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[HeresSomeWeapons]

Playing some more really cements this as a decent but not great Metroid. There's just too many points where it just doesn't compare favorably to other games in the series.

Outside of my initial gripes, which still stand, some new ones have come to light. I see others have already said the same thing though. The game's art just isn't very good and the areas in the game all kind of blur together. Other Metroids have always had very distinct areas, which was further helped by having distinct music. Samus Returns just has one look so far (apparently Area 5 is different, but I haven't gotten there yet) and their brilliant idea to diversivy them is to have them be in a different color? You can do better than this. You need to do better in fact.

Enemy encounters continue to bore and annoy; it's just not very fun to keep having to counter just about every enemy, forcing you to stop and wait for it to attack.

I'm still having fun with it, but this really isn't the grand return of Metroid some were hoping it would be. The series legacy remains in tact at least and the game certainly isn't bad, it just needs to be better.

Ohhhhh boy. Did you play Metroid 2? EVERYTHING in that game looked the same. Same music in each area, too. Considering what they had to work with, they knocked it out of the park in terms of environmental variety. If they had varied it too much it wouldn't have been SR388 anymore. I think they nailed it.

 

[Lord_Byron28]

Completely disagree. 100%. The fans got exactly what we needed and I'm so happy. This remake has been a blast. Sure, there are nitpicks, but this IS the grand return.

Agreed. As for the controls, there are some minor issues I have with it. However, it is significantly better than Super Metroid where you had to toggle through items. Wall jumping was made unnecessarily difficult. Aiming was kind of annoying. Also you had to use one thumb to control three buttons at once when you needed to run, jump and shoot. Super Metroid and all 2D Metroids are amazing but none of them have flawless controls. I also recall Samus having an annoyingly slow transition into the morphball in the other 2D Metroids as well. I remember dying frequently in 2D Metroid titles because I couldn't transition into a morphball quick enough.

Ohhhhh boy. Did you play Metroid 2? EVERYTHING in that game looked the same. Same music in each area, too. Considering what they had to work with, they knocked it out of the park in terms of environmental variety. If they had varied it too much it wouldn't have been SR388 anymore. I think they nailed it.

People seemingly forget that this is a remake of a Game Boy game.

 

[KingBroly]

After some initial trepidation about the implementation (namely, bad taste left by MercurySteam, the counter-attack thing, 2.5d usually being awkward), I have to admit, I am really enjoying the game.

I hope it does well, but, if my 7-year old son is any indication, it may be a bit too challenging for some people. Notably, he beat super metroid a few months back (had a lot of help though) and this seems to be a bit harder for him. Part of the problem is the general aggressiveness of common enemies, as everything charges, all the time, to enable the counter mechanic. On the other hand, one of the compromises I particularly like is the metroid "gates." While I sort of hate the artificial gating of areas, it doesn't bother me too much, as I just go about my business in a given area. However, for my son, who appreciates an occasional hint, it gives him somewhere to get a guide post. I really think it is a step up from the more forced guidance of some other metroid titles.

I still think that 2.5d doesn't do the game any real favors, but the implementation isn't bad. I think some of the environments are a bit ugly and the common enemies sort of derpy.

Honestly, I'll be reasonably satisfied if MercurySteam gets another at-bat for the franchise and they put this much care into it.

The game could definitely do with an Easy Mode. It could also remove the Counter stuff/cinematic stuff and it'd basically be Zero Mission at that point from a controls standpoint. It'd probably also be like Prime 3, with enemies being spongy until you did your special move.

I still think Samus' movement (jumping in particular) needs to be slowed down just a tiny bit more. I know they're going for a certain grip, but the original Metroids (and Primes) were known for their distinct floatiness that had a perfect sense of how you moved. It also gave a sense that the gravity was not normal on these planets.

 

[firenskill2000]

I’ m not reading through 35 pages but are people really complaining about differentiating areas using colors? Have you ever played a 2D metroid before? Not to mention this is a remake of an almost 30 year old game not a new creation.

