I feel like I enjoyed this game more than most. More of a reboot of Metroid 2 than a remake, especially after playing Dread does it become clear how this is essentially just a prequel to that game above all else. The gameplay is pretty great, I love the combat (melee counter mostly) and the bosses are pretty fun. I also really enjoyed a lot of the new additions, especially the new final boss... The soundtrack was quite lacking though, a theme which unfortunately continues in Metroid Dread.
MERCURY STEAM HQ, 2015:
“Alright team, time to plan this Metroid II remake. And I want to say up front: there’s no bad ideas in brainstorming! So, what‘s on your mind?”
“Hmm…well first, how about we make the game look like dogshit? Just real gross. Muddy colors, weird blurry lighting and totally indistinct area themes. I want the player to feel totally lost in an endless maze of poop caves. And while we’re at it, since past Metroid games did such a good job immersing the player in their worlds, what if for this one we took the opposite approach. Shoot for a really unconvincing 2.5D aesthetic with incredibly blocky level design, that way the player is constantly reminded they’re playing a game. Like, the monochrome Gameboy original should feel more immersive than this.”
“That’s brilliant, Dave. Sarah, you had your hand up?”
“Yeah well I was just thinking, what if we made the level design like, way worse? Metroid II split its map into these open, easy-to-digest chunks that have aged pretty well all things considered. So why not throw all that bullshit in the trash and replace it for something really cramped and labyrinthine? Just really arduous to navigate, make exploring feel like a hassle. Maybe instead of interesting power-up gating we also could just fill the map with power bomb tiles, so exploration just becomes a dull game of spamming the scan pulse every few steps.”
“I like where your head is at, Sarah. Who else?”
“Well while we’re talking about the original, I’ve been looking at some reviews and it seems like a common complaint with that game was that the Metroid boss fights got kind of monotonous after a while. So I was thinking—and hear me out on this one—what if we made each Metroid encounter take like twice as long? And not because it’s any more engaging or anything, just way more tedious. Like, half of their new attacks make them invincible so most of the fight is just running around wasting missiles while you wait for an opening. And then make the player do that 50 times. Maybe instead of having them ambush you in interesting locations we could also just place each one in a big game-y boss arena and give the player a grating beeping notification every time they’re near one. You know, that way they never feel any sense of surprise or any illusion this is a believable fragile ecosystem and not a checklist of Goombas for them to stop. It’s not like that’s thematically important to Metroid II or anything.”
“Goddamnit Brian, you’re a loose cannon, but maybe that’s just exactly we need for this project. What next?”
“Well, grinding for health and ammo was always really annoying in previous games. So let’s exhaust that by really spreading out the recharge stations. That way if you need a refill after a boss you have to run around the entire area. Oh, and then let’s make enemies not always respawn when you leave a room, so when you inevitably do have to farm it’s super inconvenient. Fuck it, let’s even add a third type of meter while we’re at it to triple the grinding!”
“I’m gonna be honest Larry I didn’t 100% make out what you said because I was doing coke off Brian’s desk, but fuckin sure dude put it in the game!”
“Hey boss, I was just replaying the GBA games and noticed how fluid their combat felt. So I was thinking for our game we could add this melee counter move to really fuck up the pacing. That way instead of being able to quickly move and shoot your way through enemies, every single goddamn one requires you to stop in your tracks and wait for their attack animation to start so you can do your stupid fucking parry move. Y’know, that way the movement and exploration never get too exciting. Wouldn’t want that in a Metroid game! Then let’s make every enemy have a ton of health when you try to kill them without the parry so players are locked into having to play this way. And—what the hell—let’s not improve enemy variety at all, so you’re stuck seeing the same 20 or so guys without any change in strategy the whole time.”
“Leslie, you son of a bitch. I think you’ve just cracked this thing wide open. In fact, I’m giving you a raise and some of this desk cocaine.”
Did not complete
“Alright team, time to plan this Metroid II remake. And I want to say up front: there’s no bad ideas in brainstorming! So, what‘s on your mind?”
“Hmm…well first, how about we make the game look like dogshit? Just real gross. Muddy colors, weird blurry lighting and totally indistinct area themes. I want the player to feel totally lost in an endless maze of poop caves. And while we’re at it, since past Metroid games did such a good job immersing the player in their worlds, what if for this one we took the opposite approach. Shoot for a really unconvincing 2.5D aesthetic with incredibly blocky level design, that way the player is constantly reminded they’re playing a game. Like, the monochrome Gameboy original should feel more immersive than this.”
“That’s brilliant, Dave. Sarah, you had your hand up?”
“Yeah well I was just thinking, what if we made the level design like, way worse? Metroid II split its map into these open, easy-to-digest chunks that have aged pretty well all things considered. So why not throw all that bullshit in the trash and replace it for something really cramped and labyrinthine? Just really arduous to navigate, make exploring feel like a hassle. Maybe instead of interesting power-up gating we also could just fill the map with power bomb tiles, so exploration just becomes a dull game of spamming the scan pulse every few steps.”
