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[Anteo]

Playing this game for the first time. This opening where the worm creature keeps reappearing and nearly killing you while you slowly get better at playing and collect upgrades...whew. Awesome.

Were there any "chase" bosses similar to this and SA-X in the Prime games? Ones that keep reappearing before you can properly destroy them. Maybe Ridley in Prime 3?

I forget.

Edit: I suppose Dark Samus counts.

I dont understand what triggers its dead. Had to hunt it down 4 times before it died. Didnt save and died and Had to kull him again. He died in the first encounter. I guess I just hit all misiles?

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Early Super Missiles (I got it before I even got the Varia suit) feels nice, even if they're not really useful at that stage in the game since everything dies to regular missiles and there's no super doors at that point, either.

More of a novelty, but still, it was fun figuring out how to do it.

 

[wild wild rice]

I dont understand what triggers its dead. Had to hunt it down 4 times before it died. Didnt save and died and Had to kull him again. He died in the first encounter. I guess I just hit all misiles?

I was wondering if it was possible to kill that thing in an early encounter or if it automatically goes 5 times or whatever.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

I killed it the second time.

It's just on a timer, beat it before it reaches the timer, or it goes away. Although I'm not sure there's even enough time the first time you meet it to kill it in one go.

 

[Green Mamba]

You can kill it in the first encounter if you know what you're doing. It only takes three missiles.

 

[Solid SOAP]

I may be getting a Wii U soon. I'll be sure to pick this up if I get the chance

 

[Overside]

Well I think my problem is I want this to be the masterpiece that super metroid is and it just isn't. I can appreciate that it's a retelling of the original NES game though and I'll finish my play through.

Reading everyone's comments to my earlier question, you're all correct.

I'll end my post by asking the eternal question: why can't we get a modern 2D metroid inspired by Super Metroid, the best game in the series? It seems like such a simple concept. Instead we get the abomination that was Other M. I'll never understand this nonsense.

Because in order to have another super metroid, you have to do what super did... Pioneer new ground, which means let go of super metroid and truly move on.... In advancing metroid style design.

New powerups, with new mechanics, which means new ways of designing the obstacles/skill checks, which in turn means new progression design, and once again a world layout that is foreign and unfamiliar.

As long as they keep piddling around with the same super powerups being the majority item base, and determining design, with one or two completely inconsequential new powerups, that is nothing more than a cosmetic hard lock mechanic, super will never be approached, let alone surpassed.

 

[Nerrel]

I'll end my post by asking the eternal question: why can't we get a modern 2D metroid inspired by Super Metroid, the best game in the series? It seems like such a simple concept. Instead we get the abomination that was Other M. I'll never understand this nonsense.

Other M was actually an attempt to bring Super Metroid's gamepaly into 3D. The Prime games ditched most of what made Samus who she was when they went to first person- for instance, she couldn't run, could only perform simple non-somersaulting jumps, and was generally a slow, plodding tank. The Prime trilogy may have nailed the Metroid exploration and atmosphere, but it absolutely lost the 2D action.

Other M tried to recreate the feel of 2D Samus in 3D space. It actually did a great job; the speed booster, space jump, and wall jumping are all back and feel perfectly natural in 3D. The problem was that Sakamoto prioritized the story over gameplay, which led to things like authorization of weapons instead of discovering or earning them on your own. He also didn't have any ability to navigate in 3D games, which led to the heavy handed linearity and controlled door locks. These things were actually present in Fusion and Zero Mission as well, just not quite as stupidly obvious.

I respect Other M for what it tried to do and I think it actually deserves more credit for at least attempting to keep 2D Samus' feel intact instead of just jettisoning it like the Prime games did. It's a shame it turned out with so many faults, because we'll likely never get another game that improves on that concept again. As for 2D Metroid, we can't get another one because fans shamed Sakamoto out of the series altogether. He doesn't want anything to do with it after the backlash he received with Other M. Someone else will eventually develop one, but I'm wary of how it'll turn out without Sakamoto. The guy directed Super fucking Metroid.

