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[rj]

currently at 24 metroids left. started to pick up once i got the spider-ball. still hate samus's walk cycle in this game. am still baffled that missiles work on these metroids at all while they bounce off in super metroid et al


shrug

the game has good sound i think though

[Alevice]

only larva bounce missiles due to their jelly bodies

[rj]

this is an alright-to-pretty ok game but it's an abysmal metroid

[s0]

btw, metroid 1 is actually a very good game and has things later "metroidvanias" don't have (such as actual nonlinearity)

just saying this to defend it itt

[Alevice]

this is an alright-to-pretty ok game but it's an abysmal metroid

i dunno, the atmosphere grows on you much thicker than fusion or zero mission did. at first i wasnt outright feeling it, but the more you explore and learn how the levels are laid out and shit, i tend to like its structure more than metroid 1 by far. you really dont need the map at all over metroid 2.

i can assert this because i have been replaying all of the metroids.

[Praying Mantis]

this is an alright-to-pretty ok game but it's an abysmal metroid

Exactly how I feel about the game.

i dunno, the atmosphere grows on you much thicker than fusion or zero mission did.

No way, man. Fusion is thick with atmosphere. Metroid 2's atmosphere is pretty much non-existent for me because of how repetitious the enemies, tiles, obstacles, music, etc is.

[vinheim3]

Nah I'm replaying Fusion right now, and the atmosphere is lost compared to the original metroids. It kinda feels like current marios in which you are given a variety of levels far different from each other yet so close to each other too, and just like with prime 3, the strong inclusion of other characters/voices also lessens that kind of lonely feeling of exploring some unknown planet.

Not sure about zero mission, but if it's just Metroid 1 with updated graphics, it could go either way

[Alevice]

No way, man. Fusion is thick with atmosphere.

You lost me there, man. Fusion is a great game, but SA-X aside, I dont really see how it is thick with atmosphere. There is the narrative bit with the kihunters cocoons, which i considered a clever approach for ramping up the challenge in the late game and access gating (you fight the rather weak larvas in the early game, who then wrap in a cocoon mid game which blocks access to certain areas, and then late game they grow to become one of the most lethal basic enemies in the game), and also the subversions with the elevators that happen all mthe time, but thats pretty much it.

[Glyph]

No way, man. Fusion is thick with atmosphere.

You lost me there, man. Fusion is a great game, but SA-X aside, I dont really see how it is thick with atmosphere. There is the narrative bit with the kihunters cocoons, which i considered a clever approach for ramping up the challenge in the late game and access gating (you fight the rather weak larvas in the early game, who then wrap in a cocoon mid game which blocks access to certain areas, and then late game they grow to become one of the most lethal basic enemies in the game), and also the subversions with the elevators that happen all mthe time, but thats pretty much it.

What about the Nightmare? And the whole Metroid lab and the area leading up to it. And the frozen Ridley (clone?). Although it depends on how you want to define 'atmosphere', I guess.

[Alevice]

True, i forgot the ridely clone. That bit of foreshadowing was sweet. I didnt find anything about the lab special, but I can concede that bit. I dont think either are that evocative tho, just cool narrative bits. Or at least I didnt feel either subtle enough. To each their own i guess.

What about the Nightmare?

[Glyph]

Well it was this haunting shadow and it was trying to break out forever. At least younger-me was spooked as hell when it finally did. And the sounds it made... That boss also kicked my ass several times so there's that

[Alevice]

Eh, it only showed in the Sector 5 hub wandering, and it wasnt terrifying at all. But I played it when I was like 20-22. WHich is not to say I am not a fan of that boss, because I love that fight.

[Praying Mantis]

Well it's actually been about 8 years since I played Fusion so my memory probably isn't spot on. But as others have said, the nightmare shadow hovering around, the breaking elevators, Ridley clone, the Dark Samus bits, etc all unnerved me when I first played the game.

