Zebes: Metroid General Thread

[Deleted member]

When you think about it...

Spoiler: Samus Returns endgame spoilers

You know Fusion will get rewritten in some sort in the future, as it's now not 2 but 3 times at least that the Baby Metroid saved Samus.

 

[Ridley_Prime]

Eh face it, Metroid will never catch on in Japan like it does elsewhere. If MSR sells more there than some of the other games in the series then that's good, but overall worldwide sales are more important long run for a more niche series like that. Even the times they did try to appeal to Japan more with a Metroid game (Other M comes to mind), it backfired.

When you think about it...

Spoiler: Samus Returns endgame spoilers

You know Fusion will get rewritten in some sort in the future, as it's now not 2 but 3 times at least that the Baby Metroid saved Samus.

Spoiler

Yeah, tho for the sake of going chronologically, I think a Super Metroid remake should come first if anything, and then Fusion. Fusion particularly would benefit most from the modern remake touch, but a new game should probably come first; save the remakes for when they're out of other ideas/options for a 2D.

 

[A Distant Demon]

Man this game is super fun.

Getting the

Spoiler: weapon spoilers?

Gravity Suit, Plasma beam, and Screw Attack

and I feel like a god all of a sudden. Hunting Metroids is still exhilarating.

Just beat that ******* of a boss for Area 6. have every upgrade now. Love that this game is actually difficult and makes me need to pay attention. 4 Metroid remain. . .

 

[Aetheri]

Darnit....Hard Mode run ended barely over 8 hours...

So still got worst ending...no helmetless Samus...BUT big improvement over initial run on Normal almost half the time...

Which of course is to be expected when you know where everything is now...

Man this game is super fun.

Getting the

Spoiler: weapon spoilers?

Gravity Suit, Plasma beam, and Screw Attack

and I feel like a god all of a sudden. Hunting Metroids is still exhilarating.

Just beat that ******* of a boss for Area 6. have every upgrade now. Love that this game is actually difficult and makes me need to pay attention. 4 Metroid remain. . .

Spoiler

Diggernaught was a pain, but a really dynamic boss fight...I appreciate how it had some build up as you encountered it several times on your mission, and it even stole some of your abilities...

The way it's battle was set-up, with it being primarily in the background makes me wonder how previous bosses from Super Metroid or Fusion will be handled should the games be remade sometime in the future...like Kraid for example...

 

[N3ON]

But stuff like Zetas and Omegas bring the average way up though, esoecially when they decide to go into positions that basically make them invulnerable (Gammas can do it too). But, the runners can be on cycled? That would definitely help. Power bomb boost is something I did not consider though.

It definitely seems possible

Media Create: Samus Returns has sold about 30k first week in Japan. It's in line with Zero Mission, hopefully it'll have better legs (probably not).

Here are are lifetime sales numberse for every metroid in Japan. Please forigve me for mixing Famitsu with MC.

Spoiler

Everything is Famitsu unless otherwise noted
Metroid (FDS) 1.03 million (this is shipment data IIRC)
Metroid II (GMB)102,550 MC
Super Metroid (SFC) 508,698 MC
Fusion (GBA) 155,528
Zero Mission (GBA) 85,045
Famicom Mini 23 Metroid (GBA) 50,353
Metroid Other M (WII) 75,578

Metroid Prime (NGC) 78,384
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (NGC) 40,355
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (WII) 74,647
Metroid Prime Pinball (NDS) 15,541
Metroid Prime Hunters (NDS) 90,028
Wii NPT! Metroid Prime 20,607
Wii NPT! Metroid Prime 2 12,427
Metroid Prime Federation Force (3DS) 6,090

Well alright. I suppose that's decent. It's not great. And I also doubt the game will have legs, especially since the 3ds is most certainly in its twilight.

But if it were solely up to Japan we'd probably have stopped getting Metroid in general a long time ago. Hope the rest of the world is more receptive to the title.

 

[Ridley_Prime]

How grateful I am that it is not solely up to Japan.

Oh, the end of my 100% Hard mode run shaved off about half the time I had in my first playthrough as well. Still, meh...

 

[Deleted member]

At least, for a niche series in Japan, Japanese players still has the advantage to see every Metroid game to date to get released there due to Nintendo being a Japan-based company, while in the West it is much more of a chore to get localized niche games, most notably most of the J-RPGs.

 

[IronTed]

Well alright. I suppose that's decent. It's not great. And I also doubt the game will have legs, especially since the 3ds is most certainly in its twilight.

But if it were solely up to Japan we'd probably have stopped getting Metroid in general a long time ago. Hope the rest of the world is more receptive to the title.

I mean, if it were only up to Japan, Zelda would never have gotten the budget to get BoTW.

I mean, SR is coming out in a year full of low-tier releases for 3DS. Ever Oasis bombed, no one cares about Mario Sports Superstar, the new Mario and Luigi might do well (I doubt it), Hey! Pikmin is doing surprisngly well (as is Miitopia), but none of them will likely hit a million. I doubt Nintendo has high expectations for SR, either. These types of releases are less about profit, and more about diversifying your library, as well as keeping an audience satisfied for the short term. Not to say they aren't profitable for what they are, with how cheap 3DS development is.

