For a long time,Metroidvaniashave been described as Mario mixed with Zelda, platformers designed around exploration and non-linear exploration instead of just jumping to a goal.
Though ever since the release ofCastlevania: Symphony of the Night, which solidified the genre in the first place,there’s been a distinct lack of platforming in most Metroidvanias that have come out recently.
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They’ll often have a character that controls like they’re in a platformer, but only rarely will there be genuine platforming challenges, and even rarer is a main focus on platforming as a core part of the game.
I’ve found just a few Metroidvanias that attempt to use the items you gain throughout for interesting platforming challenges, and these games succeed in being great at that aspect of their design.
10Haiku the Robot
Gears are Turning
Haiku, The Robot
To put it bluntly, Haiku the Robot would be an incredible platformer if they actually put the moveset to use more often. Don’t get me wrong, the bits of platforming in it are great, I just want more.
This is one of the most fluid-feeling controls in a Metroidvania that I’ve ever seen, withevery move flowing seamlessly into another, and having Haiku move at a decently fast pace the entire game.
There are just a few sections where the game challenges your platforming prowess, though. Namely, after you get your horizontal grapple, there’s a bit of tricky exploration, but no extended gauntlets or anything.
I would’ve loved more, but the platforming-focused parts of the world are so satisfying to conquer and traverse through that I’d be remiss not to include it. Just don’t go into it expecting a Path of Pain.
9The Messenger
Sneaking In
The Messenger
Now, going from a great Metroidvania with weak platforming elements,The Messengeris a great platformer with weak Metroidvania elements, as the game essentially shifts into that genre halfway through.
It’s a bit jarring, sure, but the game keeps up the platforming throughout the entire duration,all the exploration is built around testing your traversal skills, and it all feels great with the moveset you’re provided.
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That said, I do need to dock some points because half of this game is incredibly linear, and because the character controls feel a little bit floaty and slow for my liking, even if the world is designed around that.
If you love Ninja Gaiden and like Metroidvanias, this game is right up your alley, but if you’re looking for a pure Metroidvania experience with great platforming, this will only give you some of that, which is a tad unsatisfying.
8Metroid Dread
Slide to the Left
Metroid Dread
Metroid was the originator of the genre, and navigation-based challenges weren’t super integral to the more puzzle and combat-focused titles, but inMetroid Dread, your movement is cranked up to 11.
I want to particularly highlight the sections with E.M.M.I. as they force you intoan incredibly stressful situation, often making you perform under pressure, and due to the great character control, it never gets too annoying.
On top of that, every single shinespark puzzle in this game is immaculate, really stepping it up from the stuff Super had you doing and rivaling even AM2R in the number of times I said “Oh, I have to do THAT?”
It’s still generally combat-focused, andnone of the tough platforming challenges are explicitly required and can always be avoided with stealth or not bothering with 100%, but it’s a good time, either way.
7Hollow Knight
Hollow Knight
If you’ve playedHollow Knight, you know that most of the upgrades are dual-purpose, serving as combat utility and movement, which makes it a shame that the platforming takes a backseat frequently.
A lot of the game is combat, but it shines well when it’s making you do platforming.The knight just feels fluid to control, and your array of abilities works so well for platforming. I love it.
I’m one of those freaks who will constantly glaze the Path of Pain as my favorite part of the game, and that’s becauseit’s a massive gauntlet of screensfocused entirely on precision platforming, and I love the hell out of that.
Aside from that, though, there’s only one bit of endgame content that tests your platforming prowess, and the rest is a mountain of combat trials and nothing else. If you’re into that, go ahead and give it a go.
6Ori and the Blind Forest
Pure Platforming Perfection
Ori and The Blind Forest
In a similar situation to The Messenger,Ori and the Blind Forestis less of a Metroidvania and moreso a platformer with some exploration, but it works far more seamlessly and feels way more satisfying.
The whole game is built around mastering your positioning, angles, andcontrolling your character to get through rather lengthy caves that hardly give you room to breathe, and it’s exhilarating.
The gimmick of angling the momentum you gain from kicking off projectiles genuinely never gets old; it allows for an infinite amount of depth of movement, and the mildly stressful level design hammers it all home.