 

[Overside]

Other M was actually an attempt to bring Super Metroid's gamepaly into 3D. The Prime games ditched most of what made Samus who she was when they went to first person- for instance, she couldn't run, could only perform simple non-somersaulting jumps, and was generally a slow, plodding tank. The Prime trilogy may have nailed the Metroid exploration and atmosphere, but it absolutely lost the 2D action.

Other M tried to recreate the feel of 2D Samus in 3D space. It actually did a great job; the speed booster, space jump, and wall jumping are all back and feel perfectly natural in 3D. The problem was that Sakamoto prioritized the story over gameplay, which led to things like authorization of weapons instead of discovering or earning them on your own. He also didn't have any ability to navigate in 3D games, which led to the heavy handed linearity and controlled door locks. These things were actually present in Fusion and Zero Mission as well, just not quite as stupidly obvious.

I respect Other M for what it tried to do and I think it actually deserves more credit for at least attempting to keep 2D Samus' feel intact instead of just jettisoning it like the Prime games did. It's a shame it turned out with so many faults, because we'll likely never get another game that improves on that concept again. As for 2D Metroid, we can't get another one because fans shamed Sakamoto out of the series altogether. He doesn't want anything to do with it after the backlash he received with Other M. Someone else will eventually develop one, but I'm wary of how it'll turn out without Sakamoto. The guy directed Super fucking Metroid.

Other M did do a great job of nailing the classic series mechanics in 3d space. Can't deny that. The spin jumps, space jumps, wall jumps, and turbo booster.. Even retro admitted they couldn't do it like that... Gah, if only other m wasn't mother m...

But because it was done so well, it is clear now which aspect of metroid contains the lions share of the series soul, the metroid feel... And its the power up/progression/exploration design, and not the base movement mechanics.

I of course would love a 3d metroid that at last nails both aspects... But if it came down to having to choose ... Its no contest

 

[Layell]

Other M tried to recreate the feel of 2D Samus in 3D space. It actually did a great job; the speed booster, space jump, and wall jumping are all back and feel perfectly natural in 3D.

You say all of this but forget to mention it was using the worst possible control method for all of it, and that I cannot move while shooting missiles.

 

[Kamek]

But muh ambassador status

 

[Zekes!]

I gotta agree that I liked certain aspects of how Other M played, even if the control method was not great. I wouldn't mind seeing another Metroid built around its mechanics, but improved significantly upon. The map design and story aspect was definitely wack though

 

[Overside]

You say all of this but forget to mention it was using the worst possible control method for all of it, and that I cannot move while shooting missiles.

zHonestly, all things considered, that worked out just fine.

Not perfect, it could have been better.

missiles were changed, but in a way that was just super satisfying. I would keep the powerful (even normal) missiles over that ability to spam health sapping but impact less missiles.

Also... There were ways to keep moving and fire missiles... Inertia was mighty fine friend of mine.

I would have added aiming up or down via motion tilting, to move the auto aim box in genersl up or down instead of having just one giant if its in front of you samus shoots it box.

And done something to prevent stutter dodging.

But for the most part, the base control mechanics to other m were pretty rock in. If only they had a world worth being used in.

That being said I wouldn't say no to analog control, pointer aiming, and moving missile shots that don't require hoop jumping.

But I would definitely keep missiles that pack punch over spam style for 3d. Those missiles felt damn good.

 

[SolVanderlyn]

I gotta agree that I liked certain aspects of how Other M played, even if the control method was not great. I wouldn't mind seeing another Metroid built around its mechanics, but improved significantly upon. The map design and story aspect was definitely wack though

Yes. Hire another writer, please.

 

[Overside]

Yes. Hire another writer, please.

Yay, now we have a shitty metroid game with better cut scenes.

 

[Layell]

Some of you are defending even the mediocre parts of Other M here.

You can't polish a turd.

 

[Overside]

Some of you are defending even the mediocre parts of Other M here.

You can't polish a turd.

Those were far from the mediocre parts of other m. They actually worked, and mostly pretty well, albeit a bit too streamlined. The core traversal mechanics were a near perfect transition of 2d metroid into 3d.

