METROID (NES): The Primordial Potential | GEEK CRITIQUE
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ธ.ค. 2023
- Let me take another crack at it.
See the rest of the season for just $3 on Patreon: / geekcritique
Thanks to Loeder for the stellar 8-bit remixes of Super Metroid's soundtrack! • Theme of Super Metroid...
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6:20 King's Quest!! I grew up on a Tandy 1000 SX and didn't get a hold of video game consoles until the mid to late 90s (around when I turned 12/13). So I grew up on King's Quest, Space Quest, Police Quest, Monkey Island, Maniac Mansion, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, and the rest of the point & click adventure games. It's just so nice to see them pop up where you least expect them. Those games were my bread and butter. Also, the snippets of reorchestrated and original music from the fanmade KQ3 Redux remake (made in AGS) at 6:27 was arranged/composed by me. Did not expect to hear my work in a TGC video on Metroid of all things! Cheers! :D
WE ARE SO BACK
DAMMIT
NOT THAT WE WENT ANYWHERE
Oh my, 43 minutes on NES Metroid? This man has been cooking!
Woo, you have no idea. I started working on this season at the beginning of June!
The original Metroid game is a lot more fun than most people give it credit for.
Thanks for another Metroid video, dude. It really is good to see you again.
Hey, it's good to be back!
The only real problem is the extremely unforgiving start. Even on repeat playthrough it's both a pain and a slog
Well I tried it. I tried pretty much every Metroid game. But with the exception of FusionI just couldn't finish them. 2D Games just aren't my thing. Never were, never will.
Wouldn't say "Fun"... But it is a nice experience that is aimed at players that want something that doesn't hold their hands 24/7. But I'm just glad the remake did a good job at translating this game
My brain: What about the original Metroid 2?
Me: 🪛 that. (Good, but damn he DESPERATELY needs improvements)
Aye, it does pick up the pace once you get the Screw Attack. Until then, uh, just try to never die.
I'm in my 50s and played this when it came out. I was utterly enthralled and none of its rough edges bothered me at the time. I probably wouldn't have the patience to replay it today.
Do you think that's because now people have different expectations? Maybe back then games were so difficult that beating them was not always a realistic goal, whereas now they are often designed to be beatable without much hassle.
@artey6671 I think the sentiment you have is close.
We just expected games to be difficult, and it was our job to conquer it.
AVGN goes through your well in his videos where he won't let even crappy games get the best of him lol
But I think we also had longer attention spans back then. I actually didn't make a map for metroid back then (I did for Zelda, I don't think the original release came with one) until I got the Nintendo power guide that helped a lot. Especially through the lost woods.
But this also reminds me that finding out secrets was more exciting back then because they weren't so readily available. Either you did in game or you hunted down and paid a lot for the guide (parents did or with allowance of course) or from school friends who had the guide or internet, or the internet yourself, which unique and magical at the time.
Everything was an adventure in a sense.
But I also have a good sense of direction and while you get lost a little, one way to navigate the game is by a sense of direction with the unique rooms being a landmark.
Also, you were expected to explore. That's how games were. They were going to be difficult, that was accepted. So it wasn't as frustrating as long as you felt it was a skill thing and not too unfair. And metroid doesn't feel unfair, like the game is cheating. It's just difficult.
As the internet and therefore knowledge became more ubiquitous, and takes got easier or more accessible, it becomes harder to mentally accept difficulty bases on hardware limitations and having to struggle to do something. Now you just get the info in a second online or the game gives a helping hand somehow and if it doesn't, people get frustrated. If it's not easy to navigate, people get frustrated with the confusion.
But to end this, for us, the key word was adventure. That's what gaming was. And everything will, must, be overcome. The ending awaits us and we believe in ourselves.
Sometimes you give us as a kid. But we didn't blame the game every time. It was just our skill level most games.
You got me into Metroid all those years ago with your original review
Same!
Same!
same, although it was a bit later than 2016
This video really spoke to me on a personal level. My late grandpa played a bunch of NES and SNES games when I was a kid, particularly Zelda and DKC. Hell, my grandma showed me the map he drew for the OG Zelda. Because of the memories associated with his passing, I'd been hesitant to play those same games, but I think it could be interesting to do what you did: play them the same way he would've, in the context they released.
You should try to get that map scanned in.
Underrated comment. You should definitely do it; it'd be a way to reconnect with him and I think you'll be glad you did.
I think the nuanced understanding required for 80s releases like Metroid wasn't just due to shifts like the emergence of the internet. Beyond the evolution of hardware/software that later consoles allowed, even 4th generation titles were releasing in a context a bit different from the third, in North America especially. Gaming magazines with tips/maps had become much more common, the massive audience of kids that had started with the NES had grown more aware of broader gaming culture, and Nintendo was facing real competition outside Japan.
