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[Game Guru]

There's no point in making these posts because Retro aren't working on the series anymore.

Then let it rest for a while until a studio is interested in making Metroid, but nothing like Other M should ever happen again. Retro is the best choice to make Metroid nowadays, and if they do not want to do it, then the franchise should rest. Samus can survive a generation with just making her appearance in a Super Smash Bros. game.

 

[_Alkaline_]

Then let it rest for a while until a studio is interested in making Metroid, but nothing like Other M should ever happen again. Let's just face facts. Retro is the best choice to make Metroid nowadays, and if they do not want to do it, then the franchise should rest. Samus can survive a generation with just making her appearance in a Super Smash Bros. game.

Sakamoto makes one minor slip and all of a sudden he's out of favour? I think he deserves a little more respect and confidence than that.

Other M is essentially Fusion in 3D and to an extent it achieves its vision, though somehow it feels even more restrained and set-pieces driven. That said, it's easily the best 3D Metroid game in terms of movement, has bosses as good as any Metroid game not called Echoes, and provided additions to the combat that could possibly go on to make a regular appearance in future games of the series.

Other M had very solid foundations - the game controls like a dream at times and is just fun to play - but is hampered by Sakamoto's approach to design and progression. It worked in Fusion, and it still kind of works here, but it feels needlessly restricting on the player. Particularly coming off the wonderfully complex Prime series.

That said, I'm not going to say "Sakamoto can't create good games lol" when he's been doing for 25 years. Regardless of its issues, Other M was still an enjoyable game. We have to remember that.

 

[Cranzor]

I really want to play Other M some time. After not liking Prime, which GAF loves, I'm interested in what I would thing of Other M.

 

[Game Guru]

Oh, as far as the gameplay itself goes, I am alright with improving on Other M, but it's the writing of the game that is horrible. If Team Ninja wants to do their own thing with Metroid, I am fine with it. Heck, if Sakamoto wants to work on the gameplay, I am fine with it. However, Sakamoto can not be the writer for it. He is just not good at writing stories.

 

[robor]

Oh boney.

He's right though.

Sakamoto makes one minor slip and all of a sudden he's out of favour? I think he deserves a little more respect and confidence than that.

Other M is essentially Fusion in 3D and to an extent it achieves its vision, though somehow it feels even more restrained and set-pieces driven. That said, it's easily the best 3D Metroid game in terms of movement, has bosses as good as any Metroid game not called Echoes, and provided additions to the combat that could possibly go on to make a regular appearance in future games of the series.

Other M had very solid foundations - the game controls like a dream at times and is just fun to play - but is hampered by Sakamoto's approach to design and progression. It worked in Fusion, and it still kind of works here, but it feels needlessly restricting on the player. Particularly coming off the wonderfully complex Prime series.

That said, I'm not going to say "Sakamoto can't create good games lol" when he's been doing for 25 years. Regardless of its issues, Other M was still an enjoyable game. We have to remember that.

I pretty much agree with 100%. I think if you remove Sakamoto's design and progression and add Retro's grape-plucking narrative structure (i.e. scanning) we might be onto something quite extraordinary. Also, I think one of the most underlooked achievements in Other M is the camera system. Now THAT's how you make "cinematic interactivity".

So to summarize:

- Remove Sakamoto's story progression for Retro's player-voluntary narrative structure.
- Remove wiimote-only control interface for Wiimote+Nunchuk combination.
- Keep everything else that worked.

^Perfect 3rd-person Metroid game IMO.

 

[Shikamaru Ninja]

Easy. Fire Sakamoto and let the folks at Retro make games for the universe from now on.

Fire Sakamoto? Should we fire Miyamoto for Wii Music? Kojima for ZOE 1? But wait. Fire the chief designer of Metroid 3, Metroid Fusion, Metroid Zero Mission? That is just insanity my friend.

Retro has proven two things. First, they can make a 3D Metroid game with the Metroid Prime series. Second, they can make a 2D game as proven by Donkey Kong Country Returns. Give them relative creative freedom as far as the Metroid franchise is concerned.

