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Super Metroid Review


Zera
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Greetings, folks. This is a review of Super Metroid, the third game in the Metroid series. Although the original released on the SNES in 1994, it was released on the Virtual Console for the Wii in 2007 and Wii U in 2013. Super Metroid is widely regarded by critics as a masterpiece and one the greatest videogames of all time. Does it live up to the praise?

Presentation: The graphics are excellent, with detailed environments and subtle animations that bring them to life. For example, the hotter areas of Norfair have glowing animations on rocks and shifting backgrounds (a real life phenomenon called heat haze), which make it clear that you are in magma caverns.

http://youtu.be/v2tyrDjRmhI?t=2m10s

The music is simply fantastic. Have a listen (and leave it on for a better review-reading experience).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pim1s_DBR64

If you've played Metroid Prime 2: Echoes before and that music sounds familiar, it's no coincidence

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VGuWDQBXrU

This is what I call reverse nostalgia. Gotta love playing games in the wrong order.

Controls: Inputs are responsive, and even customizable. Despite this, Super Metroid is one of the few Nintendo games to have imperfect controls. The issue is that there are three main action buttons - run, jump, and fire. Since they are all mapped to face buttons, it is rather difficult to run, jump, and shoot at the same time, so you'll usually be running and jumping or jumping and shooting. These functions can also be mapped to the L and R buttons, but doing so will sacrifice the ability to aim diagonally up or down without moving (although the former is far more useful). At least your wrist won't hurt like heck after playing for four hours like in Kid Icarus Uprising, and the difficulty is lenient enough that you should be able to clear the game regardless of your control setup.

Gameplay: Many have likened Metroid Prime to Super Metroid in 3D. By that same logic, Super Metroid is like Metroid Prime in 2D. You get to explore an alien planet, and find upgrades as you go. I would like to mention a few differences though. There's a lot more platforming in this game, and some of the upgrades are purely for traversal. I particularly like the Speed Booster, which lets you run fast enough to compete with Sonic the Hedgehog. There are also a lot of hidden blocks, by which I mean destructible blocks disguised as part of the environment. Bombs will reveal their true identity, however, and an optional upgrade called the X-Ray Scope makes it very easy to find hidden secrets. Speaking of secrets, some of them are really surprising.

http://youtu.be/qxemA-51oog?t=3m40s

As you can see in that video, you can use the Morph Ball in an item room to find a secret area with a Missile pack. But if you destroy the wall, you'll find another Missile pack. It's a secret in a secret! In a similar room where you find the Bomb item, the item statue will come to life and try to kill you. These are some of the crazy things you can find in this game.

Flaws: A few times there were hidden collapsing blocks right before Missile packs, which forced me to replay sections for no good reason. During the boss fight with Phantoon, it is nearly impossible to avoid taking damage unless you use a hidden technique called the Spin Jump Attack. There are other hidden techniques like this, but none of them are ever required and exist mostly for veterans and speedrunners who want to "sequence break" and find shortcuts (The ending is slightly different depending on how quickly you clear the game). There are also gates that can be opened by hitting a button on one side, but these shut again if you re-enter the room, which can force needless backtracking.

Conclusion: Super Metroid is an all around excellent game. It's not perfect, but it has held up extremely well. If you're a Metroid fan to any degree, then you, by definition, will play this eventually. Even if you're not a Metroid fan, it's still worthwhile to enjoy one of the best games on the SNES, and one of the most critically praised 2D games in existence. Unless you want to carry more than 230 missiles. In that case, you should try a Bangai-O game instead.

9 out of 10 (Awesome!)

Edited by Zera
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Did you actually type up a review for an extremely popular/classic 21-year old game? And you gave it a 9/10?

...

Penny-Arcade sums up how I feel about people reviewing classic, and massively popular/critically-acclaimed games... Twenty to thirty years later:

217514937_BzdhQ-1050x10000.jpg

Edited by Kye
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Greetings, folks. This is a review of Super Metroid, the third game in the Metroid series. Although the original released on the SNES in 1994, it was released on the Virtual Console for the Wii in 2007 and Wii U in 2013. Super Metroid is widely regarded by critics as a masterpiece and one the greatest videogames of all time. Does it live up to the praise?

