Metroid series (Specifically Super Metroid)

[slotsmagic]

Dug out my old 3DS a few days ago (modded obviously) and played both of the Metroid titles for the Gameboy Advance through it (Fusion and Zero Mission). Both excellent games, brought back a lot of nostalgia for Super Metroid, which the parents got me for Christmas... I don't know, 1995 or thereabouts!

Anyway, stuck a SNES emulator on the 3DS and fired up Super Metroid. Decided for my first playthrough (just started a couple of days back) that I'd see how much I remembered from my youth and not use a walkthrough it similar.

Turns out I'd forgotten a huge amount of it! Really enjoying it though, it really encourages you to explore every nook and cranny. I've accidentally sequence broken in a few places and got upgrades / items early, and yet still found myself getting lost and not remembering how to progress.

I've played the NES version too and it's good, albeit it a complete nightmare, bit like NES Zelda. I don't think there's any hand-holding in either of them and they would be a pretty brutal introduction to either series.

I see there is a new 2D-ish Metroid for the Switch (called Metroid Dread) but as I age I find I'm better off sticking to what I know, I struggle to get into more modern games with more complex controls. I'm only 36!!!

Edited May 8, 2022 by slotsmagic

[wearecity]

I had no experience of a Metroid game, until I played one on a Gameboy Advance emulator. May have been a remaster of the original NES or SNES game.

I ended up sinking a good 20 hours or so into it, which is a lot for me for an emulated game.

I was really enjoying it, before getting to the last section of the game, with Mother (IIRC). I just then got frustrated with it and never did complete it. Looking back, that was a real shame, because I had spent so much time on it and was my most played game, over that period of time.

Never realised it was a female character. I also, thought it was clever, how the levels, unlocked in parts, when you get new abilities to access certain areas, that you couldn't get to before.

[slotsmagic]

2 hours ago, wearecity said:

I had no experience of a Metroid game, until I played one on a Gameboy Advance emulator. May have been a remaster of the original NES or SNES game.

I ended up sinking a good 20 hours or so into it, which is a lot for me for an emulated game.

I was really enjoying it, before getting to the last section of the game, with Mother (IIRC). I just then got frustrated with it and never did complete it. Looking back, that was a real shame, because I had spent so much time on it and was my most played game, over that period of time.

Never realised it was a female character. I also, thought it was clever, how the levels, unlocked in parts, when you get new abilities to access certain areas, that you couldn't get to before.

The GBA ones are really good. It was probably Zero Mission you played, which is a remaster (of sorts) of the NES one, with a brilliant addition to the end which takes it more in a survival direction.

They do hold your hand more than the SNES one, but they are great and for me, a decent 3-4 hour session to complete. I used to love massive RPGs which took hours and hours just never seem to complete them these days, so something you can power through in an afternoon is ideal

Edited May 9, 2022 by slotsmagic

[monkeyboypaul]

Love the Metroid series. Super Metroid was my introduction, and it's a hard game to fault. Back in 1994 i had WAY more spare time so could get thoroughly lost in this type of game. I've also got Metroid Prime on the Gamecube but never completed it, mainly becuase i found myself with less & less time for games and Metroid can be a chore if you miss something important. Fast forward to today and i've still got a Nintendo i.e the Switch, but end up playing stuff like The Untitled Goose Game (awesome and hilarious, if short, game) and Castle Crashers most with my kids. I got quite far on Zelda BOTW but it needed far too much time from me, and i put fatherhood first (then pinball, running and cycling, fruits are down the list a bit!). I might end up buying Metroid Dread if i see it on sale though! 

[slotsmagic]

4 hours ago, monkeyboypaul said:

Love the Metroid series. Super Metroid was my introduction, and it's a hard game to fault. Back in 1994 i had WAY more spare time so could get thoroughly lost in this type of game. I've also got Metroid Prime on the Gamecube but never completed it, mainly becuase i found myself with less & less time for games and Metroid can be a chore if you miss something important. Fast forward to today and i've still got a Nintendo i.e the Switch, but end up playing stuff like The Untitled Goose Game (awesome and hilarious, if short, game) and Castle Crashers most with my kids. I got quite far on Zelda BOTW but it needed far too much time from me, and i put fatherhood first (then pinball, running and cycling, fruits are down the list a bit!). I might end up buying Metroid Dread if i see it on sale though! 

I think I was about 10, so still at primary school and obviously plenty of free time when I first got it

Zelda BOTW is actually a good case in point for me. I started Zelda with Link to the Past (absolutely in my top 3 games of all time), then got Links Awakening on the Gameboy (definitely in my top 10 of all time). I really enjoyed some of the other 2D overhead Zelda titles. I didn't own an N64 so never got to play Ocarina of Time or Majora's Mask as I'd moved on to PlayStation and PC gaming at that point.

When I got my switch I grabbed Breath of the Wild... and sold it after about 3 hours of gameplay. For me, Zelda was about fairly linear 2D gameplay, and I just couldn't get on with BOTW. Didn't feel like a Zelda to me, felt like a massive open world and overly complex. Might have been different if I'd got an N64 instead of a Playstation all those years ago.

@wearecityI forgot to mention above, if you struggled at the end of a Metroid game there's a few possibilities :

1) You possibly didn't collect enough energy tanks (effectively hit points), so since you are at the end I wouldn't feel too bad about checking a guide for energy tank locations.

2) You might be using the wrong strategy for a boss fight. Most bosses have particular patterns and sometimes there's only one or two sure fire ways to get through them without taking excessive damage.

One reason I love emulation is the use of save-states. You can argue it's cheating but rather then losing to a boss and having to keep working your way back to them from a save point, you can save just before the battle is starting. If you want to push the limit of what is and isn't cheating, you can save state throughout the battle - normally after you make some successful attacks and take no damage in the process - but this can be risky. 

Edited May 9, 2022 by slotsmagic

[monkeyboypaul]

11 hours ago, slotsmagic said:

When I got my switch I grabbed Breath of the Wild... and sold it after about 3 hours of gameplay. For me, Zelda was about fairly linear 2D gameplay, and I just couldn't get on with BOTW. Didn't feel like a Zelda to me, felt like a massive open world and overly complex. Might have been different if I'd got an N64 instead of a Playstation all those years ago.

Yeah, i wouldn't write BOTW off - there's good reason why it gets rated so highly, it just takes a while to adjust - just like it did with Mario64. There's so much to see and so much to play about with, a real sandbox game, but equally you can just go direct to the dungeons and get on with it. I'm really looking forward to BOTW2, becuase i'm a Nintendo addict and will buy it regardless of whether i have time to play it or not! Remember trading my SNES with nicely boxed games (all collectable now) in for a PS1, and regretted it ever since (except C&C Red Alert). PS1 didn't last long for me. Back to N64 and never bought a Playstation console since - i didn't want cool, i wanted just enough good games to keep me happy.

Link's Awakening was brilliant at the time, but so basic now and really showing its age when you compare it to BOTW, or even Link to the Past for that matter. I agree though, it was a really emotive experience.

Wind Waker is excellent too.