Metroidvania

Video game sub-genre Screenshot of the 2013 Metroidvania game Guacamelee! A Metroidvania, also known as Search Action (探索型アクション, Tansaku-Gata Akushon) in Japan, is a sub-genre of action-adventure games focused on nonlinear exploration and guided progression with a need to acquire key items to enter certain areas. The term is a portmanteau of the names of the video game series Metroid and Castlevania, based on the template from Metroid (1986), Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (1987), Super Metroid (1994), and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997), among others in their respective series. These games usually feature a large interconnected world map the player can explore, although parts of the world will be inaccessible to the player until they acquire special items, tools, weapons, abilities, or knowledge within the game. Acquiring such improvements can also aid the player in defeating more difficult enemies and locating shortcuts and secret areas, and often includes retracing one's steps across the map. Through this, Metroidvania games include tighter integration of story and level design, careful design of levels and character controls to encourage exploration and