Every metroidvania fan has the one game that hooked them, and the genre is deep enough now that no two people give the same answer. Rather than hand you my favorites, I read twelve Reddit threads of players naming the best of the genre, counted every upvote on every game anyone suggested, and let the totals decide the order. The result is a proper old-guard versus new-guard showdown: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night took the top spot, with Hollow Knight and Super Metroid locked in a dead heat right behind it, across 81 games and 6,606 votes.
None of this is my personal ranking. I did not score these by what I like. Every spot is the sum of real Reddit upvotes from the threads people actually find when they search this, so the order is the community's, not mine. I just counted.
If you only want a recommendation, take the quiz below and it will match you to a game based on the kind of metroidvania you are after. If you want the full picture, keep scrolling. One note up front: the two genre namesakes appear as their standout entries, so Symphony of the Night and Super Metroid are ranked as the specific games people vote for, not as whole franchises.
8 questions, matched to 81 community-ranked games.
Question 1 of 8
Classic or modern?
Question 2 of 8
How tough do you want it?
Question 3 of 8
What matters most to you?
Question 4 of 8
What kind of mood?
Question 5 of 8
How important is the story?
Question 6 of 8
Pace?
Question 7 of 8
Art style?
Question 8 of 8
How long do you want to sink in?
Your community-ranked match
If you have read one of our other roundups, this will look familiar, because the method is the same every time. The whole point is to keep my taste out of the ranking. I am not telling you these are the best games because I played them and you should trust me. I am showing you what thousands of other metroidvania players upvoted, and counting it honestly.
I searched Google and Reddit the way anyone would, with phrases such as best metroidvania games and metroidvania recommendations, then collected the threads that ranked and read them directly on Reddit. They came from r/metroidvania, the genre's home subreddit, where the best-of and must-play questions get asked and answered constantly. I left out any thread scoped to a single platform. Twelve qualifying threads made the cut, with the few sprawling threads that my capture could not read in full set aside so I never tally a half-read discussion.
A game's score is the sum of upvotes on every comment that suggested it, added up across all twelve threads. So if one comment recommending Hollow Knight earned 81 upvotes in one thread and another earned 23 in a different thread, Hollow Knight is credited with both. A comment naming four games hands its full upvote count to all four, which is how one thoughtful, highly-upvoted reply can lift several picks at once. Nothing is ranked by hand beyond that counting.
One thing worth naming: Metroid and Castlevania are the genre namesakes, so people mention them constantly. To keep the list about specific games, I ranked their standout entries on their own, Super Metroid and Symphony of the Night chief among them, and a comment that named a specific entry was never also counted toward a generic series total. The votes decide; I just keep the counting clean.
These ten lead the community vote. The names link to each game store page if you want a closer look, and we do not earn a cent from your purchases.
| 1 |  | Castlevania: Symphony of the Night | 608 votes |
| 2 |  | Hollow Knight | 552 votes |
| 3 |  | Super Metroid | 552 votes |
| 4 |  | Ori | 386 votes |
| 5 |  | Blasphemous | 331 votes |
| 6 |  | Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown | 279 votes |
| 7 |  | Grime | 209 votes |
| 8 |  | Nine Sols | 209 votes |
| 9 |  | Aeterna Noctis | 201 votes |
| 10 |  | Ender Lilies | 195 votes |
How the Votes Stack Up
Every total below is the sum of upvotes from each of the 12 Reddit threads that recommended the game. Each colored segment is one thread. Hover to see its contribution, or click any segment to open the source thread.