In fact, there was nothimg mediocre in other m. You had that, which was actually done pretty well, and then complete and utter shit everywhere else Yeah, There was no middle ground, no average. Good base traversal mechanics for converting the feel of 2d metroid into 3d, shit everything else. No mediocre.

Not succumbing to a halo effect and being able to look at something objectively despite the fact its attached to the dreaded other m is not trying to polish a terd.

Its pointing out theres a peanut in the terd.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Some of you are defending even the mediocre parts of Other M here.

You can't polish a turd.

If the story of Other M had been better (or non existent) and the levels were designed better (and not as generic), Other M's gameplay would have been marked down as a minor annoyance.

 

[KingBroly]

If the story of Other M had been better (or non existent) and the levels were designed better (and not as generic), Other M's gameplay would have been marked down as a minor annoyance.

There's little to nothing that's redeeming about Other M. When people say "Other M was made by a bunch of people who don't understand Metroid" the obvious follow-up is "and Team Ninja." Do the people at Nintendo in charge of Metroid know how to make a Metroid game anymore? They've ran away from the Super Metroid concept for 22 years now while many others keep trying to simply replicate it. So I don't think they understand why it's so good or why people want more of it. Just because they made it so long ago doesn't mean they get it. While Zero Mission may be a step back toward Super Metroid, Other M goes 200 steps in the other direction and it comes off as self-indulgent to the creators and patronizing to the players.

Zero Mission's base is the original game, and while it touches up on things like gameplay and giving players some sense of direction and structure, it still manages to add in a whole chunk of Fusion-esque stuff to it that does end up lowering its' quality in comparison to Super and Prime. Although, going back to Zero Mission makes me realize how similar some of the tracks are to the feel of Prime.

 

[Solid SOAP]

It surprises me that Nintendo haven't pushed out a Metroid game on 3DS or something. The genre has been more popular than even in the indie scene, you'd think Nintendo would wanna take advantage of that. I feel like a new Metroid title would sell a cool million or two, optimistically.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Forgot how pathetically easy Ridley is in this game.

You can have so many energy and super missile tanks by the time you reach him, just eat the damage and super missile. He was dead in ten seconds.

 

[Diablohead]

It surprises me that Nintendo haven't pushed out a Metroid game on 3DS or something. The genre has been more popular than even in the indie scene, you'd think Nintendo would wanna take advantage of that. I feel like a new Metroid title would sell a cool million or two, optimistically.

Nintendo don't want to make direct sequels which is why we have metroid prime federation force being a co-op game for 3ds instead of a regular what-we-all-love metroid game.

I just hope that the moaning over FF has woken them up and the next metroid is more along the lines of zero mission and super.

Forgot how pathetically easy Ridley is in this game.

You can have so many energy and super missile tanks by the time you reach him, just eat the damage and super missile. He was dead in ten seconds.

yeah a huge weak point in zero mission was some of the bosses, they toned ridley down so much that he doesn't feel like a threat any longer.

 

[Green Mamba]

Zero Mission is like the anti-Metroid Fusion when it comes to bosses. Very few of them in comparison and they're almost all very easy. Mother Brain's like the only one that puts up a fight.

Also, it seems absolutely insane that Nintendo hasn't made a 2D Metroid in 12 fucking years. What the hell.

 

[KarmaCow]

Zero Mission is like the anti-Metroid Fusion when it comes to bosses. Very few of them in comparison and they're almost all very easy. Mother Brain's like the only one that puts up a fight.

Also, it seems absolutely insane that Nintendo hasn't made a 2D Metroid in 12 fucking years. What the hell.

Ridley is a pretty fun fight if you don't cheese it by getting him to tail stab over and over.

 

[Overside]

There's little to nothing that's redeeming about Other M. When people say "Other M was made by a bunch of people who don't understand Metroid" the obvious follow-up is "and Team Ninja." Do the people at Nintendo in charge of Metroid know how to make a Metroid game anymore? They've ran away from the Super Metroid concept for 22 years now while many others keep trying to simply replicate it. So I don't think they understand why it's so good or why people want more of it. Just because they made it so long ago doesn't mean they get it. While Zero Mission may be a step back toward Super Metroid, Other M goes 200 steps in the other direction and it comes off as self-indulgent to the creators and patronizing to the players.

