You could argue that the devs intentionally had the counter stay at 0 when the metroid imprinted on Samus because the counter represents metroids that must be killed
>the point> >your head< The fact that old games that _used_ to have instruction manuals still _have_ their instruction manuals has no bearing on the _lack_ of instruction manuals in modern gaming. I even bought the instruction manual and box for the only modern game I know of that has one: Shovel Knight, ironically a completely digital game that I cannot even put in the box.
dont know if anyone cares but if you are bored like me during the covid times then you can watch pretty much all of the latest movies and series on InstaFlixxer. I've been binge watching with my brother these days :)
It's a little messed up when you look at it as Samus taking a government contract to commit genocide on a race of misunderstood lifeforms - but they do address this in Metroid Fusion, with Samus's growing perspective on the Metroids, and their natural role as predators to the even more dangerous X.
It's no more messed up than putting down any rabid animal. Every metroid up until the babby attacks Samus on sight. They killed the research team, which (presumably) wasn't even armed. The fact that later on the series introduces an even more dangerous species doesn't somehow make the metroids good.
Shen, the metroid attwck because they are defending their territory. Several of the metroid samus interrupts their molting stage causing them to exit prematurely. Metroid are not evil, despite them being the apex predator of SR388. Metroid are pinned as an evil species because the space pirates saw their strength and used them for biological warfare, however metroids themselves are not interplanetary creatures, and live deep within the surface of SR388. They arent agressive to those who arent their prey, but will defend themself when they sense a threat. Those metroids who attacked the federation likely had no idea whether they were armed or not. They are TRESPASSING. The federation had to make the hard descision, but it is easier to wipe out the metroids, rather than keep malicious parties like the space pirates from utilizing them for warfare. Essentially, metroids are neutral creatures. No, introducing the X-parasite doesnt make metroids "good" creatures, but it tells a warning story of the danger of interrupting nature. It happens several times in real life, our actions cause unseen consequences
@@SkywalkerFoe I never claimed they were evil. All I said was that they are dangerous predators, and that given how territorial and aggressive they are, it doesn't make Samus or the Federation "bad guys" for deciding to wipe them out. An animal that aggressively attacks and _kills_ anyone who enters its territory is beyond normal animal dangerous. Even bears will generally just try to frighten people away (unless they think you're a danger to their cubs). Wild animals generally don't attack and kill, they try to threaten invaders away. You know why? Because animals, especially predators, need to be concerned about how much energy they expend fighting. It takes a lot less energy to grow and look threatening than chase and attack and kill something. Not to mention if they attack, they might lose, they might get injured or killed. So an animal that on sight of anything that isn't one of its own kind attacks without question and without remorse, and fights to the death, is beyond just a normal animal. It's a clear and present danger, even more so when a faction wants to weaponize it and use it as a biological weapon. Frankly, killing the Metroid so that the space pirates can't use it is just the pragmatic decision. The metroids aren't evil, but that doesn't mean they're not dangerous and that the Federation and Samus are bad for trying to exterminate them.
What the actual ... I must have beaten that final boss 50 times on a real freakin' gameboy, and I had no idea it could be beaten that way! I have memories to this day of frantically spamming the hell out of the missile button right after timing a first hit perfectly just as it started to swoop in to bite. If I timed it just right I could take advantage of the animation pause on each missile hit to get a good 20 or even 30 missiles down its throat. Then the frantic dodging, and do it again.
I played original Metroid 2 (3DS virtual console edition) recently, and I was struggling against the Queen Metroid for the better half of an hour DESPITE knowing the bomb trick exists. My problem was trying to figure out exactly _how_ to do it -- i.e. how to stun her, and then how to not just get immediately spat back out. But after 40 minutes (and over a dozen deaths), when I was confident I had actually figured it out, she went down the next attempt and in no time at all, it was actually quite surprising just HOW much of a weak point that is.
Because it is...it's a complete reimagining. The only proper way to play the original now is on a Gameboy Color, Super Gameboy, Gameboy Advance, or GC Gameboy Player, as all those can colorize the game. You can also get it on the 3DS virtual console but that only emulates the original Gameboy, none of the colorization options from the later systems.
@@element1192 To be fair, Link Between Worlds isn't a remake or a reimagining of Link to the Past. It's a sequel, happening in the same world as LTTP, but a few generations later. This is reflected in the Japanese name. The Japanese name of LTTP is Triforce of the Gods. The Japanese name of Link Between Worlds is Triforce of the Gods 2.
@@mikicerise6250 Ah...I never owned one, just assumed it was the same the Gameboy Color did. The Gameboy Advance uses the GBC colorization if you have the cartridge.
This was my actual introduction to the series, I was 12 I think. I had access to the school and I used to lay on a huge gymnastics mat in the gym with all the lights off. I played this *terrifying* game, each sudden jolt of the boss theme sending adrenaline through me, and each plummeting shaft sending me personally deeper into this world while surrounding by the dark. Took 8 AAs to power that experience lol.
There IS a recharge station in the final area. Right before the area with the final boss there are two areas. One with the ice beam and the other with two recharge stations
Maybe you didn't realize it because you played that romhack of the original Metroid, but the beams didn't stack in Metroid 1 either. If you get the Wave Beam in Metroid 1, you HAVE to go back and get the Ice Beam before you head to the final area or else you can't kill any Metroids. The Wave Beam makes Metroid 1 so much easier, but sometimes when I play it, I don't even go get it, because you have to get the Ice Beam again anyway.
There's two ice beam locations, one in Norfair and the other in Brinstar. I would usually grab the Norfair one first, then the wave beam, finally the Brinstar ice beam before taking on Tourian.
I went into this game completely blind in 1992. It was the most epic game experience i had and part of it was because i didn't expect this from a black and white handheld. Oh and the last part with the Metroids and the boss is my favorite "last part" of any Metroid game.
Metroid 2 is a great game. It's a huge improvement over its predecessor, taking full advantage of the fact that the gameboy forfeited a lot of graphical fidelity for a massive jump in raw processing power. The game does have its flaws, yes. It can be frustrating at times, it's extremely time consuming, and the pacing leaves some to be desired. It starts out difficult, though not as difficult as the first game, but that difficulty gives way to something else. The first game was frightening - it made you feel helpless, made you feel vulnerable, like you were in over your head. The second game... is tense. There's a constant tension in the game, a constant buildup. You're always moving toward deeper and darker things. Your progress comes almost entirely in the form of killing minibosses that are mostly identical to each other - and each one of those deaths is permanent, marking your progress. The countdown drives the point home. These are not random video game mobs, these are wild animals fighting for survival. You're the bad guy here. You're not defending anything, you're not fighting for a noble cause. The repetitive nature of the fights is to force you to consider their implications. Metroid 2 is about *genocide*.
a Z80 isn't that much faster than the 6502 clone in the NES. The screen resolution is lower so it can do "more" on screen, sprite wise, and memory mapping is better :P
I got M2 as a kid loved it. Got stuck but came back a few months later and beat it.. one of my greatest gaming moments.. anyone else flip the gameboy upside down and play the game btw? Lol
So many times I was like "Ugh, how can he say that?!" then I remember I was a kid when this game came out. It was the Metroid title that sunk its claws into me, and naturally my opinion is rather biased. I'd played the original Metroid (and gotten my ass thoroughly beaten) and absolutely LOVED it about a year or so before this one came out. SOMEHOW mom knew so she got me a copy for my birthday. If I take a step back and objectively look at the game, you're (mostly) right. But this game is, and always shall be, one of the best titles for the GB. This game was like heroine for me as a kid. To this day, as a 34 year old dude, I can play this game without a map, in a single sitting, and beat it in less than 2 hours with 100% items. Because I love it that much, and loved it that much when I was a kid. I've always felt that this is one of the most over-looked titles in Nintendo history, and that's a real shame because of the quality the game provided. As for Metroid 3... Well, that heroine comparison? M3 was like giving an addict an infinite supply of both needles and junk.
Mine was Fusion. I've gotten so used to playing it and being good at it that it feels weird to get anything less than 100% and more than about 1:45. I also almost find myself disappointed if I take a single point of damage from the SA-X or Omega. I've also played the Primes and Other M, but my Wii got stolen a long time ago. If I get the chance, I'll definitely get the older stuff and hopefully replace the Trilogy.
I agree. This is a LOT more playable than the first game. It isn't near impossible to get the first missile and energy tank. The game is more linear, but there's still plenty to explore in each area. The game isn't perfect though, most of the music is lackluster/eargrating. Some passages are obscure to find and thus it gets frustrating when you're looking for the last few metroids in the area. Combined with the eargrating sound design, the game can get annoying to play at times. The biggest criticism that I have is the end of the game. Just like he said in the video, resupplying is an absolute pain in the bum. The Omega and Zeta Metroids are so difficult/draining that you'll have to recharge at least a few times. So it's a massive annoyance.
@@vulcanraven9701 The DX versions are hacks yes, but if you play the original cartridge on a GBC or GBA you will get some color. This very video shows what it looks like on a GBC or GBA (by default, there are options to change the color palette or revert to greyscale if you want).
@@StormsparkPegasus Ah I see that's really cool. Im definitely considering getting the DX now and perhaps try to get the original cartridge onto the gba too. Also I've never played the B&W GB games in GBA before. Thank you for the info by the way!
Funny enough my 7 year old son was super excited to find an instruction manual for Mario Kart 7. He showed me each page with a huge grin on his face. It was only a little while later that I realized it was the first time he'd SEEN an instruction manual. Everything is tutorialized or help links. God I'm old.
You started playing the remixes and I remember about how creative the Metroid fan base is. I wish that group of people got back together and make another album.
Metroid 2 was my first Metroid game. I fell in love with the series thanks to this game, and I doubt I will ever forget the rhythm I developed to use the Space Jump in this game. I still remember reading people on the Metroid Fusion board at GameFAQs complaining about how they couldn’t use the Space Jump. Always baffled me.
Thanks for the positive critique. I played this game when I was 10 and can still remember the thrill of seeking metroids and the "surprise" sound when they showed up all of a sudden. I was always on the edge of my chair. Especially the section after the last omega metroid was killing, because there was just nothing (so everything could happen, in my mind) Now, 30 years later, I still have fun running trough the game, still trying to find some secret passage that I've missed.
Something that you probably didn't notice when picking up the Varia: your movement speed goes up as well, matching the speed of the morphball, which in this game is pretty speedy.
