Metroid is one of my favorite franchises of all time, and my second favorite one from Nintendo right after Kirby. Sure, I haven't played all of the games yet, but for all the ones that I have played, I have thoroughly enjoyed. For the first game in the series, I found it to be... alright. I am definitely spoiled for playing the future games before this one, but for the beginning of the series, it does a pretty good job at setting things up.

The story is simple, yet effective at getting you up and going, the gameplay is simple, and very addicting as you keep going, the music is iconic and very memorable, the controls are pretty tight and responsive, the combat is simple and effective, albeit a bit annoying, the upgrades you get are very helpful, the boss fights are... certainly boss fights, and there is plenty of replay value for the different endings and seeing if you miss anything.

However, this game does certainly have its problems. It is a guide game, without a doubt. Sure, you can find a majority of important items and upgrades on your own, but there are certainly a handful of stuff you won't be finding without a guide. Not to mention, you can't have all upgrades at once. You can only take either the wave beam or the ice beam, not both at once, which sucks, but I can kinda understand why that is like that. Aside from that, the game also suffers a lot from first game syndrome, such as having certain upgrades seeming unnecessary, and the fact you start at 30 health every time you start.

Overall, while not the best start to a franchise, it is still a classic of the NES library, and it has aged very well over time. Just, you know, it would be better if you played the remake, or the future games.

Game #17

They fucked it up with the next entry. Ok, well, I wouldn't say that, because this is certainly not a bad game whatsoever, but HOO MAN... there is a reason why it is the black sheep of the Zelda franchise. It just seems like, back in the days of the NES, it was a requirement for game companies to make sequels to their games that were almost COMPLETELY different from the original, and not always for the better.

The story is once again simple, yet effective, the graphics are very nice, and a decent improvement from the original game, the music is once again iconic, but not as much so as the original, the gameplay, while different, does work when you get the hang of it, and can be fun at times, the different NPCs and quirks are fun to see, the dungeons are varied enough and a challenge to get through, the bosses are tough, yet doable, and the different abilities that you get are fun to experiment with.

The one major issue with this game, and I mean MAJOR, is the difficulty. This game is EXTREMELY HARD, and as someone who plays hard as hell NES games regularly, this game still gives me a lot of trouble to this day. Sure, it isn't impossible, but given how sporadic the enemies are, the amount of damage and hits you take in so little time, and the fact you have lives, where if you lose them all, you get sent BACK TO THE BEGINNING of the game... it can grate on you after a while. Also, it is once again a bit of a guide game, but that doesn't bother me as much as the other issue.

Overall, while I wouldn't at all consider this a bad game, it is very frustrating to beat, and it can get to you a lot of the time. However, when you look past all of that, it is still fun, and a neat little experiment in the Zelda series.

Game #16

There is a reason why this game single handedly reinvented and popularized the adventure genre, as almost everything about it is iconic and works. Sure, it has aged overtime, but then again, really, what game from 1986 hasn't aged at least a little bit?

The story is simple, yet effective, the graphics are dated, yet iconic, the music is legendary, albeit not too varied, the control is pretty decent, the gameplay is very fun and challenging, the world is massive and has a lot to do, especially for an NES game, and the fact that there is a SAVE FEATURE. Believe it or not, that was a huge deal back in the day.

If I had one complaint about the game, it is definitely what I would call a guide game. Sure, you can find a lot of the stuff in the game easily by just exploring around, but if you really want to go out of your way for 100%, then you will have to break out one to find everything. Not to mention, the dungeons are a little repetitive and the bosses are very easy, but those things didn't bother me too much.

Overall, it is a definitive classic of the NES library, and a fantastic start to one of Nintendo's most iconic franchises. Let's just hope they don't try to fuck up the next entry at all.

