is your girlfriend blonde, tall, wears a power suit, turns into a morph ball, run fast, grapple in walls, shoots ice beam and shoots beams at: giant lizard aliens, flying brains and ghosts octopus? then sorry, she's not your girlfriend, she's mine!
While it hadn’t gotten as much love as other Nintendo franchises at this point, like with Mario, Zelda, Kirby, and others, the Metroid series was still considered to be one of their big IPs at the time, and had a bit of a reputation at that point. The original Metroid and Metroid II: Return of Samus, despite not reaching the same level of quality as future titles in the series, were still good games in their own right, and were a pretty good launch point for this series as a whole. Not to mention, they were pretty successful, selling 2.7 million copies and 1.7 million copies respectively, so naturally, a sequel was going to be made… but not right away. There would be somewhat of a gap in between releases, primarily because the devs were waiting for just the right time, the perfect time, to bring Samus back into the limelight once again. This perfect time would come in 1994, and with the help of Intelligent Systems, who had developed plenty of games with Nintendo before (including the original Metroid), they would then release the long-awaited next chapter in the Metroid saga, Super Metroid.
Unfortunately, it wouldn’t go onto sell as well as its predecessors, but it would go onto garner universal praise from fans, die-hard or otherwise, and critics alike, with it now considered to be not only one of, if not THE best Metroid game of all time, but also one of the greatest video games ever made. Many have sung its praises over the years in many ways, it would get plenty of mods later down the road supporting replayability, it would become a favorite amongst speedrunners, and it would help go onto establishing an entire sub-genre of video games as a whole. As for myself though, I wouldn’t jump onto the Super Metroid bandwagon for quite some time, despite watching plenty of videos about it that would praise the game and go into great detail about why it was considered a masterpiece. When I eventually did decide to give the game a fair shot, I immediately understood why, as it is an incredible game, and absolutely deserves the reputation it has garnered over the years. While it may not be my personal favorite Metroid game, it is clear when playing the game that the devs put plenty of love, detail, and care into this game, making it one of the best games you could ever play not only from this era, but from any era.
The story continues on from where Metroid II ended off, where Samus Aran, now with a baby Metroid in her possession, brings it to a team of scientists at the Ceres research station to conduct further study on the specimen, but shortly after she leaves, the station is attacked by Ridley, back in the flesh after his defeat in the original game, killing everyone inside and stealing the baby Metroid, and fleeing back to the planet Zebes, so it is up to Samus to travel to Zebes once again, get back the baby Metroid, and uncover what is really going on here. It is a fairly simple premise, one that is easy to understand for new players, but also complex enough to create intrigue for those that are wanting to learn more about this game and its universe, making it very pleasing to experience and ponder about.
The graphics are absolutely phenomenal, not only bringing Samus to the 16-bit era in the perfect way, but also creating plenty of iconic locations, enemy designs, and atmosphere that still holds up tremendously well almost 30 years later, the music is wonderful, creating a perfect balance of being moody, setting the tone for many of the environments you travel in, yet still being filled with plenty of life, while also being tense and action–packed when it needs to, the control is perfect, feeling like the perfect evolution for how Samus should control in one of these games, while giving plenty of new things to mess around with right from the get-go that give you more versatility than ever, and the gameplay is pretty similar to the last two titles in the series, but now it has been made to be a lot more exciting, approachable, and memorable.
The game is a 2D action-adventure game, where you take control of Samus Aran once again, go through the depths of the planet Zebes once again, this time with much more detail, life, and secrets to find, defeat plenty of creatures, big or small, that inhabit the planet and want you dead as you go deeper and deeper into the planet, gather plenty of upgrades to Samus’s arsenal to make her into the ultimate warrior, such as with health upgrades, beam power ups, or regular power ups that give you new abilities, and take on plenty of bosses, both new and old, that will provide a challenge to those unprepared for what is to come. It has all the same elements that the previous two games had, not really introducing anything that majorly different for the series at the time, but there is one thing that it does manage to do above all else: perfect the formula.
As I mentioned earlier, Samus is now more capable then she has ever been before, not only having the same basic abilities and powers that she could get from the previous game, but she is now also able to aim in eight separate directions, she can crouch, and she even now has a wall jump, where you can continuously scale up a wall if you press the right sequence of buttons, allowing you to ultimately make the game YOUR BITCH. It is the perfect way to naturally evolve not just Samus and her capabilities, but also how the game plays, because when compared to the original game and Metroid II, this is just perfect in every way. Not only that, but the arsenal of weapons that she can acquire throughout the game is just as helpful as before, with classics like the Missiles, the Morph Ball, the Hi-Jump boots, the Screw Attack, and the various beam powers making a return, and each of them are incredibly helpful in plenty of situations.
Not only that, but there is also a good amount of new power ups for you to mess around with in the game as you go about finding them. There’s the Speed Booster, which allows Samus to run extremely fast and make her an unstoppable bullet train, the Shine Spark, which allows you to fire yourself through hard structures while using the Speed Booster, the Grapple Beam, which can be used to latch onto certain surfaces and swing around all over the place to reach new areas or more goodies, and the X-Ray Scope, which allows you to scan nearby areas to see if you can find any hidden passageways, power ups, or otherwise. Most of these new additions would become staples in the series in the coming years, and all of them are extremely useful and wonderful to test out in plenty of locations… with the exception of the X-Ray Scope, which I barely used at all, but hey, it is there for newcomers, so that is good.
And speaking of newcomers, like I mentioned before, this game is much more approachable when compared to the previous two titles, not just in terms of what it provides the player, but also in terms of design. In the first two Metroid games, there was always the possibility of getting lost or confused while traveling through these corridors, because not only did you not have any way to track where you were in the game, but also because a lot of the hallways look almost identical to each other, meaning you could think you are in a whole new area, but instead are stuck back-tracking when you didn’t want to so that.
Thankfully, with Super Metroid, not only do you now have a map which can track where you have been, making it a lot easier to decide where you want to go next, but every single area in the game, big or small, now has a distinct look and design to it, making it so that you will always have new things to discover, and even if you haven’t fully explored one area due to a lack of tools needed to do so, you can always find your way back in order to do so later. With that being said though, even though you do have a map, it doesn’t automatically point out every single thing to you, encouraging you to explore around more and see where more items and secrets can be hidden, which is always a great thing to have when it comes to any video game.
One last admirable quality about Super Metroid that I really admire, especially when it comes to video games of this era, is in terms of its storytelling. Most games around this time either don’t give you too much story at all, or they are all saved for cutscenes and the instruction manual, which is fine on its own, but it doesn’t give you much opportunity to really connect with the game’s world as a whole. Super Metroid, however, manages to do this flawlessly, starting off with an intro sequence that doesn’t tell you everything you need to know, or about what happened in the previous two games, but they tell you enough to where you get ready to go and want to learn more. Even when you land on the planet of Zebes, you can tell that it’s gone through plenty of changes, with the first areas looking all desolate and destroyed, no doubt a result of your actions from the original game. However, after you get the Morph Ball, this beam of light shines on you from the corner of the room, and suddenly, all kinds of baddies are up and at 'em, ready to take you down, which is a really nice detail.
Everything else remains relatively normal and simple from there on out, until you end up fighting Ridley, where after you defeat him, you end up finding the capsule that the baby Metroid was sealed in… but it is now shattered, and the baby Metroid is gone. You have no clue what could’ve happened, so you end up going about the rest of your business, getting more items, fighting more guys, and breaking the game to your heart’s content, until you reach the final area of the game, where you descend down further into the core of Zebes, and that’s when the final events of the game start to kick off. Oh, and by the way, spoilers for the final act of the game are coming up, so if you haven’t played or seen through that part of the game yet (even though you have had 30 years to do so), then just skip to the final paragraph of the review.
As you enter this area, you notice that it is surprisingly… quiet. There isn’t that much going in with the environment, and the only enemies that you find in this place are Metroids and those weird ring things that shoot out from the walls. Eventually, you find more enemies later on, but they appear to be… drained of their life, disintegrating upon contact, leading you to suspect that something weird is going on here. You then find another one of these enemies, alive and well, seemingly impossible to kill as you try every single weapon on it, but nothing works. Before you can think of what to do next, all of a sudden, this GIGANTIC Metroid comes out of NOWHERE, and latches itself onto that creature, draining it of its energy, and probably scaring the shit out of whoever is playing the game at that point.
After it finishes off this creature, it then heads straight for you, starting to completely drain you of all your energy as well, with you being able to do anything about it, as you fidget around in an utter panic. However, before your health bar drops to zero, all of a sudden… it stops. It stops draining your health, and it detaches itself from you, letting out some cries, until ultimately fleeing the scene. It is then you realize that this giant Metroid that almost killed you was the baby Metroid that you got from SR388, and it had one HUGE growth spurt, but even after becoming the ruthless killer that all Metroids naturally are, it still cares deeply about Samus, and wishes to bring no more harm to her.
Once that is all over with, you once again go through the game like normal, finally reaching Mother Brain, back once again from the original game, right alongside a fight that seems like it was ripped straight from that game, with you needing to defeat her in the exact same way. However, when it seems like she is destroyed, she then rises up from her defeat once again, now rocking this brand new body. Naturally, you start to throw everything at her, but it doesn’t seem like anything is really doing all that much to her, as she fights back and then starts to charge up something. This then leads to her firing this gigantic rainbow laser beam of death at you several times, which not only starts draining away all of your health like crazy, but it also takes away all of your missiles and bombs too!
At this point, you are now stuck, unable to move, and getting continuously beat up by Mother Brain, wondering how the hell you are going to get out of this one. However, before Mother Brain can land the final blow with one more laser beam attack, the full-grown baby Metroid then suddenly barges in and starts draining Mother Brain of all her energy, causing her to start to stagger and cry out in a panic, until she is left petrified for a brief moment. The Metroid then goes towards you, latching onto you once again, but instead of draining your health again, it then starts to… heal you? No clue how the hell they are supposed to be doing that, but at this point, you’ll take it. But then, while the Metroid is starting to heal you, Mother Brain gets back up.
It then starts to fully attack the Metroid non-stop, causing it to grow weaker and changing to a much weaker shade of purple and yellow, until the Metroid then unlatches itself from you, and then goes in for one final attack. Unfortunately though, before it can land that final blow, Mother Brain gets the upper hand, killing the Metroid, and causing it to explode into dust. You may not have known him for long, but you are probably feeling pretty saddened and angry about Mother Brain killing your baby, but fear not, because from the ashes of the Metroid, you gain one final upgrade to your beam that is capable of killing Mother Brain: the Hyper Beam.
You then unload plenty of shots from your own rainbow laser, right into Mother Brain’s dumbass face, until it ultimately crumbles to the ground, ending your mission, and leading you to quickly escaping from the planet. This entire sequence of events, from where you find the destroyed capsule all the way up to when you kill Mother Brain, is executed flawlessly. It is such a simple sequence of events, but they are presented to the player so naturally, without any real pauses in the gameplay, allowing you to fully get absorbed in these moments, which make them all the more surprising, jarring, heart-breaking, and satisfying. Of course, you probably already knew about all this, and you may not think it is such a big deal, as did I when I went into this game, but even when I knew all of what was going to happen, it still made it so that those emotions were rushing through me by the end, and if a game manages to do that even when you already knew it was coming, then that deserves only the highest regards.
Overall, while it still isn’t my favorite game in the entire series, or even my favorite 2D Metroid for that matter, I can’t help but fully admit that Super Metroid, on its own, is almost completely flawless, giving a natural evolution for this series that excels it to new heights, and providing so much fun throughout all that it offers, whether it be through gameplay, presentation, story, or otherwise. I absolutely recommend it for anyone, those who are big fans of the Metroid series, or if you are someone that is wanting to get into the series yourself, because it is not only a perfect starting point for newcomers, but also a title that has held up masterfully after all this time, and it is clear why it is still so prevalent in plenty of gaming communities to this day. Although, I will say one thing, for those of you who are planning on playing this at some point… make sure to save the aliens. You may not know what I am talking about, but trust me, you will want to remember that, so that you won’t get shunned by your peers for doing something wrong.
Game #492
Unfortunately, it wouldn’t go onto sell as well as its predecessors, but it would go onto garner universal praise from fans, die-hard or otherwise, and critics alike, with it now considered to be not only one of, if not THE best Metroid game of all time, but also one of the greatest video games ever made. Many have sung its praises over the years in many ways, it would get plenty of mods later down the road supporting replayability, it would become a favorite amongst speedrunners, and it would help go onto establishing an entire sub-genre of video games as a whole. As for myself though, I wouldn’t jump onto the Super Metroid bandwagon for quite some time, despite watching plenty of videos about it that would praise the game and go into great detail about why it was considered a masterpiece. When I eventually did decide to give the game a fair shot, I immediately understood why, as it is an incredible game, and absolutely deserves the reputation it has garnered over the years. While it may not be my personal favorite Metroid game, it is clear when playing the game that the devs put plenty of love, detail, and care into this game, making it one of the best games you could ever play not only from this era, but from any era.
