The term “Metroidvania” was coined to describe a particular subgenre of videogames featuring similar gameplay concepts to the action-adventure RPGs Metroid and Castlevania. Additionally, the term “Igavania” has been used as well, referencing Castlevania developer Koji Igarashi.
Igarashi, who is currently working on Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, recently sat down for an interview with Glixel. When the topic of Metroidvania-style games came up, Igarashi was asked why Nintendo never teamed up with him and Konami to create a 2D Metroid game, Igarashi replied with the following:
“Nintendo is very careful about protecting their IPs and making any changes to their games. Around the time that I was proving that I could do multiple titles and do them well, Nintendo had shifted to Metroid Prime and they were having success turning their 2D games into 3D. So they probably decided from that point on that Metroid was going to be a 3D game series, and by that rationale, my style of games didn’t really fit their criteria. That would be my guess.”
While on the subject, he was asked if he would make a Metroid game if the fans wanted it and if Nintendo approached him with the offer. To this Igarashi said he “would be incredibly honored.”
To read the full interview with Igarashi, you can go here.
