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« Last post by PFG9000 on Yesterday at 03:57:49 PM »
It's so irritating when people misuse the term Metroidvania to describe any sidescrolling platformer with exploration elements. Part of the problem is that half of the fans can't agree on the definition, and the obvious solution is to use mine:
A sidescrolling game with platforming elements and a large, interconnected map, in which the player gains access to new areas by finding items that grant permanent traversal upgrades.
It rolls right off the tongue. There should be something in there about backtracking too, but I hit my word limit.
Games like Turrican and Shadow of the Beast may seem like Metroidvanias, as they are sidescrollers with exploration elements. But they're not. Turrican doesn't have one big interconnected map. Shadow of the Beast doesn't have permanent traversal upgrades. Zelda is really similar; in fact SotN was supposedly inspired by Zelda and not Metroid. But Zelda isn't sidescrolling (except for that glorious second entry and those terrible CD-i games), and the items you find don't generally enable traversal upgrades.
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