| Game | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Castlevania: Symphony of the Night | 3 | 49 | 76 | 6 | 138 | 241 | 4 | 63 | 12 | 7 | 9 | 608 | |
| Hollow Knight | 42 | 27 | 2 | 238 | 8 | 83 | 21 | 14 | 83 | 13 | 21 | 552 | |
| Super Metroid | 4 | 18 | 101 | 104 | 248 | 16 | 35 | 12 | 14 | 552 | |||
| Ori | 20 | 1 | 102 | 10 | 88 | 34 | 5 | 45 | 70 | 3 | 8 | 386 | |
| Blasphemous | 30 | 20 | 80 | 9 | 75 | 6 | 6 | 10 | 83 | 12 | 331 | ||
| Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown | 28 | 11 | 82 | 70 | 10 | 41 | 37 | 279 | |||||
| Grime | 23 | 21 | 15 | 20 | 56 | 6 | 31 | 26 | 11 | 209 | |||
| Nine Sols | 2 | 28 | 96 | 11 | 8 | 10 | 54 | 209 | |||||
| Aeterna Noctis | 19 | 25 | 42 | 11 | 48 | 10 | 9 | 35 | 2 | 201 | |||
| Ender Lilies | 23 | 37 | 12 | 62 | 15 | 6 | 6 | 22 | 11 | 1 | 195 |
Every game suggested across the twelve threads, ranked by total upvotes. Sort by any column or filter by platform to find your fit.
| #^ | Game | Votesv | Mentionsv | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Castlevania: Symphony of the Night | 608 | 103 | Xbox, PlayStation, Mobile |
| 2 | Hollow Knight | 552 | 148 | PC, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox |
| 3 | Super Metroid | 552 | 84 | SNES, Switch (NSO) |
| 4 | Ori | 386 | 97 | PC, Switch, Xbox |
| 5 | Blasphemous | 331 | 70 | PC, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox |
| 6 | Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown | 279 | 62 | PC, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox |
| 7 | Grime | 209 | 50 | PC, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox |
| 8 | Nine Sols | 209 | 47 | PC, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox |
| 9 | Aeterna Noctis | 201 | 52 | PC, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox |
| 10 | Ender Lilies | 195 | 49 | PC, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox |
| 11 | Axiom Verge | 184 | 35 | PC |
| 12 | The Messenger | 159 | 29 | PC |
| 13 | Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night | 120 | 22 | PC |
| 14 | Metroid Dread | 117 | 27 | PC |
| 15 | Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow | 116 | 18 | PC |
| 16 | Environmental Station Alpha | 112 | 13 | PC |
| 17 | Castlevania (series) | 109 | 30 | PC |
| 18 | Islets | 108 | 19 | PC |
| 19 | Silksong | 105 | 45 | PC |
| 20 | SteamWorld Dig 2 | 103 | 14 | PC |
| 21 | Metroid: Zero Mission | 97 | 22 | PC |
| 22 | Guacamelee | 94 | 32 | PC |
| 23 | Haiku, the Robot | 91 | 16 | PC |
| 24 | Metroid (series) | 89 | 40 | PC |
| 25 | The Last Faith | 89 | 18 | PC |
| 26 | Afterimage | 81 | 19 | PC |
| 27 | Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit | 77 | 10 | PC |
| 28 | BioGun | 72 | 6 | PC |
| 29 | Gato Roboto | 70 | 10 | PC |
| 30 | Lone Fungus | 69 | 11 | PC |
| 31 | Animal Well | 64 | 16 | PC |
| 32 | Dead Cells | 63 | 19 | PC |
| 33 | Metroid Prime | 61 | 17 | PC |
| 34 | Crypt Custodian | 59 | 10 | PC |
| 35 | Voidwrought | 59 | 10 | PC |
| 36 | Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus | 59 | 8 | PC |
| 37 | Infernax | 58 | 6 | PC |
| 38 | Biomorph | 56 | 6 | PC |
| 39 | Yoku's Island Express | 53 | 5 | PC |
| 40 | Momodora | 46 | 7 | PC |
| 41 | Metroid Fusion | 35 | 9 | PC |
| 42 | Touhou Luna Nights | 32 | 10 | PC |
| 43 | Salt and Sanctuary | 31 | 11 | PC |
| 44 | Vigil: The Longest Night | 30 | 7 | PC |
| 45 | Pseudoregalia | 30 | 6 | PC |
| 46 | Ender Magnolia | 27 | 10 | PC |
| 47 | Hades | 26 | 6 | PC |
| 48 | Dark Souls | 23 | 11 | PC |
| 49 | Constance | 20 | 6 | PC |
| 50 | Celeste | 20 | 4 | PC |
| 51 | Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order | 18 | 5 | PC |
| 52 | Ghost Song | 16 | 5 | PC |
| 53 | Sekiro | 13 | 5 | PC |
| 54 | Tunic | 12 | 9 | PC |
| 55 | AM2R | 10 | 7 | PC |
| 56 | Mandragora | 10 | 6 | PC |
| 57 | Moonscars | 9 | 2 | PC |
| 58 | Cave Story | 7 | 5 | PC |
| 59 | Tales of Kenzera: Zau | 7 | 4 | PC |
