I think the main thing about Metroid was how atmospheric it was in its time. The music, art style and level design really drew you in to its world in a way previous video games never had.
@@JeremyParish No doubt the lack of a deadly time limit a la SMB was one factor in that. But Norfair's theme does make excellent use of gaps to enhance its feeling of low key underground disturbingness that contrasts to Brinstar's more confident theme while not sounding high pressure like the boss lairs do. Like a slow pulsing or breathing of grotesque primal life. A feeling further enhanced by slightly different time signatures within the song to create more organic yet still rhythmic silent periods. It's a song that goes all-in on the saying "It's the silence between the notes that makes the music.".
Your project is far more important than most people may think. I love the fact that you're making these in-depth mini documentaries, full of context and historical research, in a platform where most people churn out shallow videos about games, yet, you still do your thing. Channels like yours and Norman Caruso's are very important to help with the preservation of the history of our beloved hobby. I'm both grateful and inspired by your work. It's funny how everytime I go on a marathon through your videos, I feel like sitting down to research and write (mostly about "my thing" which is the Famicom).
What fascinates me about Metroid is how, unlike Zelda and Kid Icarus, you have no allies to sell or give you upgrades. You basically have to scavenge for the tools you need to survive, which adds to the cool feeling. I'm curious about the need for a two-part episode. Seems like you've covered just about everything in this video.
Once again, I have praise how much you go into the history of games, even if it's just a namedrop or a brief video of gameplay. You're also spot-on with your examination of metroid both as an RPG pared down to it's most basic form, but also as a platformer expanded upon to the next level of stage design. It's given me something to think about, the RPG comparison especially, because there is something very similar looking at Zebes full of rooms copied over and over that reminds me of the same way all the walls look alike (even if they're just wireframes) in old first-person rpgs and that you're harassed over and over by small enemies, sometimes mixed with tougher ones that create the challenge on the journey. Good stuff all around!
This game has the distinction of being the first game that I ever purchased with my own money when I was a kid. I spent a weekend doing yard work for my grandma to earn the money to buy Metroid. And man it was worth every penny. I got a ridiculous amount of play time out of it, and loved every minute of it. To this day, I still think it holds up better than most NES games. Even more so than the original Legend of Zelda.
That's amazing. Metroid is certainly one of my favorites, though I never got the chance to play it til it was used on GBA in my early 20s. The first NEW game that I ever purchased with my own money was Earthworm Jim when it too was on the GBA in my late teens. I never had money when I was a kid.
Reminds me very much of Link's development in Breath of the Wild: by the end of the quest (I about 99%'d everything but the Koroks and one shrine before the end) the hero grows to become a Guardian killing machine, with an inventory full of ridiculous god-weapons, and the player's skill with the combat mechanics following suit
Thank you for this. Metroid was the first game that scared me when I went to bed at night. It was that ominous music. Kraid's lair. We had no internet back then. No maps if you didn't have Nintendo Power. You were just plunked into this alien world and good luck. No hand holding. It just goes to show you the power of your imagination. You created so much in your own head when given so little. Masterpiece.
That creepy Kraid music always reminded me of the stress-inducing soundtrack of Air Fortress. It’s a great soundtrack that reminds you as the player you’re invading an unknown world.
Pretty spot on how you link Metroid with Super Mario 1 as Metroid was my 3rd NES game growing up. (Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt and R.C. Pro-Am were 1 & 2 respectively). It really did build upon knowing that you played Mario already! And every new discovery was exhilarating, and made it believable you were in a remote planet with deadly aliens and traps to work around!
Playing Metroid as a 7 year old it always felt that the world was endlessly deep and long. It's a shock as an adult to see just how (relatively) small the world map actually is compared to even Super Metroid. Still love it and will dip back every couple of years to run through the game. Great video!
Metroid really captured my 8 year old imagination the first time I played. As someone that's always been fascinated by aliens, space, and the thought that there might be other worlds out there in the stars, metroid made me feel like I really was a space bounty hunter on a remote planet amongst the stars, fighting off hordes of aliens to save the galaxy. One of my all time favorite games and a top 3 series for me if not my very favorite of all time
Metroid is a combination of Super Mario Bros.'s platforming and The Legend of Zelda's exploration and character upgrades. Best game in the NES library.
As I told you on Twitter, I can't applaud your effort and exhaustive research enough on these vids. Keep up the great work. Every one of your videos are just incredible.
My mom went to service merchandise one day in 1987 and they had a bunch of NES games on clearance so she bought me kung Fu, Metroid, kid Icarus, pro wrestling, and Zelda. What an amazing day.
