Non-Shmuppers Say the Darndest Things

[CaptainKraken]

NON-LINEAR ACTION PLATFORMER AKA I HAVEN'T PLAYED THIS THING FOR 2 WEEKS AND NOW I'M COMPLETELY LOST AND MUST START OVER GAYME.

Haha, this is my experience every time. I love the idea of nonlinear games but inevitably take some time away and then can't remember where I was.

[Jonpachi]

NON-LINEAR ACTION PLATFORMER AKA I HAVEN'T PLAYED THIS THING FOR 2 WEEKS AND NOW I'M COMPLETELY LOST AND MUST START OVER GAYME.

If Maze of Galious qualifies, then surely also

I think you mean Goonies II? Goonies 1 is a pretty straightforward hop-n-bopper.

[Sumez]

Not really. I definitely get lost in the first Goonies and have no idea where to go

[AGermanArtist]

Maybe I'm misremembering, it was 1986 after all. The MSX version is very different to the NES (if that's what you're referencing?) which I've played more recently (Vs version in MAME). It did feature a level of backtracking for keys and items. It's closer to a Metroid game than a straight action-platformer. It isn't quite as 'explore-reveal' as Maze of Galious - I'd pitch it somewhere between Maze of Galious, Athletic Land and King's Valley, likely by the same team within Konami's MSX division.

[PerishedFraud ឵឵]

I like search action, I just think its a broader scope term! All metroidvanias are search actions but not all search actions are metroidvanias - type deal. And yeah, even doom fits, but something like Castlevania 4 does not.

[davyK]

Link to the Past and Super Metroid on SNES have clear early "MetroidVania" features. You have the illusion of being able to go anywhere but until you find a particular weapon or ability you cannot access certain areas. FInding an ability usually lets you bypass certain barriers to progress. Of course this can be extremely well done (Super Metroid really did it very well as did Link to the Past on SNES even though they are presented entirely differently). They are linear games but their unfolding nature is extremely compelling - especially when you first play them. I played and thoroughly enjoyed those games but I was done with the genre once I had completed them - I had no appetite for that sort of thing.

Symphony of the Night was like a dagger through my heart. I love linear Castlevania - the series was over for me at that point. And once I saw that Ocarina of Time on N64 was the same thing in 3D I abandoned it. Even Metroid Prime 2 had a dark world not dissimilar to Link to the Past. The two series have very strong parallels.

I have played Cave Story since then and it's an enjoyable Metroid-a-like with light narrative but that's been all I've ever spent any time with since.

A backtrack-em-up.