Metroid series
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- Shinoyami65
- Seed of Life
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^Hmm, more and more reason for me to want to buy Bayonetta.
I read an article somewhere which theorised that Retro Studios (or Nintendo) may be working on a Metroid Prime or Metroid sequel, but simply hasn't got it in good enough shape in the six months since Retro's last game release to show it publically. I hope that's the case, but in the meantime I suppose I'll just have to settle for Bayonetta killing Angels with giant demon hands while dressed as Samus.
I read an article somewhere which theorised that Retro Studios (or Nintendo) may be working on a Metroid Prime or Metroid sequel, but simply hasn't got it in good enough shape in the six months since Retro's last game release to show it publically. I hope that's the case, but in the meantime I suppose I'll just have to settle for Bayonetta killing Angels with giant demon hands while dressed as Samus.
E̱͡v͈̙e͔̰̳͙r̞͍y͏̱̲̭͎̪ṱ͙̣̗̱͠h̰̰i͙n̶̮̟̳͍͍̫͓g̩ ̠͈en̶̖̹̪d̸̙̦͙̜͕͍̞s̸̰.̳̙̺̟̻̀
I always thought I might be bad
Now I know that it's true
Because I think you're so good
And I'm nothing like you
I always thought I might be bad
Now I know that it's true
Because I think you're so good
And I'm nothing like you
- H-MangaEnthusiast
- Adam
- Age: 33
- Posts: 70
- Joined: Apr 17, 2014
- Location: Under Rei's bed
Metroid
~ a lot of hours into the game ~
~ a lot of hours into the game ~
SPOILER: Show
I hate this shit.
And I love it just as much.
From hours and hours I invested into it, the rage and tears, tedious grinding and farming, traveling through one repetitive level after another at snail's pace, I finally got to the first boss (35+ hours into the game) and got my ass handed to me like I was nothing. But somehow, against all odds, I managed to swallow the frustration and proceed to die over and over until I finally learned all of his attacks, his turning pattern, best way to dealing with his projectiles, and finally beat his spiky alien ass. And holy shit was that just the greatest feel I've had in my whole gaming career. I doubt I'm overreacting, even O&S from Dark Souls don't come even close to this feeling of accomplishment got from killing this alien-Bowser lookalike. And then as it couldn't get any better, the game rewards me with 100 missile slots and one more full bar of energy... that was true moment of happiness.
So yeah, I have more or less... 40 more hours to potentially beat the game... which is great. But at least now I'm all charged up and motivated to go on.
I really have shitton to say about this game. For every bad thing I hate, there's something I just love about it. Difficultly can more or less alienate a casual in matter of minutes, but at times it can drive insane even the invested player who actually cares about finishing the game. For the most part it's the most demanding game you'll ever see. It doesn't take you for an idiot; it expects of you to pay attention and think carefully through all of your actions, and it also assumes you're intelligent enough to navigate through its maze without any direct guidance. It practically tells you everything through some really neat design choices, but you're still forced to explore the world constantly and memorize its layout to actually make some goddamn progress. When enemies get tough and you can't handle them, it probably means you're at the wrong place. It also goes for the paces that are too easy for you. Though, estimating the difficulty of an area is pretty hard... have in mind that you rarely get stronger because there's only very few, well-hidden powerups, and whenever you do something the world gets a bit harder... and I don't even know if there's a single area I could call easy. I think I was struggling with everything first time I came around. Though, no matter how hard it gets, there's always something that can make it so much easier for you, and no matter how you look at it, it's always fair. Even before the boss, there was one enemy spawn place... which means farming... which means that you can actually fight the boss at your full strength. Funny enough, that creature you're farming is one real pain in the ass, and timing your attacks not to take any damage will demand all of your focus and mentally exhaust you, and thne you're up against boss, which is as bad as you'd imagine. I could see most people just going straight at the boss after getting at least 20% of their energy back... but for those who want to be in their best and have a high chance to survive the encounter, they can do it. I just love those options Metroid gives you... and leaves it to you if you're willing. Also, if an area is hard, the drops are better and more frequent. Instead of usual 5 you get 20 energy back, and rockets are almost every third drop.