It should be easy enough to expand the team so they could make Metroid Prime 4, Donkey Kong Country Returns 2, and a new 2D Metroid game, in addition to creating an original property for Nintendo.

You want the Retro team that makes 1 game to expand to a point where they are making 4 games at the same time. Those 200 people would be an entirely different set of developers.

Oh, as far as the gameplay itself goes, I am alright with improving on Other M, but it's the writing of the game that is horrible. If Team Ninja wants to do their own thing with Metroid, I am fine with it. Heck if Sakamoto wants to work on the gameplay, I am fine with it. However, Sakamoto can not be the writer for it. He is just not good at writing.

Sakamoto has been writing game scripts for a while. Detective Club and Card Hero are examples of pretty entertaining writing. As far as Metroid: Other M, I just think it is one of the cases where his vision didn't quite succeed in translation. I mean if Sakamoto wrote a script.. and the localization team used babblefish to translate it over. Do you still blame Sakamoto? Sakamoto has his own style. We may consider it ridiculous, just like Kojima writing dialogue where 2 people talk about love on the battlefield for an hour is absolutely ridiculous. But the difference is Kojima's localization team some how made it tolerable. I think?

But Sakamoto (and central planning team) has stil single-handedly made more awesome games than about 90% of other game designers out there. Metroid: Fusion. Metroid: Zero Mission. Wario Land 4. WarioWare. Rhythm Heaven. Tomodachi Collection. Card Hero. Detective Club, etc etc

 

[apana]

Sakamoto has been writing game scripts for a while. Detective Club and Card Hero are examples of pretty entertaining writing. As far as Metroid: Other M, I just think it is one of the cases where his vision didn't quite succeed in translation. I mean if Sakamoto wrote a script.. and the localization team used babblefish to translate it over. Do you still blame Sakamoto? Sakamoto has his own style. We may consider it ridiculous, just like Kojima writing dialogue where 2 people talk about love on the battlefield for an hour is absolutely ridiculous. But the difference is Kojima's localization team some how made it tolerable. I think?

But Sakamoto (and central planning team) has stil single-handedly made more awesome games than about 90% of other game designers out there. Metroid: Fusion. Metroid: Zero Mission. Wario Land 4. WarioWare. Rhythm Heaven. Tomodachi Collection. Card Hero. Detective Club, etc etc

lol, You know there are some serious problems when the localization team has to take the blame. Look we all respect Sakamoto, but he is clearly not in touch with his own franchise. He should only make Metroid under certain strict conditions.

 

[robor]

He's right though.



I pretty much agree with 100%. I think if you remove Sakamoto's design and progression and add Retro's grape-plucking narrative structure (i.e. scanning) we might be onto something quite extraordinary. Also, I think one of the most underlooked achievements in Other M is the camera system. Now THAT's how you make "cinematic interactivity".

So to summarize:

- Remove Sakamoto's story progression for Retro's player-voluntary narrative structure.
- Remove wiimote-only control interface for Wiimote+Nunchuk combination.
- Keep everything else that worked.

^Perfect 3rd-person Metroid game IMO.

Screw it, why not make it the Metroid II remake. That means they've got an existing template to work with. It could be amazing if you think about it.

 

[Shikamaru Ninja]

Screw it, why not make it the Metroid II remake. That means they've got an existing template to work with. It could be amazing if you think about it.

Zelda 2
Metroid 2
Kid Icarus

All deserve Metroid: Zero Mission caliber remakes.

lol, You know there are some serious problems when the localization team has to take the blame. Look we all respect Sakamoto, but he is clearly not in touch with his own franchise. He should only make Metroid under certain strict conditions.

My honest opinion is that the entire pinnacle of the Metroid: Other M story discussion, is as asinine as people who discuss Zelda storylines. I think it is just the SUPER ULTRA HYPERBOLIC internet fanatical dribble we have come to expect. It is just a whole bunch of people putting rules of what is supposedly allowed and disallowed in a franchise. As soon as I read a review discussing how they penalized Metroid because the story was "sexist"? I just understood how worthless some opinions can be.

