Coming from someone who only owned a Game Boy (no consoles) and played this one when it came out - it's a classic and has a permanent place in my heart. I loved the oppressive feeling, and it had great replay value.
Same here. Great sense of adventure, rewarding when finding that hidden path that leads to a power up. I concede that the metroid duels are a bit awkward, but overall the game is great and greatly improves the nes version (IMHO). Thank you for the video.
same here. i was such a little kid when i played this, like, 7 years old, and it was sooo hard, and the later levels were actually really scary for me. i love that they could do that with such a tiny screen.
One of the areas in which this game is underrated that very few mention is in all the quality-of-life improvements it introduces that became staples in the series, even in the remake of the first Metroid game which lacked them. Proper save stations (instead of dying or pressing Up + A on the second controller to save / get your password), being able to crouch to hit smaller enemies, being able to shoot down in the air (and change where you're aiming, up or down, while still in the air without landing), Energy recharge stations, Missile recharge stations, Samus' yellow gunship which has both recharge stations. In terms of design, it gave us the power suit that looks like an actual suit instead of a cyborg with wires/ The Varia suit and opening arm canon are also really iconic.
Really??? I'm looking back at my footage and I'm pretty sure you're right! I'm always learning new things about these older Metroid games, but this is definitely the fact that surprised me the most so far. Can't believe I've never heard of this before!
I personally never understood certain metroid fans claiming the NES original had better graphics. Simply having color does not make for better graphics. That and the complaints about repeating rooms and hallways in 2. There are maybe 2 instances where the rooms are similar (not identical) as where the original was chock full of copy and paste in the level designs. Even as a kid, I never got lost in 2 but constantly never knew where I was or where I had to go in the original. In nearly every way the 2nd is superior to the first save for the lack of color. Just getting killed in room transitions was more than enough for me to not ever come back to the original, let alone not being able to crouch shoot or shoot beneath while jumping on half the creatures being too short for the beam. Excellent work on the review.
NES Metroid is, to be frank, hideous. This game's graphics are infinitely better. The spritework is leaps and bounds ahead of what came before, which is amazing considering it's an OG handheld gaming device.
So, on original hardware the visuals can be a lot less appealing than on emulation. There are aspects that are for sure superior but the overall visual experience was one of the main criticisms of the game when it came out by some. (I always liked it). Metroid when it came out in 1986 was definitely a looker. In a vacuum both on emulated hardware, yea you can definitely say the GB looks nicer, but on original hardware and in the context they released Metroid was probably the more impressive game to just look at. Metroid II came out when we already had 16 bit games everywhere so it didn't stand out at all outside of just compared to other GB games where it definitely looked pretty good.
I just discovered your videos and I am loving this Metroid series. I grew up ONLY knowing Metroid II, which I loved. Never played the original until adulthood, and never even had Super Metroid until adulthood either. You've got a great understated and natural sense of humor that really make this series fun to watch. Thank you for doing this and thank you for sharing your work with us.
I figured out the trick of getting the queen to vore you on like my third playthrough when I accidentally morph balled while fumbling the controls. I tried to replicate it, found that when you stun her with her mouth open you can roll inside, and with some more fumbling get swallowed where you can bomb for massive damage. It actually makes the fight a joke. And to think I was stuck on her for like a month the first time I played as a kid. It was around maybe 7 or 8 years ago on a replay that I left the game on the title screen long enough for the melody to kick in. Had the game since I was like 9 and didn't know about that until I was in my 20s. I love, and have always loved video game music, which is why it always frustrated me when people would constantly refer to it as just "beeps and boops" when I was growing up, but some of the tracks in this game are literally that. I wonder if all the older people that said that all played the same part of Metroid 2 and nothing else. Limited as it was, even Pac Man had a couple of short melodies.
fun fact, while you cant go into morph ball while in mid air, you can jump around using the spring ball power (which is optional for game completion) and jump while in morph ball. then all ya gotta do is jump towards a ceiling and press down just as you're hitting the ceiling
I played metroid 2 briefly at some point shortly after prime 3, but was still a bit young to power through its shortcomings at that time. I revisited it after finishing samus returns and must say that I was quite impressed at how much fun I had with the original. Somehow, knowing the limitations overcome with the pitiful original hardware made it that much more endearing for me, and I kinda wish I was there to have that "omg my Gameboy can do THIS?!" moment back in the day
i am saddened to inform you that indeed without having played this as kid you really will forever be missing that possibility to have that "omg" moment we did , i appreciate your considerations
I wish you could have experienced it in it's time! I remember being blown away by the graphics and sound. You really had a feeling of exploring this dangerous planet all on your own. The intensity of that first Metroid fight and then seeing the countdown move down only by one after that fight - pure atmosphere In the days before internet too- so remember that you just had to look around for secrets. I remember taping pieces of notebook paper together to make a map. Nothing charges you up like that main theme tho
I just remembered while watching another video on metroid 2, the recharge stations only required you to touch them to fill you back up, you didn't have to stand in them for the effect to continue. I remember this because I would use one and leave and then take a little bit of damage while it was still going back up. And when it reached the end it would leave out the bit of damage I had taken
It took me forever (years) to find the final missile capsule, and it was the one in the water near the Varia suit. I can't believe I never looked there. Did you use a guide?
