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[DrArchon]

In all fairness super metroid is a fantastic game.
But castlevania SotN is just a better game

Shit man, SotN is one of my top 10 GOAT games, but there're SO many flaws to it. The balance is crap in the late game, there's tons of uninteresting copy-pasted hallways with the same repeating enemies, 99% of the loot is useless, the whole inverted castle is so much lower quality than the normal castle in terms of things like enemies, music, etc.

I honestly can't think of any real flaws with SM except that the X-Ray visor is clunky.

 

[heringer]

Metroid, altho these are trying times for Metroid fans.

Sigh, one day...

Well, at the very least Metroid still has a shot of new glories.

Castlevania is dead and burried.

 

[RaginRoss]

Super Metroid, followed by SoTN for me as the top dogs.

Still need to play through AM2R, looking forward to that.

Definately Metroid as a franchise overall, but i've not fully played through any Castlevania other than SoTN.

Any upcoming 2D Castlevania games? I've heard of Bloodstained but not really kept up with how it looks.

 

[Ripenen]

Super Metroid is my favorite Metroid.
Symphony of the Night is my favorite Castlevania.

SOTN is much better than Super Metroid because it has a lot more depth and exploration.

 

[Hippopuncher12]

Metroid Prime is my favorite game out of all of them, but Castlevania overall as a series I much prefer.

 

[Ghost Slayer]

Tough choice since both are my favorite franchise. I guess I will go with Castlevania since I like the atmosphere and music more than Metroid

 

[Mister X]

Metroid, altho these are trying times for Metroid fans.

Sigh, one day...

Being a Castlevania fan these days ain't peachy either. At least Metroid's developer is still in the game business.

 

[Opa-Pa]

I like SoTN a lot but it's such a damn flawed game that shines more for its amount of content and the ambition behind it more than the actual quality of it all, so to even compare it to Super Metroid seems bizarre to me.

I mean yeah, opinions and all, but it's not even the best Castlevanis has to offer, IMO.

Say what you will about both series as a whole, but Super Metroid vs SoTN specifically is like comparing a super tasty burger to gourmet cooking to me.

Being a Castlevania fan these days ain't peachy either. At least Metroid's developer is still in the game business.

Well, the very director of Castlevania games and many people who worked on them are working on a spiritual successor that's a Castlevania game in everything but name, so I don't think these are comparable.

 

[Vital Tundra]

Shit man, SotN is one of my top 10 GOAT games, but there're SO many flaws to it. The balance is crap in the late game, there's tons of uninteresting copy-pasted hallways with the same repeating enemies, 99% of the loot is useless, the whole inverted castle is so much lower quality than the normal castle in terms of things like enemies, music, etc.

I honestly can't think of any real flaws with SM except that the X-Ray visor is clunky.

This. Its why I kinda dislike that we call the genre Metroidvania, when the Metroid part of SotN was personally not good.

 

[Vazra]

Order of Ecclesia >>>>> All

 

[Toxi]

I honestly can't think of any real flaws with SM except that the X-Ray visor is clunky.

Sand pits in Maridia, weapon switching, too easy bosses, long unskippable intro.

But Super Metroid is still really damn close to perfect.

Still need to play through AM2R, looking forward to that.

When you play it, try to think of it in the context of Metroid 2 and not Super Metroid.

 

[bob_arctor]

I honestly can't think of any real flaws with SM except that the X-Ray visor is clunky.

Some might add that wall jumping was too difficult/inconsistent. Or the controls are too clunky in general (usually Zero Mission/Fusion peeps trying SM for the first time). I don't agree with that, personally.

Super Metroid is pretty much perfect.

Of course, this doesn't take away from SotN, which I legit love to death.

 

[redcrayon]

SOTN was a bit too easy for me. It's a great game and rightly regarded as a classic that spawned its descendants, but I prefer the DS games DoS and OOE. The other game that would round out my top 3 from the series would be IV.

Metroid- while I think Super Metroid is the best in the series (particularly because I remember being amazed at having to use bombs to make my own paths forward), I really like Fusion for what it did with the copy Samus. That was great pacing, being forced to flee is a great idea as in most of these games the protagonist becomes very powerful, very quickly, so having this sense of tension whenever it was on screen was awesome.

If I had to choose between the two, I'd probably pick the Metroid games as they are more all-round balanced between platforming, combat and exploration. The Castlevania games in the style of SOTN tend to only feature really basic platforms and staircases with little actual challenge in traversal, they are more about being a rolling fight that inflicts HP damage and gains XP. Having said that, more of the CV bosses stick in my memory, Order of Ecclesia is great for this.