The story continues on from where Metroid II ended off, where Samus Aran, now with a baby Metroid in her possession, brings it to a team of scientists at the Ceres research station to conduct further study on the specimen, but shortly after she leaves, the station is attacked by Ridley, back in the flesh after his defeat in the original game, killing everyone inside and stealing the baby Metroid, and fleeing back to the planet Zebes, so it is up to Samus to travel to Zebes once again, get back the baby Metroid, and uncover what is really going on here. It is a fairly simple premise, one that is easy to understand for new players, but also complex enough to create intrigue for those that are wanting to learn more about this game and its universe, making it very pleasing to experience and ponder about.
The graphics are absolutely phenomenal, not only bringing Samus to the 16-bit era in the perfect way, but also creating plenty of iconic locations, enemy designs, and atmosphere that still holds up tremendously well almost 30 years later, the music is wonderful, creating a perfect balance of being moody, setting the tone for many of the environments you travel in, yet still being filled with plenty of life, while also being tense and action–packed when it needs to, the control is perfect, feeling like the perfect evolution for how Samus should control in one of these games, while giving plenty of new things to mess around with right from the get-go that give you more versatility than ever, and the gameplay is pretty similar to the last two titles in the series, but now it has been made to be a lot more exciting, approachable, and memorable.
The game is a 2D action-adventure game, where you take control of Samus Aran once again, go through the depths of the planet Zebes once again, this time with much more detail, life, and secrets to find, defeat plenty of creatures, big or small, that inhabit the planet and want you dead as you go deeper and deeper into the planet, gather plenty of upgrades to Samus’s arsenal to make her into the ultimate warrior, such as with health upgrades, beam power ups, or regular power ups that give you new abilities, and take on plenty of bosses, both new and old, that will provide a challenge to those unprepared for what is to come. It has all the same elements that the previous two games had, not really introducing anything that majorly different for the series at the time, but there is one thing that it does manage to do above all else: perfect the formula.
As I mentioned earlier, Samus is now more capable then she has ever been before, not only having the same basic abilities and powers that she could get from the previous game, but she is now also able to aim in eight separate directions, she can crouch, and she even now has a wall jump, where you can continuously scale up a wall if you press the right sequence of buttons, allowing you to ultimately make the game YOUR BITCH. It is the perfect way to naturally evolve not just Samus and her capabilities, but also how the game plays, because when compared to the original game and Metroid II, this is just perfect in every way. Not only that, but the arsenal of weapons that she can acquire throughout the game is just as helpful as before, with classics like the Missiles, the Morph Ball, the Hi-Jump boots, the Screw Attack, and the various beam powers making a return, and each of them are incredibly helpful in plenty of situations.
Not only that, but there is also a good amount of new power ups for you to mess around with in the game as you go about finding them. There’s the Speed Booster, which allows Samus to run extremely fast and make her an unstoppable bullet train, the Shine Spark, which allows you to fire yourself through hard structures while using the Speed Booster, the Grapple Beam, which can be used to latch onto certain surfaces and swing around all over the place to reach new areas or more goodies, and the X-Ray Scope, which allows you to scan nearby areas to see if you can find any hidden passageways, power ups, or otherwise. Most of these new additions would become staples in the series in the coming years, and all of them are extremely useful and wonderful to test out in plenty of locations… with the exception of the X-Ray Scope, which I barely used at all, but hey, it is there for newcomers, so that is good.
And speaking of newcomers, like I mentioned before, this game is much more approachable when compared to the previous two titles, not just in terms of what it provides the player, but also in terms of design. In the first two Metroid games, there was always the possibility of getting lost or confused while traveling through these corridors, because not only did you not have any way to track where you were in the game, but also because a lot of the hallways look almost identical to each other, meaning you could think you are in a whole new area, but instead are stuck back-tracking when you didn’t want to so that.
Thankfully, with Super Metroid, not only do you now have a map which can track where you have been, making it a lot easier to decide where you want to go next, but every single area in the game, big or small, now has a distinct look and design to it, making it so that you will always have new things to discover, and even if you haven’t fully explored one area due to a lack of tools needed to do so, you can always find your way back in order to do so later. With that being said though, even though you do have a map, it doesn’t automatically point out every single thing to you, encouraging you to explore around more and see where more items and secrets can be hidden, which is always a great thing to have when it comes to any video game.
One last admirable quality about Super Metroid that I really admire, especially when it comes to video games of this era, is in terms of its storytelling. Most games around this time either don’t give you too much story at all, or they are all saved for cutscenes and the instruction manual, which is fine on its own, but it doesn’t give you much opportunity to really connect with the game’s world as a whole. Super Metroid, however, manages to do this flawlessly, starting off with an intro sequence that doesn’t tell you everything you need to know, or about what happened in the previous two games, but they tell you enough to where you get ready to go and want to learn more. Even when you land on the planet of Zebes, you can tell that it’s gone through plenty of changes, with the first areas looking all desolate and destroyed, no doubt a result of your actions from the original game. However, after you get the Morph Ball, this beam of light shines on you from the corner of the room, and suddenly, all kinds of baddies are up and at 'em, ready to take you down, which is a really nice detail.
Everything else remains relatively normal and simple from there on out, until you end up fighting Ridley, where after you defeat him, you end up finding the capsule that the baby Metroid was sealed in… but it is now shattered, and the baby Metroid is gone. You have no clue what could’ve happened, so you end up going about the rest of your business, getting more items, fighting more guys, and breaking the game to your heart’s content, until you reach the final area of the game, where you descend down further into the core of Zebes, and that’s when the final events of the game start to kick off. Oh, and by the way, spoilers for the final act of the game are coming up, so if you haven’t played or seen through that part of the game yet (even though you have had 30 years to do so), then just skip to the final paragraph of the review.
As you enter this area, you notice that it is surprisingly… quiet. There isn’t that much going in with the environment, and the only enemies that you find in this place are Metroids and those weird ring things that shoot out from the walls. Eventually, you find more enemies later on, but they appear to be… drained of their life, disintegrating upon contact, leading you to suspect that something weird is going on here. You then find another one of these enemies, alive and well, seemingly impossible to kill as you try every single weapon on it, but nothing works. Before you can think of what to do next, all of a sudden, this GIGANTIC Metroid comes out of NOWHERE, and latches itself onto that creature, draining it of its energy, and probably scaring the shit out of whoever is playing the game at that point.
After it finishes off this creature, it then heads straight for you, starting to completely drain you of all your energy as well, with you being able to do anything about it, as you fidget around in an utter panic. However, before your health bar drops to zero, all of a sudden… it stops. It stops draining your health, and it detaches itself from you, letting out some cries, until ultimately fleeing the scene. It is then you realize that this giant Metroid that almost killed you was the baby Metroid that you got from SR388, and it had one HUGE growth spurt, but even after becoming the ruthless killer that all Metroids naturally are, it still cares deeply about Samus, and wishes to bring no more harm to her.
Once that is all over with, you once again go through the game like normal, finally reaching Mother Brain, back once again from the original game, right alongside a fight that seems like it was ripped straight from that game, with you needing to defeat her in the exact same way. However, when it seems like she is destroyed, she then rises up from her defeat once again, now rocking this brand new body. Naturally, you start to throw everything at her, but it doesn’t seem like anything is really doing all that much to her, as she fights back and then starts to charge up something. This then leads to her firing this gigantic rainbow laser beam of death at you several times, which not only starts draining away all of your health like crazy, but it also takes away all of your missiles and bombs too!
At this point, you are now stuck, unable to move, and getting continuously beat up by Mother Brain, wondering how the hell you are going to get out of this one. However, before Mother Brain can land the final blow with one more laser beam attack, the full-grown baby Metroid then suddenly barges in and starts draining Mother Brain of all her energy, causing her to start to stagger and cry out in a panic, until she is left petrified for a brief moment. The Metroid then goes towards you, latching onto you once again, but instead of draining your health again, it then starts to… heal you? No clue how the hell they are supposed to be doing that, but at this point, you’ll take it. But then, while the Metroid is starting to heal you, Mother Brain gets back up.
It then starts to fully attack the Metroid non-stop, causing it to grow weaker and changing to a much weaker shade of purple and yellow, until the Metroid then unlatches itself from you, and then goes in for one final attack. Unfortunately though, before it can land that final blow, Mother Brain gets the upper hand, killing the Metroid, and causing it to explode into dust. You may not have known him for long, but you are probably feeling pretty saddened and angry about Mother Brain killing your baby, but fear not, because from the ashes of the Metroid, you gain one final upgrade to your beam that is capable of killing Mother Brain: the Hyper Beam.
You then unload plenty of shots from your own rainbow laser, right into Mother Brain’s dumbass face, until it ultimately crumbles to the ground, ending your mission, and leading you to quickly escaping from the planet. This entire sequence of events, from where you find the destroyed capsule all the way up to when you kill Mother Brain, is executed flawlessly. It is such a simple sequence of events, but they are presented to the player so naturally, without any real pauses in the gameplay, allowing you to fully get absorbed in these moments, which make them all the more surprising, jarring, heart-breaking, and satisfying. Of course, you probably already knew about all this, and you may not think it is such a big deal, as did I when I went into this game, but even when I knew all of what was going to happen, it still made it so that those emotions were rushing through me by the end, and if a game manages to do that even when you already knew it was coming, then that deserves only the highest regards.
Overall, while it still isn’t my favorite game in the entire series, or even my favorite 2D Metroid for that matter, I can’t help but fully admit that Super Metroid, on its own, is almost completely flawless, giving a natural evolution for this series that excels it to new heights, and providing so much fun throughout all that it offers, whether it be through gameplay, presentation, story, or otherwise. I absolutely recommend it for anyone, those who are big fans of the Metroid series, or if you are someone that is wanting to get into the series yourself, because it is not only a perfect starting point for newcomers, but also a title that has held up masterfully after all this time, and it is clear why it is still so prevalent in plenty of gaming communities to this day. Although, I will say one thing, for those of you who are planning on playing this at some point… make sure to save the aliens. You may not know what I am talking about, but trust me, you will want to remember that, so that you won’t get shunned by your peers for doing something wrong.
Game #492
the closest thing to the "Screenwriter's Handbook" that videogames will ever have
a game so confident in its players AND itself that i finished the game without ever using or learning multiple helpful techniques and i still had an incredible time
a game so confident in its players AND itself that i finished the game without ever using or learning multiple helpful techniques and i still had an incredible time
Shows its age in a lot of areas but the MercurySteam remake will be fire
I, for one, don't really think there's much room for a video game to be better than Super Metroid. It might be the most ahead of its time a game has ever been. The lonely, somber, yet ominous atmosphere, masterfully crafted in the environments and soundtrack. The slow, gradual increase of power, the growing satisfaction of blazing through areas you had previously struggled with. All those secrets, hidden items and little details, gently beckoning but not begging you to come back some day and discover an assortment of things you hadn't before. It all fills me with childlike wonder.
It boggles my mind how intricate this is for a SNES release, even for the mid 90s when seemingly all the big names stopped pulling their punches and came out with pure gold. Even today, it stands out. There are tons of games nowadays trying to be Super Metroid, or perhaps Symphony of the Night, but it always seems to be missing that spark that makes these two, especially Metroid, so special. It's genre-defining. It's genre-codifying. And, if you ask me, it's a defining piece of the entire medium.
I don't like to suck off Nintendo - nor any other first or second party game companies, really - but this game is utterly magical. Just about everybody's played it, but for everyone else I just can't recommend it enough.
It boggles my mind how intricate this is for a SNES release, even for the mid 90s when seemingly all the big names stopped pulling their punches and came out with pure gold. Even today, it stands out. There are tons of games nowadays trying to be Super Metroid, or perhaps Symphony of the Night, but it always seems to be missing that spark that makes these two, especially Metroid, so special. It's genre-defining. It's genre-codifying. And, if you ask me, it's a defining piece of the entire medium.
I don't like to suck off Nintendo - nor any other first or second party game companies, really - but this game is utterly magical. Just about everybody's played it, but for everyone else I just can't recommend it enough.
Sure, there are aspects of Zero Mission I'd take ever so slightly over their Super counterparts, namely slight tweaks to the control scheme's shortcuts and some basic quality-of-life updates to the map system... but man, even if I've called Zero Mission my favorite Metroid for a long time there really is just no topping Super on most other levels this series operates on.
The soundtrack is one of the most impressive aspects of this game - it may not be the first game to do ambient and almost new age-ish music the way it does, but Super Metroid has such a distinct sound within the Super Nintendo's library that it's beyond impressive. Tracks like "Upper Brinstar", "Maridia - Swamp Caverns". and "Tourian" are pretty singular within the realm of 16-bit music, and you'd need to look to something like EarthBound to find sounds operating on the same level of experimentation within the console's library.