I absolutely loved this critique of one of my favorite games. I have extremely fond memories of playing this game not long after it came out. My grandmother gave it to me as my 11th birthday gift. I spent most of the summer of '92 exploring the caverns of SR388. Metroid II formed a lot of my game preferences. Your look back helped me relive some of those moments and I really appreciate your thoughts on how it's aged. Great job!
You've probably been told this a bunch by now, but having to switch beams constantly was ALSO a thing in the Original Metroid. because you played the rom-hack, you were able to stack the Ice Beam and the Wave Beam, but that doesn't happen in the original, and you could easily go into the Metroid area (Torian) without the ice beam, and be completely unable to kill Metroids.
I'm sure by now he's learned that the Warioland composer actually made the music for this game, but I found it funny that he made the connection independently. Listen to any of those weird CDs in Warioland 4 and the "ambient" bgm in some portions of this game make alot more sense.
Man, I still just love this particular series in the canon than the others. I know I am biased on that, but I just have such fond nostalgic memories of this game. I was 7 years old in 1993 when my very poor at the time parents saved up their very little extra money they could manage at the time for most of the year, and surprised me and my brother for Christmas that year by getting us both our first video game consoles ever. Two brand-new original Game Boys, packaged with The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, and one additional game for each of us. My brother's additional game he got for his was Super Mario 2: 6 Golden Coins, and mine was Metroid 2: Return of Samus. I promise you, there were no two happier children on the entire planet that Christmas morning than my brother and I. We had both played a Game Gear occasionally that a friend of ours had at the daycare center that we both had to go to after school every day while our parents were both hard at work as well as our dad going to night school full time on top of that. We also had a next-door neighbor that had just gotten a Super NES for their daughter that was a year younger than us, and would occasionally let us come over and play her copy of Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. At that time, our family was way too poor to be able to afford buying any actual video game system, as each day was a struggle just for the essentials in life. We were a happy family overall though, and had each other. It completely took my brother and I by surprise when that Christmas morning, our parents busted out two hidden boxes of presents they had "forgotten" were behind the Christmas tree with everything else. We had both been hounding our parents for a Game Boy since the day they had come out, but knew our family's financial situation, and were positive there was no way our parents could actually afford to get us one. When we opened those presents that morning and saw what was in them, we were so happy that we both literally started shaking uncontrollably from the shock of it. We both ended up practically living on our Game Boys that whole first year we had them, and I don't even wanna know how many AA batteries my mom had to end up going through that year just to keep us both going on those things. That was THE defining moment ultimately in my video-game nerdy obsession that solidified me as a hardcore gaming nerd from then on out. I really did enjoy Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening a ton, honestly more so than I ever did A Link to the Past later on, but Metroid 2: Return of Samus was really my go-to game of those two I started out with. I loved the black & white color of the game (more an odd green/yellow and black, really) than actually having a color version for some reason, as it seemed to make me notice the smaller details better, and gave the game a really darker atmosphere, which in that particular game, just made it that much better. I really loved how much you could explore and find hidden areas and treasures if you really dig into it deep, and it just had all of the perfect weapon upgrades and provided them to you at just the right times. The metroid "boss" fights were always fun, and were very scary for me personally as a young kid, which really excited me. The music was amazing as well, and just put the cherry on top of the dark noir sunday that the game was. The sense of total isolation you had in the game world was amazing, and this game as a whole I think even made me a big fan of isolated horror movies later on in life, such as Alien and Aliens, John Carpenter's The Thing, etc. All in all, Metroid 2 was a defining game for me in my personal gaming life growing up, and had such a positive influence on me, that I'll always consider it the best Metroid game in the series, even if today I would enjoy some of the other ones more.
The 3DS remake is one of the best adventure games I have ever played. I loved the original, like A LOT, so much that I still play it from time to time, but the 3DS version is just incredible!
My absolute favorite game of all time. Loved your honest review. As a kid, I was thrilled by the soundtrack and the feat of creating of creepy ambiance with such a limited color palette and a tiny screen. Back in 1991, all this was spectacular, and it's hard to convey this nowadays, since our eyes are so accustomed to high definition. Anyways, thanks for the good vibes!
@@chimpindoge3474 AM2R is still getting active development...it's on version 1.53 or something now, has a bunch of new stuff added, and even has a port to Android (you need a controller to actually play it but it's there).
I'm pretty sure you've already played through the entire series, but I still think the best order for play is original, 2, Super, Fusion, Zero Mission and then the Prime series, if only because you can truly see the series evolve over time, wondering if you agree geek critique.
I didn't say I enjoy Other M. That's just the order I would suggest to someone who wants to play EVERY SINGLE Metroid game. I think it's the best to understand the overall plot.
SOLLAZZATORE Ahhh, okay, well, I don't really think the plot to the series is as important as the gameplay progression, but yeah, assuming you include Other M and Federation Fore in the first place I could see that. But if you're a fan you really can't encourage playing those.
Well, Other M is just so insanely bad designed (for both a metroid game and a beat-em-up) that I think a playthrough is worth it. Federation Force is not that bad... a good non-metroidvania game, just like Hunters. But I see your point... definetely not the best entry-points for new fans.
Hahaha, i actually like the ruin music oddly enough, it's weird and discordant, and it's a bad idea to listen to it at a high volume for too long, but it's weirdly charming. To me it somehow sounds both silly and slightly creepy. That being said, the AM2R's remix is AMAZING.
Y'know, I didn't think about it at the time, but I bet the Ruins music would've sounded significantly different coming through the DMG Game Boy. Man, that thing had some good sound.
It does sound silly :P it sounds like the lobby music of a Mario game or something. At least until the end notes before it loops from the beginning again, which sound slightly menacing.
Heh, *It Needed A Remake..!* We get Metroid: Samus Returns about two years later. Ask, and you shall receive. Quick, say that we need Metroid Prime 4! It'll come out two years later! XD
I miss the days when friends let you try a game they “couldn’t understand”. Metroid was a big one. I was introduced to Samus and was astounded and amazed a younger friend by trying hard to figure out the map and exploring. It was amazing. I appreciate that you went through these older games for those who didn’t get to. It makes me appreciate my early moments with Super Metroid even more. Thanks for your hard work!
Great review! It's clear you are aware of how significant the game was back then, and why it was tragically forgotten and criticized by many Metroid fans.
This was my first Metroid game in the early 90s. I beat it so many times when I was around 10 years old. I just remember the bleak atmosphere and hunting down metroids! Oh, also creating my own maps too. I still don't know how I did it with that old un-backlit DMG.
@@Wildwolf5910 AM2R is often considered the better one, the one that stays more true to the ideal metroid game to fans. Samus Returns has a bit more of a different focus like Fusion, but it's still loved.
Another quality retrospective! Although I've tried playing Metroid in the past and found it too unwelcoming to continue, your videos are making me want to go back and give the series another chance.
Well, if you're thinking about it, here's my advice as someone in a similar boat. It really helped that while I was playing these, I was staying engaged and paying attention and THINKING about what I was doing. In my case it was so I could write my script, but I think the whole series was a lot richer for it. Metroid isn't really something that can be appreciated passively. As for where to start... Don't try to get into one or two. They both have to be thought of in-context to their time. DEFINITELY try Super first. If it's too sprawling and you want more story focus and a significantly more challenging and linear game, try Fusion. If you want more tone levity, along with a good balance between linearity and openness, go for Zero Mission.
The Geek Critique So far the only titles I've tried have been 1,2 and Prime, which might explain why I've failed to get into the series. I have Fusion on my 3DS, so maybe I should give that a shot or maybe Super Metroid. Of course the SNES is the only Nintendo console I don't own... although I'm fairly certain it's available on the eShop (but I think that's only playable on the new 3DS)
Makes sense... while I love Prime, it really isn't the same thing as 2D Metroid, so I can see why that one may not catch your interest... then again, the second Prime game DID improve on a lot of the shortcomings of the first, and the third was more of a "different yet equal" refinement, so maybe one of those would be interesting too? DEFINITELY start with Fusion if you want some linearity and Super or Zero if you don't though, THOSE are the highlights. Well, that and AM2R, but as good as it is normally, it feels even better with the others serving as context.
+TheS2Guy Don't forget that Nintendo themselves remade Metroid I as Metroid: Zero Mission on the GBA, and it's vaaaaaastly more playable. So, story-wise, you can just start there and skip over the original entirely. (Unless you really want a dose of pain.) Yeah, there's a *slight* dip in quality playing M2 after that, but then you get Super Metroid and it's all good.
I'd say there was a suitable amount of AM2R talk here, all things considering... enough to make it clear that you didn't forget about it, but not enough to render its own episode redundant whenever that happens. Can't wait to hear how your mind was blown by it (and from what I've heard from you so far and my own experiences, it WILL be blown)!
I got into Metroid last year, and this game was my first! It took me a week to beat it, and it was a really exciting experience because I'd been curious about the series for a while!
Fusion is my favorite. With an emulator I can fast forward through the exposition dumps, and the difficulty progression is steeper. I don't find the linearity to be much of a detractant.
I kind of feel like Metroid is the red-headed stepchild of Nintendo. Which is a shame, because they are fucking excellent games (with a few exceptions). Hell, Nintendo completely ignored the series' 30th anniversary last year - and five years before that, they ignored the 25th anniversary. I've heard a lot of blame heaped on Yoshio Sakamoto - for the state of the series after Other M, at least. It's kind of strange - Sakamoto was the director of Super Metroid and Fusion, which are both excellent games - if for differing reasons. I personally really like the addition of story elements in Fusion - but I revile them in Other M. I think the blame may lie in the fact Sakamoto was both director and producer on Other M, so he didn't have anyone above him reigning him in. I don't think he's a misogynist or anything like that - I don't think Other M was deliberately made bad. Rather, I think it's just a case of Sakamoto inserting too much of his own interpretation of the character, and ignoring the fact that long-time players and fans would have had a vastly different interpretation of her, based solely on what the gameplay told us about her. That disconnect between Sakamoto's vision of Samus and the Samus that was implied through gameplay is why Other M was so bad, I think. Though that doesn't address some of my other issues with Other M. Why is Samus suddenly 6 inches shorter than ever before? Why does someone in such an independent line of work agree to stupid orders? Why is Adam - The so-called Brilliant Military Mind - so useless as a commander? Why does it introduce a sub-plot about the cleaner, only to unceremoniously kill the guy offscreen? Other M has a lot of problems beyond characterization of Samus - but I wanted to focus on that in this short essay because that's pretty much the only issue with the game that can't be contained to the game. It would be easy to ignore the other problems - they only affect Other M. But Samus' characterization problems will hang over the series as it moves forward, unless Nintendo definitively declares Other M non-canon, and maybe restores the Prime series to canonical status. I'd like to think the long, long hiatus between games is due to the developers wanting to be sure the next one lives up to what players want, and that the franchise isn't dead (shitty side-games notwithstanding). I'd like to think that - but I'm not sure if it's just wishful thinking or not.