Zero Mission's base is the original game, and while it touches up on things like gameplay and giving players some sense of direction and structure, it still manages to add in a whole chunk of Fusion-esque stuff to it that does end up lowering its' quality in comparison to Super and Prime. Although, going back to Zero Mission makes me realize how similar some of the tracks are to the feel of Prime.

God this is even more painful to read when I'm not saying it.

 

[transience]

I started trying to speedrun this game again. I've lost a lot of my skills but still a decent time.

 

[emb]

Forgot how pathetically easy Ridley is in this game.

You can have so many energy and super missile tanks by the time you reach him, just eat the damage and super missile. He was dead in ten seconds.

Even without a lot of stuff, it's pretty easy to cheese it. With only one energy tank and 4 supers (and several missiles), it works out in your favor.

If you don't eat the damage, you can just stay directly under him. Unless you fire too many missile too quickly, he will never attack you.

I started trying to speedrun this game again. I've lost a lot of my skills but still a decent time.

Nice!

I was able to get 38:14 the other day, but segmented. I suck too bad at Chozodia, haven't been able to get a saveless run yet. D:

 

[leroidys]

I love how every single metroid thread has to turn into discussing what went wrong with Other M (no really, there's been some good points made in this one).

That game was extra frustrating because, as mentioned, it actually did a great job for the most part of bringing Super Metroid action into 3D. It's just that the whole package sucked. Bought ZM even though I own the cart. Probably won't get around to playing this for a while, but some day I need to play this, fusion, and SM back to back to back and figure out my definitive ranking. Right now I lean towards Zero Mission.

 

[Green Mamba]

Ridley is a pretty fun fight if you don't cheese it by getting him to tail stab over and over.

I don't think I know how to not cheese Ridley in this game.

 

[bone_and_sinew]

Fuck! Why do I have to work tonight. I'll have to wait until tomorrow to play it.

 

[Alex_Mexico]

Those were far from the mediocre parts of other m. They actually worked, and mostly pretty well, albeit a bit too streamlined. The core traversal mechanics were a near perfect transition of 2d metroid into 3d.

In fact, there was nothimg mediocre in other m. You had that, which was actually done pretty well, and then complete and utter shit everywhere else Yeah, There was no middle ground, no average. Good base traversal mechanics for converting the feel of 2d metroid into 3d, shit everything else. No mediocre.

Not succumbing to a halo effect and being able to look at something objectively despite the fact its attached to the dreaded other m is not trying to polish a terd.

Its pointing out theres a peanut in the terd.

IMO that mechanic threw the possibility of being good out the window the second they decided to stick to the Wiimote only. Making Samus move in a 3D space with a dpad, making you awkwardly flip it to shoot missiles and not letting you move while shooting them was atrocious and the polar opposite of fun.

The had in that regard some sort of good idea but just like the rest of Other M they executed it like shit.

 

[Alex_Mexico]

Zero Mission is like the anti-Metroid Fusion when it comes to bosses. Very few of them in comparison and they're almost all very easy. Mother Brain's like the only one that puts up a fight.

Also, it seems absolutely insane that Nintendo hasn't made a 2D Metroid in 12 fucking years. What the hell.

And they haven't done a new 2D Metroid that's not a remake in 14 years. It's embarrassing.

Until Nintendo doesn't announce a new mainline Metroid I'll continue to accuse Other M of franchise murder.

Meanwhile in ZM: yesterday I beat Kraid. I'm loving this game way too much. Why did I miss it back in 2004!?

 

[Claude Augario]

I love how every single metroid thread has to turn into discussing what went wrong with Other M (no really, there's been some good points made in this one).

That game was extra frustrating because, as mentioned, it actually did a great job for the most part of bringing Super Metroid action into 3D. It's just that the whole package sucked. Bought ZM even though I own the cart. Probably won't get around to playing this for a while, but some day I need to play this, fusion, and SM back to back to back and figure out my definitive ranking. Right now I lean towards Zero Mission.