These sounds compliment a well-established atmosphere that's been discussed to death elsewhere, but for good reason. Super Metroid often toes the line from adventure game into action-thriller, and even horror thanks to its mood, colors, sprite artwork, and direction. One of the best things Super Metroid does with its color language is break its own rules, and early on: where much of the game paints Planet Zebes in naturalistic greens, browns, reds and greys, some of the areas depicted that the player should recognize on cue from the original Metroid title retain their spacey blues and blacks. Mother Brain's lair is kept more or less intact from its 8-bit depiction. Indeed, this leans into the minimal but effective story too - you really don't get the full weight of Super Metroid and all the impressions it sets to leave without the full trilogy under your belt.
Samus' arsenal is at some of its most balanced and effective here. The endgame combo of upgrades feels really fun to use, also I do feel the Screw Attack saw better and less finnicky days down the line on the Game Boy Advance. I'm actually a big fan of the X-ray Scope, except for the few times it doesn't work consistently - a few fake walls in Tourian spring to mind.
Still, for a trailblazer like Super Metroid, it would be excusable should time have worn down its gold sheen into ragged glory, but this isn't the case. I'm not the first nor the hundredth to tell you this, but this game remains one of the all-time greats. The small nitpicks I have here would be more or less cleaned up by the time Fusion and Zero Mission come around, and it should speak to how minimal these complaints are that even after having just replayed the game with my best friend, I'm already getting the itch to land down on Planet Zebes again.
The soundtrack is one of the most impressive aspects of this game - it may not be the first game to do ambient and almost new age-ish music the way it does, but Super Metroid has such a distinct sound within the Super Nintendo's library that it's beyond impressive. Tracks like "Upper Brinstar", "Maridia - Swamp Caverns". and "Tourian" are pretty singular within the realm of 16-bit music, and you'd need to look to something like EarthBound to find sounds operating on the same level of experimentation within the console's library.
These sounds compliment a well-established atmosphere that's been discussed to death elsewhere, but for good reason. Super Metroid often toes the line from adventure game into action-thriller, and even horror thanks to its mood, colors, sprite artwork, and direction. One of the best things Super Metroid does with its color language is break its own rules, and early on: where much of the game paints Planet Zebes in naturalistic greens, browns, reds and greys, some of the areas depicted that the player should recognize on cue from the original Metroid title retain their spacey blues and blacks. Mother Brain's lair is kept more or less intact from its 8-bit depiction. Indeed, this leans into the minimal but effective story too - you really don't get the full weight of Super Metroid and all the impressions it sets to leave without the full trilogy under your belt.
Samus' arsenal is at some of its most balanced and effective here. The endgame combo of upgrades feels really fun to use, also I do feel the Screw Attack saw better and less finnicky days down the line on the Game Boy Advance. I'm actually a big fan of the X-ray Scope, except for the few times it doesn't work consistently - a few fake walls in Tourian spring to mind.
Still, for a trailblazer like Super Metroid, it would be excusable should time have worn down its gold sheen into ragged glory, but this isn't the case. I'm not the first nor the hundredth to tell you this, but this game remains one of the all-time greats. The small nitpicks I have here would be more or less cleaned up by the time Fusion and Zero Mission come around, and it should speak to how minimal these complaints are that even after having just replayed the game with my best friend, I'm already getting the itch to land down on Planet Zebes again.
Thank you to QuentTheSlayer for giving me the final push that made me play through Super Metroid.
The Super Nintendo was probably the ultimate time of refinement for Video Games. So many game series, that are now held up as timeless classics found their definitive formula on Nintendo's second console generation. Mario, Zelda, Final Fantasy and of course today's subject: Metroid. Super Metroid is still considered by many to be the peak of the metroidvania genre, and it's admittedly strange to realize that I had never played it. Even as a huge fan of the series, I just always put it off to the side. I'll get around to it eventually. After all: In the same amount of time it would take me to get into Super Metroid, I could just replay Fusion for the 50th time. I haven't played Prime 2 in a hot minute. What's that shiny new Dread game that just came out ? And so on and so on. But then in 2024, I set aside the excuses, committed, and I can now say that I have finally finished Super Metroid.
Its hard to put into words how much of a mindfuck my first playthrough of Super Metroid was. This almost 30-year-old Super Nintendo game has you in a chokehold the moment the title screen appears. The pan across a quiet, dark laboratory. 1994. Nintendo. Presents. Metroid 3. SUPER METROID. Right there, with the bodies of dead scientist strewn across the floor and the baby metroid trapped in a glass tube, the title of the game towers in gigantic, bold letters. It's one of the most striking introductions to a Video Game I have ever seen. A statement, before you even press a single button.
Of course this strong in medias res opening is only possible due to the fact that Super Metroid is the canonical third entry of the series, continuing on from the ending of Metroid 2: Return of Samus. And the game does an excellent job of catching you up to the events of the previous games. In a moody monologue, Samus recounts her fight against Motherbrain in her first adventure, her mission to eradicate the Metroid species for good and her sparing the last baby Metroid at the end. She brings said baby Metroid to the Galactic Research Station Ceres. There, the baby Metroid is supposed to be further studied while Samus is off hunting another bounty. Of course, she barely makes it out the door before receiving the call that Ceres is under attack. Ridley and his space pirates have decimated Ceres in order to capture the last Metroid. It's here where Super Metroid first gives you control over Samus in an action packed and atmospheric opening. She blasts through the invading space pirates and storms into an inevitable confrontation with long time nemesis Ridley. After an early sneak peek at this late game boss fight, Ridley flees with the baby Metroid in his claws. Samus follows in hot pursuit and lands on the planet Zebes. The setting of the original Metroid. This series story telling has always been and would continue to be very subtle, but even this opening stands tall among its peers in terms of how much you can get across just through a quick opening text crawl and pure gameplay. Really, the recap from our badass heroine is the only dialogue you will get across the entire game, and yet it still manages to tell an engaging story as you make your way down through the underground tunnels of Zebes.
Zebes is what all metroidvania maps should aspire to be in my opinion. Isolating, with long, winding corridors and incredibly distinct environments. This map is so well-designed that I rarely felt lost or directionless even when I wasnt exacly sure what my next step was. The map screen is there, but it does the bare minimum to give you any general information on the environment. Because it doesn't have to tell you more. The drive to explore and the invisible hand of the developers guiding you are enough. Very, very rarely did I find myself lost as to where to go next and the few times that the game had me stumped, I can attribute to my general impatients I have been trained on due to modern video games. If I spend more than 30 minutes figuring out the way forward, then it must be bad game design, right ?. Fuck you, David Jaffe. By paying close attention to the game, you can always intuit where your way forward is. It's a masterstroke of game design.
The other side of gameplay besides navigating the game world, is combat and finding upgrades. Because Samus isnt badass enough already. That was Metroids bread and butter from the very beginning really. Super doesn't hugely change the formula, but still excels in teaching you its mechanics naturally. The game has you collect all the now famous Metroid tools like Super Missiles, the Grapple Beam and so on, while always showing you how to use them with a reward that seems just out of reach, right after you got that shiny new upgrade. Again, all without a single interruption or textbox. If somebody had to nitpick any aspects of the gameplay, it would probably have to do with Samus jump and the way you switch through different weapon modes. Firstly: Samus jump arc is a weird one to get used to for sure, since she gets an unusual amount of air time for a 2D platformer. The standard jump, which can also be altered into a summersault forward, seems very stiff as well. It almost feels like the Castlevania 1 jump arc as if some weirdo happend to turn on low gravity. Weird maybe, but those quirks still very much lend themselves to the often tubelike level design of Zebes and I rarely had any problems with jumping up to ledges or across platforms. The second, more annoying nitpick would probably be how you switch weapons via the select button. It's an awkward solution that had me often fumble around when I wanted a specific weapon equipped, but it's not a dealbreaker either, just something I wished was a bit better by default. Oh, and there is a run button. Never forget that you have a run button. It had me stuck for a bit and you will thank me later, fellow non-manual readers. Those minor flaws aside, the gameplay is incredibly rewarding to master and once you do master it, the real meta game of Super Metroid begins. Sequence Breaking.
Again: It's an aspect of the genre that Metroid is already famous for and its the game that popularized it, but Super Metroid does it on a whole other level. This game has one technique in particular, one you unknowingly have access to from the very beginning, that is designed to break the game's intended progression. It's a tricky one to execute, and the game will teach it to you in an organic way at some point. Once you fully master it, you might as well throw all preconceived notions out the window that this game was ever linear to begin with. Already deep into my second playthrough, I feel the effects of playing at a higher level. Upgrades and bosses, that seemed so far away in the beginning, can now be acquired basically as early or as late as you want to. The genius decision of teaching you this high level play during your first trip through Zebes does wonders for replayability. Pay attention and the game will infinitely reward you for it. You might of course go to areas you're not equipped for yet, but if you persevere, you get the best abilities incredibly early. Risk vs Reward, entirely on the player's own terms. Genius.
I honestly didn't expect to sing this game's praises so much, and I still haven't talked about the incredible sprite work or the god tier soundtrack. Two aspects I can not find a single flaw in, and talking about them would have me repeating myself again with only superlatives. The game is one of the most gorgeous games I have ever seen, it's like a immaculate painting. The soundtrack gives me goosebumps just thinking about it, and taking the elevator down the Brinstar for the first time is already one of my top 5 magic moments of all time. There you go.
Saving my credibility for reviewing video games, whatever that is even worth, I should probably still mention my one big rage-quit moment. As no game is perfect, but Super Metroid is damn close. Maridia. Maridia fucking sucks and seems to be the one area where the developers couldn't hold back the urge anymore to design a cryptic hell maze. Not only is getting to Maridia a bullshit ordeal all on its own, actually navigating this oversized fish tank with all its invisible walls is a confusing slog. And god help you if managed to come here without the gravity suit, like i did. Now, try to figure out how to get back to dry land while Samus jogs across the ocean floor in slowmotion. Or hope your most recent save isn't too far away. Hey, there is this giant purple tube you can go up and down through, that is clearly showing you an entirely different area in the middle. Well forget that. Ain't going there yet, no matter how hard the game implies it. Finish off the underwater journey with two really sub-par bosses. Please just end me.
Alright. Despite the grueling stretch through the sludge waters of Maridia, despite every bone in my body telling me that now this supposed all-time classic has finally fallen to the rose-tinted nostalgia glasses of fanboys across the globe, it shinesparked back up like a phoenix and stuck the landing. More than that, it destroyed the landing pad and drilled itself deep into my heart to become one of my favorite games of all time. I already know this will get more than one playthrough in the near future, because Super Metroid fucking rules. Go play Super Metroid you cowards!
The Super Nintendo was probably the ultimate time of refinement for Video Games. So many game series, that are now held up as timeless classics found their definitive formula on Nintendo's second console generation. Mario, Zelda, Final Fantasy and of course today's subject: Metroid. Super Metroid is still considered by many to be the peak of the metroidvania genre, and it's admittedly strange to realize that I had never played it. Even as a huge fan of the series, I just always put it off to the side. I'll get around to it eventually. After all: In the same amount of time it would take me to get into Super Metroid, I could just replay Fusion for the 50th time. I haven't played Prime 2 in a hot minute. What's that shiny new Dread game that just came out ? And so on and so on. But then in 2024, I set aside the excuses, committed, and I can now say that I have finally finished Super Metroid.
Its hard to put into words how much of a mindfuck my first playthrough of Super Metroid was. This almost 30-year-old Super Nintendo game has you in a chokehold the moment the title screen appears. The pan across a quiet, dark laboratory. 1994. Nintendo. Presents. Metroid 3. SUPER METROID. Right there, with the bodies of dead scientist strewn across the floor and the baby metroid trapped in a glass tube, the title of the game towers in gigantic, bold letters. It's one of the most striking introductions to a Video Game I have ever seen. A statement, before you even press a single button.
Of course this strong in medias res opening is only possible due to the fact that Super Metroid is the canonical third entry of the series, continuing on from the ending of Metroid 2: Return of Samus. And the game does an excellent job of catching you up to the events of the previous games. In a moody monologue, Samus recounts her fight against Motherbrain in her first adventure, her mission to eradicate the Metroid species for good and her sparing the last baby Metroid at the end. She brings said baby Metroid to the Galactic Research Station Ceres. There, the baby Metroid is supposed to be further studied while Samus is off hunting another bounty. Of course, she barely makes it out the door before receiving the call that Ceres is under attack. Ridley and his space pirates have decimated Ceres in order to capture the last Metroid. It's here where Super Metroid first gives you control over Samus in an action packed and atmospheric opening. She blasts through the invading space pirates and storms into an inevitable confrontation with long time nemesis Ridley. After an early sneak peek at this late game boss fight, Ridley flees with the baby Metroid in his claws. Samus follows in hot pursuit and lands on the planet Zebes. The setting of the original Metroid. This series story telling has always been and would continue to be very subtle, but even this opening stands tall among its peers in terms of how much you can get across just through a quick opening text crawl and pure gameplay. Really, the recap from our badass heroine is the only dialogue you will get across the entire game, and yet it still manages to tell an engaging story as you make your way down through the underground tunnels of Zebes.
