Metroid (NES) - IMPLANTgames
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- Опубліковано 8 вер 2024
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In today’s video I dive in and analyze Metroid for the Nintendo Entertainment System, enjoy!
Additional games shown in this video:
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Out of the World/Another World
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
Super Mario World
Rayman 2: The Great Escape
Limbo
Super Mario Bros.
The Legend of Zelda
Rambo: First Blood Part II
Mega Man II
Super Mario Bros. 2
©2019 Kris Genthe
#NES #Metroid #Analysis
Great video. As a younger individual who only played through the entire Metroid series a few years back, I’ve actually always adored this one. It’s frustrating at times, yes, but I love the feeling it gives of pure, haunting isolation in a world that is so homogenous, strange, and hostile. I also adore the soundtrack, the feel that you’re almost breaking through the level design at times, and the sheer challenge. Metroid 1 is a relic of its time, but it’s a beautiful one that I will always come back to now and again.
All that said, the sequels make leaps and bounds in improving things across the board, and Super is definitely my favorite in the series.
Couldnt agree with you more on everything you said @Sogeking Vinsmoke. This was also the second game I got as a child and I felt the same way when I first played it but I liked that while difficult it was a different kind of difficulty fullnof exploration and puzzle solving. It challenged to think outside the box and I loved it for that reason. The music, the special endings, the homage to ALIEN all of it fantastic and it was the first game to help me hone my skills at speed running. Still in my top 10 to this day and love it all the same.
Crazy how I have so much shit I still need to watch on UA-cam, but you drop a new upload and I just drop all of it.
You seriously put in so much work into these videos that I end up watching videos for games I don't even CARE ABOUT, and walk away like "hell yeah, that was great"
Seriously in my top 3 channels on the entire platform, keep up the incredible work, dude
I love this comment, thank you so much for taking a few moments out of your day to write it :)
Some of us still like the 80s Ford Taurus, especially the RoboCop movie ones!
We'll throw in a blaupunkt.
I was more of a Ford Escort guy myself. In fact, mine just broke down. Thankfully I found a place near me that advertises "escort service". Admittedly, it's oddly specific, but whatever. They are sending over a couple lady mechanics soon. 👌 You can't get this level of support with a taurus.
Something I found way easier than leaving Tourian and grinding for energy, is to simply kill the Metroid's since the energy they drop more energy than any other enemy in the game.
A true NES classic!
I think the world layout is exactly what it needs to be. You can definitely navigate it with just your mind, and I don't think the similar looking areas are a problem, but rather both part of the challenge the game presents, but also helpful in that when you recognize a similar room, you have some idea of how it will be laid out.
The game is also designed to be mapped out as you go, and the manual even recommends drawing your own map. This is probably my favorite thing about the game, and the game world is perfect for that. It also feels like a real world, because not every pathway leads to an item or something. Some areas exist for themselves, not for you. It's not the smoothest experience to design things that way, but it doesn't need to be. That's not what this game is about.
That's the cool thing about the first 3 Metroid games: they're all completely different experiences built from the same core concept. 1 is pure exploration, 2 is horror built around making you feel lost/overwhelmed/uncertain, and 3 is a smooth-as-butter gaming experience. All are great, and neither needs to be like the others. That's why I rather dislike Zero Mission. It sacrifices the things that make Metroid a great game in order to make it more like Super.
While 2 and Super are basically perfect (though Super does trample on 2's ending a bit), 1 is definitely not. However, the only things that really need to be changed are the fact that you start with only 30 health every time and enemies being able to hurt you during screen transitions. There are definitely some optional quality-of-life improvements, like being able to switch weapons on the fly, shooting in all directions, proper saving, and things like that. I also like the idea of it graphically matching Super and Fusion, stylistically.
But adding a minimap, waypoints, and extra restrictions on where you can go to force you to play in a certain order, as well as adding special abilities from later games all kinda ruin the experience the game gives you to instead give you a lesser version of Super. I would love to see proper remakes of Metroid 1 and 2 that double down on the design choices, rather than viewing the things that make them unique from Super Metroid as problems to fix, the way Zero Mission, AM2R, and Samus Returns all do.
Welcome back man... what a game! I still think Metroid is the game that has shaped my taste for games the most in my whole life. This, Mario and Zelda. We missed you man! I'm still watching the video but am happy to have you back.
The things you whined about are the same things that I liked about Metroid. The fact that it wasn’t cookie cutter was what gave the game its charm. The game is still playable after all these years. An all time classic.
Hard disagree
@@tanyaharmon6739 It's ok to disagree and be completely wrong.
Not my favorite Metroid but it's "flaws" are often hyperbolized.
If you want the best way to experience the original Metroid might I suggest Zero Mission on GBA. It pretty much fixed every major problem with the original
Fixes some problems, introduces a whole lot of new ones.