Psychologists are going to be studying Metroid Other M for years for its mysterious ability to turn presumably well-adjusted adults into sniveling manchildren. You can generally talk about a Sonic game, any Sonic game, without the discussion devolving into Sonic 06 whining. People have accepted that game's existence and basically moved on with their lives; Other M is treated like a continuing traumatic experience. No, you can't talk about Zero Mission. We need to talk about Other M, because it personal offended me and I will never forgive it or Nintendo!

Other M is one of the few games I've actually had someone harass me over on another website. I don't mean harassment like "he was mean to me in the thread," I mean someone sending me enraged, threatening PMs because I said the base game was pretty solid. If that wasn't enough, I've noticed a lot of mean-spirited "rumors" and outright lies cropping up about Sakamoto, even on this forum. You never really heard a lot about him before Other M, but now I see people talking about him and his development process like they've known him since childhood, and it always involves something about blocking Retro from greatness, or how Super Metroid was "an accident," and other nonsense from the smoldering remains of what once might have been identifiable as a fan of Metroid and maybe a decent person.

Honestly if this fanbase wasn't already an embarrassment after Other M, it definitely was from the Federation Force tantrums.

 

[avrophantasm]

(...)

Metroid isn't really about non linear design. Metroid is about discovering a linear path, hidden in a non linear and persistent world. If you make the path to obvious, or force the player to stay on it, or rub the players face in it like a dog that pood the carpet, and youve screwed the pooch, and people will refer to your game as a 'backtracking' game. Go to far in the other direction though, and things become too loose, and lose impact. If it becomes too simple to advance, if all choices work, then they all become equally meaningless, again, you have screwed the pooch. Metroid style design is a very, very, very, very difficult balance to achieve, and one that can not be solved by throwing money at it. Its why the genre is untouched by AAA's.

In order to understand how far apart super and zero mission are, its necessary to go into their individual design motifs. Namely the concept of hard locks and soft locks. Metroid up to super/prime, were designed with the main focus on soft locks, with hard locks merely being interspersed occasionally as an enforcement. Metroids past that point, and all metroidvanias that attempt to emulate metroid, particularly indie productions, most only use hard locks.

Both locks are solutions to progression design. Its a two part design, the key, or the power up, and the obstacle created to test the players skill, critical thinking, and problem solving abilities utilizing the rules of the key.

A hard lock is basically a disguised key and locked door. Barely disguised, doesn't challenge the player at all. The classic metroid hard lock is the red missile door, and its cousin the missile block. The player has the key, the door opens. Missiles, super missiles, power bombs, morph ball bomb blocks, you get the idea. The morph ball is a better disguised hard lock.

A soft lock is something that fundamentally changes the rules/identity of the game, and uses those changes to control progress.

As you play a game, any game, you observe the rules of the game sub-consciously and begin forming a identity of the game in your mind. How fast do you move, how far can you jump, how high, how many shots does it take to defeat an enemy. Its this information you use innately to make split second judgments, you can tell that projectile is on a collision course with the character because of the consistant rules demonstrated by the game, you know when and where the impact will occur. Whether you choose to reverse directions to avoid the projectile, or continue advancing and jump over it, has to do with how you have internalized the rules of the game, as its mental identity in your mind.

A soft lock completely shakes that up, and has the player completely re-evaluate that identity, because it changes a fundamental rule.

Like, how High can I jump? Upon aquiring the high jump, the player is suddenly forced to re remember and rethink all the areas they have previously been too. Not simply remember that there was a door that they have the key to now, but a fundamental shift in how they think about where they can go and what they can do.

Hard lock are digital, yes or no. Soft locks are analog. A completely different way of thinking about progression.

Hard locks have one way that the lock can be implemented, it makes for repetitive mundane design, and results in people frequently uttering the word 'back tracking', because they aren't doing/thinking anything new, and are in the same old areas just going to a door, to use the key. Soft locks obstacles can have vast myriads of designs testing different skills. Now the player has to go and test how far, and how high they can jump, what range can I expect with a wall jump now? And a running jump? I bet I can barely reach that ledge now and nail a perfect wall jump and make it on top of that platform.

