Great game design truly does not age.
Super Metroid recently came out on the n3DS Virtual Console, and it's a game I have always wanted to have on a portable simply because it's satisfying to replay every single time. Now I finally got that wish, and I just finished it again on n3DS.
I never had an SNES, so many SNES games I missed out on, I was introduced to through the Wii Virtual Console. Super Metroid came out in 2007 on the Wii VC, a few weeks before Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. I picked it up and understood the hype behind it immediately. The game is so well designed, that it doesn't require much text at all. All you get is the storyline at the beginning, and occasional tips on how to activate a new item you pick up. Otherwise, the game teaches you by it's design, or you just trying it.
I have never been able to beat the original NES Metroid. Every single time I try to go beat it, I always get frustrated with it and give up. I've narrowed it down to a few reasons why:
1. You start with 30 energy. This alone makes is extremely frustrating.
2. Hitting enemies is extremely difficult. You cannot crouch, you cannot aim diagonally. The simplest of enemies can be so frustrating to dispatch.
3. Many rooms look so similar. There are vertical rooms that all change color palettes, and a lot of rooms just look the same. It gets confusing, and you don't always remember how high you went in each room and took the right hatch. If this wasn't an issue, then having no map system wouldn't be a problem, but because it is, having no map system is not good.
Super Metroid addresses every single one of those complaints. You can hit enemies that you should be able to hit, you start with the amount of health you had when you last saved. You still start with full energy at the very beginning of the game (although it doesn't really matter because when you land on Zebes you are on the ship, which recharges everything). Every area is designed so you can tell the difference, and the map system helps you go places you haven't been yet.
Recently, (and there was a GAF thread about this) the Fine Bros put out a Teens React video to Super Metroid. Many of them had never heard of this game before, and some recognized Samus and Ridley from Smash. However, there was something amazing about this video. Often you see things like the infamous "Why can't Metroid crawl?" Miiverse post, and other things like that about kids not understanding what the game is showing you. However, here it was very different. Every single one of these kids could figure out what was going on. The Ridley "fight" at the Ceres Station in the beginning, most of them were like "Oh my god, what do I do? How do I beat this guy?" and then he flew away. That feeling of "Oh god what do I do?" during that fight is exactly the feeling it was supposed to invoke. The escape from Ceres isn't a particularly difficult one, and all of them did it in one try. It gives you an environment just to get a hang of the platforming controls in the game, and does that job well.
Landing on Zebes, they all knew where to go. The game naturally funnels you in the direction of the old starting point of the original Metroid. They saw those tiny passageways and were like "I need something that makes me small.", then they see "Morphing Ball" come up when they get that first item and understand that's the thing that makes them small to fit in those spaces. "Metroid" doesn't have to "crawl". So then they see that eye, but they saw there was more stuff to explore to the right, so that's where they all went next. They figured out you could shoot the blocks, since they shot downward in midair to open the door to get in the NES Metroid starting area. Then they have missiles, and the game tells them how to use them. Then they see something new: A red door. The logical guess is that this requires missiles, so they use one and see it flashes like it did something, unlike the regular power beam. So they shoot it with missiles until it opens. So now with all their tools, they go back the way they came, and see that first small space they passed on the way in, and figure that's the most logical place to go. They see the Chozo statue, similar to the one that held the missile tank, so the natural reaction is to shoot the orb, and get the new item: The morph ball bombs. Then the door is locked, something is different. The statue gets up and they have to fight it. Many of them tried the morph ball bombs, and figured out they could roll between it's legs unscathed. Most of them did not get past the Torizo, but one did. They only got to try the Torizo once. However when the ones that didn't make it died, most of them noticed something:
"Wait that was a woman, what?" Even though the fact that Samus was a woman was more commonly known at the time this was released, many people today don't know that, since this game and the others weren't in their generation, or they didn't pay attention to them. The fact that Samus was a woman was a surprise in the first game, but then for those that still didn't know, they managed to keep this slightly concealed. Samus could be seen as a fairly gender neutral name, but they all assumed it was a man in space armor. Everyone thought it was really cool that she was a woman the whole time.
