Metroid (1986) on NES—the cartridge in all its gray-plastic glory.
This is my favorite Nintendo franchise, the very reason “Metroidvania” is even a word. Not a Miyamoto joint but a Yokoi production, and you can feel it—tougher, sharper, with real bite. Few games of that era had this much atmosphere, this much mystery, or were simply this fun.
Honestly, it’s probably the biggest reason I still keep an NES hooked up.
I immediately questioned myself about Simon’s Quest but couldn’t remember if it had tool based progression or just your standard kind of RPG backtracking. I didn’t play it nearly as much as any others (excluding ghe 64 one which is best forgotten).
But very true about Zelda. Maybe they should be called Metzeldvanias? 🤔
SQ has a bunch of tool stuff going on. The crystals which unlock certain areas (functioning as keys), the relics of Dracula which let you see things you couldn’t otherwise or break certain blocks, the holy water which can be used as both a weapon and as a tool for detecting false floors, and oak stakes which you need to pierce the protective spells around Dracula’s relics.