Soft locks are immensely powerful. They are also very very hard to design, and require a lot of trial and error testing, whereas hard locks are very simple and require little time. Soft locks are so powerful, they give so much control to the players agency, that the design team simply has no way of anticipating the things players would be able to do with them. This is why Super Metroid and Metroid Prime have such massive sequence breaking histories... None of it was actually planned, its a natural bi-product of a soft lock focused design. There is no way the directors intent can anticipate all the things the player can do with the power they are given, so players inevitably find various unique ways to overcome the directors intent, and break free of the path, the sequence. This is a very different thing than removing all player agency and instead having a missile block above a super missile door purposefully placed to speed run the game in a way completely pre-set, controlled and dictated by the directors intent.

Zero mission was patronizing in that way. The only power ups the player ever actually found on their own were completely worthless, missile and etanks, and the only other option they had was skipping the entire game through mundane work arounds. (Although I did rather enjoy how in depth zm got with its shine sparking play with slopes).

Here are some of the problems with modern metroid design, a little of fusion, and zm, and how they slowly but surely slid into other m.

1. Stagnant soft lock power ups. Classic Metroid (R&D1 tem) has not introduced a new soft lock mechanic since super. Every new mechanic that has been added, has only been used for hard locks.

2. The team has gotten too used to working with the soft lock mechanics established since super. While before super released the team couldnt have predicted all the things players would do with the power afforded them, after it released that was a very different story. he teams are very aquinted with exactly all the things the player can do with the soft lock power ups and obstacles, and can now effectively design obstacles that can only be completed via what the director has pre planned... Essentially turning them into hard locks.

3. GBA resolution. I am sure the fact that you could have far less on screen on the gba than from a similar scene on the snes had quite the impact on overall design of the title. Probably the easiest and most direct comparison is the kraid fight from zm and the kraid fight from sm. Those changes were made because of the differences in visible screen real estate, the rest of the game was designed with the same restrictions in mind. Getting used to working like that may have stuck around even after those limitations were lifted.

4. Slaving the game under the story. Fusion took away the player actually finding powerups, and instead simply gave the powerup to the player in a cutscene upon reaching a specified point in the map, a data room. The only thing the player was actually allowed to find, were the most depressing powerups to find, missile packs and etanks and the like. (Everybody remembers that sinking feeling they got in their gut, when, after discovering some secret path, and going through some crazy gauntlet, they approach the end and... Instead of a chozo statue are greeted with a lame missile pack... Of course, back then there was actually the possibility of finding a new power up, super had several fully designed powerups that players could be rewarded with via exploration, things like x ray scopes and morph ball jumps, optional beams and reserve tanks... All gone for fusion and zm... along with the extra mapspace housing them that added more optional world to more believably hide the path).

Uh... Anyways, Fusion also simply gave powerups to players after defeating bosses. This was done at the expense of engaging world design, and in service to the story. This is identical to what other M does.

ZM manages to escape the direct OM powerup allusion because its a remake of the original metroid, they HAVE to have chozo statues and powerups that are actually picked up by the player. But... It suffers from a design composed entirely of hard locks, and the 'non linear aspect' is merely blatantly obvious hard locks that allow the player to skip chunks of the path, now painfully broadcasted via neon blinking signs, to the point the player no longer discovers it because they are stapled to it.

But past that, ZM has a dark, dark seed, a blood and soul sacrifice to the Satan of Metroid.

Throughout the title, there actually ARE powerups to aquire that were not in the original game. Even though getting them was just as blatantly broadcasted as the rest of the game... but still, it was something new, it was nice. UNFORTUNATELY, upon aquiring them the player could not use them, because the story said so. Metroid is a game built off of design enabled by rule changing powerups, not story. So, after a certain point in the game, the story authorizes the player the use of the powerups they collected throughout the game. Unfortunately the game is over by that point, as the only thing the player has left to do, is go a few screens up and to the right to put the 'final boss' out of its misery. The player is expected to backtrack throughout the whole game (And yes backtrack is the correct word, as none of the world design was made with those powerups in mind, and they arent used at all throughout the games progression) All that there is for the player to do is the pointless act of backtracking to a barely disguised door, to use one of the authorized powerups to pick up a missile, or tank, absolutely depressing.

