Super Metroid | Cheerful Ghost

Great Super Metroid Retrospective by NESComplex

I don't know if I would say Super Metroid is the best video game of all time, but it ranks very highly on my top list of awesome games. NESComplex does a great job showcasing the game and talking about its place in the Metroid timeline. If you haven't played Super Metroid you should at least watch this video to find out why this game is as beloved as it is.

When this game launched there weren't a ton of dark games with a really compelling story. Super Metroid really nailed making you feel like the game world was real and that the story and elements have weight. This game went off to spawn the Metroid Prime series, which decided to change the series into a 3D first... Read All

y cant metroid crawl?

Click to embiggen the image above and take a look, then come back for more.

I want to preface this by saying that this is not intended to ridicule anyone. Please bear that in mind.

The image contains posts on the Super Metroid Miiverse page from quite a number of people who have gotten stuck in Super Metroid, mostly at the same place. I can clearly remember the wonder of playing this game the first time. It was my first Metroid game and when I got to this area I just assumed that I would come across something later that would let me get through.

These posts, however, show that things have changed. There was no NPC standing there telling them that this was blocked without... Read All Click to embiggen the image above and take a look, then come back for more.

I want to preface this by saying that this is not intended to ridicule anyone. Please bear that in mind.

The image contains posts on the Super Metroid Miiverse page from quite a number of people who have gotten stuck in Super Metroid, mostly at the same place. I can clearly remember the wonder of playing this game the first time. It was my first Metroid game and when I got to this area I just assumed that I would come across something later that would let me get through.

These posts, however, show that things have changed. There was no NPC standing there telling them that this was blocked without a certain tool, or something to that effect, so they had no idea what to do.

Again, I'm not intending to make fun of people, but this shows more clearly than many other examples how the gaming landscape has changed. Modern gaming holds your hand and tells you everything you need to know. We hit a roadblock and backtracked to find somewhere we *could* go, but these posts show people hitting a roadblock and have no idea what to do.

I also don't want to sound like a bitter old man, talking about how gaming was better back in my day. It wasn't, necessarily. Bioshock Infinite most definitely held your hand through a lot of things, but it's some of the best time I've spent gaming. The Terraria wiki, the collective knowledge of everyone who has played the game, is basically required to know what to do for a large part of the game. While it's not the game holding your hand, you benefit from having a guide with you at all times. The new Tomb Raider had puzzle rooms that you could pretty much see the solutions to with a click of a button, but it was one of the most engrossing games of the past few years.

I guess what it comes down to is priorities. The early 8 and 16 bit systems didn't have the hardware for cinematic gameplay. It was basically all a puzzle or a test of hand-eye coordination. You were beating the system with your mind and reflexes.

Games today can spread their focus. With games almost universally coming with fully voiced dialogue, the ability to really wow you with the environments you play in, and all the other benefits that have come from higher-powered hardware, games can appeal to casual gamers as well as hardcore gamers.

Basically, the game has changed, for better and worse, but we're still having fun aren't we?

jdodson Admin wrote on 05/18/2013 at 05:24pm

First off the image above is kind of funny, but yeah, its not awesome to ridicule.

"y cant metroid crawl?"

I've had that in my head for the last few days it is quite funny :D

That said, yeah you know games are different than they once were. I have to admit, Super Metroid does contain some head scratching moments, but those weren't it for me. When I borrowed that game from my friend he lent me the Nintendo Guide for it, and ill admit I needed it quite a few times.

That said, games now days, yeah the do use waypoints and lead you in the right direction more than games of yesteryear did. Then again, there were a few games where the only way to go was right.

I think the Terraria wiki is a good thing though. The chances I would find some terse combinations of things to build are minor. Some games need deep hidden secrets, but games like Terraria, I don't know. Id rather know what I can build up front I guess. That said, when Starbound drops the wiki will be sparse so in the first few months we will all be discovering things. I think that sounds like fun, but at some point knowing what's possible with the game is awesome too.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 05/19/2013 at 12:54am

I dunno, I thought Super Metroid was really good about introducing new players on how to play the game. It may not have a whole lot of text boxes or NPC's saying "do this" but the game was definitely designed in such way that players can easily discover how to play the game. Don't know what I mean? This guy outlines it pretty well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcrdJD8whfE (you might know him from some of his "Game Theory" videos.