Zero mission turns it into a linear path. You have freedom to explore, but the path is always marked on your map, so you're never really lost like in the original.
@@Rihcterwilker Actually you can complete the game without using most of the statues. But it is true it's pretty linear.
zero mission is grossly overrated. but it is way better than the original. i rather have the lesser of the two evils
@@Rihcterwilker The statues are pretty much optional from my understanding. Its pretty clear really their main point was to provide guidance towards newer more less experienced players
You either had access to the Nintendo Player's Guide, or you mapped it out yourself. People seem to ignore the fact that early 80's arcade design was still the mentality, even on consoles, until Metroid, Zelda, and Kid Icarus came along. Of course it wasn't the polished, streamlined experience we expect today. That simply wouldn't have been possible.
"Why doesn't the Model T go 90 miles an hour and have air conditioning?" That's what you sound like, dude.
I was searching for the right analogy, then read this. Perfect.
No nigga da game is actually jus bad
And modern upgrades make traveling more enjoyable for the average driver. Certain people enjoy the older cars, but generally speaking modern conveniences will cause a vast majority of consumers to prefer modern models. Things age. Some players will still have great fun with the older games, but traveling back in time isn't for everyone and many older games (this one especially) can become needlessly frustrating compared to modern experiences.
It has aged dude
When you 'grind' for health, all you have to do is sit on a tube and lay bombs. But for some reason 99% of the UA-camrs out there can't figure out this feature, which makes refilling health and missiles A LOT harder than it needed to be and is often the false crux of their complaints about this game.
The repeated graphics were expected for a 1986 game, but the layouts are all still unique. When you owned this game in the 80's, you knew exactly where you were at all times. Even the identical looking corridors have tells that reveal where you are.
The Wave Beam is an excellent weapon to take along as a side-upgrade, and is there to give the player variety as they explore the world. It is not pointless as it can shoot through walls and can take out enemies in far fewer shots, whereas the Ice Beam makes most enemies take double the shots they would normally take to kill.
When you fall in the lava pit next to Mother Brain, if you know what you're doing, you can get out of it just fine. You just need to have a better feel for the controls. This is a deeper game than most give it credit for.
This game is about exploration and immersion, but you want every bomb-able tile to be communicated to the player? I just think that's sad. That would be like making every clickable item in MYST glow. You missed the point and very soul of the original Metroid. Back when most gamers had 5 or fewer games, this game was a God-send.
You even complained about the map in the instruction manual not being detailed enough, but that was the point! They wanted to capture kids' imagination and encourage exploration. It worked on me very well, and I had a blast exploring the world.
Given your complaints, you'll probably enjoy the excellent Metroid: Zero Mission much more.
Well zero mission is better game so yeah
Yeah, I hated the inclusion of a map in Super Metroid as much as I hated the bombable portions of walls being clearly designated in Zelda: A link To the Past.
To be fair, later handheld Metroid games were sufficiently complex in layout that the maps increase the fun factor rather than detract from it.
You can only aquire a maximum of six energy tanks so two of them are totally superfluous. If you leave either or both the energy tank in the cieling at the beginning of the game or the energy tank in the area immediately to the right of the gold corridor they are close enough to Tourian to quickly retrieve if you get a game over.
Metroid 2 was a huge improvement.
I've only played Metroid on the Nintendo Online service, during the free trial. So that was pretty recently. And I loved it! You're spot on about how there's a bunch of design missteps at the same time there's some design successes. For example I got tripped up by: red doors needing five missiles, the lack of a map, the need to bomb random walls, my inability to land on platforms well, restarting with only 30 health, and literally everything about the Mother Brain fight.
But. I didn't think the bosses were too easy and didn't notice the cheese-ability of them. The black background didn't bother me. The music was fine, IMO. The upgrade progression, when exploring without any real map while also being willing to miss non-required ones, actually kept me busy for most of my play-through and never felt lopsided.
If you think of Metroid as an artist endeavor, instead of a design challenge, it comes of as successful in its mood despite its mistakes, to me. In the same way a movie can be tonally on point and technically flawed. Liked the video though!
1986 Internet - > calling up an older cousin asking how to beat xxx on game xyz. Drawing maps and not complaining about it. Spending hours trying to bomb random things. As a 6 year old in wintertime, this game was perfect. As a 39 year old, it's value is 1000 times greater for what it led gaming into. This game is like old Blues to R and B and Rock. Leadbelly might not sound amazing, but without him, you wouldn't have Ray Charles or Elvis.
Very true. I remember being on the phone with my older cousin asking about Castlevania 2. I was so confused about which wall would give a tornado and what items to be selected. There are no hints in the game for that.
Great to see you back at it!