(...)

Even if I enjoyed Fusion and ZM a lot, that's a very good analysis of Metroid's unique type of gameplay and why Fusion and ZM couldn't live up to Super or the original. Fusion was my first Metroid games, and were my first introduction to Metroid's gameplay conventions and tropes...so when I played the other 2D games, I came away really impressed with their more satisfying feeling of progression. Because of my introduction to the series, it never occurred to me that Fusion was that much of an anomaly considering what had come before, but I guess they really did do away with some design decisions that helped make Super Metroid so great.

And even though I really enjoyed ZM, I do see the rot that eventually gave way to Other M beginning to grow. Sakamoto was apparently there since the beginning; I'm just flummoxed about how someone can go from helping design some of the most brilliant games of all time to just wanting to push their awful story in everyone's faces.

If the story of Other M had been better (or non existent) and the levels were designed better (and not as generic), Other M's gameplay would have been marked down as a minor annoyance.

Technically that's true, but if we look at Fusion and ZM and what they were building towards, the possibility for MOM to have had better level design or a better plot was very low. The 2D games were moving towards being more linear and having more story than Metroids 1-3 and MOM poor level design is result of that progression.

Zero Mission is like the anti-Metroid Fusion when it comes to bosses. Very few of them in comparison and they're almost all very easy. Mother Brain's like the only one that puts up a fight.

Also, it seems absolutely insane that Nintendo hasn't made a 2D Metroid in 12 fucking years. What the hell.

God, has it really been that long?

Anyway, I loved the variety and difficulty of the bosses in Fusion. So good.

 

[Green Mamba]

Finished my first run through, 100% in 1:28. I feel I have to reiterate that I don't like the way the game handles 100%, and it shares its problem with Fusion and Other M, wherein they treat 100%ing the game as a final quest unto itself that you do at the end of the game instead of allowing it to naturally occur through the game's normal structure. Putting the Power Bombs two rooms away from the final boss and then forcing you to crawl all the way back out of the Space Pirate Mothership just to get a few remaining items behind a couple Power Bomb blocks in the first areas just feels really crappy.

Not to mention how worthless it makes the Power Bomb expansions. The game is over at that point, they're no help outside of helping you find more Power Bomb expansions.

 

[Agent Unknown]

Beating the game on normal is supposed to unlock Hard mode right? It seems like after beating the game and going back to my cleared slot it will still only let me choose between Easy and Normal. Don't remember having this issue years ago. Or do you also have to get 100% items too?

 

[EVA UNIT 01]

Reached the last area i think?
And man sooo good.
First time ZM player and i gotta say this tops fusion so easily for me.
Dosent top super moment to moment but it does top it mechanically and from a user PoV.
Probably my fave 2d metroid.

 

[Green Mamba]

Beating the game on normal is supposed to unlock Hard mode right? It seems like after beating the game and going back to my cleared slot it will still only let me choose between Easy and Normal. Don't remember having this issue years ago. Or do you also have to get 100% items too?

That's strange--are you selecting the same slot as the one you beat? Like, the slot with a green Screw Attack symbol on the right hand side?

---

Beat it again today:

 

[Peltz]

I started trying to speedrun this game again. I've lost a lot of my skills but still a decent time.

Damn... how do you guys speed run Metroid games? I always take so long.

 

[wild wild rice]

Reached the last area i think?
And man sooo good.
First time ZM player and i gotta say this tops fusion so easily for me.
Dosent top super moment to moment but it does top it mechanically and from a user PoV.
Probably my fave 2d metroid.

I'm totally loving playing this for the first time as well. It might be my favorite 2D Metroid game, we'll see. Atmosphere and music are top notch. Controls are probably the best 2D Metroid has ever been. I think the game strikes a really good balance of freedom and direction with the excellent level design. Enemies are fun to kill, jumping sections are intelligently designed. Whew...feels great to play a Metroid classic for the first time.