Speaking about getting stronger, some of the powerups are hidden in the most horeshit locations you'd imagine, and getting to them is just a chore. I don't even know how you can even spot some of the hidden passages if you're not checking every single pixel in this game with 3 different abilities you have at your disposal, or just by luck. It's impossible, and I just don't get how someone thought it would appeal to anyone beside most hardcore fans who want that 100% or whatever. I think no one in the right mind would go and search for all the treasures on his own. I'm currently playing without any help, but I might actually go back with a guide and get all of it after I'm done with my vanilla playthrough... for no good reason whatsoever. I mean, if I can get one more sweet upgrade like this stun laser, replayability might just become a thing. Upgrades are only thing that are making the progression fun, and of course - tho, not always -clever level design around them that really challenges you to think outside the box. Metroid does what very little few games accomplish nowadays, and that is having all your abilities essential all the time. The game really wants you be as familiar with them as possible, and have all their different uses in mind when you're faced with an obstacle, because you'll have to think fast and aply one of them. It works, it adds one deep layer of depth to platforming, and makes the progression a lot more satisfying.
And yeah, about progression... in order to proceed, you'll always, and I mean always, have to keep track of your health and energy bars. If you're too low, going forward will most likely result in a death. And you really, really don't want to die. I got used to it, but I couldn't argue against it not being too damn harsh. Not only that you loose all of your progress, but you also loose all of your missiles and your health is set to 35 out of possible 99. And even if you have more than 1 bar it will still be set on 35. That's like... 6% of your max hp if you have more than 4 bars. That means farming, and I find myself frustrated just by farming more than 20 minutes to get back in shape to carry on, and it's not really my ideal of fun. If developers didn't recycle levels and enemy placements which required the same practice and way of thinking as previous ones you already solved, I probably wouldn't complain about design choice to have you constantly farm the same, tedious locations you've passed for so damn long, killing the same damn enemies you can kill with your eyes closed. It feels good the first time time, but fourth time really loses you... It's not like they don't add different enemies, positions or such, but it ends up feeling the same because of repetitive background and path layout. It's not even that they're not trying. They are actually doing an outstanding job minding how restricted they were at the time. Each new world has a different colors, music, design, enemy skins (though their moves and patterns are the same thing)... Whenever it changes you know you're doing something good, that you're making a progress, and moving somewhere relevant, and all the design choices are your reward, pointers, and they actually give you a sense of accomplishment while advancing forward.
About game narrative: It's simple but effective. You have no pointers whatsoever, and the game leaves you on an unknown alien planet and expects of you to kill something called Metroid. It's not the most effective way to motivate player to play and possibly beat the game, but it's there. Things like VVVVVVV and SMB had a very simplistic story that still gave a sense of purpose to the player and made it natural for him to want to beat the game even without caring that much about the plot itself. In VVVVVV you're saving your crewmembers who have fun personalities, which actually turned out to be an outstanding motivational factor. SMB had a princess in distress, so duh. Metroid only has one text that tells you what to do, and that's it. There's no pointers to anything. You must figure out controls on your own, and chose where you want to go on this alien planet. You naturally feel lost and skeptical about progressing because you're so new to all this, and without any communication the game makes you feel so alone. It's actually genius as fuck. By doing all that the game really places you into your character's shoes, and your mindset becomes canon because you are the one playing that character. The game had no use of narrative because it would ruin the immersion completely. Your character doesn't have a single line of dialogue or any character beside what you make of it. All your struggles, frustration, accomplishment, rage, fears, and loneliness is what your character feels. You really get to experience how it would be if your were thrown at the planet infested with everything alien that wants to kill you, and were told nothing about it.
So much more to be said about this.... ehhh.
I really love this... but I can't really recommend it. It aged quite badly, tbh. It's not unplayable by all means, but it will take time for you to get used to it. It can only appeal to a certain kind of gamer... one that is ready to waste 60+ hours of his life for something that will make his days miserable. It's full of faults and things I'd love to see changed, but I'm still having fun at times and want to beat it. It offers so many things you can't really see anywhere beside few similar games... and that is probably why I like it so much, and why I'll continue to suffer through it. Metroid is a tricky mistress, but her rewards are glorious.
