The Retrospective: Metroid (NES)

[Raith]

So I have started up a series called the Retrospective where I play and review a retro game that I have never played before (pretty much all of them) every Friday. I decided to bring it over here to share with all of you great folks ^_^. Here it is:

[font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Game: Metroid[/font]
[font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Release Date:1987[/font]
[font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Systems: NES, Wii, 3DS[/font]​

[font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Metroid is a 2D side scrolling action-adventure game. From the very beginning you are thrown onto planet Zebes as Samus Aran, the fearless and amazing bounty hunter. You start off in a basic power suit, and all you can do is jump and shoot a weak weapon. Soon, as you explore the maze-like corridors of Zebes, you start to find power-ups. As soon as the game starts you will find an item that allows you to curl up into a ball so you can get into tight fitting areas. Soon after you will find missiles for you to use, followed by energy tanks that give you more health, missile pods which give you more missiles to use, and ice beam, and even an upgraded suit that reduces the damage enemies do to you. These power-ups are scattered everywhere and trying to find them all is near impossible (unless you are getting the help from a guide). The fact that they are placed everywhere helps keep you playing though as you always get a sense of success every time you manage to find a power-up that makes you slightly more powerful then before. Before long you will have 5 energy tanks, over 150 missiles(you start with 5) and a cool spin attack when you jump. You will literally feel invincible as you shred through your enemies.[/font]​

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[font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Every time you find something you are that much more powerful[/font]​

[font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Getting up to this point of where you feel like the most powerful thing on the entire planet can be frustrating though. The entire planet is laid out like a maze, and there will be many times when you get lost and don't know what to do. To make it worse sometimes you will find an area that you cannot get to because you do not have the right tools, and when you do finally get the right equipment you cannot remember where you found it. This is made even worse as there are multiple rooms that are used over and over again so sometimes you don't know if you are going backwards or if you are indeed progressing through the planet. It can be quite confusing sometimes.[/font]​

[font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]The confusion does not top there though. Some of the power-ups are hidden in secret areas throughout the game. Even some of the areas that you need to go to are hidden. Many times will you have to shot at the walls and ceiling in basically every room in order to see if there is a secret passage leading someplace new. Sometimes you can even break away the floor with a bomb which will lead you to a new area. The game does't give any hints as to where these hidden passages are to either, so you may end up spending a lot of time looking at walkthroughs or just mindlessly wandering around trying to find out what you have to do next.[/font]​

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[font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Going in the walls to find hidden secrets is a staple in this game.[/font]​

[font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]If you can look past the confusing layout of the planet there is a really good game to b enjoyed. The enemies are varied enough to keep thing interesting and the boss' are fun to beat. The one thing I should mention here though is that this game is grueling! You will probably die many times and be sent back to the beginning of the stage (you will keep your power-ups though). If you do not find all of the energy tanks that increase your max energy, you are screwed! Some enemies are placed where you have no way of not getting hit by them. Sometimes they even spawn right in front of you as you enter a new corridor. You may find yourself getting stuck in one or two places where you just get slaughtered by the enemies in a corridor. The boss's are also extremly hard. With impossible to dodge attack patterns sometimes a boss battle will come down to 'do you have enough energy to kill him before he kills you'. This is especially true when you face Kraid, the first boss who shoots projectiles everywhere and you cannot dodge them. All you can do is go at him with a full assault with bombs as you take constant damage from his attacks. When I first fought him I died pretty fast.[/font]​

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[font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]It get's worse. Much Worse...[/font]

[font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Closing Comments[/font]​

[font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Metroid for the NES is a fun game. It can be really confusing and extremely hard at times, but the rewarding experience of getting past a hard section or finding you next power-up kept me coming back for more. If you like to explore games and look around every nook and cranny to find all of a games secrets then I highly recommend this game to you. Also if you enjoy a good challenge, try this game out. If you like to have a general sense of direction or like to have a sense of where your objective is, maybe stay away from this game as it has none! You basically wander around exploring everything until you find a new power-up then repeat the process again.[/font]​

[font=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Pros[/font]​

+Epic boss battles
+Always gives you a sense of accomplishment
+Solid Gameplay
+3DS version has quick saves making the game a lot easier for newbies (such as myself..)

Cons

-No sense of direction or what you objective is at all
-Confusing layout of game
-Most things are hidden in places you would never think to look (which leads to a lot of wasted time wandering around)


Cool Bonus Fact​

Depending on the amount of time it took to beat the game, you will get a different ending each time. Most believe the best ending is when you beat the game in between 1 to 3 hours in which Samus takes off her suit to reveal a pink swim suit (You can also play the entire game in the swimsuit by entering the password "JUSTIN BAILEY")​

Thanks for reading, Raith​

 

[CM30]

Nice review. However, I do have to admit that for a retrospective, I think it seems a bit short and non detailed, I always considered a retrospective more like a sort of let's play (see, Research Indicates and his run through of Jurassic Park Trespasser). Or perhaps like the fairly detailed review/run down provided by certain websites.

But it's still a good review regardless.

 

[KirbyZ]

I was about 9 when this game came out, it wasn't until when I was around 12 that I finnaly got the good ending of this game. At 11 I beat it for the first time.

 

[Raith]

Nice review. However, I do have to admit that for a retrospective, I think it seems a bit short and non detailed, I always considered a retrospective more like a sort of let's play (see, Research Indicates and his run through of Jurassic Park Trespasser). Or perhaps like the fairly detailed review/run down provided by certain websites.

But it's still a good review regardless.

It's not a retrospective per say, it was just a name someone suggested I name my reviews and I liked it ^_^ My reviews tend to just focus on the games highs and lows to keep them at a reasonable length. If I had detailed everything in the game most people would get too bored to read it and just give up so keeping it a bit short kind of ensures that the reading is a little more interesting and not dragged out. Maybe someday I will do some lets plays of my favorite retro games if that's what you were looking for ^-^. Anyways thanks for at least reading it!

 

[NintenDan]

Well, rest assured, I quite enjoyed reading it! I found the length to be pretty decent. It just got down straight to the point and gave me the info that I needed.

Now, I've played a little bit of this, and I can pretty much agree with everything you've mentioned. Especially the whole "no sense of direction thing". I like the game, but suck at figuring out what to do next.