 

[A Distant Demon]

Just beat Samus Returns. Final time of 8:13 becuse im bad.Holy **** this game is great. Prime only barely beats it for my favorite game in the series. I cant believe a REMAKE did so much great stuff. Pseudo review as usual for when I beat a game.

• Precision aiming needs to be a requirement for all 2D metroid from now on. It's just way too much of an improvement
• Same goes for pickups floating too you. Much less tedious
• The game is beautiful. They took a game known for having no visuals to tell where you are, to creating multiple areas that all look great.
• The difficulty is really good. It isn't so punishing that you will die at random, but boss fights will kill you, and random enemies will make you work carefully, ESPECIALLY before you get an area's upgrades, but not so carefully that you have to move at a snail's pace.
• Music is atmospheric as ever, with some nostalgia too
• Hunting metroids is better than ever
• powerups make you feel super powerful

Spoiler

queen metroid fight was really cool, and a bit harder then expected, but i got lucky and beat her 3rd try. running around with the baby metroid is as cute as ever.

but the real star is. . .

Spoiler

MOTHER ****ING META RIDLEY. HOLY ****

the fight was hype, the baby helpong was hype, the fact he is FINALLY a final boss is hype, the music was hype. what a way to end a game

Final Result: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

 

[Ridley_Prime]

Just beat Samus Returns. Final time of 8:13 becuse im bad.Holy **** this game is great. Prime only barely beats it for my favorite game in the series. I cant believe a REMAKE did so much great stuff. Pseudo review as usual for when I beat a game.

• Precision aiming needs to be a requirement for all 2D metroid from now on. It's just way too much of an improvement
• Same goes for pickups floating too you. Much less tedious
• The game is beautiful. They took a game known for having no visuals to tell where you are, to creating multiple areas that all look great.
• The difficulty is really good. It isn't so punishing that you will die at random, but boss fights will kill you, and random enemies will make you work carefully, ESPECIALLY before you get an area's upgrades, but not so carefully that you have to move at a snail's pace.
• Music is atmospheric as ever, with some nostalgia too
• Hunting metroids is better than ever
• powerups make you feel super powerful

Spoiler

queen metroid fight was really cool, and a bit harder then expected, but i got lucky and beat her 3rd try. running around with the baby metroid is as cute as ever.

but the real star is. . .

Spoiler

MOTHER ****ING META RIDLEY. HOLY ****

the fight was hype, the baby helpong was hype, the fact he is FINALLY a final boss is hype, the music was hype. what a way to end a game

Final Result: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Spoiler

It's not Meta Ridley. The form in MSR is actually officially referred to as Proteus Ridley. Here's the statement regarding it...

"Proteus, in Greek mythology, is the god of rivers and oceanic bodies of water. He was known for his adaptability and versatility. The Proteus name is appropriate, as it refers to Ridley's ability to easily recover from his battle wounds."

Rather fitting, all things considered. There is no denying though that the form was inspired by Meta-Ridley, being partly cybernetic and all.


While on the subject of him, I gotta say he's a ******* to fight on Hard mode. Still haven't gotten accustomed to countering his command grab...

 

[AndreaAC]

Spoiler

It's not Meta Ridley. The form in MSR is actually officially referred to as Proteus Ridley. Here's the statement regarding it...

"Proteus, in Greek mythology, is the god of rivers and oceanic bodies of water. He was known for his adaptability and versatility. The Proteus name is appropriate, as it refers to Ridley's ability to easily recover from his battle wounds."

Rather fitting, all things considered. There is no denying though that the form was inspired by Meta-Ridley, being partly cybernetic and all.


While on the subject of him, I gotta say he's a ******* to fight on Hard mode. Still haven't gotten accustomed to countering his command grab...

Spoiler

And THIS one...cough.

.3. Also, there are some details design-wise that also remind me more of Omega than Meta, like the form of his feet and the fleshy neck looking more vulture-like. And the prostetic parts overall, like the back and such. The silver color of the metal (at least in the concept) plus the more purple coloring of the scales (since Omega didn't had skin/scales, they showed the color of his exposed muscles which is more redish in tone) remind more of Meta Ridley. Oh, and the fact that some part look completely cybernetic.

T 3 T It saddens me that they leave this form aside. Sorry, it's the soft spot I have for it.

 

[Ridley_Prime]

Spoiler

And THIS one...cough.

.3. Also, there are some details design-wise that also remind me more of Omega than Meta, like the form of his feet and the fleshy neck looking more vulture-like. And the prostetic parts overall, like the back and such. The silver color of the metal (at least in the concept) plus the more purple coloring of the scales (since Omega didn't had skin/scales, they showed the color of his exposed muscles which is more redish in tone) remind more of Meta Ridley. Oh, and the fact that some part look completely cybernetic.

T 3 T It saddens me that they leave this form aside. Sorry, it's the soft spot I have for it.

Spoiler

Oh yeah, I like the vulture neck. Just feels more natural for him.

Although the Omega form wasn't a particular favorite of mine, I feel ya still. It was good and shame that version had to be a one-off. I'd really like to see Proteus Ridley be reused in the future in some form or fashion, tho if it were a game on the Switch they'd probably have to redesign him since Proteus Ridley's a lower-res model from a 3DS game...

 

[AndreaAC]

Spoiler

Oh yeah, I like the vulture neck. Just feels more natural for him.

