What is dropped depends on what enemies you kill. In one hall in the omega zone there is this hopping enemy that drops missiles beside a rhino that drops health.
WHAT. Really??? Shoot, now I want to replay the whole game again just to see! EDIT: I did, and YUP! There's a jumping enemy that juuust sometimes drops five missiles. The rhino beside it seems a lot more reliable for dropping large health pickups, but still... farming this bouncy enemy by going in and out of this room for a few minutes would *definitely* be faster than running all the way back like I did in multiple different years. :V Other commenters have also informed me that if you shoot Omega Metroids in the back, you do double damage! And yep, that seems to work too, though you will have a MUCH easier time maneuvering back there if you have the Screw Attack! So really, a lot of my problem there was down to a lack of knowledge!
I actually came down here for this comment. Farming the little jumping dude is really the move where that's concerned. Additionally, there are more energy tanks in the game than Samus can carry, just like the previous game
Yes, indeed. there are these enemies. And while it is arguably a blemish from today’s standpoint where we have so many conveniences for the player, I can’t help but feel it was designed that way on purpose. It’s like a challenge from the developer to say “hey here’s the end of the game can you do it with what you have? Did you find everything?” if you have everything or most everything by this point in the game you probably have between 235 and 255 missiles which is more than enough. If you squander them, then walking back is your punishment, especially in the game we’re completing it as quickly as possible is a secondary objective for that good ending.
If you wanted an extra taste of nostalga, imagine the anxiety of trying to find that last save point again as you start to notice the battery light on your gameboy startimg to dim. And the added horror of not noticing it and your game screen fading off, the same way samus fades away when she dies.
Oh yeah, I remember being a bit fascinated with the way the GBC would retain whatever was on the screen for a few seconds when the power was cut. I think the GBA did that too!
The vibe of this game is so tied to it's technical limitations. They really managed to make the plain black backgrounds feel like the massive expanse of a dark cave system. And the antiquated music feels like it could be the ambient sounds of cave life. It's flawed, but it sure is cool and unique.
Chozo temple music is weird tho. Sounds like someone trying to make a horror-esque song entirely on guitar… except they suddenly break into this weird-ass solo at the end as if they don't know how to properly cap off the song, punctuated with an out-of-nowhere high "Ding!" note. So goofy, yet it still somehow works, probably because of how the Game Boy sound hardware puts just enough abstractness on the instrumentation to make it sound alien. It actually reminds me of how the instrumentation for the SNES version of DOOM sounds like rock instruments corrupted by invading Hell. €(•{
Metroid 2 is one of, if not the only case, in which all versions are worth experiencing for different reasons. Return of Samus, while certainly tarnished by time, has its moments and an ambiance/mood the other two have been unable to fully replicate. AM2R is the culmination of all the came before to create the ideal game by fans for fans. Samus Returns, while it fumbles with parts like the ending trek with the baby and Fusion mode, was the first step in the new evolution of the series that would later become refined in Dread and making new additions to the story with lore and new bosses. I feel you can’t go wrong with any of them.
I feel like it’s worth playing all three, because the different strengths and weaknesses of each version can help you appreciate each version of the game more.
This sort of thing happened to me with Zelda Skyward Sword. When it first came out, I really liked it. When I played it a second time a couple years later, the rough edges and railroaded progression definitely stood out far more, and I was at a point in my life where I was craving something new and getting tired of the types of games I had been playing most of my life. My brother would end up taking our copy when he moved away, and I didn't play it for a long time. Then in 2020, before Skyward Sword HD was revealed, I found the original again at a secondhand shop, and thought I should give it another chance to see if my memories were lying or if the Internet was right. It's now one of my favorite 3D Zelda games, and I appreciate everything the developers wanted to do. I definitely still prefer Breath of the Wild as a video game, but Skyward Sword feels like a more fulfilling and complete experience from start to finish. It knows what it wants to be and works very hard to be the best version of that it can be. And it's clear they did the best they thought they could. Otherwise, Breath of the Wild wouldn't have been created to begin with! The HD Remaster makes a lot of those rough edges a lot smoother, so it's easily more palletable to the majority of audiences, but I think it loses something with the controls. For better and worse, the game was made with the Wii in mind, and the Joycons pale in comparison to the Wii Motion Plus.
I've thought about trying the remake since I didn't hate my first time playing Skyward Sword, but it was kind of rough (probably largely due to the controls and Fi's overbearing hints).
It's definitely interesting as a younger man looking at older games. Because I know, these games came out before I even existed. These games were revealed to me and many others as cheaper games on an online storefront or bonus games on an online service. Completely removed from context, laid bare on our screens. We aren't aware of the context in which these people 15 years ago played these games. We never planned to. Perchance, these younger gamers are more than ok with dismissing a past that wasn't ours. But then again... more and more people will play these games in the current year, then those near the original release.
I think there will always be people that appreciate old entertainment if for no other reason than it's a good way to enjoy the past. I was born in 1981. I played this game when it came out. It's a 10 of 10 for me. But for me, the "past before my time" I connected with as a kid was old television from the 50s and 60s that I could watch on Nick-at-Nite, and I wasn't alone. I've met a few kids and young adults born after me and they have a great appreciation for older games. In fact, I never liked the 2600 before I aged right past it's period of relevance when I was old enough to really game, but I know some people in there 20s who think the 2600 era was gaming at it's best. That may not be me, but it gives me hope that in the future, our past will not be forgotten just because the graphics and sound are so old and obviously dated.
The bumps and rough edges are definitely smoothed out by nostalgia, but what is nostalgia besides just us remembering the context around the games we played as children?
having re-watched your old videos in anticipation to this season, it's funny to think that a 11 minute video is now something meant to be deliberately short and brief
One of the things I love about the Original Metroid 2 ( besides the soundtrack especially the ruins and some of the tracks with just strange sounds ) I loved how the world was. Sure it's convoluted but in a sense, to me anyway, it feels, natural to me. It's all over the place like the very world we live in. It's very interesting. It's frustrating but it's so nice to finally find where you need to go but also explore the area to find secrets and seeing the atmosphere! I spent hours going back and forth everywhere seeing different animals and have they act, it gives me alot nostalgia :)
Yep, and I especially love how the surface has some pretty weak enemies, down there there are more dangerous monsters... but even more down there, the terrain is so inhospitable, there are barely any creatures around, aside from the Omega Metroids, and even those few are these small weaklings who may have specifically adapted to the area, self-sustaining on low supplies, and having very few natural enemies. All this is completely missing from the remakes, btw.
@@19Szabolcs91 I agree. Especially in the later environments. There's barely any enemies except the Metroids. It shows you how the rapidly affecting the ecosystem like a pest in environments
While, from an outside perspective, II looks like it has a lot of repeated boss fights, context is everything. Metroid II has a lot of surprisingly unique encounters that make what is otherwise the same boss feel unique based on where and how you encounter it. The game slowly ramps up the difficulty by tossing Metroids at you in increasingly challenging scenarios, sometimes in rooms filled with hazards or with few safe places to stand, sometimes by complete surprise in rooms that were previously empty and safe. My favorite detail is how nearly every, if not every Metroid is preceded (or with the occasional surprise followed by) the empty shell of the Metroid. They established their territory and they stuck near it, a nice tidbit of environmental storytelling that also serves as a guidepost to the player - your target is this way. One final detail to note, missile upgrades are extremely frontloaded in Metroid II. Of the 22 total tanks, 6 are in the first area and 8 in the second, 4 in the third and the final 4 in the last area before Omegas start appearing, which is somewhat unique for the series, where upgrades are often backloaded. Still holds a near and dear place in my heart alongside Link's Awakening, because it just sets such a tense atmosphere from the extremely alien environments/enemies and bizarre unsettling soundtrack. A dash of light horror elements really calls the game back to its roots of inspiration in Alien.
You bringing up your first experience with Metroid 2 brought back memories of my own. I was 5 years old with the Gameboy pocket. Neighbor across the street who I didn't know came up to me and handed me a cartridge with the front sticker completely removed. My parents came and took me away from the neighbor since I wasn't supposed to be talking to strangers but I was able to keep the cartridge. Put it in the pocket and it's Metroid 2. For me it was also my first Metroid game. I don't know where that cartridge is now. I've had to move so much in my life that there's a few games that were just lost in the move. But I'll never forget how I got introduced to Metroid in such a very weird way. Love Metroid to this day!
That's such an early childhood experience. It's one of those bizarre, intangible memories where it doesn't quite seem real but you REMEMBER it so vividly. I've got a few like that, too!
bro I love your videos so much, and I think I figured out why. so many critique channels are very clinical, like they're dissecting the game, or attempting to explain exactly how the developers did it. there's no personality. your videos on the other hand, always have stories tied to them. it feels like I'm re-experiencing how YOU felt playing the game. and that's really cool, you know?
One thing to note... in the GBC version, hidden items are visually easier to find. Like the varia suit for example. When approaching the varia suit egg thingy surrounded by fakes, they are all the same red color on super GB. On GBC every egg is blue and the hidden varia suit egg is red givingthe player an obvious hint. Crazy
I have replayed this game a lot of times and for that omega metroid part. Kill the enemies in the area to refill your missiles. There is a spot in the bottom where 2 enemies spawn close. They drop enough health and missiles for a faster restock than having to backtrack.
I think part of what tarnished this games reputation is just that it really never felt like a game that fits the Gameboy. With how dated the technology was, replaying it on original hardware is just a slog. Modern ways of playing it, at least in my eyes, have slowly changed my views of this game to a more positive one. Maybe it’s just because I’m softer now that I’m older, but I also think that its structure being fairly different from all the other games in the series helps keep it feeling unique and fresh. Great video as always.
Probably the screen crunch combined with the wide "rooms" as it were as well as the map's sheer size and pseudo-hub-and-open-levels structure making it a tad inconvenient to play. But it also set the player free in new ways with a more organic mix of horizontiality and verticality and new upgrades suited for getting you places. And the aforementioned screen crunch actually goes well with the more vein-like passages to enhance the feeling of claustrophobia from traversing a deep cavern that seems not only alive in itself but actively desperately on guard against you, reminding you that you're the invader here.
