Metroid II: Return of Samus

6.5

The upgrade in controls, enemy design and power ups are enough for any fan of Metroid 1 to play this game. It gets a lot of trash, but for someone that loves the original game, this was a joy to play through. I still appreciate the games where you had to make a map and the atmosphere in this is off the charts. The black and white does get samey, but it’s like you’re playing a lost classic and you just have to give yourself to it. The big downgrade for me is the limitations of the system that make the variety a downgrade from the first game. Otherwise this was a good time.

Released 5 years after the fact, Metroid II: Return of Samus is a slower and floatier Game Boy sequel that's nevertheless a two-pronged update: One for structure, by replacing the debut's roundabout mystery with more complex areas and a well-defined objective - and the other for gameplay, by adding new combat options and upgrades useful for secret-hunting and platforming alike (e.g. Spider Ball, Space Jump). The result improves upon their model of hostile sci-fi expedition, a slightly more feasible but no less intense effort when compared to the original, only the personality is missing.

Metroid originally wasn't a huge hit for Nintendo, it had moderately decent sales, but was nowhere near the cashcow the Mario and Zelda franchises were. So when the sequel came out they released it on their handheld hoping maybe that would help it take off since Gameboy was extremely popular and sold tons of games. Well unfortunately Metroid II sort of bombed, even if the game wasn't horrible. Its more or less limited due to the limitations of Gameboy. Its not a horrible game, but its inferior to the original game and doesn't have enough to stand its own. The design is okay but the graphics and design sort of hold this back, plus there really are no bosses in this until the end. The remake of this from a few years back AM2R is way better.