Summary
- Evolution 2: Shooting Games offers Sci-Fi shooting with mobile controls.
- Ailment delivers a compelling narrative and eerie exploration similar to 2D Metroid games.
- Xenowerk provides a claustrophobic top-down shooter experience similar to Metroid Prime.
Metroid is one of the most influential series in gaming history, spawning an entire Metroidvania genre alongside the Castlevania series. It's fair to say most of the modern acclaimed Metroidvanias borrow more from the latter, as it allows more for adapting the combat in line with the popular Soulslike blueprint.
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With that in mind, this list will be giving preference to games that feel more like a Metroid title specifically, omitting some more obviously Castlevania- inspired releases. Metroid has received a lot of love on the Nintendo Switch with entries new and old. For fans looking for similar experiences who like their games even more portable, consider these best mobile games like Metroid.
7 Evolution 2: Shooting Games
Sci-Fi Horde Shooter
- Platforms: Android, IOS
- Developer: My.Games
- Released: 2019
Evolution 2: Battle For Utopia or Evolution 2: Shooting Games as it now appears on the app store, is a light gun-style action game with traditional mobile controls. Featuring basic movement to find cover and avoid fire and a trigger button to blast hordes of enemies.
The game borrows from across the Sci-Fi spectrum with recognizable elements from the likes of Gears of War and Halo. For fans of the Metroid Prime series, in particular, with a penchant for blasting waves of alien foes and towering bosses, Evolution 2: Shooting Games should suffice.
6 Ailment
Deepspace Mystery
- Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Android, IOS
- Developers: Ivan Panasenko, Creauctopus, BeardyBird Games, Ultimate Games SA
- Released: 2019
Awaking on a ship adrift in space to discover the crew have all become hostile, the protagonist must fight his way to discover what exactly happened during his stasis. That's the premise for Ailment, which delivers the most compelling narrative on this list.
It's a top-down shooter that sees players traversing the corridors of the dormant vessel. A great option for fans of the more eerie elements of the 2D Metroid games and the sense of discovery that comes from exploration.
5 Zombotron Re-Boot
Side-Scrolling Survival
- Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, Android, IOS
- Developer: Ant.Karlov Games
- Released: 2023
Zombotron Re-Boot is a remaster of a classic Abode Flash title that sees players exploring the subterranean caverns of a hostile alien planet. It is a side-scrolling action platformer much like the traditional format of the Metroid series.
Players will be attacked by corridors of shuffling zombies and hulking robots. Combat features a host of firearms with a full 180 arc and a basic melee attack for close-quarter situations.
4 HAAK
Dystopian Hookshots
- Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, Android, IOS
- Developer: Blingame
- Released: 2020
HAAK is a momentum-based Metroidvania with a fine balance between platforming and combat challenges. The central mechanics of the game are based around a hook that has applications for both, which the player receives early on.
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Success is as much about timing as anything, most notable in the featured chase sequences reminiscent of the iconic self-destruct sequences or dreaded EMMI of Metroid Dread.
3 Xenowerk
Top Down Alien Assault
- Platforms: TV OS, Android, IOS
- Developer: Pixelbite Games
- Released: 2015
Comfortably the oldest game on the list which says something for its staying power as most apps aren't usually supported this long. Xenowerk is the closest to a Metroid Prime experience players will probably find on mobile, with impressively realized environments.
It's a claustrophobic top-down shooter that bears some resemblance to the classic John Carpenter thriller The Thing. Players must explore an underground lab, with little visibility beyond a flashlight, and beware of the plethora of alien creatures that lurk within.
2 Dandara: Trials Of Fear Edition
Gravity Leaping
Dandara
Dandara: Trials of Fear Edition is strictly based on Brazilian folklore but a lot of the pixel art enemies are very reminiscent of those found in the Metroid series, particularly the boss fights. Another Metroidvania but with an identity all its own and a unique traversal system.
Protagonist Dandara, launches from surface to surface, sticking anywhere there is salt on the ground. Without traditional movement players have to be nimble and precise to avoid damage, constantly moving and firing projectiles for combat.
1 Dead Cells
Roguelike Metroidvania
Dead Cells
- Released
- August 7, 2018
- Developer(s)
- Motion Twin
- Platform(s)
- Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One
- OpenCritic Rating
- Mighty
Dead Cells doesn't have as much shared DNA in terms of combat and setting as some of the other games on this list but it is far and away the most critically acclaimed so it's hard not to give it top recommendation. Like Dandara, Dead Cells is an impressive game with its own identity that appeals to fans of many genres.
Dead Cells manages to blend Metroidvania-style exploration with procedurally generated levels as traversal abilities grant access to a myriad of hidden routes and lore. As a Roguelike first and foremost, the gameplay is challenging and demands the player learn from their mistakes with many, many deaths.
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