Before Jump'n'Shoot Man, there was Jump'n'Shoot Woman. The original Metroid is a master class in control efficiency, using character state to tie multiple intuitively related actions to one input without needing an inventory screen or a ton of switching buttons that would break the action, which would be bad for a platformer that puts a character in constant environmental danger. Incidentally, it's the fact that the game IS a 2D platformer as opposed to a more cerebral overhead pedestrian action game like Zelda (I mean "pedestrian" in the literal sense) that allows all those character states to start. It's also interesting how future games in each series would gradually share more elements to their approaches to inventory between serieses without compromising their fundamental types of action. And the opening sequence that teaches about the game's nature works regardless of which direction you might be biased to try to go first. It even starts on a symmetrical screen with Samus in the middle facing toward the player, hinting at said nature even though she turns facing right once the action starts, In fact, her starting out facing right can be taken as a suggestion to first go left as it would make sense to first check whether going the "wrong" way really is useless or not. And the Morph Ball itself is clearly the only way to exit where you acquire it, giving a very strong suggestion that you'll never be softlocked in any sort of unforeseeable fashion. Indeed, the two alternate beams' items regenerate, so you'll never be shut out of full exploration or being able to kill Metroids. Future Metroid games would play into how the Morph Ball was initially presented by creating similar dead ends only easily escapable with upgrades you find in them, helping you anticipate what said items do even if you lacked the games' manuals and even helping you predict which items you'll get in those dead ends if you DO have the manuals. An approach that Zelda would also adopt, albeit to nowhere near the same degree as Metroid due to the different levels of general pressure and types of challenges those serieses aim for.
seeing super metroid in motion always makes my heart flutter, anyways i definitely lean towards yokoi's approach to game design vs miyamoto's, not that i don't enjoy the fruits of miyamoto's approach, but i definitely believe in the whole making a playspace and giving the player all the agency you can do let them do what they want versus a very guided directed and choreographed interperetive dance, honestly the best part about miyamoto games is how people are able to subvert his intention and bypass the choregraphed dancing, such as mario 64 speedrunniny
Nintendo recently conducted developer interviews for a few games on the NES Classic, and the Metroid one is pretty interesting. The game was initially handed off to two G&W developers who had no experience making _video_ games. Development floundered for months before the rest of R&D1 was pulled in to finish it up. One dev had made a bunch of intricate animations for Samus that had to be cut due to space limitations. There are still some left in the ROM, namely Samus having unique left- and right-facing sprites.
And you may find yourself inhabiting a suit of power armor And you may find yourself on a completely different world And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large gunship And you may find yourself in an underground base With an underground brain And you may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?
+NES ADDICT I never owned "Metroid" as a kid, only rented it once! I knew how popular it was back then, but never ended up getting into it. Now that I have the NES Classic, I can play it, but still haven't! I almost feel like I don't know where to begin. Same thing with "Super Metroid." I should really embed myself into these two obvious classics and see what the hype is/was, because I'm sure I'd love both of them.
@@Fluoride_Jones Gotta play it with a guide. Back in the day the cartridge came with a booklet that explained the power ups and I believe it even had a map of some sort, but Zebes is huge and difficult to navigate given the limitations of color and environment design. Lots of areas look the same. I started playing it again when it came out on NES for Switch using a guide and it's been fun. As far as Super Mestroid goes, if you have a Wii it's still available on the Wii Shop Channel. If not, then I'd highly suggest getting it on an emulator (original carts can go for over $100). It's worth playing at least once in your life. If you're not comfortable with that, then I believe Nintendo has plans to release SNES games on Switch sometime in the future.
+Tom Cassidy Thanks for the advice! Actually, I have the SNES Classic, as well, so I have it at my fingertips. :) I did add a couple hundred more games, though, and "Super Metroid" isn't exactly a "pick up and play" type of game. It deserves more attention and respect than that. I just need to stop being lazy about it!
Fluoride Jones please do take the time to play both. The seem overwhelming at first but that gets better after some power ups and health up grades. Use a map. It will take some of the stress out of it. Also watch "is it fun" by NESComplex for Metroid, and then watch his super Metroid retrospective.
+NES ADDICT Will do! Thanks for the tips, man! I heard, especially with "Metroid," you need a supplementary map, as the game doesn't provide one for you. Thank goodness for the internet!
There was another game on the 8-bit microcomputers called "The Sacred Armour of Antiriad" which was released at the same time as the first Metroid, and is very similar in design.
