Weekly Metroidvania is a once a week editorial that singles out an indie Metroidvania title for editorial comment and recommendation. Sometimes the title may be good, bad, or somewhere in between. This editorial examines them all and makes suggestions based on the author’s findings. Look for this editorial once a week, usually on the weekends.

Since this is the first “Weekly Metroidvania” editorial, I feel like I should elaborate a bit more and just what this is and who I am. As many of our regular readers may know I’ve been blogging here for the past half-year. In that time I’ve been able to play an innumerable amount of indie games, many of which happen to be Metroidvanias, a popular genre of indie developers.

Now I’ve been a fan of Metroidvanias since I was 6 years old when I was able to, successfully, beat Metroid (NES) on my own. Don’t ask me how I did that when I was 6 because, a few months ago when I attempted that feat again I found it to be quite difficult, eventually giving up and moving on to a different game altogether. Regardless, since that very young age I’ve been addicted to the genre.

Today, indie gaming has allowed me to experience similar games a hundred times over as indie developers, big and small, pay homage to the genre we all know and love called Metroidvanias.

So, it is with great delight, that I present my first Metroidvania editorial: An Untitled Story.

Released in 2007, allow me to start by saying that An Untitled Story is a great Metroidvania. One of the best I’ve ever played, actually.

The game starts out with you as an egg, in a nest. It’s from here that you are able to roll out of your nest and begin your journey. Why are you on a journey? Nobody knows, and it doesn’t really matter. What does matter is the fact that there is a huge world waiting for you to explore.

Now when I say explore, I truly mean explore. There are a few Metridvanias out there that don’t rely on that pinnacle aspect of the genre so much, while relying on other stuff (such as item gathering, or multi-paths) much more. An Untitled Story does rely on it. If you can’t get someplace yet, turn arund and head in the other direction. Chances are there is some door, corridor, or path that you missed along the way.

Of course, what really makes An Untitled Story so unique isn’t the fact that it has solid exploration. It’s that it does all this stuff under the very simplistic, yet incredibly charming art style. The game looks as though it was made with Windows Paint, but with an almost child-like wonderment that really makes the game feel better than even the most graphically intense games out there.

Additionally, the game’s own music is well served throughout the title, offering such highs and lows when fighting a boss, or traveling throughout an otherwise desolate area. There’s little not to enjoy about the catchy little tunes that are sure to bore themselves into your head after only a few minutes of playtime. But don’t worry! The only side affect you’ll have to worry about is smiling all day long from these happy little tunes.

I know it must sound like I’m just heaping tons and tons of praise upon this game when, in reality, nothing can be this good, but, to be absolutely honest, there wasn’t a single thing about this game I didn’t enjoy. The boss battles are unique from each other and don’t always involve “jumping” on their head — like some other popular platformers we all know of — to do damage. The difficulty can be a pain in the ass, but, luckily, the game ships with five different levels for you to choose should you deem one be too hard. And, to top it all off, the game comes with native support for a gamepad (I used an Xbox 360 controller) which means you can, literally, sit back and enjoy the game without have to hunch over a keyboard.

So, for anybody… and I do mean anybody… who is bored this fine Sunday afternoon and is looking for a new game to idly pass the time, this is what you’re looking for. Don’t blow your money on some big name title just cause you are bored. Download this thing right now. It’s free and it’s 100% worth your time.

[Download via MattMakesGames]

Do you know of a great Metroidvania title that you want me to spotlight in this series? Let me know! Drop me a line in the comments, or you can find my email address in the sidebar just to the right of this post.