Now since you guys were nice and not ridiculing the people in picture I won't ruin the moment too badly, but let's just say those players really have no excuse for having THAT much trouble with this game. ;)

Especially since I know exactly where that area in those first couple pictures is at in the game, and there is ONLY ONE DOOR down there that leads them to the proper tools needed to get out of that area.

Tungsten wrote on 05/19/2013 at 01:40pm

Mock... no... lament, yes.

I've lost all faith in the youth of today. Back in the golden days, you needed red keys for red doors, maps were abstract and hard to read, and if you saw an arrow telling you where to go, you figured it was a trap! There's no surprise that Bioshock ∞ has the "1999 mode" (though I though games were harder in the 80's/early 90's).

I know it's the fault of game designers. They figured out that if they just hand people exactly what they want, people will pay more for it. While I can't really blame them for that, what's the point of the internet if I can't be a bit irate, surly, and overly sure of my own perspective?

Then again I just picked up Dark Souls...that sucker's hard.

jdodson Admin wrote on 05/19/2013 at 05:40pm

"I've lost all faith in the youth of today. Back in the golden days, you needed red keys for red doors, maps were abstract and hard to read, and if you saw an arrow telling you where to go, you figured it was a trap!"

People play what games are available to them. The majority of games designed now are one size fits all way-point paradises. One could blame "the kids" but its really designers and triple A companies that make this trough-ness. That said, I like some of those games but there are games that don't fit inside that mold.

Anodyne, CaveStory, Terraria, Minecraft, etc. "The kids" play those too, lots of kids.

People said the same thing about my generation and now people say the same thing about the next. Thing is, the next generation just eats up the culture and ideas we promote. So its a little strange when the last generation laments the next considering it created the next generation.

Now get off my lawn! :D

Tungsten wrote on 05/19/2013 at 10:08pm

Oh, I know... for every Candy Crush there's a Binding of Isaac.
I guess, like any other medium, there will be different "levels" of involvement. I haven't seen a single movie nominated for best picture for the last three years because I don't feel like trying to watch anything with that much of an investment. These days, when I got to watch a movie, I purposely avoid anything that will make me think. Sad? Maybe. Movie's just aren't that big of a part of my life.
I guess I can accept that there are gamers like that... but I that doesn't mean that I don't get to condescend.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 05/19/2013 at 10:25pm

I don't know that the good old days were always as good as we remember them. I certainly have fond memories of gaming on almost every system since the Pong machine, but there was a lot of games that were just clones of other games, or expanding on a proven mechanic. It wasn't all clever challenges or epics of great design. What was essentially different between Metroid, Castlevania, Blaster Master, or Rygar? Not much. The puzzles varied, but the ideas were generally the same. If you knew how to backtrack in Metroid, you knew how to backtrack in Castlevania. Don't get me wrong, I love those games, and credit them for helping to make me a better problem solver (or maybe I just had a lot of patience for running around), but things were different back then. Now we move in three dimensions, and the area of the game worlds can be staggering. If Skyrim didn't have a quick travel system, or the occasional NPC telling me to "Go explore this cave for the key...", I would be too overwhelmed to play. Too many variables and not enough time to devote to pure adventuring. We still have our challenges, though. Portal is a great example of a recent game that doesn't hold your hand. You get a genuine sense that you are discovering this secret, by means of your own ingenuity. Demon's Souls/Dark Souls, Super Meat Boy, Antichamber, Braid... a few others that challenge the brain as much as the nimbleness of ones fingers.

Remember, too, that we had the Nintendo helpline back then, and it was successful enough to keep around until June of 2010. Not everyone figured it out on their own. We just have the internet now to humiliate them :).

jdodson Admin wrote on 05/20/2013 at 06:36am

@scrypt: Or that people dump wads of cash on F2P games so they can win faster. Heck i've read about people dumping money on the D3 auction house because they have lots and just want to kick ass. I don't really think that kind of thing is bad, I guess whatever people have fun with. And I totally wish I could have called the Nintendo Hotline, we could just never afford it :D It seemed so magical, but now internet searches take care of stuff.. or wikis.

@Tungsten: That makes sense. I do enjoy Films, but go to the theater less than I did. I just saw the new Trek movie yesterday, it was a great ride but I really enjoy watching shit at my house more. So many annoying movie goers, but still, nothing quite like Cinema.

