Impossible to understate how impressive this game is. Not as much from a technical standpoint (though it has aged remarkably well for an early GameBoy game), but instead in terms of its themes and storytelling. The creators had their finger on the pulse of the medium, both for its state then and in the future. Metroid II’s deconstruction of the medium is sad and terrifying. What impressed me most is just how good it is at immersing you in its goal: the Metroids are cumbersome, fearsome, and irritating, and after a while you begin to blend with the cold, mechanical process Samus follows on her mission. Even knowing the thematic angle the game takes, its hard to view the Metroids as something worth preserving until the very end.

And then the end comes. A single, tender moment leaves your victory hollow and turns your relief to guilt and horror.