I was really young when I played Metroid and thought it was cool, but so frustrating. For me it was mainly from starting with such low health, getting lost, grinding, and panicking when falling in lava and not being able to jump out.
My friend "Justin Bailey" helped me beat the game back in the day. The patience and exploration required just wasn't for me. Recently I did play through the whole thing with zero help and it felt good. But getting lost in Ridley's area for like 45 minutes didn't feel so good.
Great video, man!
Good to be back and I am glad you enjoyed the video! I found the game much more enjoyable using my old Official Nintendo Player's Guide haha. The only sensible way to play :P
I love your videos bro very insightful, so happy you dropped a new video
I agree with most of this. However, I feel like this is still a game every game should play through at least once. The repeatative corridors, no maps, and frustrating but responsive controls make a game that makes you feel lost and like you are on an alien world. The remake holds your hand and tells you where to go, and while technically far superior, gives us nothing we can't get elsewhere. Sitting down with this game with just a pen and paper, no guide and no help is a frustrating but rewarding experience.
Metroid is overall kinda crude. It does start off decently, but I feel it's kinda difficult to continue deeper in the game. I didn't have the patience to finish it.
(Nice to see you back! Good analysis!)
Oh man, "crude" is such a good adjective! Thanks for the kind words!
Yeeees, this is exactly what I needed, bro, your vids are entertainment 100 and informative 100, great job man.
Thanks!
I don't know why anyone would want to play this game today other than nostalgia (or video commentary). Anytime I replay the series, Zero Mission stands in for this game. That must surely be one of the best video game remakes ever.
If I didn't have a UA-cam channel... it would remain in the backlog.
SlyBeast In that sense I’m glad I own Zero Mission.. The original looks primitive by today’s standards.. But I’m sure it was interesting back when it came out being the mother of all MetroidVanias
@@Mintcar923 Oh it was. There was really nothing like it at the time. But it has not aged well and Zero Mission is far superior in every way.
SlyBeast And, at least they added a cool name to it.. Not just calling it Metroid Remake like they do with so many other titles.. I’d still say there are way too many remakes in general.. But in some cases like this for example they are essential..
I found a Retrospective that perfectly encapsulates exactly how I feel about this game.
I'm really glad to hear that it wasn't just me who found that the game aged rather poorly overall. What I find really fun is that both of our takes had wildly different focuses. You tend to be able to cling onto small gameplay aspects I never even noticed. I didn't even realize just how imbalanced the upgrades were location-wise until now. I'm rather impressed with how much you noticed.
Also I'm glad I'm not the only one who found Mother Brain an irritating mess of a boss fight. XD
Glad this video found you :) Thanks for the kind words!
There are two kind of gamers in this world. One shakes with fear at the prospect of getting lost and confused, dying a lot, and having to make their own maps. The other shakes with anticipation.
Aka casuals and cores...
I hate to be the apologist, but it's far more efficient to grind on the swooping ceiling monsters found in item room corridors than the respawning pipe bugs.
Anyways, I paradoxically gained a lot of appreciation for both this game and its remake by playing them together in tandem (too bad imbedded retro games are a thing of the past). It pales in comparison, certainly, but I did end up liking it more than prior attempts. I'll say without irony that I do prefer the BGM of the original more, but that's more an indictment on the typical sound compression in GBA games; Zero Mission does have the punchier SFX however (which I'm lead to believe uses remnant sound channels from the GBC).
It’s been a while, glad to see a new video
Glad your back! Cheers from Vulcan
Glad to be back, thank you!!
Cool you're back!
Man I love this show. Metroid is a favorite series of mine, so I'm looking forward to these videos progress!
Also, poor Top Gun
You used a guide didn't you? I don't think many people playing blind would bee-line straight to the screw attack, so saying that you get it "too early" isn't really fair. I love that the game is open enough that an experienced player can get it so early, while it's still pretty well hidden from new players.
I was 7 years old when i got this game for my birthday! Absolutely loved it haven growing up with the Atari 2600 i grew up side by side with old retro games and i appreciate the gameplay and graphics to see how games ended up like now in 2020! I search and purchase more Nes, Snes, Genesis games then i do modern games, and i have a switch, xbox1, an a ps4!
Glad you are back you got me back into gaming like 5 or more years ago when I discovered your channel in like 2012-14 can't remember when best gaming UA-cam channel barre none
Okay, so now you're gonna marathon the Metroid series? That's cool. Guess I'll wake up when you get to Super Metroid though. Super and Fusion are the only two installments in the series that matter to me.
Although it's interesting to see you tackle these major Nintendo franchises and analyze them as objectively as possible from the perspective of someone who I assume _did not_ grow up playing many of these unlike myself and many others (I know you grew up playing mostly the Sega Genesis, correct?), I kind of miss IMPLANTgames' reviews of obscure oddities and hidden gems like Soccer Kid and Tempo. There are some real buried treasures in the gaming world that are just begging to be dissected. And maybe shown some love. Not all of them are masterpieces like Dynamite Headdy and Ristar, but I enjoy lesser known games being talked about for them to receive at least some acknowledgement and exposure among a public environment where triple A franchises always receive the most hype and discussion.
