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