Great review! I think you touched on some key points and observations. I am impressed that you picked up on some of the subtle things like the lack of other life as you get deeper into the planet and closer to the queen. This was my first Metroid game I ever played and it made me a lifelong Metroid fan. I beat it as a kid without a map and had to figure it out, I'm proud of myself for doing so. Is it the best Metroid? No certainly not but in my opinion it is one of the best at atmosphere and using the game play to convey a feeling like as you mentioned claustrophobia and isolation. Yes while the enemy variety is low it does fit the point of the game you are here to kill the Metroids.
Another solid review. Metroid II was actually the last 2D Metroid game I played in my Metroid binge (I played ZM, Samus Returns, then Super, Fusion and Dread in that order, and went back to Metroid NES and Metroid II after that), and I really appreciate it for adding great QoL such as save and recharge stations, aiming downward/morph ball jumping, crouching, and laying the foundation that Super polished to a shine and future games worked with. It is a shame that the game gets so repetitive due to its story concept and the Gameboy holding back its ambition, but I do still really appreciate what it did for its time, and for the series as a whole. I'm also really glad Mercury Steam remade this game and gave it the justice it deserved.
I know many people tend to give Gameboy games a harsh criticism. But it has two major points going for it. The first one being that for its time it was incredibly advanced. It used quite a bit less battery power than contemporary mobile devices at the time, as well as sported Stereo sound (if using headphones). I had one growing up and it sounded amazing compared to other 8 bit systems at the time and during road trips it could do an entire 2 days travel before needing new batteries. The second is the fact that it WAS a mobile device. Its very common for people to compare Gameboy games with more modern consoles but they were not portable. Even the switch isn't quite as portable as the Gameboy. But when you compare Gameboy games to Mobile cellphone games, you quickly see them edging out as pretty well done even by modern standards. While modern mobile games can be heads and tails better.. well.. the majority aren't.
This is definitely a much "fairer" assessment of the Game Boy. Despite my personal disdain, I never wanted to downplay the importance of these older systems during the time they were supported. There's a reason the Game Boy is one of the best-selling game systems of all time, after all!
I like the soundtrack; though it's repetitive I like it's ambience, fitting for going deeper into a dark, cold planet to exterminate a species. What you call circus music is odd, yes, but now I wouldn't have it any other way. Plus the AM2R renditions are amazing.
Haha yeah I think the main thing that makes it sound weird to me is the instrumentation, but again, being a Game Boy game there was only so much they could do. I really love AM2R's arrangement of that song.
I started playing this game a few days ago after watching this video, and now I can't for the life of me take the Chozo temple theme seriously at all Idk what my reaction would have been without the video but it certainly improved my experience lmao
The Spring-Ball is combined with Morphball bombs in the Prime games *(IF* you're playing with motion/pointer controls and is utilized by lifting the Wiimote or Joy-Con up.)
I love this whole retrospective and it’s so good but I have one major issue with it all. I have a weird ass crush on this dude I’ve literally never seen. Every time he laughs something in my brain just goes “oh damn he’s cute.” Anyway, I’m gonna go in to a Metroid style hiatus now.
no shame dying to the first metroid , those buggers are fast and speratic and you're fighting in a claustrophobic space with limited agility and movement options , and very heart pounding panicking when the boss music rips you a new a-hole as a surprise to boot the game didn't lack quality control for the music , each song is highly intentional in it's design , and the theme that is the purpose of the ost it's supposed to be delivering to the player is not whiplash - though it does have that as part of the effect - , it's otherworldlyness , you're supposed to feel uncomfortable because you don't know what is happening on screen nor what you are getting yourself into , because you are a space person exploring a hostile alien planet , alone..... i can kill the 4 omega metroid without a resupply o: , and it's a good thing they don't put any recharge stations anywhere nearby , you literally just praised the game for the technological marvel of the atmosphere it achieves through the gameplay , you can't have your cake and then also eat a recharge station which would take away al tension from the atmosphere they worked so hard to create on the freaking gameboy.... you can also just still farm the regular enemies in the cave before which takes far less time as the strong enemies always drop large health energies also as a kid fighting the same metroid bosses didn't become a bog or letdown because they were still scary to fight every time , and the rooms you fought them in were always different and progressively harder
