A very cool update to the original Metroid, making it feel a bit more of a filled-out experience with added bosses, maybe none of which are all that amazing, but at least Kraid and Ridley are less stat-checky now. The game actually does a nice amount of work keeping as much of the original atmosphere intact, with a lot of the environmental spritework being dark or even strikingly black like on the NES.
There is something to be missed out on, because enemies are a lot more manageable in this one, and that on top of Samus having a lot more finesse with her movement means this is less of a nail-biter than the original Metroid, when if anything I feel like the difficulty could've been kept since we have a good saving system that doesn't reset you back to 30 energy after you die.
I could also take or leave the added "epilogue" bit. On one hand, there was something almost kinda haunting and mysterious about acquiring items that aren't compatible with your suit. But it almost feels like an anticlimax to just find out they're old familiars that are locked away until you're basically at the final boss' doorstep. The catharsis of plowing through pirates after putting up with a stealth section was nice, but narratively I'm not sure how much it adds. It's the type of Metroid mythos I'm less of a fan of, and feels like it's weirdly there just to be all "See, THIS is how Samus' shoulder pauldrons got huge". Like, okay? And? Who actually cared that Metroid 1 Varia Suit didn't have the big shoulders?
Getting a bunch of upgrades at the last minute also means you gotta get off the pirate ship, go back to Zebes, and do a victory lap to get all the items you couldn't the first time through, and that just sorta killed my interest in 100%ing it. It's got neat and really tricky puzzles to get everything, but eh.
A worthy remake of the original that acts as a cool expansion, even if some of it feels like excess. And if nothing else, it comes with Metroid 1 on the cart, if you REALLY insist.
There is something to be missed out on, because enemies are a lot more manageable in this one, and that on top of Samus having a lot more finesse with her movement means this is less of a nail-biter than the original Metroid, when if anything I feel like the difficulty could've been kept since we have a good saving system that doesn't reset you back to 30 energy after you die.
I could also take or leave the added "epilogue" bit. On one hand, there was something almost kinda haunting and mysterious about acquiring items that aren't compatible with your suit. But it almost feels like an anticlimax to just find out they're old familiars that are locked away until you're basically at the final boss' doorstep. The catharsis of plowing through pirates after putting up with a stealth section was nice, but narratively I'm not sure how much it adds. It's the type of Metroid mythos I'm less of a fan of, and feels like it's weirdly there just to be all "See, THIS is how Samus' shoulder pauldrons got huge". Like, okay? And? Who actually cared that Metroid 1 Varia Suit didn't have the big shoulders?
Getting a bunch of upgrades at the last minute also means you gotta get off the pirate ship, go back to Zebes, and do a victory lap to get all the items you couldn't the first time through, and that just sorta killed my interest in 100%ing it. It's got neat and really tricky puzzles to get everything, but eh.
A worthy remake of the original that acts as a cool expansion, even if some of it feels like excess. And if nothing else, it comes with Metroid 1 on the cart, if you REALLY insist.