Best Metroidvania Games
Metroidvanias we have reviewed, ranked by our own score rather than a store chart.
Ranked from 60 published games reviews · 0 of 60 are free · newest review Nov 2026
- Ranked
- 60
- 01Ori and the Will of the WispsMoon Studios' Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a profound evolution of the Metroidvania genre, delivering an emotionally resonant narrative framed b...9.7Outstanding
- 02ÖOOÖoo removes the jump button, the genre's most basic verb, and replaces it with a body made of explosives. It is one of the smartest puzzle platformers...9.4Outstanding
- 03Metroid Prime RemasteredRetro Studios rebuilt every surface of a 2002 masterpiece and left its design alone, which was the right call because the design is the masterpiece. T...9.3Outstanding
- 04Yoku's Island ExpressYoku's Island Express fuses pinball and Metroidvania design so naturally that it proves the formula still has room for radical, joyous reinvention. It...9.3Outstanding
- 05Ori and the Blind ForestMoon Studios' Ori and the Blind Forest is one of the very best action-platformers of its era, marrying exquisite visual storytelling with demanding,...9.3Outstanding
- 06Dead CellsDead Cells fuses high-stakes roguelite progression with precision action-platforming into an endlessly replayable, brutally rewarding package — one of...9.2Outstanding
- 07PseudoregaliaA lean, brilliantly designed 3D platformer that strips away modern bloat to reveal a mechanical heart, with combat as the one real reservation. At $5....8.9Great
- 08Axiom VergeAxiom Verge thoughtfully remixes classic Metroidvania exploration and combat with genuinely inventive glitch mechanics. At $4.99 it's an easy recommen...8.9Great
- 09The MessengerSabotage Studio didn't just build a love letter to Ninja Gaiden; they constructed a Trojan Horse that smuggles a clever, genre-bending Metroidvania ...8.8Great
- 10SteamWorld Dig 2A sharp exercise in iterative design that ditches procedural generation for a handcrafted, airtight exploration loop. It's a deeply rewarding Metroidv...8.8Great
- 11Hollow Knight: SilksongBigger, faster, and meaner than Hollow Knight, and mostly better for it — a sequel worth recommending, provided you can stomach a difficulty curve t...8.7Great
- 12Crypt CustodianCrypt Custodian is a smart, accessible take on the Metroidvania, trading the genre's typical grimness for a vibrant, broom-swinging adventure that is ...8.7Great
- 13Minishoot' AdventureMinishoot' Adventure is a superb genre-bender, stripping away the bloat of modern gaming to deliver a pure, high-octane marriage of Zelda-style explor...8.7Great
- 14Rusted MossRusted Moss is a demanding, physics-driven Metroidvania whose grappling hook reinvents both traversal and combat. It's a strong recommendation for p...8.6Great
- 15La-Mulana 2La-Mulana 2 is a carefully built digital artifact, a brutalist monument to old-school exploration and unforgiving logic, demanding intellectual fortit...8.6Great
- 16Metroid DreadMetroid Dread is a lean, mean, occasionally merciless 2D action game that justifies the 19-year wait for a proper Fusion sequel. It's short and it's f...8.5Great
- 17Nuclear BlazeDeepnight Games' Nuclear Blaze turns the overlooked heroism of firefighting into a taut, engaging 2D action-adventure — clearly recommended, with re...8.5Great
- 18FrogmonsterFrogmonster welds two genres together and makes the seam disappear—a cute Metroidvania shell wrapped around a punishing, sharply-tuned soulslike cor...8.4Great
- 19Leap YearLeap Year weaponizes fragility — a fall of more than a few pixels kills you — and turns that single rule into one of the smartest knowledge-based metr...8.4Great
- 20Bloodstained: Ritual of the NightBloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a rich, well-crafted gothic Metroidvania that honors its heritage without being trapped by it. Its design and dep...8.4Great
- 21Rabi-RibiRabi-Ribi is a mechanically dense, expertly crafted Metroidvania that hides its brutal, high-skill bullet-hell combat behind a deceptively sweet aesth...8.4Great