In some ways even putting aside technological limitations now being lifted, Nintendo circa the SNES may not have been in the ideal circumstances to try the same kind of communal and/or do it yourself strategy that so many games from the previous generation employed. In a time period where numerous gaming publications made "solving hard titles" a major part of their advertising strategy and the Genesis was selling itself as the cooler, quicker, and faster console?
Making the core appeal of certain games involve some level of self-imposed comprehension of the game world (and the slower approach that would entail) may not simply have been viable for the kind of environment that SNES sequels of major franchises were released in. Heck when even NoA's model for Nintendo Power subscriptions seemed partially based on having actual maps of Nintendo games for fans to have? It was illustrative of the fact the original NES LoZ and Metroid may have only been practical in that narrow window where consoles were powerful enough to run them, but before the landscape had evolved into something not as receptive to its kind of design philosophy.
Even if one doesn't buy that such factors played a part in Nintendo's thinking, I do believe that's why NES releases did age so quickly to even some Super Nintendo kids; the context of everything surrounding games changed so much, so fast that the contrast between the two generations about what they expected of players became all the more apparent. Essentially a superannuation induced by a major cultural shift already well in place by the time of Super Metroid.
I found your channel through Metroid. I've binge watched your episodes as often as possible.
Time for another full binge watch once this season ends!
Ditto! ^_^ The Geek Critique's stuff is very re-watchable to me.
Incidentally, I like your icon!
@@GentlemanGamer94 Thank you.
I really do appreciate your approach to critiquing older games like this. It’s that kind of good faith approach, understanding what context it was made for, what it is trying to express and how it does that.
Your videos are some of my absolute favorites because of that- and it’s helped me better understand and even appreciate some games I might not expect to otherwise.
Welcome to "Another TGC Metroid Season," everyone! This will comprise five videos, and you can see them all early for just $3 on Patreon at patreon.com/GeekCritique! The two "tentpole" releases are NES Metroid and Dread. But shorter "redux" reappraisals of the other mainline 2D Metroids will fill the gap between them. The videos will hit TH-cam on this schedule:
Dec. 10: NES Metroid
Dec. 15: Metroid II Redux (11 minutes)
Dec. 18: Super Metroid Redux (10 minutes)
Dec. 22: Metroid Fusion Redux (9 minutes)
Dec. 25: Metroid Dread (AN HOUR AND A HALF - Merry Critiquemas!)
are you also gonna review metroid prime remastered? plz???
Being someone who kept passing metroid by. only to find it in a dark time of 2018
and then marathoning them (no really the only ones i havent touched are the prime spinoffs (hunters, fed force, pinball) and metroid nes
i can certainly
its metroidza...its metroaunukah its metronalia its metroidmas bayby
Welcome back!!!! So happy to see your videos back in my feed
To give you some historical context. I played Metroid when I was 7 years old. to be absolutely honest with you at first I didn't know what the hell I was doing. My little 7-year-old brain was more akin to load game shoot bad guys watch graphics repeat. It wasn't until I started playing the game with some friends that things changed. Everyday after school we raced to finish our homework We pulled out the maps loaded the password and continued our quest. Playing the game with friends was really how to play it. Bear in mind this was before the Nintendo Power issue came out with the map. We didn't have the internet We had people on the playground that we would talk to about where certain items were and then when we got home we went exploring for those items. Sometimes the people you talk to would feed you bull and throw you in the completely different direction. Information was power and when you spent so much time looking for an item and found it you didn't just want to make it easy for the next guy. Eventually when we encountered the first boss Karid We got our asses kicked. Before we fought him again we loaded up on missiles We loaded up on health energy tanks It was a personal vendetta and these little things made the game fun for the era. When we finally destroyed him it was like we won the super bowl!!!.... only to find out there's two more bosses. Expeditions continued tears were shed controllers were thrown but eventually came the day that we fought The metroids and once again we got our ass is kicked. When we destroyed mother Brain escape the planet it was bittersweet The adventure was over... there was about 30 seconds to triumph and then we all looked at each other in realize what are we going to play next Metroid was done We had spent 6 months on it.... luckily my friend pulled out his Zelda cartridge and the whole thing started all over again. Those were great times. We didn't have internet forums or youtube to spoon feed us the answers We had to fight for the answers We had to slave for the answers We had to trade to unscrupulous characters on the playground for information!!! It was a great time to be alive and a great time to be a kid.
When the issue of Nintendo Power came out with the map.... I compared it to the hand drawn maps that my friends and I made. When I replayed Metroid I never used the Nintendo Power map.
