facing_w0rlds
Gameplay-wise, easily one of the best Metroid games. It's surprising how this hadn't been done earlier by Nintendo, this really is just a 'greatest hits' type of game where they pull together all of the cool abilities and weapons to make the best-controlling Samus yet.
The graphics/sound look good especially considering what resources they had to work with but something feels a little off, I can't quite put my finger on it. My gut tells me there are a lot of minor art style inconsistencies and pixel art errors that stop things looking as smooth as they should be. The soundtrack and general atmosphere also didn't really inspire any sense of exploration to me and I wish there were some more horror-inspired moments. Super Metroid is kind of a scary game when you go back to it, but this takes more cues from Zero Mission which felt more like an action-adventure. I think SM's atmosphere suits the large map and focus on exploration a lot better.
None of the above took away from just how fucking good it feels to control Samus this time. The challenge level here is higher than most Metroid games so it's great that the controls are up there to match.
The graphics/sound look good especially considering what resources they had to work with but something feels a little off, I can't quite put my finger on it. My gut tells me there are a lot of minor art style inconsistencies and pixel art errors that stop things looking as smooth as they should be. The soundtrack and general atmosphere also didn't really inspire any sense of exploration to me and I wish there were some more horror-inspired moments. Super Metroid is kind of a scary game when you go back to it, but this takes more cues from Zero Mission which felt more like an action-adventure. I think SM's atmosphere suits the large map and focus on exploration a lot better.
None of the above took away from just how fucking good it feels to control Samus this time. The challenge level here is higher than most Metroid games so it's great that the controls are up there to match.
2005
Gorgeous and unique little game. I can still remember so many images and scenes years later. Left an impression on me despite being extremely straightforward to play.
Some cool additions to Postal 2 with more irritating mission design. Glad these got merged into the main game with future updates.
A sweet little duology of upgraded iOS titles from the Llamasoft lads. GoatUp is still awesome, though if you played these games already back in the day then there isn't much new here but I will absolutely revisit this when I get a VR headset because that's clearly a big part of the appeal of this port.
*checks VR headset prices*
...
See you in 5 years!
*checks VR headset prices*
...
See you in 5 years!
A bit repetitive and graphically far less interesting than Gridrunner++ or the iOS version. A shame because the gravity gimmick with spinning bullets around black holes and getting extra points the more they angle around to their target is a cool idea that doesn't get much more interesting beyond the first half hour or so. Love the curry references though.
2007
I suck dick at this game but it's so fucking unique and incredible and absolutely beautiful trippy goodness. Make sure not to play the included 'NUXX' version, the decoding the visual mess is part of the fun and it all melts together to create an idea of a game you're playing, putting you in a perfect trance.
2017
A fun go-very-fast game that started doing my head in while trying to needle-thread my way through all the bull-horn gates as you're encouraged to do. Would like to try again because the sense of speed is IMMENSE but I need some patience first. I'm still barely good enough at TxK as it is.
Big shoutout to Trent Reznor for requesting to have a fucking Llamasoft game feature massively in a Nine Inch Nails music video. Glad he's still a big arcade nerd all these years later.
Big shoutout to Trent Reznor for requesting to have a fucking Llamasoft game feature massively in a Nine Inch Nails music video. Glad he's still a big arcade nerd all these years later.
2014
This is going to sound like completely deranged ramblings to most people but here goes:
I got a PSTV just for this game. I prefer this a little bit over Tempest 4000 (which was a stealthy reskin of this billed as a Tempest 2000 Remake) thanks to some more original concepts over the old reliable Llamasoft tunnel-shooter formula. More fast-paced and sweat-inducing compared to Space Giraffe though that game did a lot more to innovate this microgenre. Impossible to beat all levels like most Llamasoft titles unless you're used to pouring blood, sweat, and tears into arcade machines for weeks on end.
I miss the streaky bacon from Tempest 2000 though. The coloured triangles don't quite do it for me.
BANGING SOUNDTRACK! JUNOSIX NOISE PULSE BEST CHOON!
I got a PSTV just for this game. I prefer this a little bit over Tempest 4000 (which was a stealthy reskin of this billed as a Tempest 2000 Remake) thanks to some more original concepts over the old reliable Llamasoft tunnel-shooter formula. More fast-paced and sweat-inducing compared to Space Giraffe though that game did a lot more to innovate this microgenre. Impossible to beat all levels like most Llamasoft titles unless you're used to pouring blood, sweat, and tears into arcade machines for weeks on end.
I miss the streaky bacon from Tempest 2000 though. The coloured triangles don't quite do it for me.
BANGING SOUNDTRACK! JUNOSIX NOISE PULSE BEST CHOON!
2018
The closest we'll ever get to a TxK port. Much more enjoyable if you switch the music over to the TxK OST using the Y/Triangle button on the level select menu.
A cool little game that has great atmosphere and fantastic environments (as to be expected of Monolith) - more games need to let you explore just normal-ass abandoned locations without any gimmicks.