But. Without digressing. The main problem with Metroid: Other M wasn't Sakamoto's "writing", but the cumbersome and awkward controls. You know the main thing that actually affects you from enjoying a game. THE CONTROLS. Seriously that should be the number one topic concerning the game. Still the game tried to do something different and dynamic with its 3D third person gameplay that set itself apart from being shoe-horned into an FPS like Primes were.

 

[Game Guru]

Fire Sakamoto? Should we fire Miyamoto for Wii Music? Kojima for ZOE 1? But wait. Fire the chief designer of Metroid 3, Metroid Fusion, Metroid Zero Mission? That is just insanity my friend.

Neither Wii Music nor Zone Of The Enders are the franchises that Miyamoto and Kojima are best known for. When Miyamoto makes a crappy Mario game or Kojima makes a crappy Metal Gear game, then you can come back to me asking these questions.

You want the Retro team that makes 1 game to expand to a point where they are making 4 games at the same time. Those 200 people would be an entirely different set of developers.

Not at the same time, it'd be over a console generation.

Sakamoto has been writing game scripts for a while. Detective Club and Card Hero are examples of pretty entertaining writing. As far as Metroid: Other M, I just think it is one of the cases where his vision didn't quite succeed in translation. I mean if Sakamoto wrote a script.. and the localization team used babblefish to translate it over. Do you still blame Sakamoto? Sakamoto has his own style. We may consider it ridiculous, just like Kojima writing dialogue where 2 people talk about love on the battlefield for an hour is absolutely ridiculous. But the difference is Kojima's localization team some how made it tolerable. I think?

But Sakamoto (and central planning team) has stil single-handedly made more awesome games than about 90% of other game designers out there. Metroid: Fusion. Metroid: Zero Mission. Wario Land 4. WarioWare. Rhythm Heaven. Tomodachi Collection. Card Hero. Detective Club, etc etc

I never played Detective Club or Card Hero. All I own of what else you listed is Metroid Fusion and Metroid Zero Mission, mostly due to not being able to afford imports of games, not particularly liking Wario as a franchise, and in general being pretty poor at playing rhythm games. All I can judge him by is Metroid, and to be fair on Sakamoto, I've found Fusion and Zero Mission okay. Either way, I'm willing to agree to disagree on the subject of Sakamoto.

 

[_Alkaline_]

He's right though.

Zero Mission is a very fluid and polished experience, but in no way would I label it the ultimate Metroid game. Hand-holding that eliminates one of the major strengths of the original release, unbalanced difficulty and a slightly forgettable end sequence.

To me Super Metroid remains the peak of how a Metroid game should play. Labyrinth designs without being too confusing for the average player, a wonderful sense of progression, an array of multi-tiered rooms that are fully explored throughout the entire adventure...the design was out of this world for 1994 and remains a prime example of genuinely brilliant game design.

Zero Mission feels a little neutered in comparison, though admittedly a decent chunk of this can be levelled directly at the hand-holding Nintendo felt compelled to implement.

 

[robor]

I think it's only hand-holding to the neophyte player though. Everything else sits in the sphere that Super Metroid resides in.

 

[_Alkaline_]

I think it's only hand-holding to the neophyte player though. Everything else sits in the sphere that Super Metroid resides in.

Perhaps, but I don't think it can be taken lightly.

You're not told where to go in Super. Logical progression and precise level design prevent the player from becoming too lost, but the player still has to figure out on their own where to go next. Zero eliminates this by directing you towards the exact room that you have to go (Fusion also did this but that game's overall design is considerably different). It doesn't tell you how to get there, no, but it still effectively eliminates that genuine feeling of claustrophobia and helplessness that engulfed many a player back in 1986, and any new player today.

It's also why I still consider the first Metroid game an essential experience for any Metroid fan, purely because nothing in the series other than Return of Samus is quite like it. Not even Super.

In comparison to the original, Super actually looks a bit like junior school. When comparing Zero and the original though - the game it's directly based on - the remake ends up looking like child's play.

Keep in mind that I still love Zero Mission though. Terrific game.

 

[The Xtortionist]

Other M's combat was pretty ass imo. Switching to 1st-person was clunky and pretty much every fight could easily be beaten by spamming your direction of choice for free auto-dodges. The quick charge made this even easier. There was no depth at all, it was just style over substance. A real shame considering it was developed by Team Ninja.