Amazing. I wish I could donate on patreon tbh. I absolutely would. Still the best critique content on youtube.
I grew up during the NES era, borrowed Metroid from my friend, and just sat there so perplexed for days, wandering around, it was nothing like Castlevania or Megaman (my favorites). What I like about it now, is how open it is, even unintentionally. You can bomb jump, door glitch, freeze enemies to get places you shouldn't. So often I sit to play, and mentally forget parts of the map or to grab an upgrade and resort to progressing without it. Often, you're not gate kept from progressing, which makes it interesting. The penalty for failure is often so small too, as you have infinite lives and can refill nearby, which takes away the pressure.
As a kid, like 5yrs old or so (which was still in the SNES era we just didnt have a SNES), the Kraid music actually scared me. I dont remember why it just made me really jumpy and uneasy.
I really appreciate trying to look at the game from a different perspective in time. Adds something unique even when talking about very famous games.
I loved your critique videos for Metroid, and they all gave me a newfound level of appreciation for these games I already loved.
And then this video drops on my birthday? I can't wait to see the rest of the Reduxes, and especially Metroid Dread's.
See ya then, thank you for being great
I love that you brought attention to the fact that bombs have a stronger offensive purpose in the original game than all other entries in the series since you can't crouch shoot. The limitation of not being able to crouch shoot creates a uniquely different game experience. Another thing that I think is exclusive to the original is that the explosions of the morph ball bombs are able to create I-frames for Samus.
I'm currently playing Metroid II and oh my god if I wanted a re-critique of that one. You know that you got some things wrong and even if you corrected yourself in other videos, seeing something on the lines of the DKC3 re-critique is thrilling
edit: also, I hope you drew a map of Zelda's world while replaying the first one. It's definitely the best way of experiencing it, at least for me
I'm playing metroid 2 aswell
Samus returns AND am2r
I finished just Metroid II early this year on my Gameboy color. It was really good, I think it still holds up contrary to belief. Definitely worth a play through if you're a Metroid fan.
I remember this was one of the first NES games I played, where "The Official Nintendo Player's Guide" actually had a full map and an abbreviated walkthrough for the game. Games like this and The Goonies II made me appreciate the time Nintendo took to make it feasible to beat for those like me back in the 80s.
A reboot? Wow! This is exiting!
Also, I was introduced to you by Metroid. But when I learned you were a Sonic fan too, I knew I needed to subscribe.
3:29 HOLY CHAOS! OH BABY THIS GONNA BE GOOD!
Seriously, making a map of the original Metroid is proof that you care for this franchise. You already replaced that original video just by that piece of paper alone.
11:32 "Search out upgrades that let you perform new actions"
The coincidence with this quote is outstanding to me right now...as I came across a comment on a different video talking about video game genres which read as followed...
"You know what they call "Metroidvania" in Japan? Search Action.
Because they're *action* games where you *search* for stuff, and that stuff often lets you perform more *actions* and *search* for more things.
Its a perfectly self-descriptive genre name that we refuse to pick up. Nobody wants to change all their "Metroidvania" tags."
Its not TOO directly related to the video itself but I figured it was interesting enough to worth mentioning! lol :P
Holy shit this video was amazing the original Metroid series on this channel means so much to me as it’s what got me in to Metroid and it’s now my favourite video game series of all time. The rest of the 2d game retrospectives coming out over the next few weeks is basically an early Christmas present to me. I genuinely can’t wait for the Metroid Dread video on Christmas I’ve been waiting for that video for 2 years ever since Metroid dread released, thank you so much for making these videos I’m genuinely so happy rn.
It’s good to have you back!
I remember your original reviews getting me into your channel. I guess time really does fly!
We had assets. No internet, but there were player guides you could buy and the apocryphal schoolyard friends. Mostly best friends that we just played with for hours. We also didn't have 1500 games a month to choose from.
Don't forget how much money these games made that they knew the cash in from Nintendo Power and a book you could get via mail order.
We made maps, sure, but they were shared. And I can't remember a single time I played alone until we had mastered the game. Just not that many options back then.
When I was a kid I got Metroid II on my gameboy and the original Metroid on the NES not long after. And honestly, I couldn't really get into either of them. And yet for some reason I was still hyped about Super Metroid when that came out, saved up my money, and bought it on release and loved it. I'm not sure what made me keep coming back to the series again and again despite me not really liking the first two entries of it. I think the /idea/ of Metroid at the time was really alluring to me. Both what the gameplay was promsing to be and the theme and setting.