“I like where your head is at, Sarah. Who else?”
“Well while we’re talking about the original, I’ve been looking at some reviews and it seems like a common complaint with that game was that the Metroid boss fights got kind of monotonous after a while. So I was thinking—and hear me out on this one—what if we made each Metroid encounter take like twice as long? And not because it’s any more engaging or anything, just way more tedious. Like, half of their new attacks make them invincible so most of the fight is just running around wasting missiles while you wait for an opening. And then make the player do that 50 times. Maybe instead of having them ambush you in interesting locations we could also just place each one in a big game-y boss arena and give the player a grating beeping notification every time they’re near one. You know, that way they never feel any sense of surprise or any illusion this is a believable fragile ecosystem and not a checklist of Goombas for them to stop. It’s not like that’s thematically important to Metroid II or anything.”
“Goddamnit Brian, you’re a loose cannon, but maybe that’s just exactly we need for this project. What next?”
“Well, grinding for health and ammo was always really annoying in previous games. So let’s exhaust that by really spreading out the recharge stations. That way if you need a refill after a boss you have to run around the entire area. Oh, and then let’s make enemies not always respawn when you leave a room, so when you inevitably do have to farm it’s super inconvenient. Fuck it, let’s even add a third type of meter while we’re at it to triple the grinding!”
“I’m gonna be honest Larry I didn’t 100% make out what you said because I was doing coke off Brian’s desk, but fuckin sure dude put it in the game!”
“Hey boss, I was just replaying the GBA games and noticed how fluid their combat felt. So I was thinking for our game we could add this melee counter move to really fuck up the pacing. That way instead of being able to quickly move and shoot your way through enemies, every single goddamn one requires you to stop in your tracks and wait for their attack animation to start so you can do your stupid fucking parry move. Y’know, that way the movement and exploration never get too exciting. Wouldn’t want that in a Metroid game! Then let’s make every enemy have a ton of health when you try to kill them without the parry so players are locked into having to play this way. And—what the hell—let’s not improve enemy variety at all, so you’re stuck seeing the same 20 or so guys without any change in strategy the whole time.”
“Leslie, you son of a bitch. I think you’ve just cracked this thing wide open. In fact, I’m giving you a raise and some of this desk cocaine.”
Did not complete
kind of fun as shit
The pinned comment on the Geek Critique review of this game is so good. Remake itself is fun. Problems with the game mainly come from the stuff in Metroid 2. Bosses are real fun, though I wish the counter system wasn't needed for basically everything. The 3d slider on Samus Returns is one of the best uses of 3d on the system. The controls feel a bit cramped stuck on the 3ds, especially when I have to start using the touchscreen
A pleasant surprise since everyone thought Nintendo had forgotten about Metroid 2. This game basically made Metroid 2 more accessible and fluid to play by modern game standards. New content, mechanics (like the melee counter which is really fun to use but reduces many enemy encounters to quick dispersions) and some quality of life features added in to make the game all the more enjoyable. Regardless, it is still a game designed originally on the GameBoy, so many of the design choices aren't particularly great. However, this game isn't necessarily at fault for that since it is a faithful reimagining/remake.
i was excited to play this after zero mission but this game SUCKS they took a fun exploration game and tried to make it combat focused but the combat isn't actually good all the enemies are just health sponges and waiting around for melee counters gets boring really really fast
Mechanically sound but absolutely tone deaf in its presentation. It's a fun remix upon Metroid II, but an obnoxious and out of place REMEMBER ME? OST, along with metroids that flee between arenas, plus the epilogue being replaced with a final stretch of run&gun, mean I can't recommend Samus Returns as a replacement for Metroid II. The game is still plenty fun though, and an easy recommend for Metroidvania addicts. If however you haven't played any version of Metroid II before, I recommend the original with the GBC palette that was specifically added to the hardware for Metroid II, or a colorization romhack.
Another good Metroid game. I especially enjoyed the boss fights. But it's all in the details when it comes to such a consistent series and that's where this remake drops the ball for me. The atmosphere has been obliterated by the sound design. Everything makes too much noise. Remixed nostalgia tracks are distracting. The unique intro theme has been replaced with the classic one. Worst of all, the beautiful ending is ruined by enemies that drone out the music and take away from the moment.
Not as good as AM2R or hell even the best of 2D Metroid like Super, Fusion, Zero Mission, and especially Dread but still a lot of fun, I can't wait to finally replay Dread sometime here soon.
This review contains spoilers
For a first Metroid experience, it was good. As a metroidvania fan I enjoyed it, but some things bothered me. The exploration is not so smooth in my opinion, and the map definetely lack some interconnectivity.