 

[robor]

Perhaps, but I don't think it can be taken lightly.

You're not told where to go in Super. Logical progression and precise level design prevent the player from becoming too lost, but the player still has to figure out on their own where to go next. Zero eliminates this by directing you towards the exact room that you have to go (Fusion also did this but that game's overall design is considerably different). It doesn't tell you how to get there, no, but it still effectively eliminates that genuine feeling of claustrophobia and helplessness that engulfed many a player back in 1986, and any new player today.

It's also why I still consider the first Metroid game an essential experience for any Metroid fan, purely because nothing in the series other than Return of Samus is quite like it. Not even Super.

In comparison to the original, Super actually looks a bit like junior school. When comparing Zero and the original though - the game it's directly based on - the remake ends up looking like child's play.

Keep in mind that I still love Zero Mission though. Terrific game.

Right but outside of the logical progression, Zero Mission reaches the heights of Super Metroid and extends even further what SM accidentally stumbled upon. The labyrthine esoteric pathaways ridden through out Zero Mission's level structure is the meat of the experience; it houses a pseudo-metagaming experience first discovered in Super Metroid's meta-game.

 

[_Alkaline_]

Other M's combat was pretty ass imo. Switching to 1st-person was clunky and pretty much every fight could easily be beaten by spamming your direction of choice for free auto-dodges. The quick charge made this even easier. There was no depth at all, it was just style over substance. A real shame considering it was developed by Team Ninja.

Metroid combat doesn't need to be complex though. It shouldn't be.

Essentially what Other M did was streamline it further - players no longer had to worry about aiming, only position and reflexes. The finishing moves and overblast lended a little more meat to it, but the notion of 'style over substance' isn't really a negative thing at all. Most enemies in Metroid games are only placed there to keep backtracking interesting and keep the player active. Other M's combat worked well with this approach, and it didn't dumb down any boss fights either.

The sense move was indeed spammable but it was still a solid concept executed quite well. Perhaps in the future there could be a sense meter of sorts, similar to how the spin attack worked in Twilight Princess Wii, where Samus can only use it once in a period of time. Perhaps she could acquire expansions that shorten this time, similar to the accel charge in Other M. Food for thought.

 

[robor]

Other M's combat was pretty ass imo. Switching to 1st-person was clunky and pretty much every fight could easily be beaten by spamming your direction of choice for free auto-dodges. The quick charge made this even easier. There was no depth at all, it was just style over substance. A real shame considering it was developed by Team Ninja.

I think a lot of this could be solved by changing the control interface.

 

[_Alkaline_]

Right but outside of the logical progression, Zero Mission reaches the heights of Super Metroid and extends even further what SM accidentally stumbled upon. The labyrthine esoteric pathaways ridden through out Zero Mission's level structure is the meat of the experience; it houses a pseudo-metagaming experience first discovered in Super Metroid's meta-game.

'Accidentally stumbled upon?' What are you suggesting with that?

 

[The Xtortionist]

Metroid combat doesn't need to be complex though. It shouldn't be.

Absolutely. My problem with Other M was that it had way too much combat considering how simple it was. Super Metroid and Prime didn't have deep combat either, but very rarely did you have to fight enemies that lasted more than a few seconds.

 

[robor]

'Accidentally stumbled upon?' What are you suggesting with that?

Sequence breaking in Super Metroid was discovered by the player by breaking the laws and rules confined within the game. Therefor it was outside of the developers intentions to allow the player to take liberty of breaking the sequences intended by the designers. Zero Mission iterated that accident and made it a part of it's fundamental design.

 

[_Alkaline_]

Absolutely. My problem with Other M was that it had way too much combat considering how simple it was. Super Metroid and Prime didn't have deep combat either, but very rarely did you have to fight enemies that lasted more than a few seconds.

I think the idea of Other M having too much combat is a little overblown. Initial forways into each sector will transpire in several battles here and there that last thirty seconds to a minute, but running through these same environments towards the end of the game you'll find that you barely ever have to stop. This is assisted by the fantastic sense of progression in the game, which is excuted probably just as well as any game in the series. Samus is an absolute monster once fully-powered up in Other M. That's how it should be.

