Super Metroid

[Xeogred]

Did you get the X-Ray Scope?

[MrPopo]

I've found this weird chozo statue that's stuck in a bunch of rocks that I can't get out of, but I will try it out with the hints you guys gave me so far and see what I can do. Thanks

That's an important room.

[ZeroAX]

Found it. I forgot to mention that I already had the screw attack. I was getting past the room with the rising lava that you had to sprint through using the screw attack (I was using mega bombs before). But then I gave up and checked a guide.....turns out i could use the screw attack to get to the top of the next room, but never did so for some reason. Not sure if that counts as me using a walkthrough or not .

Anyway, got my ass kicked by ripley (Mostly because I spent all my HP and rockets trying to kill those 2 annoying space pirates in the room in front of him) and switched it off. Getting really close I guess

[MrPopo]

You already had the Space Jump, not the Screw Attack. You don't get the Screw Attack until you get past the rising acid room.

[ZeroAX]

You already had the Space Jump, not the Screw Attack. You don't get the Screw Attack until you get past the rising acid room.

The screw attack is the one where if you somersault your spin kills the enemies right? I had that already. Maybe we're talking about different acid rooms.

[ZeroAX]

So 20 years after I first tried out the game at a best buy demo kiosk, I finally have beaten Super Metroid. In 9:45 minutes without the use of a guide till the last 15 minutes of the game (I couldn't figure out how to kill the fucking metroids and had to google it. I don't remember of any other enemy in the game that required the use of 2 different weapons to kill them, so kudos game designer). Item discovery rate of 69% (not sure if that's good for a first playthrough without a guide).

All I can say: I get it. I totally get what all the fuss is about. I haven't played a game that gave me such a feeling of artisan quality in a long time. FULL DISCLAIMER this isn't a game I should like. And by that I mean, it's not really a genre that I enjoy. Looking in every nook and cranny for secrets, slow pace, not a lot of shooting. No fun mobility till the last 4th of the game. This should really be something I shouldn't like.

But like a Miyazaki film when it comes to anime, a Beethoven symphony when it comes to classical music, a Queen song when it comes to rock music, this game is just something truly special that you end up liking even if you don't like the genre overall. I think there is a reason it hasn't been bested, even by Nintendo themselves. This game is just so...perfect. It's by far the best SNES game in my opinion.

Not Zelda like most people say, which has been bested by many sequels.

Not Donkey Kong Country 2 & 3, even though they (still) are my favorite games on the system and overall amazing platformers.

Not Yoshi's Island, Megaman X2 and a myriad of other amazing games. No, THIS ONE. Because this game truly is a case study is game design (the building blocks of the game are solid), world design (the entire map is so interconnected and feels so natural), level design (every room is unique, even if they don't seem like that, and offers a different variety on the same challenges and obstacles) and story telling through gameplay (I really DID feel like an explorer in an alien world). I think EVERY game design major should have its students play this game again and again.


Will I come back to it? Not sure. As I said it's not really my cup of tea when I just want to unwind. But boy, was this game something. I'm really glad I finally got to experience it.

[MrPopo]

(I couldn't figure out how to kill the fucking metroids and had to google it. I don't remember of any other enemy in the game that required the use of 2 different weapons to kill them, so kudos game designer).

So that is a carry over from the first Metroid; you also had to freeze them and then missile them. It was explicitly called out in the Metroid manual and I don't remember if it was called out in the Super Metroid manual.

[ZeroAX]

So that is a carry over from the first Metroid; you also had to freeze them and then missile them. It was explicitly called out in the Metroid manual and I don't remember if it was called out in the Super Metroid manual.

Since I was playing it on the snes mini anyway and since Nintendo was too cheap/lazy to put the manuals in the game, I don't think there was any way for me to find that out other than by accident (or well, googling).

[MrPopo]

They put together a website with PDFs of all the manuals if I recall correctly. I know it definitely had the Earthbound guide in it.

[ZeroAX]

They put together a website with PDFs of all the manuals if I recall correctly. I know it definitely had the Earthbound guide in it.

I haven't read any of them tbh. But it's true, they have a QR code in place of the manual in the game