Metroid: Samus Returns (2017)

When Metroid: Samus Returns is operating at its peak, it stands among the best of the franchise, but unfortunately I found these peaks to be few and far between. I'm not ecstatic about the new things this entry brings to the series and I don't feel it really nails the returning features I enjoy in these games.

We'll start with the good stuff though.

At first I really wasn't into the art style. I love me some solid pixel art and it's sort of what I've come to expect in the 2D Metroid games. So the opening areas didn't help this by mostly being shades of really ugly yellow and brown. However, the game very quickly expands on this color palette and some of the mid to late game areas are truly gorgeous. There's a lot of detail here, especially in the background. You can see non-hostile critters moseying around back there, which is really cool. The game also foreshadows a couple bosses this way much like Metroid Fusion did, which is just as cool now as it was back then.

I'm a big fan of the 3DS's 3D effect (there are dozens of us!) and this game makes excellent use of it via these background environments, adding a sense of depth that wouldn't be nearly as impressive if it weren't for how well the 3D effect is implemented. Once I noticed how good it was I always kept it on while playing. It's probably among the best on the system, in this regard.

Samus feels good to control and I appreciate the 360 degree aiming mechanic, though the circle pad does hold it back a little bit as it's not as easy to aim with as a traditional controller joystick would be. The aiming helps add some leeway with positioning during boss fights and makes dealing with troublesome enemies much easier, especially once you get the "shoot through walls" upgrade.

The major bosses are pretty much all fun to fight and look impressive, especially for a 3DS game. There's one that happens close to the final stretch of the game against the Diggernaut that I really love. It elevates the typical "shoot weak point, jump around to avoid neon balls and contact damage" boss approach in a way I haven't really seen in this series often do before. I'm not even trying to trash talk that usual boss design, I just think this one stands out as something really special among most others.

But uh, there's not much else I really liked about this game.

Samus Returns introduces a new parry mechanic which I think is meant to add some extra flavor to the combat. Another option on top of your various ranged arm cannon attacks doesn't sound bad on paper, but I really dislike the implementation here. Most of the enemies have had their AI designed around this parry, which really just means when they see you they fuckin CHARGE at top speed right at you. You are intended to stop, wait for the moment before impact, then parry and follow up with some ranged shots to quickly kill them. The thing is, the game has like maybe 10 types of normal enemies and the majority of them do exactly this with minor variations. It makes backtracking super tedious because if you want to not take chip damage all the time from enemies rocketing at you left and right you need to progress really slow and deal with them one at a time, since the parry doesn't work all that well on multiple targets.

Speaking of backtracking, this game is a bit odd in respect to this. Some level of backtracking is inevitable and even welcome in a metroidvania. But the way this game segments the world into a series of areas connected by elevators means that once you clear an area there's really no reason to go back if you don't want to pick up the upgrades you missed using your new abilities. Since most of those upgrades are missile storage increases I really didn't find it worth my time to go back. Samus Returns doesn't really feel like a big interconnected world because the only spots where the areas link up (other than teleporters I guess) is at the entrance from the previous area and exit to the next. It's pretty lame, especially having just played through Metroid Prime which also uses elevators but at least has many different entrance and exit points all over each area. Metroid Prime also features better incentive to backtrack, even outside of the required amount.

Progression is mainly gated by requiring you to kill a certain number of Metroids before moving onto the next area. These Metroids make up all of the game's minibosses and there are roughly 40 of them to kill. There are only four primary forms of them though and it gets pretty tedious fighting the same miniboss over and over. This tedium is exacerbated by the way they sometimes run away mid-fight, forcing you to go searching in nearby rooms to track them down and continue the encounter. To a certain extent the dev's hands were tied with these minibosses-- this is a remake of Metroid II after all. But it feels like there was more they could have done to reduce how repetitive they felt.

This game also introduces four abilities that use a new resource called Aeion. The first of these is like a scanner that reveals breakable blocks around you and also reveals a portion of the map close to where you are. This is really handy and I'm sure was included to help alleviate frustrations of new players in searching for paths to find upgrades. I don't think it really "casualizes" the game or anything-- if anything, something like this is a welcome addition. But I do have a bone to pick with how it seems to have affected the way secret breakable blocks are incorporated into the level design. In past Metroid games, because we didn't have such an ability, secrets usually were pretty intuitive if you followed context clues and poked around a bit. A lot of the ones in this game felt very unintuitive, like they realized you could just use the ability so it didn't really matter if they placed blocks so you could figure it out naturally. The game also loves placing blocks that collapse when you step on them right at the end of puzzles, thereby forcing you to redo them from the beginning, which really got on my nerves by the end of the game.

