One of the defining elements that differentiates Metroidvania games from other genres is their much greater emphasis on power-ups. Permanent power-ups, we mean, not just little doodads you pick up for a couple minutes of extra capability.
Whether it’s additional weapons or upgraded movement capabilities, it’s through power-ups that a Metroidvania’s world gradually reveals itself to you. What was once impassible or incomprehensible now becomes yet another avenue for your grand exploration.
Related
10 Best Metroidvanias With No Traditional Platforming
Dashes and double jumps are great, but what about something a little bit different?
There are a lot of great power-ups to choose from across the entire genre, some wholly unique and some we’ve seen a few times in different guises. These are the power-ups we personally enjoy.
We are aware at least a few of these will have originally appeared in a Metroid or Castlevania game, but we’re mixing things up a bit just to make it interesting.
10 Screw Attack
Metroid
Metroid
- Released
- August 6, 1986
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo
- Engine
- unreal engine
- ESRB
- E for Everyone: Mild Fantasy Violence
One of the most enduring power-ups in the entire Metroid franchise is the Screw Attack. We know this for a fact because the physical Screw Attack upgrade, that being a little lightning bolt over a sphere, is often also used as the official emblem for Metroid games and Samus herself.
The Screw Attack is the perfect solution to Samus’ usual vulnerability when moving through the air. It builds off of Samus’ usual habit of flipping in the air while jumping, transforming her into a spinning blade of destructive energy.
In most of its appearances throughout the Metroid games, the Screw Attack is just an offensive jump. In some games like Metroid Prime, though, it’s combined with the Wall Jump and Space Jump, allowing you to spin multiple times through the air like some kind of self-aware yo-yo.
9 Speed Booster & Shinespark
Super Metroid
Super Metroid
Action-Adventure
Metroidvania
- Released
- April 18, 1994
- ESRB
- e
- How Long To Beat
- 8 Hours
Samus is a very athletic lady on an average day, able to run all over massive alien landscapes at a steady clip without getting visibly tired. All the same, she could always be faster, not to mention better at breaking through stuff.
The Speed Booster, originally introduced in Super Metroid, allows Samus to gradually pick up speed as she runs before breaking into a mad superpowered dash. It’s both much faster than her normal jog, and allows her to plow through otherwise impassable barriers.
Additionally, once Samus is up to speed, she can stop dead and use her accumulated momentum to rocket straight upwards.
Not only is this maneuver, the Shinespark, incredibly cool, it’s one of the cornerstones of Super Metroid speedrunning. You’d be surprised how many progression blockers you can finagle your way past with a properly-angled Shinespark.
8 Soul Of Bat
Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
- Released
- October 2, 1997
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Animated Blood and Gore, Animated Violence
- How Long To Beat
- 9 Hours
If vampires in games are primarily known for two things, it’s drinking blood and turning into bats. We don’t actually see Dracula or his son Alucard do much of either in the Castlevania games, but it’s not because they can’t.
At least in Alucard’s case in Symphony of the Night, he needs to uncover the Soul of Bat power-up first. With this power-up in hand, Alucard can spontaneously shapeshift into a particularly large bat as he pleases, at least as long as his MP holds out.
The obvious benefit of being a bat is that you can fly, which allows Alucard to reach high perches he can’t handle with his jumps alone. With additional upgrades, Bat Form can also launch fireballs and navigate dark places with echolocation.
7 Crystal Heart
Hollow Knight
Many Metroidvanias, such as Hollow Knight, have a tendency to separate areas with large, completely impassable gaps lined with instant-death pits or spikes.
It’s a gentle way of saying “you’re not going this way yet.” It’d be one thing if there were grapple points or spawning platforms, but how are you supposed to cross such a large gap unaided?
In Hollow Knight, the solution is the Crystal Heart and its powerful dash. Just stick yourself to any solid, vertical surface, charge up for a moment, and fly off. The Knight will fly continuously in a straight line until he hits another wall or hazard.
It’s a fun and easy way to travel long-distance, and if you can find a good perch to charge up, it’s also convenient for the occasional spot of speedrunning. Just don’t accidentally fly into a spiked wall, or you’ll be sent back to where you initially blasted off from, sans health.
6 Pollo Power
Guacamelee!
Just about any Metroidvania game is packed full with tight nooks and crannies that even the tiniest protagonist can’t enter as they are. The archetypal means of solving this problem is some manner of micro-sized transformation, like Samus’ Morph Ball in Metroid.