Presentation (Eye Candy and Ear Candy): The graphics are excellent, with detailed environments and subtle animations that bring them to life. For example, the hotter areas of Norfair have glowing animations on rocks and shifting backgrounds (a real life phenomenon called heat haze), which make it clear that you are in magma caverns.

http://youtu.be/v2tyrDjRmhI?t=2m10s

The music is simply fantastic. Have a listen (and leave it on for a more enjoyable review-reading experience).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pim1s_DBR64

If you've played Metroid Prime 2: Echoes before and that music sounds familiar, it's no coincidence

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VGuWDQBXrU

This is what I call reverse nostalgia. Gotta love playing games in the wrong order.

The subjective music part is in but thats your opinion and I like super metroid music too :3

Controls (Hand Candy): Inputs are responsive, and even customizable. Despite this, Super Metroid is one of the few Nintendo games to have imperfect controls. The issue is that there are three main action buttons - fire, jump, and run. Due to the layout of face buttons on most controllers, it is physically impossible to have simultaneous access to three face buttons at the same time. No matter how you set up the controls, they will never be perfect.

If the fire and jump buttons aren't adjacent, it will be more difficult to jump and fire a charged shot.

If the run and jump buttons aren't adjacent, it will be more difficult to jump to distant platforms.

If the fire and run buttons aren't adjacent, it will be more difficult to "run and gun"

These functions can also be mapped to the L and R buttons, but doing so will sacrifice the ability to aim diagonally up or down without moving (the former is far more useful, though). At least your wrist won't hurt like heck after playing for four hours like in Kid Icarus Uprising, and the difficulty is just lenient enough that you should be able to clear the game regardless of your control setup.

Gameplay (Mind Candy): Many have likened Metroid Prime to Super Metroid in 3D. So, by definition, Super Metroid is like Metroid Prime in 2D. Well, that was easy. I would like to mention a few differences though. There's a lot more platforming in this game, and some of the upgrades are purely for traversal. There are also a lot of "invisible" blocks, by which I mean destructible blocks disguised as part of the environment. Bombs will reveal their true identity, however, and an optional upgrade called the X-Ray Scope makes it very easy to find hidden secrets. Speaking of secrets, some of them are really surprising.

http://youtu.be/qxemA-51oog?t=3m40s

As you can see in that video, you can use the Morph Ball in an item room to find a secret area with a Missile pack. But if you destroy the wall, you'll find another Missile pack. It's a secret in a secret! In a similar room where you find the Bomb item, the item statue will come to life and try to kill you. These are some of the crazy things you can find in this game.

Meh controls >Not mind candy and its not very difficult to interest your mind but its preety darn good

Flaws (Bitter Candy): In addition to getting used to the controls, there were a couple of less enjoyable points in my nine hour adventure. A few times there were hidden collapsing blocks right before Missile packs, which forced me to replay sections for no good reason. During the boss fight with Phantoon, it is nearly impossible to avoid taking damage unless you use a hidden technique called the Spin Jump Attack. There are other secret techniques like this, but none of them are ever required and exist solely for veterans and speedrunners who want to "sequence break" and find shortcuts (The ending is slightly different depending on how quickly you clear the game).

Conclusion (Aftertaste of Candy): Super Metroid is an all around excellent game. It's not perfect, but it's still a classic. If you're a Metroid fan to any degree, then you, by definition, will play this eventually. Even if you're not a Metroid fan, it's still worth experiencing one of the best games on the SNES, and one of the most influential 2D games in existence. Unless you want to carry more than 230 missiles. In that case, you should try a Bangai-O game instead.

9/10 Awesome!

For me its 8.5/10 Great! (Controls only thing not making it a 9)

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Did you actually type up a review for an extremely popular/classic 21-year old game? And you gave it a 9/10?