Zebes is what all metroidvania maps should aspire to be in my opinion. Isolating, with long, winding corridors and incredibly distinct environments. This map is so well-designed that I rarely felt lost or directionless even when I wasnt exacly sure what my next step was. The map screen is there, but it does the bare minimum to give you any general information on the environment. Because it doesn't have to tell you more. The drive to explore and the invisible hand of the developers guiding you are enough. Very, very rarely did I find myself lost as to where to go next and the few times that the game had me stumped, I can attribute to my general impatients I have been trained on due to modern video games. If I spend more than 30 minutes figuring out the way forward, then it must be bad game design, right ?. Fuck you, David Jaffe. By paying close attention to the game, you can always intuit where your way forward is. It's a masterstroke of game design.
The other side of gameplay besides navigating the game world, is combat and finding upgrades. Because Samus isnt badass enough already. That was Metroids bread and butter from the very beginning really. Super doesn't hugely change the formula, but still excels in teaching you its mechanics naturally. The game has you collect all the now famous Metroid tools like Super Missiles, the Grapple Beam and so on, while always showing you how to use them with a reward that seems just out of reach, right after you got that shiny new upgrade. Again, all without a single interruption or textbox. If somebody had to nitpick any aspects of the gameplay, it would probably have to do with Samus jump and the way you switch through different weapon modes. Firstly: Samus jump arc is a weird one to get used to for sure, since she gets an unusual amount of air time for a 2D platformer. The standard jump, which can also be altered into a summersault forward, seems very stiff as well. It almost feels like the Castlevania 1 jump arc as if some weirdo happend to turn on low gravity. Weird maybe, but those quirks still very much lend themselves to the often tubelike level design of Zebes and I rarely had any problems with jumping up to ledges or across platforms. The second, more annoying nitpick would probably be how you switch weapons via the select button. It's an awkward solution that had me often fumble around when I wanted a specific weapon equipped, but it's not a dealbreaker either, just something I wished was a bit better by default. Oh, and there is a run button. Never forget that you have a run button. It had me stuck for a bit and you will thank me later, fellow non-manual readers. Those minor flaws aside, the gameplay is incredibly rewarding to master and once you do master it, the real meta game of Super Metroid begins. Sequence Breaking.
Again: It's an aspect of the genre that Metroid is already famous for and its the game that popularized it, but Super Metroid does it on a whole other level. This game has one technique in particular, one you unknowingly have access to from the very beginning, that is designed to break the game's intended progression. It's a tricky one to execute, and the game will teach it to you in an organic way at some point. Once you fully master it, you might as well throw all preconceived notions out the window that this game was ever linear to begin with. Already deep into my second playthrough, I feel the effects of playing at a higher level. Upgrades and bosses, that seemed so far away in the beginning, can now be acquired basically as early or as late as you want to. The genius decision of teaching you this high level play during your first trip through Zebes does wonders for replayability. Pay attention and the game will infinitely reward you for it. You might of course go to areas you're not equipped for yet, but if you persevere, you get the best abilities incredibly early. Risk vs Reward, entirely on the player's own terms. Genius.
I honestly didn't expect to sing this game's praises so much, and I still haven't talked about the incredible sprite work or the god tier soundtrack. Two aspects I can not find a single flaw in, and talking about them would have me repeating myself again with only superlatives. The game is one of the most gorgeous games I have ever seen, it's like a immaculate painting. The soundtrack gives me goosebumps just thinking about it, and taking the elevator down the Brinstar for the first time is already one of my top 5 magic moments of all time. There you go.
Saving my credibility for reviewing video games, whatever that is even worth, I should probably still mention my one big rage-quit moment. As no game is perfect, but Super Metroid is damn close. Maridia. Maridia fucking sucks and seems to be the one area where the developers couldn't hold back the urge anymore to design a cryptic hell maze. Not only is getting to Maridia a bullshit ordeal all on its own, actually navigating this oversized fish tank with all its invisible walls is a confusing slog. And god help you if managed to come here without the gravity suit, like i did. Now, try to figure out how to get back to dry land while Samus jogs across the ocean floor in slowmotion. Or hope your most recent save isn't too far away. Hey, there is this giant purple tube you can go up and down through, that is clearly showing you an entirely different area in the middle. Well forget that. Ain't going there yet, no matter how hard the game implies it. Finish off the underwater journey with two really sub-par bosses. Please just end me.
Alright. Despite the grueling stretch through the sludge waters of Maridia, despite every bone in my body telling me that now this supposed all-time classic has finally fallen to the rose-tinted nostalgia glasses of fanboys across the globe, it shinesparked back up like a phoenix and stuck the landing. More than that, it destroyed the landing pad and drilled itself deep into my heart to become one of my favorite games of all time. I already know this will get more than one playthrough in the near future, because Super Metroid fucking rules. Go play Super Metroid you cowards!
“Thats no ordinary Metroid, that’s a Super Metroid!” exclaimed samus in shock and awe
virtually perfect game tbh
really great looping map design and while the controls aren't as "tight" as later 2D Metroids at first glance, this places a large emphasis on planning and preparation for inexperienced players while high level players can take full advantage of its quirks and nuances to be an unstoppable tank
there are a couple "well how was I supposed to know that" moments but overall the design does a fantastic job subtly guiding you without ever resorting to holding your hand
really great looping map design and while the controls aren't as "tight" as later 2D Metroids at first glance, this places a large emphasis on planning and preparation for inexperienced players while high level players can take full advantage of its quirks and nuances to be an unstoppable tank
there are a couple "well how was I supposed to know that" moments but overall the design does a fantastic job subtly guiding you without ever resorting to holding your hand
Awesome Kraid. Kraid is Awesome. I love Kraid
My first metroidvania.
I have never been a fan of platformers and I still think this is not really my kind of game, regardless of that I have been able to enjoy it.
It is hard to believe that this game is 30 years old, the ambience is unbelievably well achieved thanks to the visuals which make each area iconic and is supported by an outstanding sound design.
The level design is remarkable, but I will say I didn't enjoy when the game forces you to backtrack. Arriving at an area that you have already explored earlier with a newly revealed shortcut and having to go all the way there just by backtracking are two completely different things. Super Metroid sometimes manages to make interesting shortcuts with it's upgrade system, but forgets to do so in some scenarios, forcing you to go all the way back where you came from (not just a few rooms away) a copious amount of times.
Some rooms where platforming was needed seemed to drag for too long, specially when provided with some foes and proyectiles along the way for increased anxiety.
The movement was smoother than I expected overall, but I struggled with the jump, specially with wall-jumping and using the space suit roll jump.
Despite all that, the exploration of new zones always feels fresh, and the upgrade system not only provides with a sense of progression of Samus's power level but also providing a variety of tools to delve deeper into each area and progress towards the next one.
Many of the upgrades seemed very advanced for the time where this game came out, for example , the grappling hook feels surprisingly smooth. By the end of the game Samus's arsenal has changed so much that it almost feels like another game, also making dealing with enemies much easier and satisfactory. I had one huge issue with the arsenal tho, and it's swapping between weapons, which felt incredibly clunky probably because the console lacked enough buttons or maybe because I played this with an Xbox controller.
I have also tried practicing some techniques like bomb jumping and wall jumping, although they were useful to me in a small number of situations as I'm not any kind of speedrunner, I can begin to see and appreciate how this game influenced the world of speedrunning and how the developers took care in making it possible.
My favorite part of the game were the first few zones, I feel this is where I enjoyed the exploration and ambience the most, every area felt unique and I really like the abandoned and hostile planet it helped to picture, I enjoyed the wrecked ship as well. The ending was pretty cool and the areas were visually impressive but having to backtrack and getting stuck not knowing how to progress kind of worsened my overall experience (I probably should be more patient with this kind of games, can't help it tho it's my first metroidvania). I have the feeling that I will appreciate this game much more when I come back to it in the future after tackling some other games of the same genre. With my platforming skills honed and the patience required to tackle the genre ( I was looking foward to other titles that I mean to play in the following days, which stressed me to finish this one faster).
Overall this game surprised me and helped understand how ahead of it's time it truly was, I will surely come back to it in the future.
I have never been a fan of platformers and I still think this is not really my kind of game, regardless of that I have been able to enjoy it.
It is hard to believe that this game is 30 years old, the ambience is unbelievably well achieved thanks to the visuals which make each area iconic and is supported by an outstanding sound design.
The level design is remarkable, but I will say I didn't enjoy when the game forces you to backtrack. Arriving at an area that you have already explored earlier with a newly revealed shortcut and having to go all the way there just by backtracking are two completely different things. Super Metroid sometimes manages to make interesting shortcuts with it's upgrade system, but forgets to do so in some scenarios, forcing you to go all the way back where you came from (not just a few rooms away) a copious amount of times.
Some rooms where platforming was needed seemed to drag for too long, specially when provided with some foes and proyectiles along the way for increased anxiety.
The movement was smoother than I expected overall, but I struggled with the jump, specially with wall-jumping and using the space suit roll jump.
Despite all that, the exploration of new zones always feels fresh, and the upgrade system not only provides with a sense of progression of Samus's power level but also providing a variety of tools to delve deeper into each area and progress towards the next one.
Many of the upgrades seemed very advanced for the time where this game came out, for example , the grappling hook feels surprisingly smooth. By the end of the game Samus's arsenal has changed so much that it almost feels like another game, also making dealing with enemies much easier and satisfactory. I had one huge issue with the arsenal tho, and it's swapping between weapons, which felt incredibly clunky probably because the console lacked enough buttons or maybe because I played this with an Xbox controller.
I have also tried practicing some techniques like bomb jumping and wall jumping, although they were useful to me in a small number of situations as I'm not any kind of speedrunner, I can begin to see and appreciate how this game influenced the world of speedrunning and how the developers took care in making it possible.
My favorite part of the game were the first few zones, I feel this is where I enjoyed the exploration and ambience the most, every area felt unique and I really like the abandoned and hostile planet it helped to picture, I enjoyed the wrecked ship as well. The ending was pretty cool and the areas were visually impressive but having to backtrack and getting stuck not knowing how to progress kind of worsened my overall experience (I probably should be more patient with this kind of games, can't help it tho it's my first metroidvania). I have the feeling that I will appreciate this game much more when I come back to it in the future after tackling some other games of the same genre. With my platforming skills honed and the patience required to tackle the genre ( I was looking foward to other titles that I mean to play in the following days, which stressed me to finish this one faster).
Overall this game surprised me and helped understand how ahead of it's time it truly was, I will surely come back to it in the future.
This game really is something special. It's no secret that SNES games have aged beautifully, both graphically and control-wise, but this game manages to be so ahead of its time that it's better than most games that have been released since its launch in 1994.
The presentation of this game manages to be a strength despite its age. Super Metroid environments are diverse and vibrant. It's hard to get bored when there's an entirely new background setting every hour or so. This game also controls beautifully. It has some movement quirks that will hopefully be fixed in dread, but besides that, its controls hold up extremely well, like 90% of the controls for games in the SNES catalog.
This game refuses to let you be bored. It introduces a new game mechanic/power up everywhere you go, which enables you to backtrack and explore optional areas. It blows my mind how perfectly this was incorporated. The last thing I'll touch on is the boss fights. They were consistently great. The last boss fight/final segment of the game is legit peak gaming and extremely ambitious. Couldn't believe I was playing a 28-year-old game at that final segment. Fingers crossed Dread is anywhere near as good as this near-masterpiece.
The presentation of this game manages to be a strength despite its age. Super Metroid environments are diverse and vibrant. It's hard to get bored when there's an entirely new background setting every hour or so. This game also controls beautifully. It has some movement quirks that will hopefully be fixed in dread, but besides that, its controls hold up extremely well, like 90% of the controls for games in the SNES catalog.
This game refuses to let you be bored. It introduces a new game mechanic/power up everywhere you go, which enables you to backtrack and explore optional areas. It blows my mind how perfectly this was incorporated. The last thing I'll touch on is the boss fights. They were consistently great. The last boss fight/final segment of the game is legit peak gaming and extremely ambitious. Couldn't believe I was playing a 28-year-old game at that final segment. Fingers crossed Dread is anywhere near as good as this near-masterpiece.
perfect video game. i've missed so many of my son's baseball games because i was busy playing it
It was interesting starting Super Metroid as someone who's essentially been playing the 2D Metroid games in reverse order. From what I've seen, each Metroid I've played so far has been held in very high regard, but Super Metroid was on another level. Built up as a landmark title and one of the best of all time. I wasn't expecting this to top Fusion or Dread. I'm not usually one to assume that older games in a series are "worse" than newer entries, but based on my experience with the aforementioned games, Dread especially, I predicted that I would think of Super as a great foundation for the Metroidvania genre, but not much more. But now, I don't think any Metroid after this point could ever strive to be as brave as this one.
Super Metroid gives the player almost no direction, not telling you where to go at almost every point. It really just says, "The Space Pirates have stolen the last Metroid. Go get it back", and then leaving the player to their own devices. This was seen as an issue by many and was changed in later games. While this did make the series more accessible, I've realised that it took away some of the magic from this game. Don't get me wrong; this doesn't make the later games bad at all (Fusion especially uses this to its advantage in the narrative). They're great games. But the core appeal of Metroid is the feeling of growth. To go from a common soldier with a pitiful arsenal to an absolute powerhouse. Super Metroid does this the best because, shockingly, the issues other people have with it, to me, are the same ways it rises above its sequels.