 

[Nocturnowl]

Why would you make me choose between my children OP?
Though Metroid is the stronger series in general admittedly, I prefer the aesthetics of Vania though.

edit: oh yeah for the questions
SotN is my favourite Castlevania, Prime for Metroid.

Not surpassed by other metroidvania titles yet but I am very much thinking Ori can stand at the top with them.

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

Metroid

because super metroid is perhaps the most well put together and balanced game ever created

 

[DrArchon]

Sand pits in Maridia, weapon switching, too easy bosses, long unskippable intro.

But Super Metroid is still really damn close to perfect.

Weapon switching isn't great in SM, but it beats the pants off of trying to remember where the weapons you like ended up in your clusterfuck of an inventory in SotN. If I got the chance to make a remake of that game, the first thing I'd do is let you drop and sell weapons.

Also, I only really found the bosses to be easy in SM when you knew what you were doing. When I played it for the first time I found them reasonably challenging, some obviously more than others (Ridley, Phantoon). And if you know what you're doing in SotN the bosses there are even easier, thanks to busted magic and even more busted weapons/weapon combos.

 

[XandBosch]

nah, metroid is atmospheric , but castlevania is genius. On SOTN is mindblowing

Meh, I still disagree. And that's just one game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Sn9G-RHtII

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RWI3-8N_-Y

etc

 

[andymcc]

Castlevania wins on quality, quantity and variety of gameplay styles.

Music is better too.

 

[oracrest]

Simon's Quest should be included in the list. It truly was the first Castlevania to do the explorative flow.

 

[andymcc]

Simon's Quest should be included in the list. It truly was the first Castlevania to do the explorative flow.

Akumajou Dracula/ vampire killer for MSX sort of had a more explorative style as well

 

[RareFantasy64]

This is really hard for me. I might go with Castlevania merely because there are so many more Metroidvanias than 2D Metroids. So I can get more of that kind of gameplay with the Castlevania series

On the other hand, while the Metroid series may not have as many 2D entries as the Metroidvania-styled Castlevanias, the Metroid series has the Prime Trilogy which is more appealing to me than most 3D Castlevania games

I don't know which one to pick.....

 

[Smeags]

What is your favorite entry in both franchises?

Metroid:

1. Zero Mission
2. Super
3. Fusion
4. Metroid

Castlevania:

1. Order or Ecclesia
2. Dawn of Sorrow
3. Circle of the Moon
4. Symphony of the Night
5. Aria of Sorrow
6. Portrait of Ruin
7. Harmony of Dissonance

What is your favorite of the two franchises and why?

Castlevania for these reasons:

1. I prefer Fantasy to Sci-Fi.
2. I love the Gothic Horror aesthetic.
3. RPG elements add more depth/purpose to combat.
4. More varied locations with incredible sprite work.
5. Shanoa>Samus
6. More varied combat in later games.
7. Loot.
8. Awesome creature/boss designs.

Spoiler

All that said, Metroid Prime is still the greatest of them all, but we're talking 2D for now.

 

[gogojira]

Look at my icon. Metroid all day. And not sure why Metroidvania was coined when the shit should have just been Metroid-like. Samus was doing her thing long before that motherfucking Belmont group. .

It's hard to beat weird ass alien environments and a high tech power suit. Hopefully Nintendo returns the series to its former glory soon.

 

[Fou-Lu]

The original Metroid Prime is probably my favourite Metroid game, but I absolutely love every post II game until Other M. If I have to choose a 2D entry (which I disagree with because Prime is the perfect realization of the 'Metroidvania' formula in 3D) I would say Super.

Symphony of the Night still holds a special place in my heart as far as Castlevania goes.

Gameplay... Metroid is tighter and higher quality, but Castlevania has more systems
Metroid may have the best atmosphere in all of gaming
Metroid also wins on map design
Both have amazing music
Castlevania wins on story I guess
I really like leveling up and Castlevania has that

I think I like Metroid a little more because I am a big fan of atmospheric games, but Castlevania is no slouch.

 

[XandBosch]

Look at my icon. Metroid all day. And not sure why Metroidvania was coined when the shit should have just been Metroid-like. Samus was doing her thing long before that motherfucking Belmont group. .

It's hard to beat weird ass alien environments and a high tech power suit. Hopefully Nintendo returns the series to its former glory soon.

I have to believe that Retro has silently been working on a 2D Metroid ever since they knocked it out of the park with Tropical Freeze.

 

[gogojira]

I have to believe that Retro has silently been working on a 2D Metroid ever since they knocked it out of the park with Tropical Freeze.