Just don’t expect some in-depth exploration from Ori, as it’s not that type of game. It’s pretty solid in terms of letting you backtrack and explore, but there is very little in terms of sequence breaks or straying off the main path.
5Lone Fungus
Break My Glass Celium
Lone Fungus
Every reason I yapped on about Hollow Knight wasting its platforming potential is exactly why Lone Fungus is great. It has a similar structure and similar downward strike, but uses that to far greater effect.
It provides unlockables that serve a purpose for combat, exploration, and especially platforming. It feels likeit was intended to be part platformer instead of a side-effect of the gameplay that got expanded upon way later.
The way you may strike downward on hazards and use them to gain massive boosts of speed feels like I’m finally unlocking that potential that I previously felt was wasted, and the level design knows that.
It’s not the best feeling platformer, mind you; I just think it’s a great execution of a platforming-focused Metroidvania that doesn’t feel the need to sacrifice either of those aspects to maintain its flow.
4Aeterna Noctis
Shadow in the Night
Aeterna Noctis
If you search for Metroidvanias with great platforming, you’ll hear about Aeterna Noctis a hell of a lot, and that’s for good reason, as the platforming feels like a huge focus rather than some unimportant side thing.
Every room in the game is going to test your skills in one way or another.Where a Metroid game would just put a staircase, this game puts blocks you need to jump acrossto gain height; it’s integrated into the core design.
It’s also pretty challenging, taking the angle of precision platforming against instant-death lava floors andMeat Boy-esque giant buzz sawsblocking your path, making you weave around everything expertly to reach the other side.
This got a bit on my nerves whenever I attempted to backtrack and had to redo difficult sequences a few times, but for how great the level design is, I’d still give it a pass because I love games that want to kill me.
3Guacamelee!
Mucho Gusto
Guacamelee!
I remember as a kid seeingGuacamelee, assuming it was a fighting or party game, and completely writing it off. Nowadays, though, I’m aware it’s an excellent Metroidvania with some awesome platforming.
It has more precision, timing-based platforming around spikes and saws, on top of great upgrades, but what sells this game to me is the silliness. Instead of a morph ball, you turn into a chicken, and that’s goofy enough for me to fall in love.
It brings in some fighting game moves in a platformer,with the Kirby Super Star-style uppercut being a genuinely fun way to gain a vertical boost, and it makes the combat and platforming mesh quite nicely.
Every move you get feels fun to use, and is usually delightfully overanimated and silly as hell. No matter which entry in the series you pick up, it’s consistently a great Metroidvania experience and an even better platformer.
2Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
Get a Grip
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
Yes, Ubisoft can make good games sometimes, andPrince of Persia: The Lost Crowndeservesevery ounce of praise it’s gotten, as an incredibly high-quality Metroidvania that doesn’t skimp on any aspect of the genre.
It has incredible character animation that’s only matched by Metroid Dread, incredibly fun bosses, andplatforming that genuinely challenges you and meshes into the world design so well that it never becomes annoying.
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The air dash flows so smoothly that it feels like I’m playing a floatier version of Celeste at times, and weaving between massive moving spike pillars, swinging on poles above a pit of danger, and barely grabbing onto a handle all feel incredible.
It’s balanced well, and will satisfy as a Metroidvania with great platforming, rather than being exclusively platform-focused. Just verify not to fumble the parry timing every time, and it’ll be smooth sailing.
1Pseudoregalia
Like a Dream
Pseudoregalia
As expected, Pseudoregalia is easily thebest Metroidvania for platforming fanatics,focused almost entirely on 3D platforming in a super open-ended worldwith the most satisfying upgrades I’ve ever seen.
It hardly ever gates off progression, as every platforming sequence is usually possible with only one or two upgrades, and is only made a lot easier with the right ones. The world is as open as you are skilled.
On top of being one of the only 3D Metroidvanias I know of, it innovates in the 3D platforming space as well, giving you a moveset that is entirely controlled by you with zero hand-holding, making every movement an accomplishment.
It was genuinely incredible to me, trying repeatedly to do some ridiculously hard platforming, actually managing to get past it, and then learning I’d technically done a sequence break all of my own accord.
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