Yes, the controls are awkward at first. But this enforces the feeling of growth because, by the end, you've mastered them, and you think nothing of controlling Samus because it's just natural.
Yes, the game often requires you to shoot at walls with no indication that they'll open the path you need to take. But this enforces the feeling of growth because it makes you feel like you're carving out a path for yourself. In real life, the way forward is never going to be clear. You need to find it yourself.
Yes, the game gives you no direction. But this makes the journey truly your own.
These "issues" make this game feel much more interesting to me. Getting to tear through areas and bosses with new power-ups has always been a strong point of Metroid, but Super pulls it off the best. Finding an upgrade in Super Metroid is way more satisfying than almost any other video game because it truly feels like I found it myself. I got stronger. This also helps better define Samus as a character in the later games: Someone who lost everything but rose back up and found her own strength.
I don't know. Am I wrong for liking what others see as archaic design choices just because I feel they suit the game better? Maybe. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe not having these "issues" would make the game better. Maybe a remake of this game with Dread-style movement and QOL changes would be the best game ever made. Maybe. But I don't think it would have as big of a legacy as it does now.
Super Metroid gives the player almost no direction, not telling you where to go at almost every point. It really just says, "The Space Pirates have stolen the last Metroid. Go get it back", and then leaving the player to their own devices. This was seen as an issue by many and was changed in later games. While this did make the series more accessible, I've realised that it took away some of the magic from this game. Don't get me wrong; this doesn't make the later games bad at all (Fusion especially uses this to its advantage in the narrative). They're great games. But the core appeal of Metroid is the feeling of growth. To go from a common soldier with a pitiful arsenal to an absolute powerhouse. Super Metroid does this the best because, shockingly, the issues other people have with it, to me, are the same ways it rises above its sequels.
Yes, the controls are awkward at first. But this enforces the feeling of growth because, by the end, you've mastered them, and you think nothing of controlling Samus because it's just natural.
Yes, the game often requires you to shoot at walls with no indication that they'll open the path you need to take. But this enforces the feeling of growth because it makes you feel like you're carving out a path for yourself. In real life, the way forward is never going to be clear. You need to find it yourself.
Yes, the game gives you no direction. But this makes the journey truly your own.
These "issues" make this game feel much more interesting to me. Getting to tear through areas and bosses with new power-ups has always been a strong point of Metroid, but Super pulls it off the best. Finding an upgrade in Super Metroid is way more satisfying than almost any other video game because it truly feels like I found it myself. I got stronger. This also helps better define Samus as a character in the later games: Someone who lost everything but rose back up and found her own strength.
I don't know. Am I wrong for liking what others see as archaic design choices just because I feel they suit the game better? Maybe. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe not having these "issues" would make the game better. Maybe a remake of this game with Dread-style movement and QOL changes would be the best game ever made. Maybe. But I don't think it would have as big of a legacy as it does now.
One of the best games ever made, for reasons that everyone has already said, and yet I will repeat anyway.
This game's design just holds up so well. The way it rewards exploration is timeless, and makes the game downright cathartic to revisit. The game somehow manages to give you no guidance while simultaneously avoiding being outright cryptic (with some exceptions which I'll get to) and letting the player figure out solutions for themselves. That is a groundbreaking achievement in exploration-based game design and it's no wonder that this game essentially spawned a genre. When you find a solution in Super Metroid, it truly feels like you earned it, and the game completely understands how good that feeling is. Environmental clues and experimenting with your abilities are the keys to finding your way through (and if not, just use the X-Ray visor), and it is just as satisfying a gameplay loop today as I'm sure it was in 1994. The game is not very lengthy, but it's just long enough that I feel the game gets the most out of its gameplay structure and locations, without going on for so long that it starts getting monotonous. I feel I must stress this game's lack of monotony; each of the game's locations are very distinct from both a visual standpoint and design standpoint. They're all just the right size, with no repeated rooms, and some notable landmarks to help you remember the layout, which is a huge improvement from the first two Metroid games. I also appreciate how the game starts small before opening up. The compact beginning area where you get the morph ball and missiles is a great way to ease new players into the structure of Metroid games before letting them out in the deep end. And of course, this game wouldn't be nearly as fun to play if it didn't have that map.
That's not even mentioning the game's incredible presentation. The visuals are fantastic, with great attention to detail and subtle but impactful visual effects bringing the world of Zebes to life. And of course, the atmosphere is unparalleled. Between the creepy and the serene, every tone is executed perfectly in Zebes' compelling mixture of sci-fi and nature. Gorgeous environments matched with an ambient yet melodic soundtrack really does go far. I love Crateria, the moody rain and damp grassy caves is such an appealing aesthetic to me and it would be recaptured with Prime's equally breathtaking Tallon Overworld. And that moment when you go down the elevator and the energetic upper Brinstar theme gradually fades in is just... wow. It's so subtle but it really feels like the game kicks into gear in that moment. It's a perfect demonstration of how this game excels in atmosphere and tying its audiovisual design with its world design. It's an all-time great moment for me, and this is a game filled with all-time great moments. The opening in the space station is an immediate hook, the previously mentioned beginning area serving as a recreation of certain Metroid 1 rooms is a great bit of continuity (something games of the era almost never had), Ridley's Lair isn't very long but the music and visuals make it feel like the epic last stand that it is, and the story comes full circle with an absolutely legendary final boss and ending that still ranks among the most memorable in any video game. It's mindboggling how cinematic this game feels considering the time it came out, and it does so without speaking a single word outside of the opening!
I don't think this game is a 10/10 though. It just has too many flaws that hold it back. My first issue is the occasional lack of clarity. While the vast majority of this game can be solved with good intuition, there are a few moments in the game that outright require a guide, which is a huge no-no for a game like this. Some stupid moments that come to mind are: that bridge in Brinstar that requires you to run across, breaking the glass tube with a super bomb to enter Maridia, being able to go through lava with the Gravity Suit, and exiting Ridley's Lair through a completely normal looking wall which the X-Ray visor doesn't work on for some godforsaken reason. None of these are ever told or indicated to the player. I thought putting players in a situation where they have absolutely zero way to know what to do without a guide was Zelda's job, not Metroid's! It would also be nice if doors were indicated on the map; I think that's the main quality of life feature this game is missing. Side note, but I also found the Maridia area generally frustrating and unfun to traverse, but it's immediately followed up by Ridley's Lair and that is peak Metroid so I'll forgive it.
My other main criticism is the controls and movement, which I find downright unenjoyable. The jump has too much vertical momentum and not enough horizontal momentum. Pressing L to aim diagonally downwards and R to aim diagonally upwards is archaic. Why is there even a run button? And wall jumps are the biggest offender. You all know what I mean. Screw that one pit. What I'm saying is, if you got MercurySteam to remake this game in Dread's engine, add a few QoL features, and make a few small alterations to the world design, you'd probably have the perfect game. Some food for thought.
Basically, Super Metroid is a masterpiece, a must-play for literally everyone, the single best action game on the SNES, yadda yadda yadda. You get the idea. PLAY IT.
And yes, I saved the animals.
This game's design just holds up so well. The way it rewards exploration is timeless, and makes the game downright cathartic to revisit. The game somehow manages to give you no guidance while simultaneously avoiding being outright cryptic (with some exceptions which I'll get to) and letting the player figure out solutions for themselves. That is a groundbreaking achievement in exploration-based game design and it's no wonder that this game essentially spawned a genre. When you find a solution in Super Metroid, it truly feels like you earned it, and the game completely understands how good that feeling is. Environmental clues and experimenting with your abilities are the keys to finding your way through (and if not, just use the X-Ray visor), and it is just as satisfying a gameplay loop today as I'm sure it was in 1994. The game is not very lengthy, but it's just long enough that I feel the game gets the most out of its gameplay structure and locations, without going on for so long that it starts getting monotonous. I feel I must stress this game's lack of monotony; each of the game's locations are very distinct from both a visual standpoint and design standpoint. They're all just the right size, with no repeated rooms, and some notable landmarks to help you remember the layout, which is a huge improvement from the first two Metroid games. I also appreciate how the game starts small before opening up. The compact beginning area where you get the morph ball and missiles is a great way to ease new players into the structure of Metroid games before letting them out in the deep end. And of course, this game wouldn't be nearly as fun to play if it didn't have that map.
That's not even mentioning the game's incredible presentation. The visuals are fantastic, with great attention to detail and subtle but impactful visual effects bringing the world of Zebes to life. And of course, the atmosphere is unparalleled. Between the creepy and the serene, every tone is executed perfectly in Zebes' compelling mixture of sci-fi and nature. Gorgeous environments matched with an ambient yet melodic soundtrack really does go far. I love Crateria, the moody rain and damp grassy caves is such an appealing aesthetic to me and it would be recaptured with Prime's equally breathtaking Tallon Overworld. And that moment when you go down the elevator and the energetic upper Brinstar theme gradually fades in is just... wow. It's so subtle but it really feels like the game kicks into gear in that moment. It's a perfect demonstration of how this game excels in atmosphere and tying its audiovisual design with its world design. It's an all-time great moment for me, and this is a game filled with all-time great moments. The opening in the space station is an immediate hook, the previously mentioned beginning area serving as a recreation of certain Metroid 1 rooms is a great bit of continuity (something games of the era almost never had), Ridley's Lair isn't very long but the music and visuals make it feel like the epic last stand that it is, and the story comes full circle with an absolutely legendary final boss and ending that still ranks among the most memorable in any video game. It's mindboggling how cinematic this game feels considering the time it came out, and it does so without speaking a single word outside of the opening!
I don't think this game is a 10/10 though. It just has too many flaws that hold it back. My first issue is the occasional lack of clarity. While the vast majority of this game can be solved with good intuition, there are a few moments in the game that outright require a guide, which is a huge no-no for a game like this. Some stupid moments that come to mind are: that bridge in Brinstar that requires you to run across, breaking the glass tube with a super bomb to enter Maridia, being able to go through lava with the Gravity Suit, and exiting Ridley's Lair through a completely normal looking wall which the X-Ray visor doesn't work on for some godforsaken reason. None of these are ever told or indicated to the player. I thought putting players in a situation where they have absolutely zero way to know what to do without a guide was Zelda's job, not Metroid's! It would also be nice if doors were indicated on the map; I think that's the main quality of life feature this game is missing. Side note, but I also found the Maridia area generally frustrating and unfun to traverse, but it's immediately followed up by Ridley's Lair and that is peak Metroid so I'll forgive it.
My other main criticism is the controls and movement, which I find downright unenjoyable. The jump has too much vertical momentum and not enough horizontal momentum. Pressing L to aim diagonally downwards and R to aim diagonally upwards is archaic. Why is there even a run button? And wall jumps are the biggest offender. You all know what I mean. Screw that one pit. What I'm saying is, if you got MercurySteam to remake this game in Dread's engine, add a few QoL features, and make a few small alterations to the world design, you'd probably have the perfect game. Some food for thought.
Basically, Super Metroid is a masterpiece, a must-play for literally everyone, the single best action game on the SNES, yadda yadda yadda. You get the idea. PLAY IT.
And yes, I saved the animals.
What is the best game?
What could the best game even be? It's hard to think of, isn't it? Maybe you would want good mechanics? A gripping story with very well-written and likeable characters? Lush environments with an atmospheric soundtrack that drags you straight into it's universe? There's many more you could want that would be more tailored to your personal tastes, which at that point your best game becomes my mediocre game and vice-versa. Arguments and debate about influence are often used as sticks of measurement as to what the best game possibly is, but influence is something that can be lost in time like many other things in life. After all, nothing is truly original, and would it be fair to give an award to one who was simply....first? I'm not entirely sure on that myself.
Metroid on NES was different from the other games I had played on that system, where as I played other stuff like Super Mario Bros. or Duck Hunt for childish entertainment, I felt a much different array of emotions. I was scared, I was curious, I was confused, and I was intrigued. It was due to this, and my sudden discovery that I enjoyed music coming from a little electronic piece of equipment, that Metroid was something I couldn't really forget, nor would I not find it's ambition to be truly commendable for such an early title. I liked it, but it wasn't my favorite NES game. Samus would notably spend a long ways away from my personal gaming timeline, Metroid II just being that Super Game Boy box was again my only memory, and in Super Smash Bros on Nintendo 64 I would play as Samus wondering where she's been this whole time, being reminded of her existence as I played as her, because she just seemed cool. She was cool, but I noticed something when I would look at her character profile in there....
Super. Metroid.
What is that? In 2023 it might be a bit hard to believe, but back then I did not have internet, or even cable. The only games that were out on Super Nintendo to my knowledge were just whatever was at the local Hollywood Video and such. Maybe I saw Super Metroid at Toys r' Us and just never registered it? Who's to say? One thing is for sure though, at one point I started getting into gaming magazines, and my dad eventually had a cable package with G4 among it's listings. It was in places such as these where I would hear the combination of the words "Super" and "Metroid" a lot. I was already interested, but in these same pieces of media, many would cite Super Metroid as "one of the best games of all time" and other such words of grandeur. It knocked me off my feet to hear about it or even see footage of it, Samus was in...the best game? I... wasn't there for it.