Although the Omega form wasn't a particular favorite of mine, I feel ya still. It was good and shame that version had to be a one-off. I'd really like to see Proteus Ridley be reused in the future in some form or fashion, tho if it were a game on the Switch they'd probably have to redesign him since Proteus Ridley's a lower-res model from a 3DS game...

Spoiler

I totally agree. xD I like both the vulture-like one and the toothpick one because well...it is a classic despite always making you wonder "How does he swallow things with it?", there might be an explanation someday that makes way more sense than Roidley's evolution cycle.

:/ I know, I asked to someone if they could get Omega Rid's model since it is the only one I haven't been able to find that isn't the Gmod one one with horrible textures, but the person told me the Prime Trilogy's models are pretty tricky to rip, and that people that may know how aren't willing to share anything regarding them. :O Oh, I would like to see him too, maybe make the design completely organic this time around! It looks way too good and it really should get a hi-poly version someday!

 

[IronTed]

Spoiler

Oh yeah, I like the vulture neck. Just feels more natural for him.

Although the Omega form wasn't a particular favorite of mine, I feel ya still. It was good and shame that version had to be a one-off. I'd really like to see Proteus Ridley be reused in the future in some form or fashion, tho if it were a game on the Switch they'd probably have to redesign him since Proteus Ridley's a lower-res model from a 3DS game...

Spoiler

Any Ridley incarnation between Zero Mission and Samus Returns must be Meta Ridley (or a derivative). The good news is, they have a lot of creative room with making different designs. Just look at Prime's Meta to Corruption's Meta to Omega. Proteus definitely is a neat design though, and the concept art is stellar.

 

[Ridley_Prime]

Spoiler

Any Ridley incarnation between Zero Mission and Samus Returns must be Meta Ridley (or a derivative). The good news is, they have a lot of creative room with making different designs. Just look at Prime's Meta to Corruption's Meta to Omega. Proteus definitely is a neat design though, and the concept art is stellar.

Spoiler

Haven't seen the concept art yet, but yeah, agreed.

Does make me a bit more curious how he would look in a Super Metroid remake now. Question though is whether he would go back to being fully organic like they established with Super Metroid and the timeline, or if he would still be cybernetic. Would be easier to make sense of the latter honestly for consistency's sake.

 

[A Distant Demon]

I thought this was the most badass thing ever. Stuff like Prime and this scene are how you make a silent protaganist work

Spoiler: late game spoiler

Samus is back *******

 

[Aetheri]

I thought this was the most badass thing ever. Stuff like Prime and this scene are how you make a silent protaganist work

Spoiler: late game spoiler

Samus is back *******

Spoiler

Was a very satisfying moment after the headaches this guy caused throughout the game....

 

[Ridley_Prime]

That it was... But yeah, that kind of badassery made me further realize why I like silent protagonists such as Samus and Doomguy depending on how they're used. Samus speaking at times isn't inherently bad though, but just don't make it the focus.

 

[Megadoomer]

I thought this was the most badass thing ever. Stuff like Prime and this scene are how you make a silent protaganist work

Spoiler: late game spoiler

Samus is back *******

Ugggghhh... Hated that boss so much.

Spoiler

It was hard to keep track in the middle of battle, but its attacks were difficult to avoid, and I'm pretty sure they caused an energy tank and a half worth of damage each. If it was possible to progress without activating that thing, then I gladly would have done so.

I was so relieved when I finally beat it. I made it to the Queen Metroid, and the only collectibles that I'm missing are ones that you can only get after that fight. (hoping you can still use teleporters) My current time is about 11 hours, but I'm well on my way to (as far as I can recall) my first 100% completion of a Metroid game!

 

[IronTed]

Spoiler

Haven't seen the concept art yet, but yeah, agreed.

Does make me a bit more curious how he would look in a Super Metroid remake now. Question though is whether he would go back to being fully organic like they established with Super Metroid and the timeline, or if he would still be cybernetic. Would be easier to make sense of the latter honestly for consistency's sake.

Spoiler

Well, I should rephrase, it may not technically be concept art, but it's art nonetheless.

Yeah, I think they'd go full organic for a Super remake. He'd probably be closer in line with his SR incarnation from a behavioral standpoint, though. And if they do a Super remake, expect Ridley or something like him to be the final boss.

Yeah, what stuck out to me, was that Samus Returns was the first mainline game to not have Samus speak since Return of Samus. She spoke in Super, Fusion, Zero Mission, and Other M. Not so much in the Primes though. You can tell they really played it safe, especially during the boss cutscenes.

Edit: Metroid Samus Returns has debuted at #3 on the Spanish charts, at 8,000 units, behind PES 18 and NBA 2K 18 on PS4 (18k and 17.9k). Not horrible by any means, certainly better relative performance than Japan or the UK. It's ultimately moot though.

 

[Aetheri]

So I'm gonna go ahead and write up my thoughts on Samus Returns...as I said I would after I beat the game for the third time (just over 5 hours this time Any% completion, so I got helmetless Samus this time)

Spoiler: Spoiler'd cuz of spoilers....spoiler

I love this game! No doubt, as I mentioned before this is a definitely second best of the 2D Metroids. Behind Super Metroid of course (it'll seriously take a lot to beat Super), and it's probably sits as my Fourth favourtie Metroid game...