I would love to review more obscure titles as that is where my passion and curiosity lie. Unfortunatly there are certain aspects of these types of games that keep me away. First, fans of obscure stuff like the Jag and 3DO and even the 32X, tend to be quite obsessive and protective of their obscure platform of choice (not ALL fans of course!). And if you think Sonic/Nintendo/etc fans are crazy... the craziness amplifies when these are the only people that still care about said platform/system/game/franchise etc. Which leads to the second problem, so few care about Tempo or Soccer kid the effort just isn't worth it. It's difficult to put 20-40 hours into something that might generate $30 worth of revenue. I guess I could go the extreme route and overly bash, or declare some of these games "hidden gems" but the integrity part is just too important to me. So I do my best to find titles that intersect my interests, and might have an audience as well. It isn't my favorite compromise to make, but a necessary one.
Most people prefer Super Metroid or Fusion but the original Metroid was always my favorite. The black backgrounds always made it feel so dark and cryptic. The tile sets looked so alien while the future games kinda lost that feel for me. I felt the sequels were more cartoony and never captured the creepiness the original game had. Less is more I guess when it comes to graphics sometimes. Also, the music! Wow what atmosphere! The reviewer complains about some of the simple songs in the game but I disagree. Music doesn’t have to be complex to be good and sometimes the simplicity adds to the feeling of isolation. It’s just so eerie!
That said I did grow up with the game so there’s that to consider. Overall I still like this guys reviews even tho I don’t necessarily agree with his opinion. I know I’m in the minority when it comes to this game anyway. Something about it just really struck a cord with me.
This game's contributions to the industry are enormous. I'd go as far to say it's the most innovative single game on the entire system. But, with new ideas came new problems, many of which were simply ignored (which makes sense; the industry was very unforgiving at that time and deadlines were tight). A lot of its design choices allowed games like Super Metroid and Castlevania: SOTN to exist, but the cost of experimenting really shows when you reach some of the not-so-great design. In 2019 it just isn't fun to complete. The original Metroid is best experienced through the effect it had on the more polished games that followed.
I can't believe this game actually still makes top 10 lists. I don't even think there are 10 main series Metroid games and I still wouldn't put this game in the top 10. My exposure to this game was the fact that it was packaged with Metroid zero mission and I tried playing the original Metroid and I just got so frustrated with how easy was to get lost. I was used to Super Metroid because of how incredibly well designed that game is and is far superior to the original and will stand the test of time. Metroid 2 is also way better than the first game as well and Metroid Zero Mission is also better even though I was disappointed with how short that game seemed to be
Glad to see you're back, great stuff as always man!
Finally another video! Thank you so much for coming back! Still putting out decent content.
IMPLANTgames, a decent channel :D
I think what people mean when they same a game can't "age" is that since games are code and code cannot actually age, games don't age. Metroid from release to now hasn't aged at all in a literal sense. The actual game on the cartridge hasn't changed at all since release. However, the conventions of design, the hardware, and the way games are played have all evolved past Metroid. Art doesn't physically age, but the way it's made and it's effect on the audience do, for the most part at least. It's why saying games "age" without explaining what someone means, can be a poor criticism.
Metroid may have become an excellent series of games, but the first installment is an outlier, riddled with flaws. It's biggest advancement as a game, is also it's greatest hold back; It's too experimental. Now, the first time I beat Metroid was without having played any other games in the franchise, nor did I use any hint guides, maps, or watch anyone else play the game. I had a completely fresh mind for it. At this point I have beaten the game many times, for my eventual success in completing the game in under one hour, so no one can say that I'm not giving this game a fair chance. It's fun once you know your way around, and you are familiar with all of the function of the game, but Metroid is very unfriendly to new players.
1. The red doors take *5* missile hit to open. I shot the door with one, and when it didn't open, I moved on assuming that I needed a different tool to open the door. It was only after getting frustrated and bombarding the door in rage that it finally opened.
2. Essential items are hidden within secret destructible walls, with no hint as to where to look for them. The player is expected to attack *every block of every surface* in a desperate attempt to make progress.
3. The health grinding. I know that the reason why you don't start with full health, was to distinctivize the player from killing themselves on purpose to regain health, or use death as a way to fast travel back to earlier areas. However, with death being as common as it is, they could have come up with a better mechanic than forcing the player to grind after every death.
4. There are dead end areas (sometimes very large and complex ones) that serve no purpose than to troll the player into spending time looking for secrets that may or may not exist there.