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Decided to spend this Retro Tuesday talking about Super

Decided to spend this Retro Tuesday talking about Super Metroid. I was never really a fan of the original NES Metroid as it was fairly challenging and I could never figure out the steps to complete it as they were largely un-intuative. My brother had the Gameboy version and that made much more sense to me and I completed that. I liked the Gameboy version much better and felt it was a bit more accessible. That said, I wasn't a huge Metroid fan until I borrowed Super Metroid from one of my high school friends.

Super Metroid takes the Metroid formula built up in the first two games and ups the ante on all levels to craft a game that really set the bar for other games to... Read All Decided to spend this Retro Tuesday talking about Super Metroid. I was never really a fan of the original NES Metroid as it was fairly challenging and I could never figure out the steps to complete it as they were largely un-intuative. My brother had the Gameboy version and that made much more sense to me and I completed that. I liked the Gameboy version much better and felt it was a bit more accessible. That said, I wasn't a huge Metroid fan until I borrowed Super Metroid from one of my high school friends.

Super Metroid takes the Metroid formula built up in the first two games and ups the ante on all levels to craft a game that really set the bar for other games to follow. The soundtrack was moody and ambient something fairly cutting edge. The game also told a story but instead of using words, it used in game cut scenes and music only.

The word that comes to mind when I think of Super Metroid is moody. The game isn't whimsical or happy like Mario its gritty and dark. Few games had this tone throughout and Metroid really kept that feel the whole way.

Super Metroid was also one the first games in a series that I realised visually nodded to its earlier games. When you arrive on Zebes the first few areas you experience are direct nods to the first level in the original NES game as well as the ending battle with Mother Brain.

Since the game had fairly un-obvious ways to proceed, like many I beat Super Metroid with the Nintendo Power guide at my side. I had fun even though finding each item and beating the game wouldn't have been possible without it.

If you want to keep yourself spoiler free, I suggest not reading the final bits of this post.

The ending was fairly epic from the final level to the few act final story and boss battle. The start of the last level sees the original Metroid from the start of the game all grown and as you enter its lair it attacks you. It stops and the game implies it recognises you from earlier as it thinks you are its mother. As you fight Mother Brain in the final battle the Metroid attacks mother brain to save you from death. As it attacks Mother Brain the Metroid dies but as it dies it imbues you with its power giving you a pretty hefty attack. You use this attack to destroy Mother Brain and escape Zebes. The game does this all with in game cut scenes and music and its expert story telling that made a fantastic ending to a great game.

Super Metroid isn't a game I come back to play regularly but after watching the above walkthrough YouTube video will put it on my list. A few years ago I tried Metroid Prime but it never stuck as a game I needed to finish.

What did you think of Super Metroid? Were you into any of the other Metroid games? Did you always type in the Justin Bailey code or did you always want Nintendo to release a space pirate game?

**UPDATE** Many moons ago OCRemix created Relics of the Chozo a Super Metroid remix album if you like retro game remix soundtracks: http://smproject.ocremix.org

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 06/06/2012 at 04:04am

Yeah, that was a cool game.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 06/06/2012 at 04:06am

The original Metriod was pretty rad, but you're right, very un-intuitive. Plus I think it might have scared me a bit as a kid lol. Super Metroid was fantastic. I loved playing it. Went through it a few times back in the day. Even watching a minute of that run through brought back rad memories!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 06/06/2012 at 04:07am

If you don't watch the entire hour long speed run Mother Brain corrupts another Metroid hatchling!

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 06/06/2012 at 04:32am

I admit it... I did skip ahead. But I probably watched a solid 20 mins!

Timogorgon Member wrote on 06/06/2012 at 05:45am

This is another one of my favorite games of all time. I probably go back and play through it once every year or two. One of the things I love about this game is there are all kinds of tricks (bomb jumps, wall jumps, etc) that you can use to get items and access areas before you're suppose too. :) It's fun to "cheat" without really cheating.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 06/06/2012 at 07:22am

Oh, and if you have a gameboy that can play it, Metroid Fusion on the Gameboy SP was pretty awesome. It wasn't as good as Super Metroid but it was pretty close.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 06/07/2012 at 02:05am

When I get around to spending money I want to pickup a Gameboy Advance because to my eye that one seems like it has most of ol re-releases and can still play old Gameboy titles as well. They are cheap and you can get games like Metroid Fusion and other re-releases as well.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 06/07/2012 at 07:53am

The SP was just an advance with a back light and a clam-shell design. I say go SP :)

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 06/07/2012 at 02:21pm

Awesome, I prob will, thanks!

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