It's interesting to me that the game's quality peaked towards the final areas. They seemed more well-thought and functional.
And the boss variety... yeah, we fight dozens of those jellyfish-like aliens and lizards. Three unique bosses overall.
The power-ups are ok, but only in the late-game I felt more freedom of combat and exploration. Some of them needed to appear earlier in the game. And one in particular was barely useful.
Good game with flaws. It took me months to finish it because of the clunky experience sometimes, but ok. It'll be quite some time before I revisit this game.
It's interesting to me that the game's quality peaked towards the final areas. They seemed more well-thought and functional.
And the boss variety... yeah, we fight dozens of those jellyfish-like aliens and lizards. Three unique bosses overall.
The power-ups are ok, but only in the late-game I felt more freedom of combat and exploration. Some of them needed to appear earlier in the game. And one in particular was barely useful.
Good game with flaws. It took me months to finish it because of the clunky experience sometimes, but ok. It'll be quite some time before I revisit this game.
This review contains spoilers
Metroid go one game without Ridley challenge
The movement isn’t as fluid as you’d hope for a Metroid game and the bosses can drag due to repetition. This is still a good remake of an otherwise mostly inaccessible game, and it sets a very sturdy foundation for Dread’s improvements to the mechanics.
Buen juego y buen metroid, sin embargo es el más flojo de la saga clásica
Never played the original but this was fun. Really liked the gradual inversion of every Metroid posing a significant threat to eventually hunting them down and dominating the fights. The last few bosses were a bit too frustrating, always feeling like they had just a little too much health.
i for one am very glad that samus returned
It's ok. AM2R is better, still.
honestamente eu acho muito broxante o fato dele ser dividido em areas com objetivos bem lineares tipo muito mesmo agora a jogabilidade é otima e os bosses tbm
Smooth gameplay.
Muito Foda :)
(TOP 5 Metroidvanias já feitos)
(TOP 5 Metroidvanias já feitos)
Un remake sorprendente, mejora el original en todos los aspectos.
Replaying this after Dread feels wrong.
My first 2 hours of the game were just straight up boring. The enemies are repetitive especially collecting Metroids that don't evolve much early on.
I was about to put the game down until I slogged through the third area and got to area four. This is when things started picking up with a bigger variety of power ups and bosses. This game has some really good exploration overall. The parry mechanic feels great but is abusive and the Aeion abilities bring an interesting twist to the series. I used scan pulse as minimally as I could but the other abilities felt fun to use.
For what it's worth, I enjoyed every boss fight off the game (not including Metroids besides the Queen and Omega). I did not feel the same with Fusion. This game is also the lengthiest out the others.
This game is a good basis for what's to come. I haven't played Dread yet but I'm super excited based on what I've been hearing. The 2D series is in the hands of a good studio.
I was about to put the game down until I slogged through the third area and got to area four. This is when things started picking up with a bigger variety of power ups and bosses. This game has some really good exploration overall. The parry mechanic feels great but is abusive and the Aeion abilities bring an interesting twist to the series. I used scan pulse as minimally as I could but the other abilities felt fun to use.
For what it's worth, I enjoyed every boss fight off the game (not including Metroids besides the Queen and Omega). I did not feel the same with Fusion. This game is also the lengthiest out the others.
This game is a good basis for what's to come. I haven't played Dread yet but I'm super excited based on what I've been hearing. The 2D series is in the hands of a good studio.
My hands hurt after playing on 3DS
Mercury steam got their chance and didint miss. Boss variety is the only qualm but thats more of it being a remake of a GB game so I can allow it
The parry is a great addition to Samus’ moveset and I enjoyed the game overall, but I haven’t felt any desire to go back to it since I beat it and forgot almost everything about it within a few days. It’s by far MecurySteam’s best game though, which, depending on how you feel about the rest of their catalogue, might not mean much to you.
Explorar o cenário é tão gostoso que pela primeira vez fiz questão de pegar todos os itens e fazer 100%!
É um remake excelente, uma das pérolas do 3DS e obrigatório pra quem é fã da franquia!
É um remake excelente, uma das pérolas do 3DS e obrigatório pra quem é fã da franquia!
I ended up playing this game shortly before Dread came out and honestly I don't think I should have as Dread ended up taking a very lot from this game's mechanics. The biggest feature about this game was the map reveal feature, which made this the easiest experience I could have ever had attempting to 100% a Metroid game which in the past felt like a huge chore. Now instead of knowing where to go, the challenge was knowing how to get there. Felt like a natural evolution from what was left behind in Metroid Fusion
controls felt awful but game was gud overall
Otimo jogo, me fez pegar interesse pela franquia e em seguida comprei o dread
Honestly... extremely overrated. Played it once, never wanted to return. Just an extremely mid game the whole time. The melee counter was too overused and it made gameplay so stop-and-go.