It's really strange to me that they put their sequel on a handheld, and yet despite that, Metroid 2 looks a lot better, visually, than its predecessor on the NES. Samus' head is still a bit goofy with that helmet, but the rest of her body/suit feels well-proportioned so it doesn't stand out like it did in NES Metroid. Still, the Game Boy and other handhelds for the longest time had really small real-estate for your game on the screen. You see so much less because there just aren't that many pixels to take advantage of, so the NES/SNES versions of games was usually the way to go compared to GB/GBC/GBA. I feel the same way about Game Gear games and so on. When there's a console version, that's the best one to emulate most of the time. All that being said, really, looking at it now, had I not been able to get AM2R working on my device, I could have been happy playing this version. At least initially from just the visuals alone. With the added color patch ROM hack, of course. But obviously I'm way happier with AM2R as an experience and glad I could play something a bit more modernized. Going from Zero Mission on GBA to a GB game... well, it would have been rough, and AM2R has plenty of settings to make it feel more like Zero Mission, which makes it a smooth transition. 11:30 While I'm glad that AM2R improves on this, I have to admit I don't care for the Space Jump being such an early upgrade. It honestly makes the whole game less of a platformer and more like some sort of wonky flight sim. The only reason you even need to platform in certain sections is because boss arenas are usually smaller to encourage you to play normally and increase the danger of the fight. AM2R has such large spaces for you to navigate and idk how it is in Metroid 2 originally, but I always felt like that was more of a flaw than a benefit, as Metroid feels better when it's more compact, at least to me. Certainly makes it easier to avoid getting lost, that's for sure. 12:51 Small. Enemy. Arachnis. 13:02 This really puts into perspective for me how well AM2R handles the Metroid fights. Obviously they're more interesting to engage with, despite their flaws, but more than that, it brings me back to that fight with like 6 Alpha Metroids in that one room. At the start of the game, a fight like that would have devastated you, but the game knows that by this point you're fully stocked and ready for it, so while it seems intimidating, you wind up mopping the floor with those Metroids by blasting them with super missiles. It's a really cool moment that you just aren't going to get in the original Metroid 2, though Nintendo definitely upped their game over time with how they make you feel that sense of progression. I didn't know the Zeta and Omega Metroids in the OG Metroid 2 could still fly. They're actually kind of more terrifying here, at first glance, but I think I prefer AM2R's approach. Mostly just because they're just more of the same in the Game Boy game. I definitely would have loved this game as a kid, but I didn't get into Metroid until much later. I didn't even know it existed for at least half of my life, but that's kind of typical for me as I grew up getting most games on a budget.
The Spring Ball isn't great, but the _most_ underwhelming powerup is the Spazer. All it does is increase your damage slightly. It doesn't actually increase the width of the beam (despite appearances), nor is it really three separate beams. Its special beam attack is easily the most worthless of the four. And for whatever reason, it doesn't even combine with Plasma Beam. Like, what is it even for? If you happen to find a gap in the ceiling, you can take a few steps to the right and get a bit more damage, woohoo. At least the Spring Ball lets you do something new.
They never released a true Gameboy Color supported version of Meteoid 2, despite the tease on the box of the handheld. It only had the auto generated 4-color palette that all GB games would get on GBC.
From my understanding a select few original Game Boy games had special palettes pre-programmed within the GBC system itself, referred to as "assigned palette configurations." This includes Metroid 2. So, I guess instead of saying Metroid 2 had GBC support, it'd be more accurate to say that the GBC had Metroid 2 support, weirdly enough.
@@basedsamtv ooooh so that's why sometimes ppl's color footage of it looks better than it should compared to other gb games using the auto color pallet feature....
@@iamLI3 There are fan made, full color mods. But BasedSam is right that both the Super GameBoy (snes accessory) and the GameBoy Color were programmed to give certain games special treatment. I'm pretty sure it allows up to six colors and this is why Metroid 2 is on the box art of the Super GameBoy.
This was the first Metroid game I ever played, my cousin had a Gameboy and this, and was at the end of the game when I first played it. I didn't know about the 9 more Metroids at the end, I couldn't beat the queen Metroid at first, despite having all the mistles, I think mainly because she did too much damage to me before I could finish her. I know I beat her with that method at least once but as soon as I learned I could bomb her from the inside, that was how I would go about it. I know people who pick up the game now find it archaic, but I enjoyed the game so much as a kid, even though when I reset the save my cousin had, and was shocked that the character didn't have most of the things I was used to when I first played it. Even beating it within 2 hours and seeing Samus's suit come off, I didn't put 2 and 2 together that this was her the whole time. It wasn't until I read about it online (which I think is also when I learned about the belly bombing strat). That's the game that got me into the series, which is funny because the next game I would end up playing was Fusion, and then Zero Mission. Super is the only one I have never played through much, and never to the end (and now Dread despite owning it 😕) Fusion and ZM felt so much better when playing those, that when I tried Super, it was so vastly different. And even though I can still, I don't know if I as an adult would ever try Metroid 2 if I hadn't played it as a kid, for similar reasons that I, and many others, will never play or beat the original game. And that ending theme, when you get the baby Metroid and get to the ship, that was so beautiful to me, I would guess because it was so upbeat and different from everything else in the game. And despite the Gameboy music being so contentious for others, I still love hearing it.