Yeah. I'm pretty fucking salty about the whole situation. I love Metroid, and Samus as a character. Maybe they'll hand development on the next game to Platinum. That could end up being a great move for the series.
Ehhh... I don't think it would translate well to a movie format. It's a rare video game that can make that transition without losing something vital. I don't think Metroid is the kind of game that could do it well.
Metroid isn't a series that would translate particularly well to a movie, despite it borrowing many themes and imagery from movies like Alien. Metroid is about one person navigating an alien landscape/pirate compound alone. If you were to make a movie about it there'd be no dialogue at all - just Samus exploring and shooting critters. And while a good arthouse director/writer team could make that compelling (I'd like to see it shot completely in first person!), it'd never work as a mainstream film. The only game that could potentially be made into a movie is Other M, since it actually has a supporting cast. And I don't think anyone wants to see that. They could potentially make a movie set in the Metroid universe but then you'd have the Galactic Federation problem where people get pissed off about having Metroid without Samus.
I mean, I understand the sentiment, but _Mad Max: Fury Road_ was only a single step removed from a silent film, and it was about as mainstream as a non-comedy R-rated film can get nowadays. A dialogue-free _Metroid_ movie could work perfectly well - it would just require the filmmakers to realize it can't just be two hours of Samus blasting aliens, it would need to be a quiet, moody film with the instances of bombastic action strategically positioned within the film's structure as a counterpoint to the more contemplative stretches (i.e. pretty much just the same approach to the games take). Any filmmaker who isn't a certified hack could take those guidelines and make at least a decent film out of it, it's just that entrusting Hollywood with even something so simple as putting the project in non-hack hands is such a roll of the dice lately.
Hope everything works out with UA-cam. I'm making sure to not skip ads on your videos and making sure to hit like. I recommend everyone else do the same
@Shenponkybingbong Honestly that's why the Favorites list exists. It may be a playlist but 'like' isn't really about building a playlist. A lot of people must feel the same as you do, which is probably why there is such a disparity between views and likes/dislikes across UA-cam. But liking a video actually is beneficial to the video and the channel, algorithm-wise.
@Niels The Jolteon perhaps too late, but i figured i'd answer on behalf of zeithri. while AM2R pretty much objectively improves the game from a pure gameplay standpoint, it fails to capture the same atmosphere and world (although it replaces it with one equally as good, just in a different way). at least it's not samus returns, i utterly despise what they did.
@@wizradical4905 huh, never noticed that I guess it's because I don't really care about it capturing the same atmosphere, as long as the atmosphere is good
I've re-watched this too many times to count, actually that can be said for all of your series, truly wonderful and I cant wait to see what video comes next!
It's too bad I'm only half way into Super Metroid because I'm really looking forward to the next video. This is a really great series of videos and you've earned a subscriber fair and square. As much as I'm enjoying and savouring Super Metroid, I can't wait to get through it and hear your thoughts on it.
This was my first Metroid game, and it became a legend in my own mind because, first, I couldn't beat the final eight Metroids (I didn't know you needed to use the ice beam on them), and, second, I eventually just up and lost the cartridge. So it was several years from when I first played the game to when I actually finished it, and those were formative years! My imagination of what the game ~could~ be was uninhibited by virtue of the fact that I hadn't yet completed it, so it grew to epic size. I love this game. Its sense of remoteness, mystery, surrealism, and desolation create a kind of eerie, slow-paced atmosphere that I love. Its visual repetitiveness and minimalism, unlike the "generic" feeling of the original Metroid, created a sort of Kafka-esque nightmare scape for me, as I was always fascinated by vast, nonsensical interior spaces. The game scared me, too: The quiet level music instantly transitions to the boss music when a Metroid appears, and that usually caught me by surprise. I was a kid and a weak gamer, so the Metroids were hard for me, too, which just made them more scary. Like you, I like the pseudo-linear progression. "Pseudo" because the individual levels actually are open-ended. Meanwhile, having the mechanic of the acid-filled central tunnel gives the overall game a sense of forward momentum. I think Metroid II does two things better than Super Metroid, which is indisputably a better game: One, it does a better job of making missiles feel special. In Super Metroid, missiles and even super missiles are weaker than the charge beam. Metroid II makes the missiles feel like the superior firepower that they really ought to be. Two, Metroid II has a stronger sense of desolation. Yes, there's more of a burden on the player's imagination, but, if you're willing to fill in some of the blanks, Samus has a much lonelier and weirder adventure here. My favorite thing about the game, other than its sense of desolation, is actually the music. The composer made the interesting choice to create all of these wonderful themes for the game--the title and ending themes, the hatchling theme, the final area theme, the boss and last boss themes, the ruins theme, and of course the main tunnel theme--while simultaneously making you actually spend the vast majority of gameplay time in these eerily quiet areas where the sound is just bleeps, blorps, and whirs. I didn't understand as a kid why he had done that, because obviously I would have preferred more of his awesome music during the main levels, but as an adult and a game designer I realize that this was one of the most powerful weapons in the Gameboy arsenal for creating the "eerie" type of atmospheric mood. These quiet ambient tracks draw you into a sense of suspense, because you know that those Metroids are going to leap out at you eventually, and it makes the moment of surprise all the more thrilling. Also, these quiet tracks contrast beautifully with the swelling, heroic sounds of the main tunnel theme, which for me is an even better theme for Samus herself than her theme in Super Metroid. When you leave a level you get the main tunnel music. You feel encouraged and excited and you know you're making forward progress. And when you get to the next level, the feelings of dread and suspense return because the music goes away and you're left all alone again...
Thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts, these are great videos. I just beat this game last night and I loved it. All in black & white, and with an ingenious negative palette, the brooding, solitary atmosphere won me over instantly. I found the progression structure interesting, with a set order of "levels", but each of the areas themselves very open. I didn't mind the repetitive metroid fights, they still felt intense because of the cramped visuals, and anyway for me the game was mostly about exploration - the interesting part was finding all of the bastards' hideouts. I was impressed by the implicit, minimal storytelling - the game builds a narrative purely around gameplay, through level design and creating a mood. The simple detail of the metroid counter in the lower right corner gives you a tangible reminder of how you're inching your way forward. After a grueling experience with NES Metroid, which started out terrific but then gradually turned excitement into frustration, I was able to complete the game without looking anything up. Took me over 9 hours, and I did miss a bunch of upgrades, but didn't really need them thanks to the overlapping of some of the abilities. I did eventually resort to a savestate before the final boss's room after dying to it a dozen times and still having no idea how to kill it, just to save me the several minutes of running through the whole now-empty level every time. Not a huge fan of boss battles in general. Anyways, this has got to be the best game on the original Gameboy... aside from TETRIS of course! ;)
I know this is years too late, but I still think it's worth sharing. Omegas take more damage if you shoot them in the back. This means that it is more than possible to go through the endgame omega gauntlet without having to go back for a recharge, so long as you land your shots well. I play the game to 100% when I go through it, which means I have 250 missiles going into that section, and usually still have around 100 left leaving it. So, even if you don't play for 100%, you should still be able to get through that section in one shot.
I take offense to the people who think this game is bad and love Super Metroid, because this game set so many standards that Super Metroid used. Not just story but the size of Samus' sprite, multiple power ups, progression and so much more. It was amazing that this game could even be made on the Game Boy. Super Metroid did improve things, but I still feel that Metroid II is my favorite. And for all the people who keep asking for Metroid games that have more isolation and atmosphere, this game did both of those the best in the whole series. Not to mention its the only game in the series that really does focus on its namesake. I want new Metroid games to be more like this one. Also, my best time is 1:04.
9:14 This is EXACTLY why I hate trophies/achievements with games now. People put too much focus on these things rather than just enjoying the game first. Playing and finishing a game and then going back to 100% is one thing, but feeling the NEED to 100% on your first playthrough is just stupid. The sad thing is that Sony and Microsoft have noticed this focus on trophies/achievements and are starting to make software design choices based on that; the ridiculously large trophy icons on the PS5 when you push the PS Button is really irritating.
My favorite part about the original metroid trilogy is the relationship between the hardware and the narrative. Metroid I and Super Metroid take place on Zebes. Metroid II takes places on SR388. The NES used a processor based on the 6502, and the SNES used a processor that was a 16 bit version of that processor, the 65816. If I recall correctly, the 65816 can run 6502 code (there were probably plans to have the SNES and NES be backwards compatible at one point) and can run in a 6502 compatibility mode. The gameboy uses a different but similarly well known CPU called the Z80. I love this relationship and the fact that Metroid 1, as you intimate (haven't seen your review of metroid 1 yet), is pretty astonishingly near unplayable despite it's iconic status (coming back to life with 30 health just seems like they didn't even play test the game in America). I like to think of Metroid 1 as a kind of faded memory, or a story that mutates by being passed down, and Super Metroid as the cathartic clarity and reflection. I think Super Mario World is maybe a better, tighter, game and it is amazing what people have been doing with code injection in that game, but the first 3 metroid games are something truly special.
Loving the Metroid vids and really enjoy your analytical look at these games, so I whitelisted your channel on adblock. It's the least I could do I figured. :)
I just played all the 2d games for the first time (after dread and samus returns got me interested) and it makes watching these again fun cause I better understand some comments and points you're making. This series is fantastic. I especially relate to needing to change my mindset to love these games. I always went crazy trying to check everything after each upgrade but it made it not fun. Now I just see what I can get before the end and everything I miss gets a "oh well" from me now. Makes each run more fun. 2 might have my favorite vibe especially in AM2R
I remember jumping before each boss came about. I had so much fun when I was little playing this game. I'm glad I was able to beat it when I was little!
It took me until a couple years ago to get around to beating Metroid II, and I was so glad I did. Flawed as it is, its highlights make up for the shittier parts. And that theme that plays when you reach the baby... chills, every single time.