I'll finish up with a bit of a nitpick. I cannot fathom why in the world the Chozo would design water draining locks such that they require Metroid DNA to be directly injected into them. Like what kind of sense does that make? You guys lived like this? Even if they somehow knew Samus would come here it makes no sense to gate off Metroids from her when they clearly seem to want her to exterminate them. But oh well.

So I found Samus Returns a tad disappointing in some regards, but it's nice to see an actual release from a franchise that seemed dead for quite a while, even if it's a remake of an older game. It's still a solid entry and I'd recommend it to any fan of the series, but maybe not to newcomers. There are better entries to experience first, imo. I'll have to check out Metroid Dread next so I can finally be all caught up!

One of the only Metroid games I had yet to play, and it is wayyy better than I had imagined. The number of things Dread borrowed from it is impressive, and I think it does many things quite well. Still, it is far from perfect.

The first half is really great. Finding your way forward is often challenging, the art style and movement and ability progression feels great and quite polished. The whole Metroid hunting structure is done well and secret hunting- especially due to the great quality of life map features - is a blast.

But as all Metroid 2 versions, the Metroid hunting becomes pretty stale. It is definitely best done here though, as some of the forms are fun to battle and the other bosses are really great. The game mostly gets stale in the normal enemy combat and the end-game item sweep felt more like a chore than anything.

Still, I think it deserves a spot in the conversation of Metroid, as it’s often far overshadowed. I get it, the classics are better, but this venture into 2.5d did many things well and is totally worth finding a way to experience.

I think I might only like the 'vania part of Metroidvanias.

After hitting a wall and making no progress for a few hours, I gave up and consulted an (inexplicably mapless) walkthrough. This eventually led me to the high jump boots that I apparently needed.

Then I almost immediately hit another wall. Despite having an entire screen dedicated to the map, the map system is a giant pain to use. Too zoomed in to be useful, and the responsiveness of the 3DS touchscreen (which you need to use to scroll) is pretty trash unless you haul out the stylus.

I stopped and realized.... "I'm just not having any fun with this game. But it's Metroid. Everyone is supposed to like Metroid. It's like deja vu of my experience with A Link to the Past."

Maybe Nintendo is actually bad....

To the Hall of Shame with you, Samus Returns!

I'm continuing to work through the 2D Metroid games prior to getting Metroid Dread (which, let me tell you, has become all the more urgent now that Dread is out), and I'm discovering that I never gave this series the attention it deserved. And I feel a bit like a fool for it.

The first game, Metroid Zero Mission, was truly exceptional. Metroid Prime is almost certainly in my top 5 games of all time.

This game, while not quite as impressive as either of those, is deserving of a high, high level of praise. The gameplay is quite tight, the powerups feel strong and change the flow of the game and the accessibility of the map, and the bosses were consistently challenging. The only real short-comings are in the art style (I didn't quite love it in 2017 either), and the map feels a little bit too fragmented for its own good.

Thankfully, the story-telling, the bosses, the core gameplay of exploration, and the sense of vulnerability that slowly lifts until you discover a new version of a threatening Metroid evolution - and that overwhelming feeling of loneliness - never relinquishes on the quality. The sound design and music are strong too, with great homages to (what I'm learning are) series staples. The very final battle, while far from the most challenging in the game, really does make you feel like a powerful bounty hunter. I loved it!

I would highly recommend this. Count me in for my next adventure in Super Metroid in a few weeks time - and, one day, I can't wait to return to this exceptional game.

Samus Return, the reimagine of Metroid 2 from the Gameboy. This is the first game I beat for my 3ds so this is also a first impression of the handheld as well. First and foremost, playing on the 3ds can be painful! My hand start to cramp after a session and the 3D... I'm not sure if I'm doing it right because I cant see anything pop out the screen. At least for the Samus Return. I'll give my review on how the 3D is for the games.

Now for Samus Return... It's good, but it has some flaws. From it's core it is a Gameboy game and what I mean is that the metroid you fight get REALLY repetitive. It's not until the end of the game is where you fight some crazy bosses. I didn't really enjoy fighting the metroids like that, the variety doesn't make them THAT different.

What I really enjoyed is the atmosphere and sound design in the game like wow. The game really gave me a sense of true adventure where I'm going off a path and finding secrets. It just felt good to do that.

