Super Metroid Appreciation Station

[Merus]

I think Echoes has fairly weak map design except Sanctuary Fortress is, I think, one of my favourite locations in the Metroid series. That's kind of a low bar - Metroid's locations usually range from okay to generic - but Sanctuary Fortress feels weird and different and cool.

 

I never minded the jumping from safe spot to safe spot, although I think it probably should have been a separate bar.

[Sno]

Echoes is a pretty rough and flawed game, it's the buggiest of the 3, the difficulty balance is kind of all over the place, and the world design lacks a good cohesive sense of flow and momentum. It's not so much a divisive gem like Majora's Mask, it has actual problems that aren't just a matter of taste. That said, the things that potentially redeem it do tend to be things that are a matter of taste. For one, I really enjoy the survival-tinged dark world mechanics, a not particularly common sentiment about the game, but i really appreciate what Retro was going for with Echoes. It's experimenting with new mechanics in some really confident ways, and to interesting effect, and in that sense perhaps it is a little akin to Majora's Mask. It's a game that i want to like more than i do, but the fact remains that it's quite rough around the edges.

 

Corruption on the other hand, i think the worst anybody can ever really say about it is that it didn't really grab them, i don't think i've ever heard anybody say outright that they hate it. For my part, i loved it when i played it, i still think it's one of the Wii's best games, but it lacks a kind of sharpness in its mood and tone and hasn't left as much of an impact as other games in the series tend to. Beyond that, i don't know. I don't think my opinions about it are as fully formed as my opinions concerning Echoes and Prime, and perhaps that also speaks to the relative lack of impact it has. Still, i think it's a great game.

[Henroid]

The only environment I appreciated from Echoes was the swampy area. Not every room there really captured the feeling of being in a swamp / marsh, but it was enough for me. The military base thing you end up going to in Echoes also didn't sit right with me. The presentation of "this is advanced tech" was too clean. Even in Super Metroid, when you're in the Wrecked Ship or Tourian, you can see that the advanced-tech isn't exactly sleek. It has some cobbled-together feel to it. There's wires hanging around all over the place, etc. Prime did a very good job of capturing that with the Space Pirates' facilities on the planet (and even the space station).

 

It was a touch that the original Star Wars trilogy had. For all the advancement of that setting, the tech was normal; it would get dirty and age in just a couple years, like in real life. The one exception would be Imperial bases or ships - though that was kind of accenting a point thematically. They even went as far as to not sweep the sets when they filmed the movies (or at least the first one). Lucas wanted dirt to be present on the Millennium Falcon.

 

Super Metroid and Prime really capture that same sort of feeling. Prime 2 though goes into that "everything is SO CLEAN" feeling, which would be fine if the series always had that going on. Fusion falls somewhere between the two.

[Henroid]

For all the Metroid Prime talk, I should link this. I've been going through the Awesome Games Done Quick 2014 videos and saw the speed run for Metroid Prime. Aside from being awesome just for being a great speed run, they had a developer on Skype call talking about the game and watching the run, commenting on things. It's pretty great.

 

 

Edit - One of the highlights is the Power Bomb maze.

[Griddlelol]

Wii U Virtual Console
Metroid Zero Mission €6.99 / £6.29 (looks like the UK is getting fucked in the ass over the price...again - the current exchange rate puts the price closer to £5 rather than £6).

 

It's out some time this week on VC. It's a good one...right? I really want another Metroid game. 

 

On another topic: does any one know if it's possible to play the VC Wii games (specficially metroid games) using the GCN controller/adapter on WiiU, or are they locked to Wiimote?

[Merus]

Zero Mission is a good one, yes. It's got some weird bits but it does a lot right.

[tberton]

I think Zero Mission is generally considered the second-best 2D Metroid, after Super.

[Henroid]

Zero Mission allows for as much, or maybe even more, sequence breaking as Super Metroid. Should you master the controls / knowledge of the game enough. I have no idea if that was by design or coincidence though.

[miffy495]

Wii U Virtual Console

Metroid Zero Mission €6.99 / £6.29 (looks like the UK is getting fucked in the ass over the price...again - the current exchange rate puts the price closer to £5 rather than £6).

 

It's out some time this week on VC. It's a good one...right? I really want another Metroid game. 

 

On another topic: does any one know if it's possible to play the VC Wii games (specficially metroid games) using the GCN controller/adapter on WiiU, or are they locked to Wiimote?

 

Zero Mission is excellent. Get it. The Metroid Wii games weren't even GCN controller compatible on Wii, so they didn't hack that in for the VC release.

