There is no universal ranking of the best Metroidvania games: critic-score lists and editorial selections use different standards. This list ranks 18 influential and distinctive games by how well their worlds reward exploration, how abilities reshape routes, and how satisfying their movement and combat feel, while also considering atmosphere, originality, historical importance, and how clearly each game guides newcomers. The order is an editorial judgment, not an official consensus.
Metroidvanias generally connect exploration to progression: gain an ability, revisit a place that once blocked you, and discover a route or upgrade. That framework can support very different experiences, from platforming-led adventures to demanding combat and roguelite runs. The selections below reflect that range.
18 best Metroidvania games, ranked
1. Super Metroid
Super Metroid is the genre’s clearest classic: a sprawling world whose shortcuts, landmarks, and ability-gated routes reward careful attention. Its influence is not just a matter of age. It helped establish the conventions later games would adapt, making it an essential starting point for understanding the form. The British Film Institute describes the 1994 game as having largely established the genre’s language and standard elements for years afterward (BFI).
2. Hollow Knight
Hollow Knight makes exploration feel expansive without losing the pleasure of discovering a route that connects two familiar places. Its ruined insect kingdom, secrets, boss fights, and customizable charms make it a strong choice for players who want a large world and combat that demands patience. Steam describes it as a classically styled 2D action adventure set in a vast, interconnected world; GamesRadar likewise highlights its scale, secrets, and intuitive progression (Steam; GamesRadar+).
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3. Metroid Dread
Metroid Dread gives the classic exploration loop a brisk, modern presentation. Samus gains movement abilities that open new ways through the map, while evasive encounters with E.M.M.I. add a different kind of pressure to exploration. Nintendo describes the progression directly: “Feel Samus’ power grow as you gain maneuvers and abilities.” The official UK listing identifies MercurySteam as developer and Nintendo as publisher (Nintendo UK).
4. Ori and the Will of the Wisps
For players who value fluid traversal, Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a standout. Its world and progression are built around expressive movement and tightly crafted platforming, with hand-painted art and an emotionally framed adventure central to its identity. Metacritic describes its expansive world and platforming; those qualities make it a useful counterpoint to more combat-first entries (Metacritic).
5. Metroid
The original Metroid is a foundational choice for players interested in where the genre began. Its 1986 release set the form’s development in motion, according to the BFI. Modern games are generally more legible and polished, but the original’s significance lies in the exploratory structure it helped establish, not in matching current conveniences (BFI).
6. Ori and the Blind Forest
Ori and the Blind Forest leans into striking visual presentation and challenging platforming. It is a natural pick for someone who wants the pleasure of movement and environmental traversal to carry as much weight as combat. The BFI includes it among notable later adaptations of the genre (BFI).
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7. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night belongs in an all-time list because the genre’s familiar name joins Metroid with Castlevania, and this entry is a natural representative of the latter. Its place here recognizes its importance to the genre’s identity; this ranking does not claim a definitive account of its historical influence.
8. Dead Cells
Dead Cells is a hybrid rather than a conventional fixed-map Metroidvania. The BFI describes it as a self-described “roguevania,” combining a Metroidvania structure with roguelite randomness and replayability. That makes it especially appealing if you want repeated runs and variation, but less suitable if you are looking for one stable map to master from beginning to end (BFI).
9. The Messenger
The Messenger shows how later games can reinterpret the genre rather than simply reproduce its template. The BFI includes it among modern examples alongside Ori, Hollow Knight, and Dead Cells. Its inclusion helps represent the breadth of approaches that have grown from the original exploration-and-progression idea (BFI).
10. Metroid Prime
Metroid Prime is a useful pick for players curious about how Metroid-style exploration works in three dimensions. The genre label is flexible enough to include rare 3D approaches, though the change in perspective makes it a different kind of exploration from a side-scrolling map. GamesRadar’s genre discussion acknowledges such boundary-pushing examples (GamesRadar+).