Super did it wonderfully well, but I think Other M's actual combat system was the right choice given the camera angle and such. Without any sort of crosshair, it likely would've been rather rubbish to have manual control over where Samus is aiming.

As for the Prime games, I think you might be overlooking or forgetting some of the encounters in that series. I mean, just looking at the first Prime - Pirate Troopers, Sheegoths, Chozo Ghosts, Elite Pirates, Magmoor - by the end of the game these were all regular enemies and all of them (perhaps the Magmoor is stretching it a tad) took more than a few seconds to kill. I could possibly add Flying Pirates in there but the Ice Beam trick would take care out that. Also keep in mind that doors were sometimes locked during these encounters - this was especially true in Echoes and Corruption.

What I'm saying is that the Prime series had its fair share of time-consuming battles and forced encounters. I don't think it can be excused from that argument.

 

[etiolate]

This is assisted by the fantastic sense of progression in the game, which is excuted probably just as well as any game in the series.

haha wtf you talking about

There is no sense of progression or growing more powerful. You were always powerful, but Samus(not you) decided to be a little weakling.

Super did it wonderfully well, but I think Other M's actual combat system was the right choice given the camera angle and such. Without any sort of crosshair, it likely would've been rather rubbish to have manual control over where Samus is aiming.

Use the nunchuk and you have a crosshair and the right amount of buttons. The game DOES have crosshairs, it just makes it awkward due to stubborn design. (first person parts)

As for the Prime games, I think you might be overlooking or forgetting some of the encounters in that series. I mean, just looking at the first Prime - Pirate Troopers, Sheegoths, Chozo Ghosts, Elite Pirates, Magmoor - by the end of the game these were all regular enemies and all of them (perhaps the Magmoor is stretching it a tad) took more than a few seconds to kill.

By the end of Prime 1, you could blast through most any enemy in the game. The encounters got quicker. This actually doesn't work in Other M since you still have to do the dodge and charge routine with some enemies.

I could possibly add Flying Pirates in there but the Ice Beam trick would take care out that. Also keep in mind that doors were sometimes locked during these encounters - this was especially true in Echoes and Corruption.

Let's not bring up locked doors when comparing Prime games to Other M. Let's just not.

What I'm saying is that the Prime series had its fair share of time-consuming battles and forced encounters. I don't think it can be excused from that argument.

The final two certainly did, and Corruption was very combat focused. Of course, you had a choice in that series on how to get from one spot to the other.


Other M talk is always good for a laugh here. So is Fusion praise, as though it isn't another weird cousin to the family.

 

[_Alkaline_]

Sequence breaking in Super Metroid was discovered by the player by breaking the laws and rules confined within the game. Therefor it was outside of the developers intentions to allow the player to take liberty of breaking the sequences intended by the designers. Zero Mission iterated that accident and made it a part of it's fundamental design.

I was eliminating sequence breaking from what I was saying, as it's more of a fun extra as opposed to an essential Metroid element. Certainly Zero Mission was excellent in the way in approached - and executed - sequence breaking.

Oh and pardon me Etiolate, but if you aren't going to provide even a decent rebuttal, I'm not going to give you the time of day. You can laugh at my comments all you want, but the responses you gave...to call them 'weak' would be kind.

 

[Game Guru]

Going back to what someone said about Metroid generally following Aliens, why not a crossover in the vein of Alien Vs. Predator? Metroid Vs. Castlevania. I think it could work.

...

Well, I certainly would love to play that game.

 

[The Xtortionist]

As for the Prime games, I think you might be overlooking or forgetting some of the encounters in that series. I mean, just looking at the first Prime - Pirate Troopers, Sheegoths, Chozo Ghosts, Elite Pirates, Magmoor - by the end of the game these were all regular enemies and all of them (perhaps the Magmoor is stretching it a tad) took more than a few seconds to kill. I could possibly add Flying Pirates in there but the Ice Beam trick would take care out that. Also keep in mind that doors were sometimes locked during these encounters - this was especially true in Echoes and Corruption.

