bigcheese wrote:Wow, thanks everybody. I'm going to play the NES original first. And then I can play Zero Mission and enjoy the differences. I'm looking forward to it
This was a question I had myself and I had reached the same conclusion - play original first, then the "remake".
Ivo.
Updating this as I completed Zero Mission recently (with 100% as well - darn some of those energy tanks are difficult to get, but not as much as the Megaman Zero 2 100%).
In honesty after trying the original NES game I can't recommend playing the original and enjoying the differences. There is just no real reason to not have some of the modern conveniences. Zero Mission is the better game with similar / same level design. I'm still rather impressed by the quality of the map layout of the original (I'm assuming it is as similar as it appeared in the starting part, as I didn't play further than the starting location). It is just that the actual game engine really sucks comparatively. It wasn't nearly as bad with Zelda games for example: compare NES Zelda to Link to the Past and the original's engine is also much poorer, but I really feel it is still worth to play the Original there.
I don't know why people are saying that the original Metroid has aged terribly. I played Super Metroid first, and I still loved playing through the original. I'll admit I've never played Zero Mission, but I don't need to because the first is loads of awesome.
latenitevacancy wrote:the remake's got a map. and for that, its infinitely better.
I am playing through the original, but i've stopped for a few weeks. I'm up to the last area with the Metroids and realize I can't get past them without the stupid ice beam. So now I have to back-track and refill all my tanks because they start you with 30hp.
Man... I love this game, but 20 years later I still do not miss password save systems. Thank goodness I can just take a picture of them with my phone instead of writing them down. Metroid is especially a pain because of the lower case letters.
The original is a classic for the influence it has had in the genre, but decades later it just doesn't hold up quite as well. When I pop my original Metroid cart into the NES, I find the game rather awkward and unforgiving despite its brilliance.
Metroid: Zero Mission is the quintessential Metroid game. If you never play any other Metroid game, play Zero Mission.
Go with the original. I played it growing up as well and never made it anywhere and playing it again and actually progressing was very exciting. I played the NES Classics version and loved that I didn't need to put in a code. Rediscovering Metroid is actually what got me into retrogaming in college.
"There are two ways to get enough. One way is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less." G.K. Chesterton
fvgazi wrote:
I've wanted to play Zero Mission after I'm done. Does it happen to have save slots?
Yes it has save slots and it maps the game for you.
The lack of automap and the password system are just inconvenient.
As for drawing the map yourself, that may actually be fun if you have more free time than I have I guess. I have other games to play though - and I hate memorizing stuff so I would need to draw it or consult something, particularly as this game is huge and you have to backtrack and explore the map is really missed. You can get around the password by playing on an emulator but in order to "fake" the automap you basically need to spoil the whole map by using one from the web (and either print it or alt tab or whatever).
Glad you decided on the NES version first. I've made the error of playing an enhanced remake a few times before, and cheated myself out of the authentic experience. Once I've already beat the remake it's very difficult to commit to playing through the original without the enhancements (which are usually commonplace by that time) added to the original. I'll agree with the others about the two games being very different tho. I've played through both of them a couple of times and enjoyed every minute of it. Good games are timeless.
emwearz wrote:I played through the NES original last year for the first time and it played great, I printed out a nice color map and off I went.
Loved it and couldn't suggest it enough.
I actually intend to do this myself and use save states over the password system, but it is fair to say it is a less than ideal way of "auto-mapping" as it already spoils the whole map in advance. I still expect it to be an enjoyable experience, but I doubt it will compare favorably to Zero Mission. In fact I actually think the unlocked Metroid on Zero mission lets you save midway so I'll probably just use that.