Odd take on Gameboy games, as there are some gems (NOT including Pokémon because that's too obvious): • Rockman World 1-5/Megaman I-V: The first four are pretty good adaptations of the first five console games, and Rockman World 5 brings new enemies and a new helper. • Rockman X: Cyber Mission & Rockman X2: Soul Eraser/Megaman Xtreme 1&2: Xtreme 1 is a pretty good adaptation of the first two Snes games, with some new minor elements. Xtreme 2 was a bit sloppier with the glitches in it, but it's an adaptation of all three Snes games with some new elements AND copying over stuff from X4 (playable Zero only has his Saber and techniques) and X5/X6 (parts system). • Mortal Kombat II: *YES*, it's missing a quarter of the playable roster and a boss, but this is far and away the best handheld Mortal Kombat experience that was around until the Nintendo DS port of Ultimate MK3!! This game was for the GB what Street Fighter ZERO3 Upper was for the GBA. • Adventure Island & Adventure Island II: THESE were pretty great ports of Adventure Island II & III on Nes...and in Japan, they actually ARE called Takahashi Meijin no Bouken-jima 2&3. No idea why they decided to renumber them in the US, other than because they didn't port the crap first game... • The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX, Oracle of Ages, & Oracle of Seasons: All of these are classics. Period. • Takara's SNK ports: These are pretty great; some of my favorites are Samurai Shodown 1&3, The King of Fighters 95&96, and Fatal Fury Real Bout Special. Also, their own stuff is nice. Such as the Gameboy port of Battle Arena Toshinden is a fun little romp despite going from 3D to 2D, and their Japan only Beast Wars fighting game is pretty sick, too. • Final Fantasy Adventure, aka Seiken Densetsu, is the first in the Mana series. It even got an amazingly badass remake on GBA as Sword of Mana, along with another one for iOS & Android as Adventures of Mana.
i was a GBA kid so i didn't really have much personal experience with the game boy, i only had game & watch gallery and super mario land which were hand-me-downs from my aunt. there are definitely some gems in the game boy library but a lot of them always came off to me as inferior/clunky versions of pre-existing games that give the same experience, but better. this is especially true today when it's just as easy for most consoles/phones/computers to download and emulate a super nintendo game as it is for a game boy game, let alone modern games coming out today. with that in mind, the game boy game would have to have an incredibly appealing hook to make it worth playing over its more advanced counterpart(s) that can be accessed and played just as easily. you mentioned pokemon; i would almost always rather play heartgold and soulsilver over the original GSC, for instance. (i'm actually shiny hunting a celebi in 3DS virtual console crystal but that's besides the point...) of course this is ignoring a HUGE reason why these games are still talked about today, which is historical context. a bunch of the games you mentioned were probably great in their time because there wasn't really any other viable portable alternative for them (unless you had a game gear and enough batteries to power a whole city, i suppose) and it is also really fascinating to look at these games from a technical aspect and see how much they were able to do with the limited hardware they were given. i never intended to downplay how important these games were at the time they came out, my comment was mostly in regards to how fun the game itself is to play today on its own merits, with no consideration of its history. i like talking about these things in retrospect but it's not really at the forefront of my mind when i'm playing games in the moment. and to add to your list of greats, my personal favorite game boy game is donkey kong '94! it's a really charming puzzle platformer that its spiritual successor series never quite managed to recapture in my eyes.
@@basedsamtv Yeah, they knocked it outta the entire park with Donkey Kong 94. Too bad they couldn't rock it that hard with the Donkey Kong Land trilogy. 😞😞😞 They somehow made Donkey Kong Country more annoying than it already was.
Uhhh man this sounds awfully familiar to The Geek Critiques Metroid Series, same points, same comments about the music, near identical arguments across the board
Yeah I agree with this sentiment completely, this video in particular is probably the worst example of it. I believe my line of thinking back then was that it was alright to structure these videos so similarly to TGC's as long as my thoughts and words were my own, which they are, but I failed to consider that a lot of my opinions on this game were in part shaped by that original video (among others like SomeCallMeJohnny's) since I hadn't played Metroid II myself before making this, so in reality I ended up just making a very similar video with parroted thoughts I almost can't even really claim are my own. Just very lazy and sloppy all around.
Coming from someone who only owned a Game Boy (no consoles) and played this one when it came out - it's a classic and has a permanent place in my heart. I loved the oppressive feeling, and it had great replay value.
my kin
Same here. Great sense of adventure, rewarding when finding that hidden path that leads to a power up. I concede that the metroid duels are a bit awkward, but overall the game is great and greatly improves the nes version (IMHO). Thank you for the video.
same here.
i was such a little kid when i played this, like, 7 years old, and it was sooo hard, and the later levels were actually really scary for me. i love that they could do that with such a tiny screen.
One of the areas in which this game is underrated that very few mention is in all the quality-of-life improvements it introduces that became staples in the series, even in the remake of the first Metroid game which lacked them. Proper save stations (instead of dying or pressing Up + A on the second controller to save / get your password), being able to crouch to hit smaller enemies, being able to shoot down in the air (and change where you're aiming, up or down, while still in the air without landing), Energy recharge stations, Missile recharge stations, Samus' yellow gunship which has both recharge stations.
In terms of design, it gave us the power suit that looks like an actual suit instead of a cyborg with wires/ The Varia suit and opening arm canon are also really iconic.
And many, many news power ups such as the spazer beam, the plasma beam, the space jump, the spring ball and the spider ball.
Fun fact, metroid 2: return of samus has another benefit to getting the varia suit. It increases samus' running speed.
Really??? I'm looking back at my footage and I'm pretty sure you're right! I'm always learning new things about these older Metroid games, but this is definitely the fact that surprised me the most so far. Can't believe I've never heard of this before!
Its strangely easy to miss!
@@KertaDrake I completely missed it until I read the game manual for the 3ds. I was like, "no, that can't be true."