Going beyond what the kids in that video played, there are tons of amazing moments in the game that really show how perfectly designed it is. One such example is in Maridia. There's a hatch you go in that is really just a long tube that you fall to the bottom with, however the camera moves quickly and follows where Samus is in the tube, and you can see outside the tube, that there's a bunch of stuff there. You somehow want to get in there. Then you notice something on the way down. The game showed you what a Metroid looks like, you know you're looking for the Metroid hatchling, but on the way down that tube you see something so fast, and of course your first thought is that it's the baby Metroid, or at least a Metroid. It makes you think "Oh, I found it, I just have to get in there now." Once you do get in there, you find out it was actually one of these:
It was a Mochtroid, not a real Metroid. False alarm, but you still have stuff to find in this area anyway.
The multiple ways to handle some situations in this game is nothing short of amazing. For instance, in the battle against Draygon, there are turrets on the wall that are shooting at you, in addition to Draygon and his young attacking you. Draygon throws these sticky blobs at you and can pick you up. You blow up these turrets and see an electric current off of them. If you're clever, you can find a way to kill Draygon so quickly. You know the grapple beam grapples onto things, electricity and water don't mix, Draygon is in the water. So you let him pick you up, drag you near one of the destroyed turrets, fire the grapple beam, and ZAP. You are taking a lot of damage, but Draygon is taking even more damage, and dies within seconds! If you don't figure this out though, you can still just beat him normally.
Like I have mentioned before, this game does really well with showing you goals, and the fact that you need something else to reach them. It does this all without pointing at anything, just you seeeing something on screen. For instance, you know Ridley took the Metroid hatchling, and you go deeper into Norfair, and suddenly there's a giant Ridley head statue, however to get there you have to go through lava. At the time you see this, this isn't happening. You can't move quickly through lava, and of course it's draining your health too. You get the Gravity Suit later, and find out you can get through the lava with no problem, so that's what you need to go after Ridley.
The secret techniques are amazing too, and gives you reason to experiment with your abilities. You learn the wall jump and Shinespark from the Etecoons and Dachora, but there are other abilities such as the Crystal Flash.
Good game design doesn't age, and Super Metroid is a testament to that. It still remains one of my favorite games of all time, and one that I can play again and again and enjoy every single time. If you haven't gotten to play it, you really need to. It's available in the original SNES cart (if you can find it), but also much more easily accessible in the Wii, Wii U, and n3DS Virtual Consoles.
Super Metroid recently came out on the n3DS Virtual Console, and it's a game I have always wanted to have on a portable simply because it's satisfying to replay every single time. Now I finally got that wish, and I just finished it again on n3DS.
I never had an SNES, so many SNES games I missed out on, I was introduced to through the Wii Virtual Console. Super Metroid came out in 2007 on the Wii VC, a few weeks before Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. I picked it up and understood the hype behind it immediately. The game is so well designed, that it doesn't require much text at all. All you get is the storyline at the beginning, and occasional tips on how to activate a new item you pick up. Otherwise, the game teaches you by it's design, or you just trying it.
I have never been able to beat the original NES Metroid. Every single time I try to go beat it, I always get frustrated with it and give up. I've narrowed it down to a few reasons why:
1. You start with 30 energy. This alone makes is extremely frustrating.
2. Hitting enemies is extremely difficult. You cannot crouch, you cannot aim diagonally. The simplest of enemies can be so frustrating to dispatch.
3. Many rooms look so similar. There are vertical rooms that all change color palettes, and a lot of rooms just look the same. It gets confusing, and you don't always remember how high you went in each room and took the right hatch. If this wasn't an issue, then having no map system wouldn't be a problem, but because it is, having no map system is not good.
Super Metroid addresses every single one of those complaints. You can hit enemies that you should be able to hit, you start with the amount of health you had when you last saved. You still start with full energy at the very beginning of the game (although it doesn't really matter because when you land on Zebes you are on the ship, which recharges everything). Every area is designed so you can tell the difference, and the map system helps you go places you haven't been yet.
Recently, (and there was a GAF thread about this) the Fine Bros put out a Teens React video to Super Metroid. Many of them had never heard of this game before, and some recognized Samus and Ridley from Smash. However, there was something amazing about this video. Often you see things like the infamous "Why can't Metroid crawl?" Miiverse post, and other things like that about kids not understanding what the game is showing you. However, here it was very different. Every single one of these kids could figure out what was going on. The Ridley "fight" at the Ceres Station in the beginning, most of them were like "Oh my god, what do I do? How do I beat this guy?" and then he flew away. That feeling of "Oh god what do I do?" during that fight is exactly the feeling it was supposed to invoke. The escape from Ceres isn't a particularly difficult one, and all of them did it in one try. It gives you an environment just to get a hang of the platforming controls in the game, and does that job well.