One can dream, I've definitely had that cross my mind, too. Hopefully we find out soon enough!

 

[PensivePen]

I prefer Castlevania primarily for aesthetic reasons.

 

[TheOfficeMut]

Metroid over Castlevania.

First Metroid game was Metroid 2: Return of Samus for the Gameboy, at the time a decent and good entry into the series for my 5-year-old self.

My next Metroid game was Metroid Fusion, followed by Metroid Prime a month later. These are my two of my favorite titles in the series. When Metroid Prime 2 released, I received it less favorably than Metroid Prime but have since come to appreciate it more than the first one. It's definitely a game that, once the initial impression wears off, finds itself to be a better product than its predecessor.

After the Prime games and Fusion, I played Metroid: Zero Mission and was blown away (had never played the original), albeit I found it rather short. Nevertheless, it became my fourth favorite game in the series.

In 2012 I played Super Metroid for the first time and while I found it fun, I did not enjoy it more than every Metroid game I had played up until then sans Metroid 2: Return of Samus. The float-like movement didn't resonate well with me and because I had already experienced Zebes in Zero Mission, I was not interested in visiting the same planet twice (though the differences are noted).

I'd love to play Metroid Prime 3 but I was admittedly turned off during its reveal because of the Wiimote usage. Oh, and I also played the Another Metroid 2 Remake a few months ago and while that was fun, it showed how glaringly flawed Metroid 2 was. I now retroactively appreciate that game much less than I did as a child.

Compare my experience with Metroid to that of the Castlevania series where I've played a handful of GBA games and only ever completed Symphony of the Night (which I find to be incredibly middle-of-the-road), and it's no surprise why I prefer the former.

 

[andymcc]

Look at my icon. Metroid all day. And not sure why Metroidvania was coined when the shit should have just been Metroid-like. Samus was doing her thing long before that motherfucking Belmont group. .

It's hard to beat weird ass alien environments and a high tech power suit. Hopefully Nintendo returns the series to its former glory soon.

Castlevania II and Metroid are only about a year apart....

 

[Sir Ilpalazzo]

I've got to go with Metroid. I think the loot and leveling / EXP additions to Castlevania do nothing but dilute the formula. I also think that the low difficulty and nonexistent game balance of the later Castlevanias hurt them a lot too - Metroid is relatively simplistic and doesn't hold up as an action game compared to something like Contra, but at least still feels like a balanced and coherent action experience with solid fighting and great level design. Castlevania excels in neither category - it feels like a half-baked action game married to a half-baked Metroid-style game. Symphony of the Night is a beautiful game but I could never call it a classic.

I prefer classic-style Castlevania to anything mentioned in the OP, though.

 

[Kaiser Swayze]

From a purely aesthetic standpoint, I prefer gothic horror over sci-fi.

I've played more Castlevania games than Metroid games.

I regard Symphony of the Night as one of the greatest games ever made, and probably in my personal top 5 of all time. It's one of the very very few games I replay with any regularity.

I suppose the answer should be easy then, but the Castlevania series never had an entry that was as forward thinking and holy-shit-this-game-came-from-the-future as Metroid Prime.

Pretty bummed that both series seem to be going through a fallow period.

 

[Deleted member 752119]

Metroid. Prefer the sci-fi setting and the more simplistic gamplay mechanics (i.e. not having the weapon variety and RPG leveling etc. in most of the Metroidvanias).

I like both series a lot though. Metroid also made a super successful transition of it's formula to 3D, and Castlevania did not in most people's eyes--especially in terms of doing a 3D Metroidvania type game more than a 3D version of the older action-platformer Castlevania games.

 

[gogojira]

Castlevania II and Metroid are only about a year apart....

So 8,760 hours or 525,600 minutes? Man, that's crazy.

 

[andymcc]

So 8,760 hours or 525,600 minutes? Man, that's crazy.

I mean, there's probably a small influence but you could just make the claim they were influenced by Xanadu as much as Metroid (which is older than Metroid).

 

[MoonFrog]

Metroid.

I'll take the Zelda-esque gadgets and their application towards platforming and environmental puzzles beyond just combat over the RPG weapon and stat systems of Castlevania that are pretty much just in conversation with the combat any day.

I like Castelvania. But it isn't in the same league as Metroid.

 

[dcx4610]

About even in my eyes. Castlevania on NES is better then the original Metroid. Super Metroid is better than Super Castlevania (still a masterpiece). The GBA Metroids and Castlevania games are all great.

I think Castlevania has tighter controls and overall better music but the Metroid games feel higher quality and have better graphics, atmosphere and story. I can't choose a side.