Game #15

If it wasn't for the presence of the big ape himself, along with the title of the game, you can barely tell that this is a Donkey Kong game. It is so vastly different compared to the last two games in terms of plot (or lack thereof), gameplay and characters. Although, that isn't all that bad, as the graphics are fine, the music is fine, and I don't really hate the characters in the game. The gameplay is where things go south, as it is very repetitive, which you could say about the last two games as well, but at least they had varied level design, while this one barely changes anything in between them. Not to mention, it is piss easy, as if you get going immediately upon the stage starting, you will easily spray Donkey Kong up to the top in 2-3 seconds. Not even joking. Overall, while I wouldn't say this is a bad game, it's not really that memorable either. And be honest, who even remembers who the he'll Stanley the Bugman is?

Game #14

As the sequel to Donkey Kong, this is an alright follow-up. The game is essentially a role reversal of the last one, where Mario is now the villain, and DK Jr. has to save the original Donkey Kong, except this time around, it isn't as good. The graphics are good enough, the music is good, the designs are cartoony and fun to look at, and the gameplay is... frustrating. Climbing instead of jumping isn't as fun, and it can be a struggle, especially with how fast you go down and up, depending on what position you are on the vines. Overall though, it is an acceptable sequel to the original game, but not one I would go out of my way to play again.

Game #13

As the true start to Nintendo's uprising, this was a pretty good start. Sure, the game may be extremely short, but it is an unforgettable arcade title that introduced the world to two of gaming's most iconic characters. The graphics still hold up, the gameplay is simple, yet fun, the music is simple and catchy, the levels are fun to traverse through, and once you get the hang of it, the difficulty is not too challenging or too easy. If I had one complaint about this game, it would be the fact that you have fall damage. That's it, literally, because that's just dumb. Overall though, it is still a great arcade classic.

Game #11

As the very first handheld Mario game, it does a pretty decent job at bringing the classic gameplay onto a simple Game Boy. Sure, it may not be the most jam-packed entry in the series, and it is very weird, but it still provides a decent amount of fun for the most part.

The story is... well, what do you think?, the gameplay is fun enough, the controls are fine except for your momentum, which makes you go from 0 to 100 in a split second, the music is simple yet catchy, the variety in gameplay, while there isn't much, is nice to see, the boss fights are incredibly easy, and speaking of easy, this game is VERY easy once you get a hang of it.

Out of all of this though, my one big complaint about this game is that it is WAY too short. It only has 4 worlds with 4 levels a piece, and you can beat every single one in about 30 minutes if you are good enough. I know it is a very early Game Boy game, so I can't complain about this too much, but it is still a bummer.

Overall, it is a neat little time waste, and there are definitely worse options in terms of platformers on the Game Boy.

Oh yeah, this game also introduced Daisy. That's also pretty cool.

Game #7

This is my favorite 2D Mario game of all time. I know there are many others that people would swear by, like Super Mario World, or maybe even the newer games, but to me, this is the PERFECT 2D Mario game in my eyes.

The story is what you would expect from a Mario game, so no need to go into it, the gameplay is fast and incredibly fun, the controls are heaven, the graphics are great, the art style is very appealing, the music is catchy and iconic, the powerups are incredibly fun to use, the levels are really fun to run through, with something different about each one, the difficulty is just right for me, and the game is much longer than the previous games, giving you a lot to do before you are done with it.

If I could complain about anything, I could say it is kind of annoying how there is no way to save your progress or use a password, especially since this game is kinda lengthy, but that doesn't really bother me that much, as I usually finish it in one sitting whenever I play through it again.

Overall, while there have been many other great 2D Mario games before and since this one, I will probably always consider this game to be my absolute favorite out of all of them, and a must play for anyone who is a fan of the series.

Game #6

As the "fake" Mario 2, it does a surprisingly good job at following up the original game, and providing a fun, unique experience. Sure, it may be different from every other Mario game released before and after this, but it still manages to be memorable and influential to the series after all this time.

The story is different, yet still simple, the gameplay is fun, the controls are tight, the choice of characters is nice and varied, the different abilities they have make you wanna experiment with each one, the music is catchy and iconic, the boss fights are varied and challenging, and the difficulty gives you a good, fair curve throughout.

Overall, despite not being a "true" Mario game, it still provides a pretty fun experience, and I would definitely recommend for any Mario fan to try out at least once.

Also, no, I've never played Doki Doki Panic, in case you were wondering, and I probably never will.

Game #5