My grandmother fell asleep to Norfair. I mean, it’s not as bombastic as the Brinstar theme, but I’m not sure if I find it soothing, more eerie. You do you, Gramma. It’s a good song
One small correction, Nintendo EAD no longer exists. They merged with Nintendo's Software Planning & Development division in September 2015, and is now known as Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development (Nintendo EPD). EADs last game was Steel Diver Sun Wars.
Coincidentally, I happened to watch Doctor Sparkle’s Chrontendo episode yesterday with Metroid. While his series is really good, Jeremy always hits it out of the park. Great video; keep ‘em coming.
My all time favorite videogame which I still play. I was looking forward to seeing this analysis. By the way, I used to read you back in the early 2000's when you wrote for 1up since the nes is my favorite console. Excellent job, couldn't expect less from you.
Love love love how the Metroid devs took the themes and aesthetic of Alien and ran with it. I was late to Metroid but remember clearly the first time I played Super Metroid. The narrative was revealed without any words (past the opening crawl). The player’s progress was marked on the physical world as you changed the environment and your own body in order to dive deeper into enemy territory. There was history and natural relationships and clues to success hidden in the environment that you could intuit, if you were paying attention. It was a master-class in immersive storytelling, and remains a masterpiece of gaming that I think about still. Ellen Ripley is one of my other favorite fictional people, and I see a lot of parallels with Samus Aran. Both were groundbreaking because of their gender at the time of creation. Both experienced immense growth in capability and skill by the end of their mission. And both have a softer side to their nature, a protectiveness that deepens their character (Ellen towards Newt and Samus towards the last metroid). I recently played through the Metroid mOTHER hack (which has updated graphics and a built-in map) and really enjoyed it. I appreciate how you described Samus’ body as a tool and a weapon - that’s a great insight and really highlights the point of the game. You are all alone on an alien world and the only way you will succeed is through being aware of your surroundings, self-mastery and taking action as automatically as possible (which also happen to be major themes in many martial arts practices). When you are your own greatest tool/weapon, you can afford to travel lightly through the world.
Indeed next to Zelda, Metroid had to be a very close 2nd on my all-time favorites NES list! (if not at least top 5!) definitely looking forward to part 2!
"Samus it ever was." I nearly hit my head laughing. I had more that I thought should be mentioned, but I'll see what's in part 2 first. Great work! I always like hearing your analysis.
Such a great classic game. It's still fun to play today if you use a map. Sidenote the arcade version of pitfall 2 looks really nice and I need to play it.
As others have stated, thanks for the effort. Of the Metroid series, the original is probably my favorite precisely because it focuses so heavily on tools as a mechanism. Later games include lava, gates, etc to restrict movement instead of the tools themselves---Metroid Prime does a good job using beam doors and then Metroid Prime 2 reverts this by using Translator Doors. Having said, as you say there are many flaws to Metroid, and for me it's overall easier to recommend Super Metroid to actually play. I'll probably always have a soft spot for the original, though.
Once again you provide us with high quality historical and design context and analysis. Thanks for all the work you put into these man. Hey, who did that great chiptune remix for the next episode outtro?
Random comment no one cares about - THIS is the game that made me want a NES. I’d play it at Target on a demo kiosk until the timer ran out, then I learned to adjust the dip switches so it DIDN'T run out, then they kicked ME out. 😂
Great review! Definitely a flawed game, which I expect you to cover in future parts, but I love Metroid nonetheless. I just started playing Super Metroid and it's been great so far too.
One of the few NES all-time greats I've never played. Although I do know how it plays and what the story is (vaguely). And is it Gunpei Yokoi or Gumpei Yokoi? That little video clip calls him Gumpei, but I've always called him Gunpei.
Either N or M appears to be acceptable so far as I can tell-there's some ambiguity in the Japanese character there. In the ’90s I always saw his name written as Gumpei but these days everyone writes Gunpei (no doubt the existence of the game Gunpey had some influence there).
A couple thoughts on this excellent video before I dive into Part 2: 1) I'm glad you pointed out at the outset that Metroid 1, for all its brilliance of concept, was a deeply flawed game. In fact, I think it's that very brilliance that makes the game so exceptionally frustrating to play today, because we have things like Super Metroid to show us everything it could've been. Instead we're stuck with design decisions like respawning with 30 health regardless of how many energy tanks we've acquired, or having to hunt for the ice beam again at the game's end so we can downgrade from the otherwise superior ice beam just to get past some metroids. I'm a huge fan of the series as you've gleaned from my username elsewhere, but Metroid 1 at this point is just unplayably bad for me because of those myriad imperfections. But I can still appreciate its incredible legacy and importance to video game history, and respect the game for those exceptional ideas it brought forward. 2) I think it's really fascinating that, in your Zelda video, you make a very compelling argument for why that game is an action RPG despite not having gameplay that's "traditional" to that genre as we know it today, on the basis that the tabletop RPG is where it can trace its roots. Yet here on Metroid, you make a very compelling argument again that Metroid has those same RPG roots, even comparing it extensively to Zelda, and describing it as an evolution of those action RPG concepts...and yet then say "Metroid is in no way an RPG." Why is that? What are the switches on the switchboard that need to be flipped on or off to make something an RPG, if Zelda so clearly is and Metroid so clearly isn't, when you paint them as having a very common ancestry?
