It should stand out more in the spring, although I'm worried it could get lost in the 3DS launch window. This game is cool as hell and should be getting more attention. We are hoping to do an interview with the developers soon...

This is one of my most anticipated games for DS. IIRC, the guys from 2D Boy are meant to be on board with DreamRift for this project.

I really hate this term, especially considering how different Metroid and Castlevania actually are. Use one or the other, don't combine them. Or just say it's an adventure game.

Well, it's like Metroid and Castlevania games. Games such as Super Metroid and Symphony of the Night are similar, and they more or less started this sub-genre of sorts. I'm cool with you not liking this term, but it's a quick way to convey a specific type of game. If I said it was an adventure game, then it could be any number of games ranging from Monkey Island to Zelda depending on how you view the term adventure.

They've got different gameplay conventions, so using both is still kind of unspecific. In Metroid, the character has a gun, so the action involves shooting. Castlevania (at least ones I played) involved close-combat weapons. Metroid is about finding items and searching/scanning for breakable blocks and secrets; Castlevania has more straight forward level design, and the exploration aspect is about trying seemingly random things in seemingly random places.

So, which game is this more like? Metroid or Castlevania? If it's both, that's okay too... but I still don't like word morphs like "Metroidvania." It feels too informal for a professionally presented article, IMO.

Calling the genre "Metroidvania" is like calling Okami a Zelda clone; it's not a perfect comparison, but it's the best way to describe what's going on. The one Castlevana I've spent the most time with is Dawn of Sorrow, and it is basically a Metroid game with a bit more emphasis on combat and worse level design.

Mop, did you ever play Symphony of the Night or any of the Castlevania games that followed it? You seemed to describe Castlevania pre-Symphony. The Metroidvania term comes from Symphony of the Night and the GBA/DS that followed.

Like insanolord said, it's not a perfect comparison, but it's an easy to way be like "hey, it's kind of like this."

Also, you probably shouldn't read the Spider-Man DS interview if the term bothers you so much. I just formatted that after reading your forum post and it's rife with Metroidvania remarks, because the game is indeed a 'Metroidvania' title.

Yeah, I haven't played very many of them since I did not like the ones I tried. I've played the NES ones, and Castlevania on Nintendo 64 for maybe fifteen minutes.

My only real issue with the term "Metroidvania" is that I consider it informal, and therefore, lazy writing. It is on the same level as substituting "r" for "are," "2" for "to/too," etc. But I guess that's just me.

It's used so frequently and by so many people that I wouldn't really consider it informal anymore. It's pretty much the universal name for that type of game.

It's about the structure, in that way Castlevania and Metroid are indeed very similar.

The less common alternative is Castleroids, but it doesn't flow so well. These two franchises pioneered this kind of exploratory, non-linear structure, so if your game has that structure too, it's getting that Metroidvania label because it's the most apt comparison. I don't think it is lazy writing, just... why be so wordy when the description can be made more succinct by a term that implies these things?

I'll be the first to admit that I have high standards of writing, ones that even I can't match. For example, I also consider abbreviations to be lazy writing. Same with contractions.

Although, if Metroid and Castlevania are similar, it is kind of redundant to name both. Plus, someone who is unfamiliar with one or both of the Metroid or Castlevania series might think that "Metroidvania" is an actual game title.