How Super Metroid Creates Dread
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- Опубліковано 18 січ 2018
- My one year anniversary(ish). Continuing this mini-series exploring how Metroid games build their foreboding atmosphere of fear and dread. I feel Super Metroid has one particular area which feels like it applies all the best techniques.
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Metroid Dread - Фільми й анімація
Can't wait for the "How Metroid Dread Creates Super" video
Or how metroid dread creates zero mission
Hahahahaha
I was looking for the 'How Metroid Dread Creates Dread' comment, but this was definitely better.
Ye
This made me laugh 😂
Oh, it's created Dread, alright.
Yee
Im so happy to see the overall excitement for Dread
We got it, boys. After so long. Metroid 5 MY GAWD I CAN CRY.
thank you, super metroid
Nice. We see what you did there. Lol
I think the algorithm is going to give this one another go
I had to come back just to make a joke about it.
Yep
Right?
And it seems to be doing it again now that dread is out.
Furry cringe
Not a single person resisted picking the low hanging fruit and made the same tired pun.
This aged well
timeless classic. 8bit/16 bit era games never get old
@@Geckotr TESTERFOX was talking about the title specifically...
"Stand still for too long, and ghostly entities will appear, and their cries of pain is the only time you hear that sound effect in the game,"
*WOOWOOWOO*
ZarHakkar " *My name is Jeff* "
Lmao
😂😂
More like roblox s OOF
Hey, that was actually spooky back when the SNES reigned supreme.
Excellent essay. I'd say the only major example of subtle horror in Super Metroid that wasn't touched upon was the sight of the broken containment capsule in the room after fighting Ridley. Previously all the super bosses gave you a really cool upgrade as a reward. Varia Suit for Kraid, Gravity Suit for Phantoon, and Space Jump for Draygon. But Ridley? All you get is an empty room (with a secret E-tank admittedly) showing you the Metroid baby capsule from the start of the game lying smashed to pieces. Was pretty chilling first time I saw it.
Thanks!
Ahh yeah, you're quite right, I think that's also count as a bit of a creepy atmospheric bit! Well noted ❤️
I'll say, Deedonis. I remember when I was a little boy playing Super Metroid and finally got to Ridley. I instantly became terrified of seeing one or more metroids run me down during the fight. Kind of a missed opportunity there in a way.
You can also note that as a "Player powerdown moment" (which contributes to horror) as your main objective, recovering the baby metroid, is now.... WHO KNOWS WHERE IS IT
Deedonis p
Good call
You had the perfect key words 3 YEARS in advance
Also amazing video very well done
The Metroid Dread video is probably going to be called “How Metroid Dread Creates Super” and that’d be hilarious.
I'm so happy this video comes up when searching "Metroid Dread".
I actually thought about this as soon as I saw the title. Hope lots of people see this and appreciate and play the older games.
now its finally in the title
The wrecked ship did creep me out as a kid, now that I'm older I find more intrigue than fear wandering the abandoned halls. Also I'm surprised you never mentioned how the wrecked ship works backwards to every other area. In all other areas you enter, explore, explore some more, find boss, kill boss, grab upgrade. In the wrecked ship you enter, find boss, kill boss, then explore, explore some more, grab upgrade. The wrecked ship is structured completely backwards from a design perspective killing the boss first instead of last.
Thought of this video when Metroid Dread got revealed today Nintendo's E3.
As someone who loves attention to detail, Original Brinstar is a good (if minor) example of the "breadcrumbs" technique discussed in your Fusion video. The _exact_ moment everything starts turning on is the instant you pick up the morph ball. Before that, the spotlights don't shine, and the faces neither glow red nor ever turn to the side. But, as soon as you get the morph ball, its spotlight shines down on you as the faces to either side of the morph ball stand both light up and turn inward toward the power-up's former resting place. The two faces next to the elevator are also lit up now, and will themselves turn inward once you take that elevator back up. These are the first signs that your presence is now known.