Controls
Honestly despite being a 2D platformer, it works well with the circle pad, I had no issues platforming at all, at least not in any way I felt like I wanted to use the D-pad...touch controls for morph ball and weapon upgrades were actually pretty well done (also helped that you don't really need to use the touch screen for the grapple beam at all, just point at a grapple target and it switches automatically)...Everything felt very responsive and I honestly felt very much in control...all of my ****s up were indeed MY ****s up...

I LOVE the 360 aiming, I thought at first it was going to slow the game down for me, but since you can still angle your aim up and down while running, it literally helped add for more precise aiming...Playing Axiom Verge I wanted the ability to just stand still and aim without running forward or backward and not only did I get that but even more precision with aiming...

Melee counter is something that 2D Metroids NEEDED! It was literally one of those things that I wanted most. However the game design seems to have a big emphasis on using it, since pretty much every enemy will go for the kill almost immediately, whereas using it to make space sometimes doesn't really work as well as I'd like it do if they are literally right in your face, of course just jumping away works...

----

Graphics
The game is about as good as it can be for the 3DS, but regardless of jaggies and low poly models, this game is gorgeous...Those backgrounds! Those effects! The details! And not having the 3D on just doesn't do it justice at all, as it adds to the depth of the world you are exploring and actually makes it looks like a living breathing world as opposed to an endless blackness that you get from the original...These are more than just simple backdrops that you don't get as much out of in pixel art...

And speaking of the world, the environments for the most part were also quite nice...We have a tovus Bog like environment and one full of these crystals as well as deep underground ruins and such as well as activity going on in the background...I'm just wondering why some of these beasties I see weren't bosses or something added into the game, like these red and blue crocomire looking dudes or this giant spiny slug-thing just willy nilly crawling in the background...Also, if you're paying close enough attention shortly after the Diggernaught chase.... you're being watched...

----

Music
Honestly this was one of the weakest parts of the game for me, not that the music was inherently bad, but the most memorable tracks in the game were all remixes...like literally all of them from the amazing remix of Brinstar and yet another Norfair remix to stellar remixes of the original Metroid II tracks for SR388 Surface and Chozo Ruins...

But it did have this original that was actually pretty damn good...

Also I did feel the metroid boss themes were pretty decent, specifically the Zetas and Omegas...

----

Content (Bosses, upgrades, etc)
Let's start off with my biggest complaint being the lack of a Speed Booster...and as a result the Shinespark, but the game does add a new secret technique that I'll call the Power Bomb boost for now which does the same job as the Shinespark but at the cost of one Power Bomb as opposed to health...However other than collecting some power-ups it doesn't quite get as much use (but we'll see how Speedrunners will utilize it)...Another power-ups I feel goes very underutilized is the Ice Beam...There's a few Ice beam platforming puzzles that become almost moot once you get the Spider Ball almost immediately after, and then there's the Metroid fights...It's ultimately better to have your regular beam equipped for regular enemies since they get killed immediately after a melee counter as opposed to just frozen...

Aeion Abilities...Scan Pulse is pretty much just a glorified X-ray visor from Super Metroid, I hardly used it since I wanted to figure thing out on my own first before using it as a last resort...In fact I mostly used it by accident while was fighting enemies and such and pressed A sometimes while trying to do things...
Lightning Armour...was fairly useful at times, enemies get in your way you just nudge them out of your way when it's active plus you are protected from hazards...
Beam Burst...On one hand it sucks that it's limited to an aeion meter that runs out of juice, but on the other hand this would be broken as **** if it weren't limited...makes for a good ****ING DIE ALREADY last resort sort of thing since it takes out tough enemies rather quickly...
Phase Drift...honestly apart from obtaining a few power-ups I didn't see much of a use for this power-up...I guess you can use to to bypass a bunch of enemies quickly without them bugging you but Lightning Armour pretty much does the same without using up as much aeion...

The Metroids
one complaint I hear a lot is the repetivieness of the Metroids, and while there are very minor change ups with slightly differing forms, they do lean slightly on the repetitive side, however they are much more dynamic this time compared to what they were more than 25 years ago...
The Alpha's of course the easiest and are kind of just pushovers...
Gamma's being the most annoying since they start appearing when you are slightly underpowered and will sometimes run away but it does make for some mix ups in the battles at least
Zeta's for some reason people only now are comparing them to the Xenomorph when I felt they always had that comparison since the beginning, but regardless they made for s few interesting boss fights
Omega's, oh man, the Omega's in this game are fun, and finally the Metroids are starting to feel like full fledged bosses...too bad there's only four of them...and at the end of the game...
Queen Metroid...Holy crap she's huge!! But she made for a very cool boss fight and one that was rather challenging at first, she felt especially fierce like "***** you killed my baby's! You'll DIE NOW!!!"

Non-Metroid bosses
Diggernaught was a ***** and a half, but made for an interesting new dynamic in the game as well as a secondary antagonist in the game that played a thorn in your side from stealing upgrades to chasing you through caverns and being a challenging but not in an unfair sort of way boss fight...
Metroid II was the only Metroid game that didn't have an escape sequence, while for the most part that remained true for Samus Returns, the chase sequence was pretty much a good replacement for it since it was an instant death should you fail, abut damn was it easy to fail on you first go around...getting used to the route you need to take and how to take it does make it A LOT more manageable in successive playthroughs....