And I love it just as much.
From hours and hours I invested into it, the rage and tears, tedious grinding and farming, traveling through one repetitive level after another at snail's pace, I finally got to the first boss (35+ hours into the game) and got my ass handed to me like I was nothing. But somehow, against all odds, I managed to swallow the frustration and proceed to die over and over until I finally learned all of his attacks, his turning pattern, best way to dealing with his projectiles, and finally beat his spiky alien ass. And holy shit was that just the greatest feel I've had in my whole gaming career. I doubt I'm overreacting, even O&S from Dark Souls don't come even close to this feeling of accomplishment got from killing this alien-Bowser lookalike. And then as it couldn't get any better, the game rewards me with 100 missile slots and one more full bar of energy... that was true moment of happiness.
So yeah, I have more or less... 40 more hours to potentially beat the game... which is great. But at least now I'm all charged up and motivated to go on.
I really have shitton to say about this game. For every bad thing I hate, there's something I just love about it. Difficultly can more or less alienate a casual in matter of minutes, but at times it can drive insane even the invested player who actually cares about finishing the game. For the most part it's the most demanding game you'll ever see. It doesn't take you for an idiot; it expects of you to pay attention and think carefully through all of your actions, and it also assumes you're intelligent enough to navigate through its maze without any direct guidance. It practically tells you everything through some really neat design choices, but you're still forced to explore the world constantly and memorize its layout to actually make some goddamn progress. When enemies get tough and you can't handle them, it probably means you're at the wrong place. It also goes for the paces that are too easy for you. Though, estimating the difficulty of an area is pretty hard... have in mind that you rarely get stronger because there's only very few, well-hidden powerups, and whenever you do something the world gets a bit harder... and I don't even know if there's a single area I could call easy. I think I was struggling with everything first time I came around. Though, no matter how hard it gets, there's always something that can make it so much easier for you, and no matter how you look at it, it's always fair. Even before the boss, there was one enemy spawn place... which means farming... which means that you can actually fight the boss at your full strength. Funny enough, that creature you're farming is one real pain in the ass, and timing your attacks not to take any damage will demand all of your focus and mentally exhaust you, and thne you're up against boss, which is as bad as you'd imagine. I could see most people just going straight at the boss after getting at least 20% of their energy back... but for those who want to be in their best and have a high chance to survive the encounter, they can do it. I just love those options Metroid gives you... and leaves it to you if you're willing. Also, if an area is hard, the drops are better and more frequent. Instead of usual 5 you get 20 energy back, and rockets are almost every third drop.
Speaking about getting stronger, some of the powerups are hidden in the most horeshit locations you'd imagine, and getting to them is just a chore. I don't even know how you can even spot some of the hidden passages if you're not checking every single pixel in this game with 3 different abilities you have at your disposal, or just by luck. It's impossible, and I just don't get how someone thought it would appeal to anyone beside most hardcore fans who want that 100% or whatever. I think no one in the right mind would go and search for all the treasures on his own. I'm currently playing without any help, but I might actually go back with a guide and get all of it after I'm done with my vanilla playthrough... for no good reason whatsoever. I mean, if I can get one more sweet upgrade like this stun laser, replayability might just become a thing. Upgrades are only thing that are making the progression fun, and of course - tho, not always -clever level design around them that really challenges you to think outside the box. Metroid does what very little few games accomplish nowadays, and that is having all your abilities essential all the time. The game really wants you be as familiar with them as possible, and have all their different uses in mind when you're faced with an obstacle, because you'll have to think fast and aply one of them. It works, it adds one deep layer of depth to platforming, and makes the progression a lot more satisfying.