Oh man. That was the very first game I ever bought for myself with my own money, a very large milestone for a kid. But I loved the spider ball and the exploration it offered. I found so many pointless dead-end tunnels on ceilings. But I found if you used the springball in those tunnels you could bounce the screen down to see a bunch of various landscape assets that didn't belong in the area. Also dispite all my playthroughs I never knew the queen could eat you!
I'm in love with this game; I got to play it on a Game Boy Pocket and honestly don't know how I managed to finish it 2 times. It got me so engrossed and invested like no other thing did at the time. The music -or rather, those sound effects mashups- sounded so hostile and alien, sucking you in on that tiny green/black screen. I clearly remember the first time I got the Varia Suit and felt exactly as you were describing, besides looking so cool. Regardless, the #1 fan of this game clearly is DoctorM64, now part of the fantastic MOON Studios, with his AM2R. Excellent video; I'm in love with this game; wish I could know why.
Metroid captured my imagination when I was a kid, it was tied with Zelda in being my favorite game. Two memories have stuck with me to this day. First was reading the manual and checking out the map from a new copy of Zelda while on a car ride home from Sudbury. Second was getting a copy of Metroid 2 as a 'just because' gift from my Ma, and my disbelief that I could play Metroid, a NEW Metroid anywhere I wanted on my Gameboy. I LOVED this game, and my nostalgia for this one is the strongest of and game I've played. The boxart still brings it back every time. Edit: Was that school in Little Current on Manitoulin Island by any chance?
15:07 - 16:05 I agree a lot with this tbh. Add to that the fact that every other boss in metroid games has an attack that lets you replenish health. I wish the games had like an adaptive damage multiplier for the enemies or something like that on higher difficulties, ie. The more energy tanks/missile expansions you have, the more damage enemies will dish out, and maybe even an option to reduce the health drop %? I think options like that would go a long way into making the games more challenging
I recently played original Metroid 2 on the 3DS Virtual Console, and some of my thoughts... - The small screen size is intimidating at first, but the game's camera is smarter than NES Metroid by placing you off-center so you can see more in the direction you're facing, which helps alleviate this. By the time you're even halfway through you've likely stopped noticing that you can only see 10x10 tiles at a time. - It is curious how often you hear Main BGM Theme. It really makes you feel like you've returned to a central "hub" after clearing out a section of Metroids. I also love how you can actually walk around INSIDE Samus's ship. There's not exactly anything to see (just an Energy Recharge on the left side and Missile Recharge on the right side), but this feels a bit more engaging than in later games where you just press Down to "enter" the ship, before popping back out again to return to gameplay. Kinda like how in Metroid Prime 3 where entering Samus's ship actually shows you Samus in the cockpit seat (and various mundane things you can interact with). - Like NES Metroid, Metroid 2 reuses level assets and setpieces on a full-screen basis (every 16x16 tiles), leading to many segments that are nearly identical visually. Confusing, but like the NES original you slowly get used to it. I wanted to avoid looking up any guides or maps (and mostly succeeded), and actually didn't get nearly as lost as I feared I might. - I did however get stuck in Area 3 for quite some time because of one final pesky Metroid in the area I just couldn't seem to locate. Turns out I had mistaken the water in this area for lava/acid and merely just refused to explore it, because everything else was smooth(er) sailing after that. - I like how the Metroids have different attack patterns even on the GB. Sure, Alphas just ram you and Gammas do the same except stopping to fire off lightning, but the Zetas have COMPLETELY different movement, and ... honestly, I don't remember much about the Omegas. - Spider Ball is slow and Space Jump is just as wonky here as it was in Super (i.e. if you don't use it near the peak of your previous jump, you can't use it at all). - In the final areas I found myself having to scavenge for supplies (mainly Missiles) more than once. When you need to take down three Omegas but only have 80 Missiles left ... later, I actually ran out of Missiles with just one Metroid Larva remaining before the Queen, and fun fact: if you drop into the Queen's lair prematurely, the room is just empty. Fortunately, I was correct to assume the final area had Energy and Missile recharge points, it just took me another look around to find it. - It's a good thing I saved a Restore Point outside the Queen Metroid's lair, because, wow did I get killed a lot. It was 40 minutes later before I finally took down the Queen -- not for lack of knowing about the bomb trick, but for having to figure out (no guides no maps) how to actually _do_ it. She went down super fast once I figured it out, but it was an _excellent_ battle in the meantime.
I first played super Metroid when I was about six on my dad's customer's Nintendo. I didn't know what I was doing, I just loaded the save and played the escape over and over. But I loved it. Took many years to find out what the name of that game was but it also made a huge impression on me. andentually had zero mission on gba in grade school. Love metroid
I love this game, it was my first entry into Metroid (played it when it first came out!) and I've loved Metroid ever since. I think Metroid is under rated by a lot of folks simply because it was a Game Boy title, but it has a lot of strengths (although yes it has weaknesses to). I will say one thing though, you mentioned having to go all the way back to the energy recharge in the previous area once you got into the Omega section and mentioned it being required. Well, I didn't do that the first time I played, by the time I got to the Omegas, I figured out their pattern quickly (zetas are very similar) and was able to defeat them all without dying (sure, I had about 80 energy left, but I did it). I then proceeded to the last area where I found a recharge there. I look forward to seeing your Samus Returns critique!
It's hard to believe now, but this game blew my mind back in '91. I'd only discovered the original a year or so before, and could never get anywhere, finding it equal parts fascinating and frustrating. Metroid 2 not only answered every critique I had of the original but, as a growing Alien and Aliens fanboy, I felt like my very prayers had been answered. Still a fave, warts and all
I never realized that you could go inside the queen and bomb her. I just always missiled her to death. Just found out about the bomb thing like 2 years ago. I've been playing Metroid 2 for 30 years... Hell, my times on it are pretty good too (under 2 hours I think?). I've probably beaten it about 5 times. But yeah, didn't know about the bomb thing.
I was curious about this game and glad I found this. I’ve played this game since I was 3-4 and just got it on my 3ds and love replaying it. I never knew it had color, but I only played it on the gameboy
Man, I remember playing this game yet and don't know how I did it in the last level cuz I clearly remember not going back for recharge. Maybe there was one or some farming enemy? What was more surprising was finding every beam and just go naturally even until the end changing and cycling on Ice for the last ones
This game was great. But it was difficult to make my maps for personal use. they changed the formula for size of areas to explore and those familliar doors were not as prominent if I recall right.
So I played this game on the 3ds virtual console ages ago and loved it, but got stuck on the queen and could never beat her, well tonight I decided to pick it back up and finish that file and after three tries I finally beat her and saw the lovely ending. My time was 9,53 though but still so happy to have finally finished this game. Can't seem to push myself to finish Samus Returns though, probably half way through, but every time I pick it up I just feel like putting it down. this ending is more than satisfying though, and I'm really enjoying my play through of Dread!
You could argue that the devs intentionally had the counter stay at 0 when the metroid imprinted on Samus because the counter represents metroids that must be killed
You're not the only one who misses instruction manuals.
Same here.
>the point>
>your head<
The fact that old games that _used_ to have instruction manuals still _have_ their instruction manuals has no bearing on the _lack_ of instruction manuals in modern gaming. I even bought the instruction manual and box for the only modern game I know of that has one: Shovel Knight, ironically a completely digital game that I cannot even put in the box.
Lord LunaEquie is me xz😳😜😙x
I miss them
Me too!
This series is so freaking rewatchable. Whenever I think I've seen it enough times, I find something new I forgot about
So tru even a year later
I know what you mean. The way he has structured these videos is just fantastic.. I've probably seen them through about 8 times already.
I love rewatch the series is so good considering I've played the game and get to learn more about it
dont know if anyone cares but if you are bored like me during the covid times then you can watch pretty much all of the latest movies and series on InstaFlixxer. I've been binge watching with my brother these days :)
@Raiden Maverick yea, I've been using Instaflixxer for months myself :)
If all options fail, send Samus.
-Federation Protocol
It's a little messed up when you look at it as Samus taking a government contract to commit genocide on a race of misunderstood lifeforms - but they do address this in Metroid Fusion, with Samus's growing perspective on the Metroids, and their natural role as predators to the even more dangerous X.
Well, given the hell dealing with Metroids is, it is no wonder. However, no one expected X existed in the first place.
I blame the Chozo.
It's no more messed up than putting down any rabid animal. Every metroid up until the babby attacks Samus on sight. They killed the research team, which (presumably) wasn't even armed. The fact that later on the series introduces an even more dangerous species doesn't somehow make the metroids good.
Shen, the metroid attwck because they are defending their territory. Several of the metroid samus interrupts their molting stage causing them to exit prematurely.
Metroid are not evil, despite them being the apex predator of SR388. Metroid are pinned as an evil species because the space pirates saw their strength and used them for biological warfare, however metroids themselves are not interplanetary creatures, and live deep within the surface of SR388. They arent agressive to those who arent their prey, but will defend themself when they sense a threat. Those metroids who attacked the federation likely had no idea whether they were armed or not. They are TRESPASSING.
The federation had to make the hard descision, but it is easier to wipe out the metroids, rather than keep malicious parties like the space pirates from utilizing them for warfare.
Essentially, metroids are neutral creatures. No, introducing the X-parasite doesnt make metroids "good" creatures, but it tells a warning story of the danger of interrupting nature. It happens several times in real life, our actions cause unseen consequences
@@SkywalkerFoe I never claimed they were evil. All I said was that they are dangerous predators, and that given how territorial and aggressive they are, it doesn't make Samus or the Federation "bad guys" for deciding to wipe them out. An animal that aggressively attacks and _kills_ anyone who enters its territory is beyond normal animal dangerous. Even bears will generally just try to frighten people away (unless they think you're a danger to their cubs). Wild animals generally don't attack and kill, they try to threaten invaders away. You know why? Because animals, especially predators, need to be concerned about how much energy they expend fighting. It takes a lot less energy to grow and look threatening than chase and attack and kill something. Not to mention if they attack, they might lose, they might get injured or killed. So an animal that on sight of anything that isn't one of its own kind attacks without question and without remorse, and fights to the death, is beyond just a normal animal. It's a clear and present danger, even more so when a faction wants to weaponize it and use it as a biological weapon. Frankly, killing the Metroid so that the space pirates can't use it is just the pragmatic decision.
The metroids aren't evil, but that doesn't mean they're not dangerous and that the Federation and Samus are bad for trying to exterminate them.
