DISCLAIMER: this review will spoil both the original game and official remake for Metroid II. If you're unfamiliar with how either play out, I'd strongly recommend playing the original first, and then the remake.
It's pretty easy to separate remakes into two distinct categories: those that are supplementary to the original (Final Fantasy VII Remake, Twin Snakes) and those that are replacements to the original (Demon's Souls, Shadow of the Colossus). I tend to be more apprehensive towards the latter, but that's not to say it can't be done well. With the right team at the helm (usually including the original designers) it's possible to create something truly special that polishes the original's shortcomings and reinvents what it represented without the constraints of it's era. I haven't played the Resident Evil Remake, but from what I'm told it's the best example of a game that repaints the original while still capturing the spirit and soul present in the PlayStation version.
Having said that, most replacement remakes tend to stumble over themselves and create a product that doesn't really do justice to the source material in any way. Samus Returns is no different.
Looking at it in a vaccum, it's a standard Metroid adventure. Many areas tend to blend into one another and the stop-and-start nature of combat got old quickly, but a lot of it is pretty familiar and comfortable if you're familiar with the series. Looking at it in the context of the source material is where it really starts to fall apart in my eyes.
Much of the charm of Return of Samus was how cramped and stressful the whole journey was. The first game presented a complete mirror of the Zelda series that felt both swashbuckling and mysterious with it's alien world while still feeling like an adventure. It's sequel, by comparison, wasn't nearly as pleasant and leaned more into a psudo-horror atmosphere. You were tasked with exterminating an entire alien race, and the game quite fittingly was upsetting to trek through. Traversing the caves of SR388 always felt tense, the limited visibility meant you never knew what was around every corner, and the Metroid encounters were a mad scramble to stay alive more than anything. Nothing about it felt triumphant. While repetitive towards the end, each subsequent Metroid encounter would eventually feel as if you're just filling a quota, like you're just clocking in for a drab job only to slog through the day and clock out. It was interesting to see Samus not only get tasked with commiting genocide on an alien planet, but for it to be presented without any of the energy you might expect. And yet, in one final subversive gesture, it doesn't end on a sour note. Samus comes across a Metroid hatchling, and instead of greeting it with hostility, she changes her tone and takes it back to the federation. One would expect a game like this to end in bombast, yet the player gets a moment of quiet relief. The mission was over, there was no need for any more violence or conflict. The galaxy was at peace.
Presumably in an effort to modernize the game and have it fall more in line with other popular titles, the official Metroid II remake manages to sand down nearly all distinct elements of the GameBoy classic and create a game that hardly resembles that which it's trying to replicate. It seems as though every change made in Samus Returns was made to make everything bigger, better, and louder. In place of pitch black dour caves you have brightly lit neon crystal formations, enemies are more aggressive promoting the use of your new parry action to make combat feel more "engaging", the list of changes is pretty massive and it'd be boring to just list them all. Instead, I think it'd be valuable to mention how these changes all fit together. In other words, each step in the remake progress was logical.
Newer games are expected to be bigger so they made the map bigger, and by extension added an actual map to track your progress. The lack of any map in the original is a big sticking point for many, but what makes it work is how you only needed to keep a small chunk of the map in your mind at any time, once you finish an area you can move on and never look back. It created a dizzying feeling while exploring, but the excellent layout and sprite designs guaranteed the player should never be lost for too long. Now that the world is massive, it'd be ridiculous to force the player to track it all in their brain, so the map makes some amount of sense. It just comes at a cost of the rewarding feeling players got by picking apart the world completely on their own.
More pressingly, the huge world greatly effects the thrill of hunting Metroids. In the original, not only could they spring up at any moment, but encounters never felt gamey for lack of a better term. Fights could take place in sand pits, cramped caves, or anywhere for that matter. They never felt like video game combat arenas, so the whole journey felt natural. The heart sinking feeling of finding a Metroid never lost it's spark since you never knew when they'd appear. Naturally, SR opts into a dedicated radar that beeps like a metal detector as you approach a Metroid removing the thrill of discovery, and every fight takes place in one of a handful of deliberately designed sterile arenas.
None of these elements stand up to the scrappy yet elegant design of the original, but the biggest blunder has got to be the overall tone and feel of the game. As I mentioned earlier, hunting Metroids in the original rarely felt fun. It was a nerve-wracking crawl through claustrophobic caves and generally just felt miserable. The remake instead wants the player to feel as cool as posible while shredding this world to pieces. Samus's parry is the most immediate example of this cheap pop of energy, but the series first of Cutscenes That Wrestle Control From The Player to Show You Something Sick Nasty From Samus is the most obnoxious. Walking into an unknown area and having control taken from me is the quickest way to let me know I'm in absolutely no danger, and anything that happens is bound to be awesome. Because nothing screams genocide like Samus backflipping off of an alien as she shoots it to death.
Not even the beautiful ending leaves unscathed, what used to be a calm reflective escape to your ship is now an action packed sprint through every basic enemy in the game's roster followed by the most embarrassing form of fanservice in the game, a brand new final boss against the most iconic villain of the series, Ridley. Of course the game with the most subversive ending had to end with bombast, that's what they always intended for with the classic violence free ending right?
The cherry on top is the baby Metroid itself, once a symbol of hope to strategically shift the tone before the end is now relegated to a key for item collection right after the Queen Metroid encounter, but before the final boss, leading to the most frustrating item cleanup in the series.
I recognize most of this write up has been me whining about why the remake fails when stacked up against the original, and while that may seem sloppy and unfair, it's only natural given the fact that they share a title. Samus Returns was meant to be a cozy return to form for the series, and in many ways it accomplished that goal. It's nice to see a series come back in a familiar setting after lying dormant for a decade, but that's never what the original was meant to be. It was a brand new adventure that didn't have to follow an arbitrary ruleset laid in place by the series legacy, it was an interesting sequel to a groundbreaking title and nothing else. These days people don't look fondly on Return of Samus, so this could have been a perfect opportunity for Mercury Steam to show the world what made the original so special in their own Resident Evil Remake moment. Instead what we got was a safe installment that proudly wears the series on its sleeve, but holds no reverence for the game that bore the title of Metroid II.
It's pretty easy to separate remakes into two distinct categories: those that are supplementary to the original (Final Fantasy VII Remake, Twin Snakes) and those that are replacements to the original (Demon's Souls, Shadow of the Colossus). I tend to be more apprehensive towards the latter, but that's not to say it can't be done well. With the right team at the helm (usually including the original designers) it's possible to create something truly special that polishes the original's shortcomings and reinvents what it represented without the constraints of it's era. I haven't played the Resident Evil Remake, but from what I'm told it's the best example of a game that repaints the original while still capturing the spirit and soul present in the PlayStation version.
Having said that, most replacement remakes tend to stumble over themselves and create a product that doesn't really do justice to the source material in any way. Samus Returns is no different.
Looking at it in a vaccum, it's a standard Metroid adventure. Many areas tend to blend into one another and the stop-and-start nature of combat got old quickly, but a lot of it is pretty familiar and comfortable if you're familiar with the series. Looking at it in the context of the source material is where it really starts to fall apart in my eyes.
Much of the charm of Return of Samus was how cramped and stressful the whole journey was. The first game presented a complete mirror of the Zelda series that felt both swashbuckling and mysterious with it's alien world while still feeling like an adventure. It's sequel, by comparison, wasn't nearly as pleasant and leaned more into a psudo-horror atmosphere. You were tasked with exterminating an entire alien race, and the game quite fittingly was upsetting to trek through. Traversing the caves of SR388 always felt tense, the limited visibility meant you never knew what was around every corner, and the Metroid encounters were a mad scramble to stay alive more than anything. Nothing about it felt triumphant. While repetitive towards the end, each subsequent Metroid encounter would eventually feel as if you're just filling a quota, like you're just clocking in for a drab job only to slog through the day and clock out. It was interesting to see Samus not only get tasked with commiting genocide on an alien planet, but for it to be presented without any of the energy you might expect. And yet, in one final subversive gesture, it doesn't end on a sour note. Samus comes across a Metroid hatchling, and instead of greeting it with hostility, she changes her tone and takes it back to the federation. One would expect a game like this to end in bombast, yet the player gets a moment of quiet relief. The mission was over, there was no need for any more violence or conflict. The galaxy was at peace.
Presumably in an effort to modernize the game and have it fall more in line with other popular titles, the official Metroid II remake manages to sand down nearly all distinct elements of the GameBoy classic and create a game that hardly resembles that which it's trying to replicate. It seems as though every change made in Samus Returns was made to make everything bigger, better, and louder. In place of pitch black dour caves you have brightly lit neon crystal formations, enemies are more aggressive promoting the use of your new parry action to make combat feel more "engaging", the list of changes is pretty massive and it'd be boring to just list them all. Instead, I think it'd be valuable to mention how these changes all fit together. In other words, each step in the remake progress was logical.
Newer games are expected to be bigger so they made the map bigger, and by extension added an actual map to track your progress. The lack of any map in the original is a big sticking point for many, but what makes it work is how you only needed to keep a small chunk of the map in your mind at any time, once you finish an area you can move on and never look back. It created a dizzying feeling while exploring, but the excellent layout and sprite designs guaranteed the player should never be lost for too long. Now that the world is massive, it'd be ridiculous to force the player to track it all in their brain, so the map makes some amount of sense. It just comes at a cost of the rewarding feeling players got by picking apart the world completely on their own.
More pressingly, the huge world greatly effects the thrill of hunting Metroids. In the original, not only could they spring up at any moment, but encounters never felt gamey for lack of a better term. Fights could take place in sand pits, cramped caves, or anywhere for that matter. They never felt like video game combat arenas, so the whole journey felt natural. The heart sinking feeling of finding a Metroid never lost it's spark since you never knew when they'd appear. Naturally, SR opts into a dedicated radar that beeps like a metal detector as you approach a Metroid removing the thrill of discovery, and every fight takes place in one of a handful of deliberately designed sterile arenas.