Wow, this describes perfectly my experience with the first 3 games too 😮 Great comment, thanks
Josh, you’ve really outdone yourself with this one. I think it’s the best video you’ve made to date. An intelligent, cogent, thoughtful critique of a bold and unique title made with careful attention payed to the to the time and context of the titles release. You should get some kind of medal for this one! 🏅
A combination of these videos, Boss Keys, and KingK's video on the 2D Metroids is what got me into this series. I just recently played Zero Mission, AM2R, Super, and Fusion back to back on emulators and really enjoyed all of them, and I have plans to buy Dread and the Prime trilogy (hopefully Prime 2 and 3 get rereleased on Switch). Thanks for helping to introduce me to this franchise, as it's now climbed up to one of my favorites (definitely top five).
Edit: Absolutely loved the NES remixes of Maridia.
Huh, same day as I finally start playing Dread! That's cool.
dude, your attention to detail, context and the spirit of playing video games make this channel one of my absolute favorites
This was a thing of beauty, and it speaks to me on an almost spiritual, metaphysical sort of level. This is the way retro games should be reviewed, with an open mind and understanding of where it sat in its own time. They're not for everyone absolutely, but everyone can appreciate them when someone like you is as earnest and open hearted about them. NES Metroid is one of my favorites and many of my friends don't get why that is no matter how I explain it, but you've captured that entire vibe in this video. It's both similar and different to its descendants. It's rough and crass in places, yet oddly elegant and progressive in others. It blazes a trail all while still not quite realizing itself. NES Metroid is art, and you totally get why. Thanks for giving it a second shot, I can't wait for the Dread review.
I played metroid 2 recently and oh boy, I wasn't ready about how much of a masterpiece it is, I played super metroid right before, and I can see how much super metroid is basically lifting from metroid 2. It's not as linear as advertised, it's basically non linear pocket link by linear trail. But my God those non linear pocket pacing are god tier.
I would say it is primarily linear, which balances out that you are meant to feel lost and uncomfortable. Though I could see referring to it as a linear series of smaller nonlinear stages.
@@bfish89ryuhayabusa super metroid is pretty linear too IMHO, it hide it better because the connective path is a lot more diffuse. As a level designer myself, it was great to see how they obfuscate the linear parts of every segment, by having it weave through multiple biomes, have many alt path leading to the same place, and navigation loop set into a puzzle. Ie you feel like you are lost, but it's a single hidden path set in small loop, you get stuck locally in the loop until you get eureka moment and is rewarded with a different looking faster pace section to change the mood.
About two years ago, a teenager, I played metroid, totally blind most of the way through, making a tile-by-tile map as i went. I didn't finish the map but I found a ton of items and after looking at some stuff I beat the game. It was a really great experience and i've since gotten the best ending & seen the whole map. I'm really grateful for the community that brought me to that blind playthrough and the amazing team that created that cultural moment. There are huge communities of people who still do this type of thing, especially on twitch, totally blind and honest playthroughs of NES games like metroid, battletoads, double dragon, zelda, etc
Following this channel and your journey through metroid recollections of sonic and experiences with DK and everything else on here has been such a fun time.
Never has a video game critiqe / review felt so earned and so right.
I cannot believe the nostalgia I have when you mention phrases from those older videos. It's like experiencing the same effect as newer installments of a game calling back to old aspects of itself.
Thank you for making these videos, they bring me and many others lots of joy and are always a treat to watch and rewatch.
As for some things I want to ramble off after watching the video:
I grew up in the PS3 era but had access too my sisters old gameboy games and n64. Back then and still now I am not great at putting the things i pick up on into words but I always found myself enjoying the more gameplay-ish focused approach that older games necessitated. Finding complexity in very simple things has mostly come esier to me than breaking down complex games that do lots of things. I have had the exact same revelation about Metroid in Zero Mission (Thanks Tobi, your the best for giving me the game back then) and it is to this day one of my most cherished gaming memories of all time to play the game over and over again for like 2 weeks and getting so good and fast at it.
I will play Metroid.
I will draw a Map.
And I am sure this time I will see it through.
The Metroid critique series is by far my most rewatched series on TH-cam. I can't believe it's getting a second round, and a 40 minute long second round at that.
I'm baffled how much this changes and improves the original video. You really knocked it out of the park with this one! I can't believe you managed to not only give a completely fresh critique on Metroid, but also give frequent, and very much welcomed, retrospective on the original critique and its shortcomings.
I’ve re-watched your Metroid series so many times. My favourite franchise. This video was a joy to watch!
I've been watching and enjoying your stuff for years and honestly, I think this might be your best episode. Fantastic work, very insightful, interesting, and fun!
Love your content dude, got me back Into the series after a long hiatus! Currently playing through Dread
What you said about a community beating a game.. I remember that.
I remember all my friends coming over with their respective maps they had drawn of Metroid.