I was mainly referring to the first Prime, but I disagree with a few of your examples. Regular Pirate Troopers were downed in 2 or 3 charge shots IIRC. Power Troopers died in one super missile and Ice Troopers could be frozen and missile'd (at least in the GC version). Either way the Ice and Wave Troopers were fucked by their own charge beams. IIRC Sheegoths could be avoided entirely except for the Mama Sheegoth fight. Chozo Ghosts...I can't agree more with that one, bad design choice in an otherwise perfect game. Elite Pirates went down quick to super missiles and I believe power bombs ruined their day as well. Magmoors had to be rare; I can only recall fighting the first one you encounter when coming from Flaaghra.

Edit - Actually I think Chozo Ghosts could be skipped aside from the X-Ray Visor room and Hall of the Elders (the first time).

On the other hand I recall Other M being jam packed with high-health enemies. Maybe my strategies were just awful but I remember the chameleons, rockback dudes, those big guys in the Cyrosphere, the dudes you fight for the Diffusion Beam, the dinosaurs, and the endgame fuckers (behind the power bomb-able objects) taking a significant amount of time to kill. More than almost anything in Prime 1.

 

[etiolate]

I was eliminating sequence breaking from what I was saying, as it's more of a fun extra as opposed to an essential Metroid element. Certainly Zero Mission was excellent in the way in approached - and executed - sequence breaking.

Oh and pardon me Etiolate, but if you aren't going to provide even a decent rebuttal, I'm not going to give you the time of day. You can laugh at my comments all you want, but the responses you gave...to call them 'weak' would be kind.

Actually, I always bring valid points and that is what pisses people off.

Plus my high-horse riding is some pro-equestrian shit.

 

[_Alkaline_]

I was mainly referring to the first Prime, but I disagree with a few of your examples. Regular Pirate Troopers were downed in 2 or 3 charge shots IIRC. Power Troopers died in one super missile and Ice Troopers could be frozen and missile'd (at least in the GC version). Either way the Ice and Wave Troopers were fucked by their own charge beams. IIRC Sheegoths could be avoided entirely except for the Mama Sheegoth fight. Chozo Ghosts...I can't agree more with that one, bad design choice in an otherwise perfect game. Elite Pirates went down quick to super missiles and I believe power bombs ruined their day as well. Magmoors had to be rare; I can only recall fighting the first one you encounter when coming from Flaaghra.

On the other hand I recall Other M being jam packed with high-health enemies. Maybe my strategies were just awful but I remember the chameleons, rockback dudes, those big guys in the Cyrosphere, the dudes you fight for the Diffusion Beam, the dinosaurs, and the endgame fuckers (behind the power bomb-able objects) taking a significant amount of time to kill. More than almost anything in Prime 1.

IIRC Ice Troppers weren't shattered after one missile, unlike Flying Pirates. Wave and Plasma Troopers took the longest to down. Sheegoths absolutely could be avoided, but they're still worthy of being mentioned as you referred to any enemy in the game, not necessarily those which you had to face. Magmoors weren't strewn all around Magmoor Caverns, but they were quite easily taken down.

The Chameleons you only face a couple of times throughout the game - defeating them doesn't really take that long either, so I suppose we could compare them to the Elite Pirates from Prime. The Groganch likewise - these guys certainly take a while to down but you only come across them three times in the game. The Gigafraug were taken down easily with a missile to the forehead and then a lethal strike, and later in the game the plasma beam made quick work of them. The Desbrachians were optional and required the most skill of any enemy in the game - I think it's hard to judge something like this for being too difficult to take down. These encounters only took a minute tops anyway.

Absolutely Other M had its share of time-consuming enemies but this was also an issue (albeit slightly lesser) with Prime. I don't think it's a major issue with the game, Other M has other, much more considerable problems.

 

[apana]

Zelda 2
Metroid 2
Kid Icarus

All deserve Metroid: Zero Mission caliber remakes.



My honest opinion is that the entire pinnacle of the Metroid: Other M story discussion, is as asinine as people who discuss Zelda storylines. I think it is just the SUPER ULTRA HYPERBOLIC internet fanatical dribble we have come to expect. It is just a whole bunch of people putting rules of what is supposedly allowed and disallowed in a franchise. As soon as I read a review discussing how they penalized Metroid because the story was "sexist"? I just understood how worthless some opinions can be.