The Marumari isn't named after Mario! It's basically a noun version of "丸まる (marumaru)," a verb meaning "to become round; to curl up." The more you know!
When you show other games, can you please add the platform to the information you already show? I can make an educated guess based on the information shown and the graphics and sound but it would be helpful if you just included the platform. Thanks!
"Can you imagine Nintendo shipping two top-tier releases in such close proximity nowadays?" Mario 3D World and A Link Between Worlds came out on the same day. Yeah, different systems, but two of their best games in that or the surrounding years.
I know this isn't a virtual boy video, but since you reference it in passing, did you notice the recent announcement of nintendo's VR accessory? I'm honestly surprised they actually released one, even though people speculated about it from the very launch of the switch. Equally surprising is they chose to design it along the lines of their weird cardboard accessory concept, Labo... Considering how it's being released and presented, I'm quite curious as to what their intentions for it are... Is it just going to be a random-one off experiment alongside all the other Labo stuff? Are they going to create actual VR titles for it? Is it perhaps a half-step to test the waters for switch VR, with a more solid headset design coming in future? What of the thought of Virtual boy titles? Are they genuinely so embarrassed of the virtual boy they want to bury it for good, or were they just waiting for the right moment? After all, while the 3ds could technically have displayed virtual boy games with the 3d intact, a VR headset can far more closely mimic the way the virtual boy was experienced... All in all it really caught me off guard to see Labo VR announced...
I think the main thing about Metroid was how atmospheric it was in its time. The music, art style and level design really drew you in to its world in a way previous video games never had.
Norfair was the first time I ever stopped playing a game so I could just sit and listen to the music.
there's even a take on metroid using analog synthesizers and it sounds incredible
ua-cam.com/video/Q6fceLfjB4s/v-deo.html
@@JeremyParish No doubt the lack of a deadly time limit a la SMB was one factor in that. But Norfair's theme does make excellent use of gaps to enhance its feeling of low key underground disturbingness that contrasts to Brinstar's more confident theme while not sounding high pressure like the boss lairs do. Like a slow pulsing or breathing of grotesque primal life. A feeling further enhanced by slightly different time signatures within the song to create more organic yet still rhythmic silent periods. It's a song that goes all-in on the saying "It's the silence between the notes that makes the music.".
Considering the simplicity of games back then on NES, Metroid and Zelda were amazing.
Your project is far more important than most people may think. I love the fact that you're making these in-depth mini documentaries, full of context and historical research, in a platform where most people churn out shallow videos about games, yet, you still do your thing. Channels like yours and Norman Caruso's are very important to help with the preservation of the history of our beloved hobby.
I'm both grateful and inspired by your work. It's funny how everytime I go on a marathon through your videos, I feel like sitting down to research and write (mostly about "my thing" which is the Famicom).
What fascinates me about Metroid is how, unlike Zelda and Kid Icarus, you have no allies to sell or give you upgrades. You basically have to scavenge for the tools you need to survive, which adds to the cool feeling.
I'm curious about the need for a two-part episode. Seems like you've covered just about everything in this video.
Once again, I have praise how much you go into the history of games, even if it's just a namedrop or a brief video of gameplay.
You're also spot-on with your examination of metroid both as an RPG pared down to it's most basic form, but also as a platformer expanded upon to the next level of stage design. It's given me something to think about, the RPG comparison especially, because there is something very similar looking at Zebes full of rooms copied over and over that reminds me of the same way all the walls look alike (even if they're just wireframes) in old first-person rpgs and that you're harassed over and over by small enemies, sometimes mixed with tougher ones that create the challenge on the journey. Good stuff all around!
As much as I loved Mario, it was both Zelda and Metroid that kept me on my nes for hours at a time.
This game has the distinction of being the first game that I ever purchased with my own money when I was a kid. I spent a weekend doing yard work for my grandma to earn the money to buy Metroid. And man it was worth every penny. I got a ridiculous amount of play time out of it, and loved every minute of it. To this day, I still think it holds up better than most NES games. Even more so than the original Legend of Zelda.
