On the final game of my recent Metroid series playing spree, I’m halfway or more through Metroid II: Return of Samus. (I’ve finished Super Metroid and Metroid Prime and will have to write about them later.)
After playing Super Metroid, I originally got Metroid II for Game Boy to keep me occupied during a long 6 hour vacation ride. I played through the entire game on my original Game Boy on the trip and finished it when the ride was over about 6 hours later. Playing Metroid II again now, the problems brought up in this review are apparent. Metroid has come a long way since Metroid II, and now that I’ve gotten enough experience with the original Metroid, I can see how the sequel deviated from the original’s design.
Maybe I’m just getting tired of playing Metroid games at the moment after playing them all, but I think Metroid II’s roughness is getting to me. Compared to the original Metroid, Samus feels slower, specifically in her floaty jumps. I haven’t found the High Jump boots so that might be some of the problem. The design of SR388 is kinda linear. Although you can return to the ship to refill missiles and energy (but not save!), you have to climb all the way back to the top to the planet’s surface, where in later games the ship is in a more central location accessable from other locations.
The most annoying part of playing Metroid II again has to be that everything looks the same. Spoiled by the beautiful graphics of recent game like Zero Mission, Metroid II being limited to the original Game Boy’s shades of grey and not much uniquness in the way of room layouts, the reuse of many rooms, and of course not having a map, makes navigating through the game a bit frustrating. I usually just reexplore rooms to make sure they are cleared of Metroids, and eventually stumbled upon a path that leads to a new area.
The music in this game is mainly restricted to the main hub level that leads to the different levels that the Metroids infest. I never get tired of that theme. It’s always a welcoming feeling once an area is cleared and the theme plays as you return to the main hub, as to announce your progressing through the game, after going through the levels that contain a more sound effect filled tune lacking melody to create atmosphere.
I got a pleasant surprise from what might be called an unofficial “miniboss” in the game, Arachnus. I describe him as a miniboss because he gave me some trouble. This enemy was reused for Metroid Fusion, and was first boss you fight in the game, the one that you gain the morph ball ability from. I couldn’t remember exactly what part of Metroid II this boss was from, because the last time I played Metroid II, I had missed it. Turns out you fight him for the Spring Ball jump abiltiy. Instead of the spring ball, the Chozo statue has this enemy curled up in a ball. The only way to kill it is to morph into the ball and lay bombs when it unrolls, while dodging the projectiles it throughs. I had low life at the time and just couldn’t get away from his shots at first, so I had to run around the room a bit. I believe there were a couple of Metroid II enemies that were used for Super Metroid as well.
Considering this is a game for the original Game Boy and is over 10 years old, its fairly good. It’s just the rough flaws of the old hardware that bring it down compared to recent games, and make it frustrating and slow to play through today. I would love to see R&D1 remake this game, along with the original as an unlockable of course. I wouldn’t mind if it came out a year after Zero Mission’s release as long as they have enough time to complete it. Seeing as how the game appears to have less unique, distinct, and interesting graphics and levels than Metroid, they could pretty much redo the entire game I bet. The SRX area, and inclusion of enemies and the Omega Metroid in Metroid Fusion give a taste of how colorful a redone SR388 could be.
————–
The fact that I had missed the High Jump Boots was making me miss out on my maximum jumping potential, so I consulted a map after wandering around aimlessly, and discovered it was right by the Wave Beam. Passed right over it in the vertical block room, not to mention you walk through a false wall.
#*%!
After playing Super Metroid, I originally got Metroid II for Game Boy to keep me occupied during a long 6 hour vacation ride. I played through the entire game on my original Game Boy on the trip and finished it when the ride was over about 6 hours later. Playing Metroid II again now, the problems brought up in this review are apparent. Metroid has come a long way since Metroid II, and now that I’ve gotten enough experience with the original Metroid, I can see how the sequel deviated from the original’s design.
Maybe I’m just getting tired of playing Metroid games at the moment after playing them all, but I think Metroid II’s roughness is getting to me. Compared to the original Metroid, Samus feels slower, specifically in her floaty jumps. I haven’t found the High Jump boots so that might be some of the problem. The design of SR388 is kinda linear. Although you can return to the ship to refill missiles and energy (but not save!), you have to climb all the way back to the top to the planet’s surface, where in later games the ship is in a more central location accessable from other locations.
The most annoying part of playing Metroid II again has to be that everything looks the same. Spoiled by the beautiful graphics of recent game like Zero Mission, Metroid II being limited to the original Game Boy’s shades of grey and not much uniquness in the way of room layouts, the reuse of many rooms, and of course not having a map, makes navigating through the game a bit frustrating. I usually just reexplore rooms to make sure they are cleared of Metroids, and eventually stumbled upon a path that leads to a new area.
The music in this game is mainly restricted to the main hub level that leads to the different levels that the Metroids infest. I never get tired of that theme. It’s always a welcoming feeling once an area is cleared and the theme plays as you return to the main hub, as to announce your progressing through the game, after going through the levels that contain a more sound effect filled tune lacking melody to create atmosphere.
I got a pleasant surprise from what might be called an unofficial “miniboss” in the game, Arachnus. I describe him as a miniboss because he gave me some trouble. This enemy was reused for Metroid Fusion, and was first boss you fight in the game, the one that you gain the morph ball ability from. I couldn’t remember exactly what part of Metroid II this boss was from, because the last time I played Metroid II, I had missed it. Turns out you fight him for the Spring Ball jump abiltiy. Instead of the spring ball, the Chozo statue has this enemy curled up in a ball. The only way to kill it is to morph into the ball and lay bombs when it unrolls, while dodging the projectiles it throughs. I had low life at the time and just couldn’t get away from his shots at first, so I had to run around the room a bit. I believe there were a couple of Metroid II enemies that were used for Super Metroid as well.
Considering this is a game for the original Game Boy and is over 10 years old, its fairly good. It’s just the rough flaws of the old hardware that bring it down compared to recent games, and make it frustrating and slow to play through today. I would love to see R&D1 remake this game, along with the original as an unlockable of course. I wouldn’t mind if it came out a year after Zero Mission’s release as long as they have enough time to complete it. Seeing as how the game appears to have less unique, distinct, and interesting graphics and levels than Metroid, they could pretty much redo the entire game I bet. The SRX area, and inclusion of enemies and the Omega Metroid in Metroid Fusion give a taste of how colorful a redone SR388 could be.
————–
The fact that I had missed the High Jump Boots was making me miss out on my maximum jumping potential, so I consulted a map after wandering around aimlessly, and discovered it was right by the Wave Beam. Passed right over it in the vertical block room, not to mention you walk through a false wall.
#*%!
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