I remember my brother making long distance calls and sending letters to our cousins for castlevania 2(which that game is so confuluted)
It was a time.
Back in the day, I had a group of friends that shared my love of role-playing games. We would go to each others' homes to play different RPGs back in the 8- and 16-bit days to spark our collective interest in new titles and to explore ways to overcome obstacles or difficult bosses. Although, I remember more often than not, we would exchange knowledge and maps that we collected from issues of Nintendo Power or GamePro.
Yes. I just wrote my own comment about the experience of playing these games in the 90s. And the keyword for us was ADVENTURE. Everything was like an adventure.
Just as the game was a puzzle and a journey, so was the real life experience needed to complete them.
I *still* binge watch all of your Metroid critiques, to a point that I can almost quote some of the lines as they come up. It's amazing to know that there'll be even more to watch from my favorite review TH-camr; I really appreciate the amount of effort you put into giving games accurate critiques, context and all.
This is a fantastic video, truly a testament to how you've grown in almost every way. A more nuanced and deeper approach to critique, a well-crafted narrative structure, great writing. I really enjoyed your old video on this game - but this was riveting stuff. Well done, and thanks!
I've long held that the original Metroid is one of the few video games out rhere that's been made completely obsolete by a remake. While that may still be entirely true, you've shown me there may be enough to this entry to make going through it again "like I'm in the 80's" another go.
My first playthrough of Zelda 1 last year with a pen and pad of paper was fantastic. I did the whole blind playthrough thing drawing my own maps and it quickly became one of my favorites on the console. Giving Metroid similar treatment could do the same.
Thanks Josh, and welcome back!
I love the way you look at video games/art. Focused on getting the best out of a project, rather than critiquing it out of obligation... So glad we have another metroid season. You're spoiling me! Question: favourite games of the year? Your 2017 videos introduced me to some favourites haha
Your enjoyment of the metroid series has been contagious, have really enjoyed your vidoes on the series. thanks for making more conten!
I think all of this comes with three caveats. One: There is no obligation to evaluate media in the context of its release date; it is always fair to look at any media to see how it holds up by no other standards than present day ones of design quality. Two: It is still fair if one does evaluate media through the lens of its release date, so long as the one doing so is upfront about it. Three: It is possible to like, love, dislike or hate media regardless of the result of either kind of evaluation.
I like and appreciate your points, but I do slightly disagree with your first caveat. By that logic, media in the past would always by necessity be inferior due to the obsolescence of the technology it was played on. By keeping an historical context in light of the technology available at the time, the quality of media in the past can be appreciated all the more given the constraints on their design. On the contrary, opinions are just that and don't necessarily require such context. But an informed opinion could present a different perspective than what might have been formed at first glance.
No joke I was playing Super Metroid as I saw that geek critique uploaded this. Hell Yeah Baby!!!!!
And so it begins anew. Here we go!
These reviews got me into Metroid and your Channel, i’m so excited to watch all these new ones!
It's so great to be getting more Metroid Critiques. Your Metroid series is some of my absolute *favorite* videos on youtube, and I frequently come back to them every couple of years. I've been wanting to start doing my own videos on gaming and anime, but I've always felt that I wouldn't be able to do Metroid, because everything I'd have to say would be too similar to what you've already said in your videos.
Your perspective into Metroid- the game and the franchise- was both funny and insightful. I am a child of the 80s who just so happened to get hooked on the original NES classics. I remember playing this game for hours, only to get frustrated by a lack of clear path forward, and would move on to other NES games, like Dragon Warrior or River City Ransom, which my dad and I used to love playing together. Then I'd find a guide, probably in a bonus issue of Nintendo Power magazine or in GamePro, complete with maps and power-up locations, and suddenly I found myself motivated to find those secrets for myself. I remember when Super Metroid came out for the SNES. The haunting soundtrack captivated me right away. But as I started to invest time into it, I quickly became overwhelmed by all the added power-ups that were added into the game. I remember similar stories going from basic early-franchise games in the NES to more advanced versions in the SNES and beyond, being impressed and sometimes overwhelmed with all the new abilities, power-ups, sights, and sounds rather than disappointed by their lack back in the NES days.
seeing these videos remade after being there when the originals were released is such a strange feeling... it doesn't feel like it was that long ago but MAN it's crazy how time flies!! really glad to see you back, as always I adore your perspective on games like these! thanks for being a consistent 10/10 video essayist, dude!!
Forcing myself to view games from the perspective of their time period is one of my favorite things to do as a gamer.
I feel like I'm a more patient, respectful, well-tempered player when I'm doing it on a system that doesn't work half the time, and a TV that has a whole *one* video-out (it's RF).