[tberton]

That's not true. I played Super Metroid on Wii Virtual Console with a Gamecube controller. Don't know if that works on Wii U though.

[undermind9]

i suspect he was referring to the prime games

 

if this is not resolved i'll have access to original GC prime game this weekend and will attempt in a Wii w/GC controller

[miffy495]

That will work fine. Thing is, the ones you can download on Wii U are from the Prime Trilogy Wii port. Those weren't controller compatible on Wii because the whole point was touched up graphics and new controls. The Wii U download of Prime Trilogy is exactly what's on that Wii disc. 

 

5 minutes later...

So I went and tried it out, used my adapter and GCN controller to try to play Metroid Prime from the download. No dice. Wiimote and Nunchuck only.

[Griddlelol]

Yes, I did mean the Prime games. I've injured my wrist, and it makes using a wiimote impossible. I didn't know they never came with GC controller support for the original releases though.

[N1njaSquirrel]

If you want, you can borrow my copy of prime 2 on the GC, if you have the appropriate console. I'll snail mail it to you.

[Griddlelol]

Thanks, but I'll just wait it out until my wrist is fixed. Got enough to play at the moment, and Bloodborne will destroy my free time soon!

[N1njaSquirrel]

Fair enough. Likewise, I am trying to get some varied gaming in before Bloodborne devours everything I love.

[JonCole]

Now that the GCN -> USB adapter exists, I'm kinda tempted to play Prime 1 and 2 in Dolphin to avoid the Wiimote stuff.

[miffy495]

I can also confirm that this works and is rad. I don't have the first party one, but I bought one of these and it works great on Wii U and PC. Miffy seal of approval applied.

[Skeletor68]

In to agree on Super Metroid. It was the first game I had that I felt treated me like a 'grown up' rather than being a kids game. I was still in primary school while playing it but I got my hands on one of those big illustrated guides for it. I think at that point I kind of understood that design was such an important element.

 

Apologies if I've missed it but have you all read the gamasutra 'Invisible hand of Super Metroid' article?

[JonCole]

Recently subscribed to a YT channel called DidYouKnowGaming that's a trivia type thing, just watched their Metroid video which is pretty good -

 

[Merus]

Yeah, I'm surprised how often DidYouKnowGaming manage to find out things that I've never heard of. Whoever does their research is super talented.

[Griddlelol]

Oh shit, I played about 3 hours of Zero Mission last night. It's real good. Like, really, really, good. I don't know whether it's my understanding of the mechanics, or how it's designed that's making me fly through it like crazy. I feel much more confident going through doors and not worrying I've chosen the wrong one whereas in Super I was nervous I'd get trapped the whole time. 

 

My love affair with Samus Metroid is full on now. 

[miffy495]

I started playing Echoes on the weekend. I played about an hour of it on the GCN back in the day, but never got further in. I'm nearly done the Agon Wastes now on the Wii U and love it. Why is this game looked at as the low point of Prime? I'm having a great time with it. Gonna enjoy going through this a whole lot over the next week-ish.

[Sno]

I started playing Echoes on the weekend. I played about an hour of it on the GCN back in the day, but never got further in. I'm nearly done the Agon Wastes now on the Wii U and love it. Why is this game looked at as the low point of Prime? I'm having a great time with it. Gonna enjoy going through this a whole lot over the next week-ish.

 

The two usual arguments against it are that the intended progression through its world has a lot of clunky back-tracking, and that it's also the hardest of the Prime trilogy, but not always in a well balanced and intended way. (Some of the big offenders here were rebalanced for the Wii remake.)

 

I really like echoes, but i tend with agree with it being the least great of the three.

 

 

Oh shit, I played about 3 hours of Zero Mission last night. It's real good. Like, really, really, good. I don't know whether it's my understanding of the mechanics, or how it's designed that's making me fly through it like crazy. I feel much more confident going through doors and not worrying I've chosen the wrong one whereas in Super I was nervous I'd get trapped the whole time. 

 

My love affair with Samus Metroid is full on now. 

 

Just wait until it...

decides it's also going to be a stealth platformer and still totally kicks ass at that too. It kind of ended up off-handidly codifying how many 2d stealth games work today.

[Griddlelol]

Just wait until it...

decides it's also going to be a stealth platformer and still totally kicks ass at that too. It kind of ended up off-handidly codifying how many 2d stealth games work today.

 

I heard about that, and I'm super excited to get to that section. 

 

Fusion will be next, then once I'm done with Bloodborne, I'll pick up the Prime Trilogy again at Echoes.