That's amazing. Metroid is certainly one of my favorites, though I never got the chance to play it til it was used on GBA in my early 20s. The first NEW game that I ever purchased with my own money was Earthworm Jim when it too was on the GBA in my late teens. I never had money when I was a kid.
Two of the most seminal works in the NES library right after one another. What a time to be alive.
Reminds me very much of Link's development in Breath of the Wild: by the end of the quest (I about 99%'d everything but the Koroks and one shrine before the end) the hero grows to become a Guardian killing machine, with an inventory full of ridiculous god-weapons, and the player's skill with the combat mechanics following suit
Just terrific. The Zelda NES Works and this are truly video essay critiques.
Looking forward to part 2. Keep it up!
Thank you for this. Metroid was the first game that scared me when I went to bed at night. It was that ominous music. Kraid's lair. We had no internet back then. No maps if you didn't have Nintendo Power. You were just plunked into this alien world and good luck. No hand holding. It just goes to show you the power of your imagination. You created so much in your own head when given so little. Masterpiece.
That creepy Kraid music always reminded me of the stress-inducing soundtrack of Air Fortress. It’s a great soundtrack that reminds you as the player you’re invading an unknown world.
Pretty spot on how you link Metroid with Super Mario 1 as Metroid was my 3rd NES game growing up. (Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt and R.C. Pro-Am were 1 & 2 respectively). It really did build upon knowing that you played Mario already! And every new discovery was exhilarating, and made it believable you were in a remote planet with deadly aliens and traps to work around!
Playing Metroid as a 7 year old it always felt that the world was endlessly deep and long. It's a shock as an adult to see just how (relatively) small the world map actually is compared to even Super Metroid. Still love it and will dip back every couple of years to run through the game.
Great video!
Metroid really captured my 8 year old imagination the first time I played. As someone that's always been fascinated by aliens, space, and the thought that there might be other worlds out there in the stars, metroid made me feel like I really was a space bounty hunter on a remote planet amongst the stars, fighting off hordes of aliens to save the galaxy. One of my all time favorite games and a top 3 series for me if not my very favorite of all time
Hell yeah!! Love that you can contextualize so much of this in gaming history!
Metroid is a combination of Super Mario Bros.'s platforming and The Legend of Zelda's exploration and character upgrades. Best game in the NES library.
As I told you on Twitter, I can't applaud your effort and exhaustive research enough on these vids. Keep up the great work. Every one of your videos are just incredible.
Great video! Metroid is my favourite game series of all time
My mom went to service merchandise one day in 1987 and they had a bunch of NES games on clearance so she bought me kung Fu, Metroid, kid Icarus, pro wrestling, and Zelda. What an amazing day.
Service Merchandise! Bought my first CD player and my first camera there. The camera still lives on, 30 years later.
That alone is a fantastic NES library
Great game even 30 years later!
Before Jump'n'Shoot Man, there was Jump'n'Shoot Woman.
The original Metroid is a master class in control efficiency, using character state to tie multiple intuitively related actions to one input without needing an inventory screen or a ton of switching buttons that would break the action, which would be bad for a platformer that puts a character in constant environmental danger. Incidentally, it's the fact that the game IS a 2D platformer as opposed to a more cerebral overhead pedestrian action game like Zelda (I mean "pedestrian" in the literal sense) that allows all those character states to start. It's also interesting how future games in each series would gradually share more elements to their approaches to inventory between serieses without compromising their fundamental types of action.
And the opening sequence that teaches about the game's nature works regardless of which direction you might be biased to try to go first. It even starts on a symmetrical screen with Samus in the middle facing toward the player, hinting at said nature even though she turns facing right once the action starts, In fact, her starting out facing right can be taken as a suggestion to first go left as it would make sense to first check whether going the "wrong" way really is useless or not. And the Morph Ball itself is clearly the only way to exit where you acquire it, giving a very strong suggestion that you'll never be softlocked in any sort of unforeseeable fashion. Indeed, the two alternate beams' items regenerate, so you'll never be shut out of full exploration or being able to kill Metroids. Future Metroid games would play into how the Morph Ball was initially presented by creating similar dead ends only easily escapable with upgrades you find in them, helping you anticipate what said items do even if you lacked the games' manuals and even helping you predict which items you'll get in those dead ends if you DO have the manuals. An approach that Zelda would also adopt, albeit to nowhere near the same degree as Metroid due to the different levels of general pressure and types of challenges those serieses aim for.
seeing super metroid in motion always makes my heart flutter, anyways i definitely lean towards yokoi's approach to game design vs miyamoto's, not that i don't enjoy the fruits of miyamoto's approach, but i definitely believe in the whole making a playspace and giving the player all the agency you can do let them do what they want versus a very guided directed and choreographed interperetive dance, honestly the best part about miyamoto games is how people are able to subvert his intention and bypass the choregraphed dancing, such as mario 64 speedrunniny
Nintendo recently conducted developer interviews for a few games on the NES Classic, and the Metroid one is pretty interesting. The game was initially handed off to two G&W developers who had no experience making _video_ games. Development floundered for months before the rest of R&D1 was pulled in to finish it up.