Another thing about the ship is the fact that, in the other maps changes, you step on an elevator and you feel that minimap has no adjacent explored zones due to the looong distance and that makes sense. But you enter to the Ship just walking by and the minimap (top left) which was almost all pink explored, suddenly turns into the isolated square where you are in
Great thing about playing the old Metroid classiscs on virtual console: restore points.
That's literally just another emulator that just so happens to be made by Nintendo. I agree though. Savestates are awesome.
@The Metroid It makes old, more difficult games more manageable and enjoyable, if you don’t mind using them
Super on the 3ds doesn't have restore points
apart from i’ve played it so much i don’t even need the save points in game it’s easy
Yeah
I was almost expecting to run into a xenomorph inside that wrecked ship with how much it vibes like Giger and Ridley Scott's work
Samus vs. Aliens OR Predator would be an epic crossover.
Dread, you say?
How Super Metroid creates bread
I'd watch that
"I've done nothing but teleport bread for three days."
How a space bounty Hunter became a baker over the course of one mission!
Scientists hate her! Oh wait. They don’t.
B R E A D ~hank hill the bread bank manager (baku series)
Bread makes you fat.
So to sum up so far:
Metroid 1 is abstract and confusing to the point of being overwhelming.
Metroid 2 has you murdering an entire species one by one while constantly descending, and the monochrome visuals, really long sequences without any enemies or anything, and weird repetitive glitch music give it an eerily monotonous feeling.
Super Metroid has a foreboding suspenseful feel, like something bad is going to happen at any moment, and that feeling stays around for most of the game.
Can't wait for Fusion! Love that game. It was off-putting to a lot of people, but it seems like it was pretty intentionally designed to make people feel that way.
I'm excited to do Fusion and Prime. The series had been gone for 8 years by that point, so it was cool to see two new approaches to their atmosphere.
I really liked Fusion, I like how it built off Super but made its own thing.
Here's a rundown of Metroid Fusion:
FUCKING CREEPY WHEN YOU SEE A MORE POWERFUL YOU THAT WANTS YOU DEAD!
I got stuck in the beginning area of fusion. Dunno how, but i did.
@@mateuszodrzywoek8658 did you not know to blow up the wall after getting the missiles?
@@8-bitsarda747 o
O
OMAGAD
This video felt like a lead-up to something that it never delivered on.
I'm sorry you felt like that. You should check out my other Super Metroid video, which is much more thorough, and not focused on one area like this one.
The problem isn't that you focused on one area, it's more that the majority of it was buildup and description as opposed to analysis or a conclusive point. Ending on description can have that effect...at least...that's why I felt the way Paul did.
@@VideoGameAnimationStudy Ending on a kind of critique, summarizing the things that you found profound and memorable about the things you described is a solid way to conclude something like this. Functionally, it was like a matter of fact narration of the level. And while your tone and narration was well delivered, no particularly interesting thing was said about your subject. Having played Super Metroid it felt like an audio walkthrough and less like an interesting commentary. I don't mean these things to be hurtful, and some of your other videos don't have this problem.
However, I hope these thoughts help you in some way to create higher quality content and earn more subscribers in the future!
It did
This video aged like a fine wine
This aged like fine wine
Speaking of Dread... 😸
SO HAPPY
It's serendipity...
Dread, you say.
They named there newest Metroid game for E3 Today it’s called Metroid Dread and I instantly thought back to this video! You did it first!
Metroid Dread was actually a cancelled game from like 2007. They just brought back the concept for this one
"Let's hope this boss is easy" nope it's the hardest one
Phantoon is the hardest boss?
He's the only boss besides Mother Brain that's never managed to kill me.
I had a tougher time beating Crocomire.
I guess he means he's the last boss you'll face where you're more likely to die.
Dan Root nah there is an exploit if you charge your beem and do a spin jump your are invinceable to the bosses attacks
True, but you wouldn't know this on a first playthrough.
