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[SantaC]

While Super Metroid, Metroid Prime etc are superb games, there is still something about the original Metroid that makes it unrivaled in the series. I cannot desribe exactly what it is, but it has something to do with it's mystique, charm, and uniqueness. I still remember the day when my and my dad went out to buy a new game. I had no idea what metroid was, but the boxart was very cool so I bought it on that decision. (yeah I often didn't had a clue back then what kind of games that were good)

I was 7 year old at that time, and I remember that I was very confused by this game. I got lost very easily by the labyrinth esque tunnels. It didn't help that I had no instructions (seems that I didn't read the manual, or the manual didn't say much. I don't remember) where to go and what to do either. My friend was as baffled as me. This game was impossible! But we didn't give up, there was something about this game that sucked you in, and it was hard to stop playing even though I struggled. I was very intruiged what to find around the next corner. On top of that, I was kinda frightened by the mood of the game, and Hip Tanaka's genius music. (music in Kraid's lair gave me chills)

After some time, I learned how to progress in the game. I opended my first red door by trial and error, I basicly just fired some missles on it until it opended, and I was like wow :lol The bomb jump was an art how to master, and finding invisibles walls another. There was so many strange things going on with this game. When I found the ice beam by accident I thought it was the coolest thing ever.

Needless to say, I was very satiesfied when I beat Mother Brain (Tourian kicked my ass a few times), and completed the game. The espace mission was just icing on the cake of this masterpiece.

Super Metroid was a fantastic game, but I still think Metroid is the best game in the series due to its orthodox game design and chaotic music. I also miss these old games where you really had to figure out what to do and where to go by yourself. Latley, Nintendo has giving you a hard time to figure out something yourself. It's the way games have progressed I guess.

 

[Izzy]

SantaCruzer, if you loved Metroid, try Captured for the C64. No, the art isn't nearly the same, and the game mechanics are different, but there's something strinkingly similar about it. Top game.

 

[Leatherface]

This was THE game for me when I was a kid. THE game.

I remember getting up in the middle of the night and playing this on my black and white tv until the sun came up and I had to go to school!! =O

THOSE were the days!

 

[elostyle]

No map no sale

 

[SantaC]

SantaCruzer, if you loved Metroid, try Captured for the C64. No, the art isn't nearly the same, and the game mechanics are different, but there's something strinkingly similar about it. Top game.

thanks for the recommendation

 

[lyre]

*snip*

Metroid is the only game that I can play from beginning to end and start again back to back several times in a row and not get tired of it. One of the finest and most complete games of all time.

Adventure style games on the NES generally does this to me but they don't have the awesome Hip Tanaka soundtrack.

 

[SantaC]

Metroid is the only game that I can play from beginning to end and start again back to back several times in a row and not get tired of it. One of the finest and most complete games of all time.

Adventure style games on the NES generally does this to me but they don't have the awesome Hip Tanaka soundtrack.

Hip Tanaka ftw!

 

[Shompola]

Ok now I am obviously derailing this thread with a negative post, but I personally thought that Metroid must have been one of the worst games I have played on the NES, and it was also one of the first games I played. While I did understand what the game was all about, I didnt like the atmosphere and how hard it seemed to be. This was back in 1987 I think and I was 10 years old. I can see the quality in it, but I never enjoyed it.

 

[silenttwn]

What about Zero Mission? It's NES Metroid but better.

 

[Scrow]

i've played Metroid a few times and each time I can't help but think, "I really want to stop playing this and play any of the other Metroid games instead." I only finished it out of a sense of obligation to play the game which spawned my second favourite video game series of all time (second only to Zelda).

Nostalgia warps your mind

It's a terrible game by today's standards and desperately needed the remake it got. It's borderline unplayable these days.

Metroid II doesn't need a remake as badly as #1 did, but it would certainly be most welcome.

edit: i will say however that the music in Metroid is great despite the limited "bleeps" and "bloops".

 

[ToxicAdam]

I found the Metroid games to a be a tad too easy. I beat the first one in about 5 days, and beat Super Metroid in a disgusting 24 hour marathon with a friend.


Games like Zelda and Castlevania had more staying power for me. Both of those taking 3-4 weeks of devoted gametime to beat.

I could see how Metroid appeals to "completionists", since it was one of the first games to reward that type of gameplay.

 

[Kai Dracon]

What about Zero Mission? It's NES Metroid but better.

I played Metroid way back when as a kid and loved it, but when I played Zero Mission and then went back with one of the OG Metroid copies in the GBA games, woah, no nostalgia glasses for me, thanks.

