roid van ia ▁games ▁generally ▁feature ▁a ▁large ▁inter connected ▁world ▁map ▁the ▁player ▁can ▁explore , ▁though ▁access ▁to ▁parts ▁of ▁the ▁world ▁is ▁often ▁limited ▁by ▁doors ▁or ▁other ▁obst acles ▁that ▁can ▁only ▁be ▁passed ▁once ▁the ▁player ▁has ▁acquired ▁special ▁items , ▁tools , ▁weapons ▁or ▁ab ilities ▁within ▁the ▁game . ▁Ac qu iring ▁such ▁improvements ▁can ▁also ▁aid ▁the ▁player ▁in ▁defe ating ▁more ▁difficult ▁enemies ▁and ▁loc ating ▁shortcut s ▁and ▁secret ▁areas , ▁and ▁often ▁includes ▁ret rac ing ▁one ' s ▁steps ▁across ▁the ▁map . ▁Through ▁this , ▁Met roid van ia ▁games ▁include ▁t ighter ▁integration ▁of ▁story ▁and ▁level ▁design , ▁careful ▁design ▁of ▁levels ▁and ▁character ▁controls ▁to ▁encou rage ▁expl oration ▁and ▁experiment ation , ▁and ▁a ▁means ▁for ▁the ▁player ▁to ▁become ▁more ▁inv ested ▁in ▁their ▁player ▁character . ▁Met roid van ia ▁games ▁typically ▁are ▁sides c rolling ▁platform ers , ▁but ▁can ▁also ▁include ▁other ▁genre ▁types . ▁Though ▁popular ized ▁on ▁cons oles ▁during ▁the ▁ 1 9 9 0 s , ▁the ▁genre ▁saw ▁a ▁res urg ence ▁starting ▁in ▁the ▁ 2 0 0 0 s ▁due ▁to ▁a ▁number ▁of ▁crit ically ▁pra ised , ▁independently ▁developed ▁games . ▁ ▁History ▁ ▁While ▁not ▁the ▁first ▁game ▁of ▁its ▁kind , ▁Met roid ▁( 1 9 8 6 , ▁N intendo ▁Entertainment ▁System ) ▁is ▁generally ▁considered ▁the ▁most ▁influ ential ▁game ▁in ▁the ▁Met roid van ia ▁genre . ▁N