@@BoopaKing actually the "Ghost" is a notorious "*Run Killer"* in the speed-run community. Mainly because he's entirely RNG driven.
I can see why people would find him to be the "hardest" fight in the game.
One other great little touch about Phantoon is that it reacts different to certain weapons. So if you wanna finish the fight quicker with super missiles it will fly up to the ceiling and send a bombardement of fireballs down. The only boss in the game that when attacked with a stronger weapon will use a much more annoying, harder to dodge attack in response.
This aged perfectly
This felt like a spooky story, especially when you got to the space station. I would watch videos of you telling scary storys about Samus, overlaid with gameplay footage.
Good to know, maybe one day I'll make a video on my own Metroid game idea..
I love when games can create tense, foreboding atmospheres. Have you considered doing an analysis of Mega Man Legends? That game is very atmospheric and does a lot of clever things to psychologically prep the player.
I've already had a request on Legends from one of my Patrons actually, I've been thinking how to tackle it as a video.
Personally, I always thought there was a dichotomy between gameplay on the surface which was punctuated by light-heartedness and in the ruins which was claustrophobic and paranoia inducing. It went back and forth from two extremes constantly. The game also did clever things to subconsciously prime the player into a sense of dread, like with the rabid dogs in the Old Town and the dog reverbots in the Clozer Woods ruins.
I don't know, I just love that game because it does so many little things so well.
All good points! I need to give it another proper play through and make notes! Hey, you and my Patron Daniel Root (I know, I know) should leave some points on my Patreon page and I can credit you in the creation of the video!
Sure! I'll visit your Patreon page later and leave more detailed notes because I have a lot to say about the game.
ah yes, when i got the game when i was 6 or 7 i remember asking my mom to play it for me the first time i went underground, i was horrified. but she made me play through it so i manned up and ventured into the darkness alone. still one of my all time favorite games to this day.
This title turned into a pun over time, lol. But yea, Super Metroid was one of my favorite games growing up, and still is. The Tourian area specifically always creeped me out as a kid. Wrecked Ship was always cool though, but I found myself always creeped out and intimidated in Tourian more so, for whatever reason.
I actually got into the Metroid series because one night while mindlessly scrolling i came across them. I thank you for that
So, I guess we'll be getting a new Atmosphere of Metroid episode!
That hashtag aged well “#MetroidDread”
This is definitely the best game ever made. I’m not lying when I say I played this game about a hundred times. A few years ago I found the game and console when I moved. And yes. I remembered where all the hidden items were. Still the best
My God I bet you had an immediate squee of Delight once they announced the new game 🤣😂🤣
Back when I was 4 years old, we had an SNES, and this game with it. This was my favorite game on it, but it was also the game that terrified me the most.
One thing you forgot to mention was how this boss gets even uglier if you use super missiles against it. They may do a ton more damage but the boss becomes harder to predict and takes even longer to kill in most cases! Phantoon is truly one of those neat little horror bosses as a result.
Gah yeah, I do mention this in my other Super Metroid video, but get that dying in the boss battle was enough for this one. He is a great boss.
Gosh, totally.
don't forget Nightmare-X.
Wait that wasn't part of the actual fight? holy shit, I wish I knew that, it made me have to use save states for the first (and only) time in my playthrough because I died so many times, and I wasn't willing to go all the way back there every time I died.
I really like you’re animation of you’re self around the 5 min of yourself! Great video today! Loved it :) love supporting the content you make
Thanks so much! I'm really grateful of all the supporters I have!
Ha, yeah, it's not the greatest of animated avatars, if I ever get enough time I'll do them properly again.
After the wreked ship, the ambiance of mariadia is pretty isolating too, I really appreciate it.
Superb as always dan. I love these videos.
Thank you so much!
Next Up: "How Metroid Dread Creates Dread"
Looks like nintendos been watching these vids from naming inspiration
I think "Metroid Dread" was a name used since Metroid Prime 3.