All in all, Metroid introduced a lot of good mechanics, in what is clearly a bad game...
Edit: I should add that the reason why all of the areas in the game look so similar, is because of technical limitations of the era. Building such a large and complex game had to rely on using just a few repeating rooms, with pallet and texture swaps to give the illusion of variation. Rooms were generated through an algorithm rather than being pre-programmed, to save on space. That's why, if you are able to use the wall glitch trick to get outside of the normal play space, you will find an infinite number of repeating rooms with random features.
Really strong comment. The missile thing I think is a genuine complaint, especially as most will buy this loose. However the manual actually does point out red doors need 5 missiles to destroy so I had to let it go.
@@implantgames Ah, that explains it, since my copy is just a loose cartridge.
This reply was marked as spam for some reason lol.
even metroid2 is not as unfun to play as metroid1 and i dont really want to play that game ever again
Metroid 1 has definitely not aged well. I still love it though. Dat soundtrack. Despite Zero Mission being the definitive way to play through Samus' first adventure I can have fun with this. It's not even nostalgia for me since I only just started playing Metroid games after Samus Returns came out. I guess I'm just a fan of old games.
I 100% agree with your review! However aged it is, Metroid is important in gaming history as it gave us a great genre, just like Top Gun gave us Hot Shots!
...Metroids drop health and missiles in increments of 30, meaning you can grind up your health and missile count much more quickly if you're going back for a subsequent attempt on Mother Brain, instead of mindlessly grinding critters coming out of a spawner for 8 health and 2 missiles at a pop for hours.
There's a romhack called "Metroid Plus Saving" that alleviates some of these issues. It gives you a map on the pause screen, and it obviously gives you saving. There are a few other things, but those are the major ones, and it made Metroid a much more enjoyable experience.
it still feels pretty sucky to play. the map does not mark where you are,the savesystem does not really help you that much.also,how does one save without dying?
@@lpfan4491 The Map totally does mark where you are. There's a big orange dot where you are currently, which is automatically centered when you open the map screen. As for saving, it starts you from the beginning of whatever area you're in, just like the password, and you activate it the same way you do saving in the FDS version and Zelda; press UP+A on the second controller.
i guess i got a worse version of the hack then,because i did not have that dot.
@@lpfan4491 Could be that there's more than one hack that does it, or that you got an older version. I was using this one: www.romhacking.net/hacks/1186/
Welcome back!
First impressions before I finish the video: that opening line tells me that you're going to end up on the same consensus as I did. As in, this game hasn't aged well at all. I'm a huge Metroid fan, but even with hacks I really can't enjoy this one compared to the later more polished entries like Super, Fusion, ZM, hell even 2 and Other M (yes, I said it, I like Other M more than the original). I do have to agree, though, this game really was revolutionary and ahead of its time and there is still a lot in it that's aged well, but there's just as many problems, bugs and jank that make it very unenjoyable for me. It's time to keep watching and put my early bickering aside, though.
And there's the issues! Yep, you hit them right on the spot. The confusing layouts, dead ends, complete lack of any sort of guidance in later sections really do detriment the game. I will say that Ridley is a bit harder in the Japanese FDS version, which is a slightly better version overall (especially the 3DS VC release which removes the load times) and it solves the issue with Ridley being ridiculously easy as his attacks go in a more random arc in the Japanese release but that's just a tiny issue compared to the rest. I died to Mother Brain as well my first time and the grind was painful.
By the way, I do think "Justin Bailey" Samus is a neat reward, but I really wouldn't play this game again over its later installments and especially its remake (and it's not in the Japanese version).
Welp, that's it. Thanks for reading.
_"I like Other M more than the original"_
Well, there's the problem: *You are not a gamer.*
Or you're a rabid casual, at best. Games like the original Metroid (or anything by From Software, for example) are *not for you.* Go back to watching movies or pigeon breeding or something.
@@TechnoEstate I wasn't saying I like Other M... though rabid casual is a pretty accurate description. Other M holds your hand and restricts you far too much, even when put next to Fusion, already a very linear Metroid with plenty of handholding.
@@DeskoDev _"though rabid casual is a pretty accurate description."_
Reading you like an open book, bro! 😉
When the original Metroid was released, under Yamauchi, Nintendo were *converting non-gamers to core gamers.* By the time Other M was released, under Iwata, their strategy had shifted to *converting core games to casual/non-games.* So glad Nintendo have got a different president now.
And people call me an elitist...
MultiTarded _""Rabid casual" lol what, isn't that an oxymoron?"_
Not at all!
If you go out of your way to not just ignore but _trash_ what really makes great core gaming while celebrating whatever dilutes it (e.g., handholding, story-drivenness, etc.), then you are rabid in being a casual.
Your general NES hate is just testament to and symptom of this, and further proof of Iwata's error.