None of these elements stand up to the scrappy yet elegant design of the original, but the biggest blunder has got to be the overall tone and feel of the game. As I mentioned earlier, hunting Metroids in the original rarely felt fun. It was a nerve-wracking crawl through claustrophobic caves and generally just felt miserable. The remake instead wants the player to feel as cool as posible while shredding this world to pieces. Samus's parry is the most immediate example of this cheap pop of energy, but the series first of Cutscenes That Wrestle Control From The Player to Show You Something Sick Nasty From Samus is the most obnoxious. Walking into an unknown area and having control taken from me is the quickest way to let me know I'm in absolutely no danger, and anything that happens is bound to be awesome. Because nothing screams genocide like Samus backflipping off of an alien as she shoots it to death.
Not even the beautiful ending leaves unscathed, what used to be a calm reflective escape to your ship is now an action packed sprint through every basic enemy in the game's roster followed by the most embarrassing form of fanservice in the game, a brand new final boss against the most iconic villain of the series, Ridley. Of course the game with the most subversive ending had to end with bombast, that's what they always intended for with the classic violence free ending right?
The cherry on top is the baby Metroid itself, once a symbol of hope to strategically shift the tone before the end is now relegated to a key for item collection right after the Queen Metroid encounter, but before the final boss, leading to the most frustrating item cleanup in the series.
I recognize most of this write up has been me whining about why the remake fails when stacked up against the original, and while that may seem sloppy and unfair, it's only natural given the fact that they share a title. Samus Returns was meant to be a cozy return to form for the series, and in many ways it accomplished that goal. It's nice to see a series come back in a familiar setting after lying dormant for a decade, but that's never what the original was meant to be. It was a brand new adventure that didn't have to follow an arbitrary ruleset laid in place by the series legacy, it was an interesting sequel to a groundbreaking title and nothing else. These days people don't look fondly on Return of Samus, so this could have been a perfect opportunity for Mercury Steam to show the world what made the original so special in their own Resident Evil Remake moment. Instead what we got was a safe installment that proudly wears the series on its sleeve, but holds no reverence for the game that bore the title of Metroid II.
MERCURY STEAM HQ, 2015:
“Alright team, time to plan this Metroid II remake. And I want to say up front: there’s no bad ideas in brainstorming! So, what‘s on your mind?”
“Hmm…well first, how about we make the game look like dogshit? Just real gross. Muddy colors, weird blurry lighting and totally indistinct area themes. I want the player to feel totally lost in an endless maze of poop caves. And while we’re at it, since past Metroid games did such a good job immersing the player in their worlds, what if for this one we took the opposite approach. Shoot for a really unconvincing 2.5D aesthetic with incredibly blocky level design, that way the player is constantly reminded they’re playing a game. Like, the monochrome Gameboy original should feel more immersive than this.”
“That’s brilliant, Dave. Sarah, you had your hand up?”
“Yeah well I was just thinking, what if we made the level design like, way worse? Metroid II split its map into these open, easy-to-digest chunks that have aged pretty well all things considered. So why not throw all that bullshit in the trash and replace it for something really cramped and labyrinthine? Just really arduous to navigate, make exploring feel like a hassle. Maybe instead of interesting power-up gating we also could just fill the map with power bomb tiles, so exploration just becomes a dull game of spamming the scan pulse every few steps.”
“I like where your head is at, Sarah. Who else?”
“Well while we’re talking about the original, I’ve been looking at some reviews and it seems like a common complaint with that game was that the Metroid boss fights got kind of monotonous after a while. So I was thinking—and hear me out on this one—what if we made each Metroid encounter take like twice as long? And not because it’s any more engaging or anything, just way more tedious. Like, half of their new attacks make them invincible so most of the fight is just running around wasting missiles while you wait for an opening. And then make the player do that 50 times. Maybe instead of having them ambush you in interesting locations we could also just place each one in a big game-y boss arena and give the player a grating beeping notification every time they’re near one. You know, that way they never feel any sense of surprise or any illusion this is a believable fragile ecosystem and not a checklist of Goombas for them to stop. It’s not like that’s thematically important to Metroid II or anything.”
“Goddamnit Brian, you’re a loose cannon, but maybe that’s just exactly we need for this project. What next?”
“Well, grinding for health and ammo was always really annoying in previous games. So let’s exhaust that by really spreading out the recharge stations. That way if you need a refill after a boss you have to run around the entire area. Oh, and then let’s make enemies not always respawn when you leave a room, so when you inevitably do have to farm it’s super inconvenient. Fuck it, let’s even add a third type of meter while we’re at it to triple the grinding!”
“I’m gonna be honest Larry I didn’t 100% make out what you said because I was doing coke off Brian’s desk, but fuckin sure dude put it in the game!”
“Hey boss, I was just replaying the GBA games and noticed how fluid their combat felt. So I was thinking for our game we could add this melee counter move to really fuck up the pacing. That way instead of being able to quickly move and shoot your way through enemies, every single goddamn one requires you to stop in your tracks and wait for their attack animation to start so you can do your stupid fucking parry move. Y’know, that way the movement and exploration never get too exciting. Wouldn’t want that in a Metroid game! Then let’s make every enemy have a ton of health when you try to kill them without the parry so players are locked into having to play this way. And—what the hell—let’s not improve enemy variety at all, so you’re stuck seeing the same 20 or so guys without any change in strategy the whole time.”
“Leslie, you son of a bitch. I think you’ve just cracked this thing wide open. In fact, I’m giving you a raise and some of this desk cocaine.”
Did not complete
“Alright team, time to plan this Metroid II remake. And I want to say up front: there’s no bad ideas in brainstorming! So, what‘s on your mind?”
“Hmm…well first, how about we make the game look like dogshit? Just real gross. Muddy colors, weird blurry lighting and totally indistinct area themes. I want the player to feel totally lost in an endless maze of poop caves. And while we’re at it, since past Metroid games did such a good job immersing the player in their worlds, what if for this one we took the opposite approach. Shoot for a really unconvincing 2.5D aesthetic with incredibly blocky level design, that way the player is constantly reminded they’re playing a game. Like, the monochrome Gameboy original should feel more immersive than this.”
“That’s brilliant, Dave. Sarah, you had your hand up?”
“Yeah well I was just thinking, what if we made the level design like, way worse? Metroid II split its map into these open, easy-to-digest chunks that have aged pretty well all things considered. So why not throw all that bullshit in the trash and replace it for something really cramped and labyrinthine? Just really arduous to navigate, make exploring feel like a hassle. Maybe instead of interesting power-up gating we also could just fill the map with power bomb tiles, so exploration just becomes a dull game of spamming the scan pulse every few steps.”
“I like where your head is at, Sarah. Who else?”
“Well while we’re talking about the original, I’ve been looking at some reviews and it seems like a common complaint with that game was that the Metroid boss fights got kind of monotonous after a while. So I was thinking—and hear me out on this one—what if we made each Metroid encounter take like twice as long? And not because it’s any more engaging or anything, just way more tedious. Like, half of their new attacks make them invincible so most of the fight is just running around wasting missiles while you wait for an opening. And then make the player do that 50 times. Maybe instead of having them ambush you in interesting locations we could also just place each one in a big game-y boss arena and give the player a grating beeping notification every time they’re near one. You know, that way they never feel any sense of surprise or any illusion this is a believable fragile ecosystem and not a checklist of Goombas for them to stop. It’s not like that’s thematically important to Metroid II or anything.”
“Goddamnit Brian, you’re a loose cannon, but maybe that’s just exactly we need for this project. What next?”
“Well, grinding for health and ammo was always really annoying in previous games. So let’s exhaust that by really spreading out the recharge stations. That way if you need a refill after a boss you have to run around the entire area. Oh, and then let’s make enemies not always respawn when you leave a room, so when you inevitably do have to farm it’s super inconvenient. Fuck it, let’s even add a third type of meter while we’re at it to triple the grinding!”
“I’m gonna be honest Larry I didn’t 100% make out what you said because I was doing coke off Brian’s desk, but fuckin sure dude put it in the game!”
“Hey boss, I was just replaying the GBA games and noticed how fluid their combat felt. So I was thinking for our game we could add this melee counter move to really fuck up the pacing. That way instead of being able to quickly move and shoot your way through enemies, every single goddamn one requires you to stop in your tracks and wait for their attack animation to start so you can do your stupid fucking parry move. Y’know, that way the movement and exploration never get too exciting. Wouldn’t want that in a Metroid game! Then let’s make every enemy have a ton of health when you try to kill them without the parry so players are locked into having to play this way. And—what the hell—let’s not improve enemy variety at all, so you’re stuck seeing the same 20 or so guys without any change in strategy the whole time.”
“Leslie, you son of a bitch. I think you’ve just cracked this thing wide open. In fact, I’m giving you a raise and some of this desk cocaine.”