Really nice discussion, and wonderfully edited video. I think it's worth discussing to what extent it's valuable to make the game less player friendly for the sake of building dread. Having the save point powered down was a nice touch aesthetically, but super frustrating. I only completed Super Metroid a few years ago, and being stuck repeating this boss fight almost made me give up playing!
Yeah that's a really good point! Thanks for bringing that up, that might come in handy when discussing Metroid Prime!
I'm glad you stuck with it though, I think the Wrecked Ship would turn a lot of people away!
How many times did you have to fight the boss before you beat it?
I love watching these videos. I was 8 when Super Metroid came out, but I never experienced any of these emotions when playing it. I just remember thinking how cool the styles were, and how the graphics were more 'realistic' than other games I'd played. So, watching these videos I can see what I missed out on the first time.
I think for me the most dismal part of this game is the wrecked ship, before phantoon is defeated and the power is still off of course. That music is so creepy. All the little weird noises and the ghosts that show up every now and then. Phantoon is pretty creepy as well and it’s really cool that he can be put into an enraged mode. Man, this game is just perfect. I absolutely love your videos/ descriptions of the game too! You’re content is great
Funny you say "Dread"
I would definitely agree. Also, even when the power is back on, there's a feeling of forlorn abandonment, as the robots helplessly shuffle into the same wall over and over, cables frayed apart spray sparks everywhere, and so on.
Yes, another good point! I like the little details like that. Like the orbs that break free and just aimlessly wander.
just found your channel man. Its pure gold keep them coming.
Hey, thank you so much!
No no thank you man! gonna check this game out now. Should have done it way earlier
Woah you talking about the atmosphere makes me feel like I'm actually playing that game. Good job!
What a choice title. Prophetic, even.
Great as usual. Actually, even better than before!
You're too kind, too kind sir.
Imagine being told that the way to Wrecked Ship is through the missile room in Crateria. I did an awkward jump in Maridia. I think I sequence broke
You can sequence break in a few ways. I wound up getting through a one way door somehow and got very, very lost.
Amazing video, i always found interesting and unique the tension and atmosphere that Metroid Fusion used to create.
This is a really cool vid to watch! I started playing Super Metroid not too long ago either
I love your analysis of this series that is so beloved to me. When I can afford I would love to throw you money for more, especially with Prime 4 in the works.
just finished OG metroid and metroid 2, damn I played metroid 3 more than 20 years ago and realized how good it looks compared to the original, it felt like it was 1994 again lol
The room with the 4 boss statues has the most unsettling music I've ever heard the song is called Water.
I mean no offense, but I was expecting more and I find this analysis to be pretty weak.
Sure, the Wrecked Ship is eerie, but the beginning is where the game really creates fear. It's all about sovverting the player's expectations.
An empty space station, then suddenly a Boss fight out of nowhere. → Now you know the game can throw at you fights like that at any moment → You approach Zebes cautiosly, waiting for the next attack.
But Zebes is, again, empty. Which increase the tension.
You find the Morph Ball, then the first Chozo Statue holding the Missiles. → You learn that the Chozo Statues are good. → You lower your guard and feel safe when you reach the Bomb Statue...
Check out this longer video I did on the whole game:
ua-cam.com/video/bs5Qja04v8U/v-deo.html
Oh, I already watched that months ago. I didn't realize that was you, too. That one is a really great analysis.
Thanks. Yeah, I could've made it clear in the video I'd already gone over everything before in another video.
I had been waiting for that for so long and it was great I can't wait for fusion because it is my favorite metroid title. I also have prime,prime3,super metroid,Samus returns,return of Samus and the original so I am a big fan great video.
This is what I have been waiting for.
And I am not disapointed!
Nice video. Wrecked Ship is definitely the highlight of the game for me.
Damn, I played through Super Metroid twice and never knew about the ghosts appearing in the Wrecked Ship. Oo
Ah, man, this is just miles above your other videos. Not that they're bad, but this is just..great job man!
Ahh thanks so much! I feel like the absence of animation allows me to spend more time on editing.