What the actual ... I must have beaten that final boss 50 times on a real freakin' gameboy, and I had no idea it could be beaten that way! I have memories to this day of frantically spamming the hell out of the missile button right after timing a first hit perfectly just as it started to swoop in to bite. If I timed it just right I could take advantage of the animation pause on each missile hit to get a good 20 or even 30 missiles down its throat. Then the frantic dodging, and do it again.
I played original Metroid 2 (3DS virtual console edition) recently, and I was struggling against the Queen Metroid for the better half of an hour DESPITE knowing the bomb trick exists. My problem was trying to figure out exactly _how_ to do it -- i.e. how to stun her, and then how to not just get immediately spat back out.
But after 40 minutes (and over a dozen deaths), when I was confident I had actually figured it out, she went down the next attempt and in no time at all, it was actually quite surprising just HOW much of a weak point that is.
God, the 3ds version looks like a completely different game compared to this.
Because it is...it's a complete reimagining. The only proper way to play the original now is on a Gameboy Color, Super Gameboy, Gameboy Advance, or GC Gameboy Player, as all those can colorize the game. You can also get it on the 3DS virtual console but that only emulates the original Gameboy, none of the colorization options from the later systems.
It’s not a remastering, it’s a reimagining. Just like Link Between Worlds. So it could definitely be considered a different game.
@@element1192 To be fair, Link Between Worlds isn't a remake or a reimagining of Link to the Past. It's a sequel, happening in the same world as LTTP, but a few generations later. This is reflected in the Japanese name. The Japanese name of LTTP is Triforce of the Gods. The Japanese name of Link Between Worlds is Triforce of the Gods 2.
Gameboy Color is the way to go, Super Gameboy colorization looks like vomit.
@@mikicerise6250 Ah...I never owned one, just assumed it was the same the Gameboy Color did. The Gameboy Advance uses the GBC colorization if you have the cartridge.
Samus's left hand....... it's a hand.
Agreed.
Totally agree as well. I only wish more time was devoted to critiquing and analyzing it.
I completely disagree
@@RizzyTizzyLando You're right: it's a squid.
Yes and King Shark is a Shark
This was my actual introduction to the series, I was 12 I think. I had access to the school and I used to lay on a huge gymnastics mat in the gym with all the lights off. I played this *terrifying* game, each sudden jolt of the boss theme sending adrenaline through me, and each plummeting shaft sending me personally deeper into this world while surrounding by the dark. Took 8 AAs to power that experience lol.
A gameboy game, in a room with no lights on? Hmmmmm
You realize he could have had a SP or a light for his gameboy?
Wait 8 double A batteries? A GB takes 2.. he had to have had a light or
Upgrade!
Mine was super
@@knee-deepin-doot8742 no, the DMG-01 took four.
There IS a recharge station in the final area. Right before the area with the final boss there are two areas. One with the ice beam and the other with two recharge stations
good god the instant the Ruins music came up I immediately got PTSD to that section. so glad the remake exists now.
Yo grayfruit I didnt know you liked metroid that much!
Glad to see you apreaciating good content creators
did not expect to see you here holy crap
wtf Grayfruit I love you please have my kids
Maybe you didn't realize it because you played that romhack of the original Metroid, but the beams didn't stack in Metroid 1 either. If you get the Wave Beam in Metroid 1, you HAVE to go back and get the Ice Beam before you head to the final area or else you can't kill any Metroids. The Wave Beam makes Metroid 1 so much easier, but sometimes when I play it, I don't even go get it, because you have to get the Ice Beam again anyway.
There's two ice beam locations, one in Norfair and the other in Brinstar. I would usually grab the Norfair one first, then the wave beam, finally the Brinstar ice beam before taking on Tourian.
@@DkSchadow is there even a difference between both Ice beams?
@@gabopr1365 Not that I could tell. They both seem to be identical.
I think they can stack but only through codes like NARPAS SWORD0 000000 000000 that give you both powerups at the same time
I went into this game completely blind in 1992. It was the most epic game experience i had and part of it was because i didn't expect this from a black and white handheld.
Oh and the last part with the Metroids and the boss is my favorite "last part" of any Metroid game.
Metroid 2 is a great game. It's a huge improvement over its predecessor, taking full advantage of the fact that the gameboy forfeited a lot of graphical fidelity for a massive jump in raw processing power. The game does have its flaws, yes. It can be frustrating at times, it's extremely time consuming, and the pacing leaves some to be desired. It starts out difficult, though not as difficult as the first game, but that difficulty gives way to something else. The first game was frightening - it made you feel helpless, made you feel vulnerable, like you were in over your head. The second game... is tense. There's a constant tension in the game, a constant buildup. You're always moving toward deeper and darker things. Your progress comes almost entirely in the form of killing minibosses that are mostly identical to each other - and each one of those deaths is permanent, marking your progress. The countdown drives the point home. These are not random video game mobs, these are wild animals fighting for survival.
You're the bad guy here. You're not defending anything, you're not fighting for a noble cause. The repetitive nature of the fights is to force you to consider their implications.
Metroid 2 is about *genocide*.
Damn
a Z80 isn't that much faster than the 6502 clone in the NES. The screen resolution is lower so it can do "more" on screen, sprite wise, and memory mapping is better :P
I got M2 as a kid loved it. Got stuck but came back a few months later and beat it.. one of my greatest gaming moments.. anyone else flip the gameboy upside down and play the game btw? Lol
Sounds a little like what Shadow of the Colossus did in 2005.
Umm. You're reading too much into this lol. But I like the passion.
So many times I was like "Ugh, how can he say that?!" then I remember I was a kid when this game came out. It was the Metroid title that sunk its claws into me, and naturally my opinion is rather biased. I'd played the original Metroid (and gotten my ass thoroughly beaten) and absolutely LOVED it about a year or so before this one came out. SOMEHOW mom knew so she got me a copy for my birthday. If I take a step back and objectively look at the game, you're (mostly) right. But this game is, and always shall be, one of the best titles for the GB. This game was like heroine for me as a kid. To this day, as a 34 year old dude, I can play this game without a map, in a single sitting, and beat it in less than 2 hours with 100% items. Because I love it that much, and loved it that much when I was a kid. I've always felt that this is one of the most over-looked titles in Nintendo history, and that's a real shame because of the quality the game provided. As for Metroid 3... Well, that heroine comparison? M3 was like giving an addict an infinite supply of both needles and junk.
Mine was Fusion. I've gotten so used to playing it and being good at it that it feels weird to get anything less than 100% and more than about 1:45. I also almost find myself disappointed if I take a single point of damage from the SA-X or Omega.
I've also played the Primes and Other M, but my Wii got stolen a long time ago. If I get the chance, I'll definitely get the older stuff and hopefully replace the Trilogy.
Metroid 2 is worlds better than the first. It sickens me whenever I see someone rank M2 beneath M1.
I agree. This is a LOT more playable than the first game. It isn't near impossible to get the first missile and energy tank. The game is more linear, but there's still plenty to explore in each area. The game isn't perfect though, most of the music is lackluster/eargrating. Some passages are obscure to find and thus it gets frustrating when you're looking for the last few metroids in the area. Combined with the eargrating sound design, the game can get annoying to play at times. The biggest criticism that I have is the end of the game. Just like he said in the video, resupplying is an absolute pain in the bum. The Omega and Zeta Metroids are so difficult/draining that you'll have to recharge at least a few times. So it's a massive annoyance.
@@chaoskiller6084 But the game is only in Black & White. It seems theres DX versions but those are just hacks
@@vulcanraven9701 The DX versions are hacks yes, but if you play the original cartridge on a GBC or GBA you will get some color. This very video shows what it looks like on a GBC or GBA (by default, there are options to change the color palette or revert to greyscale if you want).
@@StormsparkPegasus Ah I see that's really cool. Im definitely considering getting the DX now and perhaps try to get the original cartridge onto the gba too. Also I've never played the B&W GB games in GBA before. Thank you for the info by the way!
I’ll have to take your word for it, because I only played the first one... which is one of my favorite games from Nintendo.
Funny enough my 7 year old son was super excited to find an instruction manual for Mario Kart 7. He showed me each page with a huge grin on his face. It was only a little while later that I realized it was the first time he'd SEEN an instruction manual. Everything is tutorialized or help links. God I'm old.
You started playing the remixes and I remember about how creative the Metroid fan base is. I wish that group of people got back together and make another album.
Metroid 2 was my first Metroid game. I fell in love with the series thanks to this game, and I doubt I will ever forget the rhythm I developed to use the Space Jump in this game.
I still remember reading people on the Metroid Fusion board at GameFAQs complaining about how they couldn’t use the Space Jump. Always baffled me.
Thanks for the positive critique. I played this game when I was 10 and can still remember the thrill of seeking metroids and the "surprise" sound when they showed up all of a sudden. I was always on the edge of my chair. Especially the section after the last omega metroid was killing, because there was just nothing (so everything could happen, in my mind)
Now, 30 years later, I still have fun running trough the game, still trying to find some secret passage that I've missed.
Something that you probably didn't notice when picking up the Varia: your movement speed goes up as well, matching the speed of the morphball, which in this game is pretty speedy.
ua-cam.com/video/8WkEoYvlUF0/v-deo.html
I absolutely loved this critique of one of my favorite games. I have extremely fond memories of playing this game not long after it came out. My grandmother gave it to me as my 11th birthday gift. I spent most of the summer of '92 exploring the caverns of SR388. Metroid II formed a lot of my game preferences. Your look back helped me relive some of those moments and I really appreciate your thoughts on how it's aged. Great job!
You've probably been told this a bunch by now, but having to switch beams constantly was ALSO a thing in the Original Metroid. because you played the rom-hack, you were able to stack the Ice Beam and the Wave Beam, but that doesn't happen in the original, and you could easily go into the Metroid area (Torian) without the ice beam, and be completely unable to kill Metroids.
I'm sure by now he's learned that the Warioland composer actually made the music for this game, but I found it funny that he made the connection independently. Listen to any of those weird CDs in Warioland 4 and the "ambient" bgm in some portions of this game make alot more sense.
I got Metroid II by collecting Kool Aid points and mailing in for it. Good times.