Arachnus, The original non-metroid boss...The boss fight itself was alright, not exactly the most exciting boss in the game...but he's here nonetheless...Spring ball is a handy power-up though so I'll give him that...

Mutha ****ing Proteus Ridley! One boss fight we all saw coming because Nintendo just wanted to totally not tease that Ridley was in the game not even TWO DAYS before the game's release......But I digress...One of the coolest iterations of Ridley yet and a boss fight that keeps you on your toes...While at first it does seem like "Oh btw Here's Ridley out of nowhere all fan-service and stuff cuz Metroid" it does make some form of sense if you consider the nest game chronologically being Super Metroid...also for those with a keen eye will likely know that he doesn't just come from out of nowhere and was likely following Samus on SR 388 for a good while...

----

Conclusion
As I said, I love this game, controls are solid, looks great, and it's a definitely step in the right direction for the Metroid series...The game made an attempt to add in new abilities and features and possibly pave a new way for Metroid in the future and I feel like this is a good first step for the series going forward...I'll be continuing to play this game and try to get better and better times...still have to use my amiibos to check out Fusion Mode as well as the Art gallery (but honestly I was just too lazy to open them as they're still sitting there in their boxes...lol)

If I were to give this game a score it'd be somewhere between an 8.5-9/10...it's a got few set backs but still an overall great game and a more importantly a great Metroid Game!!

 

[Ridley_Prime]

Oh yeah, was gonna give my first any % speedrun a go soon but had been putting it off. Just want the Metroid amiibo for Fusion mode now more than ever, if I can find one at some point.

Despite being deprived of that for now, MSR is easily among my top three alongside Super and Fusion out of the 2D's (my favorites out of the Prime's I usually have as a separate category now rather than directly compare or rank the 2D's with the 3D's :/).

The game did surprisingly have the best rendition of the Omega Metroids (didn't mind there were only a few, as sometimes less is more), and probably the Queen too. Everything else about the game I feel I've commented on enough here and there, so I'll just say you summed it all up well enough. ^^

 

[IronTed]

Great summary. SR is at least top 3 2D for me, replayed ZM and liked it less, still need to replay Super and Fusion. Enemy variety is my biggest gripe, but the overall combat, bosses, and feeling is so top notch. The 3D really makes the game come alive, which is nice, considering almost every 3DS game barely utilizes it well. The backgrounds are gorgeous, although limited by the hardware. Area 2 in particlar is stunning.

One random thing I liked, in RoS, you encounter an Alpha metroid very late in the game, killing it triggers your first Omega encounter. Fighting an Alpha so late is boring (and easy). Area 6 in SR replaces the Alpha with a Zeta. I liked that a lot, fighting Zetas in SR is fun (unlike in RoS, where they are horrible).

 

[Ridley_Prime]

As kinda pointed out, once you get past the Alpha Metroids which are a little boring to fight repeatedly because of how easy they are, the lack of enemy variety becomes much more tolerable with how engaging the other Metroid evolutions are. Gamma's I felt were the hardest tho only because you had to fight most of them before getting super missiles, while the Zeta's and Omega's were pretty engaging encounters few and between that didn't overstay their welcome. So all things considered, the enemy variety or lack thereof isn't that much an issue with the game, like I sorta first made it out to be.

The Zeta's might've been more memorable for me in the original RoS because of how all over the place they were, but I liked 'em here too. Used to like the Omega Metroid encounter at the end of Fusion, but not so much now when compared to how they're more organically executed in MSR.

 

[A Distant Demon]

Honestly, i feel like we didny fight enough metroids for it to gwt too repetitive too fast.


I had more of a problem with fighting 3 different recolors of the bats 2 differrnt snails etc

 

[MasterOfKnees]

I only just completed the game myself with a time of 10 hours and a 73% completion rate, I really tried not to rush through it as I wanted to enjoy it at a more natural pace and only played the game when I was in the right state of mind for it. The game did so many things right it's hard to list them all, so I'll just go with the biggest talking points.

The biggest improvement is absolutely the boss battles, in past 2D Metroid games boss battles have always been very simple and were never really that engaging from a gameplay standpoint, but this game makes it one of the most enjoyable parts of the game. You have to learn all of the boss' moves, find out when it's vulnerable, and the fact that there are multiple different ways to take down the Metroid bosses also creates a lot of depth to the fights. The difficulty is also on point, I've seen some say that a particular boss is too difficult, but I think once the learning process is over every boss is actually fairly manageable, I like that you're actually supposed to die a few times trying to figure out how best to deal with something.

Another thing that the games does better than any other installment is how your own power scales. At first you have to play very defensively, the melee counter is by far your best move and trying to just run through rooms while shooting everything in sight like in Fusion or Zero Mission will get you killed fairly quickly. Once you get a lot of the late game upgrades you can go all guns blazing most of time though, and it feels better than ever, you no longer have to worry about weak points and most enemies will be obliterated before their attack can come off.

