There's a new Metroid game out on 3DS. Well, there sort of is. It's a remake of Metroid 2, I think, but with some extra bells and whistles tossed in for fun. Whatever it is, it's called Metroid: Samus Returns, and it's never going to come out for iPhone.
But that doesn't mean you have to miss out on all that lovely metroidvania action, because there are plenty of games out there on the App Store that fit into the genre. And a good deal of them play around with the formula in some interesting ways.
So since it's Tuesday, I thought I'd tell you about three that you should play. You can poke the emboldened names of the games below to grab them from the App Store. And if you've got your own suggestions, feel free to sponk them in the comments at the bottom of the article. That's right, sponk. It's new, it's fresh, it's sponk.
Here's a game that's only too happy to muck about with the shape of a metroidvania. It's not a platformer, but it takes the shape of the genre and pummels it into something pretty darn interesting. You're still exploring, still finding new skills, and the game looks stunning as well. Sure, it's a port, but it's a port that works brilliantly on mobile.
Read the Pocket Gamer review here
This one's a little more traditional. It's a Game Boy-hued platformer that sees you working your way through the titular dungoens. There's new equipment to discover, and you're going to have to grab all of it if you want to see everything the game has to offer. It's hardcore in all the right ways, and it'll scratch your nostalgic itches in the most pleasant of manners.
Read the Pocket Gamer review here
Another game that puts the parts of a metroidvania in a bucket, shakes them around a bit, and sees what comes out. Here you're exploring the red planet, finding different species of flora and fauna and experimenting with them to see what happens. It's a super big game, but it's one that rewards patience and play. And anything with that sort of scope definitely deserves to be championed on these pages.