Did not complete
a rare game where the first half is sort of mid and the second half is really great. for a rather unorthodox early metroidvania to be remade with this many successes is certainly a big win for mercurysteam, even with the design choices that don't quite hit. while the overall find-and-kill-metroids structure drags in the first half, it improves greatly as the boss fights get more complex and more tools become available to the player.
starting off the game, I was instantly thrown off by the control scheme, parrying system, and graphics. because samus returns has free aim, you now use the left trigger to lock in place, whereas the rest of the time you can do eight-way aiming while running using the circle pad. this took some getting used to, as the free aim is a lot more useful than the other aiming options and was my go-to in virtually all combat situations, yet I'm not used to being locked in place like that during a metroid game. the other big addition are melee counters/parries, which are mapped to the X button. I often found myself trying to press X to fire missiles, and I'm not quite sure why this was... regardless, I eventually fixed my muscle memory to fire with Y and use X for the parry. like many others have said, the melee counters slow down the pace when running around, as many creatures are specifically meant to be killed via parry. even in late game creatures could stomach 5+ spazer + plasma shots to the face but would be killed instantly when being shot after countering, and while this may have been a neat concept to add depth to metroid combat it makes the enemies a pain to handle when they can't be killed quickly outside of counters. most metroid games allow you to tank hits, quickly clear out areas, and/or simply ignore enemies while exploring, whereas here it feels like you're forced into momentary encounters with enemies you don't care about. on top of all of this, the graphics have a washed-out look with low-poly 3D indicative of much of the 3DS's catalog. due to the console requiring its flagship games to contain 3D effects, a lot of games that would have been perfectly good with spritework instead got rudimentary polygon models instead. it's not a terrible look but I really prefered the previous 2D games' graphic design in comparison to this one.
as I played further, I started to get less and less interested in the structure of the game. the game is split into 8 separate areas + the surface, and each one is an isolated yet fully explorable search action area. the prerequisite for moving to new areas is to kill various metroids and submit their DNA to a large circular shrine, which once filled with DNA will lower dangerous liquid from around it and thus open deeper parts of the planet SR388. these early metroid fights (the alpha ones) get boring pretty quickly after the first couple of them, even with the elemental attacks they add. there are some gamma fights as well, but these are rather annoying prior to unlocking the space jump. none of this is helped by the fact that enemies deal a significant amount of damage in this game, and early-game deaths are common until you really learn the ropes. out of the first half, area 3 was by far the most tedious area. 10 metroids reside in this sprawling area with few major powerups, and it was in this section where I put the game down for a while to focus on other games.
I eventually picked the game back up to finish area 3 and move on with the rest of the game. thankfully there are some upsides to this entry even early on: aeion abilities being one of them. from near the beginning you have the ability to scan areas both to fill out your map remotely as well as find blocks that can be somehow destroyed to solve puzzles, get upgrades, and progress. this is a huge boon compared to prior entries, such as metroid fusion where I complained quite a bit in my review about how frustrating it was to progress with constant hidden destructable blocks. there are also some neat other abilities, such as a time-slow ability that can be used to dodge enemy fire or to run across disintegrating blocks, and a shield that is invaluable both for certain puzzles as well as when you have lots of aeion and little health. post-area 3 the amount of abilities distributed increases significantly. in a usual metroid game finding a new powerup is a significant milestone, whereas here I found that the developers tended to lump multiple powerups together into a short period of play with long stretches in between. thankfully once I had some of the stronger beams and the gravity jump, the game felt much more open for me. I could finally start playing metroid as I remember it, where exploration is quick and without much obstacle, and where enemies are cannon fodder instead of walking QTEs.
where the game really shone is in the major bosses in the second half of the game. prior metroid bosses have been fun but don't usually have much depth. these bosses are much more complex and involve multiple phases and attack patterns, with later phases often combining or refining attacks from earlier phases to force the player to adapt as the fight goes on. the balance is perfect between having a slight puzzle with each battle and allowing the player to unload ammo into the boss, and each fight has optional parries that open up opportunities for enhanced damage. there are also uses for multiple weapons in each fight, such as using the power bombs during the omega metroid fights to interrupt certain attacks and regain valuable super missiles. the three major bosses during this section all were a rare goldilocks difficulty for me, where it took multiple attempts to learn the patterns, but never felt like I was beating my head against the wall or struggling against unforgiving game design. after the two GBA games fell at the opposite extremes of the difficulty spectrum (fusion's fights were frustrating and frequent versus the few trivial boss fights in zero mission), it's really impressive that mercurysteam managed to make boss fights these exciting and well-designed.
I can't recommend samus returns in its entirety, but I can absolutely say it's worth trudging through the slower first half in order to reach the highs of the second. everything from available options, environment variety, boss depth, and pacing get noticably better after the halfway point. for this section I honestly could not put this game down, making me regret a little bit that I had struggled to maintain focus with it previously. while initially my response to this game worried me with the knowledge that this same team is handling dread, I'm very assured that the team will continue to design high-octane fights and scenarios without the restrictions of remaking a 30-year old game boy title.
starting off the game, I was instantly thrown off by the control scheme, parrying system, and graphics. because samus returns has free aim, you now use the left trigger to lock in place, whereas the rest of the time you can do eight-way aiming while running using the circle pad. this took some getting used to, as the free aim is a lot more useful than the other aiming options and was my go-to in virtually all combat situations, yet I'm not used to being locked in place like that during a metroid game. the other big addition are melee counters/parries, which are mapped to the X button. I often found myself trying to press X to fire missiles, and I'm not quite sure why this was... regardless, I eventually fixed my muscle memory to fire with Y and use X for the parry. like many others have said, the melee counters slow down the pace when running around, as many creatures are specifically meant to be killed via parry. even in late game creatures could stomach 5+ spazer + plasma shots to the face but would be killed instantly when being shot after countering, and while this may have been a neat concept to add depth to metroid combat it makes the enemies a pain to handle when they can't be killed quickly outside of counters. most metroid games allow you to tank hits, quickly clear out areas, and/or simply ignore enemies while exploring, whereas here it feels like you're forced into momentary encounters with enemies you don't care about. on top of all of this, the graphics have a washed-out look with low-poly 3D indicative of much of the 3DS's catalog. due to the console requiring its flagship games to contain 3D effects, a lot of games that would have been perfectly good with spritework instead got rudimentary polygon models instead. it's not a terrible look but I really prefered the previous 2D games' graphic design in comparison to this one.
as I played further, I started to get less and less interested in the structure of the game. the game is split into 8 separate areas + the surface, and each one is an isolated yet fully explorable search action area. the prerequisite for moving to new areas is to kill various metroids and submit their DNA to a large circular shrine, which once filled with DNA will lower dangerous liquid from around it and thus open deeper parts of the planet SR388. these early metroid fights (the alpha ones) get boring pretty quickly after the first couple of them, even with the elemental attacks they add. there are some gamma fights as well, but these are rather annoying prior to unlocking the space jump. none of this is helped by the fact that enemies deal a significant amount of damage in this game, and early-game deaths are common until you really learn the ropes. out of the first half, area 3 was by far the most tedious area. 10 metroids reside in this sprawling area with few major powerups, and it was in this section where I put the game down for a while to focus on other games.
I eventually picked the game back up to finish area 3 and move on with the rest of the game. thankfully there are some upsides to this entry even early on: aeion abilities being one of them. from near the beginning you have the ability to scan areas both to fill out your map remotely as well as find blocks that can be somehow destroyed to solve puzzles, get upgrades, and progress. this is a huge boon compared to prior entries, such as metroid fusion where I complained quite a bit in my review about how frustrating it was to progress with constant hidden destructable blocks. there are also some neat other abilities, such as a time-slow ability that can be used to dodge enemy fire or to run across disintegrating blocks, and a shield that is invaluable both for certain puzzles as well as when you have lots of aeion and little health. post-area 3 the amount of abilities distributed increases significantly. in a usual metroid game finding a new powerup is a significant milestone, whereas here I found that the developers tended to lump multiple powerups together into a short period of play with long stretches in between. thankfully once I had some of the stronger beams and the gravity jump, the game felt much more open for me. I could finally start playing metroid as I remember it, where exploration is quick and without much obstacle, and where enemies are cannon fodder instead of walking QTEs.
where the game really shone is in the major bosses in the second half of the game. prior metroid bosses have been fun but don't usually have much depth. these bosses are much more complex and involve multiple phases and attack patterns, with later phases often combining or refining attacks from earlier phases to force the player to adapt as the fight goes on. the balance is perfect between having a slight puzzle with each battle and allowing the player to unload ammo into the boss, and each fight has optional parries that open up opportunities for enhanced damage. there are also uses for multiple weapons in each fight, such as using the power bombs during the omega metroid fights to interrupt certain attacks and regain valuable super missiles. the three major bosses during this section all were a rare goldilocks difficulty for me, where it took multiple attempts to learn the patterns, but never felt like I was beating my head against the wall or struggling against unforgiving game design. after the two GBA games fell at the opposite extremes of the difficulty spectrum (fusion's fights were frustrating and frequent versus the few trivial boss fights in zero mission), it's really impressive that mercurysteam managed to make boss fights these exciting and well-designed.
I can't recommend samus returns in its entirety, but I can absolutely say it's worth trudging through the slower first half in order to reach the highs of the second. everything from available options, environment variety, boss depth, and pacing get noticably better after the halfway point. for this section I honestly could not put this game down, making me regret a little bit that I had struggled to maintain focus with it previously. while initially my response to this game worried me with the knowledge that this same team is handling dread, I'm very assured that the team will continue to design high-octane fights and scenarios without the restrictions of remaking a 30-year old game boy title.
I once got stuck on the diggernaut boss fight in this game for years, but after Dread came out and turned me into a Metroid Master, I came back and showed that one eyed creep who has the power.
Citra decided to stop working mid-game, and I honestly can't be bothered to play the whole thing from zero right now. First impressions from what I played so far are not great, though. AM2R is light-years ahead in terms of charm, specially because of the added variety to the different levels that here are just an ugly mess. Easily the worst looking Metroid. Apart from that, I wasn't enjoying the gameplay, but I guess I didn't play enough to be sure. I'll play it again sometime in the future, but that is what I gathered right now.
(Obligatory fuck Nintendo for stopping development of AM2R for this ugly ass game.)
(Obligatory fuck Nintendo for stopping development of AM2R for this ugly ass game.)
