Metroidvania History Quiz

When did the term MV first come into use and how was it used?

1994 thanks to Super Metroid and Castlevania II, then used to describe a new subgenre of AA games combining elements of each series

1999 thanks to the Castlevania X Metroid crossover game for the N64

1997 thanks to Symphony of the Night, a smash hit at the time

2003 thanks to online publications starting to use it in reviews to describe the CV games designed similarly to Metroid games.

How did the evolution of platformers into MVs differ in the west compared to in Japan?

It didn't

The subgenre was ignored in favor of Mario-style games

Fewer MV games were made due to developers focusing on other genres or aspects of games.

Metroid was heavily associated with feminism, which the west was generally against at the time and so the subgenre struggled commercially

Which of these are alternate terms for MV games that people tend to use? Pick 3.

Historically, are most MVs linear or non-linear in their overarching structure (area to area progression)?

Most are linear or mostly linear

Most are non-linear or mostly non-linear

MV and Open World are synonymous terms

While most MVs aren't ARPGs, there is a lot of overlap between the genres historically. Particularly in Japan. How did the evolution of ARPGs differ in the west?

Evolution stagnated until King's Field (PS1) and Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64) showed the west how it's done

In the west, a first person view game called Dungeon Master pretty much became the new standard for real-time gameplay in RPGs for a few years to come, up until Ultima Underworld and Elder Scrolls in the early '90s. The next major change came with the popularity of Diablo in 1996

It didn't

There were a lot of Quest for Glory clones and not much else

Another subgenre of AA games, which is rather similar to MVs as well as a bit older, is Zelda-likes. How do Zelda-likes generally differ from MVs? Pick 3.

Less focus on narration and NPC interaction

Overworld and dungeons world structure

No need to backtrack into a dungeon after you've beaten the boss and/or got the tool item in it

Melee combat only

No or less of a platforming focus

Zeldas are high fantasy while MVs are cyberpunk

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is famous for starting you off at the finale of a reimagining of the previous game, but another similar game did this first. Which game?

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