It's really easy to bum rush through something when you've got speedup and savestates, even if you're a fan of vintage stuff and have every intention of enjoying the game on its own merits.
Ordinarily, videos of you spur me to reaccess how I experience retro titles, but I feel like this is one of those cases where what you say already aligns with my views note for note. There's a gratifying feeling to that I can't articulate.
Great video.
This video takes me all the way back to 1993 and I was 3. My aunt gave me her NES and copy of Metroid for Christmas. So many memories spent glued in front of my TV playing this game. Just wasn't anything else like it to me. I'll always have a soft spot for NEStroid. Even if Metroid II came in and stolen my heart for the next 30 years.
The idea of a manual suggesting you hand draw your own map is awesome to me. It adds an extra level of interactivity with the game, and I think it could add to the sense of discovery and adventure.
One of my favourite things when playing through a new series is try to start at the beginning. I love looking at the beginning of a series & see how it evolves, what sticks & what doesn't. I loved how you approach this game & why certain things were done the way there were. I'm looking forward to the rest of the Metroid videos.
When i was a kid, my cousin would pass down games to me and my family. One of the things he had passed down was a "tips and tricks for Nintendo games" book. It had a bunch of useful tips, as well as a map for metroid. But he had also left a few codes on the book. I remember putting them in and seeing how powerful his version of samus was and realizing " i can get that to" being an amazing incentive to play as far as i could into the depths of the game.
When you talked about things lost to the current age of information, i think this would have been one of them.
I am so glad this series is back. I absolutely LOVED the original run you did on Metroid. Looking forward to these videos.
I went through these exact metroid stages of appreciation when I was 14. I don't know how, but i didn't appreciate metroid when I was younger, and suddenly I had loved it. Glad to see you've turned around on it too!
I had a similar experience to you with games like this one, Zelda 1, Zelda 2 and Castlevania 2 in my teenage years. I hadn't yet developed the patience and diligence to see the fun in drawing handmade maps and notes, so I just wrote off the games as simply being from an era I weren't born into and moved on. It wasn't until around 5-10 years ago that I went back with the desire to beat the games purely by their own merits instead of relying on outside assistance or prematurely judging them for being overwhelming at first glance. Turns out all four are now some of my favorite games because of how satisfying it felt to slowly piece together my own personal map while matching up NPC hints with areas of interest until I struck gold. These games really do feel like a real adventure once you decide to play by their rules.
After playing Metroid Fusion out of curiosity and then watching your old series its where my love for this series started. Massive kudos, we'll be waiting with excitement for the next episodes!
Earlier this year I got myself to learn more about older computers and the games they'd have, it really gave me a better perspective to what the NES offered at the time, especially in its home country.
While personal computers may have had more memory, more audio channels and more pixels, when it came to gaming, it's limitations favored specific kinds of styles over others, especially for games original to the arcades. If there was a port of a shmup, you'd have to hope the people behind it found a trick to make the stage scroll smoothly, if that was even possible
Then you get the famicon, were while the games still wouldn't sound or look the same, they played and moved a lot more like them, thanks to what capabilities were prioritized
God I love your Metroid videos. You have such a passion for them that I've not seen in anyone I know besides myself. It comes from a place of deep caring and I love that. I am stoked to see the rest
It's so awesome to see you revisit these games, let alone finally find enjoyment in the first one. It is certainly obtuse, but like you said, after becoming familiar with the whole layout and attempting it again on subsequent runs, it becomes a lot more fun. Going back and looking at these games with the perspective of the time they were released is one of the great things about this hobby.
37:36 This item acquisition sound played and I instantly checked my texts.
I’ve had that one and the SNES item sound as my text tone for about 15 years!
God how i love to see you making Metroid videos again.
I AM SO HYPE FOR THIS WE ARE BACK
I got to play this in 1986. Me and my brother got lost, took 6th months off, then jumped back in and quickly found mother brain. It was one of my first and best gaming memories.
Holy crap dude I was just binging your metroid reviews last night haha
Excited to finally start watching this years’s Metroid season, and it’s been an expectedly amazing start with this video, can’t wait to watch the rest!
Hell yeah, liking this before even watching lol your original series is comfort for me so you coming back to it for a relook is exciting
Fantastic Re-review. Good to see this game getting looked at in a different light.
Honestly, the way you approached it, is very much the way Tunic does, if you haven't it a shot.
Needing to take notes to retain information, important details hidden in the in-game manual, it births a childhood nostalgia that games like Metroid and Zelda thrived on in the early days, where everything is a mystery for you to discover.
