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[pauljeremiah]

The first time I ever heard the phrase was on an episode of Retronauts in 2007.

Just wondering who was the first person to coin that phrase?

 

[sixteen-bit]

yeah, probably Parish

 

[OneEightZero]

ToastyFrog

Spoiler

Might have to dig for that one.

 

[PixyJunket]

Somebody that didn't understand the differences between Super Metroid and Symphony of the Night.

 

[Deleted member 47027]

phrase?

 

[OneEightZero]

Somebody that didn't understand the differences between Super Metroid and Symphony of the Night.

Spazer Beam ≠ Crissaegrim

 

[Seanspeed]

Thomas Jefferson

 

[Astral/H3X]

Somebody that didn't understand the differences between Super Metroid and Symphony of the Night.

The similarities are striking and you know it. They certainly share a genre.

 

[vagabondarts]

I would say either Parish or Cassamassina (sp?)

 

[Kade]

Riot

 

[Deleted member 47027]

The similarities are striking and you know it. They certainly share a genre.

Then why combine the words if they mean the same thing?

 

[TeknoBlast]

Maybe, Snuffleupagus.

 

[codhand]

someone could ask parish on twitter

 

[flkraven]

Well, when a mommy Metroid and a daddy Castlevania get together...

 

[OneEightZero]

Then why combine the words if they mean the same thing?

Platform-adventure game rolls right off the tongue, doesn't it?

 

[Kerned]

Thomas Jefferson

He really gave us so much.

 

[Opiate]

Thomas Jefferson

Based on my reading of history, I'm not confident Jefferson was pro-MV; he typically demurred on the topic, while Adams, Rutledge and Hancock were much more forceful in their endorsements.

 

[Tom Nook Sawyer]

1Up's Scott Sharkey according to Gaming Wikia

Originally coined by 1UP Editor Scott Sharkey, the term has been used in numerous publications such as the Australian PAL Gaming Network review to refer to the Metroid-style gameplay elements that are present in the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS Castlevania games.

And they cite this video, which no longer seems to load:
http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/10259

 

[OneEightZero]

Thomas Jefferson

More of a JRPG guy.

1Up's Scott Sharkey according to Gaming Wikia

Wikipedia is barely a credible source, much less Wikia.

 

[Jay Sosa]

Shenmue 3

 

[pauljeremiah]

someone could ask parish on twitter

just after tweeting him.

 

[Nocturnowl]

Then why combine the words if they mean the same thing?

Castlevania games only shifted into the Metroid style structure with the release of symphony of the night (well there's also CV2 but it's not quite the same deal), you could say the use of Metroidvania is a way to distinguish that type of Castlevania game from those that play like more traditional action platformers.

Though the term Metroidvania becoming a genre phrase as opposed to just being a Metroid like game is likely down to the fact that the Metroid series went missing from 1995 to 2002 with only Castlevania really using its style of gameplay in the meantime.
No idea where it first spawned from though.

 

[hayguyz]

I started saying it around '99. I think it caught on some time later.

 

[Tom Nook Sawyer]

Wikipedia is barely a credible source, much less Wikia.

Well if you have a better source, feel free to post it

 

[MightyHedgehog]

Pretty sure I had read/heard the term before 1up was formed. I do know that when SotN was released, some die-hard CV fans detested its new roaming structure and the advent of its RPG loot 'n leveling aspect, even dismissing it as another game entirely, which it basically is. Even then, people drew comparisons to Metroid and other 8-bit games which employ the same basic progression. The term must have come up before the turn of century.

 

[mattiewheels]

Sharkey has given us so much. He needs to be on some of the new Retronauts episodes.

 

[OneEightZero]

Well if you have a better source, don't hold back

I don't.

Gaming Wikia quotes the Sharkey Retronauts video from 2007 and then lists a source with the word being used by Jeremy Parish from 2006.

I'm not digging further back.

 

[atr0cious]

Iit's gotta be from a magazine, because shortening "Metroid castlevania style" game, to metroidvania, is something a writer would do. In speech you can just say it and don't think about the effort.