This was my first Metroid game, and I had roughly the same experience with it: I got to occasionally play it on a friend's copy back in something like second grade. After maybe a year of this, he gave it to me, which surprised me, because "[I] actually like the game", despite having only played through the first couple Metroid fights over and over again. And being able to play the game past those first few moments... it was such an awful experience. I was constantly lost and confused, running out of resources, and increasingly afraid of when I'd randomly find that next Metroid with my dwindling resources in a cave I had no hope of back tracking to if I died. At some point, a couple years later (5th grade? 8th grade after becoming extremely proficient at Fusion and Metroid Prime?), I decided that I was old enough to be able to handle the game and enough of a Metroid fan that I had to play through it. And... it was much the same. But now I had much more experience with games and the idea of exploration in Metroid. I was also determined. I started out haphazardly exploring and restarted a few times because of that. And slowly the level design started to make sense. The progression started making sense. The winding corridors gave way to large rooms threatening the player with loss of direction and becoming a tomb for our spelunking bounty hunter. But it's Metroid: you need to explore and the upgrades are everywhere if you know to look for them. So I did, and my mental map increased drastically, mostly in my short term memory, but that is enough for such a linear map where each location you don't come back to. The spiderball and later the space jump became they way to travel, mapping out each cavern inch by inch. I distinctly remember the acid pools and bing confused by them, as they seemingly stretched on forever, but eventually I understood the Earthquake's signaling their recession, telling me that it's time to do one last pass for items and back track to their surprisingly easy to find locations. Each area was a new bought of trepidation and confusion, but the game taught me how to handle it. I did stop for a while at the Omega Metroids as I couldn't really figure out how to beat them. The feedback for doing damage was falling on deaf ears, I guess, and I kept running out of missiles. They were scary in a game that I thought I had concurred its frights. I kept trying out different beam weapons, back tracking time after time in an increasingly familiar world, all in vain as it was the missiles I needed to go back to using. Eventually I figured it out, and there's not many times I've felt that powerful in a game. But the challenge was still a challenge, and not one that I was willing to immediately dive into, so I fell back on exploration between fights. That gave me plenty of time to restock between Omega fights. Slowly the immense, open caverns became knowable from space jumping through them over and over and the Omegas became no worse than the Betas. By the time I was ready to move on, I didn't need the game to tell me. Something particularly poignant happened with the end game. The Queen gave me some trouble and several deaths, but I quickly put the game's pattern together and was shocked at both the combat twist for defeating her and the fact I figured it out -- seemingly the last insurmountable challenge of this insurmountable game that had humbled me when I first tried it in earnest. Then... there was the hatchling. You see, one of the things that friend didn't like about the game and seeing me play it was how I immediately started killing enemies. They were just wildlife not attacking you, how could I be so cruel? I didn't really have an answer for him back then, other than the game seemingly telling me I should: they drop resources and its a scifi game with a laser, of course that's what you do! But as the game went on, the enemies were only there as sometimes obstacles and necessary resources restocking. Killing them was jokingly easy and exploration was the real point; might as well let them be, live and let live. My friend's criticism had always stuck with me. So when the last metroid hatches, Samus stays her hand, and the hatchling follows her along like an imprinted duckling, I realized my friend's criticism was the point: This bounty was a bad thing. I'll never forget that moment and every Metroid game I now need the metroids to be there as well as the Chozo, hoping for a resolution for how to let the metroids live and why the chozo made them. Dread has started that, and Prime 4 will hopefully follow through on the hints of the Federation's darker side.
Something to keep in mind with all games made for the Gameboy/ Gamegear was that they were intended to be played on the go in shorter chunks. Imagine being on a long car trip, or on the train, or the bus, and only being able to play when you could! You would learn the game in all of it's phases back then because it wasn't a 4-5 hour playthrough, it was hundreds of hours of playing when you could, coming back and doing it again. Metroid 2 does do this super well in it's simplicity, but definitely ramps up extra hard at the end.
When I finally played this, I was surprised at how close it came to capturing the idea of the polished, streamlined modern metriodvania. Unlike the first, which was a primordial soup - formless but with the right ingredients somewhere, Metroid 2 was surprisingly coherent. It knew what it wanted to be and how to get there, technical limitations withstanding. It was the key piece that showed how a studio might still arrive at the near-perfect synthesis that was Super Metroid. Honestly Metroid 2 is so advanced, I now wonder much less about how they got to Super, and more about how they got to it from the NES.
After playing Metroid 2 a while back, all I remember is how great it was. But, what is even more amazing is AM2R, a fantastic, probably one of the best fangame/remake of Metroid 2.
Another one in the bag. This part of Samus’s story, specifically Samus Returns, is rather special to me. While Prime 3 was my first experience with any Metroid game (I didn’t get far past the first boss), this one was my first 2D experience and the first one I completed. And somewhere around then, I found your channel and started binging your Metroid playlist. (Honestly I can’t remember which came first, finding your videos or playing SR). In any case, you inspired me to play through Super, I’ve replayed Samus Returns idk how many times, and lately I’ve done the same with Dread and Prime Remastered. I love these games, and between SR and your videos, thank you for getting me hooked.
@@jwil4286 I did as well! It was great to play what was the sequel to my dive into the series, though admittedly going from 360 degree aiming to octagonal aiming took lots of getting used to.
Prime 3 was the second Metroid game I owned, after Hunters, for which I had played the demo cartridge. I may have messed around with the original and Super before that as a kid, but I don't have any memories of that. I'm really glad I didn't stop after Hunters, which is probably the least Metroid-esque game in the franchise, excluding spin-offs. Playing Prime 3 was sort of revelatory for me, even though I consider it my least favorite of the trilogy. (Elysia's aesthetics absolutely slap tho) Nothing else felt like Metroid that released that year (I think). Now there's a lot more out there that build off of Metroid's fundamentals. Oh dang, now I kind of want to see Josh tackle some post-Prime search-action games.
My experience with this game is basically the same. I first played it and appreciated all of its great aspects. The music, the ending, the great atmosphere that permeates the whole duration, the first omega encounter being such a great buildup of tension and an immaculate payoff that even AM2R doesn't get right (AM2R being my second favorite Metroid game by a wide margin). But I'm scared to go back and replay it just for these moments because any time I've turned it on out of curiosity/to pass the time in the last few years I've been like "Uhh... well, it probably gets better later on..." However, I do adore retro games enough to where I can look past certain flaws to appreciate the things I like even in those cases where the game has questionably-aged design philosophy. So I still look forward to giving Metroid 2 another shot, which might be sooner rather than later, because two videos into your re-reviews and I'm already in the mood to play these games again. Your original reviews are what got me into them in the first place! (same for Donkey Kong, which I adore nowadays)
The reason the final areas are so empty of other enemies is to convey how further along the Metroid evolution the more deadly it is to life. This is why the game is so abundant with life at the surface, where metroids are still larva, and so desolate at the end. It was hard to convey that without text but it was there for those with a keen eye to notice. M2 is essentially a warning to the player that if they don't eradicate the species the galaxy is doomed.
I played this for the first time when I was 17 back in 2017, and it was right after I quit playing the original on NES, and I remembering how much this one blew my mind with how good it was, and I even went to play it a second time
Playing through Metroid II for the first (and, tbh, only) time, probably around a decade ago if not further back, gave me this dreamlike, surreal feeling. The level design is very strange. Being the type to always comb through areas so as to not miss anything, I'm sure I didn't run into your issues of getting lost or ending up underpowered, but instead I found myself using the spider ball to roll along ceilings that seemed to stretch on forever with no idea of where I'd end up until I actually got there. Given its relative linearity, it really did have surprisingly interesting exploration.
Same. No game since has made the spiderball feel as powerful as Metroid 2. I don't think another game in the series has topped the exploration feeling of Metroid 2 either, even Metroid 3, which would be the next best contender.
Something that stuck out to me when I played it recently was how much exploration there was that led nowhere. Like you are spider-balling on the ceiling and suddenly start crawling up an invisible tunnel hidden in the ceiling, and as you explore this tunnel it leads to a dead end with no bombable blocks or any progression or secrets. And then you exit it and continue on the ceiling like you were before. I remember one part that was surprisingly complex and big and yet had nothing in it. It really makes it feel alien to other game's level design. Its surprisingly unique.
One of my favorite metroids! I remember playing it on the GameCube gameboy adapter during a summer break. There’s an atmosphere in this game that neither of the remakes can seem to capture
i sense a bit of a theme in this redux. memory, limitation, and context. it really feels like the way you analyze things has gotten more...measured? either way, we are so fucking back!!
This is still my favorite Metroid game and your original review hit the nail right on the coffin about why it is my favorite, namely isolation and feeling of dread the deeper you go. I can put this game in and always have a good time with it. I still remember the feeling of pure joy when I was streaming this and got the best ending which I did not expect at all as it was the first time I got the best ending. I have that video in my old streams playlist. I love Metroid II's gameplay loop and no map. To go all the way to one location, kill a Metroid and then go back the same way. I have no problems with that at all. It's all about one very key point - *Exploration* . Everything about this game hits me in the feels and always had and no, I don't use save states when I play this game. Hell I don't use save states when I play any Metroid game but don't get me wrong; I'd *NEVER* judge anyone for _using_ save states to get through a game. I think it's far more important that you play and enjoy a game the way you want to than try to be some elitist jerk about it that is so popular amongst some TH-camrs who think they are something. 6:55 - Actually I'm going to sound mean here but.. If you actually missed some of the most biggest items in the game and 'forgot' they existed in the game... It sounds to me that you rushed the game like crazy and didn't bother to actively look for items. Like... I'm amazed you didn't miss Varia
4:27 Me playing the original Metroid 2: *AM2R flashes in my mind* “Leave me alone!” *Samus returns flashes in my mind* “AAARRHHH” 6:14 also am I the only one who gets reminded of Dread’s metroid suit here, it’s surprisingly similar imo
The original "Metroid 2" was actually the very first Metroid game I've ever played, borrowed from a friend who also happened to have a Gameboy. The first time I've played it I got lost, I got stuck and I eventually managed to finish it in six hours. The second time, I had figured out the game's quirks, I figured the acid backtracking, the "omega metroid back trick" and did much better, finishing the game in 2,5 hours and seeing Samus take off her suit. I've played many Metroidvania games in the times passed. Metroid 2 is the only one of two Metroidvanias I keep coming back to (the other being Cave Story). There's just *something* about the original game, it's eerie atmosphere and how it makes you feel like *you don't belong in this world* that still captivates me. Yeah, it's not a perfect game but maybe it was always intended to be a perfect memory, priming you up for the next Metroid game in line.
I used to play this game during recess inside an old playground Giant tractor tire that was half buried int the ground. It protected me from the wind and cold. It also created a cool soundscape with the volume turned all the way up. 😅This is my favorite Metroid game because it was my first, just like my favorite Final Fantasy is IV because it was my first. Sure, several can claim to be superior from a lot of standpoints... But you only get your first game experience in a series once.
holy shit i'm early. Metroid II is my favourite metroid game. this version. every time i replay it, i fall in love again. the series has gotten better, sure, but i don't think they've topped it thematically. it's so good. everything about it feels deliberate, it's supposed to be spooky, and repetitive, by design. and then the twist that the villain is you. it's incredible. all time favourite. i've liked the channel for a while now, but i think that the metroid series is what made me a fan. i'm glad you've revisited these games.
Fun little fact about Omega Metroids: It ordinarily takes 40 missiles to beat one, but if they’re shot in the back, each missile does triple the damage, greatly reducing the number of missiles needed.
Metroid 2 has a special place in my heart. It was the first game I remember actually finishing as a young lad, while waiting for at the doctor with my mum for my appointment ... it took so long that I was able to finish it in one go. I was so immersed back then into it, that I never noticed how long I had to wait.