And yeah, about progression... in order to proceed, you'll always, and I mean always, have to keep track of your health and energy bars. If you're too low, going forward will most likely result in a death. And you really, really don't want to die. I got used to it, but I couldn't argue against it not being too damn harsh. Not only that you loose all of your progress, but you also loose all of your missiles and your health is set to 35 out of possible 99. And even if you have more than 1 bar it will still be set on 35. That's like... 6% of your max hp if you have more than 4 bars. That means farming, and I find myself frustrated just by farming more than 20 minutes to get back in shape to carry on, and it's not really my ideal of fun. If developers didn't recycle levels and enemy placements which required the same practice and way of thinking as previous ones you already solved, I probably wouldn't complain about design choice to have you constantly farm the same, tedious locations you've passed for so damn long, killing the same damn enemies you can kill with your eyes closed. It feels good the first time time, but fourth time really loses you... It's not like they don't add different enemies, positions or such, but it ends up feeling the same because of repetitive background and path layout. It's not even that they're not trying. They are actually doing an outstanding job minding how restricted they were at the time. Each new world has a different colors, music, design, enemy skins (though their moves and patterns are the same thing)... Whenever it changes you know you're doing something good, that you're making a progress, and moving somewhere relevant, and all the design choices are your reward, pointers, and they actually give you a sense of accomplishment while advancing forward.
About game narrative: It's simple but effective. You have no pointers whatsoever, and the game leaves you on an unknown alien planet and expects of you to kill something called Metroid. It's not the most effective way to motivate player to play and possibly beat the game, but it's there. Things like VVVVVVV and SMB had a very simplistic story that still gave a sense of purpose to the player and made it natural for him to want to beat the game even without caring that much about the plot itself. In VVVVVV you're saving your crewmembers who have fun personalities, which actually turned out to be an outstanding motivational factor. SMB had a princess in distress, so duh. Metroid only has one text that tells you what to do, and that's it. There's no pointers to anything. You must figure out controls on your own, and chose where you want to go on this alien planet. You naturally feel lost and skeptical about progressing because you're so new to all this, and without any communication the game makes you feel so alone. It's actually genius as fuck. By doing all that the game really places you into your character's shoes, and your mindset becomes canon because you are the one playing that character. The game had no use of narrative because it would ruin the immersion completely. Your character doesn't have a single line of dialogue or any character beside what you make of it. All your struggles, frustration, accomplishment, rage, fears, and loneliness is what your character feels. You really get to experience how it would be if your were thrown at the planet infested with everything alien that wants to kill you, and were told nothing about it.
So much more to be said about this.... ehhh.
I really love this... but I can't really recommend it. It aged quite badly, tbh. It's not unplayable by all means, but it will take time for you to get used to it. It can only appeal to a certain kind of gamer... one that is ready to waste 60+ hours of his life for something that will make his days miserable. It's full of faults and things I'd love to see changed, but I'm still having fun at times and want to beat it. It offers so many things you can't really see anywhere beside few similar games... and that is probably why I like it so much, and why I'll continue to suffer through it. Metroid is a tricky mistress, but her rewards are glorious.
Teenage girl trapped in a man's body, or vice versa. Nuff said.
- Sailor Star Dust
- Kept you waiting, huh?
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- H-MangaEnthusiast
- Adam
- Age: 33
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- Joined: Apr 17, 2014
- Location: Under Rei's bed
This was an age before the internet and faqs or guide books and kids were just expected to play the living shit out of games like Metroid, not run through it in a few hours and call it a day. Finding a new upgrade was info you could sell at lunch the next day, and actually beating a game was major bragging rights.
Rest In Peace ~ 1978 - 2017
"I'd consider myself a realist, alright? but in philosophical terms I'm what's called a pessimist. It means I'm bad at parties." - Rust Cohle
"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize that half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
"The internet: It's like a training camp for never amounting to anything." - Oglaf
"I think internet message boards and the like are dangerous." - Anno
"I'd consider myself a realist, alright? but in philosophical terms I'm what's called a pessimist. It means I'm bad at parties." - Rust Cohle
"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize that half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
"The internet: It's like a training camp for never amounting to anything." - Oglaf
"I think internet message boards and the like are dangerous." - Anno
- H-MangaEnthusiast
- Adam
- Age: 33
- Posts: 70
- Joined: Apr 17, 2014
- Location: Under Rei's bed
^ That's the most orgasmic sound there is to hear in Metroid series.
After beating the pterodactyl-like boss, who was a disappointing pushover (I swear, it was harder to find him than actually beat him - 20 missiles are enough), I finally got to the last boss. I spent so much time just exploring I instantly knew where to go... and I had some troubles with Metroids, but dayum that fight was enjoyable. It wasn't much of a challenge, but I'm satisfied. I'd maybe like it more if the creature did something more than just chilling in its jar.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/K4aAwcK.png?1?8865[/img]
Less than 50 hours.
