The metroidvania thread

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Have you played the recolour hacks? The ncoZ update to running animation is superb.
View attachment 111955

It feels weird not seeing the blue outlines on him.

I think the translated ROM I have is a recolor bc colors arent as bright as usual
View attachment 111957

Imo the GBA games being saturated is a part of the charm, like seeing black 'n white movies.

 

[_-_AceDragon_-_]

I think the translated ROM I have is a recolor bc colors arent as bright as usual
View attachment 111957

Definitely a recolor hack, as there's no blue outline. But I don't recognise which one specifically.
Might be this as it looks dark but I'm not sure:

Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance: Recolor (Hack) GBA ROM - RGT Repository

Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance: Recolor (Hack) GBA ROM Languages: English. For the GameBoy Advance.

retrogametalk.com

The one I mentioned with the best running animations (probably the worst part of original HoD) is found here (specifically the ncoZ animation):

Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance: Visual Improvement (Hack) GBA ROM - RGT Repository

Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance: Visual Improvement (Hack) GBA ROM Languages: English. For the GameBoy Advance.

retrogametalk.com

Post automatically merged: Sep 19, 2025

It feels weird not seeing the blue outlines on him.


Imo the GBA games being saturated is a part of the charm, like seeing black 'n white movies.

Blue lines did have a unique charm but they weren't so prominent on original GBA without a backlit screen.

 

[Ikagura Ikagura]

Silly question but why SotN has never been ported to PC or non Sony consoles?

Why Konami put the other Igavania games on Nintendo's handhelds rather than making a second SotN on the PS1 or PS2?

 

[_-_AceDragon_-_]

Silly question but why SotN has never been ported to PC or non Sony consoles?

Why Konami put the other Igavania games on Nintendo's handhelds rather than making a second SotN on the PS1 or PS2?

First question is a good one. I have no idea why. It should have been on PC/Steam years ago.

Igavania games hit the handhelds for a few reasons. Firstly we're lucky to have even got symphony because at the time 3d games were being pushed for. The game itself wasn't a success financially speaking, and this usually is the deciding factor re sequels. Consoles were continuing to push 3d games, GBA was carrying the 2d game mantle, it was kinda passed to GBA by default simply due to its capabilities Vs console capabilities. So 2d games saw a second wind on GBA (and DS). It wasn't just castlevania; same cane be said for sonic advance, Megaman Zero, gunstar super heroes, guardian heroes advance, Zelda Minish cap, metroid fusion/zero mission. All great games that followed the previous 2d iterations from their respective series on snes/PS1/saturn.... The GBA was a marvel.

I can't believe konami opted for the 3d games over 2d on main consoles. Especially that lords of shadows / GOW wannabe garbage. Dracula Vs Satan, great story konami.... Lament of innocence was a much better origin story. Anyway I digress,

Back to metroidvanias. I dunno if it's been mentioned but Ori blind forest and will of wisps were both fantastic metroidvanias. Even if they did feel a bit linear.
I also count La Mulana, as punishing and puzzle/riddle focussed as it is.

 

[Caped_Plumber]

Symphony did get ported to the 360 many moons ago. It was a good port in my experience.

Ps2 had backward compatibility so you could already play symphony on it. And the reason they never made a second symphony is probably for two reasons: 1) the shift away from 2D so they focused on the two 3D castlevanias made during ps2 generation. 2) the story of symphony had concluded. So the sequels needed a new storyline.

I agree it’s interesting and almost peculiar that the both the GBA and DS would each see three fully fledged castlevania games in the style of symphony.

They are all excellent games without a doubt. The DS castlevania visuals and gameplay are superb. The story lines weren’t as good as symphony or aria.