Absolutely loving these Josh. It gives you the feel like if you're some sort of gaming historian, putting these games in a timeline that a lot of people lack, including me. I was too young to play these games when they came out and although I understand their historical significance theoretically, its almost impossible for me to fully grasp the context of their releases, as the industry has failed to preserve a lot, if not most of its own history. I'm serious when I say that these videos are extremely valuable for game preservation efforts. I always found Metroid 1 & 2 to be fun for a while, but a total chore to complete. Seeing them through the lens of the people who played them when they came out and side-by-side to the games of the time has been pretty mind-opening.
I first played Metroid 2 on my grey brick Gameboy when I was very young, late at night by the dim glow of a night light, unintentionally adding a great amount to it's slow burn horror feeling.
For the omegas, blast them from behind when they stop for ten seconds. You deal a BUTTLOAD MORE damage than frontal assault. Hope that helps for future playthroughs.
My parents were fond of road trips for vacation. As a result Metroid 2 was one of a handful of games I had access to for endless hours of driving. I played it start to finish more times than I can count. There was a certain appeal to getting lost in its world. Playing not to complete, but to pass the time. That said given the abundance of alternatives I now have I haven’t played the original since that time.
Metroid II was my introduction to the series as well, and you're absolutely right that it has things both AM2R and Samus Returns can't quite replicate. Even though they're all wonderful, the feeling the "Surface of SR388" theme gives is so different from the remakes' versions. I, too, remember having a much rougher time the second time I played it! I somehow missed the Spring Ball, which would've been helpful during the Queen Metroid fight!
This was my first Metroid experience. So it DEFINES Metroid for me, which makes every other game - though I love them all - a little disappointing for not being the same vibe as Metroid II. I've already come to terms with the fact that I'll never experience another game quite like this one, which makes this game all the more near and dear to my heart. I used to beat it 100% items at around 2 hours and 4 minutes when I was a kid. I still love this game as an adult... the feeling it gives me while traversing those dark, twisty caverns completely alone and so far down in the depths away from my only means of escape - my ship back on the surface. So magical!
So it seems now you understand what most people go through when they go back to a game they played when they were younger but it just doesn't "click" anymore...or even worse...they feel they can't like it anymore. I've been through this with a particular game...and how that went (and I imagine this is the cycle most people go through) is that upon revisiting the game, you find yourself somewhat resenting that the game isn't the same as the one you imagined (like how you said the game feels at odds with your memories of it). Eventually though...if the game is designed well enough and is palatable with your tastes to even a minimal degree...you'll start to see the game for what it is and obtain a newfound appreciation for the game...even if it isn't exactly the same as before. There is something special about that I think...like the game grew up with you even if it technically didn't change...its like that saying you've repeated on this channel a few times...the more things change the more they stay the same! :D
Metroid 2 was my first Metroid, fumbling around the caves on my GBC and sadly never actually ever beating it. The first one I ended up beating was my second Metroid; Fusion(I only had the handheld Nintendo systems growing up) While I don’t have the actual nostalgia from beating the original 2, it’s still one of my favorites because of the fact it got me into what is one of my absolute favorite series. I watched your older videos about Metroid a while back, but I have such a cluttered mess of a TH-cam sub feed that I never ended up subscribing to your channel. I’m sad I missed the active release of this redux series until a half a year after they released, but I’m glad I happened back across it!
Return of Samus Holds a special place in my heart. It’s an improvement over the first game yes. But in its own right Metroid 2 is Unique among the Rest of the Franchise.
10:00 Just so you know, this thing you describe about yourself is the exact reason why me and so many people consider you to be among the best there is at what you do, if not THE best if you ask me. It's such a huge part of what makes YOUR videos so different compared to everyone else's and it comes across as much more of an objective look. Not saying your opinion or perspective is objective, but that you always look at all sides there could be to a game, or what appeal they could have to specific niches people may not immediately think about. To be perfectly honest, I've tried to put this signature perspective of yours into words many many times before by commenting on recent videos, and I think this might be my best attempt yet. I genuinely believe you're the best at reviews/essays/critiques/retrospectives on video games. And I doubt much could change my mind at this point. Keep it up! Can't wait for dread. I wish I could donate on patreon because you're the one who's the most deserving of it I'd say.
I love Metroid II. It was so special for me. I have replayed it more than any other Metroid game. I get why people don't like it, but Samus Returns and AM2R miss the mark so much for me. I think the biggest thing is the sprite is so large and the monochrome palette is so bleak that it really creates a sense of claustrophobia. And the fact that the game is literally about genocide. You are only in this planet to wipe out the Metroids. Such a cold calculated mission. And when the game ends on such a strange note of hope. It makes you think about what you spent the whole game doing. The circumstances in which I played the game, it was a huge escape for me in a difficult childhood, I just got lost in the world of the game. It makes me sad to hear people put down the game like they do. But they didn't have the same personal experience I had.
One thing to keep in mind with the Omegas is that they take more damage if you shoot them in the back. As long as you remember to top off before you go for those final sections and are careful about how you place your shots, you can get through with missiles to spare.
Yay Geek critique has Has arrived again the Greatest Christmas present you could ever have While i cant get my hands on These games myself these videos always make me Appreciate Them for what they are And made me Cherish the side of gaming I always took for Granted even Made me a platformer fan as well
That title made me think this was going to be about some kind of improvement hack. But I'll happily take a video about one of my favorite Metroid games.
Two things: First, Metroid II is basically a survival horror game. You actually have to _manage your resources_. They don't just hand out missiles like they're candy like the newer games, you have to pay attention to how many you have and actively think about replenishing them at every opportunity. Why would you even be in the final main area of the game and not know how many missiles you have anyway? Second, a good tip for making the Omegas a little more manageable is to shoot them in the back. It does way more damage and they'll usually just float there and let you do it for like five full seconds! Its a great way to conserve missiles since that area is kinda SUPPOSED to be a gauntlet.
You know you got me into metroid, and now its my most beloved game franchise. When i initially watched your reviews i didn't play games, so i never thought id ever play all the metroid games, but i did. Metroid 2 was one i played almost out of obligation after coming across it on the 3ds store, and I actually fell in love with it. Somehow this old janky game was so compelling to me that i beat it in one sitting. While there are certainly better metroid games this one holds a special place in my heart.
Your criticisms are literally my favorite parts of the game. Obviously everyone plays and enjoys games differently, but I thought sharing my perspective might be interesting for people that agree with your critique. A lot of games treat the player very nicely, giving them an advantage in fights, making the player character extremely wealthy and accomplished, and creating levels that naturally teach the player new skills and ramp up in difficulty along with player progression. Metroid games, especially the old 2D titles, especially the first two games, don't do this. They treat the player as a formidable enemy, like a hacker trying to break the game. The game doesn't try to help you - it tries to fight you. The walls doubling back on themselves, repeating rooms you could have sworn you saw before and literally placing you in rooms from totally different areas that you have seen before. Solving a puzzle on one side of the map often involves a puzzle piece from a completely different part of the map acquired hours later. Significant advantages are hidden in terrain blocks that look absolutely identical to any other terrain in the game. The player, on the other hand, despite being given all of these unfair disadvantages, is given no true restrictions. They can go anywhere and do anything at any time in any order they want, if they're skilled enough. Because the developers know, they ARE. The vibe of these games is to get lost in this alien planet, with native flora and fauna that are doing their own thing and don't actually care about you unless you get in their way, finding yourself plunging deeper and deeper into the unknown, into hazardous conditions, never really feeling entirely prepared but just having that belief in yourself that you will prevail, outsmarting the planet itself as you navigate its labyrinths to get to the final enemy. It's exhilarating, at least it has been to me, and I think it's this quality ultimately that allows Metroidvanias to flourish. Environmental puzzles are an incredibly engaging mechanic, and actively deceiving the player is part of that. The section of the video where you talk about the Omega area has been discussed already as environmental storytelling, and it is, but it's also another case of the game trying to stop you and you refusing to be stopped. It's a challenge for you to be conservative enough with your ammunition and getting enough strategic back shots (worth more damage) that you don't have to track all the way back to reload. Metroid is unfair but every unfair thing it does can be defeated by having sufficient skill, at least for these early 2D games, and that's what makes them irreplaceable even today.
Obligatory comment incoming: When your first Metroid 2 video hit the scene, you stumbled upon a comment (I can't be asked to look because going through old comment sections may as well be searching for a needle in a Haystack) Regarding the absence of enemies in the late game. On it's own it's an interesting way to Increase difficulty. Instead of You having resources to blaze through the challenges ahead, you end up deciding whether or not you go back into the planet to seek out either enemy drops or recharge stations. But this came with the downside of, of course, lots of backtracking. But, the Comment put it in the perspective of the world and narrative. Think about it: The Metroids are the Apex species of SR-388, and the other enemies we see are meager Bouncing Blobs and Bat-things. They realistically wouldn't stand a chance against the Metroids. So, as the game goes on, they don't. The Lowest caves of the planet are Empty, Dilapidated, Only inhabited by Metroids because the rest of the food chain doesn't stand a chance against them. Which is such a fascinating approach to both game design And narrative. I Haven't played AM2R, but SR had a different approach to this concept, with the lower you get, the more Mechanical enemies and stronger life forms you see down there, with weaker enemies showing up again once the Metroid Population is finally wiped out. Much like the entire remake, a different take on the same core concept. So well yeah, This game is interesting. But you have essays to write, so you don't REALLY need to read mine
Always glad to see a new Geek Critique video. Thanks for the quality videos, they are what got me to play Zero Mission, Fusion and Prime. Excited for the Dread review and to play it myself for the first time!
Metroid II was also my first taste of this series. I don't know exactly when, but it was pre-Pokémon that I played that same beginning sequence several times. It wasn't until closer to 2000 that I finally beat the game. After beating it once I didn't touch it again for about 20 years. Once Dread was announced, I decided to replay it. I was personally surprised how well it held up to the memories I had in my mind. I think at the end of the day, every game (or for that matter memory) from when we were kids is bound to be warped by time. Sometimes for good, sometimes not. What I think is important is to share those memories with each other, reflect on and relish in the changes we've experienced since, and also acknowledge that no one can ever really have *exactly* the same experience/memory of a thing that we did. That's ok. In a way, that's a big part of what makes it special. I always think just how many people get to make unique memories with their own games today colored by the context of their lives in that moment, and in 20 years' time will look back and maybe critique them similarly to how you are here.
This is still my preferred version of Metroid II: Return of Samus. It’s mainly the ending, it is just one of those moments in gaming history that has never been recaptured, no remake could ever remake the soul that the ending had.