[Tony Cordes]

Not sure about zero mission, but if it's just Metroid 1 with updated graphics, it could go either way

It's actually quite a bit more than that.  It's Metroid with new mechanics, some re-imagined areas and extra levels, new upgrades and mechanics, and a stealth-based epilogue (which I felt was a bit superfluous, really).
I was torn because, on the one hand, it was awesome to see one of my favorite games from childhood given this huge level of polish.  Some of the new mechanics were super fun to play around with, and one of the extra steps in Norfair (I think?) had some cool atmosphere.  The artwork was lovely, too (although I could've done without the cutscene stills), but in the end, I felt the overall product was a bit overproduced.  The music took the simple genius of the old soundtrack and layered too much on it, in many cases; while I liked it at first, the Kraid's hideout theme changed my mind.  Where the original chiptune had this desperate, plaintive, sound to it, the Zero Mission version sounded like, "This is place is super dangerous, but you're a badass.  I know you can handle it."  The difficulty curve was much more linear than the original, and it even featured a built-in handholding system.  I kind of liked the difficulty of the original, honestly.  It got a bit frustrating, but it was that much more rewarding; a game from a different time, where some patience and planning were required.  It could be finished quickly by an expert, but it took a few months to reach that level if you weren't playing it more than an hour or so each day.
Ultimately, though, I did have plenty of fun with Zero Mission, approaching it with an open mind.  It just felt more like a really elaborate nostalgia item to me than something I should include in my mind's Metroid canon.

[rj]

btw, metroid 1 is actually a very good game and has things later "metroidvanias" don't have (such as actual nonlinearity)

just saying this to defend it itt

i'm willing to accept it as "good" but i honestly do think it's the worst in the series, if only because of hindsight/age; i can appreciate what it does but i really don't enjoy playing it that much. i find it frustrating and slow, which is likely more my taste than the game's fault

[Alevice]

Well it's actually been about 8 years since I played Fusion so my memory probably isn't spot on. But as others have said, the nightmare shadow hovering around, the breaking elevators, Ridley clone, the Dark Samus bits, etc all unnerved me when I first played the game.

I really think you should play it again with a more critical eye.

That is not to say it is a bad game, on the contrary, its a really excelent game, but its atmnosphere is not as much its strength as are the action bits (it has the best monster ai and boss combats on the series i feel).

Take into account this is my very first time actually making an efftort on keep going through Metroid 2, which I had put off frequently. And I think its a good thing I did. It takes definitely a while to grow on you, the deisgn conventions are still wildly different from what metroid 3 ended up codifying for all the sequels and such. But taking a more clinical eye, it has some choices that worked in favor of the format and the era. And its one of the games that actually gets much better as you progress, with the final areas feeling incredibly polished, rather than the other weay around. If you thought nightmare and the sax were tense, wait until what the last area for metroid 2 has for you. It has boats of narrative bits of the imply and sort of show variety that work very strong. The last chamber before the last boss has a superbly fit soundtrack and scenery.

[baconman]

Yeah, I thought it was a bit stifling/limiting at first. Then I got the Spider Ball, and went through the second "hunting" area. There's a good collection of powerups you can discover there, a HUGE sense of impending danger with how much damage you take per hit vs. how much enemies drop to recover; and both the encounters and item placement are really good. Encountering my first Beta Metroid in an enclosed sand trap room? That was effing TERRIFYING (and it game over'd me a couple of times, since the sand regenerates once off-screen)!!

Got through that area, and a ways into the area past that. Enough to get Space Jump, at least. :D That escalated quickly, and I've still got about 21-24 Metroids to go!

One thing I'll give this game is this: I love how it made the Morph Ball, Bombs, and Ball Upgrades so relevant; that stuff really ties the game and power set together in ways that most of the other Metroid games quickly disregarded.

Oh well, halfway there!

[Alevice]

Yeah, people like to hate on metroid 2 (i was one, i admit), but i wish the sequels had borrowed more concepts from here, specially the doors haha.

[NostalgicGrotto]

Oh, awesome!
I love Metroid II!

Is it too late to join in on the Game Club fun? I'd love an excuse to reply this, though I just beat it again it last year.

[Alevice]

You have all march to join