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- Gain abilities and revisit areas to uncover the different routes and secrets hiding in a beautiful-yet-threatening interconnected world
- Scan your surroundings to gather information about the planet’s history and the creatures that call it home or to reveal enemies’ weak points
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11. Axiom Verge
Axiom Verge is a choice for players who want a deliberately classic-feeling science-fiction adventure. Its appeal is the pleasure of probing an unfamiliar map, finding new capabilities, and testing what those capabilities reveal. It represents the indie revival’s ability to revisit the genre’s foundational structure in a contemporary release.
12. Guacamelee! 2
Guacamelee! 2 brings a more exuberant tone and action-forward feel to the exploration formula. It suits players who want combat and movement challenges to sit close together, rather than an adventure defined primarily by lonely atmosphere or slow-burn discovery.
13. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a strong option for players drawn to ability growth and a large, exploration-driven adventure. It represents the appeal of building up a character while opening routes through a connected world, making it a natural fit for players who want progression to shape both traversal and combat.
14. Blasphemous 2
Blasphemous 2 is for players who prefer a darker atmosphere and demanding action. Its place on this list reflects the genre’s capacity to make exploration feel tense and combat consequential, rather than presenting every interconnected map as a lighthearted treasure hunt.
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15. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown applies the genre’s ability-gated exploration to a movement-focused action adventure. It is a good fit when responsive traversal and combat matter as much as the pleasure of mapping routes and returning to previously inaccessible areas.
16. Batman: Arkham Asylum
Batman: Arkham Asylum is a genre-border case: its setting and structure lean into a connected space that opens up as Batman acquires tools, rather than following the classic side-scrolling template. GamesRadar’s discussion of the genre allows for unusual approaches, and this is a useful example of how the label can stretch beyond its most familiar form (GamesRadar+).
17. SteamWorld Dig 2
SteamWorld Dig 2 offers a lighter, more focused route into the genre’s pleasures. Digging, upgrading, and returning to places with new capabilities keep the exploration loop easy to grasp, making it a welcoming choice for players who want discovery without beginning with the most demanding combat.
18. The Mummy Demastered
The Mummy Demastered rounds out the list with a compact action-adventure take on the genre. It is a good reminder that a Metroidvania need not aim for enormous scale: a focused map, meaningful upgrades, and the satisfaction of opening new routes can be enough to make the structure work.
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How to choose your next Metroidvania
- For a genre foundation: Start with Super Metroid to see the conventions that shaped later games, or the original Metroid for the earlier historical reference.
- For a vast, secret-filled map: Choose Hollow Knight if you welcome challenging combat alongside extended exploration.
- For movement-led play: Try either Ori game; Will of the Wisps emphasizes expressive traversal and tightly crafted platforming.
- For a contemporary Samus adventure: Pick Metroid Dread for ability-driven routes and evasive E.M.M.I. encounters.
- For run-to-run variety: Choose Dead Cells, understanding that its roguelite structure means it differs from a fixed-map adventure.
What makes a game a Metroidvania?
The most useful test is whether exploration and progression depend on one another. A new ability should do more than make the character stronger: it should change where the player can go, reveal a useful return route, or make a previously blocked section worth revisiting. GamesRadar describes the form through exploration tied to progression, reactive platforming, and often combat and boss challenges; Nintendo’s description of Metroid Dread illustrates that loop in practice (GamesRadar+; Nintendo UK).
There is no rigid checklist. Some games foreground platforming, some combat or story, and others introduce roguelite runs or a 3D perspective. Those variations can still fit when the central pleasure remains exploration shaped by progression. That flexibility is why a historical classic, a highly challenging adventure, and a replay-focused hybrid can all appear on the same list.
Why rankings differ
A critic-score ordering answers a different question from an editorial list. Metacritic’s all-time Metroidvania page orders games by Metascore, while GamesRadar+ and the BFI publish their own selections. Scores and rankings may change, and editorial choices reflect each publication’s priorities. This list instead weighs exploration, ability-driven world design, movement, combat, atmosphere, originality, historical importance, and approachability; readers who care most about one quality may reasonably prefer a different order (Metacritic; GamesRadar+; BFI).
Quick Recap
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