You can see the brilliance in much of OG Metroid's concept and how it creates a foundation for much of what came later in gaming. But it has aged far worse than a lot of other NES games. Comparing Zero Mission and OG Metroid is kinda like comparing NES Zelda and SNES LttP.

So OG Metroid, hall of famer, but Zero Mission for the win.

 

[jgkspsx]

Nostalgia warps your mind

I missed Metroid on the NES entirely, played Metroid II on a friend's Game Boy hating it all the while, and never spent the time with Super Metroid that I should have.

And I had more fun playing through NES Metroid (four times in a row!) than with Zero Mission, as fun as it is.

 

[SantaC]

i've played Metroid a few times and each time I can't help but think, "I really want to stop playing this and play any of the other Metroid games instead." I only finished it out of a sense of obligation to play the game which spawned my second favourite video game series of all time (second only to Zelda).

Nostalgia warps your mind

It's a terrible game by today's standards and desperately needed the remake it got. It's borderline unplayable these days.

let's just say that everyone is entiteled to their own opinion

nostalgia or not, I still loved the game.

 

[jman2050]

The original Metroid is no less playable than the status quo of NES games at the time. In fact, disregarding some rendering troubles and the occasional slowdown, it's one of the smoothest, playable, and streamlined games on the NES from a purely user-control viewpoint.

 

[lyre]

i've played Metroid a few times and each time I can't help but think, "I really want to stop playing this and play any of the other Metroid games instead."

Nostalgia warps your mind

It's a terrible game by today's standards and desperately needed the remake it got.

Metroid II doesn't need a remake as badly as #1 did, but it would certainly be most welcome.

I have to disagree here. Nostalgia is warping nothing here. Metroid was very minimalistic and that's what I like about it. Also it's a lot less linear than future Metroid games as well (once you get Bombs and a single Missle tank, you can go pretty much anywhere), which is something I like about these types of games. Add to that, the game can be beaten in under an hour (or in most cases, well below that), which is also something I like.

 

[radios shipping overview]

I played through Metroid the first time the other week, and it's pretty rough. Controls are very inconsistent. There are lots of samey sections without landmarks, which make it difficult to commit the map to memory. Balance seems a little out of whack - why exactly did they decide to start you at only 30 health each time?

All the same, I received a strong feeling of satisfaction from exploring and slowly (very slowly) improving my suits capabilities. That's something that's a little lacking in other Metroids, I think: in Metroid you almost always feel like you're a little behind the curve on the difficulty of areas and enemies, and when you find that next upgrade you feel like you can do just a little better, and any improvement makes a world of difference. It's kind of like the difficulty curve in a hardcore dungeon crawler, actually.

Metroid II took everything good about Metroid and expanded on it with better controls, more landmarks (so it's easier to find your way around), and more polish all around. I feel like Super Metroid and beyond iconified the landscape and puzzles just a little too much for me. In the process of making the secrets easier to find, they made the world feel like it was made out of missile-blocks and super-bomb-blocks and bombable blocks that reveal their true nature once you bomb them once. I think I and II are still more satisfying to me because their worlds feel more cohesive and 'real' without all the iconography.

Oh, and comparing Zero Mission with the original shows just how over-symbolized and oversimplified the series has become. The amount of handholding and spell-it-out-for-you non-exploration in that is insulting.

 

[jarosh]

On top of that, I was kinda frightened by the mood of the game, and Hip Tanaka's genius music. (music in Kraid's lair gave me chills)

oh yes. the mood! it had this frightening enigmatic quality. i was never quite sure what was going on and the minimalistic graphics and music only helped to make it even more unsettling.

 

[SantaC]

Oh, and comparing Zero Mission with the original shows just how over-symbolized and oversimplified the series has become. The amount of handholding and spell-it-out-for-you non-exploration in that is insulting.

That I agree with. One of Metroid's strong points is the total feeling of freedom. No handholding.

 

[LakeEarth]

The original Metroid is the only Metroid I haven't beaten. I never played it when I was a kid. Take that as you will.

And its not like I'm not willing to suffer! I beat fucking Echoes! 20 hours of tedious crap just for my love of the series.

 

[Scrow]

i blame the handholding on nintendo's pandering to casual gamers in an attempt to attract new devotees to the franchise. that's a shame.

And even though Super Metroid begun to walk the series down the path of over-iconisation and simplification (as jiji puts it), I still look at it as the apex of the franchise.

It's interesting to note however that the more recent Metroids in 3D have done away with that iconisation of destructable environment elements.

oh and I have a confession to make. I never actually finished Metroid. Mother Brain was too damn hard and I had no interest in grinding for health from only 30 health out of those bugs that pop out of the pipes.

 

[bob_arctor]

The original Metroid is the only Metroid I haven't beaten. I never played it when I was a kid. Take that as you will.

And its not like I'm not willing to suffer! I beat fucking Echoes! 20 hours of tedious crap just for my love of the series.

That bad, huh? Even for a Metroid whore like me? My copy is just sitting there. Staring at me. Scanning me. Weaksauce visor style. :-(

I actually played the very beginning and loved how damn eerie it felt, moreso than usual even. Very dark with the potential of much evil. So, what do you say? Worth it?

 

[SantaC]

That bad, huh? Even for a Metroid whore like me? My copy is just sitting there. Staring at me. Scanning me. Weaksauce visor style. :-(

I actually played the very beginning and loved how damn eerie it felt, moreso than usual even. Very dark with the potential of much evil. So, what do you say? Worth it?

If you liked Prime it's definitely worth it.

 

[Scrow]

echoes is a fine game. people just suck.

 

[LakeEarth]

Oh I loved Prime and thought Echoes was horrible. It isn't hard really, its just very tedious. The enemies, the puzzles, level design, all designed to make you bored as hell. Even the "great" Quadraxis fight wasn't all that.

 

[Warm Machine]

echoes is a fine game. people just suck.

I agree. Echoes is awesome and a technically superior game to Prime. I played both of them back to back so I wasn't tinged with 2 years of nostalgia.

 

[Zerodoppler]

I miss the black backgrounds of the past. It not only shifts the focus to the main character and enemies, but for games like metroid it also adds to the atmosphere.

 

[Parallax Scroll]

Real men never pick up a second missile tank.

 

[jman2050]

Real men never pick up a second missile tank.

155 missiles instead of 255 ain't that bad

 

[Fallout-NL]

While Super Metroid, Metroid Prime etc are superb games, there is still something about the original Metroid that makes it unrivaled in the series. I cannot desribe exactly what it is, but it has something to do with it's mystique, charm, and uniqueness. I

They call that nostalgia.

 

[Deleted member 1159]

Yeah, if you go at Kraid with the Ice Beam, he's pretty dang easy.

And what's with the cart in the original post? That's not what my Metroid cart looks like!

 

[TheJollyCorner]

They call that nostalgia.

:lol Fallout wins.

 

[lyre]

oh and I have a confession to make. I never actually finished Metroid. Mother Brain was too damn hard and I had no interest in grinding for health from only 30 health out of those bugs that pop out of the pipes.

Blowing up Metroids give you 30 health per health drop and 30 missles per missle refill. Don't forget the Ice beam.

Real men never pick up a second missile tank.

How about none? Two item Metroid run FTW .

 

[BobbyRobby]

I played through Metroid the first time the other week, and it's pretty rough. Controls are very inconsistent. There are lots of samey sections without landmarks, which make it difficult to commit the map to memory. Balance seems a little out of whack - why exactly did they decide to start you at only 30 health each time?

All the same, I received a strong feeling of satisfaction from exploring and slowly (very slowly) improving my suits capabilities. That's something that's a little lacking in other Metroids, I think: in Metroid you almost always feel like you're a little behind the curve on the difficulty of areas and enemies, and when you find that next upgrade you feel like you can do just a little better, and any improvement makes a world of difference. It's kind of like the difficulty curve in a hardcore dungeon crawler, actually.

Metroid II took everything good about Metroid and expanded on it with better controls, more landmarks (so it's easier to find your way around), and more polish all around. I feel like Super Metroid and beyond iconified the landscape and puzzles just a little too much for me. In the process of making the secrets easier to find, they made the world feel like it was made out of missile-blocks and super-bomb-blocks and bombable blocks that reveal their true nature once you bomb them once. I think I and II are still more satisfying to me because their worlds feel more cohesive and 'real' without all the iconography.

Oh, and comparing Zero Mission with the original shows just how over-symbolized and oversimplified the series has become. The amount of handholding and spell-it-out-for-you non-exploration in that is insulting.

Did you ever play Falcom's Legacy of the Wizard for the NES? Anyone who really wants an extremely challenging 2D adventure game in the vein of Metroid should try it.

 

[shuri]

I hated that game with a passion when I was a kid. The game was too ambitious for a first gen NES title, and it felt like it was NEARLY something cool, but the hardware wasnt powerful enough. It felt imcomplete.

I loved Metroid 2 to death

 

[radios shipping overview]

And what's with the cart in the original post? That's not what my Metroid cart looks like!

Euro cover, maybe?

Did you ever play Falcom's Legacy of the Wizard for the NES? Anyone who really wants an extremely challenging 2D adventure game in the vein of Metroid should try it.

I have, but not for very long. The password save is more hassle than I care to deal with. I'll emulate it sometime and use save states on the password screen.

 

[lyre]

I hated that game with a passion when I was a kid. The game was too ambitious for a first gen NES title, and it felt like it was NEARLY something cool, but the hardware wasnt powerful enough. It felt imcomplete.

I loved Metroid 2 to death

But Metroid 2 is even MORE ambitious and was on (slightly) inferior hardware.

/me is getting mixed messages here.

 

[argon]

Zero Mission is better than the original Metroid in almost every way.

That said, the original Metroid was about 10 years ahead of its time.

 

[Seth C]

What about Zero Mission? It's NES Metroid but better.

No, it's NES Metroid with hand holding for children.

 

[shuri]

But Metroid 2 is even MORE ambitious and was on (slightly) inferior hardware.

/me is getting mixed messages here.

You, oh YOU WITH YOUR LOGIC.

 

[KINGMOKU]

Yeah, if you go at Kraid with the Ice Beam, he's pretty dang easy.

And what's with the cart in the original post? That's not what my Metroid cart looks like!

It says European version right on the box.

 

[Deleted member 1159]

It says European version right on the box.

....

Who are you coming in here with your logic?

 

[SantaC]

Euro cover, maybe?

yeah euro cover. I actually prefer it to the ntsc cover.

 

[JRPereira]

Honestly I liked metroid fusion a lot. It just really gave me the chills at times. Super metroid was really good too imo [one of snes's best games], followed by prime 1. I didn't play the first metroid too much so I never got into it - same with metroid 2.

 

[drohne]

so true. easier just to repost what i think than to reconstruct it:

i think [metroid] has held up better than any of its sequels. where the later games are rote, slack exercises in filling in an auto-map, the original benefits from the genuine thrill of exploring and learning a strange environment. the atmosphere's stranger and richer too. the stark visuals, the weird repetitions (really a case of technological limitations creating a desirable sense-effect), and especially hip tanaka's genius soundtrack make it feel very alien. even the original metroid's names for places and things -- tourian, norfair, holtz, ridley -- are much stranger and more distinct than the pseudo-latinate clichés -- crateria, thardus, luminoth -- that the later games are tagged with. metroid is genius. its sequels are mediocrity.

 

[Suburban Cowboy]

the original metroid is undoubtably unparallelled...


In dullness. Seriously, it is one of the most boring games ive played. Ive given this title about 100 chances, and i just cannot play for more than 15mins before i realize every damn room is the same, just a different color. I even prefer the GBA metroids over this title, and i consider those games to be blasphemy of the series.

Really not a very interesting game at all.

 

[Schattenjäger]

awesome awesome game.. i just hope we get a new one for revolution which brings it back to its roots..

forget all this phazon nonsense

 

[Ranger X]

Awesome game but Super Metroid took it and made it a masterpiece.

Super Metroid is God.

 

[SantaC]

so true. easier just to repost what i think than to reconstruct it:

i think [metroid] has held up better than any of its sequels. where the later games are rote, slack exercises in filling in an auto-map, the original benefits from the genuine thrill of exploring and learning a strange environment. the atmosphere's stranger and richer too. the stark visuals, the weird repetitions (really a case of technological limitations creating a desirable sense-effect), and especially hip tanaka's genius soundtrack make it feel very alien. even the original metroid's names for places and things -- tourian, norfair, holtz, ridley -- are much stranger and more distinct than the pseudo-latinate clichés -- crateria, thardus, luminoth -- that the later games are tagged with. metroid is genius. its sequels are mediocrity.

yeah funny how games like these are more fun without a map since finding new areas are more exciting without one.

 

[argon]

yeah funny how games like these are more fun without a map since finding new areas are more exciting without one.

As opposed to manually mapping out every room with pencil and paper? Tedium.

The auto map only shows what you have explored, unless you choose to download maps from the map room. (That's how it is in Zero Mission at least.. I can't remember if its the same way in Super Metroid.)

Face it, the later incarnations of Metroid render the first game as the rather bland and tedious exercise its great innovations and atmosphere cleverly masked. It was obviously severely limited by the NES hardware.