Lastly I just want to briefly touch on the Aeon abilities, I was initially worried about just how powerful they'd be, but my concerns were very quickly put to rest. The Scan Pulse was the one I was the most skeptical about until I realized that it's just a replacement for having to bomb every single block in every room, which was always very frustrating in both Metroid II and AM2R given how big some of the rooms are.

My only big gripes with it come from the sound department. A lot of the sharper sound effects are really jarring, I'm not sure if it's because of the 3DS' speakers but things like the Scan Pulse are really grating to the ears. Another one is the soundtrack, a big part of it is of course that Metroid II didn't have a great soundtrack to recreate and most of it just sets the atmosphere, but it's still underwhelming and the best tracks don't actually come from the original game but are borrowed from Super Metroid. I was particularly disappointed about the Metroid Queen's boss music which they didn't even try to recreate, not that the original was a musical masterpiece but it's memorable to us who beat it way back then.

Samus Returns is a proper tribute to us Metroid veterans, I really feel that MercurySteam understood what made for a great Metroid game, and the game is also a bit of a vindication for Sakamoto who's taken so much **** in the past 7 years but is now the first man to help us wash away Other M's foul taste from our mouthes. I don't think it's the most newcomer friendly Metroid game as it's easily the most difficult of the 2D installments, but I do still hope that a lot of people who have been curious about the Metroid franchise but never enough to actually pick up a game will give it a shot, if anything we need it to sell well if we are to get anymore 2D titles.

If I had to compare it to the other titles in the franchise I'd put it below Super Metroid and Prime 1, on par with Zero Mission, and above the rest. I really really hope that it sells well so that we can get more 2D games, preferably brand new ones instead of remakes, because this is such a fantastic game for them to build off of.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

http://nintendoeverything.com/metro...-through-70-of-its-initial-shipment-in-japan/

So...

Is this good or bad?

 

[IronTed]

http://nintendoeverything.com/metro...-through-70-of-its-initial-shipment-in-japan/

So...

Is this good or bad?

Good. It means Nintendo forecasted accurately, and the game won't hit bomba bins.

However, the legs will be small. With that number, we can calculate the first week shipment is 43k. Unless a large restock occurred (very doubtful), best case second week sales are about 13k.

 

[Ridley_Prime]

Yeah, it's still progression nonetheless; more than I could've hoped for given Japan's track record with Metroid. :\

 

[IronTed]

More sales stuff. SR debuted:

• #5 in Switzerland (weekly chart)
• #4 in Australia (weekly chart)
• Did not make New Zealand's top 10 (weekly chart)

Nintendo is weaker in small markets (generally speaking of course). Ranking can be deceptive though, keep in mind several sports games just released, like PES and NBA. Destiny 2 was last week as well. Granted these are just drops in a bucket in the end.

 

[Swamp Sensei]

Well.

I beat Metroid: Samus Returns.

My run was bad but it was very fun for me.

Its definitely a great Metroid game. Worth every penny.

 

[Aetheri]

Darnit...4:15 on my last run...No yet...

Area 3 seems to be the problem area for me...need to route it better if I want to do better...

 

[Diddy Kong]

I wanna buy this game. Never played Samus Returns in the first place so I won't even mind the fact it's a remake.

 

[Deleted member]

It makes me happy Nintendo still promotes SR even further with their World Championship.

Though I wonder what the trials will be in this game. Finishing the game in hard mode without dying once? Finishing the game as fast as possible with the lowest % of item possible?

 

[IsmaR]

It'll probably be a specific sequence. The chase/escape sequence and Diggernaut fight comes to mind.

 

[Ridley_Prime]

So the last images of the Chozo Memories after getting 100%...

Spoiler

Rogue/evil Chozo's confirmed? Will be interesting to see how the settings for that will eventually take place for Samus, and you see at least one of them wielding an arm cannon.

 

[Aetheri]

Ayyy...3:46 on my latest playthrough...

ending get!

Think I'll open my amiibos and check out the Art galleries as well as Fusion mode (yeah, I still haven't bothered opening my amiibos yet, I'm lazy)

 

[Metal Shop X]

12:44 hours for completion, but since I 100% this game. I feel really good about myself.

And man, the boss were amazing! While the Alpha and Gamma can become annoying after awhile. I never had problem with them once I knew what to do to kill them quickly. The Zeta are sort of between hard and easy, if you know what to do, you won't have problem with them. But if you don't it, it can get messy. I think I died on the first one but afterward, it was an piece of cake.

For the Omega, I actually feared they would be bullet sponge while not being very hard. But man, the first one kick my ass and when I retry, I almost died again. Thankfully, I didn't and for the others, I became more and more good with dealing with them. Notably, the last Omega was a piece of cake. I didn't lost alot of health and he died pretty easily. This is why I love killing Metroid in this game, you became better at dealing with them and while you do get better weapons later on. There is so many way you can dodge their attack and deal damages to them. Heck, I saw speedrun of this game that shown things I never know I could do but could have helped me alot more in the moment lol.

While in AM2R, there wasn't really alot of way in dealing with Metroids. You just spam your missiles and depending how the room is, it may or may not be hard to dodge their attacks. But beside that, I didn't had the same amount of fun I had with SR.

As for the really big boss...

Spoiler

The Diggernaut:

Boyz, does peoples either hate or love the guy. On one hand, the fact that he kill you in one-hit during the escape is kinda of bull**** the first time. But since you spawn right before the sequence begin. I didn't have a problem dying here and there. Plus, this moment is so stressful, I love it.