| 60 | Death's Door | 6 | 4 | PC |
| 61 | Iconoclasts | 6 | 1 | PC |
| 62 | Carrion | 5 | 4 | PC |
| 63 | Hyper Light Drifter | 5 | 4 | PC |
| 64 | Supraland | 5 | 3 | PC |
| 65 | Dust: An Elysian Tail | 4 | 4 | PC |
| 66 | Souldiers | 4 | 3 | PC |
| 67 | Minishoot' Adventures | 4 | 2 | PC |
| 68 | Elden Ring | 3 | 3 | PC |
| 69 | Gestalt: Steam and Cinder | 3 | 2 | PC |
| 70 | Rebel Transmute | 3 | 2 | PC |
| 71 | Sundered | 3 | 2 | PC |
| 72 | F.I.S.T. | 3 | 1 | PC |
| 73 | Outer Wilds | 2 | 2 | PC |
| 74 | The Knight Witch | 2 | 2 | PC |
| 75 | Crowsworn | 2 | 1 | PC |
| 76 | Salt and Sacrifice | 2 | 1 | PC |
| 77 | Undertale | 2 | 1 | PC |
| 78 | Have a Nice Death | 1 | 1 | PC |
| 79 | Mua: Mark of the Deep | 1 | 1 | PC |
| 80 | Noreya | 1 | 1 | PC |
| 81 | Rain World | 1 | 1 | PC |
Symphony of the Night took the top spot in this vote, the game more commenters named as the genre's all-time best than any other. Released in 1997, it is the title that fused Castlevania's gothic action with deep RPG systems and a huge, secret-stuffed castle to explore, and it effectively codified half the genre's name. Decades on, people still describe it as the ceiling: when someone asks for the single best metroidvania, this is the answer that comes back most often, and they do not expect that to change any time soon.
What keeps it on top is how complete it felt so early: a sprawling interconnected map, an addictive loot and leveling loop, hidden transformations, and the infamous second-half twist that doubles the game. It is an older title, so the pixel art and pace read as classic rather than cutting-edge, but the community treats that as part of the appeal. If you want to understand where the modern metroidvania came from, every thread points here first.
SourceHollow Knight is the most-recommended single game in this entire vote by sheer number of mentions, and it finished a hair behind Symphony of the Night on total upvotes. It is the title most people credit with pulling them into metroidvanias in the first place: a vast, hand-drawn underground kingdom, brutal-but-fair combat, and storytelling delivered through atmosphere rather than cutscenes. The most common way people recommend it is blunt, the goat, and it is not even close.
Where the classics are pixel art and tight, Hollow Knight is sprawling, melancholic, and enormous for its price, with secrets and bosses far beyond the main path. The challenge is real and the map can feel overwhelming early, which is the only knock against it. But as the modern face of the genre, and the consensus best metroidvania of the last decade, it sits exactly where the votes put it.
Super Metroid tied Hollow Knight on total upvotes and finished third overall, which is remarkable for a 1994 game. It is the other half of the genre's namesake and, for many longtime fans, still the purest expression of the form: drop onto a hostile planet alone, explore in near silence, find an upgrade, and watch the map quietly open around you. People describe it as the king of the pack, kept alive by an endless scene of challenge runs, randomizers, and romhacks.
Its genius is environmental storytelling and wordless guidance, teaching you where to go through level design rather than text. It is a SNES game, so it is short and looks its age, and it lives on Nintendo platforms rather than Steam. But as the design blueprint nearly every game on this list borrows from, its placement this high is the community paying respect that still feels earned.
SourceThe Ori games landed fourth, recommended constantly as the genre's most beautiful and approachable entry. Blind Forest and Will of the Wisps pair hand-painted art with fluid, acrobatic movement and a genuinely moving story, and people who do not normally tear up at games keep flagging them as exceptions. The usual pitch is simple: play the Ori games, they have an amazing art style and they are not that difficult.
