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RTTP: Super Metroid aka Come love Super Metroid with Me.

J

jg4xchamp

Member
t1cp1vX.gif


Super Metroid is so fucking good. One of my all time favorites, and depending on the day my pick for THE GOAT (Resident evil 4 or Metroid Prime get the other days, on crazier days, it's Ninja Gaiden Black). It kicks ass in so many departments as an action/adventure game, and man I want a 2d metroid game like this again. Zero Mission was more or less the last game in its ilk, Fusion is a bit different in comparison.

I've always been of the opinion that on balance, most games that borrow from Super Metroid, borrow the superficial stuff, but not like what really makes Super Metroid special. For whatever reason the structure got turned into "this door is x color, you need this item to open these doors, and this other item to open these other colored doors". And to an extent Super Metroid is that, to an extent.

It's a lot more organic in its design though, there are so many sequence breaks in this game, that simply can't be dismissed as "well that was a glitch". Mock balling is a glitch, I could see how the bomb jumping works wasn't maybe intentional (not sure on this one). But shinesparking stuff, and more importantly the stuff you can do earlier because of Wall Jumping is totally a part of the experience.

There are items you don't even need if you just wall jump, there are some great stretches like the abandoned ship, miridia, and a lot of what you do in Norfair where you actually have multiple paths to where you need to be going to finish the game. In contrast a lot of Metroid-Like games never really nail that level of freedom, or the Igarashi Castlevania thing where the free roam nature ultimately is a bit Superfluous to me as it just leads to gear that is borderline useless.

The bosses are still as fun to fight, I like the little wall trick for Draygoon. Yeah whatever Crocomire (fuck the spelling), and Kraid are pushovers, and on balance I like bosses in Metroid Prime more than Super Metroid, but they are still a blast to play today.

The music is ace:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpK90zUw4Lo&list=PLCA36710C4E87DEA9&index=15

^that's used for a plant that just swings back and forth like a dweeb. That fight should suck, but it all feels so menacing and neato lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lwgmj84q9z8&index=14&list=PLCA36710C4E87DEA9

^And this one of the lesser tracks, the stuff for Norfair is even better.

Not dissing modern games that use a Metroid-like strucutre, I quite dig Ori and the Blind Forest, Shadow Complex, and Axiom Verge, but it's a class or two (or 3) below how good I think Super Metroid is.

Loved this game when I was 7, and I love it even more now that I'm 27.

What say you gaf?

Also favorite Starburst? It's not really a question, the correct answer is pink.

Edit: Oh addition, but I kind of miss having mechanics like the wall jump in Super Metroid. Not that we don't get wall jumps, but I mean mechanics that require a bit more execution. I'm not saying I want Super Meat Boy with Super Metroid's wall jump, that would be stupid, but having mechanics you can actually get good at on an execution level can add a lot to an experience. It effectively is what makes up the speed running of Super Metroid, it's already a great action/adventure, but higher level players that learn the little tricks can make replays of the game that are more interesting and make subsequent playthroughs different from each other. That's neato, why is this a lost art? I feel games that have mechanics with that level of execution are fighting games and japanese beat em ups like Bayonetta, and with those games it's a very specific type of high level play.
 
M

Maedhros

Member
The sequence break in this game mostly comes from Wall Jumping, something people learn after going to a certain area, only.
 
hikarutilmitt

hikarutilmitt

Member
I will love SM with you, as I love SM as well. It really is what got my love of the series going, since the original NES game never clicked with me at all. To this day I still just cannot play Metroid and can barely play Metroid II. SM though? All day forever.

The wait for SM on n3DS is a slow painful one, because I want to properly playing the game portably. Axiom Verge, however, started making this pain way, way more bearable yesterday.
 
X

Xemnas89

Member
One of the best games of all time without a doubt. This is the perfect Metroid game to me. From the level design to the music everything about this game is as close to perfect as you can get.
 
S

shotgunbob04

Member
Played Zero Mission and Fusion on my GBA SP as a kid, currently playing through Axiom Verge on PS4, and I will have to give Super Metroid a shot! I love the Metroid universe and all of its music.

Tried playing Symphony of the Night and wasn't a fan. I think having no map system made it less fun for me.
 
D

DeCreeperHater

Banned
Bought it on the eShop.
I don't normally like these kinds of games, but the atmosphere alone made it worth it.

Please come down in price €85 for a cartridge is criminal
 
S

Spring-Loaded

Member
Dem moments of characterization


Even though it happens in METROID 2, it says a lot about Samus that she doesn't shoot the baby Metroid and describes its attachment to her in a cold, distant way, almost with pity.