I found Metroid easier than Legend of Zelda because it’s 2D and not overhead
8:35 the manual states you can collect as many as 6, and that's correct. Yes, there are 8 total, but you can only carry 6. The other 2 will simply refill your health.
It's a good thing this game would later receive a remake in 2004 that would fix most if not all of it's issues
Well this was a fantastic watch. I liked the references to other things going on around 1986-1987, and I feel your script flows perfectly. I learnt stuff I never knew about Metroid :-)
Nice to see you back!
Can’t wait for you do super Metroid :). Welcome back
Implant games, if you don't mind me asking, how old are you? If you grew up staring with the Atari 2600, as many of us did, this game broke our minds upon launch. Games just did not do this. Games didn't progress and branch. Game design and design choices as we know them today simply didn't exist. The design choices didn't strike anybody as poor or badly planned, because they were just invented. There was no point of comparison. We all plowed forward in amazement, never taking the time to think something was needlessly tedious, because nobody even imagined it could be any other way.
Mike Tate exactly. I myself didn’t grow up in the 70’s or 80’s, I was a beginning of the decade 90’s kid, so I didn’t get to experience the transition from single screen arcade games into open world games first hand, but I understood the difference and how it affected the industry back then, old school 80’s arcades were still everywhere throughout the 90’s and they were lightyears apart from many of the early NES games. Nowadays most gamers, especially late 90’s and early 2000’s millennialists don’t see these classics as good games cause they’re use to graphically enhanced games like call of duty, god of war, breath of the wild, fortnite, and dark souls that are way bigger and broader than any NES game. But calling it bad just cause it doesn’t meet the same standards you’re use to having, doesn’t mean it’s bad. Those games were just starting back then and the developers had no clue what Metroid was suppose to be, all they knew was that they had to build a game that had never been done before. It was only after they finished the game they would begin making new ones and seeing what worked and what didn’t. (and to every millennialist, if you think the dark souls games are hard, edgy, and a fun challenge to beat I DARE you to beat any of the ninja gaiden games for NES. Those games are the pinnacle definition of what the dark souls games emulate)
I hope a new Metroid comes out on the Switch. The original Metroid and Super Metroid are still great to this day.
Welcome back my guy! Spent a long time binging your old videos waiting on another one.
Glad to hear it, and good to be back!
Good review. Once again a first gen game that tried something new. Metroid isn't a perfect game but it's classic for the concept. Did you grow up in the eighties with these older games? Meaning, are these games new to you? It's good to see a reviews from a new perspective
Maybe saving the energy meter data would have required perhaps more letters in the password since it would be necessary to be able to represent between 1 and 99 values.
Someone mentioned it might have been used to stop players from using death as a way to warp back to the beginning of an area. This seems plausible, but also speaks to the lacking map.
You're nit picking considering this game came out 30+ years ago. You should be celebrating the way this game changed the way platforming revolutionized the genre.
Doesn't excuse the flaws this game has. Games that are revolutionary doesn't always mean they aged well.
Good stuff, nice to see a new video!
Great to see you’ve returned Kris!
Good to be back!
@16:40 I am pretty sure those situations were made to give the wave beam some use over the ice beam, where you wouldn't want to use the ice due to blocking the way, and the screw isn't as effective. I still think it's poor design and the wave beam should have been designed differently to give it some actual use.
That definitely seems reasonable/likely!
Good review, Metroid sequels are way better than the origional. Its probably celebrated for being the origional rather than for being good. PS you'd find grinding at the end game a lot faster, if you did so on Metroids rather than respawning bugs.
Can you look at the first Mario RPG Game🐢
I've put quite a few hours into it and didn't mind it to much. Not that there is anything wrong with it, I'm just not an RPG guy. It is definitely something I want to tackle as I think it would challenge me to think outside of my platformer bubble.
I was pretty excited when I got the notification for this.
I hope I did not disappoint!
@@implantgames not at all!
Woot!
Great review, by the way. Yes, I think many of us can come to the mutual agreement that the original Metroid has aged _very_ poorly. In fact, I think of all NES titles introducing Nintendo's iconic heroes, this is the one that always felt the most primitive to me. I'm just gonna be honest: I *HATE* this game!! It is SO damn hard, I just could not finish it as a kid (in the 2000s, I owned the NES Classics edition on my Game Boy Advance), but if you must know, if you want the definitive Metroid 1, try *_Metroid: Zero Mission_* (also for GBA), it is an *awesome* remake/reimagining of the first game, complete with all of the brilliant design and polish of Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion! I highly, _highly_ recommend it for all Metroid fans who haven't. You won't be disappointed!