Play literally any indie Metroidvania and it'll be better than this game in spades. Extremely disappointing.
I played through Metroid: Samus Returns back in January 2020, and to be honest, I was not a fan. I had high hopes for the game, but when all was said and done I felt really disappointed by it. Looking back, after finishing the game a second time, I think I just wasn't in the mood for this style of game at that time.
The first thing that really grabbed me on this playthrough was the gameplay. The controls are solid, the combat is (mostly) fun, and it was just a good time being Samus. One nice addition to this game is the ability to aim freely by holding down the L Button. This gives a better feeling of control and makes the combat feel more modern than the older games in the series. Another new feature is the addition of a melee attack, which I found to be quite enjoyable once I got the hang of it. Enemies and bosses 'flash' to show that they are going to charge at you and timing melee attack correctly will temporarily stun them and make them more susceptible to damage. The system is fun to use and incredibly effective, but there is one downside: it makes the traditional gunplay the series is known for a less viable option for most encounters.
I really enjoyed the exploration in Samus Returns. The world is quite large, and it is filled with plenty of upgrades to find. As is expected with games in this genre, you will be able to access more of the hidden upgrades after you unlock more abilities. There is backtracking in the game because of this, but thankfully it is made easier thanks to a decent teleportation system and a handy map (which is always displayed on the lower screen). You can also add 'pins' to the map if you need a reminder of places you want to revisit.
While Samus Returns is a lot of fun to play it isn't without its share of issues. My biggest issue was the complete lack of enemy variety. Throughout the game you fight about 5 different enemy types. Later in the game new "tougher" versions of these enemies start appearing, but they behave the same way and really just take more damage. I also found the enemy spawn rate to be incredibly fast at times. Sometimes enemies at the start of a room would have already respawned by the time I finished exploring the rest of the room. A minor complaint, but still worth noting. Lastly, there is very little variety in boss encounters. The game contains 40 mini-boss battles, and there are only about 5 variants in these mini-bosses. That means you end up fighting the same mini-bosses several times throughout the game.
In addition to the great gameplay Samus Returns looks incredible. Samus and enemies look great and are well animated. The environments are colourful, diverse, and have a great level of detail, especially when the 3D is turned up to max. The amount of depth that the 3D adds to the world is honestly very impressive. The game's sound design is really good too and the sound effects fit the game world well and the music works quite well too. The music is mostly just redone music from other games in the series, but there's nothing wrong with that.
Overall, I am really glad I replayed Samus Returns. I had the same complaints that I had with my initial playthrough, but I found them to be less annoying this time around and honestly had a lot more fun with the game this time around. The graphics were fantastic (I loved the 3D!), the gameplay was solid, and the world was a lot of fun to explore. This is definitely one of the best games available on the 3DS.
The first thing that really grabbed me on this playthrough was the gameplay. The controls are solid, the combat is (mostly) fun, and it was just a good time being Samus. One nice addition to this game is the ability to aim freely by holding down the L Button. This gives a better feeling of control and makes the combat feel more modern than the older games in the series. Another new feature is the addition of a melee attack, which I found to be quite enjoyable once I got the hang of it. Enemies and bosses 'flash' to show that they are going to charge at you and timing melee attack correctly will temporarily stun them and make them more susceptible to damage. The system is fun to use and incredibly effective, but there is one downside: it makes the traditional gunplay the series is known for a less viable option for most encounters.
I really enjoyed the exploration in Samus Returns. The world is quite large, and it is filled with plenty of upgrades to find. As is expected with games in this genre, you will be able to access more of the hidden upgrades after you unlock more abilities. There is backtracking in the game because of this, but thankfully it is made easier thanks to a decent teleportation system and a handy map (which is always displayed on the lower screen). You can also add 'pins' to the map if you need a reminder of places you want to revisit.
While Samus Returns is a lot of fun to play it isn't without its share of issues. My biggest issue was the complete lack of enemy variety. Throughout the game you fight about 5 different enemy types. Later in the game new "tougher" versions of these enemies start appearing, but they behave the same way and really just take more damage. I also found the enemy spawn rate to be incredibly fast at times. Sometimes enemies at the start of a room would have already respawned by the time I finished exploring the rest of the room. A minor complaint, but still worth noting. Lastly, there is very little variety in boss encounters. The game contains 40 mini-boss battles, and there are only about 5 variants in these mini-bosses. That means you end up fighting the same mini-bosses several times throughout the game.
In addition to the great gameplay Samus Returns looks incredible. Samus and enemies look great and are well animated. The environments are colourful, diverse, and have a great level of detail, especially when the 3D is turned up to max. The amount of depth that the 3D adds to the world is honestly very impressive. The game's sound design is really good too and the sound effects fit the game world well and the music works quite well too. The music is mostly just redone music from other games in the series, but there's nothing wrong with that.
Overall, I am really glad I replayed Samus Returns. I had the same complaints that I had with my initial playthrough, but I found them to be less annoying this time around and honestly had a lot more fun with the game this time around. The graphics were fantastic (I loved the 3D!), the gameplay was solid, and the world was a lot of fun to explore. This is definitely one of the best games available on the 3DS.
I can already tell this review is going to ruffle some feathers, because the best way I can sum up my feelings on this game is to say that despite it taking me the longest to complete out of any non-Prime Metroid game, it's the Metroid game I have the least to say about. It’s simply an unremarkable game. In a lot of ways, it defangs the original Metroid 2 tonally, while mildly improving the combat and traversal, but not by nearly enough to make up for the loss of atmosphere. This game certainly has some worthwhile elements, but a lot of it is just so safe and generic that I find it hard to get excited about.
Metroid: Samus Returns somehow manages to make the already linear world structure of Metroid 2 feel even more restrictive. It still allows the Metroids within each area to be tackled in any order, but upgrades are now on a strict progression path that is effectively impossible to break from. While I lamented the possibility of missing combat upgrades in the original, that game at least allowed for a bit more flexibility and routing, even if it wasn’t much.
The combat is decidedly an improvement, at least overall, but it’s still nothing to write home about. I’m not actually convinced that combat with regular enemies is improved at all; the original’s combat felt more dynamic, and it felt like I had to tackle each enemy a bit differently, while still requiring putting myself in danger to deal with them most of the time.
Here, anything that can’t be easily addressed with the melee counter can usually be dealt with by switching on the rapid-fire ability and wave beam-ing it down from total safety. The only damage I took during traversal felt like a result of impatience more than a lack of skill. The melee counter honestly kind of sucks as a mechanic; it’s a pace breaker, forcing you to come to a stop and wait for enemies to attack before you can use it, and the timing is the same for nearly every enemy. The 360 degree aiming mechanic is an interesting idea, but it’s underutilized here, and being unable to aim precisely while moving, combined with the awkwardness and inconsistency of the 3DS’s circle pad, makes it honestly just not feel very good to use.
The metroid fights themselves are half improved, and half not improved. I think the Alpha and Zeta variants are decidedly more fun to fight than their Return of Samus counterparts, but the Gamma metroids are just an irritating slog here, and the Omegas are so trivial and yet so drawn out that the encounters feel boring. The Queen Metroid is overall an improvement, but repeats attacks so much the fight still ends up feeling tedious. Having said that, the new bosses are the highlight of this game; Diggernaut is kind of ruined by the inability to deal damage during most of its moves, but it’s a fight with good bones, and the final boss is actually genuinely solid. I didn’t find it that difficult, but I died twice, and I had fun fighting it thanks to its moveset variety.
Sadly, the very presence of the final boss here feels like a huge misunderstanding of the original game’s ending. The bombastic enemy-filled hallways leading up to it and the way the game treats the baby metroid like a powerup completely miss the point of the original, ruining the one really uniquely good thing Return of Samus had going for it. There’s not much to say about this other than that it sucks and undermines a lot of the atmosphere and tone.
Even though the game picks up towards its end mechanically, I still found myself underwhelmed by Samus Returns. It’s not a bad game; it’s perfectly serviceable, it just isn’t much more than that. I’m glad this game brought Metroid back to life, and I’ll always be grateful to it for that, but I just find it hard to really love Samus Returns the way I love so many of the other games in the series.
Metroid: Samus Returns somehow manages to make the already linear world structure of Metroid 2 feel even more restrictive. It still allows the Metroids within each area to be tackled in any order, but upgrades are now on a strict progression path that is effectively impossible to break from. While I lamented the possibility of missing combat upgrades in the original, that game at least allowed for a bit more flexibility and routing, even if it wasn’t much.
The combat is decidedly an improvement, at least overall, but it’s still nothing to write home about. I’m not actually convinced that combat with regular enemies is improved at all; the original’s combat felt more dynamic, and it felt like I had to tackle each enemy a bit differently, while still requiring putting myself in danger to deal with them most of the time.
Here, anything that can’t be easily addressed with the melee counter can usually be dealt with by switching on the rapid-fire ability and wave beam-ing it down from total safety. The only damage I took during traversal felt like a result of impatience more than a lack of skill. The melee counter honestly kind of sucks as a mechanic; it’s a pace breaker, forcing you to come to a stop and wait for enemies to attack before you can use it, and the timing is the same for nearly every enemy. The 360 degree aiming mechanic is an interesting idea, but it’s underutilized here, and being unable to aim precisely while moving, combined with the awkwardness and inconsistency of the 3DS’s circle pad, makes it honestly just not feel very good to use.
The metroid fights themselves are half improved, and half not improved. I think the Alpha and Zeta variants are decidedly more fun to fight than their Return of Samus counterparts, but the Gamma metroids are just an irritating slog here, and the Omegas are so trivial and yet so drawn out that the encounters feel boring. The Queen Metroid is overall an improvement, but repeats attacks so much the fight still ends up feeling tedious. Having said that, the new bosses are the highlight of this game; Diggernaut is kind of ruined by the inability to deal damage during most of its moves, but it’s a fight with good bones, and the final boss is actually genuinely solid. I didn’t find it that difficult, but I died twice, and I had fun fighting it thanks to its moveset variety.
