better than the first game in every way imaginable, but still not quite 'great'. hit detection is kinda bad at times and the zeta/omega metroids are incredibly annoying, but for its era and its console this game's a certified classic. pretty good controls and pacing and far fewer bullshit traps. the map was fun to run through and things weren't as copypasty as the first game, and it felt like a far far more cohesive experience. the devs have grown, and super metroid's reputation makes me even more excited to finally see how much they improve on more powerful hardware.

A huge step up from the original Metroid. Generally pretty paced well, solid platforming and fun to navigate levels make up for some slow movement.

Biggest problem is definitely how zoomed in it is. I also couldn't imagine playing this on original hardware considering how far spaced the save points are sometimes.

Also serious love to the main exploration theme. It fucking rules

Systematic Genocide Simulator, brought to you by Nintendo. Complete with jump scares, labyrinthian and borderline non-euclidean oppressive spaces to stumble through, bizarre and uncomfortable musical choices, a camera that manages to convey uneasy claustrophobia in a 1991 handheld game, and an ending that gives you the very companion that you set out to kill and makes you contemplate your actions through 5 minutes of uneventful walking set to melancholic yet vaguely friendly music as you realize you're the monster. How did this get made?

Me cuesta decidir si me ha gustado más este o su primera entrega... En algunas cosas mejora claramente al original, en otras está un escalón (o dos) por debajo. Pero al margen de cositas en el control, o la falta de mapa, ha envejecido muy muy bien.

En su narrativa sigue la estela del primero, en este caso totalmente sin texto (en teoría debería traer una pequeña sinopsis en su manual para poner en situación), pues todo lo cuenta a través de su ambientación y gameplay. Cosa que hace muy bien en su final sobre todo.

Visualmente da un salto de calidad claro, aun cambiando los colores por escala de grises (que le da cierto rollito a su ambientación), se nota la mejoría en sus sprites, mucho más detallados y con mayor variedad de animaciones. También una mayor variedad de escenarios.

No tanto en su diseño de niveles, debido a su estructura, donde habrá que derrotar Metroides para desbloquear nuevas zonas, desecha en gran medida el backtracking que caracterizó al original para dar un diseño bastante más lineal. Aun así, sigue premiando la exploración mucho. Muchísimas mejoras y habilidades que podremos ir descubriendo por el mapa, habilidades a las que se suman unas cuantas que serán capitales en la saga y aparecieron aquí por primera vez. Dándole una mayor variedad al gameplay, que no termina de explotar por las limitaciones de HW.

Está claro que algunos aspectos ha envejecido, es lógico. Pero sigue impresionando (y acojonando si te pilla por sorpresa) el encontrarse con algunas fases evolutivas de los Metroides por primera vez, en esa sensación de inmersión, no tiene nada que envidiar al original.

Sí que me ha parecido un poco más fácil el juego y la banda sonara la veo por debajo, no te mete tanto en el gameplay como hacía el primer Metroid y es algo muy importante en este tipo de juegos. Aquí también nos perderemos en más de una ocasión por no tener mapa, pero es más fácil reencontrar el camino correcto, debido a la ya comentada mayor linealidad y sumada a una mayor variedad en los escenarios.

En definitiva, un juego que ha envejecido bastante bien, que se ve como dios para ser una GB y se juega mejor en muchos aspectos al original.

Metroid -> Super Metroid is a commonly discussed evolution of the series and one that is absolutely true, with the start of Super Metroid all but spelling it out for the player. But how about this: Metroid II -> Metroid Fusion is a completely parallel yet similar evolution of taking an older title's unique ideas and modifying them. Both of them offer more linear experiences than the game they preceded (Metroid/Super Metroid) that offer a more "horror" vibe to them and revolve around the idea of hunting, with Fusion having you take the role of the hunted and Metroid II taking the role of the hunter. This dual track of Metroid development is very interesting to consider, but how about the quality of it as a game? Well, I'd call it a game that succeeds in spite of itself.