Then
having the player make their own conclusion on what that means during gameplay when it comes back to save her
is just some inspired videos game storytelling.
 
F

fabricated backlash

Member
Playing it on the 3DS in pixel perfect display mode was eye opening for me. Some of the best pixel art ever. It's perfectly functional at all times, amazingly detailed and uses some incredibly nuanced effects to create more atmosphere with simple coloured overlays.

I played it on SNES, on Wii, on WiiU and now on 3DS, but only now do I understand the genius of this games graphics. To me they are still unmatched in 2D. Sure there are games that are more luscious and complex in their tiles and background details, but none is as focused on creating the pixel art to serve the gameplay first and foremost.
Spring-Loaded said:
Dem moments of characterization


Even though it happens in METROID 2, it says a lot about Samus that she doesn't shoot the baby Metroid and describes its attachment to her in a cold, distant way, almost with pity.

Then
having the player make their own conclusion on what that means during gameplay when it comes back to save her
is just some inspired videos game storytelling.
Click to expand...

I'd argue that it epitomizez how video game story telling can go far beyond other media, while incorporating every other story telling media as well (literature, movies, audio)
 
V

VAndy123m

Neo Member
never played super metriod already bought it off of vc but i need to finish super mario 64, a link to the past and super mario world first but im looking foward to playing it
 
K

Kyonashi

Member
Upgraded to a n3DS for this and Earthbound, replaying the first hour (which is as much as I've ever played before) and the 1:1 pixels are gorgeous. Can't say it's *grabbed* me yet but I anticipate getting stuck in.
 
C

Cleve

Member
Best of the Metroid series, I'll probably re-buy this on n3ds despite having it on snes and wii-u already.
 
S

Savinowned

Member
I wish I had played this back when I was younger... Coming into to it for the first time at age 24 is tough. I'm sadly too spoon-fed by easy modern games to be able to thoroughly enjoy myself playing it
 
V

Vampirolol

Member
Definitely one of the best games ever made, that's not an overstatement. Nintendo should give us another 2D Metroid after the awesome fusion and the stellar Zero Mission.
 
S

SaintMadeOfPlaster

Member
It still shines as the game with the best world design, period. The invisible hand that guides you is near unnoticeable, but the game would be nearly unplayable without it.
 
N

Neiteio

Member
I still can't get into this game.

I've tried multiple times, on multiple systems. It just feels clunky to me... Something about Samus' movement, I think. And the graphics look fuzzy to me. Great atmosphere, but I wish it looked sharper.

Whatever it is, I can't seem to get into its flow. I imagine it clicks at some point. I know it's a well-designed game, and some of the gamers I respect most (The Xtortionist, etc) swear by it as a great game. But so far, I haven't been able to get into it.

I'm happy for the people who love it, though.

Also, I should note, I loved Zero Mission, which I finished. Although it's not the kind of love where I feel compelled to replay it. I also loved the first half of Fusion (which is what I played before becoming stuck somewhere).

So I can appreciate this style of game, but yeah... Something about Super Metroid hasn't clicked with me.
 
P

_PsiFire_

Member
I still wish that Retro gets back to the Metroid franchise but not for a new Prime game.

I want them to take there 2.5D experience with the DKR games and make a new Metroid 2(.5)D side scroller!
 
F

Feichaw

Member
Best 2D game of all time. A masterpiece that hasn't aged at all. Timeless. I love this game.

The fact that almost the whole story is told silently makes this game so unique, so special. It's the ultimate proof that you can have a good story without words or dialogues. The fight with Mother Brain wouldn't be so epic, so memorable, if it had a single word.

The only game that can be compared to its magnificence is Metroid Prime, IMO.
 
N

Neiteio

Member
Seems like everyone has a favorite SNES game that is timeless to them.

For many, that game is Super Metroid. For others, it may be one of the adventures: Chrono Trigger or EarthBound or Super Mario RPG or Final Fantasy III (VI) or The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

For yet others, it could be classic platformers like Super Mario World or Yoshi's Island.

For me, it's Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. That game is consistently in my Top Five GOAT.
 
eXistor

eXistor

Member
The one game I, to this day, can say is as close to perfection as it's ever going to get. The Zelda series is overall my favorite in gaming, but Super Metroid is the best game ever made to me. It has the best controls in the series (and I'll fight whomever disagrees because it's not Zero Mission or Fusion), best level design, best music, best storyline, best atmosphere.