Metroid is one of those games that was high up on my 'must play' list for so long. I grew up in a Sega country, with Sega consoles, so it wasn't a game that was spoken about amongst friends, its just something I became aware of in later years watching youtube and whatnot. Im a fan of 8-bit era gaming, I love the Alien films, it just really caught me as a 'Must play this!"
I finally did in November, and, first of all, i wasn't expecting it to be so difficult! Enemies coming out of pipes flying at you knocking you off platforms into lava, struggling to get back up cos your sprite is now invisible and still getting bombarded with these flying critters. Lost, just always lost. I enjoyed it, but I have to admit, about 1/3rd of the way through the game, after being lost for some time, after yet another annoying death where i restart and have to farm for 20 minutes to get my health back, I said it "i fkng hate this game!' (i didnt mean it 100%). I never drew a map, i just couldn't be bothered with how big the world was, and thinking about what if i got the scale wrong it'd be all disjointed etc. But I got there, once I found the ice beam, things got better, more energy tanks, the screw attack, the game became a bit more enjoyable as you're not dying so often! I beat it finally about 5 days ago. I wasn't playing it religiously. Just 2 hours on a fri sat night if i wasn't out or busy.
You have to be more forgiving and think of the time period. In 1987, having this game, this cryptic slog of a thing, it would have been more of an enjoyable experience. Less distractions, less options, less games, you're more invested in this one thing, you WANT this to last, you want the challenge, you don't want to beat it in an afternoon.
So yes, it doesn't really hold up to todays standards as well, but for its time it would have been amazing. I didn't hate it, I enjoyed it, I have no interest in zero mission, im glad i played the original, it was torturous at times, but it was a great experience. I loved the music, I loved the atmosphere, and there was something magical about the place that the newer games don't have, ive not played any others but im just judging by screenshots and clips ive seen, it was the isolation/lonliness. those black backgrounds just really added to this.
I don't know if i'll come back to this game, maybe I will someday, i just dont feel like torturing myself with it again any time soon, it was more to get it done so I can finally say i played it and beat it. I guess, the 2nd playthrough would be mild in the torturous feelings as at least now I know where everything is and I won't get lost!
I just want to say, as someone who's been watching you for roughly a decade, it makes me real happy to see your evolution from another reviewer looking at Games as Product into a truly seasoned analytic who appreciates old game design and nuance and context beyond the blinders of what modern game discourse tends to be.
That's no shade, because it mirrors my own journey too; games can be so much more than shiny new toys to play with and discard when they "get old" or whatever. Happy to keep watching you!
-Signed, a fangirl
Glad to see you back in action, I've been waiting for this! >:)
I've been looking forward to this season for a long time and this episode absolutely delivered. It'll be fun to look back at your original Metroid episodes after this season to see how your perspective has changed on the games
Wow this video is amazing! You struck a perfect balance of discussion around the games content, context, and your own experience. The original Metroid was one of the first video games I ever played, and this video makes me want to go back and challenge it again, now that I have experience with a few other Metroidvanias.
It always goes back to your first experience with videogames in general. You, with Sonic, the actual player, getting better with each playthrough 😊
The wait for each of your videos are always well worth it.
Glad you're back! Just throwing this out there when you're done with this Metroid redux series it would be amazing to see your take on the Castlevania franchise.
28:26 I was speed running dread while watching this and the moment he said Kraid i was at the entrance of his lair and Kraid Roared so perfectly.
so excited for this season. you got me into metroid 7 years ago
I've never played a Metroid game (apart from a brief attempt at Prime Hunters) but I discovered this channel back in 2017 after you were mentioned on the Super Best Friendcast and I've been watching since. Every time I watch these videos, I keep thinking about starting the series and now that you're going back maybe that's my sign. Thanks.
Congratulations on getting this video completed and out.
I was hesitant to see you retread what I thought of as old ground, but I think you achieved something truly special and unique here.
I didn't know Josh's mom was a gamer.
Bless you for including that 'Poisonous Snake' King's Quest reference.
So good to see you back with more Metroid! Your other Metroid series was great, and it's good to see another one
Really love how kind this video is to NEStroid; basically praising all the same things I've been praising it for for years, and also putting some feelings about it into words that I couldn't before
Justice for NEStroid babyyy
40:10
Man, as someone who has been watching since your original Sonic videos, this was satisfying 🤌
25:33 I'm willing to bet the way the HUD is in Metroid 1 was done out of necessity.
Before Super Mario Bros. 3 and Kirby's Adventure (games with the MMC3 chip), if an NES game wanted a "big status bar" on the screen, it could only allow horizontal scrolling. But in the case of Metroid, using sprites for the HUD was a necessary if they wanted to seamlessly achieve vertical shafts (the same also applies to SMB2).
