Summer Games Challenge 2016

[Exhuminator]

I decided to move on to Metroid 2: Return of Samus

I hope you enjoy it.

I beat it myself only a few short years ago, and I walked away rather disappointed. I won't harp on why that was, because I don't want to sour the experience for you. I will say that Metroid 2 did a fair job of differentiating itself from its predecessor.

[Key-Glyph]

You actually can't progress to new sections of the map until you've cleared out all the metroids in an area if I recall correctly, so you should be OK.

Yup, that seems to be the case. Harmful water (lava?) blocks off paths, and its draining is directly related to defeating metroids.

I beat it myself only a few short years ago, and I walked away rather disappointed. I won't harp on why that was, because I don't want to sour the experience for you. I will say that Metroid 2 did a fair job of differentiating itself from its predecessor.

I'm sorry to hear you were disappointed. It's a different experience to be sure, but I like it for what it is so far.

Without getting into too many details (i.e. no spoilers please), what could it have done to make you like it more? Is it just that it's not like the first Metroid, and that's what you really wanted? I'd also be interested to hear whether or not your expectations were fulfilled by Super Metroid, and why. I haven't played it yet, so I have no frame of reference. That will hopefully change next summer.

Don't worry about souring the experience. That won't happen.

Also, nice to hear I'm not the only one who isn't touching B quest in Zelda.

[Exhuminator]

what could it have done to make you like it more?

The environments ran together and felt very samey, to the point of being mundane. Now granted the GB is black and white, so having varied colored environs isn't an option. However, the tile sets could have been varied to a far greater degree, with more detail, in order to individualize the areas more specifically.

Metroid II's OST is paltry compared to Metroid's.

Exploration didn't feel as rewarding as it did in Metroid, mainly due to the specific "find and destroy all metroids" quest. You always knew what you'd find as you bungled along, cast off metroid casings and metroids to kill.

The final boss was kinda dumb. It's a simple puzzle. Once you solve the puzzle, killing the final boss is a total joke. No epic battle like with Mother Brain.

Out of all the 2D Metroids, this is the only one that Yoshio Sakamoto didn't direct, and you can just tell. That said, Metroid II still manages to give you the "Metroid feels" from time to time, so it's not like the game outright stinks. It's still in the upper echelon of GB games.

I'd also be interested to hear whether or not your expectations were fulfilled by Super Metroid, and why.

I bought Super Metroid on its release day back in high school. I was not disappointed. The game blew my mind and then some. It is a true legendary classic. You're in for a helluva good time. Also, Metroid Fusion and Metroid Zero Mission on GBA are phenomenal games as well.

[Xeogred]

Super Metroid is my favorite game of all time next to Link to the Past.

I tried many a times to power through Metroid 2, but I can't. Samus takes up half the screen, no BGM, and the ball wall/ceiling gimmick got old instantly.

I grew up on Metroid and still love it to this day, so it's not like 2 was something I just couldn't go back to. Even as a kid I disliked it, especially compared to say, Link's Awakening which I still can't understand how that one was crammed into the GB.

I do like Blaster Master NES more than the original Metroid though, but in fairness it came out two years later so it had some obvious advancements. An SNES follow up to Blaster Master has always been my dream game, instead we got that crappy Genesis one. The PSX game is weird but kind of cool actually, but yeah. None of the sequels ever came close to how amazing the first game was.

[Sarge]

Have you tried Overdrive on WiiWare? That's actually pretty good. Maybe not quite as good as the NES one, but it's better than the others. I did really like the PSX one, though.

[alienjesus]

I struggle to choose between Starfox, Super Metroid and Donkey Kong Country 3 for my favourite game on SNES. Either way, Super Metroid is absolutely fantastic.

[Xeogred]

Have you tried Overdrive on WiiWare? That's actually pretty good. Maybe not quite as good as the NES one, but it's better than the others. I did really like the PSX one, though.

Never tried it, because the sound/controls looked... awkward to say the least. I hate to rag on it before even trying it out, but it just had this really tacky look to it. But I did generally hear good things about it.

[Exhuminator]

An SNES follow up to Blaster Master has always been my dream game

Mine would be a SNES sequel to my favorite NES game, so it'd be called Super Bionic Commando. Except it'd be done in a more metroidvania style, where you explore a militarized island, infiltrating as you see fit (or rather as bionic arm enhancements allow). I've played this game many times in my head, it's glorious guys.

Have you tried Overdrive on WiiWare? That's actually pretty good.

I would almost agree with you, but Overdrive was a bit too punishing. It's not very well balanced, and the amount of hate it throws at the player eventually put me off. (Not that the original Blaster Master is a piece of cake either.)

[Sarge]

The controls are a bit weird. I made it work, but it's a bit sub-optimal. They should have included Classic Controller support. Vic Ireland claimed he wanted to get it patched in, but it never happened to my knowledge.

Exhuminator's right about the game getting brutal. A lot of the bosses are bullet-hell-worthy sequences. Which would be alright if getting hit didn't drain your weapon levels. I got through it with some difficulty, and certainly got my $10 worth out of it, though.

I will say, however, that the aesthetics left a bit to be desired. It reminded me in some ways of like a fan remake / followup to the original, with a sort of early Windows '95 DirectX style. It's certainly not a perfect game, but it's the closest thing I've seen to anything in the series approaching Blaster Master's level of competence.

[Xeogred]

This is Hell.

Metroid has some of the best atmosphere ever on the NES. But Level 8 from BM is still probably the most evil level of all time to me.