For years, it would be a bit of a white whale of gaming for me, especially after having enjoyed games that renewed my interest in the meantime such as Zero Mission and the Prime games. I had played pretty much every major release that came about on the SNES too...
Super Mario World? Of course.
Donkey Kong Country? Was my jam.
Link to the Past? Yeah, I played it at a friend's house.
Super Metroid? Wha-what?
It wouldn't be until I started browsing GameFAQs where I would eventually learn of this thing called "emulators". What are those? One google search later, I would find it... a program that would help this penniless child play a game they had stuck in the back of their mind for what seemed like a decade. It was during a time where emulation was a bit dodgy, certain things would look off and sounds could come out pretty warbly. Back then though, we were just happy to have something work at full speed. I was thankful enough just to see that famous intro, albeit with German subtitles attached to it. I couldn't believe it, on my family's kitchen computer I was about to play it, the best game...
It seems our little friend from our adventure on SR388 has been kidnapped by familiar foes, those we hadn't seen since they were but adorable 8-bit caricatures. They have rebuilt their base, and have grown far more fearsome. It's time to visit Zebes again, our old stomping ground. We trek across familiar landscapes, recalling the memory of escaping during the countdown of the original destruction of Mother Brain and find our morph ball....right where it was last time. All too familiar, until we are spotted and suddenly we find Ridley's henchmen swarming the innards of Old Tourian. This Zebes is different, it's been expanded and they are much more prepared for us this time it seems, and Kraid has gotten.....larger.
....but we were ready, for we are SUPER Metroid!
I always thought it would be seen as odd to have nostalgia for an emulator. It's not a real system, it's a fake, a phony. A shoddy imitation of what was my little grey and purple friend I had next to my little cable-less hand-me-down TV in my bedroom. To top it all off, there is no reason to ever use it anymore, it is obsolete and has been for some time now. It's existence means nothing anymore, but it lent me a sudden helpful hand and let me experience games that I had missed out on...and allowed me to finally revisit old favorites during a time it felt impossible. Oh, Star Fox how I had missed you so. It's difficult to believe they were once so guarded from young online eyes, and now they are commonplace. It's hard for me to imagine a world without them...a world where those younger than me wouldn't be able to easily experience that of which I had grown up with.
Thank you for your time ZSNES my old chum...and thank you Nintendo for making this apparently behind my back, and thank you Zeric, maker of this map on GameFAQs.
That leads us back to the question I asked from the beginning, what is the best game? Is Super Metroid the best game? Well my friend, I've played many a "best game". Many have not survived my trials, whether it was due to factors like "I didn't care for the thing" or a simple "I just don't play well with RPGs I'm afraid", but... Super Metroid has legs. It's a horse in this race of highly-acclaimed classic titles that I would get behind. It walks that aisle, and styles and profiles. Upon finishing my return to this game that I played very much legally as a youngling, I found myself playing again right away, and my entertainment somehow doubled as I was utilizing wall jumps to find alternate quicker paths to upgrades and energy tanks. It's a rare breed of game that somehow gets better the more you play it, just like a true Metroid adventure. What was once a clunky feeling is now just second nature, no longer do I care about the controls or Samus' physics of actually feeling like a person in a space suit jumping around on an alien planet. It is all just second nature, and now I am Samus, and I fuckin' rule.
The high I get from seeing that small amount of inventory I start with getting larger, and eventually taking up all that space on the top of the screen? Unfathomable.
Imagine making something that was so good that developers didn't want to even follow up such a game. That begs the question, could you in fact make a better Metroid? What is the next step for the series then? If Sakamoto could not imagine a way to utilize the Nintendo 64's controller, then what hope is there for the Dolphin console? There is maybe one way...how about, now bear with me on this...two fantastic games, at the same time. Would that be sufficient? Hrmph, unlikely that such a thing would be done. Regardless, it seems we would need to wait a while to go on another adventure with our favorite bounty hunter. I suppose another round of matches with the boys would be okay in the meantime. Until next time Samus, take care.
See you next mission.
Save the animals.
What could the best game even be? It's hard to think of, isn't it? Maybe you would want good mechanics? A gripping story with very well-written and likeable characters? Lush environments with an atmospheric soundtrack that drags you straight into it's universe? There's many more you could want that would be more tailored to your personal tastes, which at that point your best game becomes my mediocre game and vice-versa. Arguments and debate about influence are often used as sticks of measurement as to what the best game possibly is, but influence is something that can be lost in time like many other things in life. After all, nothing is truly original, and would it be fair to give an award to one who was simply....first? I'm not entirely sure on that myself.
Metroid on NES was different from the other games I had played on that system, where as I played other stuff like Super Mario Bros. or Duck Hunt for childish entertainment, I felt a much different array of emotions. I was scared, I was curious, I was confused, and I was intrigued. It was due to this, and my sudden discovery that I enjoyed music coming from a little electronic piece of equipment, that Metroid was something I couldn't really forget, nor would I not find it's ambition to be truly commendable for such an early title. I liked it, but it wasn't my favorite NES game. Samus would notably spend a long ways away from my personal gaming timeline, Metroid II just being that Super Game Boy box was again my only memory, and in Super Smash Bros on Nintendo 64 I would play as Samus wondering where she's been this whole time, being reminded of her existence as I played as her, because she just seemed cool. She was cool, but I noticed something when I would look at her character profile in there....
Super. Metroid.
What is that? In 2023 it might be a bit hard to believe, but back then I did not have internet, or even cable. The only games that were out on Super Nintendo to my knowledge were just whatever was at the local Hollywood Video and such. Maybe I saw Super Metroid at Toys r' Us and just never registered it? Who's to say? One thing is for sure though, at one point I started getting into gaming magazines, and my dad eventually had a cable package with G4 among it's listings. It was in places such as these where I would hear the combination of the words "Super" and "Metroid" a lot. I was already interested, but in these same pieces of media, many would cite Super Metroid as "one of the best games of all time" and other such words of grandeur. It knocked me off my feet to hear about it or even see footage of it, Samus was in...the best game? I... wasn't there for it.
For years, it would be a bit of a white whale of gaming for me, especially after having enjoyed games that renewed my interest in the meantime such as Zero Mission and the Prime games. I had played pretty much every major release that came about on the SNES too...
Super Mario World? Of course.
Donkey Kong Country? Was my jam.
Link to the Past? Yeah, I played it at a friend's house.
Super Metroid? Wha-what?
It wouldn't be until I started browsing GameFAQs where I would eventually learn of this thing called "emulators". What are those? One google search later, I would find it... a program that would help this penniless child play a game they had stuck in the back of their mind for what seemed like a decade. It was during a time where emulation was a bit dodgy, certain things would look off and sounds could come out pretty warbly. Back then though, we were just happy to have something work at full speed. I was thankful enough just to see that famous intro, albeit with German subtitles attached to it. I couldn't believe it, on my family's kitchen computer I was about to play it, the best game...
It seems our little friend from our adventure on SR388 has been kidnapped by familiar foes, those we hadn't seen since they were but adorable 8-bit caricatures. They have rebuilt their base, and have grown far more fearsome. It's time to visit Zebes again, our old stomping ground. We trek across familiar landscapes, recalling the memory of escaping during the countdown of the original destruction of Mother Brain and find our morph ball....right where it was last time. All too familiar, until we are spotted and suddenly we find Ridley's henchmen swarming the innards of Old Tourian. This Zebes is different, it's been expanded and they are much more prepared for us this time it seems, and Kraid has gotten.....larger.
....but we were ready, for we are SUPER Metroid!
I always thought it would be seen as odd to have nostalgia for an emulator. It's not a real system, it's a fake, a phony. A shoddy imitation of what was my little grey and purple friend I had next to my little cable-less hand-me-down TV in my bedroom. To top it all off, there is no reason to ever use it anymore, it is obsolete and has been for some time now. It's existence means nothing anymore, but it lent me a sudden helpful hand and let me experience games that I had missed out on...and allowed me to finally revisit old favorites during a time it felt impossible. Oh, Star Fox how I had missed you so. It's difficult to believe they were once so guarded from young online eyes, and now they are commonplace. It's hard for me to imagine a world without them...a world where those younger than me wouldn't be able to easily experience that of which I had grown up with.
Thank you for your time ZSNES my old chum...and thank you Nintendo for making this apparently behind my back, and thank you Zeric, maker of this map on GameFAQs.
That leads us back to the question I asked from the beginning, what is the best game? Is Super Metroid the best game? Well my friend, I've played many a "best game". Many have not survived my trials, whether it was due to factors like "I didn't care for the thing" or a simple "I just don't play well with RPGs I'm afraid", but... Super Metroid has legs. It's a horse in this race of highly-acclaimed classic titles that I would get behind. It walks that aisle, and styles and profiles. Upon finishing my return to this game that I played very much legally as a youngling, I found myself playing again right away, and my entertainment somehow doubled as I was utilizing wall jumps to find alternate quicker paths to upgrades and energy tanks. It's a rare breed of game that somehow gets better the more you play it, just like a true Metroid adventure. What was once a clunky feeling is now just second nature, no longer do I care about the controls or Samus' physics of actually feeling like a person in a space suit jumping around on an alien planet. It is all just second nature, and now I am Samus, and I fuckin' rule.
The high I get from seeing that small amount of inventory I start with getting larger, and eventually taking up all that space on the top of the screen? Unfathomable.
Imagine making something that was so good that developers didn't want to even follow up such a game. That begs the question, could you in fact make a better Metroid? What is the next step for the series then? If Sakamoto could not imagine a way to utilize the Nintendo 64's controller, then what hope is there for the Dolphin console? There is maybe one way...how about, now bear with me on this...two fantastic games, at the same time. Would that be sufficient? Hrmph, unlikely that such a thing would be done. Regardless, it seems we would need to wait a while to go on another adventure with our favorite bounty hunter. I suppose another round of matches with the boys would be okay in the meantime. Until next time Samus, take care.
See you next mission.
Save the animals.
outside of the (understandably) on-the-nose coloured doorways nearly every instance of environmental interaction is rich and tactile. thirty years later it's still a wonder to grope and paw at every (Possibly Maybe) malleable surface and leverage every new upgrade toward greater structural manipulation and command
in ensuring how and when are given as much significance as what and where it forms a relationship between actor and environment that bears uncommonly personal patterns and markings as you learn to use Your body as an implement to interface with the world. sidepaths and back alleys that carve Under - Over - Through reshape the familiar thru layered mechanical discovery and shift the internal v external dynamic in turn; mastery of the self begetting exponential mastery of the other
a fitting problem then that the biocircuitry, plunging intestinal mazes, and gloomy dark ambient synthesis quickly become less something to endure so much as to dominate; the dissonance for show, and the brutality nakedly glamorous and one sided. so much of it exists in service to the pursuit of (Your) power, kneeling with its neck outstretched waiting to feel bones shatter for Your gratification. sure, I feel obscenely powerful, but I'd rather feel anything else
in ensuring how and when are given as much significance as what and where it forms a relationship between actor and environment that bears uncommonly personal patterns and markings as you learn to use Your body as an implement to interface with the world. sidepaths and back alleys that carve Under - Over - Through reshape the familiar thru layered mechanical discovery and shift the internal v external dynamic in turn; mastery of the self begetting exponential mastery of the other
a fitting problem then that the biocircuitry, plunging intestinal mazes, and gloomy dark ambient synthesis quickly become less something to endure so much as to dominate; the dissonance for show, and the brutality nakedly glamorous and one sided. so much of it exists in service to the pursuit of (Your) power, kneeling with its neck outstretched waiting to feel bones shatter for Your gratification. sure, I feel obscenely powerful, but I'd rather feel anything else
Veredito: Muito, mas MUITO melhor do que eu lembrava.
Super Metroid é um dos muitos jogos 16-bit que emulei infinitas vezes na pré-adolescência, mas nunca zerei porque ele nunca me fisgou a esse ponto. Sempre achei ele... bom. Decente, mas não passava disso. Essa opinião se firmou ainda mais quando anos depois joguei metroidvanias que considero infinitamente melhores, como Hollow Knight e o próprio Metroid Prime. Enfim, joguinho legal, mas nem de longe tudo isso que os fãs falavam, e certamente não bom o bastante pro CDX pré-adolescente se dedicar a zerar.
ONDE EU ESTAVA COM A CABEÇA?????
Super Metroid é muito, muito, MUITO FODA!
É verdade que ele ainda não supera Metroid Prime ou Hollow Knight pra mim, mas isso é igual dizer que qualquer doce muito bem feito não supera sorvete. Não passa de uma comparação redundante e óbvia que não faz nenhuma jus à qualidade do produto em questão.
Super Metroid é sólido. Mas assim, muito sólido MESMO. Sólido para um senhor caralho. Cada mínimo detalhe dele com certeza foi pensado, repensado e refinado até a medula pelos devs.