One dev had made a bunch of intricate animations for Samus that had to be cut due to space limitations. There are still some left in the ROM, namely Samus having unique left- and right-facing sprites.
And you may find yourself inhabiting a suit of power armor
And you may find yourself on a completely different world
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large gunship
And you may find yourself in an underground base
With an underground brain
And you may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?
And you may tell yourself: "This is not my beautiful planet." And you may tell yourself: "This is not my beautiful bounty hunter!"
This song always reminds me of the Nicolas Cage movie "The Family Man."
As themissiles fly,marumari rolling around,
Searching for varia, bombing bubbles underground
I feel like this game
Doesn't get the love it deserves because it's challenging to navigate.
+NES ADDICT
I never owned "Metroid" as a kid, only rented it once! I knew how popular it was back then, but never ended up getting into it. Now that I have the NES Classic, I can play it, but still haven't! I almost feel like I don't know where to begin. Same thing with "Super Metroid." I should really embed myself into these two obvious classics and see what the hype is/was, because I'm sure I'd love both of them.
@@Fluoride_Jones Gotta play it with a guide. Back in the day the cartridge came with a booklet that explained the power ups and I believe it even had a map of some sort, but Zebes is huge and difficult to navigate given the limitations of color and environment design. Lots of areas look the same. I started playing it again when it came out on NES for Switch using a guide and it's been fun.
As far as Super Mestroid goes, if you have a Wii it's still available on the Wii Shop Channel. If not, then I'd highly suggest getting it on an emulator (original carts can go for over $100). It's worth playing at least once in your life. If you're not comfortable with that, then I believe Nintendo has plans to release SNES games on Switch sometime in the future.
+Tom Cassidy
Thanks for the advice! Actually, I have the SNES Classic, as well, so I have it at my fingertips. :)
I did add a couple hundred more games, though, and "Super Metroid" isn't exactly a "pick up and play" type of game. It deserves more attention and respect than that. I just need to stop being lazy about it!
Fluoride Jones please do take the time to play both. The seem overwhelming at first but that gets better after some power ups and health up grades. Use a map. It will take some of the stress out of it. Also watch "is it fun" by NESComplex for Metroid, and then watch his super Metroid retrospective.
+NES ADDICT
Will do! Thanks for the tips, man! I heard, especially with "Metroid," you need a supplementary map, as the game doesn't provide one for you. Thank goodness for the internet!
The level of depth you analyze these games in relation to eachother in the 80s game market is very impressive.
Brilliant from the opening pun.
Never thought of Samus as a weapon and tool before... NICE!
Amazing analysis in this video. Great work TF.
There was another game on the 8-bit microcomputers called "The Sacred Armour of Antiriad" which was released at the same time as the first Metroid, and is very similar in design.
The humility with this one: "...for what would come to be known as the Metroidvania genre".
After a while you just gotta give up and lean into it
I effing love original Metroid!
“Tools to advance...”
Or tools to methodically burn every single bush in the land to find the elusive secret to everybody.
My grandmother fell asleep to Norfair. I mean, it’s not as bombastic as the Brinstar theme, but I’m not sure if I find it soothing, more eerie. You do you, Gramma. It’s a good song
One small correction, Nintendo EAD no longer exists. They merged with Nintendo's Software Planning & Development division in September 2015, and is now known as Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development (Nintendo EPD). EADs last game was Steel Diver Sun Wars.
Metroid? He's my favorite robot.
I searched Metroid when I found your channel 2 months ago. I watched as soon as I saw this in my feed. Thanks for your content.
Can’t wait for part 2! And Super, someday hopefully. See you next mission :)
The Talking Heads shout-outs give me life. Girl[action hero] is Better, indeed.
Loved the remix at the end.
Coincidentally, I happened to watch Doctor Sparkle’s Chrontendo episode yesterday with Metroid. While his series is really good, Jeremy always hits it out of the park. Great video; keep ‘em coming.
My all time favorite videogame which I still play. I was looking forward to seeing this analysis. By the way, I used to read you back in the early 2000's when you wrote for 1up since the nes is my favorite console. Excellent job, couldn't expect less from you.