This game runs a LOT on the general atmosphere and "vibes" of the game, this light horror tension as you're walking through stark white (or puke green if you're playing the original original Game Boy) stone enviroments while waiting to see where you're going to run into the tough boss you're going to be hunting down, seeing their discarded shells or floating awaiting your approach and THIS part of the game is pretty effective. There were multiple times where when I came across a long corridor and would move forward in little bursts so I wouldn't trigger a boss if I wasn't ready health-wise and that kind of feel is exactly what the game feels like it is going for. The final Area is particularly strong at this, nearly empty save for the final enemies and a few secrets. It really gives the feeling of traveling through a ruined and desecrated facility, continuing the Metroid trend of strong enviromental finishes to Metroid games which is what kept the game in the 7 star range for me. The strong music helps in this regard, spooky bit tunes and screeches and lowkey enviromental noises that really set the tone. The title theme is a particularly strong one, the transition from the little "scree....scree..." noises to a more relaxing tone is basically how the game goes, the kinda frantic stomping anger of the final boss theme, the general surface theme. This game really doesn't have a LOT of music but it takes full advantage of the primitive Game Boy sound options to make a pretty memorable OST.

I was also impressed by this game's use of visual langauge and how it made a game without a ton of tile variety quite legible, in addition to servicing the background story. For example, you come to the same tiered tile set of platforms in pretty much every area, which is a visual indicator of being that area's "hub" from which you'll be exploring the other areas for their designated Metroids, which gives an effective way to know when you're in a new area when combined with each area having either a unique flying enemy OR a unique hazard at the bottom of it. Simply by looking to see "oh, is this the one with spikes?" was enough to give me a good idea of where I was via mental map, helping with the total lack of an in-game map. Blast doors you need to use missiles on pretty much always lead to something good, while if they lack the missile doors you're in league for a boss fight. That sort of thing permiates the game and is very helpful.

This is great and all but all runs into some pretty serious flaws in the game. I actually didn't find the boss fights too repetitive, there's enough exploration that it turned into more of my brain tinkering how best to exterminate the next boss which given the hunting / "genocide ALL metroids" theme feels intended, but instead the problem I had is how often the fights just felt like a health/missile check. You simply do not have the mobility with Samus' stiffer Game Boy controls and the chunky sprites vs. the screen size to effectively dodge your opponents, let alone easily hit weak points, meaning that a lot of fights felt to me like spamming missiles while tanking hits and hoping my chunky dodging was enough. The Ai exploitability (which I don't blame them for it's an OG Game Boy game for god's sake) adds to this. It DOES mean some of the fights were quite intense, but it adds a pretty hollow element to a bunch of them. There's also a few of them that just do NOT work right, usually involving long vertical drops, the one with fake blocks was a specific low point as 80% of the fight was just trying to even jump to fight it. The fact that the boss only moves when on screen and the way the music/sound effects work also makes it feel incredibly artificial, just not good.

This dovetails nicely into another issue I had: For some reason this game HATES recharge stations, but it doesn't fully commit as something like Super Metroid would later do by locking you OUT from them until you finish a specific area. Instead it just puts them in horribly awkward locations, like on the ceiling or random crevices, making them really easy to forget location-wise or just take a long time to get to. Some even have enemies that circle them you need to dodge and they'll do like NO damage but force you out of the Spider Ball or Space Jump (which you need to access most of these) and now you have to go through like a whole minute of them to get back there. Why is this a thing? I could understand if it was survival horror style scarcity, but no, not only are they often not locked off, but the game frequently puts farming areas w/ enemies that respawn constantly on screen (compared to leaving and re-entering) for you to get your resources back up, so the scarcity isn't really a "thing". It is a very confused design choice.

The map is mostly easy to navigate, but I will say I ended up looking at a guide three times during the game, although I think only one was really the game's fault. The first time was wholly on me because I thought I had checked an area multiple times but despite knowing what each screen is I apparently didn't jump all the way to the top of one. The last time was just convenience after I died to the final boss to see if the area had health/missile refills or if I had to backtrack. The middle time was because I forgot what area had lava to recede after beating one Metroid batch, which DID feel like an issue as it can be kinda easy to forget where the lava areas are, this isn't too bad but it does feel like this game could use a rudimentary in-game map if possible. Even moreso than Metroid 1 in a way: It's more viable to make an in-game map on your home console Metroid game than the Game Boy one that's absolutely gonna be played on the go constantly.

A few general and short thoughts at the end: The platforming here is very simple and never too challenging, but it is still fun if chunky at times. Annoying how various late-game stuff can be when you do it without the High Jump Boots, which ARE optional and which I never found. Enemies being placed at annoying heights was overly common, especially with flying enemies, where it was hard to find a jumping OR crouching height to hit them. This is a rare game where I feel like it looks better when NOT played on a Game Boy Color, so I recommend that.

Real Life Time: 8 Hours 32 Minutes
In-Game Time: 6 Hours 55 Minutes

A tonal masterpiece that has flawless usage of the hardware it was made for.