Man, I still just love this particular series in the canon than the others. I know I am biased on that, but I just have such fond nostalgic memories of this game. I was 7 years old in 1993 when my very poor at the time parents saved up their very little extra money they could manage at the time for most of the year, and surprised me and my brother for Christmas that year by getting us both our first video game consoles ever. Two brand-new original Game Boys, packaged with The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, and one additional game for each of us. My brother's additional game he got for his was Super Mario 2: 6 Golden Coins, and mine was Metroid 2: Return of Samus. I promise you, there were no two happier children on the entire planet that Christmas morning than my brother and I. We had both played a Game Gear occasionally that a friend of ours had at the daycare center that we both had to go to after school every day while our parents were both hard at work as well as our dad going to night school full time on top of that. We also had a next-door neighbor that had just gotten a Super NES for their daughter that was a year younger than us, and would occasionally let us come over and play her copy of Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. At that time, our family was way too poor to be able to afford buying any actual video game system, as each day was a struggle just for the essentials in life. We were a happy family overall though, and had each other. It completely took my brother and I by surprise when that Christmas morning, our parents busted out two hidden boxes of presents they had "forgotten" were behind the Christmas tree with everything else. We had both been hounding our parents for a Game Boy since the day they had come out, but knew our family's financial situation, and were positive there was no way our parents could actually afford to get us one. When we opened those presents that morning and saw what was in them, we were so happy that we both literally started shaking uncontrollably from the shock of it.
We both ended up practically living on our Game Boys that whole first year we had them, and I don't even wanna know how many AA batteries my mom had to end up going through that year just to keep us both going on those things. That was THE defining moment ultimately in my video-game nerdy obsession that solidified me as a hardcore gaming nerd from then on out.
I really did enjoy Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening a ton, honestly more so than I ever did A Link to the Past later on, but Metroid 2: Return of Samus was really my go-to game of those two I started out with. I loved the black & white color of the game (more an odd green/yellow and black, really) than actually having a color version for some reason, as it seemed to make me notice the smaller details better, and gave the game a really darker atmosphere, which in that particular game, just made it that much better. I really loved how much you could explore and find hidden areas and treasures if you really dig into it deep, and it just had all of the perfect weapon upgrades and provided them to you at just the right times. The metroid "boss" fights were always fun, and were very scary for me personally as a young kid, which really excited me. The music was amazing as well, and just put the cherry on top of the dark noir sunday that the game was. The sense of total isolation you had in the game world was amazing, and this game as a whole I think even made me a big fan of isolated horror movies later on in life, such as Alien and Aliens, John Carpenter's The Thing, etc.
All in all, Metroid 2 was a defining game for me in my personal gaming life growing up, and had such a positive influence on me, that I'll always consider it the best Metroid game in the series, even if today I would enjoy some of the other ones more.
Such a perfect story and comment. Thank you for sharing it!
The 3DS remake is one of the best adventure games I have ever played. I loved the original, like A LOT, so much that I still play it from time to time, but the 3DS version is just incredible!
19:58 look at the time he beat it. He must’ve BLAZED though this game
Nice
My absolute favorite game of all time.
Loved your honest review.
As a kid, I was thrilled by the soundtrack and the feat of creating of creepy ambiance with such a limited color palette and a tiny screen. Back in 1991, all this was spectacular, and it's hard to convey this nowadays, since our eyes are so accustomed to high definition.
Anyways, thanks for the good vibes!
2016 - AM2R gets taken down by Nintendo
2017 - Nintendo remakes Metroid 2 as Metroid: Samus Returns
Vegerot SSR The game was in development for a year or two, its the clear reason why AM2R was shut down
@@chimpindoge3474 AM2R is still getting active development...it's on version 1.53 or something now, has a bunch of new stuff added, and even has a port to Android (you need a controller to actually play it but it's there).
I'm pretty sure you've already played through the entire series, but I still think the best order for play is original, 2, Super, Fusion, Zero Mission and then the Prime series, if only because you can truly see the series evolve over time, wondering if you agree geek critique.
My order is:
Zero Mission>AM2R>Super>Other M>Fusion>Prime>Hunters>Prime 2>Prime 3>Federation Force
Including Other M just makes me question the sincerity of this comment, including Federation Force just ensures I doubt it completely.
I didn't say I enjoy Other M. That's just the order I would suggest to someone who wants to play EVERY SINGLE Metroid game. I think it's the best to understand the overall plot.
SOLLAZZATORE Ahhh, okay, well, I don't really think the plot to the series is as important as the gameplay progression, but yeah, assuming you include Other M and Federation Fore in the first place I could see that.
But if you're a fan you really can't encourage playing those.
Well, Other M is just so insanely bad designed (for both a metroid game and a beat-em-up) that I think a playthrough is worth it. Federation Force is not that bad... a good non-metroidvania game, just like Hunters. But I see your point... definetely not the best entry-points for new fans.
Hahaha, i actually like the ruin music oddly enough, it's weird and discordant, and it's a bad idea to listen to it at a high volume for too long, but it's weirdly charming. To me it somehow sounds both silly and slightly creepy.
That being said, the AM2R's remix is AMAZING.
Y'know, I didn't think about it at the time, but I bet the Ruins music would've sounded significantly different coming through the DMG Game Boy. Man, that thing had some good sound.
You should listen to some Hindemith organ sonatas, sounds exactly the same
Agreed. I'm a huge fan of the ruins music!
I imagine mapping every note to drums would make the song infinitely better and more atmospheric.
It does sound silly :P it sounds like the lobby music of a Mario game or something. At least until the end notes before it loops from the beginning again, which sound slightly menacing.
Heh, *It Needed A Remake..!*
We get Metroid: Samus Returns about two years later.
Ask, and you shall receive. Quick, say that we need Metroid Prime 4! It'll come out two years later! XD
Hey look at that
It still hasn’t come out a year after so you seem accurate
Well at least we have Metroid Dread
I miss the days when friends let you try a game they “couldn’t understand”. Metroid was a big one. I was introduced to Samus and was astounded and amazed a younger friend by trying hard to figure out the map and exploring. It was amazing. I appreciate that you went through these older games for those who didn’t get to. It makes me appreciate my early moments with Super Metroid even more. Thanks for your hard work!
Great review! It's clear you are aware of how significant the game was back then, and why it was tragically forgotten and criticized by many Metroid fans.
This was my first Metroid game in the early 90s. I beat it so many times when I was around 10 years old. I just remember the bleak atmosphere and hunting down metroids! Oh, also creating my own maps too. I still don't know how I did it with that old un-backlit DMG.
this was MY first metroid game... and as much as i love it.... the remake did everything better;.
Which one?
@@Wildwolf5910 both :v
@@supersmashbro596 fair enough, but I couldn't beat the 3ds one before my 3ds bit the dust so I'll take your word for it
@@Wildwolf5910 AM2R is often considered the better one, the one that stays more true to the ideal metroid game to fans. Samus Returns has a bit more of a different focus like Fusion, but it's still loved.
It's like people have said...cutting edge innovation tends to age poorly.
Another quality retrospective!
Although I've tried playing Metroid in the past and found it too unwelcoming to continue, your videos are making me want to go back and give the series another chance.
Well, if you're thinking about it, here's my advice as someone in a similar boat. It really helped that while I was playing these, I was staying engaged and paying attention and THINKING about what I was doing. In my case it was so I could write my script, but I think the whole series was a lot richer for it. Metroid isn't really something that can be appreciated passively. As for where to start...
Don't try to get into one or two. They both have to be thought of in-context to their time. DEFINITELY try Super first. If it's too sprawling and you want more story focus and a significantly more challenging and linear game, try Fusion. If you want more tone levity, along with a good balance between linearity and openness, go for Zero Mission.
The Geek Critique So far the only titles I've tried have been 1,2 and Prime, which might explain why I've failed to get into the series. I have Fusion on my 3DS, so maybe I should give that a shot or maybe Super Metroid.
Of course the SNES is the only Nintendo console I don't own... although I'm fairly certain it's available on the eShop (but I think that's only playable on the new 3DS)
Makes sense... while I love Prime, it really isn't the same thing as 2D Metroid, so I can see why that one may not catch your interest... then again, the second Prime game DID improve on a lot of the shortcomings of the first, and the third was more of a "different yet equal" refinement, so maybe one of those would be interesting too? DEFINITELY start with Fusion if you want some linearity and Super or Zero if you don't though, THOSE are the highlights. Well, that and AM2R, but as good as it is normally, it feels even better with the others serving as context.
+TheS2Guy Don't forget that Nintendo themselves remade Metroid I as Metroid: Zero Mission on the GBA, and it's vaaaaaastly more playable. So, story-wise, you can just start there and skip over the original entirely. (Unless you really want a dose of pain.) Yeah, there's a *slight* dip in quality playing M2 after that, but then you get Super Metroid and it's all good.
Andrew Covarrubias what didn't you like about fusion? I'm curious because I usually see fans doing super vs fusion as the best metroid game
_"We labeled her left hand!"_
Uh huh... you mean her gun
LoL
I'd say there was a suitable amount of AM2R talk here, all things considering... enough to make it clear that you didn't forget about it, but not enough to render its own episode redundant whenever that happens. Can't wait to hear how your mind was blown by it (and from what I've heard from you so far and my own experiences, it WILL be blown)!
I got into Metroid last year, and this game was my first! It took me a week to beat it, and it was a really exciting experience because I'd been curious about the series for a while!
still have my copy on my game boy from when I was about 6 (around 89-90). Love this game
your videos have a LOT of rewatchability - I always come back to them and just let them play
I played through this game on my ti-92, it was such a blast even though it hasn't age that well. It was at least way better then doing actual math
Another awesome episode as usual dude! Can't wait for the rest!
2:41 left hand stands for:
Laser
Electrocuter
For
Terror
Horror
And
Nuclear
Destruction
i get the feeling you'd like fusion.
less padding, linear, tougher bosses. but the exposition dumps kill it for some
Fusion is my favorite. With an emulator I can fast forward through the exposition dumps, and the difficulty progression is steeper. I don't find the linearity to be much of a detractant.
I kind of feel like Metroid is the red-headed stepchild of Nintendo. Which is a shame, because they are fucking excellent games (with a few exceptions). Hell, Nintendo completely ignored the series' 30th anniversary last year - and five years before that, they ignored the 25th anniversary. I've heard a lot of blame heaped on Yoshio Sakamoto - for the state of the series after Other M, at least. It's kind of strange - Sakamoto was the director of Super Metroid and Fusion, which are both excellent games - if for differing reasons. I personally really like the addition of story elements in Fusion - but I revile them in Other M.
