Stalking corridors, armed to the teeth... (Super Metroid)

[beecee]

reading this just makes me wanna play, i'm firing up the xblock and giving it a go tonight....

brings back the memory of buying this when it first came out, i was on my way to get a tattoo when i passed and import shop with the US version sitting there, ?50....mmmm so i bumped off the tattoo and bought it, never regretted it after just 10 mins of play. it was awsome.!

gaming heaven. 8)

[Tig]

Old Thread Resurrection GET!!!

I've just started playing Super Metroid for the first time ever, after hearing repeatedly how it's one of the finest pieces of game design ever crafted. Somehow I managed to miss the Metroid series entirely back in the day. But in any case, now I'm approaching Super Metroid having already experienced Prime 1, Prime 2 and Fusion. So far, so great.

I'm enjoying seeing the familiar Metroid upgrades like the Ice Beam and Super Bomb in their original form. It's also nice to hear the original music which Metroid Prime's themes were based on. I've just got to the point where the game first loops back on itself and returns you to the rainy starting area... Already I'm starting to see how cleverly designed this game is. I'm also quite impressed by the difficulty curve, which seems extremely well-judged... the path ahead is always just hidden enough that it never takes too long to find, but finding it feels like a genuine discovery. The boss fights are also difficult enough to be nerve-wracking, but are just possible to beat on the first try.


I think I'm going to enjoy this game more than the Prime games. Although the GC Metroids were nice, they did feel a bit... clunky. This game is as smooth as butter in comparison.

[Pilotwings]

QUOTE-I would love to be as enthused about this game as everyone else, but it has the single greatest bugbear I have with games - backtracking.

QUOTE-You can dress it up how you like, but backtracking in a game is the thing most likely to make me turn a game off. It happened in SM, Resident evil

I think 2 d games are well suited for backtracking compared to 3 d games.

3 d games are horrible for backtracking at times but i never had a problem with 2 d games myself.

I love the way the jap copy of S-Metroid has an english language option as you hardly ever see that in jap games.

I think the edge reveiw was harsh 8/10. Especially when you think of some of the horrible games edge gave 8s to.

[k0pp0]

Fantastic game. Have loved it many times..

[Tig]

Just completed it. What a fantastic ending! I understand what Klatrymadon says about how this game doesn't insult your intelligence; not a single word of plot exposition is uttered inbetween the opening sequence and the credits, and yet the drama of the final scene is really involving.

->Open Spoiler<-

Mother Brain killed the big Metroid, OH NOES!!! Oh **** I have the Hyper beam - PEW PEW PEW!

The game trusts that you're not an idiot and that you're able to make sense of what's going on. That is in total contrast to the last modern game I played, Sonic and the Secret Rings, which has a ****ing inane voiceover shreiking about every piece of in-game furniture you come across. ("Oh no, Sonic, it looks like we're going to have to jump over that chasm!")


I know they're not really comparable genres, but still. Super Metroid could certainly teach modern games a thing or two about economy. Of course the ideas of 'in-game' cutscenes and implied storyline have since been championed by the Half-Life series... but that stuff is still a rarity.
Also, I can now see why Prime receives criticism for spelling things out too much; the number of logs, hints and cutscenes thrown at the player make it into quite a different type of game, with a different type of atmosphere.

But that said, now I really can't wait for Prime 3. I might hunt down Zero Mission to keep me occupied in the meantime