Metroid 2 is special to me. My first game was Prime which I got on release week, it Christmas the following year I got a GBA SP and three games: Fire Emblem, Metroid Fusion and Metroid 2. Having Fusion and 2 back to back like that was a very unique experience and one I can’t really explain why I clicked so well with me. Maybe it was because this being only 2003 the time gap between the then-present and Metroid 2’s original release wasn’t that large. Maybe I just didn’t care as long as I had more Metroid to play, and play it I did. I never recall this game frustrating me or me needing to call upon a guide for it; I just… got into it. Like NEStroid, it invites you to get lost in itself and just vibe with it. Figure out your own pace and your own map, and that’s what I did. I still go back to it now and then even today, the only reason my playing of it lessened over time was because my SP’s battery life has dropped to like 2 hours on a full charge now haha.
Same as me, Metroid II on gameboy was the first metroid title ive played. But my mother bought me a brand new copy of the game when it was released in Japan and sent it to me in the Philippines back in 1991 together with my DMG and super mario land... Then few years later played Super metroid on SNES and was mind blown with that massive update
I have to wonder if the game was designed for shorter play sessions because it was on handheld. having shot play sessions punctuated with a boss might have helped make things feel just a little less repetitive, but having not played the game myself I couldn't say.
Metroid 2 was the last of the core Metroid games I managed to play, circa 2008 or so. I forget when exactly. For me, it was exciting to finally get to see the other Metroid types that I'd heard of previously. I don't know how much of my genuine Game Boy nostalgia plays into how much I like this game. I just dig its atmosphere, enemy designs, and poignant ending. And yes, I ran into the same issue against the Omegas my first time through, in what I used to call the Omega Caves. Eventually, I read somewhere that they take double damage if you shoot them in the back (also they get stunned for a moment). That's really helped smooth out that section of the game, but it's not at all obvious to a casual player.
With some remakes or remasters, they truly do replace the game as the way you should play it. With Metroid II, so much is changed (reasonably so in many cases) that remakes end up improving in parts but not replacing it. Metroid II on Game Boy remains its own experience. You could even say the same with the original Metroid and Zero Mission.
I had a GREAT first impression with this game. Its a game that has always been around and I was curious about but never got to play (my first Metroid was Prime 1, and then I got Zero Mission, so I was always wanting to play the direct sequel to both). But then about 10 or so years ago I ended up playing it (on emulator, I really had no other alternatives sadly). I started out playing the beginning area with the already iconic music (I always loved "the Tunnel" theme even before I got to play the game) and enjoying it. It got really difficult really quickly as the rooms started to become repetitive in their design, making it harder to tell where I was in comparison to other similar looking areas. I wasn't using a map though, so I simply had to keep mental track of the map layout. However, something that started happening was that the refill orbs that are typically hidden near a boss fight started to become rarer, and I wasn't really grinding enemies too much to refill. So I ended up slowly getting less and less health and ammo after each boss. But I wasn't having too hard of a time, so I never went out of my way to save, only doing so when I came across one naturally. I ended up with a pretty bad fight against a Beta (or whichever name is the second form) that left me with little resources and also opened up the path to a new area. Unfortunately, I was starting to become lost and couldn't remember where the last save point was and ended up at where the acid lowered. So I decided to head down there thinking that they probably left a save point near the beginning of the area. Though I have no clue how much I would lose if I died because I couldn't remember how long ago I saved. I must have missed the save because I never found one, I ended up looking around this area and kept having trouble with the enemies, taking more damage than I was getting back. I was so determined to get a save point that I was sure was nearby. However, at some point I ended up with like 1HP, and wasn't finding any enemies I could kill for health. So I was wandering aimlessly through this barren labyrinth getting only more lost over time so I couldn't even backtrack. I ended up discovering this pipe that you could Spider-ball up that was in the foreground (an amazing feat for the Gameboy, I thought) and it crossed vertically over the beginning of the area. At this point I was so lost, I was desperate and went in the pipe. I ended up in this hallway and decided I had no other choice at this point because I was in too deep to go back. At least there should be some sort of enemy to hopefully get health back before I lost a ton of progress. There was... Another Beta Metroid. I didn't know what to do but it was already too late, so I got ready to fight it when it started to change, and it grew into a new form that I hadn't encountered yet. I wasn't sure how to fight it but got ready to shoot missiles when the animation ended. It did and I got control back, and before I could react it shot a laser that killed me instantly. I was not expecting the laser at all. I lost enough progress that when I loaded back up I had absolutely no clue where I was or what progress I had to redo. So I closed the game and didn't play again. I wanted to but didn't feel ready for it again so soon. It was a rollercoaster of emotions and shock. It was like a horror game for the short time before I died. I eventually played it again when it came out on Switch and decided to go all the way through. I ended up back at the same area and found a really obvious save point I somehow managed to avoid all those years ago. I did end up beating the game and really enjoyed it (the rewind feature helped admittedly), and I didn't have to use a map until near the end and only a tiny bit. Sure, I didn't beat it without any help, but I didn't need a guide the whole way through, so I feel accomplished. It's a hard game to recommend to people due to how unsafe it is, like it doesn't really hold back, and there isn't a lot in your favor compared to how much most games nowadays make it as safe to progress as possible. But its still a really fun game to try, and its surprisingly playable compared to the NES Metroid. Its such a unique experience because of its limits and that is why there will never be a remake that captures its spirit, because its game design would not fly today. Its not my favorite Metroid, and I may not ever play it again, but I really enjoyed my time with it and its stuck with me all these years.
I’m kind of old and remember when this came out. The Game Boy almost assumed that you also had an NES, and all the kids I knew did. So we were already trained to look for non-obvious progression. I think that if they had more than 256 KB to work with, it would have been less repetitive and perhaps there would be subtle telegraphing of secrets. I think that’s the difference in experiencing these games now. Modern gamers aren’t trained in NES/GB “theory”, for lack of a better term. The designers were counting on collaborative efforts between the kids playing the games, which is ingenious. It created tons of free advertising for the newest games as we discovered nooks and crannies and passed them along. The games were hard and obtuse because it meant that kids discussed them.
I still really enjoy this game and always have so much fun with it every time I pick it up. Sometimes I start to question while playing if this game is my favorite 2D Metroid, a thought that is quickly shut down as I remember how great the other Metroid games are, but a thought that comes up nonetheless. The game is imperfect but it’s some nice simplistic, short and sweet Metroid fun that makes the absolute most out of the hardware it’s on. It’s got a good atmosphere as well. I especially love how isolated and uncomfortable the game makes you feel while playing with the unsettling soundscape in the background and the Metroid husks cleverly placed around that serve as a warning for what is to come, and later on, they start to trip you up and have the husks revealed only after you find the Metroid so it catches you by surprise. So many things in this game feels intentional and well crafted. Sure, there’s some blatant filler sometimes that is just meant to pad out the game, but the game is already so short that it doesn’t really bother me. AM2R didn’t really do it for me and Samus Returns left me disappointed, so for me, the original is still on top.
to be honest i've always found m2 a better experience than m1 for newcomers, and considering ive played the whole series till other m before playing m2 and 1, i remember having this feeling of "wow, what a great game. the others are certainly better and more polished in many ways, but this is very impressive considering where they came from and the console its running on". I mean its up there for me with links awakening for my fav games on the classic gameboy, for both being able to make me feel what the devs wanted despite the limitations, and make me believe for a moment that these worlds were real and ive been through all of that, despite it being in a console that's basically a calculator. Heck, m2 can even scare me a bunch of times!
This was also one of my first Metroid games, and despite some of its flaws, I still find it to be a very impressive game for its time and still a good and fun game to this day.
Between these first two Metroid videos, I'm reminded of a similar experience with Shin Megami Tensei If, though I've yet to make an effort to replay it. Basically, SMT If is the third SMT game on the SNES and the precursor to the Persona series, of which I am a big fan. And to say the least, this game was a huge frustration when I first played it. There's literally a dungeon in it that involves you walking back and forth, doing nothing but grinding levels, while you wait for a bunch of other characters to dig tunnels for you- This game gets INCREDIBLY tedious. And yet, when I look back on it, I do so pretty fondly. It has so many unique and experimental ideas- Dying quickly after a previous death means you'll become weaker, but if you live for a long time, you'll become stronger when you revive. Death isn't necessarily something that is an entirely bad thing in this case, and the idea of death being something other than a "Game Over" was unheard of at the time- It wasn't until Dark Souls that an idea even close to this was popularized. Plus, narratively, each dungeon is based on one of the Seven Deadly Sins- The aforementioned tedious walk-back-and-forth dungeon is known as the World of Sloth. The tedious mechanics I just complained about are the whole point of that dungeon, it's kind of brilliant! And this seven deadly sins-based dungeons idea wouldn't be used again until Persona 5, decades later! This game has so many interesting and cool ideas and I think it's pretty awesome! I don't think any other game has given me such mixed opinions. On the one hand, it's very clearly a product of its time, a dungeon crawler with a lot of tedious mechanics. On the other hand, it does so many thing that are just revolutionary and integral to what would become my favorite video game series that I have a deep respect for it. I'm not sure if I'd want to replay it, but it's way easier to appreciate this game when you think of it within the context of when it was released, which seems to be true for the early Metroid games as well.
So I just started playing this again on Switch Online. It's astounding how good it looks and controls for a game boy game. Like it holds up because they understood the limitations of the system. Kind of like Link's awakening.
I've played and replayed this game several times (including for a real-time mapping project) and it's slowly become my favorite in the series specifically for how it weaponizes the repeated boss fights and treks back through the more linear corridors. It's a game about invading an alien planet to kill an entire species, and the first time I played it I couldn't help but really think about what's going on during the walks back. Over time I've come to believe that some if not all of the tasks becoming rote and the emptiness in between is intentional - Metroid II is, effectively, a game about alien genocide, regardless of how great the threat the aliens pose is. Samus's thoughts throughout the journey are unclear, leaving it pretty open to interpretation. Removed from the context of future games, did Samus decide at the last second that capturing the infant Metroid would net her a pay bonus, or did she feel bad about killing the Metroids and show it genuine compassion? At what point in the game did she start questioning her orders to eliminate every Metroid? The choice to go with environmental soundscapes rather than traditional music for most of the game really complements that, to me. A lot of my friends and a lot of retrospectives aren't as forgiving of those aspects as I tend to be, and that's fair, I think. In the end it's still a Game Boy game and it's not unreasonable to go in expecting it to be designed for fun. In terms of pure emotion though, its tone is unmatched. I think that's why I personally get so much out of it. Thanks for the insightful commentary, as always. Looking forward to the next one.
And I think we learned something today. Sometimes, what seems like bad game design is actually innovation built on constraint, leading to something beautiful that those who never experienced the constraint can experience. And sometimes, bad game design is just bad game design. The original Resident Evil's tank controls are, to me, an example of the former. And Metroid II's giant gap between the Omega Metroids and the last missile recharge is the latter.
I still prefer using the Super Gameboy 2 or a clock-modded SGB 1 (mainly cuz that difference in musical pitch urks me a ton after a while), but it's definitely my preferred way to play og Gameboy games. The ability to mess around with palettes, or simply recreate the DMG look on a CRT screen, is pretty entertaining. And let's not forget the Super Gameboy exclusive enhancements for select titles.