I think the blame may lie in the fact Sakamoto was both director and producer on Other M, so he didn't have anyone above him reigning him in. I don't think he's a misogynist or anything like that - I don't think Other M was deliberately made bad. Rather, I think it's just a case of Sakamoto inserting too much of his own interpretation of the character, and ignoring the fact that long-time players and fans would have had a vastly different interpretation of her, based solely on what the gameplay told us about her. That disconnect between Sakamoto's vision of Samus and the Samus that was implied through gameplay is why Other M was so bad, I think. Though that doesn't address some of my other issues with Other M. Why is Samus suddenly 6 inches shorter than ever before? Why does someone in such an independent line of work agree to stupid orders? Why is Adam - The so-called Brilliant Military Mind - so useless as a commander? Why does it introduce a sub-plot about the cleaner, only to unceremoniously kill the guy offscreen? Other M has a lot of problems beyond characterization of Samus - but I wanted to focus on that in this short essay because that's pretty much the only issue with the game that can't be contained to the game. It would be easy to ignore the other problems - they only affect Other M. But Samus' characterization problems will hang over the series as it moves forward, unless Nintendo definitively declares Other M non-canon, and maybe restores the Prime series to canonical status.
I'd like to think the long, long hiatus between games is due to the developers wanting to be sure the next one lives up to what players want, and that the franchise isn't dead (shitty side-games notwithstanding). I'd like to think that - but I'm not sure if it's just wishful thinking or not.
they literally acknowledged national cats day on metroid's 30th anniversary
sorry WHAT
Yeah. I'm pretty fucking salty about the whole situation. I love Metroid, and Samus as a character.
Maybe they'll hand development on the next game to Platinum. That could end up being a great move for the series.
Ehhh... I don't think it would translate well to a movie format. It's a rare video game that can make that transition without losing something vital. I don't think Metroid is the kind of game that could do it well.
Metroid isn't a series that would translate particularly well to a movie, despite it borrowing many themes and imagery from movies like Alien. Metroid is about one person navigating an alien landscape/pirate compound alone. If you were to make a movie about it there'd be no dialogue at all - just Samus exploring and shooting critters. And while a good arthouse director/writer team could make that compelling (I'd like to see it shot completely in first person!), it'd never work as a mainstream film. The only game that could potentially be made into a movie is Other M, since it actually has a supporting cast. And I don't think anyone wants to see that.
They could potentially make a movie set in the Metroid universe but then you'd have the Galactic Federation problem where people get pissed off about having Metroid without Samus.
I mean, I understand the sentiment, but _Mad Max: Fury Road_ was only a single step removed from a silent film, and it was about as mainstream as a non-comedy R-rated film can get nowadays. A dialogue-free _Metroid_ movie could work perfectly well - it would just require the filmmakers to realize it can't just be two hours of Samus blasting aliens, it would need to be a quiet, moody film with the instances of bombastic action strategically positioned within the film's structure as a counterpoint to the more contemplative stretches (i.e. pretty much just the same approach to the games take). Any filmmaker who isn't a certified hack could take those guidelines and make at least a decent film out of it, it's just that entrusting Hollywood with even something so simple as putting the project in non-hack hands is such a roll of the dice lately.
Hope everything works out with UA-cam. I'm making sure to not skip ads on your videos and making sure to hit like. I recommend everyone else do the same
Appreciate it, man. :D
No problem
Shenponkybingbong I have like 2K videos in my liked playlist XD
@Shenponkybingbong Honestly that's why the Favorites list exists.
It may be a playlist but 'like' isn't really about building a playlist.
A lot of people must feel the same as you do, which is probably why there is such a disparity between views and likes/dislikes across UA-cam. But liking a video actually is beneficial to the video and the channel, algorithm-wise.
You critique me to sleep almost every night, it's honestly just that relaxing, thank you for this amazing experience
And then Samus Returns comes out.
Do I smell another episode?
Indeed you do, much later
I remember watching these vids like a year or two ago and nostalgia is kicking in
you wanna know why Metroid 2 is the most integral game in the series?
it was the first good one.
people talked about it without mentioning ability to crouch or ability to shoot down.
It was the last good one.*
FTFY
@@kingboobs20 this is bait
Should definitely play AM2R. It does for this game what Zero Mission did for the original. Vastly improves everything and basically replacing them.
I sincerely disagrees.
AM2R takes too many liberties.
It's far inferior compared to the original.
@@Zeithri how exactly is it inferior?
@Niels The Jolteon perhaps too late, but i figured i'd answer on behalf of zeithri. while AM2R pretty much objectively improves the game from a pure gameplay standpoint, it fails to capture the same atmosphere and world (although it replaces it with one equally as good, just in a different way). at least it's not samus returns, i utterly despise what they did.
@@wizradical4905 huh, never noticed that
I guess it's because I don't really care about it capturing the same atmosphere, as long as the atmosphere is good
Rokabur what about 3DS remake vs unofficial one?
Two episodes into this series and you've got yourself a new sub. Fantastic videos, mate. Really enjoying them.
Hey man you definitely deserve more subscribers than you have! Your videos are top notch. Keep it up!
I've re-watched this too many times to count, actually that can be said for all of your series, truly wonderful and I cant wait to see what video comes next!
It's too bad I'm only half way into Super Metroid because I'm really looking forward to the next video. This is a really great series of videos and you've earned a subscriber fair and square. As much as I'm enjoying and savouring Super Metroid, I can't wait to get through it and hear your thoughts on it.
im surprised so few people know about you (I just learned about you myself) because you are very good at this.
Your videos are so well done. They're all professional, dynamic, engaging and thorough. Keep up the outstanding work!
This was my first Metroid game, and it became a legend in my own mind because, first, I couldn't beat the final eight Metroids (I didn't know you needed to use the ice beam on them), and, second, I eventually just up and lost the cartridge. So it was several years from when I first played the game to when I actually finished it, and those were formative years! My imagination of what the game ~could~ be was uninhibited by virtue of the fact that I hadn't yet completed it, so it grew to epic size.
I love this game. Its sense of remoteness, mystery, surrealism, and desolation create a kind of eerie, slow-paced atmosphere that I love. Its visual repetitiveness and minimalism, unlike the "generic" feeling of the original Metroid, created a sort of Kafka-esque nightmare scape for me, as I was always fascinated by vast, nonsensical interior spaces.
The game scared me, too: The quiet level music instantly transitions to the boss music when a Metroid appears, and that usually caught me by surprise. I was a kid and a weak gamer, so the Metroids were hard for me, too, which just made them more scary.
Like you, I like the pseudo-linear progression. "Pseudo" because the individual levels actually are open-ended. Meanwhile, having the mechanic of the acid-filled central tunnel gives the overall game a sense of forward momentum.
I think Metroid II does two things better than Super Metroid, which is indisputably a better game: One, it does a better job of making missiles feel special. In Super Metroid, missiles and even super missiles are weaker than the charge beam. Metroid II makes the missiles feel like the superior firepower that they really ought to be. Two, Metroid II has a stronger sense of desolation. Yes, there's more of a burden on the player's imagination, but, if you're willing to fill in some of the blanks, Samus has a much lonelier and weirder adventure here.
My favorite thing about the game, other than its sense of desolation, is actually the music. The composer made the interesting choice to create all of these wonderful themes for the game--the title and ending themes, the hatchling theme, the final area theme, the boss and last boss themes, the ruins theme, and of course the main tunnel theme--while simultaneously making you actually spend the vast majority of gameplay time in these eerily quiet areas where the sound is just bleeps, blorps, and whirs. I didn't understand as a kid why he had done that, because obviously I would have preferred more of his awesome music during the main levels, but as an adult and a game designer I realize that this was one of the most powerful weapons in the Gameboy arsenal for creating the "eerie" type of atmospheric mood. These quiet ambient tracks draw you into a sense of suspense, because you know that those Metroids are going to leap out at you eventually, and it makes the moment of surprise all the more thrilling. Also, these quiet tracks contrast beautifully with the swelling, heroic sounds of the main tunnel theme, which for me is an even better theme for Samus herself than her theme in Super Metroid. When you leave a level you get the main tunnel music. You feel encouraged and excited and you know you're making forward progress. And when you get to the next level, the feelings of dread and suspense return because the music goes away and you're left all alone again...
> Ruins theme
> Wonderful
Pick one
@@44bigfreezeIt’s good though.
Thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts, these are great videos.
I just beat this game last night and I loved it. All in black & white, and with an ingenious negative palette, the brooding, solitary atmosphere won me over instantly. I found the progression structure interesting, with a set order of "levels", but each of the areas themselves very open. I didn't mind the repetitive metroid fights, they still felt intense because of the cramped visuals, and anyway for me the game was mostly about exploration - the interesting part was finding all of the bastards' hideouts. I was impressed by the implicit, minimal storytelling - the game builds a narrative purely around gameplay, through level design and creating a mood. The simple detail of the metroid counter in the lower right corner gives you a tangible reminder of how you're inching your way forward.
After a grueling experience with NES Metroid, which started out terrific but then gradually turned excitement into frustration, I was able to complete the game without looking anything up. Took me over 9 hours, and I did miss a bunch of upgrades, but didn't really need them thanks to the overlapping of some of the abilities. I did eventually resort to a savestate before the final boss's room after dying to it a dozen times and still having no idea how to kill it, just to save me the several minutes of running through the whole now-empty level every time. Not a huge fan of boss battles in general.
Anyways, this has got to be the best game on the original Gameboy... aside from TETRIS of course! ;)
I know this is years too late, but I still think it's worth sharing. Omegas take more damage if you shoot them in the back. This means that it is more than possible to go through the endgame omega gauntlet without having to go back for a recharge, so long as you land your shots well. I play the game to 100% when I go through it, which means I have 250 missiles going into that section, and usually still have around 100 left leaving it. So, even if you don't play for 100%, you should still be able to get through that section in one shot.
I take offense to the people who think this game is bad and love Super Metroid, because this game set so many standards that Super Metroid used. Not just story but the size of Samus' sprite, multiple power ups, progression and so much more. It was amazing that this game could even be made on the Game Boy. Super Metroid did improve things, but I still feel that Metroid II is my favorite. And for all the people who keep asking for Metroid games that have more isolation and atmosphere, this game did both of those the best in the whole series. Not to mention its the only game in the series that really does focus on its namesake. I want new Metroid games to be more like this one.