I personally never understood certain metroid fans claiming the NES original had better graphics. Simply having color does not make for better graphics. That and the complaints about repeating rooms and hallways in 2. There are maybe 2 instances where the rooms are similar (not identical) as where the original was chock full of copy and paste in the level designs. Even as a kid, I never got lost in 2 but constantly never knew where I was or where I had to go in the original. In nearly every way the 2nd is superior to the first save for the lack of color. Just getting killed in room transitions was more than enough for me to not ever come back to the original, let alone not being able to crouch shoot or shoot beneath while jumping on half the creatures being too short for the beam.
Excellent work on the review.
NES Metroid is, to be frank, hideous.
This game's graphics are infinitely better. The spritework is leaps and bounds ahead of what came before, which is amazing considering it's an OG handheld gaming device.
So, on original hardware the visuals can be a lot less appealing than on emulation. There are aspects that are for sure superior but the overall visual experience was one of the main criticisms of the game when it came out by some. (I always liked it).
Metroid when it came out in 1986 was definitely a looker. In a vacuum both on emulated hardware, yea you can definitely say the GB looks nicer, but on original hardware and in the context they released Metroid was probably the more impressive game to just look at. Metroid II came out when we already had 16 bit games everywhere so it didn't stand out at all outside of just compared to other GB games where it definitely looked pretty good.
I just discovered your videos and I am loving this Metroid series. I grew up ONLY knowing Metroid II, which I loved. Never played the original until adulthood, and never even had Super Metroid until adulthood either. You've got a great understated and natural sense of humor that really make this series fun to watch. Thank you for doing this and thank you for sharing your work with us.
I don't know how you don't have more subscribers, this is great content.
I figured out the trick of getting the queen to vore you on like my third playthrough when I accidentally morph balled while fumbling the controls. I tried to replicate it, found that when you stun her with her mouth open you can roll inside, and with some more fumbling get swallowed where you can bomb for massive damage. It actually makes the fight a joke. And to think I was stuck on her for like a month the first time I played as a kid.
It was around maybe 7 or 8 years ago on a replay that I left the game on the title screen long enough for the melody to kick in. Had the game since I was like 9 and didn't know about that until I was in my 20s.
I love, and have always loved video game music, which is why it always frustrated me when people would constantly refer to it as just "beeps and boops" when I was growing up, but some of the tracks in this game are literally that. I wonder if all the older people that said that all played the same part of Metroid 2 and nothing else. Limited as it was, even Pac Man had a couple of short melodies.
Honestly, the beeps and boops remind me of Metroid Dread's OST. None of Dread's songs stand out to me.
wow im so happy for you to discovering that additional beauty....
fun fact, while you cant go into morph ball while in mid air, you can jump around using the spring ball power (which is optional for game completion) and jump while in morph ball. then all ya gotta do is jump towards a ceiling and press down just as you're hitting the ceiling
Subbed! Please MORE Metroid content! The Franchise is on FIRE at the moment. We are truly in the golden age of Metroid right now.
I played metroid 2 briefly at some point shortly after prime 3, but was still a bit young to power through its shortcomings at that time. I revisited it after finishing samus returns and must say that I was quite impressed at how much fun I had with the original. Somehow, knowing the limitations overcome with the pitiful original hardware made it that much more endearing for me, and I kinda wish I was there to have that "omg my Gameboy can do THIS?!" moment back in the day
i am saddened to inform you that indeed without having played this as kid you really will forever be missing that possibility to have that "omg" moment we did , i appreciate your considerations
I wish you could have experienced it in it's time!
I remember being blown away by the graphics and sound. You really had a feeling of exploring this dangerous planet all on your own. The intensity of that first Metroid fight and then seeing the countdown move down only by one after that fight - pure atmosphere
In the days before internet too- so remember that you just had to look around for secrets. I remember taping pieces of notebook paper together to make a map.
Nothing charges you up like that main theme tho
yes , all too correct
The Spider Ball is also present in Metroid Prime
I just remembered while watching another video on metroid 2, the recharge stations only required you to touch them to fill you back up, you didn't have to stand in them for the effect to continue. I remember this because I would use one and leave and then take a little bit of damage while it was still going back up. And when it reached the end it would leave out the bit of damage I had taken
excellent fun times exploring the little intricacies of game mechanics designs
Spider ball in this one was the best 😃
But aw man, I loved the music in this game!
indeed , i have literally listened to the metroid nest music before....
Dude acted like each area had the same beeps and boops.
Some of them were quite interesting.
@@Gabriel_Cook As someone who likes dark and creepy music, I was pleasantly surprised with the game's soundtrack.
It took me forever (years) to find the final missile capsule, and it was the one in the water near the Varia suit. I can't believe I never looked there. Did you use a guide?
Yeah I did lol
Great review! I think you touched on some key points and observations. I am impressed that you picked up on some of the subtle things like the lack of other life as you get deeper into the planet and closer to the queen.
This was my first Metroid game I ever played and it made me a lifelong Metroid fan. I beat it as a kid without a map and had to figure it out, I'm proud of myself for doing so.
Is it the best Metroid? No certainly not but in my opinion it is one of the best at atmosphere and using the game play to convey a feeling like as you mentioned claustrophobia and isolation. Yes while the enemy variety is low it does fit the point of the game you are here to kill the Metroids.
