I went into this game with tempered expectations as I was cautious of how the game would hold up. Despite how much I respect its ambition and how ahead of its time it was, I found Metroid 1 to range from mildly enjoyable to moderately frustrating, so I was pretty skeptical on how a successor on the Gameboy would stack up…after playing it, I am glad to have had my concerns proved wrong. Very wrong in fact, as this is a fantastic game, a huge step up from its predecessor and the game that made me a real fan of Metroid.

The first substantial improvement over the first game is the controls. Samus is now able to shoot below herself when in midair and can take a stationary crouched position to shoot knee-high targets, making it so combat is more like fighting enemies and less like fighting the limited controls.

There are ten save stations around the map, though two are very close to each other so functionally there are nine. I think it can be a little bit too hard to come by one, but overall, it works fine, and I much prefer it over Metroid 1’s password system. There are also refueling stations placed about, they come in handy but are too few and far between to be able to lean on.

Metroid wouldn’t be Metroid without upgrades and Metroid II not only keeps the old ones but brings in some new blood with the spider-ball and the space-jump. The spider ball lets Samus cling to surfaces while in morph-ball mode and traverse walls and ceilings which adds some nice verticality to exploration. The space-jump serves as its more mobile late game equivalent, letting Samus be able to jump repeatedly while in midair, infinitely if your timing is good. I don’t think a single other powerup in Metroid’s history feels as satisfying to get as the space-jump, though the screw-attack comes second due to how well it synergizes with the space-jump.

What I believe to be the most important quality of a Metroid game is its exploration and world design…and the Metroid community’s most common complaint about Metroid II is regarding its exploration and world design…specifically, its different approach to entries in the series both preceding and succeeding it. The player has to enter and complete each zone in a specific order with backtracking being largely absent, once you are done with an area you typically never have to set foot in it again and what few revisits there are, are very brief. Though, each zone lets you explore in a non-linear manner within its confines. I think this direction is perfect for the game when accounting for the often-forgotten fact that this was made for the Gameboy, a handheld console most owners would typically use in car rides, on breaks or during recess. Having a giant intertwined world with backtracking large distances like Metroid 1 is a little bit demanding for a system people would typically play for shorter time frames. add the fact that the first Metroid was already difficult to navigate while having the advantage of being on a home console where most people would typically have longer more dedicated play-sessions than a handheld, a more bite-sized approach to the world that still embraces non-linearity works best for the Gameboy, while still keeping what makes Metroid…well, Metroid!

The second most common complaint about Metroid II is how zoomed in the camera is. I view it in a similar vein to Resident Evil’s fixed camera angles, where the game is designed specifically to obscure the players vision. Vision is one of your strongest and most reliable abilities in a game, so to have that limited makes you more vulnerable. The game takes something away from you. This would normally be annoying in something like an action game or a shooter, but with horror it adds to the experience. Metroid II, whether you find it scary or not, is a horror game. It turns what was a limitation of the hardware into a way to build dread. When you find the shed remains of a recently hatched mutant Metroid, you know its near, but not exactly where it is or when it will attack, having to keep begrudgingly inching forward, not knowing when it’s going to pop into view.

Both the story and objective of the game revolve around hunting Metroids. the Metroids, while being a plot point in Metroid 1 and the series namesake, I’d argue this is their first real game in the spotlight. When you first land on SR-388 you enter a cave and explore for a bit, then eventually find a Metroid, but unlike previous encounters with one, this one starts to mutate. It jettisons its old form for one resistant to the ice beam at the cost of a very weak underbelly. As you dive further into the planets depths finding upgrades and progressing, you find more and more Metroids, some being even further along their mutation process, getting more agile and deadly. while fighting the Metroids can be range from an intense, erratic scuffle to a complete mess depending on the arena design, I ultimately enjoy their presence throughout the game and even the worst of the fights are better than any of the bosses in Metroid 1.

I really adore the environmental story telling throughout the game, especially near the end just before the Metroid nest where there are no enemies besides the Metroids to convey how invasive they are to SR-388’s ecosystem. It really sells the sense of urgency in hunting the Metroids before they mutate to a stage too strong for you to stop and eventually take over the planet in its entirety.

Metroid II is extremely ambitious for a horror game on the Gameboy and it’s even more impressive that it manages to achieve what it does. It has an intensely strong sense of identity and stands as both a huge improvement from Metroid 1 on almost every front and as a great game in its own right.

Maybe the most underrated game of its era.