Compared with Hollow Knight, Ori leans on platforming and emotion over deep combat, and it is more forgiving, which makes it a frequent first recommendation for newcomers. Will of the Wisps added a real combat system and more Metroidvania structure, so it is the one most people point to, while Blind Forest is the more linear, story-forward start. The only knock is lighter exploration than the genre's heaviest hitters.
SourceBlasphemous placed fifth, the go-to recommendation for players who want their metroidvania dark, punishing, and dripping with atmosphere. You play a silent penitent carving through a nightmarish, religiously themed world in gorgeous, grisly pixel art, and the combat leans soulslike in both difficulty and tone. The most common recommendation is to grab both games and brace yourself, since they go dirt cheap on sale and your penitence awaits.
Blasphemous 2 sanded down the first game's rougher edges with smoother platforming and combat, so a lot of people now suggest starting there or playing both back to back. It is heavier and more deliberate than Ori, with real challenge spikes, but the world and art direction are why it keeps getting named. If grim atmosphere and a stiff fight are what you want, this is the community's pick.
SourcePrince of Persia: The Lost Crown was the surprise darling of this vote, a 2024 release that climbed to sixth on the back of near-universal praise. It pairs fast, fluid combat with intricate platforming and a large, satisfying map, and it is the game commenters most often recommend to people new to the genre, thanks to its excellent accessibility and assist options. The short version that keeps coming up is good combat, good exploration, and settings that make it beginner friendly.
It is a bigger-budget take on the genre than most of this list, with polish that makes the moment-to-moment movement feel great, and a clever memory-shard system for marking secrets you cannot reach yet. The full price is higher than the indies around it, and a few veterans wanted more bite, but as a modern, approachable, genuinely excellent metroidvania it earned its spot fast.
SourceGrime tied for seventh and has the most devoted fanbase per capita on this list, the kind of game people call their goat once they have played it. It is a soulslike metroidvania set in a surreal world of living stone and flesh, built around a standout mechanic: you parry by absorbing enemies with a black hole, healing and growing stronger as you go. The combat is fast, weighty, and unusually satisfying once it clicks.
The art direction is genuinely strange and the difficulty is firmly soulslike, so it is more of an enthusiast pick than an easy first recommendation. But among people who have played the genre widely, it shows up again and again as an underrated favorite, and its sequel has only grown the following. If you want something with real bite and a distinct identity, this is the deep cut the community keeps pushing.
SourceNine Sols tied for seventh and is the pick for players who care most about combat. It swaps the usual nail or sword approach for a Sekiro-style deflection system, where reading and parrying attacks is the whole rhythm of a fight, set in a gorgeous hand-drawn Taopunk world with a surprisingly deep, emotional story. In threads where people split recommendations by what you want, it is consistently the one named for deep combat.
It is more linear than a sprawling explore-everything metroidvania and leans hard on its parry mechanic, which is divisive: some love the rhythm, others miss the freedom. The difficulty is real, though there are generous assist sliders. As one of the most acclaimed recent releases in the genre, and the go-to when combat is your priority, it earns a comfortable spot in the top ten.
SourceAeterna Noctis cracked the top ten as the choice for players chasing the genre's toughest platforming. It is a large, hand-drawn metroidvania with a sprawling interconnected map and a difficulty curve that does not apologize, frequently recommended in the same breath as Hollow Knight to people who want even more challenge. In favorites threads it shows up at the very top of more than one regular's personal list.
The combat is solid, but the draw is the demanding platforming and the sheer size of the world, which rewards patience and mastery. That same difficulty, plus a slightly slower start than the genre's tightest games, is the main caveat. For anyone who beat Hollow Knight and wanted something that pushed harder, this is the community's repeated answer.
SourceEnder Lilies rounded out the top ten as the genre's most quietly beautiful pick. You play a small priestess in a rain-soaked, ruined kingdom, fighting not by swinging a weapon yourself but by summoning the spirits of fallen knights, which gives its combat an unusual, layered feel. It is somber and atmospheric, carried by a haunting soundtrack, and it lands as a softer, sadder counterpoint to the genre's harder-edged entries.