Overall, the game is good, but you have to be mindful that it comes from a Gameboy game meaning the core of the game is a little bare bones when it comes gameplay and story compare to Zero Mission (that's the only metroid I've played). Right now I have Zero Mission on top, the game is near perfect with its level design, atmosphere and story. I say play Samus Return because I know Metroid 2 on the gameboy is no good. I'm curious about AM2R though... For now I shall continue my journey and go back to my Switch to play Super Metroid on Nintendo Online.

Play the game.

SPOILERS AHEAD

I very nearly gave this game a 2 because of how frustrating it could be at times, but decided the overall experience warranted a 3. My main issue with this game is that it's entirely balanced around the new melee counter feature. This has some unsavory implications for the typical Metroid gameplay; fighting random enemies becomes a waiting game where you're trying to bait out the quick time event to counter. At its best, this slows down the pacing that one might be used to from a Metroid game, and at it's worst it can be very punishing as enemies in this game do comparatively more damage than other Metroid titles. However, it did make the boss encounters a lot more challenging and enjoyable in my opinion. I feel like if the melee counter was deemphasized against random mobs to make exploration more enjoyable and more emphasized for the boss fights, the game would have left a better impression on me.

I also have an issue with so many of the super/missile and bomb upgrades coming so late in the game as to feel like they don't even matter and some very literally can't be accessed until after the penultimate boss. Feels comparatively stamp collect-y when compared to other Metroid titles where I feel like exploring for every upgrade possible is rewarding not just for the discovery aspect, but because I can actually put everything to use and still have plenty of game left. This game feels like I could have linearly traveled the 8 areas and never backtracked for any upgrades and been just fine.

Still, I love Metroid, and I had fun with the game, I just can't see myself ever revisiting this one. Worth a play if you're a fan of Metroid or Metroidvania in general, but by no means a masterclass in the field.

Pros:

• Most of the great Metroid power-ups we've come to love make a comeback (my favorite, speed booster, does not);
• The game gets progressively more fun;
• It's not an easy game (not too hard, either. There are some decent, fun, challenges);
• A lot of items to collect (beating the game without focusing on collecting items too much results in a ~55% collection rate);

Cons:

• It's very linear;
• The environment isn't memorable (NOT talking about level design, just the graphics of it. There isn't a lot of differentiation between the different areas);
• The soundtrack is bland;

The tale of Metroid II remakes is awash with broken dreams and new opportunities, but Samus Returns puts the tale to rest, giving us a game with a solid and professional development that, while not really doing much past making a Metroid II game with bells and whistles, provides a solid experience.

Likely one of Samus Aran's darker plots (though the game doesn't treat it as such), you play as the galaxy's best genocidal bounty hunter as she eradicates what is left of the Metroid species. Much like the original game, Metroids come in various evolutions that you kill with charge beams and missiles. Upgrades hide in every corner, from mainstay favorites like the Plasma Beam and Power Bomb to new Aeon Abilities, special buffs and scans that use a set meter. It's mostly fluff that doesn't feel as natural as the old upgrades but it's entertaining to use and can give an extra edge in combat.

As for further upgrades, the game is also pretty dang gorgeous, with cinematics that highlight the sparse story and detailed mapping that no longer has the issue with similar looking monochrome environments.

Metroid: Samus Returns is a top notch designed game, but one can't help but feel the remake didn't get to its full potential. Aeon abilities are fun but don't expand in ways that the original upgrades do, and the environments do start to feel a little same-y themselves after awhile. What additions there were in terms of battles (spoilers) try to do their own thing, but don't fit the mold that the other Metroids have and sometimes lead to some frustrating encounters where the player doesn't quite know what to do with this random new boss.

That said, Samus Returns is one heckuva remake. People can still champion previous fan remakes like AMR2, but there's something to be said when development like this really shows Metroid II some love.

Crappy review copied from a discord conversation and lightly edited:

Samus Returns is not a terrible game, but it does not compare to actually good metroidvanias like Aria of Sorrow or Symphony of the Night. Nor does it compare to Guacamelee, Steamworld Dig, or Metroid: Zero Mission all of which are decent games worth your time, but not masterpieces.

