MercurySteam did a pretty good job with this. It’s not ambidextrous by any means, but the addition of 360 degree aiming and the counterattack were brilliant, even if the latter was overused. They both make so much sense in terms of how Samus interacts with SR388. There are basic enemies and metroids attacking you from every angle possible, and being able to fight enemies in a completely new way is really refreshing. It’s also probably the most challenging 2D Metroid in the series too. It’s not like old school Metroid, where save rooms are few and far between. A big draw of old school Metroid is the building tension of making it to that next save point while your health and ammo is whittled away by small enemies. In Samus Returns, you’re never too far from a save point, but enemies hit HARD. even on the normal difficulty, there are little bitches that’ll take away a whole energy tank with one attack, and I found myself dying a lot.
For a 3DS game, it’s gorgeous. I love Samus’ angular, top heavy new look, and I love how detailed and inspired the areas are. It reminded me a lot of DKC Tropical Freeze, where it really felt like there was a whole world to explore just in the backdrops. I wasn’t able to see the 3D in action but I’ve heard it’s really good so I’ll just believe it.
I think the game’s biggest problem stems from the fact that it’s just Metroid 2. The fights against the metroids can all get very repetitive since you’ll be fighting them in different stages of their evolution the further you progress. But you’re still fighting each version of them what feels like ten times each. It’s tiring. They added a few new non-Metroid fights that I really enjoyed (yeah I kinda enjoyed the robot fight), but if I’m being completely honest I think AM2R goes the extra mile in this category. It also reuses a ton of music and sound effects from the series, mostly from Metroid Prime. It’s really cool at first glance, hearing the missle tank sound effect and the Magmoor Caverns theme, but the further I got into the game the more I felt like it was watering down it’s own identity by not having any memorable original tracks.
Overall I think this game is really solid for MercurySteam’s first go at this franchise. Obviously Nintendo trusts them enough to continue the mainline series, and after playing Samus Returns, I think I do too. Can’t wait for Dread.
For a 3DS game, it’s gorgeous. I love Samus’ angular, top heavy new look, and I love how detailed and inspired the areas are. It reminded me a lot of DKC Tropical Freeze, where it really felt like there was a whole world to explore just in the backdrops. I wasn’t able to see the 3D in action but I’ve heard it’s really good so I’ll just believe it.
I think the game’s biggest problem stems from the fact that it’s just Metroid 2. The fights against the metroids can all get very repetitive since you’ll be fighting them in different stages of their evolution the further you progress. But you’re still fighting each version of them what feels like ten times each. It’s tiring. They added a few new non-Metroid fights that I really enjoyed (yeah I kinda enjoyed the robot fight), but if I’m being completely honest I think AM2R goes the extra mile in this category. It also reuses a ton of music and sound effects from the series, mostly from Metroid Prime. It’s really cool at first glance, hearing the missle tank sound effect and the Magmoor Caverns theme, but the further I got into the game the more I felt like it was watering down it’s own identity by not having any memorable original tracks.
Overall I think this game is really solid for MercurySteam’s first go at this franchise. Obviously Nintendo trusts them enough to continue the mainline series, and after playing Samus Returns, I think I do too. Can’t wait for Dread.
AnonymousKaiju
2 years ago