Combat is simple but very satisfying. Sound and music is on-point.
Story seems intriguing at first but ends up being nonsensical, though there are a handful of cool moments.
Wears out it's welcome despite the reasonably short length but still worth a playthrough.
Combat is simple but very satisfying. Sound and music is on-point.
Story seems intriguing at first but ends up being nonsensical, though there are a handful of cool moments.
Wears out it's welcome despite the reasonably short length but still worth a playthrough.
What a game, so glad I got to play it with a group of friends when we all still played games.
2013
Proof that Grasshopper is straight up incapable of making the same games it used to, opting instead to make something with next to no substance and a failed attempt at capturing previous styles. Shading looks nice but these animations are disgustingly stiff which is a death sentence for an action game.
I got sick of the "story" when it was clear that the whole game was going to just be a circus, roll up and see what the wacky dudes at Grasshopper are doing! Her head rotated 180 degrees and she's a spider now! WTF!!!!
just go away lol
I got sick of the "story" when it was clear that the whole game was going to just be a circus, roll up and see what the wacky dudes at Grasshopper are doing! Her head rotated 180 degrees and she's a spider now! WTF!!!!
just go away lol
2017
eh eh eh
ma-ri-o
ma-ri-o
2013
This game crumbles quite considerably under it's own ambition, failing to surpass the original in everything but concept.
People complained about the length, so it's now an open world which seems like a great fit for such a unique setting. Sadly a small indie team can only go so far with this so it's largely empty and the graphics took a hit since it's harder for them to apply their art-style to the source engine (even if it looked better), so now they've had to re-do it in Unreal.
The gameplay was too easy to abuse before, so now you can barely move while pulling off pretty much every attack. This is due to a new emphasis on combos which never feels truly fluid to pull off thanks to extremely precise window for chaining attacks together. This ironically makes the simpler combo system from ZC1 easier to go back to (helped as well by that game's considerably shorter length stopping it from getting too tiresome). They also seemed too confident in this new system so enemies have extremely inflated health pools and they cannot stop throwing the fuckers at you en masse. Maybe the new co-op mode makes this easier? Who knows if the servers are even still up?
There is plenty to love though, despite the graphical downgrade I still appreciate the chance to walk around this unique world. I LOVED the conversations you had with the weird moth dude. The Golem weapons were unique even if they were quite tricky to use (but essentially became the meta unless you somehow managed to wrangle the combo system). Despite the overabundance of static canned-animation cutscenes, the story has some interesting characters, especially right at the end.
This is a tough game to dislike because you can tell this tiny dev team was really pushing to make all of their mad ideas work - the open world which took so many resources from everything else was something they've been planning since 2002. I have nothing but respect that they managed to pull it off by themselves and it's nothing short of an achievement. They committed to their vision no matter what and I will always set aside some time for their games. I just think they spread themselves way too thin here and the end result is a game I just cannot see myself replaying, unlike the more tight, varied, and compact little gem that the first game was.
People complained about the length, so it's now an open world which seems like a great fit for such a unique setting. Sadly a small indie team can only go so far with this so it's largely empty and the graphics took a hit since it's harder for them to apply their art-style to the source engine (even if it looked better), so now they've had to re-do it in Unreal.
The gameplay was too easy to abuse before, so now you can barely move while pulling off pretty much every attack. This is due to a new emphasis on combos which never feels truly fluid to pull off thanks to extremely precise window for chaining attacks together. This ironically makes the simpler combo system from ZC1 easier to go back to (helped as well by that game's considerably shorter length stopping it from getting too tiresome). They also seemed too confident in this new system so enemies have extremely inflated health pools and they cannot stop throwing the fuckers at you en masse. Maybe the new co-op mode makes this easier? Who knows if the servers are even still up?
There is plenty to love though, despite the graphical downgrade I still appreciate the chance to walk around this unique world. I LOVED the conversations you had with the weird moth dude. The Golem weapons were unique even if they were quite tricky to use (but essentially became the meta unless you somehow managed to wrangle the combo system). Despite the overabundance of static canned-animation cutscenes, the story has some interesting characters, especially right at the end.
This is a tough game to dislike because you can tell this tiny dev team was really pushing to make all of their mad ideas work - the open world which took so many resources from everything else was something they've been planning since 2002. I have nothing but respect that they managed to pull it off by themselves and it's nothing short of an achievement. They committed to their vision no matter what and I will always set aside some time for their games. I just think they spread themselves way too thin here and the end result is a game I just cannot see myself replaying, unlike the more tight, varied, and compact little gem that the first game was.
2011
I prefer this to the commercial release thanks to the grittier Source-default textures which also help settle me into the loose theme of the illusion of choice in games, since this looks more recognisably game-y. I appreciate there's now a version of this with more stuff in it but I felt the concept was explored enough here and all those new endings don't really add much more.