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[squidkid]

here's a 10 min video on youtube called:

Video Game Genre - Metroidvania
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jex8Vp8qXY4

"But hey, at least it's better than Castleroid."

[Fallsburg]

in the end, what separates zelda 1 from the rest of the zeldas is point 2: the way the player can explore the world. in zelda 1 you can access almost every point of the map from the very start, without any need of new items. you can't do these in other zelda games, you always need "the flippers", "the fire tunic", etc.

also, another point to take note is that zelda 1 has no "errand quest". no one is asking you to RETRIEVE THE GOLDEN PLUME, or whatever. these kinds of quests (present in every zelda other than z1) make the game linear, and take away the freedom of the player.

I don't think anyone has said "The game can be completed in any order." as a quality of a Metroidvania.  Sequence breaking exists in a lot of Metroidvanias, but by and large it is not something explicitly put there by the designers.  I certainly wouldn't claim that sequence breaking is required for Metroidvanias.

Also, no one said that linearity couldn't exist in a Metroidvania. Every Metroidvania is linear to some degree (again excluding major sequence breaks), it's just that the linearity isn't obvious to the player and feels organic. It isn't "You need key 5 to get past this door" it's "Hmm...there is a ledge up there that I can't get to, if I can ever jump higher, I'm coming back here."

And there is an errand quest in Zelda 1 (if I understand your idea of an errand quest).  You need to collect all of the pieces of the Triforce to complete the game (excluding extreme sequence breaking).  

And if metroidvania doesn't imply a 2d platformer, then I think a term to specify a 2d platformer metroidvania needs to be thought up.  I nominate Metroid-like.

I guess this is probably a matter of personal taste and I'm not sure that there is a definition that will be satisfactory for everyone.  Let me use my favorite definitional argument as an example.

A: What is a sandwich?

B: It is 2 slices of bread with toppings in between.

A: What about a submarine sandwich, that is only 1 piece of bread with toppings in between?

B: Ok, it is 1 or more pieces of bread with toppings.

A: Ok, I'm going to go get a sandwich, do you want one?

B: Sure

A returns with 2 hotdogs

B: What the hell. That's a hotdog, not a sandwich.

A: By your definition a hotdog is a sandwich, so enjoy your sandwich.

The point is, by every definition of a sandwich that doesn't explicitly state that a hotdog isn't a sandwich, a hotdog is a sandwich.  That being said, no one imagines a hotdog when they think of a sandwich.  Similarly, except for the matter of perspective Zelda is a metroidvania, but I feel you have to be pretty disingenuous to say that if someone said, "I'm making a metroidvania" you would think "Ooh, that's going to look like The Legend of Zelda."

[Gimym TILBERT]

@eva

I did not imply that difference of genre is only perspective, I imply perspective is an important element of traditional game classification (it modify how information are passed and how you interact with object). Gravity being a component of platformer its' implicit in the definition.

Let's just say we have different way to slice the bread. 

Zelda is for me a specific type of action adventure game, which metroidvania are but in sidescrolling. I think people may disagree with the adventure aspect (it really mean for me: exploration + lock and key + loose narrative arc). I tend to favor definition that make sens for me in a solid structural sense, a good definition for me convey very specific information. Assuming selda like are metroidvania is having a less specific and less precise definition.

But you can't hold all iteration of a game as part of a genre, metroid in 3D had people coin the term FPA (first person adventure), because it didn't play enough like an fps and had a great focus on exploration). Mario 64 also broke the platformer cannon (go from A to B like in crash bandicoot) for a new formula (hidden object puzzle platformer) That was borderline with adventure game (exploration + loose lock and key with star).

So historically metroidvania does not refer to metroid as a series but to a local historical canon brought by earlier entry of the series.

[paste]

I still am hoping Explat catches on... 

[Fallsburg]

I still am hoping Explat catches on... 

I don't think exploration is a big enough component of metroidvanias for it to be incorporated into the name.  I feel like the organic gating/lock and key mechanisms where the keys are useful items in their own right is more important.