My all time favorite NES title. Back in the 80s I had Metroid and I have been playing it ever since.
Metroid is an incredible game and the music is a work of art. 😀👍🎮
Love love love how the Metroid devs took the themes and aesthetic of Alien and ran with it. I was late to Metroid but remember clearly the first time I played Super Metroid. The narrative was revealed without any words (past the opening crawl). The player’s progress was marked on the physical world as you changed the environment and your own body in order to dive deeper into enemy territory. There was history and natural relationships and clues to success hidden in the environment that you could intuit, if you were paying attention. It was a master-class in immersive storytelling, and remains a masterpiece of gaming that I think about still.
Ellen Ripley is one of my other favorite fictional people, and I see a lot of parallels with Samus Aran. Both were groundbreaking because of their gender at the time of creation. Both experienced immense growth in capability and skill by the end of their mission. And both have a softer side to their nature, a protectiveness that deepens their character (Ellen towards Newt and Samus towards the last metroid).
I recently played through the Metroid mOTHER hack (which has updated graphics and a built-in map) and really enjoyed it. I appreciate how you described Samus’ body as a tool and a weapon - that’s a great insight and really highlights the point of the game. You are all alone on an alien world and the only way you will succeed is through being aware of your surroundings, self-mastery and taking action as automatically as possible (which also happen to be major themes in many martial arts practices). When you are your own greatest tool/weapon, you can afford to travel lightly through the world.
I've been looking forward to Metroid for a while now. Great video, Jeremy 👍
Been waiting forever for this one! Great job as always, This game is a variable nightmare without a guide, thats for sure.
I always thought of Samus as the villain, invading this planet and murdering all of it's inhabitants almost to extinction.
It's cool, they all respawn. Except the bosses.
No, no. That's Metroid 2/Metroid Samus Returns. And then she finishes that job in Metroid Fusion.
@@Chadius Nerd
I don't know why Talking Heads puns, but I'm willing to go along
Man I love these videos 😁
Just beautiful. Looking forward to Super Metroid one day!
The only thing I would add is the Alien influence
I liked the little 8-bit version of Jikai Yokoku at the end there..
Thirty two years later and I still snicker at Screw Attack.
The gameplay footage is insane. You are REALLY good at Metroid.
Thanks, I cut my teeth on this one and still have some residual muscle memory.
Indeed next to Zelda, Metroid had to be a very close 2nd on my all-time favorites NES list! (if not at least top 5!) definitely looking forward to part 2!
amazing video!!! Great Work!
"Samus it ever was." I nearly hit my head laughing.
I had more that I thought should be mentioned, but I'll see what's in part 2 first. Great work! I always like hearing your analysis.
i remember when this and zelda came out my cousin had nes and hed get the games and i lived down the street and come over and it was da shit
Such a great classic game. It's still fun to play today if you use a map. Sidenote the arcade version of pitfall 2 looks really nice and I need to play it.
I enjoy the talking heads references
Hell, it's about time!
That new end theme is fantaaaaastic.
It's baaaaaaaaaaaack.
As others have stated, thanks for the effort. Of the Metroid series, the original is probably my favorite precisely because it focuses so heavily on tools as a mechanism. Later games include lava, gates, etc to restrict movement instead of the tools themselves---Metroid Prime does a good job using beam doors and then Metroid Prime 2 reverts this by using Translator Doors. Having said, as you say there are many flaws to Metroid, and for me it's overall easier to recommend Super Metroid to actually play. I'll probably always have a soft spot for the original, though.
Oh boy, a two-parter. We got a live one!
I love your channel.
The audio mix sounds particularly good this episode.
Chris Gorski Only the best for my gal Samus
Once again you provide us with high quality historical and design context and analysis. Thanks for all the work you put into these man. Hey, who did that great chiptune remix for the next episode outtro?
It's from a WonderSwan Evangelion game.
These are great shows. I have no doubt your views and subscribers will continue to rise.
Random comment no one cares about - THIS is the game that made me want a NES. I’d play it at Target on a demo kiosk until the timer ran out, then I learned to adjust the dip switches so it DIDN'T run out, then they kicked ME out. 😂
Just discovered this series of videos and I love the shit out of it! It’s so interesting to learn so much about these games. Great work 👍
Great review! Definitely a flawed game, which I expect you to cover in future parts, but I love Metroid nonetheless. I just started playing Super Metroid and it's been great so far too.
'samus it ever was" clever
Woohoo! Almost Part 50!
Finally a new NES episode
Samus it ever was....