Still, the original was a very ambitious game for sure. As arguably the original "Metroidvania", it isn't a _complete_ trainwreck and FAR from the worst of the NES library. This isn't Action 52, that's for sure. We talked about this before, but truly good game design can save a game from aging badly. That being said, bad game design is universal, and sadly, I think that holds true here. Designing levels around anticipating player reaction entails guiding the player, especially if there's no map or guide handy. I don't think limitations at the time are an excuse. Still, at least the game has a fairly decent start. If only they had stuck to that philosophy throughout the adventure, before it became a lame pixel hunt. It's got some nostalgic 80s charm though. And Samus Aran with her long green hair and red bathing suit is a nice reward for completing the mission...for the time, I guess. Once again, they enjoyed what they had back then.
Pro tip: Kraid is even easier if you use bombs, and Ridley is even easier if you use the wave beam to shoot up from underneath his platform (jumping repeatedly to minimize acid damage).
I think the first Metroid is great. Map would have been great. Other than that not much to complain about, and you learned to navigate everywhere just by spending so much time, I didn't draw any maps for Metroid, as I did with Section Z, Blaster Master etc.
Section-Z was definitely a challenge to navigate the first couple of times through!
The cool thing in terms of gating was the introduction/popularization of sequence breaks. Good review! For me the Metroids of that time were Wonder Boy 3 and Zillion, though I did play the first one with friends a couple of times, and a bit later owned the second one (which I never beat at the time, was even harder to navigate to me). Super Metroid was a huge step up.
17:00 I agree to an extent here, but you could also argue for it in terms of Metroid being a sci fi horror game - it makes you feel more exposed.
I really need to get around to beating Wonder Boy 3, it is sitting on my shelf staring at me... Others have hinted at Metroid doing a nice job at making the player feel isolated, but I think Metroid II does this so much better.
@@implantgames The best SMS game for me!
I'm not a difficult person and I finished Castlevania 2 before there was internet. So I really don't mind quest games but the vertical shafts are just aggrevating. With the release of the internet I gave up one day. Looked for a map and finished in one sitting. Not a hard game at all if you know where everything is, even though Samus is way too brittle and floaty. So in my opinion they managed to make a quest game and suck all the fun out of it. Also: don't grind. Are you kidding? Pick up the energy tanks for the bosses and before the end just farm a few metroids.
Will you be covering the Prime Trilogy along with the 2D games? Prime 2 is one I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on
Holy crap I'm glad you're back.
I know this game was very innovative for the time but I still don’t get how some people call it one of the best NES games. It’s so obviously flawed.
I never liked the phrase "X has not aged well" when it comes to video games. Aging implies change over time (which can be considered either positive or negative), but the code on those cartridges hasn't changed a bit (pun very much intended; I'm here all week). Metroid is still the same game as it was in 1986. What does change, however, are our standards and expectations due to newer, arguably better, experiences. So I think it's more accurate to say that we as gamers age, rather than the games of the past. Sure, it may be hard for one to go back to a game like Metroid after having played the sequels and/or other games in the genre. One could think that it doesn't hold up after all this time. However, this is not the game's fault, but rather a result of our own experiences and increasing standards.
You’re grinding for health wrong!! Grab a turbo controller, tape down the bomb button while you are over a zeb nest, turn the channel dial away from channel 3, and watch something else for about 15 minutes.
My older brothers would assign grinding “jobs” to me to “let” me play. I was also responsible for navigation in this game, referring to the Nintendo players guide map.
This is so informative
I replay and beat this game at least once I year.
Welcome back!!!!! :)
Eh, you're kinda wrong about Metroid not having a score system. It's like golf in a way, the faster you beat Metroid games, the better your score.
Metroid is an awesome game. I’m sorry it doesn’t it doesn’t hold your hand and tell you where to go like current games. The game is about exploration. The feeling of isolation confusion and dread. It about working your way back to full health after death instead it just being handed to you. It’s about making your own map as you go through the game. Sorry you don’t have the patience to appreciate an all time classic that has aged amazingly.
This.
Did anyone in the 80s and 90s actually care about high scores for home consoles? I'm glad this game didn't include one. I always thought it was a waste of space and unnecessary. That's just my opinion of course.
Also, I remember playing this as a child in my babysitters basement. I was wayyy too young and dumb for this game. Lmao. I always got lost and wound up getting destroyed.
Agreed.
If you don't like grinding, back tracking, and looking for secrets Metroid isn't for you. Simple.
YAY i missed your videos
And they missed you!
I would avoid the original NES version of Metroid 1 and the original Game Boy version of Metroid 2: Return of Samus and stick with the remakes of Metroid 1 and 2 known as Metroid: Zero Mission and Metroid 2: Samus Returns because in the original NES version of Metroid 1, there was no save and load system and in the original Game Boy version of Metroid 2, there were bugs, glitches and slow-downs.
Will you ever review the classic Mega Man games?