Edit: Also just looked at this fan version of the timeline, cool stuff. It helped me connect things between the Prime and 2D universes. : http://www.metroid-database.com/features/timeline.jpg

 

[emb]

Damn... how do you guys speed run Metroid games? I always take so long.

After you beat the game normally a couple times, watch a good speedrun to get an idea of the route. Then give it a shot. If you have fun, you can always look up strategies for specific rooms and sections later.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

whelp, Mecha-Ridley was just as easy as his fleshy counterpart. Super Missiles are a little over powered, they maybe shouldn't have given you as many or kept them at Fusion power or something.

And thus ends Zero Mission for me (until I feel like running through it again, maybe on hard mode), since it feels entirely pointless to go back and collect junk I have no use for.

A little under four hours.

I like this game a lot.

 

[Agent Unknown]

Did M2 include the extra art/ending gallery which you'd get by linking up with Fusion? That was an ace little bonus back in the day.

That's strange--are you selecting the same slot as the one you beat? Like, the slot with a green Screw Attack symbol on the right hand side?

I don't remember seeing the green Screw attack symbol, I'll have to check again, thanks.

Edit: Nope, I erased my cleared save slot, no green Screw attack icon and still doesn't give me Hard as an option, just Easy and Normal.

 

[Green Mamba]

I don't remember seeing the green Screw attack symbol, I'll have to check again, thanks.

Make sure after completing the game to allow the ending picture to disappear, don't reset the game--you should see a bunch of "XXX unlocked" messages after it.

 

[Agent Unknown]

Make sure after completing the game to allow the ending picture to disappear, don't reset the game--you should see a bunch of "XXX unlocked" messages after it.

That must be it, I reset as soon as I saw the ending picture. I tried starting a new game, no green Screw attack icon and still doesn't give me Hard as an option, just Easy and Normal. NES Metroid was unlocked though, go figure.

 

[mariachi507]

My dumbass forgot about my credit and debit cards expiring in December and the replacements were sent to the wrong address. As a result, I am unable to buy this game from the eshop at this time. You'd think that I wouldn't be this thirsty for a game that's been out for over a decade and that I have beaten various times, but man I need some Zero Mission on my Wii U asap. Just a couple of more days until my new cards get here, I think I'm going to go for a 100% run on my first go.

Edit: Since Other M came up, I decided to look back in Gaf history. I remember the hype for the game being very high, at least up until the info about the story and Samus's characterization came in. I guess that's why Other M stings so bad, up until release there were high hopes for it. If you want to see the hype machine then check this thread out. On the record, I'm not quite an Other M apologist, but I do think the game got some things right.

 

[Lord_Byron28]

Zero Mission was the last Metroid title, I've yet to play. I've played it for a few hours today and made some good progress. Although it makes me long for Nintendo to develop more titles similar to this. Although the indie scene is delivering in this genre.


Edit: as for Other M it had a few things I liked about it. It had a good core traversal/combat system that translated well in the 3D space. Unfortunately it was confined to just the wiimote, generic environments and heavy story. I'd love for a future game to heavily expand/improve on the very base traversal and combat system of making Samus more acrobatic, nimble and bad ass(in gameplay only) for a 3D title. I think having a camera similar to RE4, except from a slightly higher angle so you can view more of the area and move quickly if necessary could work.

 

[jholmes]

Beat it today. Really liked it, not sure I'll try getting more of the items I didn't grab, and I doubt I'll really give speedrunning a try, but maybe the itch will strike me. The post Mother Brain stuff feels really tacked on but it was fun, so I won't complain.

 

[Lothar]

Beat it today. Really liked it, not sure I'll try getting more of the items I didn't grab, and I doubt I'll really give speedrunning a try, but maybe the itch will strike me. The post Mother Brain stuff feels really tacked on but it was fun, so I won't complain.

Now you can beat the newly unlocked original Metroid.

 

[Pamplemousse]

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Beat it again today:

Holy shit, 100 percent that quickly. That's unreal. Congrats!