Been hoping for this! Cheers!
Jeremy, you are *killing* it with the puns lately.
Amazing!
Nintendo Cinematic Universe. ⏳
Informative video as always. Will NES works 1987 be split into 2 volumes or 1 giant book? I'm good either way but am curious.
I'm hoping for one! We'll see....
Oh yes! I've been waiting for this video for months.
Good work as always 👍
"Samus it ever was?" That was bad and you should feel bad. :-P
f u, I liked it
Jason Blalock I loved it
Talking Heads reference
Pretty great work there! Were Samus' landings slippery (12:20)? Its been too long...
She is pretty slippery after a jump, especially when she takes damage as she lands.
There's someone else could defeat the nightmare boss on Metroid fusion
One of the few NES all-time greats I've never played. Although I do know how it plays and what the story is (vaguely).
And is it Gunpei Yokoi or Gumpei Yokoi? That little video clip calls him Gumpei, but I've always called him Gunpei.
Either N or M appears to be acceptable so far as I can tell-there's some ambiguity in the Japanese character there. In the ’90s I always saw his name written as Gumpei but these days everyone writes Gunpei (no doubt the existence of the game Gunpey had some influence there).
Ah thanks. It's always bothered me.
By the way, will you do River City Ransom when it comes up for NES Works 1989?
I'll do everything that comes up so far as I can make it with this series!
Great. It was my favourite game at the time, and it still somehow holds up.
A couple thoughts on this excellent video before I dive into Part 2:
1) I'm glad you pointed out at the outset that Metroid 1, for all its brilliance of concept, was a deeply flawed game. In fact, I think it's that very brilliance that makes the game so exceptionally frustrating to play today, because we have things like Super Metroid to show us everything it could've been. Instead we're stuck with design decisions like respawning with 30 health regardless of how many energy tanks we've acquired, or having to hunt for the ice beam again at the game's end so we can downgrade from the otherwise superior ice beam just to get past some metroids. I'm a huge fan of the series as you've gleaned from my username elsewhere, but Metroid 1 at this point is just unplayably bad for me because of those myriad imperfections. But I can still appreciate its incredible legacy and importance to video game history, and respect the game for those exceptional ideas it brought forward.
2) I think it's really fascinating that, in your Zelda video, you make a very compelling argument for why that game is an action RPG despite not having gameplay that's "traditional" to that genre as we know it today, on the basis that the tabletop RPG is where it can trace its roots. Yet here on Metroid, you make a very compelling argument again that Metroid has those same RPG roots, even comparing it extensively to Zelda, and describing it as an evolution of those action RPG concepts...and yet then say "Metroid is in no way an RPG." Why is that? What are the switches on the switchboard that need to be flipped on or off to make something an RPG, if Zelda so clearly is and Metroid so clearly isn't, when you paint them as having a very common ancestry?
Wish i could have been a fly on the wall when they were making kid Icarus and Metroid....they do have flies in Japan right
The Marumari isn't named after Mario! It's basically a noun version of "丸まる (marumaru)," a verb meaning "to become round; to curl up." The more you know!
lol, Silksong 2019 :D
When you show other games, can you please add the platform to the information you already show? I can make an educated guess based on the information shown and the graphics and sound but it would be helpful if you just included the platform. Thanks!
What is the items list for this game?
www.gamefaqs.com
"Can you imagine Nintendo shipping two top-tier releases in such close proximity nowadays?" Mario 3D World and A Link Between Worlds came out on the same day. Yeah, different systems, but two of their best games in that or the surrounding years.
this is my favorite video game except maybe megaman 2
Love these videos! Keep up the good work!
(Is the 19779 on Adventure intentional or a mistake?)
I know this isn't a virtual boy video, but since you reference it in passing, did you notice the recent announcement of nintendo's VR accessory?
I'm honestly surprised they actually released one, even though people speculated about it from the very launch of the switch.
Equally surprising is they chose to design it along the lines of their weird cardboard accessory concept, Labo...
Considering how it's being released and presented, I'm quite curious as to what their intentions for it are...
Is it just going to be a random-one off experiment alongside all the other Labo stuff?
Are they going to create actual VR titles for it?
Is it perhaps a half-step to test the waters for switch VR, with a more solid headset design coming in future?
What of the thought of Virtual boy titles? Are they genuinely so embarrassed of the virtual boy they want to bury it for good, or were they just waiting for the right moment?
After all, while the 3ds could technically have displayed virtual boy games with the 3d intact, a VR headset can far more closely mimic the way the virtual boy was experienced...
All in all it really caught me off guard to see Labo VR announced...
Did someone say Metroidvania?