I can't explain how the ending made me feel, but the most memorable moment was when you finally see the stars for the first time in the entire game. Beautiful minimalist game that can't be entirely replaced any of the remakes.

-1/2 star because it is mostly unplayable without a map

Might replay in b+w to see how the vibes change

I went to try this game to try and say I've beaten a version of all of the 2D Metroid games.

I'm going to go play AM2R and Samus Returns instead, this game feels fucking gross to play, looks ugly as sin, and the sound effects and "music" were genuinely giving me a headache.

Yuck.

Listen to the most grating music on the planet while losing senseless amounts of energy from enemies that fly into walls where you cant hit them, and then right as you want to stop playing, you kill a Metroid, and see that counter go down, or collect a new item, and you want to keep playing, and that's what that game really nails. By giving you a clear goal, but never telling you how to get there, this game is the only Metroid to really nail that exploration that drives the series, but its still held down by some sloppy controls, bad music, and annoying enemies.

Played on bgb emulator, with EJRTQ color patch.

I played this one a few years back but never finished it til now.
It's one of the more unique entries for sure. I haven't played much of the remakes (only the first hour or so of AM2R), but I think this game's hasn't aged as much as some may claim.

The controls are very tight and the level design is still very good. There may not be any color, but each area packs an impressively dense atmosphere for a Game Boy title. The vast open areas contribute to making each setting feel more like a long-lost civilization, even if they get kinda annoying when you gotta move a lot to explore it all.

The metroid fights get repetitive, but at least they keep you on your toes at all times. I had already been spoiled some encounters, but there were still more than a few that surprised me. I think the small field of view contributes to the feeling of anxiety.

Over all, it's short and its relative linearity makes it feel quite focused, tho I understand if that's boring to some. In all honesty, I think Metroid II holds up quite better than the original Metroid.

it took me ENTIRELY TOO LONG to understand that this is a quintessential video game. my past attempts at plumbing its depths have failed—it felt cramped and clunky compared to super metroid or even the nes original. every so often i would make another failed attempt and come away with the impression that it was one of those "you had to be there" experiences and i had simply missed the boat forever... (i scarcely even knew of it until after i had played SUPER metroid, despite my age (i turned 11 in june of 1991, setting na release dates aside)) which sort of reinforced my uncertainty about its whole appeal, because, i mean, i HAD a game boy and i love and cherish the handheld mario and zelda games of the same era. what was i missing?

maybe first and foremost—and i am certainly not saying anything new or revelatory, here—that cramped screen space is a boon to the claustrophobic atmosphere of this thing, definitively setting it apart from other games in the series. you especially begin to feel this when you've made some progress and begin to hurt for a map, or some indication of where precisely the metroids you've yet to find and defeat may be lurking. the sheer empty darkness of these chasms is both smothering and informative of the barely fathomable scope of the world around you. this rules! metroid 2 is a HORROR game. its music often being sparse gothic dirges, all discordant 4-bit harpsichord, pulse wave doom and skittering alien noises, the vibe is relentlessly eerie. an even spookier precursor to the dank jams of castlevania: harmony of dissonance. it takes you back to a time when nintendo weren't afraid to experiment and make strange, almost avant garde art with their games. this is just about a masterpiece of exemplifying the beauty of technological limitations.

i won't get deep into the storytelling aspects, but one of the more impressive things to me, here, is the fine balance of streamlined, almost arcade game like flow to things (read: yes, it can feel a bit repetitive (though i DO feel this has been overstated, as the quake and lava-lowering that marks its gated progression is actually pretty satisfying when you've been hunting for a while...)) and environmental, cinematic (dialogue-free) storytelling. the events of super metroid resound in my mind now that i have my own experience with the oddly bleak return of samus in there, too.

(note: i played this in retroarch with one of those game boy color shaders that represents the handheld's screen as a frame around the game itself and i 100% recommend this.)

(extra side note: if metroid was inspired by alien, metroid 2 would seem to be obviously inspired by aliens in that it is primarily a mission of extermination... but it also presages the ideas of prometheus—specifically with regard to the fate of the chozo and the engineers and their role in the existence of each's lethal cosmic progeny—in some pretty interesting ways. makes u think.)

Released 5 years after the fact, Metroid II: Return of Samus is a slower and floatier Game Boy sequel that's nevertheless a two-pronged update: One for structure, by replacing the debut's roundabout mystery with more complex areas and a well-defined objective - and the other for gameplay, by adding new combat options and upgrades useful for secret-hunting and platforming alike (e.g. Spider Ball, Space Jump). The result improves upon their model of hostile sci-fi expedition, a slightly more feasible but no less intense effort when compared to the original, only the personality is missing.

