Jeremy Parish

Metroidvania Works #22: A Boy and His Blob & Crystalis

Added 2023-07-26 12:44:25 +0000 UTC

Good morrow, friends. I hope the morning finds you well. If not, perhaps this video will turn the tides of fortune in your favor?

Anyway, penultimate episode of Metroidvania Works (the first decade) here, touching on two games that don't really belong under the metroidvania header. Ain't that always the case? We're still in the building blocks era—and the featured game this episode comes from one of the guys who invented some of the essential building blocks of the exploratory platformer format: One David Crane. This adventure doesn't precisely move the needle and has a lot of egregious design issues, but give its pedigree it absolutely deserves a mention.

More significant, I would say, is Crystalis from SNK. I really feel like this adventure codified the "action RPG" format as we know it today—unless you're one of those of those tragic DOS kids who missed out on the golden 16-bit age of console action RPGs and define the genre as "Diablo"—so despite its occasional grindy bits and some annoying weapon-swap requirements, it's a pretty big moment for the development of action-driven games with meaty RPG components.