For te actual boss fight, while I did lost alot of health on the first two phases, they weren't really hard. It's just me not paying attention to the boss pattern. The third phase however really throw alot of **** at you. I did die there, and while on my second try. I actually killed him without too much problem. I can see how this sudden difficulty spike can bother some peoples. Still, a really inventif, challenging and terrifying Metroid boss in my book, good job Nintendo.

The Queen Metroid:

Oh boy, the Queen doesn't **** around. And I love it. Again, I die on my first try. But the second try? I was on the edge of my feet. This boss REALLY doesn't **** around, especially when she shoot alot of green balls on the screen. God, I hate and love this attack! The fact that, just like every fight with her, you can put a power bomb right to her heart after countering her attack is ****ing awesome. You have to do this three times, but honestly, it would have made the fight too easy if you had to put just one power bomb. So I welcome this change. Plus, just like the Metroid before her, she have alot of way you can deal of damages to her. Notably, if you Power Bomb Shinespark when the green ball are here and land on her head. The attack will stop completely and you can move to her next attack. I didn't know this until I saw a speedrun, but man, I love this amount of detail!

Also, for her theme, I saw alot of peoples not liking at all the new theme she got. I listened the original to compare, the original is great in it's own way. But I really like this new, more horror-like theme that she got. The two themes have different way to present the fight against the queen of the most dangerous race in the galaxy. So I say that, if you don't like the new one. I respect that, but I won't say it's a betrayal to the old one. Plus, the new theme have some notes of Mother Brain theme, so that's cool in my book.

Finally, the best boss fight in the game, I'm talking of course of...

Spoiler

ARACHNUS BABEE:

OH YEAH, THE BEST OF THE BUNCH, THE STAR OF THE SHOW, THE BEST BOSS IN METROID HIStory...

...Alright, I know, you guess it, Ridley. (Arachnus was alright, they updated his moveset a bit. You can do more with him than before, he is fine I guess)

Oh lord, his inclusion is really the best or worst point about this game for some fan. But me? He. Is. Perfect. I admit he could have been foreshadowed a little better. But the actual fight itself? One of the best Ridley fight in the franchise. And not because I win on my first try while I was almost dead on the first phase. This fight is just awesome, the 3 music that all reference every Ridley themes ever had while having their own flavor. The numbers of attack he had that are hard to dodge (seriously, this one video I saw of someone fighting Ridley suck ass when I think of it now. The player was really bad and boring to look at that it make me worried about the actual fight, glad it was just the player). The baby helping you and giving your energy back in the third phase, the animation of the counter attack. The tied to Metroid Prime and Super Metroid. Giving a reason as to why Ridley is suddenly organic again in Super. Ridley just looking awesome, GOD, I LOVE THIS FIGHT.

Fanboy moment aside, I still hope they put Ridley in this game because they won't use him in the next games. As a way to say, "alright, we are not going to use him for awhile. So let's put him at the end and put everything that make Ridley awesome so thathis fan can be happy one last time". If they do that, I won't be mad honestly, using Ridley too much put the risk of making fan bored of him, which some already are. So for the sake of our favourite...space-mecha-dragon-pterodactyle-zombie-cunning-god-of-death-alien-thing, I hope he doesn't come back in Prime 4. Let him dead or take a break ya know?

There, that's all I have to say. I love this game, I love AM2R for different reason. They are both great games, please play them and judge them as their own things. You won't regret it, 9/10, best Metroid game in years for me. Good job Nintendo.

(PS: sorry for the fault here and there, I'm not used to write long post. >_>)

 

[Ridley_Prime]

12:44 hours for completion, but since I 100% this game. I feel really good about myself.

And man, the boss were amazing! While the Alpha and Gamma can become annoying after awhile. I never had problem with them once I knew what do to kill them quickly. The Zeta are sort of between hard and easy, if you know what to do, you won't have problem with them. But if you don't it, it an get messy. I think I died on the first one but afterward, it was an piece of cake.

For the Omega, I actually feared they would be bullet sponge while not being very hard. But man, the first one kick my *** and when I retry, I almost died again. Thankfully, I didn't and for the others, I became more and more good with dealing with them. Notably, the last Omega was a piece of cake. I didn't lost alot of health and he died pretty easily. This is why I love killing Metroid in this game, you became better at dealing with them and while you do get better weapons later on. There is so many way you can dodge their attack and deal damages to them. Heck, I saw speedrun of this game that shown things I never know I could do but could have helped me alot more in the moment lol.

While in AM2R, there wasn't really alot of way in dealing with Metroids. You just spam your missiles and depending how the room is, it may or may not be hard to dodge their attacks. But beside that, I didn't had the same amount of fun I had with SR.

As for the really big boss...

Spoiler

The Diggernaut:

Boyz, does peoples either hate or love the guy. On one hand, the fact that he kill you in one-hit during the escape is kinda of bull**** the first time. But since you spawn right before the sequence begin. I didn't have a problem dying here and there. Plus, this moment is so stressful, I love it.