It’s a common joke that Samus Aran never hunts bounties. She’s always either stumbling into heroics for free by accident or hired for, essentially, mercenary work by Da Army. The only game where Samus’ work could I think be conceivably considered actual Bounty Hunting is Metroid II: Return of Samus. She’s given her hit list and she trudges down into the depths to do her job.

And what we get out of it is arguably the most ambitious Metroid game to date, clearly pushing the limits of its hardware in terms of delivering a gameplay experience that, similar to its predecessor with the NES, is just clearly beyond the ken of the Gameboy but also accidentally in terms of themes and mood. It’s not a secret that Metroid 2 has gotten the coolguy art gamer reevaluation over the years as a secret death of the author gem but that doesn’t make it work any less well as one.

Samus takes up a huge chunk of the screen. You can barely see where you’re going. You can barely remember where you’ve been. The world isn’t hostile, necessarily; how could it be hostile when you dominate it so powerfully from the very beginning? Samus is untouchable – more agile and powerful than anything she’ll face from the first second to the last as she trudges down, down, ever downward, through endless twisting corridors as she practices the tedious chore of genocide. She only becomes more durable and more powerful as her targets become fewer and more vulnerable to her weaponry.

No, the only resistance is from the world’s indifference, its ambivalence to Samus and her violence, and even then only in the few places where she cannot enforce herself upon it. The only dangers on SR388 are momentary environmental hazards, getting frustrated by disorientation, being frightened by surprise or by unknown sounds. But never by anything remotely similar to what Samus herself brings to the Metroids, to the other fauna she might encounter.

Atmosphere is king in Metroid, and narrative – explicit and implicit – is rarely given much heft in these games, especially early in the series. It’s hard to imagine that Samus, given what we know of her (with her military background, her most frequent contractor being the Federation marines, literally spending all her time with one of her hands replaced with a gun) has spent a lot of time considering the morality of her place in the galactic landscape. She probably doesn’t have to think much about it, since she mostly seems to fight, like, animals and the Space Pirates who do seem like assholes (I don’t have time to go into the absolutely batshit colonialism allegories happening in Prime 2 but that game is a weird can of worms). So I really have to wonder what’s going through her head when she’s struck by the burst of compassion that leads her to spare the last metroid. What’s she thinking about as she makes that long ascent back to the surface with a little buddy who doesn’t know that its mom just butchered its race. Does she think she’s done a kindness? Is she considering the enormity of the act she’s just failed to complete? Are these things she thinks about at all?

I don’t know. Metroid 2 is a masterpiece.

Like it's predecessor, another game that's really good for it's time but hasn't aged well at all and in pretty much every way outside of some minor points the remakes, especially AM2R are just kind of better.

Though I think this game has different strengths and issues compared to the first metroid, on the good side, Samus controls MUCH better in this game than she does in the original, being able to aim in every direction and the physics to the jumps feel nice.

The world is kind of a double edged sword, on one hand, it uses many more unique screens than the original Metroid which had a habit of repeating things constantly. On the other, the game feels much less vast and interesting than the original in my opinion. The Metroid fights aren't very good and there's less cool secrets hidden around the map unlike the first game.

Regardless of that, the strengths of Metroid II are very obvious in what will come 3 years later in Super, the first amazing Metroid game. So I can't say this game is any worse than 1 but I'd consider them equals with very different strengths and weaknesses.

I would definetly try this version out, there's also a pretty cool colorization hack that gives areas a little more of a sense of identity, which is nice. Of course, AM2R and Samus Returns are must plays, but I think you should check out the original first to get an appreciation for it.. It IS only about 5 hours long!

This is a lesser Metroid graded without a curve but, considering the hardware limitations, I enjoyed Metroid II quite a bit.

The music is among the best on the Game Boy, with special shoutouts to the end credits and the weird ambient track that plays in one of the earlier levels. Good sound effects, as well.

The main issue is the exacerbated 'hunt and peck' of breakable wall tiles to reveal important upgrades. They do give you hints about a lot of the issues but, with no map, it's just a drag to fumble around for this stuff.

It's a problem that does feel in keeping with Metroid tradition, though; the game feels like a Metroid entry. By the end, when you're screw attack infinite jumping through long corridors, it's just a blast to go through. The variety of Metroid bosses feel like a real dangerous escalation and the bonus tactic of tummy blasting the Queen feels like a fun addition.

If you're will to connect with the history on this one, it's short enough to be worth it despite the drawbacks.