 

[VDenter]

Ohhhhh boy. Did you play Metroid 2? EVERYTHING in that game looked the same. Same music in each area, too. Considering what they had to work with, they knocked it out of the park in terms of environmental variety. If they had varied it too much it wouldn't have been SR388 anymore. I think they nailed it.

Zero Mission was a remake of the first game as well yet it did not have a single one of these issues.

 

[Oidisco]

Ohhhhh boy. Did you play Metroid 2? EVERYTHING in that game looked the same. Same music in each area, too. Considering what they had to work with, they knocked it out of the park in terms of environmental variety. If they had varied it too much it wouldn't have been SR388 anymore. I think they nailed it.

Just because the original game had awful repetitive music doesn't mean the remake needs to have it too. I have no problem with some ambience, it can work very well. The issue is that this game has pretty much nothing but ambience in every area, save for those small chunks of the fire areas and about half of Area 5, both of which are remixes of tracks we've heard multiple times in the series.

At the very least they could've re-used the SR388 tunnel theme like the original game did whenever you go back to the acid pit just to have something different, but I guess they felt it was ok to change that too.

 

[Astral Dog]

Just because the original game had awful repetitive music doesn't mean the remake needs to have it too. I have no problem with some ambience, it can work very well. The issue is that this game has pretty much nothing but ambience in every area, save for those small chunks of the fire areas and about half of Area 5, both of which are remixes of tracks we've heard multiple times in the series.

At the very least they could've re-used the SR388 tunnel theme like the original game did whenever you go back to the acid pit just to have something different, but I guess they felt it was ok to change that too.

A few pages ago one guy was complaining that Samus Returns wasn't enough like the original Metroid II already

 

[Griss]

After some initial trepidation about the implementation (namely, bad taste left by MercurySteam, the counter-attack thing, 2.5d usually being awkward), I have to admit, I am really enjoying the game.

I hope it does well, but, if my 7-year old son is any indication, it may be a bit too challenging for some people. Notably, he beat super metroid a few months back (had a lot of help though) and this seems to be a bit harder for him. Part of the problem is the general aggressiveness of common enemies, as everything charges, all the time, to enable the counter mechanic. On the other hand, one of the compromises I particularly like is the metroid "gates." While I sort of hate the artificial gating of areas, it doesn't bother me too much, as I just go about my business in a given area. However, for my son, who appreciates an occasional hint, it gives him somewhere to get a guide post. I really think it is a step up from the more forced guidance of some other metroid titles.

I still think that 2.5d doesn't do the game any real favors, but the implementation isn't bad. I think some of the environments are a bit ugly and the common enemies sort of derpy.

Honestly, I'll be reasonably satisfied if MercurySteam gets another at-bat for the franchise and they put this much care into it.

Regarding the bolded, I see it as the other way around. The problem with past Metroid titles was passive enemies that pretty much just waited to be shot or moved in avoidable patterns. The game designers said 'How can we make these into aggressive monsters that actually attack?' And the counter mechanic was born as a result.

Personally I think it's a great addition and while it's crucial early on, halfway through the game you may barely use it at all unless you want to.

 

[HeresSomeWeapons]

Zero Mission was a remake of the first game as well yet it did not have a single one of these issues.

NES Metroid had infinitely more variety than Metroid 2. Color helped. It also has some of the best music in the series.

 

[emb]

Ohhhhh boy. Did you play Metroid 2? EVERYTHING in that game looked the same. Same music in each area, too. Considering what they had to work with, they knocked it out of the park in terms of environmental variety. If they had varied it too much it wouldn't have been SR388 anymore. I think they nailed it.

Even though lack of environmental variety was caused by limitations in hardware (and maybe budget) in the original, I feel like it ended up being a thematic strength of that game. The planet really felt desolate, and it made a lot of sense.

All things considered, I think this one works well in the way they handle the environments. There are many different areas that look pretty varied. In a certain aspect, it feels like a step down from the original. But it's a concession; a modern game that I'm gonna be playing for 10 hours could not get away with so many corridors of gray and brown, depressing caverns.

