I've realized that Cave Story is a game that I'm going to replay for a long time. I have it for the Wii and DSi and I like them both. It would be cool if they allowed for data to be shared between the systems. I'm happy to play any version. The concept art looks great, I'm excited for this!

Looks like they're really trying to squeeze every penny out of this game that they can.

Metroidvania is not a style of game, it is a Castlevania game with exploratory elements similar to a Metroid game.

Metroidvania implies a combination of elements from both series, including the light RPG mechanics of Igarashi's Castlevania games. So, it fits Cave Story quite well.

I was going to buy the DSiWare version; I'm glad I waited.

I've never heard it used in such a way outside of this site. If that's what it's trying to get across, there are more specific words that would do a better, less confusing job.

http://gaming.wikia.com/wiki/Metroidvania


http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Metroidvania


http://www.gamespite.net/toastywiki/index.php/Games/Metroidvania


Those are just the first three Google results. All cite games outside the Castlevania franchise, and Cave Story is specifically mentioned.


Some non-wiki sources:


http://www.vgmuseum.com/mrp/multi/Essays/essay-squalidpumpkin5.htm


http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/20/these-metroidvania-games-are-neither-metroid-nor-vania/


http://www.diygamer.com/2010/03/weekly-metroidvania-untitled-story/

The simple fact that www.metroidvania.com is owned by Jeremy Parish should lend credence to its validity.

Maybe I'm crazy, but Metroidvania conveys a very distinct style of game that I also happen to love.

How else would you describe the genre and have it be easier to say/write than Metroidvania?

Just because some people use it doesn't make it an actual name for a subgenre, just like how “party” is not a genre. At the least, as with any comparison, it's always a good idea to pair it with the real genre name/description (example: side-scrolling exploration with light RPG elements, like Metriodvania). But that's just my view, of course.

Writing isn't about being easy, it is about being clear. That's part of why I don't like abbreviations in most cases, but I'm probably the only one.

I think everyone knew exactly what he meant (including you).  Can't get much clearer than that!

Metroid and Castlevania both have a lot of different elements, so if I hadn't already played Cave Story, I wouldn't know which ones it contains. I actually think it's very much like Metroid and practically nothing like Castlevania.

Enough of this. Back to Cave Story 3D. I just added a video of the reveal, including a teaser trailer and some 3D level modeling.

This is proably not the right thread to discuss this, and I don't want to be nit picky but I'm going to have to agree with Mop It Up here.  I know it sounds absurd but some people may not have played either of those games so metroidvania doesn't really mean much.

I for instance I tried, but could never get into either of those games (perhaps too moody for my taste).  While in theory I would like the game play, tainting it with metroid or castlevainia would kind of turn me off to it, so perhaps being more descriptive on what the game is about could help, but this is not a review column so I guess I should even worry about it.

There's a WiiWare demo. Go play it. We also have reviews of both the WiiWare and DSiWare versions.

As an ardent worshipper of the side-scrolling action/adventure sub-genre (known in some informal circles as "Metroidvania", since Metroid and Castlevania pioneered that gameplay style), I boldly proclaim "DO WANT!"

As a Metroidvania fan I'm saying WANT. Metroidvania is a level design philosophy, RPG elements and such are inconsequential to it.