THE LAST METROID IS IN CAPTIVITY
THE GALAXY IS AT PEACE

I very much doubt that I'm the first person to start a Super Metroid review with that quote, but it's a great set up. Not only does it introduce two facts about this world that are about to smash out the containment unit, and shoot right out the fucking window, but it does so in a technical marvel of an introductory sequence, showcasing techniques you didn't even imagine your SNES was capable of. At that moment, you realise that you have no idea what this game is going to be. You dive into the unknown.

You land on Zebes. Sky filled with lightning. You head inside the first cave and travel deeper underground. Strange alien bugs in the foreground, scuttling out of frame as soon as they pan in. SNES transparency clouds obscuring the ominous platforms. You soon find yourself back in the opening area from Metroid 1, taking small comfort in the familiarity, but there's now security cameras tracking your movement. Something else has been here.

I sometimes get asked which game I play. These are the folk who just play CoD or FIFA, and the concept of being generally interested in games has never even entered their imagination as a possibility. I should just tell them "Super Metroid", though. Because it's all Super Metroid. Metal Gear, Half-Life, Resident Evil, Zelda, ICO... just different flavours of the same thing. And that core concept - exploring intimidating locations, gaining abilities, and progressing on the back of your own ingenuity and dexterity - is so rich here. I don't think it's ever been this pure. Though the game's much more manageable with modern convenience like portability and save states, it's really begging to be played on a SNES connected to a 4:3 CRT; the phosphorescence glowing through those monitors on the title screen. Some of the most striking experiences in the game are in those moments where you're weighing up the unknown threat that's lurking ahead against your willingness to travel back to a save point. You think you've played Super Metroid on your fucking telephone? Get real. You want to play this alone in a little square room. Draw the curtains and close that fucking door.

Super Metroid is far more intimidating without save states. You're denying yourself so much by leaning on them. Erase that option and you immediately feel the danger. The game's full of narrow corridors and shafts, but see when you enter an open area on your last bar of health? You feel so fucking vulnerable. And those save points? They don't regenerate health or ammunition. Welcome to the world of survival horror.

You frequently enter areas with no idea how you'll get back. Dropping down huge pits or walking through instant-locking doors that can only be opened from one side. Dread and regret. This is the sensation of exploration without precedent. You don't know if someone can survive here. If you've gone too far. Sure, this is a Nintendo Video Game, but it's unlike anything you'd typically associate with that. Thanks to the open-ended design and single save slot, you can utterly fuck yourself here. Venturing into locations that you're not equipped for, and effectively trapping yourself there. It happened to me, this time. I went to Maridia without the Gravity Suit, and saved mid-way. It threatened my entire playthrough, and I had to drag myself out of there with a very precise sequence of six well-placed wall-jumps (if you've never played Super Metroid before, you have no idea how much harder this is than your post-Mario Sunshine reference points would have you believe). It was a miserable experience, but I gained a respect for the threat the game held if I wasn't careful enough in how I explored. They never allow this kind of dynamic in commercial software any more. These are colours that game designers have stopped painting with. We've all become fat and entitled. Super Metroid is your grandfather's formative camping trip as a SNES cartridge.

The sound design in this game is unbelievable. The second you enter Norfair, you feel like you've just walked into hell. The suffocating, rhythmic beeping as you view the pause screen, reinforcing the omnipresence of utilitarian space tech. The strange organic, bubbling noises as you approach Mother Brain. The SNES's audio was a big feature of the console, but its sample support was primarily used to create a suite of synthesisers. Super Metroid prioritises ambience and atmosphere over toe-tappers, and there's a great deal of attention poured into the strange sounds of Zebes.

Something that I think is lost on the later games is that areas in Super Metroid are frequently unspectacular. Boring, drab, flat. That's a feature. There's no less effort in selecting the colours of these pixels than the ones that comprise Samus's heroic Gunship. Super Metroid feels like digging your way through abandoned space caves, until you stumble on something especially strange or ceremonial, and the contrast is striking. Super Metroid is happy to get weird. The b-plot is about getting your revenge on the purple pterodactyl that killed your parents. Of course he has his own demon temple.

A lot gets made of the game's fussy controls. I make a lot of the game's fussy controls. Playing on the SNES shook off a lot of my modern sensibilities, though, and I only counted one time in the game where a wall-jump is mandatory. If you're a big pissy pants, you can use a guide to make sure you never wade too far in the deep end of the game. But past the opening hour, the game didn't feel half as daunting as I'd feared. Only one boss took me more than two attempts, and that can likely be blamed on how little time I'd spent searching for optional upgrades until then. I didn't have to push myself to enjoy this experience. I was cursing how much of this approach has been lost in modern game design.

I just love being inside these kinds of games. Where you're becoming more intimately familiar with the larger map each time you play, and still thinking about it when you're away from it. I went right from NSO Zero Mission to original hardware Super, and I didn't trust myself to stick around until the ending, but I never wanted to let go. I think I'm good now, though. I'm pretty sure Mother Brain blew up properly this time. I think I'm ready to back to games that aren't just a different shade of Super Metroid again. Why should I fucking bother, though?