Sadly, the very presence of the final boss here feels like a huge misunderstanding of the original game’s ending. The bombastic enemy-filled hallways leading up to it and the way the game treats the baby metroid like a powerup completely miss the point of the original, ruining the one really uniquely good thing Return of Samus had going for it. There’s not much to say about this other than that it sucks and undermines a lot of the atmosphere and tone.
Even though the game picks up towards its end mechanically, I still found myself underwhelmed by Samus Returns. It’s not a bad game; it’s perfectly serviceable, it just isn’t much more than that. I’m glad this game brought Metroid back to life, and I’ll always be grateful to it for that, but I just find it hard to really love Samus Returns the way I love so many of the other games in the series.
Se esforzaron en destrurir cada aspecto del original. No quedó nada que no hayan arruinado. En un punto estaba agradeciendo que los metroids que vayas matando no empiecen a dropear power ups (imaginen por donde estaba la vara). Pero al final el baby es usado como herramienta para descubrir más secretitos y hasta te ayuda a pelear con Ridley. ¿Qué pinta Ridley en Metroid 2? Dios sabrá.
God a lot of people here really seem to think this is just a whatever game. Know I am one that is traditionally open to other peoples interpretations, but I do not understand. Samus Returns is amazing; it takes the concept of that really horrid Game Boy game, and makes something actually good with it. The graphics tend not look great, but the gameplay feels quick, tights, and well balanced. Combined with new additions and some fun boss fights, makes this an amazing 2D Metroid.
queen metroid boss battle fucking sucks
If I had to describe Samus Returns in one sentence, I'd say it's a "mechanically sound video game that uses none of its mechanics well".
It's like everything about this game specifically targeted everything I hate in video game design to cater towards me. I've never had such a negative reaction towards a game before. That said, I can't say it's a poorly designed game, I think free aim is a great addition to the series (albeit hindered by the imprecision of the 3DS circle pad), and from what I understand this game sets the framework for Dread (which I have not yet played as of writing this review).
It's not a bad game, I just hated it.
It's like everything about this game specifically targeted everything I hate in video game design to cater towards me. I've never had such a negative reaction towards a game before. That said, I can't say it's a poorly designed game, I think free aim is a great addition to the series (albeit hindered by the imprecision of the 3DS circle pad), and from what I understand this game sets the framework for Dread (which I have not yet played as of writing this review).
It's not a bad game, I just hated it.
the recent focus on accessible controls for videogames comes not from sympathizing with those who have less dextrous hands, but from a desire to never play metroid on the circle pad ever again
metroid formula is great still but every zone looking the same and every boss being the same (as in , quite literally, the same) results in a pretty bland experience
recommend leaving in your bathroom and forcing yourself to do 3 metroids every time you take a shit
metroid formula is great still but every zone looking the same and every boss being the same (as in , quite literally, the same) results in a pretty bland experience
recommend leaving in your bathroom and forcing yourself to do 3 metroids every time you take a shit
I find this to be one of the weaker metroid games, not that that statement means its necessarily bad. A lot of the promising ideas on show here are only further refined and implemented in Dread, which is where I feel MercurySteam shine. Anyway for the gameplay a lot of the (mini) bosses are either repetitive - fighting 30 of the same metroids - or a pain in the ass; diggernaut (seriously who playtested this boss and greenlighted it). Even its basic combat is kind of lacklustre, really all you are doing is parrying enemies for the majority of the game and its not too enjoyable. One of the stronger new additions however is the Aeion abilities, each one is used quite frequently and it makes some parts of the game more unique. I find this game starts to make its strides in the end-game but by that point its too late and it doesn’t really make a mark and its also way too difficult at times. I’d need to play the original to see how good of a remake this is but for now it stands as just “fine”.
Samus Returns follows the pattern of Zero Mission by significantly improving the game it was based on, mostly noticeably when it comes to a vast variety of environments, engaging boss battles, and an incredibly helpful map. Possibly the most drastic revision, one that's a change of course for 2D Metroids in general, is how the game leans into the action aspect. In this case, it turns out pretty well with addition of the parry move. Parrying switches up the game by turning encounters into a choice of getting in close to pull off a single counterattack or to safely shoot from afar. I found myself using the new maneuver quite a bit, thanks to satisfying “oomph” to it when you pull the move off. However, I also probably overused due to the fact that the timing very generous for counting a collision. On top of that, parrying sometimes involves just standing around and waiting for the enemy to move the right way. Something that requires more precision or maintains momentum would be the ideal if the game was to fully embrace the action route. However, going off a few snippets of Metroid Dread gameplay it looks like it's going to be integrating the parry in a faster-paced style of gameply. All things considered, I'm glad that the MercurySteam dev team for Samus Returns is working on Dread as well!
A solid remake that feels like they're doing the best they can with the framework they had to use. It somehow comes across as twice the size of the GB original, and not in a good way.
The cinematic boss moments are nice, and work to remind you that Samus has that rep for a reason, but the regular combat is a bit of an inconvenience. They're insistent on this new parry mechanic, meaning almost every single jobber enemy desperately wants you to do it and then shoot them once to win. It gives basic exploration a real START STOP vibe that can get tedious quickly. So I understand why most folk dropped it, especially with the repetitive metroid fights being only slightly improved.
I first had a go on this game in September 2017 while my gran was in hospital following a stroke and a second heart attack (aye it's one of those reviews). I couldnae focus, and put it off to the side. She got home in mid October, and I went to stay with her for a few months as a carer. I didn't bring any consoles to her place, and decided the 3DS would be best. I played in wee bursts while she slept on the couch. It was comfy. A nice environment despite the circumstances. We were always close so none of it felt out of the ordinary. She was just weaker. Now, this isnae gonnae be some shite about an imagined correlation between Samus getting upgrades and my gran's recovery. I'm a prick, but I'm not THAT prick. She never got better. Never got back to herself. She died in 2019. But something about wee shots of the game are forever tied to that time and place. So despite all the wee shit things about this, I cannae bring myself to hate it because if I focus hard enough on the screen, I'm in that house with the familiar smells, and my gran is just out of my peripheral vision, asleep on the couch.
The cinematic boss moments are nice, and work to remind you that Samus has that rep for a reason, but the regular combat is a bit of an inconvenience. They're insistent on this new parry mechanic, meaning almost every single jobber enemy desperately wants you to do it and then shoot them once to win. It gives basic exploration a real START STOP vibe that can get tedious quickly. So I understand why most folk dropped it, especially with the repetitive metroid fights being only slightly improved.
I first had a go on this game in September 2017 while my gran was in hospital following a stroke and a second heart attack (aye it's one of those reviews). I couldnae focus, and put it off to the side. She got home in mid October, and I went to stay with her for a few months as a carer. I didn't bring any consoles to her place, and decided the 3DS would be best. I played in wee bursts while she slept on the couch. It was comfy. A nice environment despite the circumstances. We were always close so none of it felt out of the ordinary. She was just weaker. Now, this isnae gonnae be some shite about an imagined correlation between Samus getting upgrades and my gran's recovery. I'm a prick, but I'm not THAT prick. She never got better. Never got back to herself. She died in 2019. But something about wee shots of the game are forever tied to that time and place. So despite all the wee shit things about this, I cannae bring myself to hate it because if I focus hard enough on the screen, I'm in that house with the familiar smells, and my gran is just out of my peripheral vision, asleep on the couch.
Overall a good remake. It's unfortunate that apart from a very basic parry mechanic and a few new abilities it doesn't bring anything new to the table following Fusion and Zero Mission, and the variety is lacking... especially for a 2017 release, the same year a game called Hollow Knight came out with over 100 unique kinds of enemies.
Super Metroid aside, I've got the impression that 2D Metroid games always manage to be good, but never really great.
Super Metroid aside, I've got the impression that 2D Metroid games always manage to be good, but never really great.
MercurySteam did a pretty good job with this. It’s not ambidextrous by any means, but the addition of 360 degree aiming and the counterattack were brilliant, even if the latter was overused. They both make so much sense in terms of how Samus interacts with SR388. There are basic enemies and metroids attacking you from every angle possible, and being able to fight enemies in a completely new way is really refreshing. It’s also probably the most challenging 2D Metroid in the series too. It’s not like old school Metroid, where save rooms are few and far between. A big draw of old school Metroid is the building tension of making it to that next save point while your health and ammo is whittled away by small enemies. In Samus Returns, you’re never too far from a save point, but enemies hit HARD. even on the normal difficulty, there are little bitches that’ll take away a whole energy tank with one attack, and I found myself dying a lot.
For a 3DS game, it’s gorgeous. I love Samus’ angular, top heavy new look, and I love how detailed and inspired the areas are. It reminded me a lot of DKC Tropical Freeze, where it really felt like there was a whole world to explore just in the backdrops. I wasn’t able to see the 3D in action but I’ve heard it’s really good so I’ll just believe it.
I think the game’s biggest problem stems from the fact that it’s just Metroid 2. The fights against the metroids can all get very repetitive since you’ll be fighting them in different stages of their evolution the further you progress. But you’re still fighting each version of them what feels like ten times each. It’s tiring. They added a few new non-Metroid fights that I really enjoyed (yeah I kinda enjoyed the robot fight), but if I’m being completely honest I think AM2R goes the extra mile in this category. It also reuses a ton of music and sound effects from the series, mostly from Metroid Prime. It’s really cool at first glance, hearing the missle tank sound effect and the Magmoor Caverns theme, but the further I got into the game the more I felt like it was watering down it’s own identity by not having any memorable original tracks.