We prefer Guacamelee’s take on the concept, though, just for the entertainment value.
Related
Metroid Prime Remastered: Where To Find The Morph Ball
Metroid Prime Remastered’s Morph Ball is a great upgrade that players will want to get as soon as possible. Here’s how you can obtain it.
After overcoming a curse from X’tabay, Juan gains the ability to flip at will between his usual muscular form and that of a small chicken. This ability, dubbed Pollo Power, allows Juan to sneak into cramped passages and quickly scamper his way through.
The only downside to Pollo Power is that Juan is defenseless while using it. In the updated version of the game, though, you can unlock the ability to lay bomb eggs, which serve as both a means of defense and opening even more new passages.
5 Bash
Ori And The Blind Forest
The most satisfying thing about gaining new abilities in a Metroidvania game is becoming able to explore and surmount more of the map under your own power.
Ori and the Blind Forest, though, subverts this notion in a clever way with the Bash ability received from the Ancestral Tree, Reem.
With Bash, Ori can bounce off solid objects like lanterns, enemies, and even small projectiles. This has two benefits: first, Ori can use the kickback from the bounce to propel themselves to greater heights or across small gaps.
The second, arguably more useful benefit is that any projectile Ori bashes will be reflected into the direction it came from. You can also adjust the trajectory of this reflection, allowing you to launch projectiles at breakable walls or into other enemies.
4 Cannon Jump
Shantae And The Pirate’s Curse
Every proper Metroidvania game gives you some manner of enhanced jump at some point or another, whether it’s a double jump or a really high jump.
Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse is no exception to this, though its approach to the concept is amusingly novel: Risky’s Cannon.
Rather than using the Cannon as you’d expect, Shantae sits on top of it and blasts it straight down. The kickback gives her some extra oomph in the air, and because the cannon can be fired three times, you can actually get a pretty good boost both vertically and horizontally.
Plus, since it’s, y’know, a Cannon, the fired cannonballs will damage anything directly beneath Shantae. It’s not a lot of damage, but it’s handy for chipping away at stubborn foes while you bounce around above them.
3 Invert
Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night
One of the most famous aspects of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is the Inverted Castle, a semi-secret second map that’s just the first map flipped upside down.
As a send-up to that game, Bloodstained has a nod to the Inverted Castle, but with a more… modular twist.
The Invert Shard is a late-game ability Miriam can acquire to completely flip the effects of gravity on her and her alone. When you use invert, the entire screen rotates 180 degrees, leaving you walking around on the ceiling with the floor up above.
It’s rather brilliant in its simplicity; instead of needing a flight ability, just flip the whole room over, and you can reach just about any high perch. As long as there aren’t any walls or spikes in your way, there’s very little the game can do at this point to keep you from uncovering everything on the map.
2 Address Disruptor
Axiom Verge
Perhaps one of the unique power-ups to ever appear in a Metroidvania game is Axiom Verge’s Address Disruptor. If you’ve ever toyed around with ROMhacking before, it’s kind of like that, except it’s actually part of the game.
With the Address Disruptor, Trace can effectively “hack” reality, altering the properties of both living creatures and static objects. In the latter case, for instance, a blast from the Address Disruptor can open up ordinarily impassable blocks and surfaces.
When used on enemies, it discombobulates them into a glitchy, disoriented mess, which generally makes them much easier to evade or defeat.
There’s actually an achievement for using the Address Disruptor on every type of enemy in the game, in case you need an incentive to futz with reality.
1 Bloody Knight’s Claws
Ender Lilies: Quietus Of The Knights
Certain games both in and out of the Metroidvania genre have wall holding and surmounting as one of their major traversal mechanics. One of the big differences between Mega Man and Mega Man X, for instance, was that you could climb walls by kicking off them in the latter.
One nifty example of this kind of mechanic is the Bloody Knight’s Claws ability received from the spirit of Mad Knight Ulv in Ender Lilies.
With the help of Ulv’s impressive spiked digits, Lily can grab and hold onto any flat, vertical surface, as well as continuously jump up it to reach new heights.
Besides opening up some new avenues of exploration, this ability also makes for some clever platforming puzzles, in which you need to grab a wall, drop down, then double jump up to grab the other side.
Next
10 Best Metroidvania Soulslikes
Brutally punishing combat and rewarding exploration? Sign me up!