The only downside of using sprites instead of tiles for the HUD is the more items you collect, the more sprites are permanently on screen. Each E-tank you get actually hinders the game's performance because you're adding an extra sprite to the HUD. This is why most games would much rather have a "big status bar" if they could; it was simply more efficient for the hardware.
Times I have drawn a map (or something like a map) for a video game: (all of my examples coincidentally are games TGC has played...)
1. For some reason my older bro decided to draw a fully colored recreation of the map from Commander Keen 4 when we were kids. I really don't know why he did it, but I thought it looked really nice and drew my own map on the back...though it looked worse by comparison! An interesting detail he put on the map was the fact that you needed to get the sage on the level with the giant green fish last...I remember thinking "that doesn't sound like its true" but I think he thought that cause we found that level hard and...well...we found the giant green fish to be scary...so we always ended up beating that level last! (also I don't think we knew about the secret level either...no way we would have found that without the internet!)
2. I once wrote down every character in DBZ BT3 on a very nicely made grid, even used a ruler to make sure every line was super straight and was a perfect square...even made sure each character was in their respective row like in the actual game. I did this so I could bring it to school to a friend who had the game cause I wanted to know what characters he had unlocked cause he "couldn't remember"...cause I wanted to possibly copy his save data for myself. Dude was so forgetful I had to go to his house just to find out that he had the Wii version while I was stuck with the PS2 version so the whole ordeal ended up being a waste of time... (This was high school btw)
3. I drew out the mission map for Shadow the Hedgehog when I first played it, I was still a teen at the time and it was one of the few Sonic games I didn't spoil the story for, so I wanted to try and take the game as "seriously" as possible. I didn't just write the names of all the levels on each rectangle, but I also wrote down a number which signified the exact path my playthrough was on. When I first played I went out of my way roleplay shadow and made choices that I felt made sense in that context. When I replayed the game to get all the endings...I purposefully went out of my way to take the most unique path which would allow as little repetition as possible when getting all the endings...thus why I drew the mission map again to track where I went. Needless to say I've come to realize it made my experience with the game far more memorable than it would have been otherwise, I remember feeling really profoundly on my 4th or so playthrough when I realized that it was impossible to allow shadow to remember every important detail that happened in his past...that he could only retain some of the information of his past and that that would effect his outlook on the present and future...I took it as a literal life lesson at the time. I remember first watching TGC's Shadow video and realizing "Oh...this is probably how most people played the game...". It was weird as I felt TGC missed a lot of the game by treating it so much like a video game rather than an experience...but honestly...its not that big of a deal...even at the time I realized it was a novelty as I didn't consider the story to be very good and the game is...yeah...also not very good. It was a very distinctive experience though...
We're back? We're back!
Im on your patreon and purposely waited till now to watch, so I'd have hours of material to go through. Going through TGC one video at a time is a tease. I need the full experience!
i meant to comment this on the initial patreon post and forgot, but on my first watch of this, i practically *leapt* out of my bed and yelled YES when the king's quest iii logo came up. you mentioned your mom, and with that photo, i could feel the DOS gaming bubble up.
It’s really refreshing to watch a person on the internet admit that they could be wrong, and consider new perspectives.
I love your channel. Thanks for the quality content!
That buddy line was pure, "I watch Action Button and love Tim Rogers" and I know that because I watch Action Button and love Tim Rogers.
Iv been looking forward to this for ages, keep up the good work, puts a smile on my face and makes my day just listening to you ramble about my favorite games. Cheers Mate
Also, just to be real, I watched your Super Metroid critique when I was like 11-12, and that video is what drove me to love the franchise even now as a 16 year old. I have to give my sincerest thanks to you for giving me a great direction to one of my soul favorite franchises to this day.
Fantastic video! You captured the 80s metroid experience very well. The first playthrough (which took weeks back then as you had how to beat the game) was a fun experience, but it earned you the subsequent playthroughs in which you bypass the most frustrating parts of the first playthrough.
Always glad to see you post.
I was there. Born in '81. Samus was a childhood hero of mine as a little girl. I adore this series. After Super i used to daydream about wearing the Power Suit. I wished that Star Trek Holodecks were real so I could experience a first person Metroid...
Then those prayers were answered with Prime. I bought a GameCube for one game only.
I bought a GBA for one game only.
Metroid.
I still remember making the map with my half brother. Spiral notebooks full of maps and passwords and tricks. For Metroid, Zelda, Simon's Quest and more.
It feels like a million years ago now...
As a kid, reading the nes manuals was always fun. The manual for mario 3 had so many cool pictures that, at the time, weren't really available elsewhere. I'd spend hours drawing them. Good times
Thanks for the wonderful video as always, Josh!
Haven’t watched it yet, I just know it’s good 😊