 

[entremet]

Zero Mission was a remake of the first game as well yet it did not have a single one of these issues.

The original Metroid was way better source material--Amazing 8bit soundtrack, rather large for an NES game, varied locations and enemies. Even still ZM was criminally short too. MSR is nice and meaty.

Mercury Steam surpassed expectations.

 

[KayMote]

Regarding the recycling of music I think I agree with most people, however hearing the music from Super Metroid when you just landed on Zebes was definitely a magic moment in this game for me!

 

[Aesnath]

Regarding the bolded, I see it as the other way around. The problem with past Metroid titles was passive enemies that pretty much just waited to be shot or moved in avoidable patterns. The game designers said 'How can we make these into aggressive monsters that actually attack?' And the counter mechanic was born as a result.

Personally I think it's a great addition and while it's crucial early on, halfway through the game you may barely use it at all unless you want to.

Yeah, it seems less necessary as soon as you get

Spoiler

the wave beam

, but, it is pretty important early on. I don't think it would be a problem, but it defines nearly every enemy attack pattern. If it was something that was useful on particularly aggressive enemies and the metroids, it wouldn't be too bad. But, it is a thing with the little roaming dudes and more trivial monsters.

Again, from the perspective of a 7-year-old, this makes things a bit stressful. In particular, after a challenging fight, he often has trouble finding enemies to safely kill to recharge. He finds this frustrating and I get it.

 

[Toxi]

I’ m not reading through 35 pages but are people really complaining about differentiating areas using colors? Have you ever played a 2D metroid before? Not to mention this is a remake of an almost 30 year old game not a new creation.

The backgrounds do a good job of differentiating some areas for me. Like the steam vents and giant aquatic creatures in the back of area 2.

I really wish the areas had unique names though. Like even something as basic as "Geothermal Shores" for Area 2.

 

[GeekyDad]

Grapple-beam get! Come to momma!

 

[Prisoner]

Spoiler

You can't get it yet

Thanks.

EDIT: I totally could get to it. The Metroid, that is. Nevermind.

 

[KingBroly]

Can anyone help me out here?

How do I get to that metroid? And what's that object to my left?

Spoiler

You can't get it yet

 

[Opa-Pa]

Oooh at the artwork of the Gravity Suit. Probably one of my favorite suits in the series.

It looks so good, I loved when I got it in game. It may be my new favorite look for Samus too.

 

[rekameohs]

Regarding the recycling of music I think I agree with most people, however hearing the music from Super Metroid when you just landed on Zebes was definitely a magic moment in this game for me!

That's taken from Prime 2.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3dWtax9LAAg

 

[Voidwolf]

What's this about the ice beam working on metroids? I noticed a charged shot froze the belly of one of the big ones (not alpha, the next one) but I didn't follow up with anything else, didn't even know ice beam + missiles instant killed enemies. Is there a better way to fight metroids other than missiles?

 

[Klappdrachen]

That's taken from Prime 2.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3dWtax9LAAg

And it's amazing!

What's this about the ice beam working on metroids? I noticed a charged shot froze the belly of one of the big ones (not alpha, the next one) but I didn't follow up with anything else, didn't even know ice beam + missiles instant killed enemies. Is there a better way to fight metroids other than missiles?

Metroids don't like cold temperatures. If you manage to freeze their belly,

Spoiler

they can't electrify themselves, which allows you to counter them.

 

[TheMoon]

What's this about the ice beam working on metroids? I noticed a charged shot froze the belly of one of the big ones (not alpha, the next one) but I didn't follow up with anything else, didn't even know ice beam + missiles instant killed enemies. Is there a better way to fight metroids other than missiles?

It disables

Spoiler

their elemental effects,

lets you

Spoiler

melee counter them

.

 

[Lights and Waves]

What's this about the ice beam working on metroids? I noticed a charged shot froze the belly of one of the big ones (not alpha, the next one) but I didn't follow up with anything else, didn't even know ice beam + missiles instant killed enemies. Is there a better way to fight metroids other than missiles?

Idk about the other forms, but as far as I know, the only way to kill regular Metroids is to freeze and missile. Series staple.

