Metroidvania clones

[marurun]

So, I've been playing the hell out of Castlevania SOTN, US PSX version and Saturn version. I both love them and am frustrated by them. Are there any other games that use this Metroidvania model? I know there are the GBA/DS titles. I have all 3 of the GBA ones, but they seem a lot more shallow in many ways. A couple Shaman King games play a little similarly but they are WAY too platformer-y, without much real depth.

Any thoughts on where to go from here?

[Elwood]

Check out the freeware game Cave Story. It's a great game, and it's a great explorative platformer. Sorta across between a Metroidvania and an 8-bit platformer. Great game, and it's free. I love it.

You can find links to the game itself and the English patch here:
http://agtp.romhack.net/project.php?id=cavestory

[marurun]

Yeah, I played the hell out of that game. Damn fun. There needs to be a GBA port, frankly. Would work great on that platform.

[corn619]

Shaman King Master of Spirits 1 & 2 is made by Konami and follows the Metroidvania game structure. I'm almost always against licensed properties but these games are pretty good and worth a shot.

[marurun]

I have the first one of those Shaman King games. It's OK, but it feels way to simplistic compared to SOTN, naturally. It's fun, but it doesn't quite fill that need properly.

[Elwood]

I know there's a DS homebrew port of Cave Story in the works. No clue how far along it is though. I think there's a PSP port out there as well.

[Gamerforlife]

Damnit, I wish they'd release Cave Story on Xbox Live Arcade. Though I guess it wouldn't kill me to play in on PC. It's just that I'm sucked into 360 land right now. I played it for a bit a few months ago and liked it, but never finished it.

I love games with some kind of character upgrading or rpg elements. I love seeing how badass Alucard becomes by the time you finish Symphony of the Night

[Haoie]

How about the Metroid games on GBA? Moot suggestion?

[RadarScope1]

It's a very simple game, but Wonder Boy in Monster World (Genesis) is a fun one. Gets a bit bogged down by grinding for gold to upgrade spells at the end, but it has a lot of charm.

[Ramatut4001]

I can't post the exact link as the site's blocked at my office, but Jeremy Parish has a whole Metroidvania section on gamespite.net. It's unfinished, but some good reading over there.