Loving this series!
Thank you! I'll try work on Fusion after my next video, looking forward to that one. And Prime, admittedly..
Dan Root, you've got the Ghost boss down pat. I remember playing this part of the game when I was younger, only stumbling around on the wrecked ship thinking I wasn't suppose to be in the area yet and finding the Ghost appear in front of me. I freaked out and sat up straight to focus on the fight (since I often play laying back). Great memories!!!
Yeah, it's probably my favourite part of the game! 😍👻
I love your work. You're capable of articulating why these are frightening, not just telling us that they are.
Thank you!
I just got home and what a good way to get back! Amazing work, Dan!
Ahh, I'm glad you enjoyed it! And thanks!
No problem. I could watch a marathon of your videos!
Nahw, that's terribly kind!
Don't worry. I love the videos you make. I understand why you upload once every 2 months. Animating is hard. The best animations I could put out would be photos with badly drawn characters! You have talent, a talent which is challenging! =)
Thank you so much
One thing that was glossed over a bit is the absence of music in the space station. That in itself creates a tense atmosphere, as silence where there shouldn't be is a great way to create a sense of tension.
This video's title has aged beautifully.
Easily one of the best video essays I've seen on the subject. Love your visuals, love your voice, love the topic. Keep up the great work. For some critical feedback, though: when you bring up the map of the Wrecked Ship and you're explaining to us the path you take, it was hard to watch because you had movement on the map with the red X appearing, so I thought maybe you were animating your trek through it all. But then the movement in the background confused me and made me think maybe the red X was just part of the gameplay being played behind. But then you brought it back up again and the confusion remained. To be honest, I would have loved to see some animated notations on the map as you described the journey. More of them, at least. It would have made that section less confusing.
Just went back and re-watched it. I also see you mentioned where you start for the trek you'd have to remake. My statement stands, I think you could have actually shown us the trek through a moving line or something. That would have made it much easier to watch and understand what you were going for.
Hey! Thanks so much for the feedback, that means a lot.
It's funny, I've been naughty and re-used a section from my old Super Metroid video as I had a bit of a technical disaster and ran out of time 😅
The ghostly entities almost look like the amalgamates from undertake, wonderful video btw
Now we know how metroid dread title was created
WHY DO I LIKE YOUR VOICE SO MUCH LOL
AWESOME video by the way!!!
Because my voice is sexy, according to many comments I've seen :-p
And thanks
I was watching the fight VS Phantoon here and I'm just like "WHY ARE YOU WASTING MISSILES?!?"
Yeah that place scared me the most as a kid. Nobody can save you when you can't save haha. Thanks showing it and also for the awesome pre-overview. 😃👍
How come you only have 6k, you should have a million, no a billion, the greatest are always underrated. Also I have a suggestion, super Mario and rabbits crossover.
Thank you! Well I'm slowly building my audience, this time last year I only had 200 subs, so it's steadily rising 😁
I'll have a think about that, I've already got a few ideas for the rest of the year, I'll see what I'm like at the end 😉
For me what really established that sense of fear and dread in this game was the haunting and eerie music score. I had never heard synthesized choir vocals before like in Norfair in a video game until that point.
If you or others like the creepiness of the wrecked ship, I think some of the many excellent Super Metroid ROM hacks out there really take this area to the next level. I especially like Super Metroid: Escape II's rendition on the area. It uses the same graphics but makes it a "lab" and not a wrecked ship. Like much of the hack, the area is huge too, and it has some interesting twists. And Hyper Metroid's wrecked ship is AMAZING...and a lot more challenging. I highly recommend both of those hacks...Escape II is probably the easier of the two and I'd recommend doing it first.
Ace, thanks for suggesting those!
5:51 I like how smash looks like she got scared
Super Metroid is a masterpiece! Thank you sir for this video.
I like to think that Nintendo prepared for 2021's E3, saw this video the day before, and scrambled to change the title of Metroid 5 to Dread.