:')
It doesn't feel you with much, but it feels complete. Sense of accomplishment is strong in this one. I already knew about the secret ending you get after you have all the upgrades. Ehh, I guess it was a big immersion breaking moment back then, but nowadays it's common knowledge that Samus is a girl. I could easily imagine the team doing it having no clue what to do for the special end... not much you can do in therms of narrative in a completely self-insert experience without breaking the immersion... and you can't even have a joke ending because... well, nothing to tell joke about. Whatever they made it would be canon... and I doubt they even knew there would be another Metroid games. Cool stuff either way.
I'd say there's a lot of goods and bad about this one, but good stuff outweighs the bad. If I had to give it a score it would be 8/10. It's old and dated, but some might still find it enjoyable and appreciate the ideas behind it.
Will start Metroid II: Return of Samus tomorrow.
After beating the pterodactyl-like boss, who was a disappointing pushover (I swear, it was harder to find him than actually beat him - 20 missiles are enough), I finally got to the last boss. I spent so much time just exploring I instantly knew where to go... and I had some troubles with Metroids, but dayum that fight was enjoyable. It wasn't much of a challenge, but I'm satisfied. I'd maybe like it more if the creature did something more than just chilling in its jar.
[img]http://i.imgur.com/K4aAwcK.png?1?8865[/img]
Less than 50 hours.
:')
It doesn't feel you with much, but it feels complete. Sense of accomplishment is strong in this one. I already knew about the secret ending you get after you have all the upgrades. Ehh, I guess it was a big immersion breaking moment back then, but nowadays it's common knowledge that Samus is a girl. I could easily imagine the team doing it having no clue what to do for the special end... not much you can do in therms of narrative in a completely self-insert experience without breaking the immersion... and you can't even have a joke ending because... well, nothing to tell joke about. Whatever they made it would be canon... and I doubt they even knew there would be another Metroid games. Cool stuff either way.
I'd say there's a lot of goods and bad about this one, but good stuff outweighs the bad. If I had to give it a score it would be 8/10. It's old and dated, but some might still find it enjoyable and appreciate the ideas behind it.
Will start Metroid II: Return of Samus tomorrow.
Teenage girl trapped in a man's body, or vice versa. Nuff said.
- TehDonutKing
- Camel Dilettante
- Age: 28
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- Location: Outer Space Jupiter
- Contact:
I think the idea of Samus being a Samusantha instead of a Samusuel was one of the first ideas for the game, but i don't remember for sure.
/hj
I said and did some dumb and hurtful things in my time here when i was younger. If i ever hurt you, i'm sorry. If you see any of this while reading old threads, i'm learning and trying to improve. Donut redemption arc in progress.
I said and did some dumb and hurtful things in my time here when i was younger. If i ever hurt you, i'm sorry. If you see any of this while reading old threads, i'm learning and trying to improve. Donut redemption arc in progress.
It was inspired by the Alien movies (most clearly in the second game, where the whole point is track the metroids to their home world and eliminate them, including a final battle with the alien queen), so of course it was.
Rest In Peace ~ 1978 - 2017
"I'd consider myself a realist, alright? but in philosophical terms I'm what's called a pessimist. It means I'm bad at parties." - Rust Cohle
"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize that half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
"The internet: It's like a training camp for never amounting to anything." - Oglaf
"I think internet message boards and the like are dangerous." - Anno
"I'd consider myself a realist, alright? but in philosophical terms I'm what's called a pessimist. It means I'm bad at parties." - Rust Cohle
"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize that half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
"The internet: It's like a training camp for never amounting to anything." - Oglaf
"I think internet message boards and the like are dangerous." - Anno
- AngelNo13Bardiel
- Still Ill
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- Location: The Great Northern Kingdom of Canadia
- Gender: Male
Never found myself all that into the original Metroid, really (and only kinda enjoyed the sequel, but I also didn't play it until almost the late '90s either). But Super Metroid? Man oh man, the hours and days spent playing that over and over and over...so many memories, so many good times. Definitely one of my top three SNES titles.