- 22Ender Lilies: Quietus of the KnightsA haunting, beautifully crafted Metroidvania that weaponizes melancholy. It is a grueling, gorgeous game that justifies its brutality through mechanic...8.4Great
- 23Astalon: Tears of the EarthA beautifully constructed Metroidvania that marries tight character-swapping mechanics with an addictive rogue-lite progression loop. A strong retro-s...8.3Great
- 24Guacamelee! 2Drinkbox Studios delivers a sharply designed action-platformer that marries complex combat with punishing precision platforming. It refines rather tha...8.3Great
- 25UnsightedUnsighted is a sharp, confident action-RPG that blends parry-heavy combat with a relentless time-management system forcing players to weigh the value ...8.3Great
- 26BlasphemousBlasphemous carves out a niche with its unyielding challenge and striking, religiously charged aesthetic. Its combat and world-building are built ...8.3Great
- 27Salt and SanctuaryA two-person studio rebuilt Dark Souls on a 2D plane and, improbably, kept almost everything that mattered — the weight, the dread, the map that folds...8.2Great
- 28SupralandOne German developer built a first-person Metroidvania that respects your intelligence more than most studio productions respect your time. The combat...8.2Great
- 29Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the MistA sequel that learns from its predecessor, Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist is a gorgeous, generous, emotionally literate Metroidvania that trades ...8.2Great
- 30Dandara: Trials of Fear EditionBy stripping away the most fundamental mechanic in gaming—the ability to walk—Dandara forces a total cognitive rewire, and the result is one of the mo...8.2Great
- 31Blasphemous 2The Penitent One's latest pilgrimage is a strong, confident gothic Metroidvania, refining its predecessor's formula with smoother combat and striking ...8.2Great
- 32UltrosUltros reimagines the Metroidvania through audacious art and a recursive gameplay loop that demands patience and rewards deep exploration — a clearl...8.1Great
- 33Touhou Luna NightsTeam Ladybug built a Metroidvania around a time-stop button and then had the discipline to design every room, hazard, and boss pattern to justify it. ...8.0Great
- 34Berserk BoyBerserk Boy is a compelling, high-octane 2D platformer that marries classic sensibilities with contemporary polish, recommended with real reservations...8.0Great
- 35Shinobi: Art of VengeanceLizardcube has taken a stiff, punishing arcade relic and rebuilt it as a fluid, gorgeous 2D action game with a genuinely smart combat economy — one th...7.9Good
- 36IsletsIslets takes the most tired chore in the Metroidvania playbook—backtracking—and turns it into a literal act of world-building. It's cozy without bei...7.9Good
- 37SeveredDrinkBox Studios took the most maligned control scheme in gaming—the touchscreen swipe—and built a genuinely tactile action RPG around it. The combat ...7.8Good
- 38KingsveinRad Codex has built one of the more mechanically inventive tactics RPGs in recent memory — a grid-combat sandbox wrapped in genuine metroidvania archi...7.8Good
- 39Monster Boy and the Cursed KingdomA fan project that outgrew its own fandom, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom understands its ancestor well enough to argue with it — a handsome, mech...7.8Good
- 40GRIMEGRIME is a visually audacious Soulslike that welds grotesque anatomical horror to a parry-and-devour combat loop built on a genuinely fresh idea. Cryp...7.8Good
- 41Momodora: Reverie Under the MoonlightCompact, precise, and moody, Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight is a focused action-platformer with combat worth learning and an atmosphere that ca...7.8Good
- 42Monster SanctuaryMonster Sanctuary is a sharp, demanding RPG that trades mindless level-grinding for deep, tactical team synergy and Metroidvania exploration. Its puni...7.8Good
- 43ScrabdackleA confident, hand-animated Zelda-like with fast, demanding wand combat and a world dense with lore — but only a third of it exists yet. Act 1 is a sol...7.7Good