Overall I think this game is really solid for MercurySteam’s first go at this franchise. Obviously Nintendo trusts them enough to continue the mainline series, and after playing Samus Returns, I think I do too. Can’t wait for Dread.
For a 3DS game, it’s gorgeous. I love Samus’ angular, top heavy new look, and I love how detailed and inspired the areas are. It reminded me a lot of DKC Tropical Freeze, where it really felt like there was a whole world to explore just in the backdrops. I wasn’t able to see the 3D in action but I’ve heard it’s really good so I’ll just believe it.
I think the game’s biggest problem stems from the fact that it’s just Metroid 2. The fights against the metroids can all get very repetitive since you’ll be fighting them in different stages of their evolution the further you progress. But you’re still fighting each version of them what feels like ten times each. It’s tiring. They added a few new non-Metroid fights that I really enjoyed (yeah I kinda enjoyed the robot fight), but if I’m being completely honest I think AM2R goes the extra mile in this category. It also reuses a ton of music and sound effects from the series, mostly from Metroid Prime. It’s really cool at first glance, hearing the missle tank sound effect and the Magmoor Caverns theme, but the further I got into the game the more I felt like it was watering down it’s own identity by not having any memorable original tracks.
Overall I think this game is really solid for MercurySteam’s first go at this franchise. Obviously Nintendo trusts them enough to continue the mainline series, and after playing Samus Returns, I think I do too. Can’t wait for Dread.
Really loved this advertisement for A2MR :)
Not too long after Nintendo inexplicably took down AM2R (but not really), they announced that a Metroid II remake was in the works. In any other scenario, everybody would be excited about this announcement. However, since they only released Metroid Prime: Federation Force and took down AM2R, this left a horrendous taste in everybody’s mouth, myself included. On one hand I’m glad that the remake even exists at all. On the other hand, Nintendo were acting like complete assholes and made it seem like they weren’t gonna do anything with Metroid for years to come. To put it bluntly…nobody was exactly happy with what they were doing, but that’s a talk for another day.
In my mind there are 3 types of remakes: Those that replace the original, those that stand side-to-side with the original, and those that are inferior to the original. Samus Returns is in a complicated spot since AM2R exists as a direct competitor. As a remake it completely surpasses the original…for the most part; I do have some slight issues with this as a remake. When you also factor in AM2R and when you start to compare them as remakes, it…doesn’t really look good for Samus Returns if you ask me.
To be fair, several of my issues with Samus Returns as a game were addressed in Dread, so I’m not going to be a…complete meathead…for now.
Samus Returns brings some big gameplay changes that we haven’t seen in the series yet. For starters, the melee counter was introduced in this game alongside the Free-Aim system which allows for full 360 degree movement that a certain God of War director forgot even existed after the 10 second tutorial. These two changes were probably the best changes, but at the same time, they contribute to the biggest problem I have with this game…mainly the melee counter.
The biggest issue I have with Samus Returns is the game’s overall pacing and flow. The areas being much larger than before also adds to this, but the melee counter and the strength of your weapons (or lack of strength) add to this issue. Unlike Dread, when you use the melee counter, you stop dead in your tracks which kills much of the flow and momentum you could have when traveling through SR388. Since the melee counter halts your movement, I would just resort to shooting them…but for a good 50-60% of the game, enemies take too many hits to kill with just your beam on top of the enemies actively trying to hit you. I guess this is a way to encourage the use of the melee counter? No, just…no. This just makes everything feel spongy for practically no reason.
Well…I can definitely see that the team over at MercurySteam wanted to do a remake of Fusion, because this world design feels more suited for that game, but because of the linear layout of the world, it feels a bit…ummm…how do I put it…
The way everything is designed feels more evocative of Fusion, but the areas are arranged in the format of a straight line. Imagine the sectors from Fusion, but instead of laying them out all side by side, make it so you can only go in a straight line. That’s how traveling through SR388 feels in this game. Am I wrong on that? I probably am.
It makes going for 100% a complete pain in the ass. Speaking of that, you can’t technically 100% the game until you encounter the baby Metroid…when you’re about 15 minutes away from finishing the game which is immensely retarded if you ask me. The existence of fast travel stations only serves as a Band-Aid to this issue. If the game was more in line with what came after it (Dread), then this wouldn’t be a remake; they have to make sure that the foundation remains intact so that this remake is actually a remake instead of a game that looks like Metroid II but actually isn’t.
Love the varied environments, the addition of aeion abilities, all the upgrades, all the things I normally do in a Metroid game, I can do here. Most of the things I love about the previous games are present here; I don’t think certain aspects of the game accommodated the changes in gameplay. No, that’s not right; it’s closer to an overcorrection.
If you’re a fan of Metroid, then you should probably play this game. It’s a good game that a lot of people will enjoy (even though I’ve been primarily negative about this game).
It’s not that I don’t have anything positive to say. I just don’t want to regurgitate the same stuff that everybody else has already said about 70 times over. The issue of the melee counter has been brought up over and over again, yeah, but in my case, it’s necessary to talk about.
I’m just not really feeling it this time. I still like the game. It’s just that more issues pop up the more I start to think about the entire series and its direct competitor in AM2R. I would compare the 2 games, but that’s a topic for a different time and place. In other words…I don’t want to do it right now.
This is probably even worse than my Fusion ramble.
Actually, this is probably my worst, most bland, incoherent ramble yet.
In my mind there are 3 types of remakes: Those that replace the original, those that stand side-to-side with the original, and those that are inferior to the original. Samus Returns is in a complicated spot since AM2R exists as a direct competitor. As a remake it completely surpasses the original…for the most part; I do have some slight issues with this as a remake. When you also factor in AM2R and when you start to compare them as remakes, it…doesn’t really look good for Samus Returns if you ask me.
To be fair, several of my issues with Samus Returns as a game were addressed in Dread, so I’m not going to be a…complete meathead…for now.
Samus Returns brings some big gameplay changes that we haven’t seen in the series yet. For starters, the melee counter was introduced in this game alongside the Free-Aim system which allows for full 360 degree movement that a certain God of War director forgot even existed after the 10 second tutorial. These two changes were probably the best changes, but at the same time, they contribute to the biggest problem I have with this game…mainly the melee counter.
The biggest issue I have with Samus Returns is the game’s overall pacing and flow. The areas being much larger than before also adds to this, but the melee counter and the strength of your weapons (or lack of strength) add to this issue. Unlike Dread, when you use the melee counter, you stop dead in your tracks which kills much of the flow and momentum you could have when traveling through SR388. Since the melee counter halts your movement, I would just resort to shooting them…but for a good 50-60% of the game, enemies take too many hits to kill with just your beam on top of the enemies actively trying to hit you. I guess this is a way to encourage the use of the melee counter? No, just…no. This just makes everything feel spongy for practically no reason.
Well…I can definitely see that the team over at MercurySteam wanted to do a remake of Fusion, because this world design feels more suited for that game, but because of the linear layout of the world, it feels a bit…ummm…how do I put it…
The way everything is designed feels more evocative of Fusion, but the areas are arranged in the format of a straight line. Imagine the sectors from Fusion, but instead of laying them out all side by side, make it so you can only go in a straight line. That’s how traveling through SR388 feels in this game. Am I wrong on that? I probably am.
It makes going for 100% a complete pain in the ass. Speaking of that, you can’t technically 100% the game until you encounter the baby Metroid…when you’re about 15 minutes away from finishing the game which is immensely retarded if you ask me. The existence of fast travel stations only serves as a Band-Aid to this issue. If the game was more in line with what came after it (Dread), then this wouldn’t be a remake; they have to make sure that the foundation remains intact so that this remake is actually a remake instead of a game that looks like Metroid II but actually isn’t.
Love the varied environments, the addition of aeion abilities, all the upgrades, all the things I normally do in a Metroid game, I can do here. Most of the things I love about the previous games are present here; I don’t think certain aspects of the game accommodated the changes in gameplay. No, that’s not right; it’s closer to an overcorrection.
If you’re a fan of Metroid, then you should probably play this game. It’s a good game that a lot of people will enjoy (even though I’ve been primarily negative about this game).
It’s not that I don’t have anything positive to say. I just don’t want to regurgitate the same stuff that everybody else has already said about 70 times over. The issue of the melee counter has been brought up over and over again, yeah, but in my case, it’s necessary to talk about.
I’m just not really feeling it this time. I still like the game. It’s just that more issues pop up the more I start to think about the entire series and its direct competitor in AM2R. I would compare the 2 games, but that’s a topic for a different time and place. In other words…I don’t want to do it right now.
This is probably even worse than my Fusion ramble.
Actually, this is probably my worst, most bland, incoherent ramble yet.
Estou numa jornada de jogar toda a série Metroid, após o Zero Mission, parti para Samus Returns, um remake do Metroid 2 e também um retorno da franquia Metroid depois de muito tempo.
Sei que esse título é bem divisivo entre os fãs, já ouvi pessoas que dizem ser um dos melhores, assim como já ouvi dizerem ser um dos piores. E após jogar acho que consigo entender o motivo disso.
Samus Returns não é um jogo tão bem feito quanto Zero Mission. O remake do primeiro jogo é o arroz com feijão bem feito, não toma muitos riscos e nem faz coisas muito únicas, mas brilha dentro da sua simplicidade e consegue entregar uma experiência perfeitamente satisfatória.
O Samus Returns é o contrário, é um jogo ambicioso que traz ideias diferentes, como a mecânica de parry, e ativamente tenta coisas novas e interessantes. No entanto, ao tentar coisas novas, acaba tropeçando no básico e sendo muito mais problemático que seu antecessor.