Yes! And review them properly haha. Castlevania and Mega Man will likely be the final NES games I review on the channel.
I'm waiting for Ford Taurus fans to come out of the woodwork for this one!
I suspect that isn't going to happen... but it is the Internet!!
My favorite part of this game is the trick pit near where you get the ice beam that demands tricky scaling up a vertical shaft intertwined with Samus's not fun jumping physics. Pretty good stuff. I would say introducing enemies that are too high/low to hit while stationary at the beginning of the game is annoying, but in retrospect it does educate the more complex approach to combat, as tepid as it overall is. In any case, It's niceto see you back on :) do you have plans for more Metroid, or is there an 8-bit marathon planned?
On my first playthrough I got stuck down the trick pit... and I had the wave beam! What a pain to get out lol. I didn't go down that pit on my subsequent playthroughs and sadly forgot about it.
@@implantgames it's a huge 'what were they thinking' moment in the game. not that there isn't a lot of it, but it's the part where I gave up on my first attempt at playing. I'm amazed that people generally don't talk about it; it's flabbergasting.
good review, whats up with the random limbo picture in the video?
Glad you enjoyed the review! The Limbo title screen clip was not random haha ;)
@@implantgames I still havent played it. Any good?
I’m still trying to complete this game, I found the wave beam but not the screw attack, which I feel I desperately need. I can’t even remember how I found 80% of the power ups because they’re hidden away so awkwardly which made me just bomb everything (which is probably how I found the wave beam in the first place). The funny thing is that I went to Norfair first because I thought it was harder, and I was met with endless amounts of long corridors, but when I reached Ridley I literally beat him in one try, it was painfully easy to dodge his projectiles and shoot him, I also did encounter Tourian once but I couldn’t figure out how to beat him (thanks for that btw), and I also found the fake Tourian.
I’d say with my current experience on my first play through that this game is relentless with enemies that come out of hiding to charge at you and random flying enemies, but once I encounter them for the 50th time I feel it’s better to just avoid them rather than encounter them, but that lead me to just taking damage over and over again, leading me to die and just recover my health with enemies that can easily one-shot me, the wave beam can sometimes miss these enemies due to its wave-like pattern which is incredibly poorly designed and doesn’t feel like a reward, but it does do a lot of damage where I feel ice-beaming an enemy and just spamming mines on them wouldn’t. The beginning section is also somewhat hard as you’ll have to weave and shoot up at divebombing bats(?) and awkward placing of enemies which will knock you down leading you to hit other enemies and fall down.
I would say by the end of this I’m probably not going to play it again, so far it’s looking like a 6/10 for me.
I'm in agreement with your assessment. Metroid definitely laid the ground work for some excellent future titles but it does hit a wall after that first third where I just don't feel rewarded or motivated to continue on. Thankfully I feel the majority of the issues you brought up got corrected in the Gameboy sequel and eventually perfected in Super Metroid.
I agree. I can't wait to start writing the Metroid II script, it is amazing what they achieved with less power!
7:55 I feel like you could have chosen a better map layout as an example...
They were forced to repeat the designs of towers and long corridors because the NES was so dumb, that a room without a screen transition, (ex. "stitched screens" or corridors) could only hold 2 screens worth of information, or in this case, block layouts. The loading seams just outside of the screen range load in half the previous room to make the illusion that it stretches further.
Hey Kris, good to have you back and thx for the review. It comes just in time because I'm thinking about enrichening my game collection with Castlevania and Metroid soon and your review helped my to be a bit more patient finding a copy of Metroid for cheap because it simply doesn't sound like a good game anymore... more mediocre.
Good to be back! I actually just beat Castlevania for the first time and I find it to be overall far superior to Metroid and Zelda II. It still took me 3 hours to beat the final boss... but overall the game is far better designed than just about anything else from those early NES days.
I'll never understand the complaint about the lack of a map......the layout is simple enough that exploration is more fun without it.
Welcome back, Kris! This video was spot on about Metroid 1. Hope certain gaming grandpas don't give you too much shit for not liking their electronic toys. 😉
Haha, glad you enjoyed it! I've got my fire suit on, I can take the heat ;)
I get lost too easily in the mess of same-y corridors in this one. I don't hate it, but it definitely shows its age more than the OG Mario or Zelda. While those have issues I feel like graphically and gameplay-wise Metroid(NES) should be left to the more die hard fans to give it a whirl. Even if only out of curiosity. Anyone else I will always suggest Zero Mission.
There's a reason remake exists, play Metroid zero mission instead.
It's to be assumed he'll get to that one. This video was about the original and how it stands today, not how the remake fixes problems and creates more.
Great video Kris! Will you be doing more Metroid in the future?
3 more for sure!
It bothers me so much that at 4:38 there's a very visible enemy coming from under the platform, but you stayed still and got hit by it...