Yes.

post-6674-0-38757300-1425495481_thumb.jpg

If you found my review lacking, feel free to leave constructive feedback.

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Do you have tiny fingers?

My fingers are long if anything. The buttons are farther apart on the Wii U gamepad.

Edited by Zera
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If the fire and jump buttons aren't adjacent, it will be more difficult to jump and fire a charged shot.

If the run and jump buttons aren't adjacent, it will be more difficult to jump to distant platforms.

If the fire and run buttons aren't adjacent, it will be more difficult to "run and gun"

I'm still not seeing the struggle here. Your thumb should easily be able to hit any combination of 2 buttons with relative ease (forget the Xray scope button nobody cares about that anymore)

Default X(shoot) + A(jump) is easy to utilize. It's your thumb's natural state to handle button presses like this.

Default B(Dash) + A(jump) shouldn't be hard since you are able to handle your thumb's tip by pressing downward to hit these two buttons, assuming you have a fairly typical thumb

Default B(Dash) + X(shoot) shouldn't be that hard either if your thumb is not exceptionally wide since you should be able to press B (with your thumb's knuckle) and X (with your thumb's tip) fairly easily without mashing A to jump, since A is off to the side, and none of the SNES buttons are overly sensitive.

c87660f887.jpg

with your naturally long fingers, i'm not sure how you have trouble connecting B and X by default.

I'm also assuming you don't use Y.

The horizontal gap between BY->A is pretty huge. If your thumb cannot reach B-Y, and/or hits A when you're pressing B-Y, then it's a personal preference and assumption. I've never had any trouble with it, and I've been playing this game since its release without any hitch that I can recall with control input.


Not being able to dodge Phantoon is reason for a point deduction? If anything, this implies that the slightest bit of challenge is too much for you to enjoy, and this goes against your idea of enjoying the difficulty of the game.

Spin Jump attack being a "hidden" technique? If you've never held a charge shot while jumping, and accidentally bumped into something hostile, then I guess you might not know about this, but I wouldn't call it a "hidden" technique. Heck, you'd be accurate in your description of "hidden" techniques if you talked about Wall Jumping, which the game only teaches you through a single optional sequence at one stage of the game, and the game doesn't even describe how to perform a Shinespark (required for about 10% of the powerups) unless you experiment for 30 seconds with the controls while using the Speed Booster. Deducting a point for Phantoon's difficulty is hard to swallow, as this boss isn't gamebreakingly difficult or anything. Time consuming? Sure. Challenging? Yea ok.

Hidden floor blocks spoiling your fun? Ok I can see this being a valid complaint for the... I think 8-10% of optional powerups that are directly related to this. They aren't exceedingly difficult to traverse, especially when you get the Screw Attack and can more or less fly forever. I'm willing to let this slide for a valid deduction, though I'd give it a half point deduct if at all, for not having the game make every secret easily available, even if you can see it.

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Thanks for your feedback.

(forget the Xray scope button nobody cares about that anymore)

But I like the X-Ray Scope. It almost completely eliminates the need for a guide when gunning for 100%, and it's a unique item that is especially useful with so many hidden blocks. Now that I think about it, it's actually a lot like the scan visor in Metroid Prime when it comes to finding secrets.

...i'm not sure how you have trouble connecting B and X by default.

(A/B) (B/Y) (A/X) just feel more natural.

I'm also assuming you don't use Y.

I mapped fire to Y, and item select to X.

Spin Jump attack being a "hidden" technique?

It appears in the first title screen demo reel, but the game itself never shows it as with the Walljump and Shinespark. It's a subtle mechanic that I never discovered until reading a guide for Phantoon.

Not being able to dodge Phantoon is reason for a point deduction? If anything, this implies that the slightest bit of challenge is too much for you to enjoy, and this goes against your idea of enjoying the difficulty of the game.