 

[ResidentWeevil13]

Enemy encounters continue to bore and annoy; it's just not very fun to keep having to counter just about every enemy, forcing you to stop and wait for it to attack

I still don't understand this critism. Every previous metroid had tedious combat with reguards to the basic enemies found throughout the world. Especially in the beginning of the game, all the creepy crawlies and floating bugs and what not are bullet sponges. You literally have to plant and aim, and blast and blast and blast, just to clear your way through a hallway. Without 360 aim, you always had to move this way or that a few inches to get the creature perfectly in your sights. The melee counter is an improvment and speeds up traversal. I'll agree that it can still feel a bit tedious, but in comparison to what came before, it feels like an improvment to me

 

[Sgt.Pepper]

What's this about the ice beam working on metroids? I noticed a charged shot froze the belly of one of the big ones (not alpha, the next one) but I didn't follow up with anything else, didn't even know ice beam + missiles instant killed enemies. Is there a better way to fight metroids other than missiles?

Metroids have always been weak to Ice Beam + missile since hey days.

 

[CloudyTuba]

Thanks.

EDIT: I totally could get to it. The Metroid, that is. Nevermind.

That's a funny little thing! I don't want to be spoiled as I want to give myself a chance to figure it out myself, but I too was pretty perplexed by the little guy. I just don't have the requisite upgrades yet I assume.

 

[LegendofLex]

Enemy encounters continue to bore and annoy; it's just not very fun to keep having to counter just about every enemy, forcing you to stop and wait for it to attack.

I stopped using the melee counter completely (except for quicker Alpha kills) as soon as I got the charge beam.

legit shocked to see so many people talk about how it's dominating their experience with the game.

 

[Nosgoth]

The two amiibos arrived earlier than the game, hopefully I can get my hands on the actual game tomorrow.

Regarding the amiibos themselves, the Samus one is a little smaller than I expected, especially comparing to the Metroid one, the scale seems off; I'm a little disappointed by the Metroid one, I thought it's gonna be some kinda transparent plastic jelly solid but squishy thing, turns out it's just a transparent soft plastic cover.

 

[Aaronrules380]

I stopped using the melee counter completely (except for quicker Alpha kills) as soon as I got the charge beam.

legit shocked to see so many people talk about how it's dominating their experience with the game.

It gets even less necessary later on once you get the best powerups like plasma beam and screw attack at which point you feel like a god against most normal enemies

 

[Voidwolf]

Damn I can't believe that, and here I was frantically dodging all those elemental attacks and baiting the one non powered charge they do every once in a blue moon haha. I was wondering why they thought it was okay to make their attacks so damn strong (and I use the electric shield for the fights too). 16 Metroids left but I'm gonna give them hell now.

Thanks for the replies everyone.

 

[Green Mamba]

I think they should have varied the enemies a bit more concerning their aggressiveness--like, there's no reason for the basic blue crawlers early in the game to attack you when you get near. In general I think enemies could be an area to improve in the next Metroid MercurySteam does (if they do, fingers crossed)--more types, more variety in their aggression, less health (some enemies taking more than a single hit from the Screw Attack feels very wrong), and generally fewer in certain areas. Some rooms feel like they have a lot of enemies to fill space, not necessarily for game balance purposes.

 

[Stopdoor]

What's with them barely using the original Metroid II Tunnel tune? It plays a little bit at the beginning but then just entirely disappears, it really sucks. Super Metroid remixes get more air time. We didn't really need even more ambience.

 

[Brandon F]

Thanks.

EDIT: I totally could get to it. The Metroid, that is. Nevermind.

Saw you got it. I just did that one last night and was going to say you absolutely can get it to it as well. I did that one before a few of the surrounding ones myself on your map.

 

[JoeFu]

Heheheheheheh

lol, just now got to the place with the song. c'mon. We need new metroid music. This isn't even planet Zebes....

 

[fabricated backlash]

So I just finished the game. I must say I am impressed. It's not my favourite Metroid game, but it sure as hell was amazing. A few gripes here and there, with some poorly telegraphed sections, but overall I was enjoying it start to finish.

