LogFAQs > #896177888

Please pitch this franchise to a huge Nintendo fan who has never played a single entry in the series. I just watched a playthrough of super castlevania iv and literally no part of it looked fun or compelling. But I like platformers (which is what I call what I just saw) and I always hear this term "metroidvania" which I associate with the concept of exploring an open-ish world (2d or 3d) and backtracking once you have certain skills/items. But I witnessed none of that. Was it always a staple of castlevania, or did it come to that later in the series and the early entries were straight up platforming? Where in the series should a Nintendo vet start? Gimme the skinny on the franchise.