- 44TEVITEVI is one of the more mechanically ambitious metroidvanias in recent memory and one of the more exhausting — a sharp fusion of melee combo fighting ...7.7Good
- 45InfernaxBerzerk Studio built a loving forgery of a 1988 NES cartridge, then quietly fixed everything that made those cartridges miserable. Infernax is mea...7.7Good
- 46AquariaA gorgeous, melancholic Metroidvania that turns exploration into a duet with the deep — hobbled by fussy navigation, imprecise combat, and an ending t...7.7Good
- 47SunderedThunder Lotus's Sundered: Eldritch Edition is a visually striking, brutally challenging Metroidvania that fuses roguelite elements with cosmic horro...7.7Good
- 48Wonder Boy: The Dragon's TrapLizardcube's hand-drawn resurrection of a 1989 cult classic is a model of how to remake a game — gorgeous, reverent, and honest enough to leave the or...7.6Good
- 49Gato RobotoGato Roboto is a sharp, focused take on the Metroidvania that trims the genre to its essentials. It's a lean, monochrome adventure with real teeth, be...7.6Good
- 50Castlevania: Symphony of the NightCastlevania: Symphony of the Night is a landmark game and this is the complete, uncut, ad-free version of it — but Konami bolted on a touch control ...7.5Good
- 51Laika: Aged Through BloodLaika: Aged Through Blood is a striking, punishingly difficult "Motorvania" that fuses motorcycle physics with one-hit-death combat — a bold, distinct...7.5Good
- 52Pine HeartsA short, gentle, carefully judged hike through grief. The puzzles won't challenge anyone and the structure is familiar, but the warmth and restraint i...7.4Good
- 53Blade ChimeraA demon-sword that rebuilds what time destroyed gives this Metroidvania one of the genre's sharper ideas, wrapped in pixel art worth the asking price....7.4Good
- 54Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder LabyrinthA gorgeous, precision-built Metroidvania that trades sprawl for craft — a short run of near-flawless sprite work and a genuinely smart elemental comba...7.4Good
- 55IconoclastsJoakim Sandberg spent the better part of a decade building a Metroidvania that punches above its weight on nearly every front—combat, puzzles, art—and...7.4Good
- 56Lone FungusLone Fungus is an ambitious solo-developed Metroidvania with a genuinely deep movement kit and inventive combat, held back by baggy pacing and an unev...7.4Good
- 57ExographerExographer is an educational game that never feels like homework. It's a handsome, thoughtful Metroidvania where the physics puzzles hold up the who...7.3Good
- 58Toki Tori 2+Toki Tori 2+ strips the puzzle-platformer down to two verbs — whistle and stomp — and builds one of the genre's most quietly radical designs on top of...7.3Good
- 59Isle of ReveriesFaithful to the Game Boy Color frame down to its 160x144 pixels, with a fairy that copies and spawns objects to turn dungeon puzzles into questions of...7.2Good
- 60Mio: Memories in OrbitDouze Dixièmes has built a metroidvania map worth memorizing, then paired it with a sword that takes far too long to feel like a weapon. The explorati...7.2Good
How we chose the best metroidvania games
A metroidvania lives on its map, so this list asks whether the world is legible: can you remember a door you could not open, and does the game trust you to come back for it? Our reviews weigh ability gating, the usefulness of the map and its markers, backtracking distance, and whether new movement changes how old rooms feel. A beautiful corridor with locked doors is not one of these. Linearly gated adventures are excluded.
Ranking on this page is deliberately plain: each title is ordered by the score our review published, highest first, and a tie goes to the more recently reviewed product so a new verdict shows up straight away. Nothing is re-weighted for a store chart, a publisher or a release window, and no title is promoted for being well known. Price and platforms are read from each row rather than restated here, because they move.