Enjoyed Fusion, Zero Mission (much better than the original, IMO) and the first two Prime titles (the first more than the second, but they're both awesome). Didn't get around to Corruption or Other M (never had a Wii), but I never heard that I was missing anything spectacular or "you've-gotta-play-this" (mostly in the case of the latter).
Enjoyed Fusion, Zero Mission (much better than the original, IMO) and the first two Prime titles (the first more than the second, but they're both awesome). Didn't get around to Corruption or Other M (never had a Wii), but I never heard that I was missing anything spectacular or "you've-gotta-play-this" (mostly in the case of the latter).
Evangelion fan since 15 October 2002, Evangelion fanfiction writer since 1 April 2004. (FFN) (AO3)
Current avatar: Don't mind Mr. Joel--after all, he didn't start the dumpster fire that is 2020.
Don't bend; don't water it down; don't try to make it logical; don't edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly. - Franz Kafka
Clones to the left of me, tsunderes to the right...and here I am, stuck in the middle with Shinji. - how I view my experience with Evangelion
-When it comes to Asuka/Shinji, pre-EoE is like moving Mount Everest and post-EoE is like moving the Olympus Mons. Either way, it's moving a mountain. It's just the size of said mountain.-
Current avatar: Don't mind Mr. Joel--after all, he didn't start the dumpster fire that is 2020.
Don't bend; don't water it down; don't try to make it logical; don't edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly. - Franz Kafka
Clones to the left of me, tsunderes to the right...and here I am, stuck in the middle with Shinji. - how I view my experience with Evangelion
-When it comes to Asuka/Shinji, pre-EoE is like moving Mount Everest and post-EoE is like moving the Olympus Mons. Either way, it's moving a mountain. It's just the size of said mountain.-
- H-MangaEnthusiast
- Adam
- Age: 33
- Posts: 70
- Joined: Apr 17, 2014
- Location: Under Rei's bed
Metroid 2: Return of Samus
2 hours in and I feel like I've beat half of the game... and I don't like that.
2 hours in and I feel like I've beat half of the game... and I don't like that.
SPOILER: Show
It's definitely a step back from the first one. Who in the right mind would add that fucking lava to stop people from exploring (yeah, it may be due to Gameboy's low memory)... exploring was fun; it was rewarding and challenging... it was a thing that made Metroid into what it was - exploration of vast alien world and finding out what you have to do was like a core idea of Metroid and the way it told its story. In comparison to Metroid, what little you have to explore is not that fun, and secrets are not nearly as challenging. This is linear... this is actually a linear Metroid... why? Sure, it increased the pace and it's not nearly as time consuming as the first one, but it's not rewarding or challenging... most of what I do feels like a chore.
There are 4 types of Metroid bosses which is a great improvement over the last game that featured 2 bosses, from which one was actually challenging. 2 types of bosses are nothing more than a pushover, but 2 types will make you lose all of your missiles. I still didn't reach the final boss but I sure as hell hope it will give me a worthy challenge.
There are some significant gameplay improvements, which is great. And there are some new upgrades, which is also great. Some of them are really useful and I feel like they wre incorporated perfectly into both gameplay and previous arsenal, and you can really feel the synergy they have. But some of them were just pointless. There are some which completely ruin the point of other upgrades, and some of them mesh pretty bad with the gameplay and environment (level design). They are certainly not useless - most items have at least some place where they come in handy - but I never felt like every upgrade is essential as in Metroid. Not to mention that upgrades are rewards for beating the certain areas, and if I feel like the reward was not worthy of the hassle, it will negatively influence my impression of the area as a whole...
Items placement is definitely worse, and enemy placement didn't improve at all. There's not much variety either... but they did improve on level design... but it's hard to say it's an improvement. Original had repetitive areas because it fitted it thematically and it generally wanted you to feel lost. It tired really hard to keep them similar but with some distinctive part that would tip you off. It was repetitive but at the same time it was genius minding the restrictions they had at the time and feelings they wanted to convey to the player. (I know this all counters some of my previous commentaries on Metroid, but the more I thought about it...) Yes, most of the flaws here can also be tracked to limitations of the system... but the end result is not nearly the same as it was with Metroid. Most of the areas are dull, and because of screen limitation you don't feel the presence of the deadly fauna of your world... and it generally just feels cramped.
