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[rj]

i have grown to detest samus's walk cycle. it is like an old enemy, following me still all these years. it is the joker to my batman, my deepest sorrow made real

[Alevice]

Im down the third... level? Im getting bored of alphas already. Only the first two posed a challenge because of their map layouts, but every other has been fought over larger expanses which barely favors them.

It really hasnt been hard at all so far if you are a bit more methodical to the game and dont rush. The action is anything but frantic, so if you just stand still the moment you find a baddie, you will never get hurt, at least so far. There is no tricky platforming, you rarely fall or jump to traps. I keep dying, but because i admit i am reckless on occasion. I think i will definitely consult a map guide tho. I am genuinely disoriented.

[valrus]

Yeah, I've found this less difficult than I expected; the fact that you have such a big complement of missiles at the outset is a help with the alphas.  (Also I'm not sure what baconman means, either; I have only had to do a single bomb jump.)

The map is disorienting, yeah, and my main problem is that I haven't been methodical about remembering where save points are and backtracking to use them.

[jamesprimate]

game is pretty fun. i LOVED the room with the spider ball, and then realizing that you could play through the whole ceiling of the surrounding rooms upside down. A++ level design for that bit. 

im on level 8 or whatever that means, and while the size of the game is def impressive, after a bit everything looks EXACTLY THE FRIGGIN SAME. platforming sections repeat over and over and even whole rooms are just copy and pasted here and there. makes getting around absolutely maddening. i know thats partially teh limitations of a 256kb game, but still.

also one real annoyance is that enemy weapons can hit you if fired from outside of the screen, but your weapons cant hit them. even if you are shooting something that is literally right above you and you can see it, but its just beyond where the game arbitrarily decides to make that delineation, no joy. since the character sprite is so damn big vertically (the alpha metroids as well), this is a pretty severe limitation.

whatevs, is fun.

[Praying Mantis]

Game was boring as balls for me until I got the spider ball power-up, however only because I'm enjoying trying to get out of bounds with it (and somewhat succeeding).

Don't know what people are saying about the game being difficult. So far it's painfully easy because of the weak enemies and abundance of rockets. So far I've fought 4 metroids and all were a cinch thanks to rockets, letting me kill them in no more than a second.

Also, even with the limitations in mind, I don't enjoy the game's sound and music. Music is incoherent and sometimes doesn't play at all. In general the sound effects do nothing for me (even the iconic power-up jingle which sounds completely garbled).

[baconman]

The spider ball is around there? Well crap, that would've made things a bit easier. Guess I'll poke around a bit. But yeah, it's right after those circle-moving wasp things.

[Alevice]

The spider ball is around there? Well crap, that would've made things a bit easier. Guess I'll poke around a bit. But yeah, it's right after those circle-moving wasp things.

its the third powerup

[Alevice]

Wow the varia seems like totally useless. The armored wasp creatures and the flower tower that spit mosquitoes pack a heavy punch, much more than the rolling dude who gives the spring ball. And seriously, enough with the alphas. I believe I should be facing the gammas sometime soon.

[jamesprimate]

Also, even with the limitations in mind, I don't enjoy the game's sound and music. Music is incoherent and sometimes doesn't play at all. In general the sound effects do nothing for me (even the iconic power-up jingle which sounds completely garbled).

id say this is completely valid criticism from todays standpoint, though my opinion is exactly the opposite. the noisy / atmospheric / atonal soundtrack is a huge mood setter for me, and seems really special when playing through now because its something that you'd almost certainly not see from a big publisher today. its sort of along the lines of the more cerebral sci-fi film stuff of the 70s/80s, obvious references being Alien but also like the original Solaris or even 2001. Really works to paint an uncomfortably "other" alien environment where you are the odd one out and not the other way around.

this sort of mood setting has generally fallen out of favor in games, opting instead for music that encourages the player: you are the best! you are the protagonist! you can do it! Even when game soundtracks do have the trappings of riskier mood painting, they will still opt for the inspirational / encouraging music at key points like boss fights, set pieces, etc. nothing wrong with that at all, but its quite a treat to experience a more hardcore aesthetic like this.

that said, the SFX totally suffers from overly loud "PEW PEW PEW"-ism which is something i really hate if i see it in modern games. gameboy though? hard to complain about it.

[Tuba]

Got it some months ago as a club Nintendo reward and haven't played it yet, now seems like a good time!

[Alevice]

Weee, just dealt with a couple of gammas (encountered the first buried on sand, which made it a bit harder than i  expected), and cleared that sector. I hadnt notice dthat the metroid fight bgm had an alarm siren sound effect. Its a bit annoying how hard to restock missiles is.

[mono]

i need to do this having recently played through super metroid and fusion. i'll start tonight!

[Alevice]

Got the space jump, took a while to find a couple of metroids (the ones hidden between what i call alien spider web), and lowered a level, only  to find an easily exploitable gamma. Then an earthquake but i cant find where to go.

[Alevice]

I should have guessed that the drain was on the previous sector. So i kill two metroid and back on track to the main acid cross. Now i reach a huuuuuge tower and spiked hallways. Fuck those.

And zeta metroids are hard. Just dealt with 3.

I am really digging they way they structured everything. Most of the secret areas are not discovered by bombing but by finding out fake blocks, a few of them are logically placed. The save points and items are always within the man made compounds (usually at the middle of the current level), the classical doors are there to signal a chozo statue, the fauna is usually minding its own business and not actively engaging you, metroid caparaces alwyas mean a metroid is nearby, and the music clearly denotes the type of section you are at. It provides a lot of non verbal cues all over the place. There is a lot of clever design at work.

[vinheim3]

I've noticed those things and can agree that the quality of metroid design had not been lost as I first thought before playing this. Also noticed that the game isn't as linear as I thought it would be from looking at the map years back. Thought this would be completely terrible, but it's actually alright for an older simpler game. The combat and movement is alright to master, though weak compared to the likes of future games like La Mulana where there are better enemy movements and levels to use your different physics, but is still pretty fun getting a hang of.

[Slader16]

Still waiting for my controllers to come in, I think that they're stuck in this snow storm we're having

[vinheim3]

SNES USB pad came in like a week before this game club game, it's been fantastic, best thing for emulation I think, and still comfy to this day

[Slader16]

SNES USB pad came in like a week before this game club game, it's been fantastic, best thing for emulation I think, and still comfy to this day

I didn't even think about buying a SNES controller, that probably would of been a good idea. haha

[Alevice]

only 2 metroid missing! omegas have been much easier than i expected, as they often turn their backs at you and you hit them for massive damage. replenishing your hp and ammo is really tedious however.

[Alevice]

And I finished the game. The last area is amazing; totally fell in love with it. The primordial soup, the desolate areas, the destroyed statue, the music when you pass below the egg, the larva ambush, the small spiked chamber where you can hear the queen's grumplings (that section almost makes you feel her breath), the encounter with the queen itself and the hatchling section , all of them so masterful. While you can argue as to how quirky the game is for the most part, the endgame is drooling insanely with atmosphere. One of the best and eeriest climax levels in games.