 

[Astral Dog]

Metroif wins because it has three very good 3D games

 

[Mattakuevan]

Super Metroid and SotN for me.

I prefer castlevania due to the overall design/theme and the rpg elements. I tend to prefer fantasy to sci fi in general.

 

[Alex_Mexico]

Difficult question but if I'll answer it this way:

If I had to choose right now what would I prefer being announced: a new 2D Metroid from Nintendo or a new 2D Castlevania (Metroidvania) I would choose Metroid in a whim for various reasons.

1) there hasn't been a new 2D Metroid in 13 years but that was a remake. There hasn't been a new original 2D Metroid in 15 years!
2) Castlevania's way of making Metroidvanias has been copied and pasted many times by many developers with various degrees of success already.
3) I still hold hope Nintendo can provide Metroid the respect and effort it deserves. Not so much 2017's Konami which we all know sucks.
4) We already have a spiritual successor to these Castlevanias with Iga's Bloodstained Ritual of the Night which comes out next year.
5) Metroid has been far and away a more consistently good franchise than Castlevania. Even Metroid's worst (Other M) doesn't come close to CV's stinkers. And if we're only comparing 2D titles Metroid still wins albeit with a smaller margin.

Bring me a new Metroid, Nintendo! 2D or not, sequel or reboot, I don't care as long as it's good! It's time!

 

[13ruce]

Sorry i i can't choose:/ they are both perfect :d

I backed bloodstained for 125$ if there was a Metroid spiritual succesor i would back that too

 

[JulianImp]

While I like Castlevania's medieval setting and pixel art over Metroid's, the latter's game design feels a lot more streamlined to me compared to igavania games often banking on you farming monsters for cool item drops and stuff like that. Metroid is more of a platformer-adventure, while Igavanias often feel like an action-adventure instead, with enemies being less obstacles than walking dispensers of exp and random drops.

If we go outside of the 2D Metroidvania games, then Metroid has way better 3D games in the Gamecube Prime series, and CV has the first couple games as some pretty interesting and challenging arcade-action games. I haven't played the latest games in the CV series so I won't be commenting on those, although I wish I could say the same about Other M...

 

[Alex_Mexico]

Sorry i i can't choose:/ they are both perfect :d

I backed bloodstained for 125$ if there was a Metroid spiritual succesor i would back that too

My man! I backed for $100 (PS4 physical copy). Considering upping to $125 for an extra digital copy.

What did you backed it for?

 

[Kurt]

Super Metroid first

But i'm a huge castlevania fan.
However castlevania 4 came closer in terms of atmosphere (art, music, ...) than any other castlevania. I really like the music of sotn too, but its different from metroid/castlevania 4. Besides the art of castlevania 4 provide more detailed art than castlevania sotn.

Mostly the music from castlevania games are better than metroid games.

 

[KooopaKid]

Metroid by far.
The power-ups, secrets, progression and interconnected map are better.
In fact, I don't think they share much in common, you can't really be lost in Castlevania games.

 

[mhayes86]

Castlevania (igavania) for me.

I love Metroid, but I prefer the theme and setting of Castlevania, along with the RPG elements of the iga-era series.

 

[13ruce]

My man! I backed for $100 (PS4 physical copy). Considering upping to $125 for an extra digital copy.

What did you backed it for?

Ps4 and Ps Vita, i will change it to Switch whenever they announce that might chance it to Wii U soon just in case.

Maybe i will up it to 150$ for that nice artbook.

 

[Fbh]

Easily Castlevania.
I like the setting, art direction and gameplay better.

As for favorite, I'll go with the most generic choice: SOTN
I think the way they incorporated RPG elements into franchise made it even better. And the level design, music, enemies and fact that the entire second half is basically a secret are all awesome


With that said, Metroid definitely had a much better transition into 3D

 

[mindatlarge]

What is your favorite entry in both franchises?

Super Metroid and SotN

What is your favorite of the two franchises and why?

Metroid. The sense of immersion, well paced advancement, environments and the musical scores.

And last question: were they surpassed by other game/franchise in the same genre?

No, not for me. Really enjoyed Axiom Verge though. Awesome music, environments and interesting boss fights.

 

[LSauchelli]

What is your favorite entry in both franchises?
Super Metroid and Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow

What is your favorite of the two franchises and why?
I prefer Metroid games to Castlevania games, since those are usually less grindy and have generally better level design.

And last question: were they surpassed by other game/franchise in the same genre
I don't think so, no. There were a couple that were close, though, like Guacamelee and Shadow Complex.

 

[Ryu Hayabusa]

Castlevania:

Gameplay, story, characters.. all.


For me the best is SotN.