I'm also bothered by the lack of any narrative. Game started with Samus leaving the spaceship... and that's it... it's literally devoid of any narrative...
Also, music. On rare occasions music actually is present in the background, it's not on the level of Metroid.
If Metroid was 8/10, then Metroid 2 would be 6.5/10. Only way I can squeeze a point in there is if the end is so mindblowingly good... but I might as well remove one if it's terrible.
There are 4 types of Metroid bosses which is a great improvement over the last game that featured 2 bosses, from which one was actually challenging. 2 types of bosses are nothing more than a pushover, but 2 types will make you lose all of your missiles. I still didn't reach the final boss but I sure as hell hope it will give me a worthy challenge.
There are some significant gameplay improvements, which is great. And there are some new upgrades, which is also great. Some of them are really useful and I feel like they wre incorporated perfectly into both gameplay and previous arsenal, and you can really feel the synergy they have. But some of them were just pointless. There are some which completely ruin the point of other upgrades, and some of them mesh pretty bad with the gameplay and environment (level design). They are certainly not useless - most items have at least some place where they come in handy - but I never felt like every upgrade is essential as in Metroid. Not to mention that upgrades are rewards for beating the certain areas, and if I feel like the reward was not worthy of the hassle, it will negatively influence my impression of the area as a whole...
Items placement is definitely worse, and enemy placement didn't improve at all. There's not much variety either... but they did improve on level design... but it's hard to say it's an improvement. Original had repetitive areas because it fitted it thematically and it generally wanted you to feel lost. It tired really hard to keep them similar but with some distinctive part that would tip you off. It was repetitive but at the same time it was genius minding the restrictions they had at the time and feelings they wanted to convey to the player. (I know this all counters some of my previous commentaries on Metroid, but the more I thought about it...) Yes, most of the flaws here can also be tracked to limitations of the system... but the end result is not nearly the same as it was with Metroid. Most of the areas are dull, and because of screen limitation you don't feel the presence of the deadly fauna of your world... and it generally just feels cramped.
I'm also bothered by the lack of any narrative. Game started with Samus leaving the spaceship... and that's it... it's literally devoid of any narrative...
Also, music. On rare occasions music actually is present in the background, it's not on the level of Metroid.
If Metroid was 8/10, then Metroid 2 would be 6.5/10. Only way I can squeeze a point in there is if the end is so mindblowingly good... but I might as well remove one if it's terrible.
Teenage girl trapped in a man's body, or vice versa. Nuff said.
Yeah, 1 and 2 don't hold up very well. 2 was my first one (I think - been quite a while, after all) and while I didn't hate it, it never did much for me. The saminess of various locations due to the hardware limitations really doesn't help the lack of a map, and I never liked losing the current beam when getting a new one. And yeah, in case of Metroid 2, it's surprisingly linear for a Metroidvania game.
But don't fret, Super is where it's at. ;)
btw, there's a fan remake of Metroid 2 in the vain of Zero Mission, which has a fairly extensive demo by now: http://metroid2remake.blogspot.de/
But don't fret, Super is where it's at. ;)
btw, there's a fan remake of Metroid 2 in the vain of Zero Mission, which has a fairly extensive demo by now: http://metroid2remake.blogspot.de/
Yeah, 2 has a lot of potential but it also squanders a lot of it. I'd really like to see the concept redone with a total map overhaul so the various areas are more defined, more interconnected with multiple reasons to backtrack, and requiring powerup use for exploration rather than relying on 'earthquakes'. Hell, maybe even have some sort of in-game shop feature so that killing metroids actually earns the 'bounty hunter' an actual bounty that can be spent?
Honestly the single biggest issue with 2 is that the save and refill points are just not placed very well, which is especially problematic as this was made as a portable system game. Limited battery life + probably out doing something else = you really need to make saves reasonably accessible.