Em resumo, eu diria que Samus Returns não é exatamente um jogo melhor que o Zero Mission, mas em compensação é um jogo mais interessante. O segundo jogo tem momentos muito mais marcantes e memoráveis, assim como tem momentos muito mais frustrantes ou tediosos.
Acho que dispensa apresentações mas Metroid é o clássico "busca-ação". É um jogo side-scroller com foco em exploração e em combate. E eu realmente gosto muito mais da exploração do Samus Returns do que do Zero Mission. O jogo é menos linear e recompensa bem mais a exploração do que o anterior, os power-ups são ótimos e realmente alteram a forma como você explora o ambiente.
Eu tenho meus problemas com a coisa de Metroid de ficar procurando blocos quebráveis escondidos no cenário e esse jogo encontra uma solução ótima pra isso: um scanner que mostra quais blocos são quebráveis. Gosto bastante dessa adição e funciona muito bem no contexto do jogo, não torna a exploração sem graça, ao mesmo tempo que impede aquele sentimento de frustração quando você não encontra um bloco extremamente escondido que era necessário para progredir.
O combate também é ótimo e brilha nas lutas contra chefes. A mecânica de parry é muito bem vinda na franquia e realmente adiciona muito na profundidade do combate.
Mas agora entro com duas das minhas reclamações principais. Apesar do ótimo combate, esse jogo tem um sério problema de repetição. Tem ótimos chefes, especialmente no terço final do jogo, mas por boa parte da experiência, você enfrenta os mesmos 4 chefes repetidas vezes. Sem brincadeira, tem chefe que você precisa enfrentar mais de 10 vezes. Alguns deles tem pequenas variações de uma luta pra outra, mas não o suficiente pra justificar tanta repetição.
O meu outro problema com esse jogo é que ele tem sérios problemas de qualidade de vida. Existem algumas estações pelo mapa que recuperam vida, energia e munição. Detalhe: existem três estações separadas para recuperar cada uma dessas coisas, não uma estação que recupera tudo de uma vez. Caso elas fossem frequentes e bem localizadas não seria um problema. Mas por algum motivo elas são relativamente escassas e normalmente localizadas em lugares meio aleatórios.
Em vários momentos eu chegava em um chefe com pouca vida e aí ou eu ficava grindando matando bicho ou eu tinha que fazer um bactracking imenso para recuperar vida, é algo que podia ser tranquilamente resolvido colocando essas estações sempre próximas dos chefes.
Mesmo assim, gostei muito de Samus Returns. Explorar nele é extremamente divertido, as lutas contra chefes únicos, apesar de poucas, são muito divertidas. Gosto muito do senso de progressão dele, os power-ups são criativos, úteis e divertidos de usar. O jogo sofre com a repetição e alguns problemas de qualidade de vida mas isso tá longe de estragar a experiência.
Sei que esse título é bem divisivo entre os fãs, já ouvi pessoas que dizem ser um dos melhores, assim como já ouvi dizerem ser um dos piores. E após jogar acho que consigo entender o motivo disso.
Samus Returns não é um jogo tão bem feito quanto Zero Mission. O remake do primeiro jogo é o arroz com feijão bem feito, não toma muitos riscos e nem faz coisas muito únicas, mas brilha dentro da sua simplicidade e consegue entregar uma experiência perfeitamente satisfatória.
O Samus Returns é o contrário, é um jogo ambicioso que traz ideias diferentes, como a mecânica de parry, e ativamente tenta coisas novas e interessantes. No entanto, ao tentar coisas novas, acaba tropeçando no básico e sendo muito mais problemático que seu antecessor.
Em resumo, eu diria que Samus Returns não é exatamente um jogo melhor que o Zero Mission, mas em compensação é um jogo mais interessante. O segundo jogo tem momentos muito mais marcantes e memoráveis, assim como tem momentos muito mais frustrantes ou tediosos.
Acho que dispensa apresentações mas Metroid é o clássico "busca-ação". É um jogo side-scroller com foco em exploração e em combate. E eu realmente gosto muito mais da exploração do Samus Returns do que do Zero Mission. O jogo é menos linear e recompensa bem mais a exploração do que o anterior, os power-ups são ótimos e realmente alteram a forma como você explora o ambiente.
Eu tenho meus problemas com a coisa de Metroid de ficar procurando blocos quebráveis escondidos no cenário e esse jogo encontra uma solução ótima pra isso: um scanner que mostra quais blocos são quebráveis. Gosto bastante dessa adição e funciona muito bem no contexto do jogo, não torna a exploração sem graça, ao mesmo tempo que impede aquele sentimento de frustração quando você não encontra um bloco extremamente escondido que era necessário para progredir.
O combate também é ótimo e brilha nas lutas contra chefes. A mecânica de parry é muito bem vinda na franquia e realmente adiciona muito na profundidade do combate.
Mas agora entro com duas das minhas reclamações principais. Apesar do ótimo combate, esse jogo tem um sério problema de repetição. Tem ótimos chefes, especialmente no terço final do jogo, mas por boa parte da experiência, você enfrenta os mesmos 4 chefes repetidas vezes. Sem brincadeira, tem chefe que você precisa enfrentar mais de 10 vezes. Alguns deles tem pequenas variações de uma luta pra outra, mas não o suficiente pra justificar tanta repetição.
O meu outro problema com esse jogo é que ele tem sérios problemas de qualidade de vida. Existem algumas estações pelo mapa que recuperam vida, energia e munição. Detalhe: existem três estações separadas para recuperar cada uma dessas coisas, não uma estação que recupera tudo de uma vez. Caso elas fossem frequentes e bem localizadas não seria um problema. Mas por algum motivo elas são relativamente escassas e normalmente localizadas em lugares meio aleatórios.
Em vários momentos eu chegava em um chefe com pouca vida e aí ou eu ficava grindando matando bicho ou eu tinha que fazer um bactracking imenso para recuperar vida, é algo que podia ser tranquilamente resolvido colocando essas estações sempre próximas dos chefes.
Mesmo assim, gostei muito de Samus Returns. Explorar nele é extremamente divertido, as lutas contra chefes únicos, apesar de poucas, são muito divertidas. Gosto muito do senso de progressão dele, os power-ups são criativos, úteis e divertidos de usar. O jogo sofre com a repetição e alguns problemas de qualidade de vida mas isso tá longe de estragar a experiência.
Com um gameplay sólido e animador pra futuros jogos da franquia, tendo atualizado e emplacado um modelo 3D sidescroller satisfatório, Samus Returns revitaliza um jogo cujo lançamento original já clamava por um tratamento melhor.
A inclusão do melee, que tbm se faz presente no próximo jogo da empresa, Dread, adiciona um elemento bacana de design, mas que em certos momentos torna os tiros carregados, e a necessidade de dominar a movimentação com eles em carga, complementamente descartáveis, já que o parry no timing certo não só defende como já garante um tiro em carga máxima dispensando o tempo de carregamento.
Não que seja um problema, mas soa muitas vezes como uma substituição ao invés de uma adição.
De volta ao design, por se tratar de um remake, carrega os mesmos defeitos e qualidades em relação à estrutura. Se a exploração é livre e traz bastante retorno com expansões e power-ups, o loop de portais que pedem DNAs de Metroids, e a repetição exaustiva de chefes, é um tanto enfadonho, especialmente pela carência de diversidade e a sensação ruim de repetir a mesma tarefa mecânica, desprovida de um contexto mais significativo.
Ainda assim, traz uma dose boa de Metroid pra quem ama a proposta sidescroller em oposição à proposta 3D do Prime, apesar de ser um reaproveitamento de ideias passadas, empobrecendo a inovação. Ainda bem que Dread veio pouco depois.
A inclusão do melee, que tbm se faz presente no próximo jogo da empresa, Dread, adiciona um elemento bacana de design, mas que em certos momentos torna os tiros carregados, e a necessidade de dominar a movimentação com eles em carga, complementamente descartáveis, já que o parry no timing certo não só defende como já garante um tiro em carga máxima dispensando o tempo de carregamento.
Não que seja um problema, mas soa muitas vezes como uma substituição ao invés de uma adição.
De volta ao design, por se tratar de um remake, carrega os mesmos defeitos e qualidades em relação à estrutura. Se a exploração é livre e traz bastante retorno com expansões e power-ups, o loop de portais que pedem DNAs de Metroids, e a repetição exaustiva de chefes, é um tanto enfadonho, especialmente pela carência de diversidade e a sensação ruim de repetir a mesma tarefa mecânica, desprovida de um contexto mais significativo.
Ainda assim, traz uma dose boa de Metroid pra quem ama a proposta sidescroller em oposição à proposta 3D do Prime, apesar de ser um reaproveitamento de ideias passadas, empobrecendo a inovação. Ainda bem que Dread veio pouco depois.
Samus Returns’ visual design, music, and atmosphere are all fantastic. The counter, all-directional aim, and aeion abilities are great additions to Samus’s arsenal albeit can feel a bit unpolished at times. Although the game can feel a bit too counter-heavy, the boss fights against Metroids can be tedious, and the exploration can feel a little stale, the game is still great and is a solid entry in the franchise. Especially coming after a 15-year drought of 2D Metroid games.
She returned!
I got this game for $5 from a Toys R Us shutting down sale and still feel like I paid too much for it
Metroid: Samus Returns is a game I bought about a year after its release. I went with my friend Simon to one of the local retro game stores, saw it there for 15 bucks and bought it. I bought it and didn't bother touching it for 3 years.
I don't know what was compelling me not to play it, whether it was disinterest, or having heard bad reviews about it back in that time, but I never felt like picking it up.
Now, in the middle of my massive Metroid binge after playing Dread, AM2R, and Zero Mission, I finally picked it up... and realized it is extremely middling.