The exploration does not work very well especially compared to other metroidvanias because the world is not interconnected, it's just a bunch of areas. The areas themselves are ok, but there are too many of them, and it drags out the game way too much. The game has I think 8 areas and took me 18 hours to complete and it would've been fun had it been 2 or 3 areas and about 6 hours like Metroid: Zero Mission. This would've also kept things fresh with upgrades coming more often. Instead it's just a slog. And the end gives you 2 or 3 bosses that do not fit in with the difficulty curve and do not test you on what you're doing the rest of the game.

Historically, Metroid is one of those series of games I love in spite of being terrible at playing them. It wasn't until Zero Mission that I actually beat one (which inspired me to go back and beat Fusion). Before that, I got the furthest in Prime, but otherwise these were games I tended to wade in, get a sense of the exploration and accumulated power-ups and atmosphere, then inevitably put aside when they stopped being fun for me.

By far the most disorienting entry I'd played was Metroid II. I had the original on Game Boy, and I loved its premise (seeing different kinds of metroids is still super neat), but the nondescript areas and lack of visibility were just too much for my meager skills.

So it's a real treat to experience that game remade to be my new favorite of the series.

Everything I found intriguing about the original is intact, but with all the game design lessons learned since 1991 incorporated. There's plenty of visibility, Samus controls amazingly well, and additional checkpoints kept me from getting stuck.

One of my favorite new additions is the ability to parry or counter an attack, momentarily stunning your enemy. You can still rely on precision in combat, but it allows those of us with better timing than aim a means of staying in the fight.

I'm also a big fan of the visuals. As a fan of Zero Mission and Fusion, I was sad when I saw the move away from sprite-based artwork. But these graphics work beautifully on the 3DS, almost like you're peering into a cross-section of the world or watching amiibos come to life.

In a year already dominated by classic sequels, reboots and follow-ups, it's incredible to see Nintendo do justice to another of their NES-era franchises. Now I'm even more excited to see how Metroid Prime 4 takes shape!

cool game. really glad nintendo finally came through with another super metroid style game as I'm not really a fan of the FPS series.

The game is very good! Probably the best metroid game I've played (not sure if I like Fusion better).

It did fix a lot of the inconveniences seen in previous installments of the series, such as the hidden blocks being too hard to find, getting lost all the damn time, etc.

I would have liked to see more variation in the metroids you have to fight. After a while it gets a bit stale. The game was also a bit easy.

Score is great.

Aesthetically I wasn't too impressed. It looked a bit too cartoonish to fit the mood set by the music and gameplay.

solid 8/10 for me.

I really am glad Samus is finally (officially) back, and in a 2D adventure no less. I know I will have lots more to say later, but for now I'll say this. I think AM2R on the whole was better, but this does offer a very different experience. I think currently the counter takes more away from the formula than it adds, and the aeon powers could have easily been replaced with normal power ups, but those are minor gripes. This is a solid entry in the series worthy of being called a Metroid game. Will it go down in history as one of the greatest games of all time? No. If I do a mainline Metroid playthrough will I likely play AM2R in it's place? Yes. Do I regret buying this game full price and the amiibo for it? Not a bit. While I think AM2R had more time for polish (and I'm a sucker for pixel art) Samus Returns shows signs of ingenuity and love put in as well. It's a good time to be a Metroid fan ^^

Edit: Took about 19 hours total playtime (including deaths/waiting around) about 10 in game around for finishing, and an additional hour and a half for 100%

(dat 100% ending teaser do...I wish it hadn't been spoiled for me)

Rating: Oh Thank God/10 (9.5/10)

Seriously, thank God that a new Metroid has come out and it's actually awesome. If you go by what a lot of people say then it's been ten years since a good one came out. I thought Federation Force was okay for what it was and I liked Other M, but still, even so, if Other M was the last proper Metroid it has still been 7 years. And basically, yeeeeeeeeeah. This is an excellent remake.

I dropped it a little bit because it's slightly lesser then the best Metroids but is still awesome. Hunting down the Metroids is cool because it's nice to actually be a bounty hunter, but this also leads to a lot of repetitive boss battles. It comes across as a bit of padding. It gets more interesting later, but the bosses never reach the level of something like Super Metroid.

Aside from that, all hands on deck. I like the addition of the scanner that shows you parts of the map. I may prefer it over the old way, to be honest. They overload you with a lot of stuff at the beginning but I never felt like it hurt the pacing. There is still a fair bit of stuff to find after the original couple areas.

But yeah, this is the way Metroid should be. Clever level design, awesome music that can go from being empowering to creepy to beautiful, plenty of secrets, a badass main character, etc. Check it out, support Metroid. Buy it 3 times.