 

[Portugeezer]

Desperate Castlevania fans trying to latch on to the greatness that is Metroid.

Spoiler

j/k Castlevania is pretty good too.

 

[Zippedpinhead]

I've seen Metroidvania or Castleroid since at least 2002.

I think I first saw it when Harmony of Dissonance was getting revealed. Maybe on Gameforms or on the old GBA.IGN with Matt Bozon's brother, or something like that.

 

[Toad.T]

Maybe, Snuffleupagus.

"But Big Bird, I liked Portrait of Ruin! Am I wrong?"

 

[Santiako]

I remember seeing the term way back when the GBA games were released, maybe I'm misremembering though.

 

[Oersted]

I remember seeing the term way back when the GBA games were released, maybe I'm misremembering though.

Same here. I think even earlier.

 

[mattp]

http://www.metroidvania.com/2013/08/12/welcome-to-metroidvania-com/#more-99

 

[Neuromancer]

I first heard it on the Player One Podcast. They say they invented it but I'm not sure.

 

[WrenchNinja]

Who ever did, I want to tell them I hate them

 

[Santiako]

There's a thread from here in 2005 with the term, so it has to go way back

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=75549&highlight=metroidvania

 

[Chairman Yang]

I prefer the term "backtracker"

 

[TheRedSnifit]

I've never really liked the term, given that half of it is from a game series with this as its most recognizable trait, and the other half is from a series that became this after eleven years of linear platforming, at a point when 2D games had already become a niche market, and didn't really stick with it afterward.

 

[H3xum]

Mr. Metroidvania

He was like, this game is SO me

 

[Tom Nook Sawyer]

Honest question: Is there anything the term conveys that "Metroid" doesn't? It seems inherently redundant, at least with hos its used now

 

[mattp]

remember when metroidvania specifically meant a castlevania game with metroid-like progression? aka sotn and it's predecessors

i hate that it's used to describe pretty much any fucking 2d game with a persistent map and maybe backtracking occasionally

 

[WrenchNinja]

Honest question: Is there anything the term conveys that "Metroid" doesn't? It seems inherently redundant

That's my problem with it. Castlevania is the one that ripped off Metroid, why does it get billing in the term.

Plus the term really doesn't mean anything to anyone who hasn't played a Metroid or IGA developed Castlevania game.

 

[Kai Dracon]

I seem to recall hearing it around the GBA era as well.

It seems to been popularized because, for a long time, only Metroid really epitomized that kind of game design. Then Castlevania joined in and went for it hardcore. But it was just those two games for years. As the most visible at least.

I think the word is fine as a tribute to a pair of series that defined conventions together. Modern games in that style liberally borrow from both Metroid and post-SOTN Castlevania titles.

 

[injurai]

Honest question: Is there anything the term conveys that "Metroid" doesn't? It seems inherently redundant, at least with hos its used now

I think it's just paying homage to two titles that achieve something similiar but in different ways. People don't necessarily want a Metroid-clone, or Castelvania-clone. But people certainly want Metroidvania-likes.

 

[pauljeremiah]

TFrog tweeted back:

 

[Conezays]

I've seen Metroidvania or Castleroid since at least 2002.

I think I first saw it when Harmony of Dissonance was getting revealed. Maybe on Gameforms or on the old GBA.IGN with Matt Bozon's brother, or something like that.

I'm surprised "Castleroid" hasn't caught on more, to be honest...

 

[Coconut]

Stinky Pete the kindly old prospector.

 

[udivision]

Honest question: Is there anything the term conveys that "Metroid" doesn't? It seems inherently redundant, at least with hos its used now

Metroidvania denotes a genre, and Metroid can denote either a genre or the actual franchise.

I guess?

There's a thread from here in 2005 with the term, so it has to go way back

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=75549&highlight=metroidvania

Dang... so the word is at around a decade old?

 

[Tom_Cody]

TFrog tweeted back:

So he's merely the one who popularized the term.