I would love to discuss the last Chozo Memory

Spoiler

I took the last two images to mean that the Chozo on SR388 were killed because they created the metroid and interfered with the natural order of SR388 The Chozo in Prime were displayed as being highly in tune with their environment, and creating an organism, that basically terraforms the planet by eradicating a whole species is hardly consistent with that.

Or, this other faction, which seems like a warrior society going by the design, wanted to weaponize the metroids and killed the Chozo who created them to take them for themselves... Which kinda doesn't make sense really.

I think my first interpretation makes more sense, but it shows a very dark side to the Chozo that hasn't been explored prior.

 

[KingBroly]

So I just finished the game. I must say I am impressed. It's not my favourite Metroid game, but it sure as hell was amazing. A few gripes here and there, with some poorly telegraphed sections, but overall I was enjoying it start to finish.

I would love to discuss the last Chozo Memory

Spoiler

I took the last two images to mean that the Chozo on SR388 were killed because they created the metroid and interfered with the natural order of SR388 The Chozo in Prime were displayed as being highly in tune with their environment, and creating an organism, that basically terraforms the planet by eradicating a whole species is hardly consistent with that.

Or, this other faction, which seems like a warrior society going by the design, wanted to weaponize the metroids and killed the Chozo who created them to take them for themselves... Which kinda doesn't make sense really.

I think my first interpretation makes more sense, but it shows a very dark side to the Chozo that hasn't been explored prior.

Spoiler

Who says they're all Chozo? It only looked like one to me. And that one had Samus' Arm Cannon.

 

[fabricated backlash]

Spoiler

Who says they're all Chozo? It only looked like one to me. And that one had Samus' Arm Cannon.

Spoiler

They're all Chozos, at least they're all bird persons

 

[Toxi]

I think they should have varied the enemies a bit more concerning their aggressiveness--like, there's no reason for the basic blue crawlers early in the game to attack you when you get near. In general I think enemies could be an area to improve in the next Metroid MercurySteam does (if they do, fingers crossed)--more types, more variety in their aggression, less health (some enemies taking more than a single hit from the Screw Attack feels very wrong), and generally fewer in certain areas. Some rooms feel like they have a lot of enemies to fill space, not necessarily for game balance purposes.

Agreed on the first and last point, but I actually like the decreased power of the Screw Attack. One of the problems with 2D Metroid has always been how most combat with normal enemies is basically non-existent after you get the Screw Attack. Having enemies that take 2 hits to kill with the Screw Attack or enemies that are immune to the Screw Attack encourages you to actually use your other tools like the melee counter, the Plasma Beam, the Power Bombs, and the Beam Burst. The Screw Attack is still incredible, but it doesn't outright replace the rest of the combat.

 

[Griss]

Agreed on the first and last point, but I actually like the decreased power of the Screw Attack. One of the problems with 2D Metroid has always been how most combat with normal enemies is basically non-existent after you get the Screw Attack. Having enemies that take 2 hits to kill with the Screw Attack or enemies that are immune to the Screw Attack encourages you to actually use your other tools like the melee counter, the Plasma Beam, the Power Bombs, and the Beam Burst.

Couldn't agree more.

To be honest I think the screw attack in its current form needs to go, but at least making some enemies invulnerable or take at least two hits makes it feel less like you've turned god mode on and are avoiding the actual core gameplay.

 

[Alrus]

The

Spoiler

digger

(area 4 "spoiler")sequence is absolute bullshit, I hate it. I keep fucking up something and it's almost impossible to recover if you make a mistake.

Edit: Finally managed to do it, still frustrating. Never liked that kind of gameplay in any game.

 

[-shadow-]

Well the third phase of the

Spoiler

robot

is some absolute poorly choreographed design. I had to ask a friend how he beat it, because I was just going in circles for five minutes making no progress. At first I thought that that I had to

Spoiler

go into the machine

, but that does a whopping 300 damage...

