the game progresses in a linear fashion overall and you visit distinct areas of the underground ruins in separate parts of the game, the ruins themselves are all interconnected and, once you have the right weapons and equipment, can be navigated as one big system to reach hidden areas and get across the island more quickly. The sequel averts this, with each ruin being its own distinct dungeon separate from the others.

** The first ''VideoGame/MegaManZX'' game features waypoints that allow you to teleport to any waypoint already visited, but all waypoints must be found by exploration first (except for the isolated area that becomes the HubLevel, which gets added to the teleport list once you complete a certain early mission), and very few areas have their entrance right next to a waypoint. The first ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' game features the same, but has a habit of automatically placing you at the beginning of the relevant area at the start of each mission you accept; which, combined with the fact that many areas host two missions, means that if you never wandered outside the HubLevel in between missions, you would never notice that most of the areas are physically connected to each other (specifically, you would only notice that one pair of areas, plus the linearly-connected areas of the final three missions, are connected).
** ''VideoGame/MegaManZX Advent'', on the other hand, is a step back from ZX, with at least as many missions taking place in self-contained areas as otherwise. It wins back points by being more reliant on AbilityRequiredToProceed than its predecessors (and offering shapes to morph into with overlapping functions, thus offering multiple solutions to certain mazes and traps), introducing a ''Metroid''-inspired minimap and encouraging re-exploration of completed areas to apply your new abilities to find hidden stuff just as much as ZX did before it.
** In addition, ''Zero'' lacks the ability-gaining that is central to the genre (some Cyber-Elves can give you permanent upgrades, but they're never needed to access areas you couldn't reach before).

* ''VideoGame/{{Pronty}}''

The definition of this subgenre varies somewhat depending on whom you ask. People seem to variably demand some or all of the following traits:

* ''VideoGame/DeathsGambit'': One of the most depthful Souls-Like hybrids.

* ''VideoGame/{{Foregone}}'' ''is basically Dead Cells'' if it was actually a Metroidvania.

* ''VideoGame/{{Foregone}}''