In the waning days of 2024, I still have my original cart with the original battery and, wouldn't you know it, it still holds saves. I need to find a pack of the cell batteries that Nintendo used in the early 90's.
I was 7 years old when this came out, having just gotten a Gameboy for my birthday I fell head first into all the marketing hype (they had a contest where you could win a copy from some brand of breakfast cereal, Nintendo Power pushing this hard). I was pretty meh on the original game despite renting it multiple times but the vibe very much pulled me in. I was awful at this but playing on and off finished it when I was about ten and to this day still love it. Over the next few years I went through it probably 7 or 8 times, always having a blast.
Metroid II makes me feel like I'm watching microbiology through a microscope. The minimalist score, small enemies and monochrome graphics give it this odd mood and intimacy that I don't feel with any other game.
I first played Metroid 2 a couple years ago, played it on GBA. I didn't miss anything, never really got lost. The only issue was I wanted to beat the game quickly so as to not forget the layout in absence of an in-game map. I started the game at night, beat it the next day. It was a quick breezy game. Though I am pretty obsessive about checking every tile in a Metroid game.
I finished this episode the same day all that came out, and my wife riffed this line when we watched it for the first time. It was too good not to use! (So I'm actually plagiarizing her!)
This all sounds right, for better and for worse. I have my quibbles with both remakes in their own ways, and I enjoyed both of them a lot in spite of those, but the big thing holding them down is that they're still fundamentally _Metroid_ _2._ The original game is haunting and beautiful and so much more polished than Metroid 1 in a lot of ways, but it's also one of the last vestiges of the era when the 2 in a series tended to be a bit _weird_ and off kilter. The _idea_ of going on an extermination mission for every last metroid is a cool one, but it's a rigid and repetitive goal that I'm not sure any designer could square away with the core exploratory fun of the genre. Ah, well. We got a lot of interesting and unique games out of devs experimenting with sequels like that, and if they don't all hold up perfectly well, they're still important entries and contributed a lot to their respective franchises in the long run. Sometimes you just gotta _try_ something to find out why it doesn't quite work, right?
I played this a few years ago for the first time on my old Gameboy colour (which has a built-in palette for the game) and enjoyed it a lot, but also played am2r. They are both different experiences for sure but I don't think I ever got lost in the original version. Or perhaps I just didn't notice I got lost. 😅
![BOWKYLION - วิงวอน (ex-change) [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cLdnZWDaO-w/mqdefault.jpg)
What is dropped depends on what enemies you kill. In one hall in the omega zone there is this hopping enemy that drops missiles beside a rhino that drops health.
WHAT. Really??? Shoot, now I want to replay the whole game again just to see!
EDIT: I did, and YUP! There's a jumping enemy that juuust sometimes drops five missiles. The rhino beside it seems a lot more reliable for dropping large health pickups, but still... farming this bouncy enemy by going in and out of this room for a few minutes would *definitely* be faster than running all the way back like I did in multiple different years. :V
Other commenters have also informed me that if you shoot Omega Metroids in the back, you do double damage! And yep, that seems to work too, though you will have a MUCH easier time maneuvering back there if you have the Screw Attack! So really, a lot of my problem there was down to a lack of knowledge!
And they give more health and missiles than normal, no need to trek all the way back to the tower.
I actually came down here for this comment. Farming the little jumping dude is really the move where that's concerned. Additionally, there are more energy tanks in the game than Samus can carry, just like the previous game
Yes, indeed. there are these enemies. And while it is arguably a blemish from today’s standpoint where we have so many conveniences for the player, I can’t help but feel it was designed that way on purpose. It’s like a challenge from the developer to say “hey here’s the end of the game can you do it with what you have? Did you find everything?” if you have everything or most everything by this point in the game you probably have between 235 and 255 missiles which is more than enough. If you squander them, then walking back is your punishment, especially in the game we’re completing it as quickly as possible is a secondary objective for that good ending.
@@GeekCritiqueAhhh, so that's why the Omega Metroids' backs open up in AM2R!
If you wanted an extra taste of nostalga, imagine the anxiety of trying to find that last save point again as you start to notice the battery light on your gameboy startimg to dim.
And the added horror of not noticing it and your game screen fading off, the same way samus fades away when she dies.
Oh yeah, I remember being a bit fascinated with the way the GBC would retain whatever was on the screen for a few seconds when the power was cut. I think the GBA did that too!
Definitely on the list of "things I never expected to be nostalgic for"
Should've picked up that rechargeable battery pack when you had the chance. D'oh!
The vibe of this game is so tied to it's technical limitations. They really managed to make the plain black backgrounds feel like the massive expanse of a dark cave system. And the antiquated music feels like it could be the ambient sounds of cave life. It's flawed, but it sure is cool and unique.
Chozo temple music is weird tho. Sounds like someone trying to make a horror-esque song entirely on guitar… except they suddenly break into this weird-ass solo at the end as if they don't know how to properly cap off the song, punctuated with an out-of-nowhere high "Ding!" note. So goofy, yet it still somehow works, probably because of how the Game Boy sound hardware puts just enough abstractness on the instrumentation to make it sound alien. It actually reminds me of how the instrumentation for the SNES version of DOOM sounds like rock instruments corrupted by invading Hell. €(•{
Metroid 2 is one of, if not the only case, in which all versions are worth experiencing for different reasons. Return of Samus, while certainly tarnished by time, has its moments and an ambiance/mood the other two have been unable to fully replicate. AM2R is the culmination of all the came before to create the ideal game by fans for fans. Samus Returns, while it fumbles with parts like the ending trek with the baby and Fusion mode, was the first step in the new evolution of the series that would later become refined in Dread and making new additions to the story with lore and new bosses. I feel you can’t go wrong with any of them.
I feel like it’s worth playing all three, because the different strengths and weaknesses of each version can help you appreciate each version of the game more.
I never asked to live in a world where a Metroid 2 trilogy exists, but I'm glad I do
What other game can you say has multiple versions of itself and every version is worth playing for different reasons.
This sort of thing happened to me with Zelda Skyward Sword. When it first came out, I really liked it. When I played it a second time a couple years later, the rough edges and railroaded progression definitely stood out far more, and I was at a point in my life where I was craving something new and getting tired of the types of games I had been playing most of my life. My brother would end up taking our copy when he moved away, and I didn't play it for a long time. Then in 2020, before Skyward Sword HD was revealed, I found the original again at a secondhand shop, and thought I should give it another chance to see if my memories were lying or if the Internet was right. It's now one of my favorite 3D Zelda games, and I appreciate everything the developers wanted to do. I definitely still prefer Breath of the Wild as a video game, but Skyward Sword feels like a more fulfilling and complete experience from start to finish. It knows what it wants to be and works very hard to be the best version of that it can be. And it's clear they did the best they thought they could. Otherwise, Breath of the Wild wouldn't have been created to begin with!
The HD Remaster makes a lot of those rough edges a lot smoother, so it's easily more palletable to the majority of audiences, but I think it loses something with the controls. For better and worse, the game was made with the Wii in mind, and the Joycons pale in comparison to the Wii Motion Plus.
For me i cannot with open world games. Dont need em. Would be fine without em
I really need to play it again. Heck, I even own the HD remake and haven’t booted it up once.
I must admit playing the Switch remake fixed a lot of the things I didn't enjoy about the orginal
Don't care!
I've thought about trying the remake since I didn't hate my first time playing Skyward Sword, but it was kind of rough (probably largely due to the controls and Fi's overbearing hints).
It's definitely interesting as a younger man looking at older games. Because I know, these games came out before I even existed. These games were revealed to me and many others as cheaper games on an online storefront or bonus games on an online service. Completely removed from context, laid bare on our screens. We aren't aware of the context in which these people 15 years ago played these games. We never planned to.
Perchance, these younger gamers are more than ok with dismissing a past that wasn't ours. But then again... more and more people will play these games in the current year, then those near the original release.
I think there will always be people that appreciate old entertainment if for no other reason than it's a good way to enjoy the past. I was born in 1981. I played this game when it came out. It's a 10 of 10 for me. But for me, the "past before my time" I connected with as a kid was old television from the 50s and 60s that I could watch on Nick-at-Nite, and I wasn't alone. I've met a few kids and young adults born after me and they have a great appreciation for older games. In fact, I never liked the 2600 before I aged right past it's period of relevance when I was old enough to really game, but I know some people in there 20s who think the 2600 era was gaming at it's best. That may not be me, but it gives me hope that in the future, our past will not be forgotten just because the graphics and sound are so old and obviously dated.
The bumps and rough edges are definitely smoothed out by nostalgia, but what is nostalgia besides just us remembering the context around the games we played as children?
15 years ago?
Try 30.
"You can't just say 'perchance'" -mario the idea the man
having re-watched your old videos in anticipation to this season, it's funny to think that a 11 minute video is now something meant to be deliberately short and brief
Oh, f'real, I remember doing like 14 minutes on Sonic 3, and I felt like it was an absolute *epic*. :V
One of the things I love about the Original Metroid 2 ( besides the soundtrack especially the ruins and some of the tracks with just strange sounds ) I loved how the world was. Sure it's convoluted but in a sense, to me anyway, it feels, natural to me. It's all over the place like the very world we live in. It's very interesting. It's frustrating but it's so nice to finally find where you need to go but also explore the area to find secrets and seeing the atmosphere! I spent hours going back and forth everywhere seeing different animals and have they act, it gives me alot nostalgia :)
Yep, and I especially love how the surface has some pretty weak enemies, down there there are more dangerous monsters... but even more down there, the terrain is so inhospitable, there are barely any creatures around, aside from the Omega Metroids, and even those few are these small weaklings who may have specifically adapted to the area, self-sustaining on low supplies, and having very few natural enemies.
All this is completely missing from the remakes, btw.
@@19Szabolcs91 I agree. Especially in the later environments. There's barely any enemies except the Metroids. It shows you how the rapidly affecting the ecosystem like a pest in environments
While, from an outside perspective, II looks like it has a lot of repeated boss fights, context is everything. Metroid II has a lot of surprisingly unique encounters that make what is otherwise the same boss feel unique based on where and how you encounter it.
The game slowly ramps up the difficulty by tossing Metroids at you in increasingly challenging scenarios, sometimes in rooms filled with hazards or with few safe places to stand, sometimes by complete surprise in rooms that were previously empty and safe.
My favorite detail is how nearly every, if not every Metroid is preceded (or with the occasional surprise followed by) the empty shell of the Metroid. They established their territory and they stuck near it, a nice tidbit of environmental storytelling that also serves as a guidepost to the player - your target is this way.
One final detail to note, missile upgrades are extremely frontloaded in Metroid II. Of the 22 total tanks, 6 are in the first area and 8 in the second, 4 in the third and the final 4 in the last area before Omegas start appearing, which is somewhat unique for the series, where upgrades are often backloaded.