Combate? Impecável.
Exploração? Impecável.
Progressão da personagem? Impecabilíssima.
Atmosfera? PUTA QUE PARIU IMPECÁVEL PRA CACETE!!!
Cara, só joga. Confia no pai aqui. Joga essa porra logo e não discute.
Super Metroid é um dos muitos jogos 16-bit que emulei infinitas vezes na pré-adolescência, mas nunca zerei porque ele nunca me fisgou a esse ponto. Sempre achei ele... bom. Decente, mas não passava disso. Essa opinião se firmou ainda mais quando anos depois joguei metroidvanias que considero infinitamente melhores, como Hollow Knight e o próprio Metroid Prime. Enfim, joguinho legal, mas nem de longe tudo isso que os fãs falavam, e certamente não bom o bastante pro CDX pré-adolescente se dedicar a zerar.
ONDE EU ESTAVA COM A CABEÇA?????
Super Metroid é muito, muito, MUITO FODA!
É verdade que ele ainda não supera Metroid Prime ou Hollow Knight pra mim, mas isso é igual dizer que qualquer doce muito bem feito não supera sorvete. Não passa de uma comparação redundante e óbvia que não faz nenhuma jus à qualidade do produto em questão.
Super Metroid é sólido. Mas assim, muito sólido MESMO. Sólido para um senhor caralho. Cada mínimo detalhe dele com certeza foi pensado, repensado e refinado até a medula pelos devs.
Combate? Impecável.
Exploração? Impecável.
Progressão da personagem? Impecabilíssima.
Atmosfera? PUTA QUE PARIU IMPECÁVEL PRA CACETE!!!
Cara, só joga. Confia no pai aqui. Joga essa porra logo e não discute.
Having gotten into Metroidvanias earlier this year, I finally (belatedly) got to experience this slice of gaming history and it didn't let me down; it really does so many things excellently.
The areas are full of character, no doubt helped by the moody and atmospheric score - I wouldn't exactly call it 'lore', but each area tells its own story, the highlight for me being a derelict ship whose power you need to restore in order to fully explore it. The auto-mapping function is very welcome here, and makes the game seem much younger than its 28 years of age. Perhaps most relevantly for the genre that it helped to name, the upgrade system is superb. The gradually-expanding moveset functions not just as a series of keys to unlock more of the world; they really convey a sense of both Samus getting stronger and the player getting more skilled. By the end of the game, Samus has a large and versatile moveset that you will generally have very good control over due to being drip-fed new abilities rather than force-fed them all at once.
With so many cool new abilities to unlock and play with, it's a bit ironic that the mechanic that probably gave me the most grief was the most bread-and-butter one of all: the jump. I can probably point at least one finger at myself for a lack of skill, but I found the momentum on Samus' somersaults extremely difficult to nail down, and this made certain platforming segments drag on way too long, with a single mis-aimed jump necessitating backtracking and a do-over. I also often found myself wishing for a slightly more zoomed-out perspective - it would have been easier to orient myself making exploration smoother, would have given me more time to react to hazards and reduced the number of blind jumps I had to make.
These niggling issues do little to tarnish the brilliance of the overall product, and I feel like they would be less significant on repeat playthroughs. Between its obvious merits, its relatively short runtime and its forgiving difficulty, this is another title I'd add to the list of games that everyone should experience at least once.
The areas are full of character, no doubt helped by the moody and atmospheric score - I wouldn't exactly call it 'lore', but each area tells its own story, the highlight for me being a derelict ship whose power you need to restore in order to fully explore it. The auto-mapping function is very welcome here, and makes the game seem much younger than its 28 years of age. Perhaps most relevantly for the genre that it helped to name, the upgrade system is superb. The gradually-expanding moveset functions not just as a series of keys to unlock more of the world; they really convey a sense of both Samus getting stronger and the player getting more skilled. By the end of the game, Samus has a large and versatile moveset that you will generally have very good control over due to being drip-fed new abilities rather than force-fed them all at once.
With so many cool new abilities to unlock and play with, it's a bit ironic that the mechanic that probably gave me the most grief was the most bread-and-butter one of all: the jump. I can probably point at least one finger at myself for a lack of skill, but I found the momentum on Samus' somersaults extremely difficult to nail down, and this made certain platforming segments drag on way too long, with a single mis-aimed jump necessitating backtracking and a do-over. I also often found myself wishing for a slightly more zoomed-out perspective - it would have been easier to orient myself making exploration smoother, would have given me more time to react to hazards and reduced the number of blind jumps I had to make.
These niggling issues do little to tarnish the brilliance of the overall product, and I feel like they would be less significant on repeat playthroughs. Between its obvious merits, its relatively short runtime and its forgiving difficulty, this is another title I'd add to the list of games that everyone should experience at least once.
Finished playing super metroid.
Another amazing game finished in 2024. Super metroid along with Castlevania symphony of the night are the most influential games for the metroidvania genre. So far this is my favourite metroid game and it definitely lives up to the hype.You play as Samus and you explore the planet zebes to find the stolen metroid creature. The progression and world design are without a doubt excellent, as you explore zebes you will find various power ups such as the gravity suit and the morph ball which will give you access to areas that weren't accessible before. The combat is simple but still very enjoyable and the graphics and soundtrack are awesome. Not knowing where to go and the backtracking are usually expected in a metroidvania but an issue i had with the game is that all boss fights are kinda meh, their not the worst boss fights ever but their really nothing special, they are ok at best. By the way am i the only person who had 0 issues with the controls? Anyways i would give super metroid a strong 9/10
Another amazing game finished in 2024. Super metroid along with Castlevania symphony of the night are the most influential games for the metroidvania genre. So far this is my favourite metroid game and it definitely lives up to the hype.You play as Samus and you explore the planet zebes to find the stolen metroid creature. The progression and world design are without a doubt excellent, as you explore zebes you will find various power ups such as the gravity suit and the morph ball which will give you access to areas that weren't accessible before. The combat is simple but still very enjoyable and the graphics and soundtrack are awesome. Not knowing where to go and the backtracking are usually expected in a metroidvania but an issue i had with the game is that all boss fights are kinda meh, their not the worst boss fights ever but their really nothing special, they are ok at best. By the way am i the only person who had 0 issues with the controls? Anyways i would give super metroid a strong 9/10
Meus caros, antes de tudo: RESPEITO!
Vocês estão frente à grande matriarca dos metroidvanias! Aquela que se tornou um marco na história dos jogos por, não criar, mas aperfeiçoar um estilo com tanto primor que fez com que este se elevasse dos confins do desconhecimento até o nível de um imponente sol cuja luz de infinitas possibilidades abençoa o universo dos jogos até hoje.
ENTÃO MACETEM ESSE "F" PARA PAGAR O DEVIDO RESPEITO À ELA, PQ ELA MERECE!!!!
Agora, com o devido respeito dado, podemos começar a falar dessa pérola!
Super Metroid, meus amigos! QUE JOGO!!!
Essa série fez com jogos Side Scrolling o que The Legend of Zelda fez com jogos isométricos, que é um total remodelamento e adaptação do estilo com base na exploração.
Para os que não sabem, em resumo, Metroidvanias são jogos com um único mapa gigantesco (que pode ser fragmentado em áreas), mas que você não consegue explorar direito devido à limitações no seu personagem. O objetivo do jogo é explorar o mapa, seguindo por onde você consegue ir, para encontrar upgrades que não apenas te deixam mais forte como vão te permitir explorar novas áreas desse mapa que você não conseguia acessar antes. Dessa forma você vai abrindo o mapa até finalmente conseguir chegar no lugar onde está o boss final e terminar o jogo.
Parece algo simples, em teoria, mas esse estilo de progressão não apenas é extremamente complicado de fazer como é extremamente divertido de se jogar.
Metroid (o original) e Metroid 2 também tinham esse estilo, porém foi Super Metroid que fez a coisa brilhar de fato!
Foi ele que entregou um mapa colossal que, em pouco tempo de gameplay, se abria em diversas possibilidades, com uma liberdade de exploração indescritível, repleta de cenários fantásticos, com artes e ambientação impecáveis, músicas incríveis, inimigos bizarros diversos e chefes medonhos memoráveis. Tudo isso misturado à upgrades hypantes e inúmeros segredos (áreas secretas e upgrades secretos) perdidos aqui e alí que induziam uma curiosidade e desejo sem fim de continuar explorando.
Não é a toa que esse jogo é uma obra-prima!
Então, acredite, se você gosta do gênero Metroidvania e/ou gosta de exploração, confie em mim, você DEVE JOGAR SUPER METROID! Sério, jogue! Você vai me agradecer por isso depois!
E mais uma vez um grandioso "F" em respeito à grande mãe dos Metroidvanias!
Vocês estão frente à grande matriarca dos metroidvanias! Aquela que se tornou um marco na história dos jogos por, não criar, mas aperfeiçoar um estilo com tanto primor que fez com que este se elevasse dos confins do desconhecimento até o nível de um imponente sol cuja luz de infinitas possibilidades abençoa o universo dos jogos até hoje.
ENTÃO MACETEM ESSE "F" PARA PAGAR O DEVIDO RESPEITO À ELA, PQ ELA MERECE!!!!
Agora, com o devido respeito dado, podemos começar a falar dessa pérola!
Super Metroid, meus amigos! QUE JOGO!!!
Essa série fez com jogos Side Scrolling o que The Legend of Zelda fez com jogos isométricos, que é um total remodelamento e adaptação do estilo com base na exploração.
Para os que não sabem, em resumo, Metroidvanias são jogos com um único mapa gigantesco (que pode ser fragmentado em áreas), mas que você não consegue explorar direito devido à limitações no seu personagem. O objetivo do jogo é explorar o mapa, seguindo por onde você consegue ir, para encontrar upgrades que não apenas te deixam mais forte como vão te permitir explorar novas áreas desse mapa que você não conseguia acessar antes. Dessa forma você vai abrindo o mapa até finalmente conseguir chegar no lugar onde está o boss final e terminar o jogo.
Parece algo simples, em teoria, mas esse estilo de progressão não apenas é extremamente complicado de fazer como é extremamente divertido de se jogar.
Metroid (o original) e Metroid 2 também tinham esse estilo, porém foi Super Metroid que fez a coisa brilhar de fato!
Foi ele que entregou um mapa colossal que, em pouco tempo de gameplay, se abria em diversas possibilidades, com uma liberdade de exploração indescritível, repleta de cenários fantásticos, com artes e ambientação impecáveis, músicas incríveis, inimigos bizarros diversos e chefes medonhos memoráveis. Tudo isso misturado à upgrades hypantes e inúmeros segredos (áreas secretas e upgrades secretos) perdidos aqui e alí que induziam uma curiosidade e desejo sem fim de continuar explorando.
Não é a toa que esse jogo é uma obra-prima!
Então, acredite, se você gosta do gênero Metroidvania e/ou gosta de exploração, confie em mim, você DEVE JOGAR SUPER METROID! Sério, jogue! Você vai me agradecer por isso depois!
E mais uma vez um grandioso "F" em respeito à grande mãe dos Metroidvanias!
This is my first Metroid game.
Samus movements are a bit clunky. First, I never became truly comfortable with the Spin Jump. I couldn't get used to the momentum of this move, and often ended up slipping off platforms.
Figuring out how to use the Wall Jump wasn't obvious at all. I had to train on a wall for a few minutes to get a good grip of it.
And worst of all, the Space Jump: Underwater, I was able to perform this move without any issue, but outside of that, I was never able to chain them consistently. The timing is just so weird and unintuitive, and that's the reason I had such a bad time in the last area, Ridley's Lair. You need to fly across rising lava as quickly as possible using this move, and that was terrible.
Also, this isn't the game's fault, but I don't vibe with the sci-fi/alien/futuristic setting... Different strokes, right?
There are some items that are fun to use. I liked being able to freeze the enemies to use them as platforms, thanks to the Ice Beam. Swinging myself around with the grapple beam was also kinda fun.
I didn't like the abundance of hidden paths. Having to stop constantly to use the X-Ray kinda ruins the pace of exploration. It's the biggest issue in the game for me.
I enjoyed the boss fights for the most part. They aren't too easy nor too hard. I do want to note that I was using save states. So whenever I died against a Boss, I could respawn in front of it and retry immediatly.
Crocomire was pretty cool, the fact that you need to push him into the lava rather than reducing his HP to 0. And the way he comes back as a skeleton to scare you one last time was neat.
Draygon was my favorite Boss in the game, and I also had a good time with Golden Torizo.
Using the Power Bomb in Maridia to break the glass tunnel was such an Eureka moment for me. I was stuck for so long, and it felt very satisfying to finally figure this out!
As I said earlier, I kind of had enough once I reached Ridley's Lair. I got stuck at the 2 Ridley's Guards.
I didn't have enough ammo to deal with them, and I was really fed up with this area, so I didn't have the courage to backtrack to gather HP & ammo. The lack of teleporters is definitely a deal-breaker.
So I stopped here and watched the rest of the game on YouTube.