Ace Dragon: “Consoles were continuing to push 3d games, GBA was carrying the 2d game mantle, it was kinda passed to GBA by default simply due to its capabilities Vs console capabilities. So 2d games saw a second wind on GBA (and DS). It wasn't just castlevania; same cane be said for sonic advance, Megaman Zero, gunstar super heroes, guardian heroes advance, Zelda Minish cap, metroid fusion/zero mission. All great games that followed the previous 2d iterations from their respective series on snes/PS1/saturn.... The GBA was a marvel.”

Very well put indeed. This is why the GBA and DS carried on the 2D Metroidvania games (among the other phenomenal games listed here).

Post automatically merged: Sep 19, 2025

To add another, this isn’t a proper Metroidvania at all but I enjoyed it very much.

The legend of tian ding.

 

[Xdqwerty Xdqwerty]

Definitely a recolor hack, as there's no blue outline. But I don't recognise which one specifically.
Might be this as it looks dark but I'm not sure:

Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance: Recolor (Hack) GBA ROM - RGT Repository

Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance: Recolor (Hack) GBA ROM Languages: English. For the GameBoy Advance.

retrogametalk.com

The one I mentioned with the best running animations (probably the worst part of original HoD) is found here (specifically the ncoZ animation):

Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance: Visual Improvement (Hack) GBA ROM - RGT Repository

Castlevania Harmony of Dissonance: Visual Improvement (Hack) GBA ROM Languages: English. For the GameBoy Advance.

retrogametalk.com

Post automatically merged: Sep 19, 2025

Blue lines did have a unique charm but they weren't so prominent on original GBA without a backlit screen.

Oh I forgot to mention that the screenshot is from the spanish fan translation, it's on the repo

 

[_-_AceDragon_-_]

Symphony did get ported to the 360 many moons ago. It was a good port in my experience.

Ps2 had backward compatibility so you could already play symphony on it. And the reason they never made a second symphony is probably for two reasons: 1) the shift away from 2D so they focused on the two 3D castlevanias made during ps2 generation. 2) the story of symphony had concluded. So the sequels needed a new storyline.

I agree it’s interesting and almost peculiar that the both the GBA and DS would each see three fully fledged castlevania games in the style of symphony.

They are all excellent games without a doubt. The DS castlevania visuals and gameplay are superb. The story lines weren’t as good as symphony or aria.

Ace Dragon: “Consoles were continuing to push 3d games, GBA was carrying the 2d game mantle, it was kinda passed to GBA by default simply due to its capabilities Vs console capabilities. So 2d games saw a second wind on GBA (and DS). It wasn't just castlevania; same cane be said for sonic advance, Megaman Zero, gunstar super heroes, guardian heroes advance, Zelda Minish cap, metroid fusion/zero mission. All great games that followed the previous 2d iterations from their respective series on snes/PS1/saturn.... The GBA was a marvel.”

Very well put indeed. This is why the GBA and DS carried on the 2D Metroidvania games (among the other phenomenal games listed here).

Post automatically merged: Sep 19, 2025

To add another, this isn’t a proper Metroidvania at all but I enjoyed it very much.

The legend of tian ding.

Thank you, kind sir. And good point, I forgot about the Xbox one!
Tian ding looks cool.

 

[Caped_Plumber]

Spider-Man web of shadows on the Nintendo DS.

I played this years ago expected a nice platformer. The thing turned out to be a fully fledged Spider-Man metroidvania! Phenomenal controls and combat system. Brilliant 3D animations. Excellent voice acting. Great music. And a coherent effective story that keeps you going. For a handheld it really does create an effective atmosphere.. I really enjoyed it. Brilliant little gem.

 

[_-_AceDragon_-_]

Spider-Man web of shadows on the Nintendo DS.

I played this years ago expected a nice platformer. The thing turned out to be a fully fledged Spider-Man metroidvania! Phenomenal controls and combat system. Brilliant 3D animations. Excellent voice acting. Great music. And a coherent effective story that keeps you going. For a handheld it really does create an effective atmosphere.. I really enjoyed it. Brilliant little gem.

Way better than the PS2/PSP counterpart.
On spiders: