Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Metroid: Zero Mission

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Metroid: Zero Mission

    I picked this game up on Tuesday and have been having a blast with it. Although this game was originally billed as a revisitation of the first Metroid title for the NES, the concept has been expanded to provide an excellent adventure above and beyond its predecessor. You begin the game in the same place as the other Metroid games, but immediately after the first couple of rooms, the game branches off into new territory, only rarely bringing you to rooms that are similar to or inspired by those found in the first game. You're not limited to the original's power-ups either. It's pretty much everything from Super Metroid plus a couple of other items. In fact for those of you wanting a sequel to Super Metroid, this is a game worthy of that distinction. Here's a list of non-spoilerish things that stood out:
    • There is a mechanism to provide direction to the next objective, but it doesn't force you toward it like I read Fusion does. It shares more in common with the computer in Metroid Prime than anything else. You're only limited by your power-ups and how good you are at wall and bomb jumping. In fact, a lot of the "deviations" you can make off the planned course were probably put there on purpose, so if you're good enough at moving into tight places and know where your items are, you will only have to do a minimal amount of backtracking to get everything. There is a map in the game similar to Super Metroid.

      Bomb jumping is simple and fun. It was tricky to do in Super Metroid and impossible to get any higher than 3 blasts in Prime. In Zero Mission, you can climb on your own bomb chain all day. You'll probably do it on accident just from mashing the B button.

      Music is remixed from the previous Metroid games, mostly from the first one with some tunes from Prime mixed in. It sounds great.

      Figuring out how to get items is extremely rewarding. A lot of the time, you'll know there's an item in the room or a passageway to another area to open up, and you have a vague idea of how to overcome the obstacle, but the solution won't be immediately apparent. Solving these puzzles requires persistence and good reflexes when controlling Samus.

      I am a little under four hours in and in my estimation have nearly completed the game. Longer than Super Metroid. Shorter than Fusion but excellent all the way through. I'll definitely be coming back to it multiple times after I finish it.

      Zero Mission seems a little bit easy. The bosses aren't too hard to beat. There are lots of save rooms and energy refills all over the planet, probably a concession to its portable format even though there is also a sleep mode. This is my only complaint about the game. To be fair, I have read that there is a Hard Difficulity option available after beating the game.


    In short this game is excellent on all fronts and is a must-buy if you enjoy Metroid.

    #2
    4 hours?

    Super metroid was about 7 hours on average. 3hrs if you were fast

    Comment


      #3
      Originally posted by TEZBEK
      4 hours?
      Super metroid was about 7 hours on average. 3hrs if you were fast
      You can download some movie files of 100% item completion speed runs here. Fastest is 1:07 ^_^ My first time through Super Metroid was about 4 hours, but I was able to do subsequent runs in about 2-3 hours. I don't think it's possible to 100% clear Zero Mission in less than an hour and a half, but time will tell.



      I have since completed Zero Mission at 3:56 with a 62% item gathering rate. I think that I may start a time thread in the Score challenge area for this game after getting some more practice and finding all the items.

      Comment


        #4
        It's a great little game, for sure. And a brilliant retelling. But...


        SPOILER
        Originally posted by spoiler

        My game appears to have turned into Metal Geat Solid. What gives?
        SPOILER ENDS

        Comment


          #5
          I'm still waiting desperately for Dvd Box Office to ship my copy. Had it preordered since about November I think!

          I am a little disappointed by how long people are saying it is, but I tend to be a bit cack at Metroid games anyway so I am sure I can make it last .

          Comment


            #6
            Can't wait for this one, I must buy as soon as I have $$.

            Need more 2D Metroid after Fusion - here's hoping for a Fusion sequel before long, perhaps to coincide with Prime2?

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by Matt Hughes
              I'm still waiting desperately for Dvd Box Office to ship my copy. Had it preordered since about November I think!

              I am a little disappointed by how long people are saying it is, but I tend to be a bit cack at Metroid games anyway so I am sure I can make it last .
              I am waiting for my copy to ship too. Still for under ?20 delivered I dont mind waiting for a while.

              Comment


                #8
                I am desperately hoping this will be more to my liking than Fusion.

                You say that its non-linear and your not forced to do things like in fusion?
                Excellent. Because that computer ruined fusion for me, took me 6 months of forced playing to complete it, bleugh.


                Quick questions:
                * have you encountered any non-hostile organisms? Like the jumping monkey things, or that green ostrich thing? (yah, I forgot their names, so sue me)

                * Can you disable any beam weapons at will ala SM? I hate being forced to use beams I dont want to use.

                * Any cool secrets like the recharge health trick, or super beam weapons like in SM?

                * Where in the metroid Universe is this set excatly? Is it basically a retelling of the NES version then?

                Thanks for the info, youve wetted my appetite and I look forward to picking this up soonish.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by otaku84
                  I am desperately hoping this will be more to my liking than Fusion.

                  You say that its non-linear and your not forced to do things like in fusion?
                  Excellent. Because that computer ruined fusion for me, took me 6 months of forced playing to complete it, bleugh.
                  I know what you mean about the CPU. It's 2D Metroid though! You have to love it. The CPU was an unwelcome guest, but it didn't spoil the game in any way for me - some of the bosses made up for the difficulty.

                  All my GBA playing mates are still stuck on Nightmare! Slackers!

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by otaku84
                    Quick questions:
                    * have you encountered any non-hostile organisms? Like the jumping monkey things, or that green ostrich thing? (yah, I forgot their names, so sue me)

                    * Can you disable any beam weapons at will ala SM? I hate being forced to use beams I dont want to use.

                    * Any cool secrets like the recharge health trick, or super beam weapons like in SM?

                    * Where in the metroid Universe is this set excatly? Is it basically a retelling of the NES version then?
                    Read at your peril:
                    Originally posted by spoiler

                    1. Nothing non-hostile, but you do encounter plenty of new and unexpected alien lifeforms. Unfortunately they're all out to do you in. I haven't found all the hidden rooms yet so there may be some friendly critters hiding away, but I suspect that there won't be any.

                    2. You cannot disable weapons or suit powerups once you grab them. You don't need to. All of your beam upgrades work with each other. There was never a point in the game where I said "I wish I could turn off my Ice Beam and only use my Wave Beam."

                    3. No recharging health trick yet, but with refill stations around every corner it would probably make the game even easier than it already is. You do get a few hitherto unavailale powerups at the final leg of the journey that turn Samus into a super-badass, but they're nothing you haven't seen before if you've played Super Metroid, and certainly not secret. You need them to complete the game(maybe).

                    4. Zebes, same as the first. The events are the same as in the first, but the similarities end there. It's a completely different game, equivalent to Super Metroid in scope.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Just finished this the other day with a 76% completion rating. It's bloody ace, far superior to Fusion which just didn't click with me at all. It's basically a cut down version of Super Metroid (which was essentially an expanded version of the NES original), but with superior visuals and some nice new abilities. Its also much faster than Super, running along at a fair old lick. Brilliant surprise ending too, and some cool extras unlocked after completion!

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by DavidFallows
                        All my GBA playing mates are still stuck on Nightmare! Slackers!
                        I'm playing Fusion at the moment & loving it - I can't understand the problem with Nightmare; I reached him yesterday & took him down first try.

                        Maybe I'm just a hero...

                        Anyway, my Zero Mission's on order at Videogamesplus

                        Comment


                          #13
                          I was expecting this to be a marked improvement over Fusion, but it's let down by pushover bosses, being incredibly linear and taking even less time to complete then Fusion.

                          Granted, it's another enjoyable title and does well to expand on the original NES, but it's not the improvement that Nintendo was promising. Oh well, back to the review...

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Played it through on Hard mode yet?
                            Lie with passion and be forever damned...

                            Comment


                              #15
                              You know something Mayhem? I never play through the diffrent difficulty modes. There's not many games around that want me to replay through them more than once and unless I know a game's significantly different, I wont touch it.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X