Still holds a near and dear place in my heart alongside Link's Awakening, because it just sets such a tense atmosphere from the extremely alien environments/enemies and bizarre unsettling soundtrack. A dash of light horror elements really calls the game back to its roots of inspiration in Alien.
You bringing up your first experience with Metroid 2 brought back memories of my own.
I was 5 years old with the Gameboy pocket. Neighbor across the street who I didn't know came up to me and handed me a cartridge with the front sticker completely removed. My parents came and took me away from the neighbor since I wasn't supposed to be talking to strangers but I was able to keep the cartridge. Put it in the pocket and it's Metroid 2. For me it was also my first Metroid game.
I don't know where that cartridge is now. I've had to move so much in my life that there's a few games that were just lost in the move.
But I'll never forget how I got introduced to Metroid in such a very weird way. Love Metroid to this day!
That's such an early childhood experience. It's one of those bizarre, intangible memories where it doesn't quite seem real but you REMEMBER it so vividly. I've got a few like that, too!
at least it wasn’t haunted
bro I love your videos so much, and I think I figured out why. so many critique channels are very clinical, like they're dissecting the game, or attempting to explain exactly how the developers did it. there's no personality. your videos on the other hand, always have stories tied to them. it feels like I'm re-experiencing how YOU felt playing the game. and that's really cool, you know?
One thing to note... in the GBC version, hidden items are visually easier to find. Like the varia suit for example. When approaching the varia suit egg thingy surrounded by fakes, they are all the same red color on super GB. On GBC every egg is blue and the hidden varia suit egg is red givingthe player an obvious hint. Crazy
I have replayed this game a lot of times and for that omega metroid part. Kill the enemies in the area to refill your missiles.
There is a spot in the bottom where 2 enemies spawn close. They drop enough health and missiles for a faster restock than having to backtrack.
I think part of what tarnished this games reputation is just that it really never felt like a game that fits the Gameboy. With how dated the technology was, replaying it on original hardware is just a slog. Modern ways of playing it, at least in my eyes, have slowly changed my views of this game to a more positive one. Maybe it’s just because I’m softer now that I’m older, but I also think that its structure being fairly different from all the other games in the series helps keep it feeling unique and fresh. Great video as always.
Probably the screen crunch combined with the wide "rooms" as it were as well as the map's sheer size and pseudo-hub-and-open-levels structure making it a tad inconvenient to play. But it also set the player free in new ways with a more organic mix of horizontiality and verticality and new upgrades suited for getting you places. And the aforementioned screen crunch actually goes well with the more vein-like passages to enhance the feeling of claustrophobia from traversing a deep cavern that seems not only alive in itself but actively desperately on guard against you, reminding you that you're the invader here.
This was my first Metroid game, and I had roughly the same experience with it: I got to occasionally play it on a friend's copy back in something like second grade. After maybe a year of this, he gave it to me, which surprised me, because "[I] actually like the game", despite having only played through the first couple Metroid fights over and over again. And being able to play the game past those first few moments... it was such an awful experience. I was constantly lost and confused, running out of resources, and increasingly afraid of when I'd randomly find that next Metroid with my dwindling resources in a cave I had no hope of back tracking to if I died.
At some point, a couple years later (5th grade? 8th grade after becoming extremely proficient at Fusion and Metroid Prime?), I decided that I was old enough to be able to handle the game and enough of a Metroid fan that I had to play through it. And... it was much the same. But now I had much more experience with games and the idea of exploration in Metroid. I was also determined. I started out haphazardly exploring and restarted a few times because of that. And slowly the level design started to make sense. The progression started making sense. The winding corridors gave way to large rooms threatening the player with loss of direction and becoming a tomb for our spelunking bounty hunter. But it's Metroid: you need to explore and the upgrades are everywhere if you know to look for them. So I did, and my mental map increased drastically, mostly in my short term memory, but that is enough for such a linear map where each location you don't come back to. The spiderball and later the space jump became they way to travel, mapping out each cavern inch by inch. I distinctly remember the acid pools and bing confused by them, as they seemingly stretched on forever, but eventually I understood the Earthquake's signaling their recession, telling me that it's time to do one last pass for items and back track to their surprisingly easy to find locations. Each area was a new bought of trepidation and confusion, but the game taught me how to handle it.
I did stop for a while at the Omega Metroids as I couldn't really figure out how to beat them. The feedback for doing damage was falling on deaf ears, I guess, and I kept running out of missiles. They were scary in a game that I thought I had concurred its frights. I kept trying out different beam weapons, back tracking time after time in an increasingly familiar world, all in vain as it was the missiles I needed to go back to using. Eventually I figured it out, and there's not many times I've felt that powerful in a game. But the challenge was still a challenge, and not one that I was willing to immediately dive into, so I fell back on exploration between fights. That gave me plenty of time to restock between Omega fights. Slowly the immense, open caverns became knowable from space jumping through them over and over and the Omegas became no worse than the Betas. By the time I was ready to move on, I didn't need the game to tell me.
Something particularly poignant happened with the end game. The Queen gave me some trouble and several deaths, but I quickly put the game's pattern together and was shocked at both the combat twist for defeating her and the fact I figured it out -- seemingly the last insurmountable challenge of this insurmountable game that had humbled me when I first tried it in earnest. Then... there was the hatchling. You see, one of the things that friend didn't like about the game and seeing me play it was how I immediately started killing enemies. They were just wildlife not attacking you, how could I be so cruel? I didn't really have an answer for him back then, other than the game seemingly telling me I should: they drop resources and its a scifi game with a laser, of course that's what you do! But as the game went on, the enemies were only there as sometimes obstacles and necessary resources restocking. Killing them was jokingly easy and exploration was the real point; might as well let them be, live and let live. My friend's criticism had always stuck with me. So when the last metroid hatches, Samus stays her hand, and the hatchling follows her along like an imprinted duckling, I realized my friend's criticism was the point: This bounty was a bad thing. I'll never forget that moment and every Metroid game I now need the metroids to be there as well as the Chozo, hoping for a resolution for how to let the metroids live and why the chozo made them. Dread has started that, and Prime 4 will hopefully follow through on the hints of the Federation's darker side.
Something to keep in mind with all games made for the Gameboy/ Gamegear was that they were intended to be played on the go in shorter chunks. Imagine being on a long car trip, or on the train, or the bus, and only being able to play when you could! You would learn the game in all of it's phases back then because it wasn't a 4-5 hour playthrough, it was hundreds of hours of playing when you could, coming back and doing it again. Metroid 2 does do this super well in it's simplicity, but definitely ramps up extra hard at the end.
When I finally played this, I was surprised at how close it came to capturing the idea of the polished, streamlined modern metriodvania. Unlike the first, which was a primordial soup - formless but with the right ingredients somewhere, Metroid 2 was surprisingly coherent. It knew what it wanted to be and how to get there, technical limitations withstanding. It was the key piece that showed how a studio might still arrive at the near-perfect synthesis that was Super Metroid.
Honestly Metroid 2 is so advanced, I now wonder much less about how they got to Super, and more about how they got to it from the NES.
After playing Metroid 2 a while back, all I remember is how great it was.
But, what is even more amazing is AM2R, a fantastic, probably one of the best fangame/remake of Metroid 2.
Another one in the bag.
This part of Samus’s story, specifically Samus Returns, is rather special to me. While Prime 3 was my first experience with any Metroid game (I didn’t get far past the first boss), this one was my first 2D experience and the first one I completed. And somewhere around then, I found your channel and started binging your Metroid playlist. (Honestly I can’t remember which came first, finding your videos or playing SR). In any case, you inspired me to play through Super, I’ve replayed Samus Returns idk how many times, and lately I’ve done the same with Dread and Prime Remastered. I love these games, and between SR and your videos, thank you for getting me hooked.
Nice, I'm due for a replay of Samus Returns myself. I haven't done it since I made my video!
@@GeekCritique AM2R deserves a retrospective imo. How it holds up compared to the official remake now that neither are fresh
Did you play Super right after Samus Returns (I did)?
@@jwil4286
I did as well! It was great to play what was the sequel to my dive into the series, though admittedly going from 360 degree aiming to octagonal aiming took lots of getting used to.
Prime 3 was the second Metroid game I owned, after Hunters, for which I had played the demo cartridge. I may have messed around with the original and Super before that as a kid, but I don't have any memories of that. I'm really glad I didn't stop after Hunters, which is probably the least Metroid-esque game in the franchise, excluding spin-offs. Playing Prime 3 was sort of revelatory for me, even though I consider it my least favorite of the trilogy. (Elysia's aesthetics absolutely slap tho) Nothing else felt like Metroid that released that year (I think). Now there's a lot more out there that build off of Metroid's fundamentals. Oh dang, now I kind of want to see Josh tackle some post-Prime search-action games.
My experience with this game is basically the same. I first played it and appreciated all of its great aspects. The music, the ending, the great atmosphere that permeates the whole duration, the first omega encounter being such a great buildup of tension and an immaculate payoff that even AM2R doesn't get right (AM2R being my second favorite Metroid game by a wide margin). But I'm scared to go back and replay it just for these moments because any time I've turned it on out of curiosity/to pass the time in the last few years I've been like "Uhh... well, it probably gets better later on..."
However, I do adore retro games enough to where I can look past certain flaws to appreciate the things I like even in those cases where the game has questionably-aged design philosophy. So I still look forward to giving Metroid 2 another shot, which might be sooner rather than later, because two videos into your re-reviews and I'm already in the mood to play these games again. Your original reviews are what got me into them in the first place! (same for Donkey Kong, which I adore nowadays)
The reason the final areas are so empty of other enemies is to convey how further along the Metroid evolution the more deadly it is to life. This is why the game is so abundant with life at the surface, where metroids are still larva, and so desolate at the end.
It was hard to convey that without text but it was there for those with a keen eye to notice. M2 is essentially a warning to the player that if they don't eradicate the species the galaxy is doomed.
I played this for the first time when I was 17 back in 2017, and it was right after I quit playing the original on NES, and I remembering how much this one blew my mind with how good it was, and I even went to play it a second time
Playing through Metroid II for the first (and, tbh, only) time, probably around a decade ago if not further back, gave me this dreamlike, surreal feeling.
The level design is very strange. Being the type to always comb through areas so as to not miss anything, I'm sure I didn't run into your issues of getting lost or ending up underpowered, but instead I found myself using the spider ball to roll along ceilings that seemed to stretch on forever with no idea of where I'd end up until I actually got there. Given its relative linearity, it really did have surprisingly interesting exploration.
Same. No game since has made the spiderball feel as powerful as Metroid 2. I don't think another game in the series has topped the exploration feeling of Metroid 2 either, even Metroid 3, which would be the next best contender.
Something that stuck out to me when I played it recently was how much exploration there was that led nowhere. Like you are spider-balling on the ceiling and suddenly start crawling up an invisible tunnel hidden in the ceiling, and as you explore this tunnel it leads to a dead end with no bombable blocks or any progression or secrets. And then you exit it and continue on the ceiling like you were before. I remember one part that was surprisingly complex and big and yet had nothing in it. It really makes it feel alien to other game's level design. Its surprisingly unique.