I never said Phantoon was too difficult. Only that he required a technique the player might not even know. Also, I forgot to mention the Save Point that you can't even use until you beat him.

Hidden floor blocks spoiling your fun? Ok I can see this being a valid complaint for the... I think 8-10% of optional powerups that are directly related to this. I'm willing to let this slide for a valid deduction, though I'd give it a half point deduct if at all, for not having the game make every secret easily available, even if you can see it.

http://youtu.be/qxemA-51oog?t=2m50s

See those two Missile packs? Because of the layout of collapse blocks, the only way to get both is to go through the same acid gauntlet twice. I thought I had to jump over them like in similar scenarios, so I played the section four times. If it didn't take five minutes to get back there every time, it would be fine.

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(forget the Xray scope button nobody cares about that anymore)

But I like the X-Ray Scope. It almost completely eliminates the need for a guide when gunning for 100%, and it's a unique item that is especially useful with so many hidden blocks. Now that I think about it, it's actually a lot like the scan visor in Metroid Prime when it comes to finding secrets.

...i'm not sure how you have trouble connecting B and X by default.

(A/B) (B/Y) (A/X) just feel more natural.

I'm also assuming you don't use Y.

I mapped fire to Y, and item select to X.

Spin Jump attack being a "hidden" technique?

It appears in the first title screen demo reel, but the game itself never shows it as with the Walljump and Shinespark. It's a subtle mechanic that I never discovered until reading a guide for Phantoon.

Not being able to dodge Phantoon is reason for a point deduction? If anything, this implies that the slightest bit of challenge is too much for you to enjoy, and this goes against your idea of enjoying the difficulty of the game.

I never said Phantoon was too difficult. Only that he required a technique the player might not even know. Also, I forgot to mention the Save Point that you can't even use until you beat him.

Hidden floor blocks spoiling your fun? Ok I can see this being a valid complaint for the... I think 8-10% of optional powerups that are directly related to this. I'm willing to let this slide for a valid deduction, though I'd give it a half point deduct if at all, for not having the game make every secret easily available, even if you can see it.

http://youtu.be/qxemA-51oog?t=2m50s

See those two Missile packs? Because of the layout of collapse blocks, the only way to get both is to go through the same acid gauntlet twice. I thought I had to jump over them like in similar scenarios, so I played the section four times. If it didn't take five minutes to get back there every time, it would be fine.

Valid point re: X-ray scope, it is always helpful for the 35-40% of completely obscure and hidden powerups if you're unfamiliar. What I meant is that it's not needed to beat the game in any major necessity.

If that control scheme feels more natural to you, and is simultaneously difficult for you to handle, then I really can't offer any critique on this. I personally feel as though that's a suboptimal way to play, because of the way thumbs are naturally placed when holding the controller. If you hold it differently than I do, then you need to make adjustments so that your thumb can adequately push the buttons you need to push. Using a custom control scheme and complaining that it doesn't work for you might indicate that you should try a different control scheme. With it being customizable, you should be able to find one that feels comfortable after a bit of training, and is practical. Just like you can adjust your steering wheel in your car by tilting it forward/backwards, you can't tilt it side-to-side, which is a similar idea to what I think you need to do to achieve comfort+functionality with the standard SNES controller.

SpinJump still is not necessary to beat Phantoon. It's a technique you discover as you play the game, or research the game, or both, to make things easier when you need it. It's far from necessary for any purpose. Just like Shinespark, you're not told how to do this, and it's not needed to beat anything. If you need more help beating Phantoon, explore for more Energy Tanks and/or practice more. You're issue here is more of an inconvenience to the player, rather than an actual issue with the game design.

Same with M#16/M#17. This is one of those instances that I'd agree with you, but I wouldn't detract a point from the game for having to repeat an area like this. Also, this is the single worst offender for forced repeat in 100% completionist runs. For a new player, it is unfortunate, but in exchange for having to look for another missile upgrade, the time you'd invest in searching is already done by the time you move your eyes to the other side of the screen.