But. Without digressing. The main problem with Metroid: Other M wasn't Sakamoto's "writing", but the cumbersome and awkward controls. You know the main thing that actually affects you from enjoying a game. THE CONTROLS. Seriously that should be the number one topic concerning the game. Still the game tried to do something different and dynamic with its 3D third person gameplay that set itself apart from being shoe-horned into an FPS like Primes were.

Yeah I agree some people are just a little too quick to jump to the whole sexism thing. That is one of those things that can be easily misinterpreted due to cultural differences and translation.

 

[Chzn8r]

I really get pissy because I don't think 3D Metroid is a good representation, yet alone replacement of the Metroid saga. Same as Mario and Zelda.

Really, the best case scenario is

I still can't get over how on the same day, Nintendo released not only two of the best games in this franchise (obviously Super Metroid is on top), but two of the best Nintendo-branded games to date. An absolutely golden day for Metroid fans that took me a while to appreciate fully (both games really got better with age and replay). They showed to such a great extent how Metroid could succeed in two completely different ways (not just the perspective, but the pace, storytelling, etc) and was a dominant force in action/exploration games in both dimensional realms.

Odds of something huge like that happening with this series ever again are approximately 0%.

 

[legacyzero]

My best answer?

Give it back to RETRO.

 

[Mithos]

Honestly I'm so into Mass Effect 2 right now....

What if Samus actually went around in space to different planets/spacestations and locations picking up missions similar to Mass Effect 2, like a real bounty-hunter, and then went out hunting.

 

[apana]

Honestly I'm so into Mass Effect 2 right now....

What if Samus actually went around in space to different planets and location picking up missions similar to Mass Effect 2, like a real bounty-hunter.

Didn't Retro have a plan to do that for one of the prime games?

 

[robor]

I was eliminating sequence breaking from what I was saying, as it's more of a fun extra as opposed to an essential Metroid element. Certainly Zero Mission was excellent in the way in approached - and executed - sequence breaking.

Well with Super Metroid it may seem like an extra (it has to be because it was discovered by accident) but in Zero Mission I believe it implore's more than just serving as an extra. It's entwined relationship with the most obvious pathway proves to me that it's reaching for many players and play-types. It never mocks, or approves any player for chosing any pathway, it's all up to the player's discretion and the game openly embraces that. I find this to be important in Zero Mission's culture of play. Plus the destination locater isn't a dictator of where you're ought to go but rather, where you can go.

 

[KarmaCow]

Honestly I'm so into Mass Effect 2 right now....

What if Samus actually went around in space to different planets/spacestations and locations picking up missions similar to Mass Effect 2, like a real bounty-hunter, and then went out hunting.

How about if Metroid games play like Metroid games.

 

[Freshmaker]

How about if Metroid games play like Metroid games.

That hasn't happened since Super Metriod. It never will again.

 

[Mortrialus]

That hasn't happened since Super Metriod. It never will again.

Metroid Prime is a perfect Metroid game. Shut yo' mouth, foo.

 

[iirate]

Echoes is brilliant. Best Metroid not named Super.

I think it should be mandated that at least 5 Echoes love threads be kept bumped on GAF at all times. People are finally coming around to how wonderful it is, and it still needs more. Fantastic game.

Anyways, the original Metroid is my favorite game that I can't beat. Kraid hands me my ass every time, and it takes so long to grind health and try again. Still, the atmosphere in the first game is unparalleled. It is so easy to get lost in the world (I mean figuratively, but totally literally too). If the game would give me full health on a load, then I'd love it all the more. Also, its soundtrack, although loved, is definitely under-appreciated. I consider it easily one of the best of all time. The title theme, Kraid and Escape in particular are all unbelievable.

 

[apana]

Metroid Prime is a perfect Metroid game. Shut yo' mouth, foo.

To be fair Prime captures the spirit perfectly, but 3D and 2D can never be the same. No matter how great 3D Mario and Zelda are, they are not the same as 2D Mario and Zelda. Same goes for Metroid.