Although Super Metroid provided the main roadmap, SOTN and the subsequent other games in the series became distinctly entwined in defining the genre. Harmony of Dissonance even pays homage to Super with these Crocomire slopes. (also thank Jeremy Parish for using it constantly)
I thought they're called Metroidvania's cuz Super Metroid and SOTN came out around a similar time but I just learned SOTN came out like 3 years later so why aren't they just called Metroidlikes, did SOTN introduce something unique that became a permanent fixture in the genre