I just hope someday a new Metroid will try to top it, but I have all but given up hope on that.
 
B

Boy Wander

Member
Neiteio said:
I still can't get into this game.

I've tried multiple times, on multiple systems. It just feels clunky to me... Something about Samus' movement, I think. And the graphics look fuzzy to me. Great atmosphere, but I wish it looked sharper.

Whatever it is, I can't seem to get into its flow. I imagine it clicks at some point. I know it's a well-designed game, and some of the gamers I respect most (The Xtortionist, etc) swear by it as a great game. But so far, I haven't been able to get into it.

I'm happy for the people who love it, though.

Also, I should note, I loved Zero Mission, which I finished. Although it's not the kind of love where I feel compelled to replay it. I also loved the first half of Fusion (which is what I played before becoming stuck somewhere).

So I can appreciate this style of game, but yeah... Something about Super Metroid hasn't clicked with me.
Click to expand...

I'm with you. I tried, I really did, but I just didn't get on with it. I need to do a new run through soon just to make sure because I feel like it's a game I should love.
 
V

virtualS

Member
Agree with everything said. It is a little sad that all the Metroid imitators fail to perceive what makes SM so great... and I include Fusion in that list.
 
N

Neiteio

Member
I might give it yet another try when it's available on the 3DS VC in North America. Maybe it'd finally click for me on a portable.
 
M

mantidor

Member
Organic is exactly on point. Even the Primes, which I love dearly, still fall into doing that "key-door" mechanic a little bit. It's a game with masterful design, and very, very few have measured up.
 
W

Weltall Zero

Member
Super Metroid is truly a masterpiece in a console that is simply peppered with them. I'm a bit sad that I didn't get to play the original NES Metroid before I played SM, for extra nostalgia points in the revisited zones (especially the original, ruined Tourian).

jg4xchamp said:
Zero Mission was more or less the last game in its ilk, Fusion is a bit different in comparison.
Click to expand...

Zero Mission was literally the last game of this kind, even without the Fusion caveat: it came out a couple years after Fusion. /pedantic. :)

Neiteio said:
Whatever it is, I can't seem to get into its flow. I imagine it clicks at some point.
Click to expand...

I can't speak for others, but back in 1994 the game instantly gripped me from second one, first with its intro and then with the forebonding atmosphere both in the station and Zebes. I can't think of a particular moment where the game would "click", so I guess it's a plain old case of "the game isn't for you", which is kind of unfortunate as from what I know of your tastes I think it's the kind of game you'd be bound to like. :/
 
R

Rutger

Banned
Yes, it's an amazing game.
Though of the 2D Metroid games, I like Zero Mission a little more, thanks largely to having far superior controls.
And then both of those are just under Prime 1 and 2 for me.

But yes, it's still an amazing game.
 
G

Gsnap

Member
The fact that the wall jump is available from the beginning, but so unintuitive that most people won't figure out how to do it from the very beginning, but still so consistent that once you do know how to do it you can pull it off quite easily, is just the best thing ever. It leads to one of the most organic and interesting forms of sequence breaking. One of the only other games I've felt do this just as well is toki tori 2. It's a puzzle game so the way you interact with the world is inherently different, which may turn some people off, but it captures the progression of Super Metroid better than most games do.
 
N

Neiteio

Member
Weltall Zero said:
I can't speak for others, but back in 1994 the game instantly gripped me from second one, first with its intro and then with the forebonding atmosphere both in the station and Zebes. I can't think of a particular moment where the game would "click", so I guess it's a plain old case of "the game isn't for you", which is kind of unfortunate as from what I know of your tastes I think it's the kind of game you'd be bound to like. :/
Click to expand...
Hey, who knows. I didn't "get" old-school Resident Evil until this past year, when all of the sudden it clicked and I flew through REmake, RE2 and RE3 in quick succession (with a bit of Zero and CVX along the way). :)
 
R

Ryouji Gunblade

Member
I recently learned that Intelligent Systems worked on Metroid and Super Metroid. It's kind of painful to see where they are now.

I used to not like the new Brinstar music, but it grew on me like a jungle.
 
N

Nictel

Member
I remember the Wrecked Ship giving me chills as a kid.

The best thing about the wall jump is that they teach you how to potentially break the game in the game itself.
 
J

Jo Shishido's Cheeks

Member
Playing it for the first time currently...

Got to Maridia.
Haven't played for 3 days.

This zone, much like the OoT Water Temple, destroys my desire to continue playing.
 
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