The original title was going to be Metroid Switch, and it may have involved the P Switches from Mario.
This is over the line, I'm calling the cops.
Well, about Dread....
The name of this video aged so well
Never played this game, but I feel like I am missing out. I played Zero Mission and Fusion, as well as just finishing Metroid Dread last night. I saw another video that remarked on how the SA-X from Fusion was based on Samus's look from Super Metroid. I watched this video feeling like I was watching the SA-X having an adventure. Too bad this game wasn't ported to Gameboy, I would have liked to play it.
there would be no dread without super metroid, literally
Well, yeah. It's a sequel 😆
Great vid.
When I got super metroid kid back in maybe... 2004?, my cartridge had a strange glitch where any save point would just respawn me with 0 health, causing immediate death. That basically meant I could never turn the game off or DIE, since it would still respawn me at a save point.
Of course, as a kid I had no idea it wasn't part of the game's design so I just played it because I absolutely loved the difficulty and how fun it was to see how far I could get... until Phantom, my biggest fear that would actually make my heart race, face it as seriously as I could, because as one knows, getting experience on a boss is only possible if you reach it, and those "sideways eight" patterns would show up in my dreams just to be prepared for that next attempt.
After a while, I did eventually beat him. However it was such a huge milestone I didn't know the game would keep going, and for bab me it was just too much. I reached Maridia, died, and happily turned the game off thinking of how I finally conquered that nightmare.
Complete this game a month ago. That was so great!!
How Metroid Dread Creates Super
3:56 I'm paraphrasing here, but the narration is something like "save the game, go to that other place now you have the grapple beam, and then... shine spark across (according to the video footage)". Haha... I'm just joking. Not even really nit-picking. A very fine personal view of the more abstract tones at work within this game. I don't think I could ever get tired of hearing other people express their feelings about this particular title. I enjoy hearing thoughts about the atmosphere, ambiance, music etc... even more than talk on the gameplay. Appreciated.
Hey this is a cool vid someone made recen- 2 YEARS AGO. This aged too well lol
Hey, dread has always been a theme of Metroid 😉
The dread lives. Metroid dread
The other thing about Phantoon is the super missle thing... the game challenges your assumption that the strongest tool in your kit is the best way to proceed, because using it makes the fight a hundred times harder.
Yeah, that's quite true as well, actually!
That ocean blue of the space station at the beginning is almost TOO vivid for the eyes. It’s like playing Pokémon Blue on a GBC or GBA
I have a theory
So in the ending of zero mission
U go to the space pirate mothership
Wrecked ship perhaps???
I think that's quite a popular theory, and one most fans like to adopt, but apparently it's been debunked by the Metroid developers. I still subscribe to it though; the music's the same, the location's the same, and the enemies are the same. Makes sense to me.
It took them 15 years, but they did create Dread
The Crashed Ship is unsettling, but it's very short. I actually just beat Super Metroid for the first time on Switch and I was in and out of that place in under an hour, sadly. Maridia was my favorite area, as the huge rooms contrasted the usual cramped corridors, and I wound up feeling lost just because of how it was structured.
I also just have vivid memories of landing on the planet when I watched my brother play it as a kid.. something about the rain, tones, and the distant background just felt so alien and intriguing to me.
Also having one of the first upgrade rooms be a boss fight was genius, as it makes you wary of every other upgrade room.
Yeah, it's a shame the ship is so short, I'd love if they had you explore a bit more before stumbling upon Phantoon.
Maridia is definitely a favourite, I love Sandy Maridia's theme, just so....moody and dark.
You know it's true horror when even speedrunners are afraid of that boss. I quite like videos like these where a particular section is highlighted and explained. It tells a lot on how games create moments that left an impression in a player's experience. Though they may varied from person to person, that's the beauty of it isn't it.
Yeah, I think the Wrecked Ship is a pivotal moment in gameplay it's roughly half way through, and you could succeed or die.
Yeah, I'm looking forward to examining isolated moments in future Metroid games!