Metroid

Metroid falls into two genres. It is an action game and it is one of the earliest metroidvania. The action game is to RPGs what the modern novel is to earliest forms of literature; focused on a protagonist, shorter, clearer, and with clear use of pacing and an intensity to its experience.

The metroidvania is a highly specific kind of side-scrolling platformer, featuring nonlinear level design and a complex method of progression. I'll refer it to it from now on as a platform-adventurer, because it's a much nicer term.

Both of these are genres that Metroid pioneered. The platform-adventurer is, I'm guessing, one of the (on average) highest rated genres on this site. They are a kind of game which, to make sense, to have a sense of power to them, must hold its plot in synthesis with its gameplay. You expect scenery to change as you work through the landscape you're presented with, for the world to bend around your choices.

But Metroid is, above all else, clumsy. Without the instruction manual, it's almost impossible to tell what to do; the instruction manual tells you to make your own map, which would honestly be a brilliant element to a game which had been executed better. But as it stands, it becomes a method of encouraging you to clumsily wander through its environment.

Without the clarity of understanding the position the game places you in, playing as Samus becomes near impossible. A difficulty furthered by the fact that at this point we have no idea who she is.

The game is, to be honest, very ugly. Almost all NES games are to an extent, with very noteworthy exceptions like Castlevania and Kirby's Adventure- but here the graphics are particularly restrained by how closely it sticks to the NES' tile system fo rhandling graphics, forcing the background to be a monochrome black and the platforms to be just 2 or 3 colours. "Tourian" is an exception to this, rearranging the vaguely biological and geological systems you've seent throughout into something metallic and industrial.

But "Tourian" is hurt by the soundtrack- the NES had 3 oscillator channels and a noise channel. The desicion to stick by experimental and horror devices for the majority of tracks is great, but the NES can't handle the kind of microtonal dissonances the environments suggested evoke.

some of the tracks are too certain of their place as an NES action game, being far, far too western- the 'Escape Theme' sounds and 'Brainstar Theme' are energetic but don't suit the sci-fi horror mood. when all you see in the background is complete darkness, not even stars, I think the music should not try so hard to be comfortable.

and at just one point, it succeeds. 'Kraids Hideout' is brilliant, its intertwining melodic line and extended progression all reflect the labyrinth you're placed in. the arpeggios here have early been in approximation of kinds of dark ambience, but their newly found confidence and harmony evoke what Metroid is about... the drive for discovery in where it doesn't belong. though not as great, the 'Title Theme' works similarly, this time recontextulising the regular beats you'll hear throughout.

and finally, the gameplay. is not particularly fun. Samus' movement is difficult, floaty, and really really frustrating to a modern audience. the combat is particularly hurt by how difficult is to even aim at the various kinds of flaura and traps and even the most experienced players regularly trip.

but still; the developers were hugely limited by the tools they had available to them. they made poor choices because they were the only ones available to them, and it's important to keep this in mind when playing it. but the failure of the console doesn't, in my opinion, justify the failure of the game.

This game is bad. I feel like the only reason I'm not giving it a lower score is because I do quite like the music and general ambience at points and I mean as far as Metroid [メトロイド] goes these things are very welcome and needed. The aesthetic being sold well definitely helps make the experience less bad than it could have been. But this may be some of the worst level design ever and a terrible start to the metroidvania genre that future games, including other games in the Metroid [メトロイド] series, improve upon greatly. Tons of repeating rooms that barely look different from each other, zero save points, frustrating boss and even standard enemy design, extremely obtuse secrets, the Mother Brain final boss being an absolute pain since you get hit from just about everywhere and you lose most of your missiles by the time you even get to actually attack the boss, and more. I think the lack of save points for the NES version (as well as spawning with 30 health. every. time.) is probably the biggest problem and I'm happy Nintendo realized that for future games of the series. It's not fun to go through a bunch of stuff and then have all that progress be erased just to go through it again... from the very beginning of the area. Do not play this, at least not without a big guide to lead you through when you inevitably get stuck. I wouldn't be surprised if Metroid: Zero Mission is dramatically better whenever I will get to it.