 

[tesqui]

The

Spoiler

digger

(area 4 "spoiler")sequence is absolute bullshit, I hate it. I keep fucking up something and it's almost impossible to recover if you make a mistake.

Edit: Finally managed to do it, still frustrating. Never liked that kind of gameplay in any game.

Yeah, It's pretty precise and unforgiving. I'm just glad they at least gave a lot of checkpoints.

 

[Defect]

Beat it last night. I thought it was fantastic and it exceeded my expectations. I had some small issues like circle pad controls being meh and A LOT of ambience instead of new music.

Spoilerz

Spoiler

I was wondering if I'd be able to travel with the baby Metroid to destroy those crystal things and I'm glad you can! Also I had a feeling they would bring in Ridley and while I was smiling like an idiot during the whole thing (Seriously, Sakamoto redeemed himself with this portrayal of Samus.), I'm not a fan of this story change.

 

[Barrow Roll]

Question about the amiibo functionality. Are they per save file or will say, scanning the Metroid amiibo after beating the game unlock Fusion difficulty for every file permanently? If I deleted my save file and I wanted to play Fusion mode again, would I have to beat the game first and then scan the amiibo again to unlock it?

 

[kyo2004]

Finally, my copy has arrived... ... Props to the national post service (4-72) for the ultrafast delivery...

Gonna play a couple of hours to fill my expectations...

 

[KingBroly]

Beat it last night. I thought it was fantastic and it exceeded my expectations. I had some small issues like circle pad controls being meh and A LOT of ambience instead of new music.

Spoilerz

Spoiler

I was wondering if I'd be able to travel with the baby Metroid to destroy those crystal things and I'm glad you can! Also I had a feeling they would bring in Ridley and while I was smiling like an idiot during the whole thing (Seriously, Sakamoto redeemed himself with this portrayal of Samus.), I'm not a fan of this story change.

Spoiler

I'm not sure what the story change is that you're talking about. How these SR388 Chozo died?

 

[eXistor]

Ohhhhh boy. Did you play Metroid 2? EVERYTHING in that game looked the same. Same music in each area, too. Considering what they had to work with, they knocked it out of the park in terms of environmental variety. If they had varied it too much it wouldn't have been SR388 anymore. I think they nailed it.

Yup, Metroid 2 was already one of my least favorite games in the series, but that at least had the limitations of the original Game Boy to work with. This has no excuse.

I stopped using the melee counter completely (except for quicker Alpha kills) as soon as I got the charge beam.

legit shocked to see so many people talk about how it's dominating their experience with the game.

I've only just gotten the beam in the last hour I've played. Doesn't fix shit as it runs out of juice within seconds. And it's not dominating anything for me; it's a shit mechanic that I wish wasn't in the game at all.

The more I play the more disappointing it becomes, This, imo, is a second-rate Metroid that doesn't deserve to be named in the same breath as Super Metroid or Metroid Prime. It's better than Other M at least, but it's starting to shift further and further towards the bottom for me.

People seemingly forget that this is a remake of a Game Boy game.

I've played it when it was first released as I did with every single Metroid. Don't assume things.

 

[Shifty]

Got this in the mail today and I'm really enjoying it. Good to see MercurySteam on track after the shitshow that was Lords of Shadow 2.

Playing it after AM2R has been a neat experience- seeing the different takes on the various areas and how they both compare to the original when I played it as a kid is cool, and that Area 1 music is a real potent shot of nostalgia.

Also I like the way the metroid gates are a physical thing now, rather than contextless earthquakes like they were in the original. The counter does seem a bit prevalent but I love parry mechanics so I ain't worried.

It just hit me: Power bombs.

Somebody call an ambulance.

 

[Kindekuma]

That

Spoiler

Diggernaut

boss fight, smh.

Took me many deaths to realize that

Spoiler

you're supposed to lay down bombs when it begins the suction sequence.

 

[Triforce141]

It gets even less necessary later on once you get the best powerups like plasma beam and screw attack at which point you feel like a god against most normal enemies

It's less necessary with most common enemies frozen by ice beam being shattered by a missile or melee swing