Oct 15, 2026 · 2h 19m
Metroidvania experts debate the genre’s future
Metroidvania Draft, Spooky-Season Games, and 'Street Fighter' | Button Mash
The episode tests what still defines a Metroidvania as familiar conventions spread across games, while weighing challenge, accessibility, and innovation.
- 1The hosts trace Metroidvania’s roots and debate whether genre labels clarify or constrain modern games.
- 2Belmont’s Curse earns praise for its gothic atmosphere and combat while drawing criticism for linearity and conservative design.
- 3A six-category draft ranks landmark games across traversal, exploration, combat, bosses, atmosphere, and story.
Don't miss
The six-category Metroidvania draft turns abstract genre arguments into a competitive ranking of traversal, exploration, combat, bosses, atmosphere, and story.
The brief
Ben, Steve Frame Allman, Matt James, Steve Watts, and Daniel Chin range from GTA VI and Valor Mortis to horror games before settling on the episode’s central question: what counts as a Metroidvania?
The hosts trace the genre through Metroid and Castlevania, debate the competing term “search action,” and ask whether an explosion of indie entries has made the label less useful.
Their review of Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse praises its gothic tone, combat, map design, and fast travel, while questioning its linearity, safe systems, and limited writing.
A six-category snake draft turns the debate concrete, with picks spanning Symphony of the Night, Super Metroid, Hollow Knight, Metroid Dread, Animal Well, and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown.
The episode closes with a spoiler-free Street Fighter review that finds colorful direction, physical comedy, and strong performances inside an uneven but entertaining “good bad movie.”