Another solid review. Metroid II was actually the last 2D Metroid game I played in my Metroid binge (I played ZM, Samus Returns, then Super, Fusion and Dread in that order, and went back to Metroid NES and Metroid II after that), and I really appreciate it for adding great QoL such as save and recharge stations, aiming downward/morph ball jumping, crouching, and laying the foundation that Super polished to a shine and future games worked with. It is a shame that the game gets so repetitive due to its story concept and the Gameboy holding back its ambition, but I do still really appreciate what it did for its time, and for the series as a whole. I'm also really glad Mercury Steam remade this game and gave it the justice it deserved.
such an under appreciated game.
I know many people tend to give Gameboy games a harsh criticism. But it has two major points going for it. The first one being that for its time it was incredibly advanced. It used quite a bit less battery power than contemporary mobile devices at the time, as well as sported Stereo sound (if using headphones). I had one growing up and it sounded amazing compared to other 8 bit systems at the time and during road trips it could do an entire 2 days travel before needing new batteries. The second is the fact that it WAS a mobile device. Its very common for people to compare Gameboy games with more modern consoles but they were not portable. Even the switch isn't quite as portable as the Gameboy. But when you compare Gameboy games to Mobile cellphone games, you quickly see them edging out as pretty well done even by modern standards. While modern mobile games can be heads and tails better.. well.. the majority aren't.
This is definitely a much "fairer" assessment of the Game Boy. Despite my personal disdain, I never wanted to downplay the importance of these older systems during the time they were supported. There's a reason the Game Boy is one of the best-selling game systems of all time, after all!
I like the soundtrack; though it's repetitive I like it's ambience, fitting for going deeper into a dark, cold planet to exterminate a species. What you call circus music is odd, yes, but now I wouldn't have it any other way. Plus the AM2R renditions are amazing.
Haha yeah I think the main thing that makes it sound weird to me is the instrumentation, but again, being a Game Boy game there was only so much they could do. I really love AM2R's arrangement of that song.
I started playing this game a few days ago after watching this video, and now I can't for the life of me take the Chozo temple theme seriously at all
Idk what my reaction would have been without the video but it certainly improved my experience lmao
If you ever make more reviews, I'll watch. Great stuff, enjoying this Metroid playlist.
The Spring-Ball is combined with Morphball bombs in the Prime games *(IF* you're playing with motion/pointer controls and is utilized by lifting the Wiimote or Joy-Con up.)
8:00 yeah lets put ambience happy music in the game about genociding an entire species of living organisms...
Yes.
'I wish there was a way of jumping to these higher ledges in the morph-ball' 'This upgrade that lets you jump in the morph-ball is rubbish'
It's underwhelming and not very exciting compared to most other powerups in the game. "Don't get me wrong, it's nice to have."
@@basedsamtvThing is, you can use it in conjunction with the spider-ball to get to secrets, it’s super useful.
11:07 in Super Metroid you use it to get a lot of missiles and energy tanks
Gameboy Varia Suit is my favorite version of the Varia Suit.
This game has the best and most responsive gameplay of the original Metroid trilogy. Yes, Super included.
3:31 That's......... *One* way of putting it.
They all got mollywhopped by the Metroids.
man, your videos are great... please do more
Seriously it was ahead of its time.
I love this whole retrospective and it’s so good but I have one major issue with it all.
I have a weird ass crush on this dude I’ve literally never seen. Every time he laughs something in my brain just goes “oh damn he’s cute.” Anyway, I’m gonna go in to a Metroid style hiatus now.
no shame dying to the first metroid , those buggers are fast and speratic and you're fighting in a claustrophobic space with limited agility and movement options , and very heart pounding panicking when the boss music rips you a new a-hole as a surprise to boot
the game didn't lack quality control for the music , each song is highly intentional in it's design , and the theme that is the purpose of the ost it's supposed to be delivering to the player is not whiplash - though it does have that as part of the effect - , it's otherworldlyness , you're supposed to feel uncomfortable because you don't know what is happening on screen nor what you are getting yourself into , because you are a space person exploring a hostile alien planet , alone.....
i can kill the 4 omega metroid without a resupply o: , and it's a good thing they don't put any recharge stations anywhere nearby , you literally just praised the game for the technological marvel of the atmosphere it achieves through the gameplay , you can't have your cake and then also eat a recharge station which would take away al tension from the atmosphere they worked so hard to create on the freaking gameboy....
you can also just still farm the regular enemies in the cave before which takes far less time as the strong enemies always drop large health energies
also as a kid fighting the same metroid bosses didn't become a bog or letdown because they were still scary to fight every time , and the rooms you fought them in were always different and progressively harder
It's really strange to me that they put their sequel on a handheld, and yet despite that, Metroid 2 looks a lot better, visually, than its predecessor on the NES. Samus' head is still a bit goofy with that helmet, but the rest of her body/suit feels well-proportioned so it doesn't stand out like it did in NES Metroid. Still, the Game Boy and other handhelds for the longest time had really small real-estate for your game on the screen. You see so much less because there just aren't that many pixels to take advantage of, so the NES/SNES versions of games was usually the way to go compared to GB/GBC/GBA. I feel the same way about Game Gear games and so on. When there's a console version, that's the best one to emulate most of the time.