For te actual boss fight, while I did lost alot of healt on the first two phases, they weren't really hard. It's just me not paying attention to the boss pattern. The third phase however really throw alot of **** at you. I did die there, and while on my second try. I actually killed him without too much problem. I can see how this sudden difficulty spike can bother some peoples. Still, a really inventif, challenging and terrifying Metroid boss in my book, good job Nintendo.

The Queen Metroid:

Oh boy, the Queen doesn't **** around. And I love it. Again, I die on my first try. But the second try? I was on the edge of my feet. This boss doesn't **** around, especially when she shoot alot of green balls on the screen. God, I hat and love this attack! The fact that, just like every fight with her, you can put a power bomb right to her heart after countering her attack is ****ing awesome. You have to do this three times, but honestly, it would have made the fight too easy if you had to put just one power bomb. So I welcome this change. Plus, just like the Metroid before her, she have alot of way you can deal of damages to her. Notably, if you Power Bomb Shinespark when the green ball are here and land on her head. The attack will stop completely and you can move to her next attack. I didn't know this until I saw a speedrun, but man, I love this amunt of detail!

Also, for her theme, I saw alot of peoples not liking at all the new theme she got. I listened the original to compare, the original is great in it's own way. But I really like this new, more horror-like theme that she got. The two themes have different way to present the fight against the queen of the most dangerous race in the galaxy. So I say that, if you don't like the new one. I respect that, but I won't say it's a betrayal to the old one. Plus, the new theme have some notes of Mother Brain theme, so that's cool in my book.

Finally, the best boss fight in the game, I'm talking of course of...

Spoiler

ARACHNUS BABEE:

OH YEAH, THE BEST OF THE BUNCH, THE STAR OF THE SHOW, THE BEST BOSS IN METROID HIStory...

...Alright, I know, you guess it, Ridley. (Arachnus was alright, they updated his moveset a bit. You can do more with him than before, he is fine I guess)

Oh lord, his inclusion is really the best or worst point about this game for some fan. But me? He. Is. Perfect. I admit he could have been foreshadowed a litle better. But the actual fight itself? One of the best Ridley fight in the franchise. And not because I win on my first try while I was almost dead on the first phase. This fight is just awesome, the 3 music that all reference every Ridley themes ever had while having their own flavor. The numbers of attack he had that are hard to dodge (seriously, this one video I saw of someone fighting Ridley suck *** when I think of it now. The player was really bad and boring to look at that it make me worried about the actual fight, glad it was just the player). The baby helping you and giving your energy back in the third phase, the animation of the counter attack. The tied to Metroid Prime and Super Metroid. Giving a reason as to why Ridley is suddenly organic again in Super. Ridley just looking awesome, GOD, I LOVE THIS FIGHT.

Fanboy moment aside, I still hope they put Ridley in this game because they won't use him in the next games. As a way to say, "alright, we are not going to use him for awhile. So let's put him at the end and put everything that make Ridley awesome so thathis fan can be happy one last time". If they do that, I won't be mad honestly, using Ridley too much put the risk of making fan bored of him, which some already are. So for the sake of our favourite...space-mecha-dragon-pterodactyle-zombie-cunning-god-of-deathalien-thing, I hope he doesn't come back in Prime 4. Let him dead or take a break ya know?

There, that's all I have to say. I love this game, I love AM2R for different reason. They are both great games, please play them and judge them as their own things. You won't regret it, 9/10, best Metroid game in years for me. Good job Nintendo.

(PS: sorry for the fault here and there, I'm not used to write long post. >_>)

Spoiler

Ridley already had a break when you count Federation Force. With MP4 being the real beginning of the next era for the Prime sub-series, I think it would be reasonable to include him somewhere in it, but give him a break during MP5 like they did MP2. Any future spinoffs he'll most likely be absent in too if it's like FF, so I think he's been used to a reasonable amount.

Granted, could've gone without him in Samus Returns which I would've gotten and experienced regardless of him, but it was a nice treat nonetheless, with how him as the final boss perfectly tied into Super Metroid...

 

[Metal Shop X]

Spoiler

Ridley already had a break when you count Federation Force. With MP4 being the real beginning of the next era for the Prime sub-series, I think it would be reasonable to include him somewhere in it, but give him a break during MP5 like they did MP2. Any future spinoffs he'll most likely be absent in too if it's like FF, so I think he's been used to a reasonable amount.

Granted, could've gone without him in Samus Returns which I would've gotten and experienced regardless of him, but it was a nice treat nonetheless, with how him as the final boss perfectly tied into Super Metroid...

Spoiler

I still think he should take a break. I saw alot of peoples not being happy that they just "put" Ridley at the end without alot of explaination. And while when you think about it, it make sense as to why he is here, I can understand some peoples fearing that Ridley become the Bowser of the Metroid series. (Even tough he was already that before)

However, I think the best thing is to wait for a trailer or any information from Nintendo saying where MP4 is going to take. It is going to be after MP3 but before M2? It is going to be after SM and before Fusion? Possibly retgone Other M out of existence? It is going to be a sequel to Fusion? We don't know, and depending where the event take place in the timeline. Ridley may or may not appear, especially if it's after Fusion where it's really going to be hard to explain how he came back from the dead. But you never know with the Space Pirates.

In short, I just want to get NEW INFO ON MP4, PLEASE NINTENDO, I NEEEEEEED IT.