seaandthebells said:
That may be so, but that doesn't make it any less a part of the game. Silent movies are silent because of the technology of the time, but that doesn't make the silence any less a part of the experience of watching them.
Those are things to like about the original Metroid in retrospect. But we're dealing with a re-imagining. If those feelings couldn't be recaptured with better technology, then we would thoroughly negate Super Metroid and Metroid Prime. The point is incredibly vague and ill-defined anyway. If you mean the occasional comic blurb, then they are so far apart and so short (not to mention devoid of any speech) that they are rendered innocuous. They are the model
of subtlety. If you are speaking of the comic book look that permeates the entire game, then I would say that Metroid is such a game that knows how to be flowery in sections, and the vibrant colors help bring that out. It's not just about being dark. It's about being alien. And in turn Zero Mission has a high contrast of colors. Many backgrounds use a lot of stark black or muted colors to make it low key. This style is incredibly appropriate to Metroid and yet different from past games.
The point about the hand-holding, while perhaps warranted, is thoroughly overblown. They merely tell you where to go occasionally, and though you shouldn't have to, you could easily ignore it entirely. Given that it's a remake, however, you should probably know the basic structure of the game anyway. It's a point that bares considering though.
I also don't think that the original "final battle" is negated because by my count it's still entirely intact. I am always a proponent of diversity. I like baseball's eight team playoff because no one else does it. We already get the feeling of a sixteen team playoff in basketball. I want baseball to be different. Likewise, we have all probably played the original Metroid enough times to know what it is like. There is nothing diluted here because we are not missing out on that experience; in fact, we know it too well. So while the structure of a game should normally be judged in its totality, here we are mentally checking it against the original source, not necessarily viewing it on its own. Re-imaginings aren't necessarily touted as a definitive version. They're a different version. So I welcome things like this if they work on their own. And for a brief vacation from the main experience, I think that there is a real paranoia to that section that gives it some credence, especially since a 2D stealth section is so strange. "Power building" has always been an essential part of Metroid, and to strip that away made for an interesting turn of events and a real satisfaction when you become more powerful than ever.
