Trash Quest

A short and sweet metroidvania with simple mechanics and challenging platforming.
The one checkpoint mechanic sounds like something that could get frustrating but everything is so tightly placed around that central location and shortcuts open aplenty making it real quick and easy to get back to where you were to try the tougher platforming sections again without much pain. The base game takes less than 2 hours so even with the backtracking when you die it's an easy clear in an afternoon.
That said, the platforming is tight, fast, and precise. Some sections will take some work to get through and the Salvation "DLC" (included and accessible in the post game after reloading your save) has even harder platforming right out the gate; so something to keep in mind if difficult platforming isn't your thing.
The bosses are mostly just bullet hells. They aren't anything crazy mechanically, but they provide just enough of a challenge to not be an easy one shot first time through. Their patterns aren't difficult but they'll take some learning and luckily while there are no other checkpoints in the game besides the starting one, during a boss fight it does drop you right outside the boss room if you die so you don't have to deal with any platforming to get back to the fight.
The game is cheap and short enough that I think it's worth a try if you have any love for difficult platformers or metroidvanias.

This game made me smile so hard. It's super cute, the music is really good, and it's a Metroidvania!

Very well made, short and fun. I appreciate that they didn't make you run all the way back from the main spawn to the bosses (at least so far). Some of these achievements seem totally impossible, though!

A fun micro-vania whose twist (you always respawn from the same place) leads to interesting design which highlights shortcuts and getting to know the map as you dash back to the last place you died. The story is only a light touch - the main draw here is the gameplay, and the retro feel of the visuals and music.
For a short game, Trash Quest has a far bit of challenge if you want to opt into it. One of the upgrades took me a while to get, and there seems to be a lot of post-game content to engage with which is significantly harder. But the main game itself is a nice ~2hour game that doesn't feel unsatisfying on its own. Works great on Steam Deck too.

A neat bitesized metroidvania. Nothing groundbreaking but I had fun with it. a bit easy and the only interesting upgrades come after you beat the main game but it's fun to mess around. If you want a quick metroidvania it's a decent time.

Simple but fairly difficult precision platformer / metroidvania. When you die, you respawn at the start so there is some backtracking, although you keep your upgrades and any shortcuts you opened. The game would have been better if there wasn't any death, just respawning on the same screen like in Celeste. Luckily you don't have to backtrack when you die to a boss.
I didn't see the credits at what apparently the final room. I don't know if that's because I accidentally enabled "speedrun practice mode" (which disables achievements), or the credits were moved after the "DLC Update". This DLC has a bunch of spike tunnels that require precise jumps and dashes. Doable, but too annoying with the health system, so I'm not going to bother.
The main game took me 87 minutes to beat.

An enjoyable microvania with tight controls and fun abilities. Though you can burn through this title in less than two hours, you won't want to put it down until it's complete.