Landing on Zebes, they all knew where to go. The game naturally funnels you in the direction of the old starting point of the original Metroid. They saw those tiny passageways and were like "I need something that makes me small.", then they see "Morphing Ball" come up when they get that first item and understand that's the thing that makes them small to fit in those spaces. "Metroid" doesn't have to "crawl". So then they see that eye, but they saw there was more stuff to explore to the right, so that's where they all went next. They figured out you could shoot the blocks, since they shot downward in midair to open the door to get in the NES Metroid starting area. Then they have missiles, and the game tells them how to use them. Then they see something new: A red door. The logical guess is that this requires missiles, so they use one and see it flashes like it did something, unlike the regular power beam. So they shoot it with missiles until it opens. So now with all their tools, they go back the way they came, and see that first small space they passed on the way in, and figure that's the most logical place to go. They see the Chozo statue, similar to the one that held the missile tank, so the natural reaction is to shoot the orb, and get the new item: The morph ball bombs. Then the door is locked, something is different. The statue gets up and they have to fight it. Many of them tried the morph ball bombs, and figured out they could roll between it's legs unscathed. Most of them did not get past the Torizo, but one did. They only got to try the Torizo once. However when the ones that didn't make it died, most of them noticed something:
"Wait that was a woman, what?" Even though the fact that Samus was a woman was more commonly known at the time this was released, many people today don't know that, since this game and the others weren't in their generation, or they didn't pay attention to them. The fact that Samus was a woman was a surprise in the first game, but then for those that still didn't know, they managed to keep this slightly concealed. Samus could be seen as a fairly gender neutral name, but they all assumed it was a man in space armor. Everyone thought it was really cool that she was a woman the whole time.
Going beyond what the kids in that video played, there are tons of amazing moments in the game that really show how perfectly designed it is. One such example is in Maridia. There's a hatch you go in that is really just a long tube that you fall to the bottom with, however the camera moves quickly and follows where Samus is in the tube, and you can see outside the tube, that there's a bunch of stuff there. You somehow want to get in there. Then you notice something on the way down. The game showed you what a Metroid looks like, you know you're looking for the Metroid hatchling, but on the way down that tube you see something so fast, and of course your first thought is that it's the baby Metroid, or at least a Metroid. It makes you think "Oh, I found it, I just have to get in there now." Once you do get in there, you find out it was actually one of these:
It was a Mochtroid, not a real Metroid. False alarm, but you still have stuff to find in this area anyway.
The multiple ways to handle some situations in this game is nothing short of amazing. For instance, in the battle against Draygon, there are turrets on the wall that are shooting at you, in addition to Draygon and his young attacking you. Draygon throws these sticky blobs at you and can pick you up. You blow up these turrets and see an electric current off of them. If you're clever, you can find a way to kill Draygon so quickly. You know the grapple beam grapples onto things, electricity and water don't mix, Draygon is in the water. So you let him pick you up, drag you near one of the destroyed turrets, fire the grapple beam, and ZAP. You are taking a lot of damage, but Draygon is taking even more damage, and dies within seconds! If you don't figure this out though, you can still just beat him normally.
Like I have mentioned before, this game does really well with showing you goals, and the fact that you need something else to reach them. It does this all without pointing at anything, just you seeeing something on screen. For instance, you know Ridley took the Metroid hatchling, and you go deeper into Norfair, and suddenly there's a giant Ridley head statue, however to get there you have to go through lava. At the time you see this, this isn't happening. You can't move quickly through lava, and of course it's draining your health too. You get the Gravity Suit later, and find out you can get through the lava with no problem, so that's what you need to go after Ridley.
The secret techniques are amazing too, and gives you reason to experiment with your abilities. You learn the wall jump and Shinespark from the Etecoons and Dachora, but there are other abilities such as the Crystal Flash.
Good game design doesn't age, and Super Metroid is a testament to that. It still remains one of my favorite games of all time, and one that I can play again and again and enjoy every single time. If you haven't gotten to play it, you really need to. It's available in the original SNES cart (if you can find it), but also much more easily accessible in the Wii, Wii U, and n3DS Virtual Consoles.