All that being said, really, looking at it now, had I not been able to get AM2R working on my device, I could have been happy playing this version. At least initially from just the visuals alone. With the added color patch ROM hack, of course. But obviously I'm way happier with AM2R as an experience and glad I could play something a bit more modernized. Going from Zero Mission on GBA to a GB game... well, it would have been rough, and AM2R has plenty of settings to make it feel more like Zero Mission, which makes it a smooth transition.
11:30 While I'm glad that AM2R improves on this, I have to admit I don't care for the Space Jump being such an early upgrade. It honestly makes the whole game less of a platformer and more like some sort of wonky flight sim. The only reason you even need to platform in certain sections is because boss arenas are usually smaller to encourage you to play normally and increase the danger of the fight. AM2R has such large spaces for you to navigate and idk how it is in Metroid 2 originally, but I always felt like that was more of a flaw than a benefit, as Metroid feels better when it's more compact, at least to me. Certainly makes it easier to avoid getting lost, that's for sure.
12:51 Small. Enemy. Arachnis.
13:02 This really puts into perspective for me how well AM2R handles the Metroid fights. Obviously they're more interesting to engage with, despite their flaws, but more than that, it brings me back to that fight with like 6 Alpha Metroids in that one room. At the start of the game, a fight like that would have devastated you, but the game knows that by this point you're fully stocked and ready for it, so while it seems intimidating, you wind up mopping the floor with those Metroids by blasting them with super missiles. It's a really cool moment that you just aren't going to get in the original Metroid 2, though Nintendo definitely upped their game over time with how they make you feel that sense of progression.
I didn't know the Zeta and Omega Metroids in the OG Metroid 2 could still fly. They're actually kind of more terrifying here, at first glance, but I think I prefer AM2R's approach. Mostly just because they're just more of the same in the Game Boy game.
I definitely would have loved this game as a kid, but I didn't get into Metroid until much later. I didn't even know it existed for at least half of my life, but that's kind of typical for me as I grew up getting most games on a budget.
The Spring Ball isn't great, but the _most_ underwhelming powerup is the Spazer. All it does is increase your damage slightly. It doesn't actually increase the width of the beam (despite appearances), nor is it really three separate beams. Its special beam attack is easily the most worthless of the four. And for whatever reason, it doesn't even combine with Plasma Beam. Like, what is it even for? If you happen to find a gap in the ceiling, you can take a few steps to the right and get a bit more damage, woohoo. At least the Spring Ball lets you do something new.
The original Gameboy is great from a design standpoint but I cannot deny that the games haven't aged that well
i deny your can't deny....
gameboy zelda and mario land 2 aged really well in my opinion
15:22 Classic noobs trap
The enemies in the omega metroid territory drop enough supplies, so after a bit of farming, not much you will be ready to go.
Ah yes... the genocide simulator...
They never released a true Gameboy Color supported version of Meteoid 2, despite the tease on the box of the handheld. It only had the auto generated 4-color palette that all GB games would get on GBC.
From my understanding a select few original Game Boy games had special palettes pre-programmed within the GBC system itself, referred to as "assigned palette configurations." This includes Metroid 2.
So, I guess instead of saying Metroid 2 had GBC support, it'd be more accurate to say that the GBC had Metroid 2 support, weirdly enough.
@@basedsamtv ooooh so that's why sometimes ppl's color footage of it looks better than it should compared to other gb games using the auto color pallet feature....
@@iamLI3
There are fan made, full color mods. But BasedSam is right that both the Super GameBoy (snes accessory) and the GameBoy Color were programmed to give certain games special treatment. I'm pretty sure it allows up to six colors and this is why Metroid 2 is on the box art of the Super GameBoy.
@@Gabriel_Cook oh wow o:
it would be great if you'd make videos about the prime series, am2r and a complete dread one.
Stay tuned! ;)
@@basedsamtv subscribed 👌
What's your favourite Metroid game?
Either Zero Mission or Prime 1! I like them both about equally but for different reasons.
@@basedsamtv They’re both amazing, I don’t blame you
This was the first Metroid game I ever played, my cousin had a Gameboy and this, and was at the end of the game when I first played it. I didn't know about the 9 more Metroids at the end, I couldn't beat the queen Metroid at first, despite having all the mistles, I think mainly because she did too much damage to me before I could finish her. I know I beat her with that method at least once but as soon as I learned I could bomb her from the inside, that was how I would go about it. I know people who pick up the game now find it archaic, but I enjoyed the game so much as a kid, even though when I reset the save my cousin had, and was shocked that the character didn't have most of the things I was used to when I first played it. Even beating it within 2 hours and seeing Samus's suit come off, I didn't put 2 and 2 together that this was her the whole time. It wasn't until I read about it online (which I think is also when I learned about the belly bombing strat).
That's the game that got me into the series, which is funny because the next game I would end up playing was Fusion, and then Zero Mission. Super is the only one I have never played through much, and never to the end (and now Dread despite owning it 😕) Fusion and ZM felt so much better when playing those, that when I tried Super, it was so vastly different. And even though I can still, I don't know if I as an adult would ever try Metroid 2 if I hadn't played it as a kid, for similar reasons that I, and many others, will never play or beat the original game.
