Unbelievably impressive for a Game Boy title from 1991, with the constraints of the platform (the small, colorless screen, the limited sound engine) making Metroid II claustrophobic and eerie in a manner not quite like any of the later games in the series. The gameplay is also much more palatable by modern standards than the original Metroid, with more flexible combat, and an actual save system that neutralizes the frustration of grinding for energy/missiles after death that was present in the previous game. There are still a number of shortcomings compared to the rest of the Metroid series; the monochrome graphics are neat, but the repetition of the environments combined with the lack of a map means that navigating SR388, despite the world being linear in comparison to other entries, can be a slog. Glad I finally tackled this one and have seen its many improvements over the first game, and I'm excited to get to my major blind spots (Super Metroid, the Prime trilogy...) in the future.

Unbelievably impressive for a Game Boy title from 1991, with the constraints of the platform (the small, colorless screen, the limited sound engine) making Metroid II claustrophobic and eerie in a manner not quite like any of the later games in the series. The gameplay is also much more palatable by modern standards than the original Metroid, with more flexible combat, and an actual save system that neutralizes the frustration of grinding for energy/missiles after death that was present in the previous game. There are still a number of shortcomings compared to the rest of the Metroid series; the monochrome graphics are neat, but the repetition of the environments combined with the lack of a map means that navigating SR388, despite the world being linear in comparison to other entries, can be a slog. Glad I finally tackled this one and have seen its many improvements over the first game, and I'm excited to get to my major blind spots (Super Metroid, the Prime trilogy...) in the future.