Also, my best time is 1:04.
It's been 4 years, still very polished and rewatchable
9:14 This is EXACTLY why I hate trophies/achievements with games now. People put too much focus on these things rather than just enjoying the game first. Playing and finishing a game and then going back to 100% is one thing, but feeling the NEED to 100% on your first playthrough is just stupid. The sad thing is that Sony and Microsoft have noticed this focus on trophies/achievements and are starting to make software design choices based on that; the ridiculously large trophy icons on the PS5 when you push the PS Button is really irritating.
My favorite part about the original metroid trilogy is the relationship between the hardware and the narrative. Metroid I and Super Metroid take place on Zebes. Metroid II takes places on SR388. The NES used a processor based on the 6502, and the SNES used a processor that was a 16 bit version of that processor, the 65816. If I recall correctly, the 65816 can run 6502 code (there were probably plans to have the SNES and NES be backwards compatible at one point) and can run in a 6502 compatibility mode. The gameboy uses a different but similarly well known CPU called the Z80. I love this relationship and the fact that Metroid 1, as you intimate (haven't seen your review of metroid 1 yet), is pretty astonishingly near unplayable despite it's iconic status (coming back to life with 30 health just seems like they didn't even play test the game in America). I like to think of Metroid 1 as a kind of faded memory, or a story that mutates by being passed down, and Super Metroid as the cathartic clarity and reflection.
I think Super Mario World is maybe a better, tighter, game and it is amazing what people have been doing with code injection in that game, but the first 3 metroid games are something truly special.
19:41 the baby..
This was the first metroid game I played way back in 1993, good memories.the soundtrack was excellent for a game boy title.
Loving the Metroid vids and really enjoy your analytical look at these games, so I whitelisted your channel on adblock. It's the least I could do I figured. :)
I just played all the 2d games for the first time (after dread and samus returns got me interested) and it makes watching these again fun cause I better understand some comments and points you're making. This series is fantastic.
I especially relate to needing to change my mindset to love these games. I always went crazy trying to check everything after each upgrade but it made it not fun. Now I just see what I can get before the end and everything I miss gets a "oh well" from me now. Makes each run more fun.
2 might have my favorite vibe especially in AM2R
I remember jumping before each boss came about. I had so much fun when I was little playing this game. I'm glad I was able to beat it when I was little!
It took me until a couple years ago to get around to beating Metroid II, and I was so glad I did. Flawed as it is, its highlights make up for the shittier parts. And that theme that plays when you reach the baby... chills, every single time.
Oh man. That was the very first game I ever bought for myself with my own money, a very large milestone for a kid. But I loved the spider ball and the exploration it offered. I found so many pointless dead-end tunnels on ceilings. But I found if you used the springball in those tunnels you could bounce the screen down to see a bunch of various landscape assets that didn't belong in the area.
Also dispite all my playthroughs I never knew the queen could eat you!
I've been playing this game on the 3ds eshop for days on end because of this video, I love it so much! It is my favorite metroid by far now
One of the few channels that I have white listed... Thank you for the amazing content.
coming here right after finishing the game, can't wait to hear the review of it
I'm in love with this game; I got to play it on a Game Boy Pocket and honestly don't know how I managed to finish it 2 times.
It got me so engrossed and invested like no other thing did at the time.
The music -or rather, those sound effects mashups- sounded so hostile and alien, sucking you in on that tiny green/black screen.
I clearly remember the first time I got the Varia Suit and felt exactly as you were describing, besides looking so cool.
Regardless, the #1 fan of this game clearly is DoctorM64, now part of the fantastic MOON Studios, with his AM2R.
Excellent video; I'm in love with this game; wish I could know why.
Fun fact: if one does not acquire the varia suit, the credits run is the power suit.
Metroid captured my imagination when I was a kid, it was tied with Zelda in being my favorite game. Two memories have stuck with me to this day. First was reading the manual and checking out the map from a new copy of Zelda while on a car ride home from Sudbury. Second was getting a copy of Metroid 2 as a 'just because' gift from my Ma, and my disbelief that I could play Metroid, a NEW Metroid anywhere I wanted on my Gameboy. I LOVED this game, and my nostalgia for this one is the strongest of and game I've played. The boxart still brings it back every time.
Edit: Was that school in Little Current on Manitoulin Island by any chance?
That's great to see your generation reacting to those games from mine. Really Interesting to see the clash!
The new Metroid Samus Returns for 3DS will blow your mind. The remake of 2 we've all been waiting for. It's one of the best in the entire series.
Just finished it today. I can vouch for its merits.
Jimmy Meredith ..Metroid samus returns is definitely an amazing game and I love it
15:07 - 16:05 I agree a lot with this tbh. Add to that the fact that every other boss in metroid games has an attack that lets you replenish health. I wish the games had like an adaptive damage multiplier for the enemies or something like that on higher difficulties, ie. The more energy tanks/missile expansions you have, the more damage enemies will dish out, and maybe even an option to reduce the health drop %? I think options like that would go a long way into making the games more challenging
I recently played original Metroid 2 on the 3DS Virtual Console, and some of my thoughts...
- The small screen size is intimidating at first, but the game's camera is smarter than NES Metroid by placing you off-center so you can see more in the direction you're facing, which helps alleviate this. By the time you're even halfway through you've likely stopped noticing that you can only see 10x10 tiles at a time.
- It is curious how often you hear Main BGM Theme. It really makes you feel like you've returned to a central "hub" after clearing out a section of Metroids. I also love how you can actually walk around INSIDE Samus's ship. There's not exactly anything to see (just an Energy Recharge on the left side and Missile Recharge on the right side), but this feels a bit more engaging than in later games where you just press Down to "enter" the ship, before popping back out again to return to gameplay. Kinda like how in Metroid Prime 3 where entering Samus's ship actually shows you Samus in the cockpit seat (and various mundane things you can interact with).
- Like NES Metroid, Metroid 2 reuses level assets and setpieces on a full-screen basis (every 16x16 tiles), leading to many segments that are nearly identical visually. Confusing, but like the NES original you slowly get used to it. I wanted to avoid looking up any guides or maps (and mostly succeeded), and actually didn't get nearly as lost as I feared I might.
- I did however get stuck in Area 3 for quite some time because of one final pesky Metroid in the area I just couldn't seem to locate. Turns out I had mistaken the water in this area for lava/acid and merely just refused to explore it, because everything else was smooth(er) sailing after that.
- I like how the Metroids have different attack patterns even on the GB. Sure, Alphas just ram you and Gammas do the same except stopping to fire off lightning, but the Zetas have COMPLETELY different movement, and ... honestly, I don't remember much about the Omegas.
- Spider Ball is slow and Space Jump is just as wonky here as it was in Super (i.e. if you don't use it near the peak of your previous jump, you can't use it at all).
- In the final areas I found myself having to scavenge for supplies (mainly Missiles) more than once. When you need to take down three Omegas but only have 80 Missiles left ... later, I actually ran out of Missiles with just one Metroid Larva remaining before the Queen, and fun fact: if you drop into the Queen's lair prematurely, the room is just empty. Fortunately, I was correct to assume the final area had Energy and Missile recharge points, it just took me another look around to find it.
- It's a good thing I saved a Restore Point outside the Queen Metroid's lair, because, wow did I get killed a lot. It was 40 minutes later before I finally took down the Queen -- not for lack of knowing about the bomb trick, but for having to figure out (no guides no maps) how to actually _do_ it. She went down super fast once I figured it out, but it was an _excellent_ battle in the meantime.
I got into the video game franchise in may the first week of may
I first played super Metroid when I was about six on my dad's customer's Nintendo. I didn't know what I was doing, I just loaded the save and played the escape over and over. But I loved it. Took many years to find out what the name of that game was but it also made a huge impression on me. andentually had zero mission on gba in grade school. Love metroid
I love this game, it was my first entry into Metroid (played it when it first came out!) and I've loved Metroid ever since. I think Metroid is under rated by a lot of folks simply because it was a Game Boy title, but it has a lot of strengths (although yes it has weaknesses to). I will say one thing though, you mentioned having to go all the way back to the energy recharge in the previous area once you got into the Omega section and mentioned it being required. Well, I didn't do that the first time I played, by the time I got to the Omegas, I figured out their pattern quickly (zetas are very similar) and was able to defeat them all without dying (sure, I had about 80 energy left, but I did it). I then proceeded to the last area where I found a recharge there. I look forward to seeing your Samus Returns critique!
This is my favorite metroid review of yours. I myself have also had a recent interest in this franchise and this game stands out the most to me
elementary school 20 years ago.... I was a junior in hs..... Damn I'm old
It's hard to believe now, but this game blew my mind back in '91. I'd only discovered the original a year or so before, and could never get anywhere, finding it equal parts fascinating and frustrating. Metroid 2 not only answered every critique I had of the original but, as a growing Alien and Aliens fanboy, I felt like my very prayers had been answered. Still a fave, warts and all
I never realized that you could go inside the queen and bomb her. I just always missiled her to death. Just found out about the bomb thing like 2 years ago. I've been playing Metroid 2 for 30 years... Hell, my times on it are pretty good too (under 2 hours I think?). I've probably beaten it about 5 times. But yeah, didn't know about the bomb thing.
I was curious about this game and glad I found this. I’ve played this game since I was 3-4 and just got it on my 3ds and love replaying it.
I never knew it had color, but I only played it on the gameboy
I absolutely loved this game! I am playing it on the Super Game Boy right now and loving every moment of it.
I'm loving that 'In a Gadda da Vida' reference in the music.
Man, I remember playing this game yet and don't know how I did it in the last level cuz I clearly remember not going back for recharge. Maybe there was one or some farming enemy? What was more surprising was finding every beam and just go naturally even until the end changing and cycling on Ice for the last ones
This game was great. But it was difficult to make my maps for personal use. they changed the formula for size of areas to explore and those familliar doors were not as prominent if I recall right.
So I played this game on the 3ds virtual console ages ago and loved it, but got stuck on the queen and could never beat her, well tonight I decided to pick it back up and finish that file and after three tries I finally beat her and saw the lovely ending. My time was 9,53 though but still so happy to have finally finished this game.
Can't seem to push myself to finish Samus Returns though, probably half way through, but every time I pick it up I just feel like putting it down.
this ending is more than satisfying though, and I'm really enjoying my play through of Dread!
Metroid Samus Returns.
now we get metroid: samus returns in 2017