Honestly the single biggest issue with 2 is that the save and refill points are just not placed very well, which is especially problematic as this was made as a portable system game. Limited battery life + probably out doing something else = you really need to make saves reasonably accessible.
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"I'd consider myself a realist, alright? but in philosophical terms I'm what's called a pessimist. It means I'm bad at parties." - Rust Cohle
"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize that half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
"The internet: It's like a training camp for never amounting to anything." - Oglaf
"I think internet message boards and the like are dangerous." - Anno
NemZ wrote:Honestly the single biggest issue with 2 is that the save and refill points are just not placed very well, which is especially problematic as this was made as a portable system game. Limited battery life + probably out doing something else = you really need to make saves reasonably accessible.
Playing it on the 3DS solves this problem.
Save States :)
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AngelNo13Bardiel wrote:Enjoyed Fusion, Zero Mission (much better than the original, IMO) and the first two Prime titles (the first more than the second, but they're both awesome). Didn't get around to Corruption or Other M (never had a Wii), but I never heard that I was missing anything spectacular or "you've-gotta-play-this" (mostly in the case of the latter).
You should definitely get Corruption. I'd rate it above Echoes and it is an awesome game. The Wii motion controls are also much better than the Gamecube controls.
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My first Metroid Zero Mission clear time? Under 6 hours. But the 2nd clear time was 3 hours 1 minute 10 seconds! I love how the gameplay feels similar to Super Metroid (dat 2D style!); now I need to check out the other Metroid games someday.
I think Samus might be my favorite female video game character (sorry Tifa). Love how determined yet compassionate she is in (so far) both games I've played. Doesn't hurt she can kick some serious butt when needed.
Oh, and this silliness already felt Looney Tunes, I just went from there:
My first Metroid Zero Mission clear time? Under 6 hours. But the 2nd clear time was 3 hours 1 minute 10 seconds! I love how the gameplay feels similar to Super Metroid (dat 2D style!); now I need to check out the other Metroid games someday.
I think Samus might be my favorite female video game character (sorry Tifa). Love how determined yet compassionate she is in (so far) both games I've played. Doesn't hurt she can kick some serious butt when needed.
Oh, and this silliness already felt Looney Tunes, I just went from there:
~Take care of yourself, I need you~
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Zero Mission and its sister Fusion play much better than their predecessor Super, which becomes particularly apparent when you switch between games in a short time frame, as I did a few years back when I was on a general Metroid kick. It's quite sad that there hasn't been a 2D Metroid since Zero Mission, which is a pretty huge "What the fuck, Ninty".
Has it been 8 years since Zero Mission yet? Here's to hoping that's the magic number, as it was between Super and Fusion.
I think Samus might be my favorite female video game character (sorry Tifa). Love how determined yet compassionate she is in (so far) both games I've played. Doesn't hurt she can kick some serious butt when needed.
I feel that Fusion is the truest expression of her character. We arguably see more of her opinions in that game than in any other. It's the only one where she mentions not liking taking orders, for example. It also has the distinction of being the latest game in the timeline and a point of dramatic change in Samus's situation as a result of her decision. It is the game containing her greatest expression of direct will.
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"NGE is like a perfectly improvised jazz piece. It builds on a standard and then plays off it from there, and its developments may occasionally recall what it's done before as a way of keeping the whole concatenated." -- Eva Yojimbo
"To me watching anime is not just for killing time or entertainment, it is a life style, and a healthy one too." -- symbv
"That sounds like the kind of science that makes absolutely 0 sense when you stop and think about it... I LOVE IT." -- Rosenakahara
That's a pretty bold statement. Want to expand on your reasoning?
Rest In Peace ~ 1978 - 2017
"I'd consider myself a realist, alright? but in philosophical terms I'm what's called a pessimist. It means I'm bad at parties." - Rust Cohle
"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize that half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
"The internet: It's like a training camp for never amounting to anything." - Oglaf
"I think internet message boards and the like are dangerous." - Anno
"I'd consider myself a realist, alright? but in philosophical terms I'm what's called a pessimist. It means I'm bad at parties." - Rust Cohle
"Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize that half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
"The internet: It's like a training camp for never amounting to anything." - Oglaf
"I think internet message boards and the like are dangerous." - Anno
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