And that ending theme, when you get the baby Metroid and get to the ship, that was so beautiful to me, I would guess because it was so upbeat and different from everything else in the game. And despite the Gameboy music being so contentious for others, I still love hearing it.
oooooo that's a good opening joke XD , even though smoke alarms are annoying but there is no soundwave in this game i find annoying
based and sam pilled
whaaaaaat?
Ok
Odd take on Gameboy games, as there are some gems (NOT including Pokémon because that's too obvious):
• Rockman World 1-5/Megaman I-V: The first four are pretty good adaptations of the first five console games, and Rockman World 5 brings new enemies and a new helper.
• Rockman X: Cyber Mission & Rockman X2: Soul Eraser/Megaman Xtreme 1&2: Xtreme 1 is a pretty good adaptation of the first two Snes games, with some new minor elements. Xtreme 2 was a bit sloppier with the glitches in it, but it's an adaptation of all three Snes games with some new elements AND copying over stuff from X4 (playable Zero only has his Saber and techniques) and X5/X6 (parts system).
• Mortal Kombat II: *YES*, it's missing a quarter of the playable roster and a boss, but this is far and away the best handheld Mortal Kombat experience that was around until the Nintendo DS port of Ultimate MK3!! This game was for the GB what Street Fighter ZERO3 Upper was for the GBA.
• Adventure Island & Adventure Island II: THESE were pretty great ports of Adventure Island II & III on Nes...and in Japan, they actually ARE called Takahashi Meijin no Bouken-jima 2&3. No idea why they decided to renumber them in the US, other than because they didn't port the crap first game...
• The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX, Oracle of Ages, & Oracle of Seasons: All of these are classics. Period.
• Takara's SNK ports: These are pretty great; some of my favorites are Samurai Shodown 1&3, The King of Fighters 95&96, and Fatal Fury Real Bout Special. Also, their own stuff is nice. Such as the Gameboy port of Battle Arena Toshinden is a fun little romp despite going from 3D to 2D, and their Japan only Beast Wars fighting game is pretty sick, too.
• Final Fantasy Adventure, aka Seiken Densetsu, is the first in the Mana series. It even got an amazingly badass remake on GBA as Sword of Mana, along with another one for iOS & Android as Adventures of Mana.
i was a GBA kid so i didn't really have much personal experience with the game boy, i only had game & watch gallery and super mario land which were hand-me-downs from my aunt. there are definitely some gems in the game boy library but a lot of them always came off to me as inferior/clunky versions of pre-existing games that give the same experience, but better. this is especially true today when it's just as easy for most consoles/phones/computers to download and emulate a super nintendo game as it is for a game boy game, let alone modern games coming out today. with that in mind, the game boy game would have to have an incredibly appealing hook to make it worth playing over its more advanced counterpart(s) that can be accessed and played just as easily. you mentioned pokemon; i would almost always rather play heartgold and soulsilver over the original GSC, for instance. (i'm actually shiny hunting a celebi in 3DS virtual console crystal but that's besides the point...)
of course this is ignoring a HUGE reason why these games are still talked about today, which is historical context. a bunch of the games you mentioned were probably great in their time because there wasn't really any other viable portable alternative for them (unless you had a game gear and enough batteries to power a whole city, i suppose) and it is also really fascinating to look at these games from a technical aspect and see how much they were able to do with the limited hardware they were given.
i never intended to downplay how important these games were at the time they came out, my comment was mostly in regards to how fun the game itself is to play today on its own merits, with no consideration of its history. i like talking about these things in retrospect but it's not really at the forefront of my mind when i'm playing games in the moment.
and to add to your list of greats, my personal favorite game boy game is donkey kong '94! it's a really charming puzzle platformer that its spiritual successor series never quite managed to recapture in my eyes.
@@basedsamtv Yeah, they knocked it outta the entire park with Donkey Kong 94. Too bad they couldn't rock it that hard with the Donkey Kong Land trilogy. 😞😞😞 They somehow made Donkey Kong Country more annoying than it already was.
Uhhh man this sounds awfully familiar to The Geek Critiques Metroid Series, same points, same comments about the music, near identical arguments across the board
Yeah I agree with this sentiment completely, this video in particular is probably the worst example of it. I believe my line of thinking back then was that it was alright to structure these videos so similarly to TGC's as long as my thoughts and words were my own, which they are, but I failed to consider that a lot of my opinions on this game were in part shaped by that original video (among others like SomeCallMeJohnny's) since I hadn't played Metroid II myself before making this, so in reality I ended up just making a very similar video with parroted thoughts I almost can't even really claim are my own. Just very lazy and sloppy all around.
@@basedsamtv if you ever remake this video I would like to hear your takes though since I only played AM2R and am kinda oblivious about the original
Metroid NES is a GOAT..., the gameboy version was too hard & didn't have the same atmosphere
personally speaking, this version of metroid 2 is my favorite one, the remakes just don't match this game's tone quite right for me
2 is such a step up from 1 its not funny. Only complaint is the backtrack for resourses near the end
When I was 9 in 1991 I traded this game for Kwirk 🤦🏾♂️
Not ideal but also not the worst trade in the world, at least Kwirk is a fun little distraction for what it is haha