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You're issue here is more of an inconvenience to the player, rather than an actual issue with the game design.

I thought inconvenience WAS bad game design? Games don't need to be inconvenient to be challenging. Inconvenience is, by definition, a bad thing, so I'll deduct as many points as I want.

The one point I deducted was a combination of collapse blocks, phantoon and his save point, and the odd controls. It could have been a lot worse. What would you rate Super Metroid?

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I thought inconvenience WAS bad game design? Games don't need to be inconvenient to be challenging. Inconvenience is, by definition, a bad thing, so I'll deduct as many points as I want.

The one point I deducted was a combination of collapse blocks, phantoon and his save point, and the odd controls. It could have been a lot worse. What would you rate Super Metroid?

Forgot about this one sorry bout that


Inconvenience is not a bad thing. Inconvenience is not bad game design. However, bad game design is an inconvenience.

If the game puts a long distance between save points, in a game about exploring an unknown world, you take your time and be careful before charging ahead. The message is clear from the minute you land on Zebes that you don't know where anything is, so why should the world you're in be structured to the appeasement of those who have grown expectation of comfort in save point being always readily available. Wrecked Ship is probably the only place in the game where there's not a functional save point between 6 doors worth of areas that you can either burst through, or backtrack to, but you shouldn't know that. The zone itself embodies desolation with the idea of no working power, so when you inevitably do locate the save point, and find that it doesn't work, you'd be expected, if anything, to backtrack to the ship with a manually filled map before proceeding even more blindly.

The control issue, I've already covered. You customized the controls and didn't like how they function/feel. With complete customization, it sounds like your problem is more with the SNES controller itself, and not the game's handling of the control scheme. I can't take validity in this deduction.

Phantoon's difficulty is among the higher of the bosses (Draygon and Ridley2 being up there as well), but that again, is not a bad thing. 5 Super missiles defeat this guy, and you should have at least 5 super missiles by this point in the game. I think it's like 10 Charge shots to kill him. If anything, Phantoon's challenge is just endurance and quick adjustment aka entering with a relatively full stock of energy and facing a challenge, rather than the pushovers like Chozo1, SporeSpawn and arguably, Kraid, if you're not being careful against him. As personal preference, he could be a difficult boss due to his sporatic movement patterns, but his attacks themselves shouldn't be that difficult to adjust to.

I'd give the game a 9.5/10 myself, due to a combination of hidden floor blocks in Missile #16/17 area and unusual need of Shinesparking for 100% completion in general.

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I'd give the game a 9.5/10 myself, due to a combination of hidden floor blocks in Missile #16/17 area and unusual need of Shinesparking for 100% completion in general.

The Shinespark is one of my favorite aspects of the game. It's such a fast, crazy way of cannon-blasting yourself in any direction; I've never seen anything quite like it before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxemA-51oog&feature=youtu.be&t=7m10s

Missile #35 was pretty clever, requiring that you charge the Shinespark in one room and use it in another. By the way, I dislike how gates don't stay open after you leave the room, particularly the ones that require Super Missiles.

Edited by Zera
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Honestly, Super Metroid does deserve it's praises. I have played a lot of games of the same type in recent years, included many well-rated games and few of them is actually as good as Super Metroid. Either their gameplay is so simple and boring, their level design is bland or even the graphics is actually worse than Super Metroid. It's not that the old game is great, it's just the new games are so boring.

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Upon my second playthrough of Super Metroid, I have achieved 100% completion in 3:45. Now I just gotta shave off 45 minutes somehow. Any tips?

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  • 2 weeks later...


See those two Missile packs? Because of the layout of collapse blocks, the only way to get both is to go through the same acid gauntlet twice. I thought I had to jump over them like in similar scenarios, so I played the section four times. If it didn't take five minutes to get back there every time, it would be fine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tTRMFFQE5Q

Watch 33:23 of this video, you can get those two missiles in one run. I'm always able to do it and I'm nowhere near as good as these speedrunners.

Edited by Locust
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