People who lean toward story and mood over pure challenge single it out, and one common note is that it plays like a marriage of metroidvania and JRPG sensibilities. It is more accessible than the soulslikes above it without being shallow, and its acclaimed sequel, Ender Magnolia, gives fans more of the same. If you want exploration with real emotional weight, this is the community's choice.
Hollow KnightSuper MetroidThe modern champion versus the founding classic. These two finished level on votes, and which one is truly the best is the genre's oldest argument.
| Category | Hollow Knight | Super Metroid |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2017 | 1994 |
| Scale | Vast, content-packed | Tight and focused |
| Focus | Combat and exploration | Atmosphere and guidance |
| Best For | Modern players who want depth | Purists who want the blueprint |
Hollow Knight is the better first metroidvania today; Super Metroid is the one to play to see where it all started.
Castlevania: Symphony of the NightHollow KnightThe two games that traded the top spot in this vote, one from each end of the genre's history.
| Category | Castlevania: Symphony of the Night | Hollow Knight |
|---|---|---|
| Style | RPG stats and loot | Skill and exploration |
| Difficulty | Moderate, build-driven | Hard, execution-driven |
| Where to play | Xbox, PlayStation, mobile | Steam and everywhere |
| Best For | Loot and progression fans | Players who love mastery |
Symphony of the Night is the cozier, stat-driven classic; Hollow Knight is the tougher, more modern test of skill.
A metroidvania is a 2D action-adventure built around one big interconnected map: you explore, hit a barrier you cannot pass yet, earn a new ability, and backtrack to open up everything that was blocked. The name fuses Metroid and Castlevania, the two series that defined the formula, and it is no accident that both sit at the very top of this list, with Super Metroid and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night still treated as the genre's gold standard. Modern landmarks such as Hollow Knight, Ori, and Blasphemous took that core of exploration, ability-gated progression, and tight combat and polished it to a mirror shine, which is why they dominate the rest of the ranking. The community does argue at the edges, over whether precision platformers or soulslikes count, but the spine of the genre is consistent: a sprawling map, powers that reshape how you move through it, and the pull to go back and find what you missed. If Hollow Knight is the entry that hooked you, our best Hollow Knight charms guide goes deeper on it, and if you want the run-based cousins of the genre, our best roguelike games ranking and the roguelike vs roguelite explainer cover that neighboring space.
By the community's count, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, narrowly. It edged out the top of a very tight vote, with Hollow Knight and Super Metroid finishing in a near dead heat right behind it. The honest read is that those three are the genre's consensus pinnacle: SotN and Super Metroid as the all-time founders, and Hollow Knight as the modern game most people fell in love with.
Among newer games, Hollow Knight is the runaway pick, followed by Ori, Blasphemous, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, and Nine Sols. Grime and Aeterna Noctis also place high for players who want something tougher and more combat-focused. Any of those is a safe entry point if the classics feel too dated for you.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown comes up most often as the beginner-friendly pick, with strong combat, good exploration, and generous assist options. Ori is the other easy on-ramp: gorgeous, approachable, and not too punishing. If you would rather start with a modern classic, Hollow Knight is beloved but expect a real challenge.
Yes, they are the two series the genre is named after. Rather than rank them as whole franchises, this list counts the specific entries the community votes for: Super Metroid and Metroid Dread on the Metroid side, and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Aria of Sorrow on the Castlevania side. Those specific games are why both series sit near the very top.
It is the most-recommended single game in this vote by number of mentions, but on total upvotes it finished just behind Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and level with Super Metroid. So it is fair to call it the best modern metroidvania and one of the three best ever, with the classics still holding their own among longtime fans.
Entirely by Reddit upvotes. I read twelve threads asking for the best metroidvanias, tallied the upvotes on every comment that suggested a game, and added them up across all of them. The total decides the order, with no personal scoring. Every source thread is linked at the bottom of the page.
Hunting for your next obsession? These guides go deeper on the games and genres above.
Vote totals compiled from public Reddit threads. Quotes belong to their original authors. Game names and cover art remain the property of their respective developers.
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