Honestly, I had a good time in the first half of the game. Before I reached the last quarter of the game, I thought about giving it 3.5 stars, or even 4 stars. But it became really tedious near the end, hence my final rating.
I'm still happy I played such an iconic game, it was about time I played this series! I feel like I would have more fun with Metroid Dread tho?
----------Playtime & Completion----------
[Started on May 5th & stopped on May 7th 2024]
Playtime: 18 hours
I stopped at the 2 Ridley's Guards.
Samus movements are a bit clunky. First, I never became truly comfortable with the Spin Jump. I couldn't get used to the momentum of this move, and often ended up slipping off platforms.
Figuring out how to use the Wall Jump wasn't obvious at all. I had to train on a wall for a few minutes to get a good grip of it.
And worst of all, the Space Jump: Underwater, I was able to perform this move without any issue, but outside of that, I was never able to chain them consistently. The timing is just so weird and unintuitive, and that's the reason I had such a bad time in the last area, Ridley's Lair. You need to fly across rising lava as quickly as possible using this move, and that was terrible.
Also, this isn't the game's fault, but I don't vibe with the sci-fi/alien/futuristic setting... Different strokes, right?
There are some items that are fun to use. I liked being able to freeze the enemies to use them as platforms, thanks to the Ice Beam. Swinging myself around with the grapple beam was also kinda fun.
I didn't like the abundance of hidden paths. Having to stop constantly to use the X-Ray kinda ruins the pace of exploration. It's the biggest issue in the game for me.
I enjoyed the boss fights for the most part. They aren't too easy nor too hard. I do want to note that I was using save states. So whenever I died against a Boss, I could respawn in front of it and retry immediatly.
Crocomire was pretty cool, the fact that you need to push him into the lava rather than reducing his HP to 0. And the way he comes back as a skeleton to scare you one last time was neat.
Draygon was my favorite Boss in the game, and I also had a good time with Golden Torizo.
Using the Power Bomb in Maridia to break the glass tunnel was such an Eureka moment for me. I was stuck for so long, and it felt very satisfying to finally figure this out!
As I said earlier, I kind of had enough once I reached Ridley's Lair. I got stuck at the 2 Ridley's Guards.
I didn't have enough ammo to deal with them, and I was really fed up with this area, so I didn't have the courage to backtrack to gather HP & ammo. The lack of teleporters is definitely a deal-breaker.
So I stopped here and watched the rest of the game on YouTube.
Honestly, I had a good time in the first half of the game. Before I reached the last quarter of the game, I thought about giving it 3.5 stars, or even 4 stars. But it became really tedious near the end, hence my final rating.
I'm still happy I played such an iconic game, it was about time I played this series! I feel like I would have more fun with Metroid Dread tho?
----------Playtime & Completion----------
[Started on May 5th & stopped on May 7th 2024]
Playtime: 18 hours
I stopped at the 2 Ridley's Guards.
i love my tall wife
This review contains spoilers
Lo jugué por Diez horas seguidas la primera vez que lo toque, y eso ya dice mucho, creo...
This was 5 hours of me saying 'yeah i can see why people like this' without ever really feeling anything good to say about it
From the first minutes of the game I could already understand why this one was everyone’s favourite. Palpable atmosphere, and I finally got the people complaining about zero mission and am2r missing that “isolating, lonely, cold” atmosphere of the originals. This is what they were talking about. It's a pretty substantial tone shift, from the station to going back to Zebes. Everything is darker, more terrifying, lonely, and hopeless. Almost like Peace Walker to Ground Zeroes, raiders to temple of doom, or high school to university. It adds so much to the depowering at the beginning of the game, and the contrast to eventually tearing shit up everywhere feels like such a cool progression. You become more comfortable and less scared, and now you're back on your grind!! The main path is more like a corn maze where all the dead ends had corn for you to eat. I never felt like going off the beaten path just got me random power bomb increases, they could be whole ass optional upgrades. It's nice knowing that no matter how much I cheese out the order, I will never get softlocked. I always think I am, but super metroid has me covered. I eventually learned to leave it all to god's plan and explore without worry. The bosses were so cinematic too, seeming so well balanced that I was always reasonably challenged no matter how much e tanks or super missiles I got. I also wanna talk about the dash in this game, and how much I cheesed with it. The dash, the wall jump, the space jump, I did stuff out of order and I LIKED IT. The charge beam was the last upgrade I got because FUCK YOU THAT'S WHY!!!!!! and tell me how the ending made me emotional despite the fact that no one in this series has spoken a word? I love this game a lot, I'm giving it 5 stars, and I'm gonna play metroid fusion next.
This was my introduction to the the great and holy video game genre that is the Metroidvania. It was truly an eye-opening experience; how could I have not known about a genre so divine for so long? I shall now make my formal apology to the Metroidvania genre for my years of ignorance of its qualities, such as its maps, its abilities, and its secrets. From now on, my heart is truly devoted to the Metroidvania genre and all the amazing games it has given us.
(im joking but this is an amazing game and it did introduce me to metroidvanias)
(im joking but this is an amazing game and it did introduce me to metroidvanias)
NOTA: 8,25
Simplesmente fabuloso, a excelência de Super Metroid é nítida e conseguiu em 1994, elevar ainda mais a qualidade na transição do Nes ao Snes, com uma pixel art fantástica, trilha sonora que caracteriza a ambientação e uma gameplay desafiadora sem dúvidas.
Quando se pensa na franquia, eu diria que esse game é a cara dela, a exploração que ele exige é extensa, a jogabilidade é tão boa que não só jogos metroidvanias utilizam como a própria franquia sempre tem essa mesma identidade que Super Metroid desenvolveu.
Falando sobre jogabilidade, com a exploração como chave e a ação em segundo lugar, Metroid representa quase que um gênero nichado de jogo, fora a dificuldade que pode variar dependendo do nível de interesse/ Imersão e descoberta do player, muito do progresso principal de Super Metroid também é dependente de prestar atenção em tudo à sua volta e apurar cada skill obtida no momento, o que pode de fato afastar players ou fazer com que se apele à um guia, o que eu não acho nada errado, desde que não estrague a experiência por completo.
Sobre sua dificuldade e gameplay geral, os trechos de plataforma também são bem presentes e a fisica do game não é tão fácil de lidar, é um pouco imprecisa. Alguns inimigos e chefes tem movimentações bem rápidas o que exige bastante reflexo também e a troca entre os mísseis e outros elementos é muito limitada e dificulta um pouco quando é necessário usar algo específico para abrir portas ou acertar inimigos.
Por fim, acho que o game tem ótimos chefes onde é preciso entender um pouco suas mecânicas e tem bastante save points, por outro lado, acho que eles poderiam ser menos porém dar de volta refill de vida/mísseis já que mau existe no jogo e as vezes é preciso consegui-los na base de farm dos inimigos.
Concluindo, minha experiência com esse game e sotn de fato definiu o porque gosto de side scrollers e principalmente metroidvanias, como o foco do castlevania é mais na ação, acaba que prefiro ele, mas sem dúvidas Metroid vem logo atrás também devido às suas experiências em 3D que a Nintendo soube fazer transições fantásticas. Recomendo muito!
Simplesmente fabuloso, a excelência de Super Metroid é nítida e conseguiu em 1994, elevar ainda mais a qualidade na transição do Nes ao Snes, com uma pixel art fantástica, trilha sonora que caracteriza a ambientação e uma gameplay desafiadora sem dúvidas.
Quando se pensa na franquia, eu diria que esse game é a cara dela, a exploração que ele exige é extensa, a jogabilidade é tão boa que não só jogos metroidvanias utilizam como a própria franquia sempre tem essa mesma identidade que Super Metroid desenvolveu.
Falando sobre jogabilidade, com a exploração como chave e a ação em segundo lugar, Metroid representa quase que um gênero nichado de jogo, fora a dificuldade que pode variar dependendo do nível de interesse/ Imersão e descoberta do player, muito do progresso principal de Super Metroid também é dependente de prestar atenção em tudo à sua volta e apurar cada skill obtida no momento, o que pode de fato afastar players ou fazer com que se apele à um guia, o que eu não acho nada errado, desde que não estrague a experiência por completo.
Sobre sua dificuldade e gameplay geral, os trechos de plataforma também são bem presentes e a fisica do game não é tão fácil de lidar, é um pouco imprecisa. Alguns inimigos e chefes tem movimentações bem rápidas o que exige bastante reflexo também e a troca entre os mísseis e outros elementos é muito limitada e dificulta um pouco quando é necessário usar algo específico para abrir portas ou acertar inimigos.
Por fim, acho que o game tem ótimos chefes onde é preciso entender um pouco suas mecânicas e tem bastante save points, por outro lado, acho que eles poderiam ser menos porém dar de volta refill de vida/mísseis já que mau existe no jogo e as vezes é preciso consegui-los na base de farm dos inimigos.
Concluindo, minha experiência com esse game e sotn de fato definiu o porque gosto de side scrollers e principalmente metroidvanias, como o foco do castlevania é mais na ação, acaba que prefiro ele, mas sem dúvidas Metroid vem logo atrás também devido às suas experiências em 3D que a Nintendo soube fazer transições fantásticas. Recomendo muito!
I just finished my second playthrough of this game, which has been coming for a while, and ohhh man. I appreciated it so much more. I used a romhack that makes it control like the GBA games, but I honestly feel it didn't improve my experience to that large of a degree, plus it was still somewhat floaty.
Up to Lower Norfair, I was actually very low on power-ups (while in my first playthrough, I got a serviceable 60 something percent). Maybe like 5 energy tanks. But things were manageable. Then Ridley kicked my ass. I went back to the previous areas, fully powered up, and was honestly amazed by how fun it was just to plow through it all with my upgrades and figure out where things were. I wasn't even planning to get as much as I did. I didn't 100% it, but I got all the Energy Tanks, reaching like 85%. I always imagined that you needed to get things as you went along in order to not make the ending a pain to complete. But I had no issue. Either works.
The other thing I appreciated was the world design and openness, dare I say unmatched by any other Metroid game or otherwise Metroidvania that I've played. For a while, I messed around in Maridia without even having the Grapple Beam or Gravity Suit. I had to wall jump to make my way through (still suck at bomb jumping, though), and I ended exploring much of it. There are speedrunners who skip the Grapple Beam entirely. There are speedrunners who beat the 4 main bosses in reverse order. And Hell, I've only scratched the surface of what I could do; I didn't sequence break very meaningful power-ups for the most part. Because of all of its free design, the game lends itself to multiple playthroughs very well. Some day, I'm gonna have to beat Ridley with less health.
I want to try Randomizers of this game. I want to replay it more. I want to master it. I would even like to speedrun it. There are tons of reasons to appreciate and love this game, and I am very truly glad that I have found them for myself. I need to replay the others too and let this one sink to decide on my favourite and how I would rank them.
Up to Lower Norfair, I was actually very low on power-ups (while in my first playthrough, I got a serviceable 60 something percent). Maybe like 5 energy tanks. But things were manageable. Then Ridley kicked my ass. I went back to the previous areas, fully powered up, and was honestly amazed by how fun it was just to plow through it all with my upgrades and figure out where things were. I wasn't even planning to get as much as I did. I didn't 100% it, but I got all the Energy Tanks, reaching like 85%. I always imagined that you needed to get things as you went along in order to not make the ending a pain to complete. But I had no issue. Either works.
The other thing I appreciated was the world design and openness, dare I say unmatched by any other Metroid game or otherwise Metroidvania that I've played. For a while, I messed around in Maridia without even having the Grapple Beam or Gravity Suit. I had to wall jump to make my way through (still suck at bomb jumping, though), and I ended exploring much of it. There are speedrunners who skip the Grapple Beam entirely. There are speedrunners who beat the 4 main bosses in reverse order. And Hell, I've only scratched the surface of what I could do; I didn't sequence break very meaningful power-ups for the most part. Because of all of its free design, the game lends itself to multiple playthroughs very well. Some day, I'm gonna have to beat Ridley with less health.
I want to try Randomizers of this game. I want to replay it more. I want to master it. I would even like to speedrun it. There are tons of reasons to appreciate and love this game, and I am very truly glad that I have found them for myself. I need to replay the others too and let this one sink to decide on my favourite and how I would rank them.
Excelente jogo.
Tem o level-design mais CABULOSO que já experienciei. Juntando isso com a atmosfera muito imersiva, a progressão extremamente satisfatória e as ótimas boss-battles, resultam num jogasso da Nintendo.
Parabéns aos desenvolvedores.
O único defeito dele é ter partes muito confusas, por não ter um indicador de onde ir; forçando muito o uso de guias externos. (Ao mesmo tempo que isso é ruim, agrega muito ao fator replay)
Tem o level-design mais CABULOSO que já experienciei. Juntando isso com a atmosfera muito imersiva, a progressão extremamente satisfatória e as ótimas boss-battles, resultam num jogasso da Nintendo.
Parabéns aos desenvolvedores.
O único defeito dele é ter partes muito confusas, por não ter um indicador de onde ir; forçando muito o uso de guias externos. (Ao mesmo tempo que isso é ruim, agrega muito ao fator replay)