I have no words for this game it is too hard for me and my little brain✌️☮️

I wrote a small guide for new players: https://pastebin.com/ULNp3dv0

The vast, starry horizon at the title screen coldly glares at the player as the sharp radar pings remind you of the graveness of the mission: To navigate a mysterious, desolate planet and find and eliminate Mother Brain who has the designs to reproduce the deadly metroids - large, parasitic airborne aliens able to feed on the very essence of life, and whose biology represents the very danger for all of galactic civilisation. A chilling introductory sequence like this is something that has never been encountered by any player before, and immediately signals that precaution and wonder is at the turn before you press the start button. This game is so much beyond an adventure.

Many things have been written about "Metroid", and at the time of its release I truly consider it had been the greatest game ever made. It's an adventure that goes beyond Zelda's previously organised set of dungeons, and instead you only have one big world to get lost in, where many of the points are immediately inaccessible until you get the necessary technical upgrades, in a game genre since called a 'metroidvania'. With a free-form and open setting like this, it becomes chill and relaxing to play "Metroid". You don't feel like you're in a hurry and you can take your time getting intimate and familiar with the large caverns of Brinstar and Norfair, as they become places you will revisit countless times and where upon mastery you'll be able to thrive in them.

"Metroid" is a pioneer for expanding the action platformer gaming far beyond its perfect jumping-and-shooting mechanics. It is a vast, imaginative world with alien, organic imagery and highly detailed pixel art. The sprite art for the tall, grim statues, the metroids, and Samus' walking and running animation were all peak for the Famicom's development, and the ease of controls and the endless stocks of identifiable secrets, with there being a secret passage at nearly every corner, make it immediately addicting and something you can't put off playing, a hallmark for any quality game. If you come here fresh from completing the first "Zelda", you will now the importance of bombing suspicious looking walls, floors and ceilings, and when a dead-end has more than meets the eye.

You really do have to exercise caution and have resources available to you to cushion your journey. The manual offers a basic map that you can expand upon, and I recommend any player to document and draw their own, because you'll need to know the spots you bypass or need to revisit, and the secret entrances you find. Many of the game's corridors are intentionally designed to be mazes that will throw the player out of the loop, as you encounter so many corridors that are literally copy-pasted for space constraints, and are placed just in front of the boss entrances to try to divert you from finding them. Sometimes you will find dead-ends. Sometimes there will be spots in the game where you can get easily stuck and sometimes you'll have to get crafty to reach unreachable areas. Being prepared for these things with the manual, map and guides does get you the tools you need to surmount these obstacles, but the one truly big blemish I have to fault the game for would be the lack of any complete health refills. That every start of the game begins at low health and that you have to farm enemies for it to build it back is simply unnecessary, when a game like Zelda just a few months earlier included complete health refills in fairy fountains. Although farming is in its own way meditatively enjoyable, it just takes too long and happens too often for it to really synergise with the playing experience, and is therefore a reason why I really recommend people play this with save states or rewind - or one of the third-party hacks.

Fighting the dreaded metroids at the end and facing Mother Brain in her sterile, white, smooth metallic chambers with way too many deadly organisms bubbling in the vats and multiplying, is at once punishing, surmountable, and rewarding. It is a challenging mission. Once you defeat Mother Brain and are treated to a wonderful ending complete with a cinematic, sci-fi infused scrolling credits sequence, you will be left itching for more Metroid, and that's when the game's replay value really gets to shine: Speedrunning "Metroid" gives different types of endings, and finishing Metroid in under two hours is, in a sense, a good exam to demonstrate just how much you've learned about the game and how much you've mastered it. With its eerie locations, the triumphant leitmotifs of Brinstar, and the ever-deepening sense of oppression as you find the lairs of notorious enemies, and always a hope for a game-changing power-up just around a corner, "Metroid" is a mesmerising experience and far from a game you would play once and abandon.

I got the best ending, too.

I remember playing this the first time and really enjoying it for the exploration and secrets but I recently tried it again and realised how awful the respawning system is, you always start with 30 energy no matter how many energy tanks you have which makes it extremely tedious as you have to grind enemies to get back to full health. It is made even worse when you respawn in different areas as the enemies can do a lot more damage and grinding is made much harder by trickier layouts...

It was an insightful moment when I attempted multiple times to get to the end of a room, after being hit by countless infinitely respawning unavoidable enemies and tinnitus-inducing low health beeping noise and dull as hell music, only to find yet another dead end, that I realised I'd rather NEVER PLAY THIS PIECE OF SHIT AGAIN!!! :)