First off, this game is fucking long in comparison to most other Metroidvanias I've played. That 100% completion itself wasn't so much the cause as much as it was the level design itself. Areas are extremely massive with not much going on, making treks through certain parts of the game (looking at you, Area 3) an absolute chore.
Then there's the enemy variety, which is to say there isn't any. There are a lot of reskinned enemy types constantly littered throughout the game. I know this is a remake of a Gameboy game, but I know the 3DS is at least powerful enough to have enemy variety. Even AM2R got this aspect right, and that was a fan game developed over the course of 10 years by mostly just one person.
Hunting Metroids is when the game reaches its most tedious. Metroid fights all feel the same, despite having more moves than in the original game, and even AM2R. The arenas you fight them in are all incredibly similar, and at points you'll have to chase a Metroid from room to room... which is one of the worst things I've experienced in this franchise as of now.
It's like everything in this game was designed to be a slog. From the pace-breaking parry that you can only do while standing still, to the items locked behind crystals that only the Baby Metroid can break at THE VERY END OF THE GAME. It all feels like padding.
Boss Fights outside of the Metroid specific ones suck, they're too fucking long for 2D Metroid. The one thing that stands out though is that bosses in this game actually show a change in coloration (or physical damage in Diggernaut's case) which Dread doesn't have... why is this not in Dread? The bosses also do way too much fucking damage. 3 fucking bars of health for one attack by Diggernaut, and I'm wearing the Gravity Suit, I'm sorry but that's fucking ridiculous.
All and all, the game itself is perfectly functional, but it has layers and layers of bullshit that keep it from being a higher rating. Not a game I see myself playing again, as in my opinion it has zero replay value.
I'm glad it exists for helping the franchise come back, and gave us Dread with its myriad improvements on this game, but I don't feel you have to play this game to support Metroid anymore. Play Dread to support Metroid, and play AM2R if you want the best Metroid II experience.
I don't know what was compelling me not to play it, whether it was disinterest, or having heard bad reviews about it back in that time, but I never felt like picking it up.
Now, in the middle of my massive Metroid binge after playing Dread, AM2R, and Zero Mission, I finally picked it up... and realized it is extremely middling.
First off, this game is fucking long in comparison to most other Metroidvanias I've played. That 100% completion itself wasn't so much the cause as much as it was the level design itself. Areas are extremely massive with not much going on, making treks through certain parts of the game (looking at you, Area 3) an absolute chore.
Then there's the enemy variety, which is to say there isn't any. There are a lot of reskinned enemy types constantly littered throughout the game. I know this is a remake of a Gameboy game, but I know the 3DS is at least powerful enough to have enemy variety. Even AM2R got this aspect right, and that was a fan game developed over the course of 10 years by mostly just one person.
Hunting Metroids is when the game reaches its most tedious. Metroid fights all feel the same, despite having more moves than in the original game, and even AM2R. The arenas you fight them in are all incredibly similar, and at points you'll have to chase a Metroid from room to room... which is one of the worst things I've experienced in this franchise as of now.
It's like everything in this game was designed to be a slog. From the pace-breaking parry that you can only do while standing still, to the items locked behind crystals that only the Baby Metroid can break at THE VERY END OF THE GAME. It all feels like padding.
Boss Fights outside of the Metroid specific ones suck, they're too fucking long for 2D Metroid. The one thing that stands out though is that bosses in this game actually show a change in coloration (or physical damage in Diggernaut's case) which Dread doesn't have... why is this not in Dread? The bosses also do way too much fucking damage. 3 fucking bars of health for one attack by Diggernaut, and I'm wearing the Gravity Suit, I'm sorry but that's fucking ridiculous.
All and all, the game itself is perfectly functional, but it has layers and layers of bullshit that keep it from being a higher rating. Not a game I see myself playing again, as in my opinion it has zero replay value.
I'm glad it exists for helping the franchise come back, and gave us Dread with its myriad improvements on this game, but I don't feel you have to play this game to support Metroid anymore. Play Dread to support Metroid, and play AM2R if you want the best Metroid II experience.
The only downside to this game is that my thumbs started hurting in the more complex boss fights.
The game is a lot of fun
The game is a lot of fun
Too much linear progression, terrible early game. Overall a good experience, even though it's a bad remake and AM2R is way superior
Being the worst of the franchise I've played yet, it is really interesting as a direct comparison with AM2R, and how both manage to analyze, decompose and rearrange what makes the original game interesting and what Metroid is supose to be.
Coming from the same source I think AM2R gets much more of the core of Metroid magic right and improves upon the original material in a beautiful and mesmerizing way, letting the traversal flow flawlessly and actively disempowering Samus to put her at what she actually is in the game, a tiny fraction in a vast, hostile unknown environment. Also AM2R feels like a direct sequel to Zero Mission from all perspectives: the look, the feel, the rhythm; and in the points where AM2R does his own things and elevates on different directions, it does knowing and letting the player know how a Metroid remake by its original makers is.
Its soul is focused on its legacy.
On the contrary this remake has an unique voice, wants to point out how incredibly cool Samus is prioritizing the combat and the overall polish of animations, cutscenes and difficulty to a point AM2R can't logistically get, but also doesn't want to, to a certain degree.
Having set that and getting much more out of this new interpretation of the sequel to Metroid from AM2R, Samus Returns (3DS) does a great job at making just a fun, engaging and deeply satisfying Metroid at the cost of some of its soul; the atmosphere doesn't get the job done and I particularly dislike the colour palette in here; but at the same time I've never had such great and rewarding encounters, especially boss fights.
It is clearly unbalanced; even the new habilities, or the power bomb, are a bit broken but to the point where I think they're just very fun to play with. What is new here is kind of hard to elevate, it's difficult to say how this is more than just a fine Metroid title; but just as a game, getting rid of the big elephant in the room; it is fun, addictive, satisfying, epic on a pretty modern scale, and it has the level of detail and polish you can only get from a AAA game.
In the end, and prefering what AM2R does, I am happy that Mercury went for their own take on this game, and on Metroid as a whole. Knowing now that Dread exists as it is, I am as interested on it as afraid of how the pillars that define this franchise for me will stand after seeing how their vision here pretty much goes on a whole different direction of what I consider makes this franchise shine as an out of time classic.
I enjoy the creepy vibes, the loneliness and fear that comes from the unknown, of knowing yourself unable to confront the next menace that will show itself behind you hunting you down through a dark, cold corridor with the only company of the tools you've been getting through the journey. This game does none of this, but what it does is really good and I can't blame it for being itself.
PS: Samus is a badass and I'm all for it.
Coming from the same source I think AM2R gets much more of the core of Metroid magic right and improves upon the original material in a beautiful and mesmerizing way, letting the traversal flow flawlessly and actively disempowering Samus to put her at what she actually is in the game, a tiny fraction in a vast, hostile unknown environment. Also AM2R feels like a direct sequel to Zero Mission from all perspectives: the look, the feel, the rhythm; and in the points where AM2R does his own things and elevates on different directions, it does knowing and letting the player know how a Metroid remake by its original makers is.
Its soul is focused on its legacy.
On the contrary this remake has an unique voice, wants to point out how incredibly cool Samus is prioritizing the combat and the overall polish of animations, cutscenes and difficulty to a point AM2R can't logistically get, but also doesn't want to, to a certain degree.
Having set that and getting much more out of this new interpretation of the sequel to Metroid from AM2R, Samus Returns (3DS) does a great job at making just a fun, engaging and deeply satisfying Metroid at the cost of some of its soul; the atmosphere doesn't get the job done and I particularly dislike the colour palette in here; but at the same time I've never had such great and rewarding encounters, especially boss fights.
It is clearly unbalanced; even the new habilities, or the power bomb, are a bit broken but to the point where I think they're just very fun to play with. What is new here is kind of hard to elevate, it's difficult to say how this is more than just a fine Metroid title; but just as a game, getting rid of the big elephant in the room; it is fun, addictive, satisfying, epic on a pretty modern scale, and it has the level of detail and polish you can only get from a AAA game.
In the end, and prefering what AM2R does, I am happy that Mercury went for their own take on this game, and on Metroid as a whole. Knowing now that Dread exists as it is, I am as interested on it as afraid of how the pillars that define this franchise for me will stand after seeing how their vision here pretty much goes on a whole different direction of what I consider makes this franchise shine as an out of time classic.
I enjoy the creepy vibes, the loneliness and fear that comes from the unknown, of knowing yourself unable to confront the next menace that will show itself behind you hunting you down through a dark, cold corridor with the only company of the tools you've been getting through the journey. This game does none of this, but what it does is really good and I can't blame it for being itself.
PS: Samus is a badass and I'm all for it.
Pretty solid overall, but it doesn't leave that much of an impression compared to other Metroid games, which I may partly attribute to the art direction, and the atmosphere was more on the level of Zero Mission than Fusion or Super, which isn't a good thing. The individual areas of the game often don't stick with you as they do in other games in the series.
The free aim made combat great, honestly, and I do not think the counter ruined it (i.e., get good). It's definitely not always the optimal thing to use, and I employed it less as the game progressed. I know combat isn't why people love Metroid-type games, but it's really a large part of why I dig Fusion and this game.
As far as remaking the original game goes, I find AM2R to be far more loyal. You could enjoy either more overall for different reasons, but I'm inclined to favor AM2R.
I'd love to see MercurySteam tackle a new Metroid game, now that they had a go at this.
EDIT: Yep. They did the thing.
The free aim made combat great, honestly, and I do not think the counter ruined it (
As far as remaking the original game goes, I find AM2R to be far more loyal. You could enjoy either more overall for different reasons, but I'm inclined to favor AM2R.
I'd love to see MercurySteam tackle a new Metroid game, now that they had a go at this.
EDIT: Yep. They did the thing.