One of my favorite metroids! I remember playing it on the GameCube gameboy adapter during a summer break. There’s an atmosphere in this game that neither of the remakes can seem to capture
i sense a bit of a theme in this redux. memory, limitation, and context. it really feels like the way you analyze things has gotten more...measured? either way, we are so fucking back!!
The best Christmas gift I could ask for, can’t wait for the full season!
This is still my favorite Metroid game and your original review hit the nail right on the coffin about why it is my favorite, namely isolation and feeling of dread the deeper you go.
I can put this game in and always have a good time with it. I still remember the feeling of pure joy when I was streaming this and got the best ending which I did not expect at all as it was the first time I got the best ending. I have that video in my old streams playlist. I love Metroid II's gameplay loop and no map. To go all the way to one location, kill a Metroid and then go back the same way. I have no problems with that at all. It's all about one very key point - *Exploration* .
Everything about this game hits me in the feels and always had and no, I don't use save states when I play this game.
Hell I don't use save states when I play any Metroid game but don't get me wrong; I'd *NEVER* judge anyone for _using_ save states to get through a game. I think it's far more important that you play and enjoy a game the way you want to than try to be some elitist jerk about it that is so popular amongst some TH-camrs who think they are something.
6:55 - Actually I'm going to sound mean here but.. If you actually missed some of the most biggest items in the game and 'forgot' they existed in the game... It sounds to me that you rushed the game like crazy and didn't bother to actively look for items. Like... I'm amazed you didn't miss Varia
4:27 Me playing the original Metroid 2: *AM2R flashes in my mind*
“Leave me alone!”
*Samus returns flashes in my mind*
“AAARRHHH”
6:14 also am I the only one who gets reminded of Dread’s metroid suit here, it’s surprisingly similar imo
The original "Metroid 2" was actually the very first Metroid game I've ever played, borrowed from a friend who also happened to have a Gameboy. The first time I've played it I got lost, I got stuck and I eventually managed to finish it in six hours. The second time, I had figured out the game's quirks, I figured the acid backtracking, the "omega metroid back trick" and did much better, finishing the game in 2,5 hours and seeing Samus take off her suit.
I've played many Metroidvania games in the times passed. Metroid 2 is the only one of two Metroidvanias I keep coming back to (the other being Cave Story). There's just *something* about the original game, it's eerie atmosphere and how it makes you feel like *you don't belong in this world* that still captivates me.
Yeah, it's not a perfect game but maybe it was always intended to be a perfect memory, priming you up for the next Metroid game in line.
I used to play this game during recess inside an old playground Giant tractor tire that was half buried int the ground. It protected me from the wind and cold. It also created a cool soundscape with the volume turned all the way up. 😅This is my favorite Metroid game because it was my first, just like my favorite Final Fantasy is IV because it was my first. Sure, several can claim to be superior from a lot of standpoints... But you only get your first game experience in a series once.
Holy crap, I remember giant tractor tires half buried in the ground! I haven't thought about those in decades!
holy shit i'm early. Metroid II is my favourite metroid game. this version. every time i replay it, i fall in love again.
the series has gotten better, sure, but i don't think they've topped it thematically. it's so good. everything about it feels deliberate, it's supposed to be spooky, and repetitive, by design.
and then the twist that the villain is you. it's incredible. all time favourite.
i've liked the channel for a while now, but i think that the metroid series is what made me a fan. i'm glad you've revisited these games.
Fun little fact about Omega Metroids: It ordinarily takes 40 missiles to beat one, but if they’re shot in the back, each missile does triple the damage, greatly reducing the number of missiles needed.
Metroid 2 has a special place in my heart. It was the first game I remember actually finishing as a young lad, while waiting for at the doctor with my mum for my appointment ... it took so long that I was able to finish it in one go. I was so immersed back then into it, that I never noticed how long I had to wait.
Absolutely loving these Josh. It gives you the feel like if you're some sort of gaming historian, putting these games in a timeline that a lot of people lack, including me. I was too young to play these games when they came out and although I understand their historical significance theoretically, its almost impossible for me to fully grasp the context of their releases, as the industry has failed to preserve a lot, if not most of its own history.
I'm serious when I say that these videos are extremely valuable for game preservation efforts.
I always found Metroid 1 & 2 to be fun for a while, but a total chore to complete. Seeing them through the lens of the people who played them when they came out and side-by-side to the games of the time has been pretty mind-opening.
I first played Metroid 2 on my grey brick Gameboy when I was very young, late at night by the dim glow of a night light, unintentionally adding a great amount to it's slow burn horror feeling.
For the omegas, blast them from behind when they stop for ten seconds. You deal a BUTTLOAD MORE damage than frontal assault. Hope that helps for future playthroughs.
My parents were fond of road trips for vacation. As a result Metroid 2 was one of a handful of games I had access to for endless hours of driving. I played it start to finish more times than I can count. There was a certain appeal to getting lost in its world. Playing not to complete, but to pass the time. That said given the abundance of alternatives I now have I haven’t played the original since that time.
Metroid II was my introduction to the series as well, and you're absolutely right that it has things both AM2R and Samus Returns can't quite replicate. Even though they're all wonderful, the feeling the "Surface of SR388" theme gives is so different from the remakes' versions.
I, too, remember having a much rougher time the second time I played it! I somehow missed the Spring Ball, which would've been helpful during the Queen Metroid fight!
This was my first Metroid experience. So it DEFINES Metroid for me, which makes every other game - though I love them all - a little disappointing for not being the same vibe as Metroid II. I've already come to terms with the fact that I'll never experience another game quite like this one, which makes this game all the more near and dear to my heart. I used to beat it 100% items at around 2 hours and 4 minutes when I was a kid. I still love this game as an adult... the feeling it gives me while traversing those dark, twisty caverns completely alone and so far down in the depths away from my only means of escape - my ship back on the surface. So magical!
So it seems now you understand what most people go through when they go back to a game they played when they were younger but it just doesn't "click" anymore...or even worse...they feel they can't like it anymore. I've been through this with a particular game...and how that went (and I imagine this is the cycle most people go through) is that upon revisiting the game, you find yourself somewhat resenting that the game isn't the same as the one you imagined (like how you said the game feels at odds with your memories of it). Eventually though...if the game is designed well enough and is palatable with your tastes to even a minimal degree...you'll start to see the game for what it is and obtain a newfound appreciation for the game...even if it isn't exactly the same as before. There is something special about that I think...like the game grew up with you even if it technically didn't change...its like that saying you've repeated on this channel a few times...the more things change the more they stay the same! :D
The ending still gives me goosebumps and makes me tear up.
watching these remade vids compared to the old really shows how an opinion can change with time and love
Metroid 2 was my first Metroid, fumbling around the caves on my GBC and sadly never actually ever beating it. The first one I ended up beating was my second Metroid; Fusion(I only had the handheld Nintendo systems growing up) While I don’t have the actual nostalgia from beating the original 2, it’s still one of my favorites because of the fact it got me into what is one of my absolute favorite series.
I watched your older videos about Metroid a while back, but I have such a cluttered mess of a TH-cam sub feed that I never ended up subscribing to your channel. I’m sad I missed the active release of this redux series until a half a year after they released, but I’m glad I happened back across it!
Return of Samus Holds a special place in my heart. It’s an improvement over the first game yes. But in its own right Metroid 2 is Unique among the Rest of the Franchise.
10:00 Just so you know, this thing you describe about yourself is the exact reason why me and so many people consider you to be among the best there is at what you do, if not THE best if you ask me. It's such a huge part of what makes YOUR videos so different compared to everyone else's and it comes across as much more of an objective look. Not saying your opinion or perspective is objective, but that you always look at all sides there could be to a game, or what appeal they could have to specific niches people may not immediately think about. To be perfectly honest, I've tried to put this signature perspective of yours into words many many times before by commenting on recent videos, and I think this might be my best attempt yet. I genuinely believe you're the best at reviews/essays/critiques/retrospectives on video games. And I doubt much could change my mind at this point. Keep it up! Can't wait for dread. I wish I could donate on patreon because you're the one who's the most deserving of it I'd say.
I love Metroid II. It was so special for me. I have replayed it more than any other Metroid game. I get why people don't like it, but Samus Returns and AM2R miss the mark so much for me. I think the biggest thing is the sprite is so large and the monochrome palette is so bleak that it really creates a sense of claustrophobia. And the fact that the game is literally about genocide. You are only in this planet to wipe out the Metroids. Such a cold calculated mission. And when the game ends on such a strange note of hope. It makes you think about what you spent the whole game doing. The circumstances in which I played the game, it was a huge escape for me in a difficult childhood, I just got lost in the world of the game. It makes me sad to hear people put down the game like they do. But they didn't have the same personal experience I had.
Great video man love your opinions and perspectives. Just so you know the castlevania games are the natural direction to head after metroid 🤙
It'd be interesting to hear him cover Castlevania
One thing to keep in mind with the Omegas is that they take more damage if you shoot them in the back. As long as you remember to top off before you go for those final sections and are careful about how you place your shots, you can get through with missiles to spare.
Yay Geek critique has Has arrived again the Greatest Christmas present you could ever have
While i cant get my hands on These games myself these videos always make me Appreciate Them for what they are
And made me Cherish the side of gaming I always took for Granted even Made me a platformer fan as well
"I accidentally plagiarized myself! How trendy!" You sly dog you hahah
That title made me think this was going to be about some kind of improvement hack.
But I'll happily take a video about one of my favorite Metroid games.
Two things: First, Metroid II is basically a survival horror game. You actually have to _manage your resources_. They don't just hand out missiles like they're candy like the newer games, you have to pay attention to how many you have and actively think about replenishing them at every opportunity. Why would you even be in the final main area of the game and not know how many missiles you have anyway?
Second, a good tip for making the Omegas a little more manageable is to shoot them in the back. It does way more damage and they'll usually just float there and let you do it for like five full seconds! Its a great way to conserve missiles since that area is kinda SUPPOSED to be a gauntlet.
You know you got me into metroid, and now its my most beloved game franchise. When i initially watched your reviews i didn't play games, so i never thought id ever play all the metroid games, but i did. Metroid 2 was one i played almost out of obligation after coming across it on the 3ds store, and I actually fell in love with it. Somehow this old janky game was so compelling to me that i beat it in one sitting. While there are certainly better metroid games this one holds a special place in my heart.
Your criticisms are literally my favorite parts of the game. Obviously everyone plays and enjoys games differently, but I thought sharing my perspective might be interesting for people that agree with your critique.
