Epyx
Commodore 64 | Apple II | Master System
Director: Dennis Caswell
Impossible Mission
Pitfall!
Activision
Atari 2600
Director: David Crane
ROOTS: Taking the platformer beyond the single-screen jungle gyms of the Donkey Kong series, David Crane’s Pitfall turned run-and-jump action into a tool for navigating the vast virtual spaces we saw in the likes of Adventure and Zork, making it one of the most influential games ever.
Venture
Exidy
Arcade
Designer: Michael Cooper-Hart (uncertain)
ROOTS: Metroidvania games are one part platformer, one part action-RPG. So while Venture may not have the run-and-jump mechanics we associate with the genre, its formative role in the evolution of action-RPGs absolutely gives it a place on this list—it’s a true classic.
Donkey Kong
Nintendo
Arcade
Designer: Shigeru Miyamoto
ROOTS: The Metroidvania term combines two concepts: Action games and RPGs. But it also merges two franchises whose — Metroid and Castlevania — that revolved around platforming action. And where would platformers be without the influence of Donkey Kong?
Adventure
Atari
2600
Director: Warren Robinett
ROOTS: The flip side of the Zork coin: Where that game presented the RPG concept entirely in text, allowing for methodical deliberation between player actions, Adventure played out with real-time action. More compact in nature than Zork, Adventure nevertheless introduced key concepts that would become integral to exploratory action games.
Zork: The Great Underground Empire
Infocom
Personal Computers
Tim Anderson | Marc Blank | Bruce Daniels | Dave Lebling
ROOTS: An influential work that helped shape the nature and direction of metroidvania game design… and countless other games, as well. While not a metroidvania in and of itself, this essential precursor defined the workings of exploratory gameplay and persistent imaginary worlds.
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