A lot of games treat the player very nicely, giving them an advantage in fights, making the player character extremely wealthy and accomplished, and creating levels that naturally teach the player new skills and ramp up in difficulty along with player progression. Metroid games, especially the old 2D titles, especially the first two games, don't do this. They treat the player as a formidable enemy, like a hacker trying to break the game. The game doesn't try to help you - it tries to fight you. The walls doubling back on themselves, repeating rooms you could have sworn you saw before and literally placing you in rooms from totally different areas that you have seen before. Solving a puzzle on one side of the map often involves a puzzle piece from a completely different part of the map acquired hours later. Significant advantages are hidden in terrain blocks that look absolutely identical to any other terrain in the game. The player, on the other hand, despite being given all of these unfair disadvantages, is given no true restrictions. They can go anywhere and do anything at any time in any order they want, if they're skilled enough. Because the developers know, they ARE. The vibe of these games is to get lost in this alien planet, with native flora and fauna that are doing their own thing and don't actually care about you unless you get in their way, finding yourself plunging deeper and deeper into the unknown, into hazardous conditions, never really feeling entirely prepared but just having that belief in yourself that you will prevail, outsmarting the planet itself as you navigate its labyrinths to get to the final enemy. It's exhilarating, at least it has been to me, and I think it's this quality ultimately that allows Metroidvanias to flourish. Environmental puzzles are an incredibly engaging mechanic, and actively deceiving the player is part of that.
The section of the video where you talk about the Omega area has been discussed already as environmental storytelling, and it is, but it's also another case of the game trying to stop you and you refusing to be stopped. It's a challenge for you to be conservative enough with your ammunition and getting enough strategic back shots (worth more damage) that you don't have to track all the way back to reload. Metroid is unfair but every unfair thing it does can be defeated by having sufficient skill, at least for these early 2D games, and that's what makes them irreplaceable even today.
Noita feels similar in a way
Obligatory comment incoming:
When your first Metroid 2 video hit the scene, you stumbled upon a comment (I can't be asked to look because going through old comment sections may as well be searching for a needle in a Haystack) Regarding the absence of enemies in the late game. On it's own it's an interesting way to Increase difficulty. Instead of You having resources to blaze through the challenges ahead, you end up deciding whether or not you go back into the planet to seek out either enemy drops or recharge stations. But this came with the downside of, of course, lots of backtracking.
But, the Comment put it in the perspective of the world and narrative. Think about it: The Metroids are the Apex species of SR-388, and the other enemies we see are meager Bouncing Blobs and Bat-things. They realistically wouldn't stand a chance against the Metroids. So, as the game goes on, they don't. The Lowest caves of the planet are Empty, Dilapidated, Only inhabited by Metroids because the rest of the food chain doesn't stand a chance against them. Which is such a fascinating approach to both game design And narrative.
I Haven't played AM2R, but SR had a different approach to this concept, with the lower you get, the more Mechanical enemies and stronger life forms you see down there, with weaker enemies showing up again once the Metroid Population is finally wiped out. Much like the entire remake, a different take on the same core concept.
So well yeah, This game is interesting. But you have essays to write, so you don't REALLY need to read mine
But I liked reading yours anyway! :)
Always glad to see a new Geek Critique video. Thanks for the quality videos, they are what got me to play Zero Mission, Fusion and Prime. Excited for the Dread review and to play it myself for the first time!
Metroid II was also my first taste of this series. I don't know exactly when, but it was pre-Pokémon that I played that same beginning sequence several times. It wasn't until closer to 2000 that I finally beat the game.
After beating it once I didn't touch it again for about 20 years. Once Dread was announced, I decided to replay it. I was personally surprised how well it held up to the memories I had in my mind.
I think at the end of the day, every game (or for that matter memory) from when we were kids is bound to be warped by time. Sometimes for good, sometimes not. What I think is important is to share those memories with each other, reflect on and relish in the changes we've experienced since, and also acknowledge that no one can ever really have *exactly* the same experience/memory of a thing that we did. That's ok.
In a way, that's a big part of what makes it special. I always think just how many people get to make unique memories with their own games today colored by the context of their lives in that moment, and in 20 years' time will look back and maybe critique them similarly to how you are here.
Metroid 2 was my introduction to this stories series and I loved it from the first moment that game made me a fan of the series
"I Plagiarized myself, how trendy." I had to rewind to make sure I didn't hallucinate that, ohmygod
I found you through metroid and I'm happy to see you are doing more
The return of the king
This is a very refreshing video in a time where many people only think in absolutes. There's good parts! There's bad parts!
This is still my preferred version of Metroid II: Return of Samus. It’s mainly the ending, it is just one of those moments in gaming history that has never been recaptured, no remake could ever remake the soul that the ending had.
Can't wait to hear this man say avant-garde again.
I've only said it in five scripts! :V
Maybe I'll edit it into the final version of one of the upcoming videos, for your sake.
@@GeekCritique😊 Love your videos man!
6:00 me neither, that's why I have an IPS modded original model GameBoy Advance.
I should really get around to doing that. I bought a GBA like four years ago intending to do that, and I just haven't yet.
Metroid 2 is special to me. My first game was Prime which I got on release week, it Christmas the following year I got a GBA SP and three games: Fire Emblem, Metroid Fusion and Metroid 2. Having Fusion and 2 back to back like that was a very unique experience and one I can’t really explain why I clicked so well with me. Maybe it was because this being only 2003 the time gap between the then-present and Metroid 2’s original release wasn’t that large. Maybe I just didn’t care as long as I had more Metroid to play, and play it I did. I never recall this game frustrating me or me needing to call upon a guide for it; I just… got into it. Like NEStroid, it invites you to get lost in itself and just vibe with it. Figure out your own pace and your own map, and that’s what I did. I still go back to it now and then even today, the only reason my playing of it lessened over time was because my SP’s battery life has dropped to like 2 hours on a full charge now haha.
Same as me, Metroid II on gameboy was the first metroid title ive played. But my mother bought me a brand new copy of the game when it was released in Japan and sent it to me in the Philippines back in 1991 together with my DMG and super mario land... Then few years later played Super metroid on SNES and was mind blown with that massive update
I have to wonder if the game was designed for shorter play sessions because it was on handheld. having shot play sessions punctuated with a boss might have helped make things feel just a little less repetitive, but having not played the game myself I couldn't say.
Metroid 2 was the last of the core Metroid games I managed to play, circa 2008 or so. I forget when exactly. For me, it was exciting to finally get to see the other Metroid types that I'd heard of previously. I don't know how much of my genuine Game Boy nostalgia plays into how much I like this game. I just dig its atmosphere, enemy designs, and poignant ending.
And yes, I ran into the same issue against the Omegas my first time through, in what I used to call the Omega Caves. Eventually, I read somewhere that they take double damage if you shoot them in the back (also they get stunned for a moment). That's really helped smooth out that section of the game, but it's not at all obvious to a casual player.
With some remakes or remasters, they truly do replace the game as the way you should play it. With Metroid II, so much is changed (reasonably so in many cases) that remakes end up improving in parts but not replacing it. Metroid II on Game Boy remains its own experience. You could even say the same with the original Metroid and Zero Mission.
I had a very similar experience when playing the original Metal Gear 2. Played it again immediately after the first go and had a blast.
" if you don't like a game replay it until you do."
me with tales of vesperia and recently pillars of eternity.
I had a GREAT first impression with this game. Its a game that has always been around and I was curious about but never got to play (my first Metroid was Prime 1, and then I got Zero Mission, so I was always wanting to play the direct sequel to both).
But then about 10 or so years ago I ended up playing it (on emulator, I really had no other alternatives sadly). I started out playing the beginning area with the already iconic music (I always loved "the Tunnel" theme even before I got to play the game) and enjoying it.
It got really difficult really quickly as the rooms started to become repetitive in their design, making it harder to tell where I was in comparison to other similar looking areas. I wasn't using a map though, so I simply had to keep mental track of the map layout.
However, something that started happening was that the refill orbs that are typically hidden near a boss fight started to become rarer, and I wasn't really grinding enemies too much to refill. So I ended up slowly getting less and less health and ammo after each boss. But I wasn't having too hard of a time, so I never went out of my way to save, only doing so when I came across one naturally.
I ended up with a pretty bad fight against a Beta (or whichever name is the second form) that left me with little resources and also opened up the path to a new area. Unfortunately, I was starting to become lost and couldn't remember where the last save point was and ended up at where the acid lowered. So I decided to head down there thinking that they probably left a save point near the beginning of the area. Though I have no clue how much I would lose if I died because I couldn't remember how long ago I saved.
I must have missed the save because I never found one, I ended up looking around this area and kept having trouble with the enemies, taking more damage than I was getting back. I was so determined to get a save point that I was sure was nearby. However, at some point I ended up with like 1HP, and wasn't finding any enemies I could kill for health. So I was wandering aimlessly through this barren labyrinth getting only more lost over time so I couldn't even backtrack.
I ended up discovering this pipe that you could Spider-ball up that was in the foreground (an amazing feat for the Gameboy, I thought) and it crossed vertically over the beginning of the area. At this point I was so lost, I was desperate and went in the pipe.
I ended up in this hallway and decided I had no other choice at this point because I was in too deep to go back. At least there should be some sort of enemy to hopefully get health back before I lost a ton of progress.
There was... Another Beta Metroid. I didn't know what to do but it was already too late, so I got ready to fight it when it started to change, and it grew into a new form that I hadn't encountered yet. I wasn't sure how to fight it but got ready to shoot missiles when the animation ended. It did and I got control back, and before I could react it shot a laser that killed me instantly. I was not expecting the laser at all.
I lost enough progress that when I loaded back up I had absolutely no clue where I was or what progress I had to redo. So I closed the game and didn't play again. I wanted to but didn't feel ready for it again so soon. It was a rollercoaster of emotions and shock. It was like a horror game for the short time before I died.
I eventually played it again when it came out on Switch and decided to go all the way through. I ended up back at the same area and found a really obvious save point I somehow managed to avoid all those years ago. I did end up beating the game and really enjoyed it (the rewind feature helped admittedly), and I didn't have to use a map until near the end and only a tiny bit. Sure, I didn't beat it without any help, but I didn't need a guide the whole way through, so I feel accomplished.
It's a hard game to recommend to people due to how unsafe it is, like it doesn't really hold back, and there isn't a lot in your favor compared to how much most games nowadays make it as safe to progress as possible. But its still a really fun game to try, and its surprisingly playable compared to the NES Metroid. Its such a unique experience because of its limits and that is why there will never be a remake that captures its spirit, because its game design would not fly today. Its not my favorite Metroid, and I may not ever play it again, but I really enjoyed my time with it and its stuck with me all these years.
I’m kind of old and remember when this came out. The Game Boy almost assumed that you also had an NES, and all the kids I knew did. So we were already trained to look for non-obvious progression. I think that if they had more than 256 KB to work with, it would have been less repetitive and perhaps there would be subtle telegraphing of secrets. I think that’s the difference in experiencing these games now. Modern gamers aren’t trained in NES/GB “theory”, for lack of a better term. The designers were counting on collaborative efforts between the kids playing the games, which is ingenious. It created tons of free advertising for the newest games as we discovered nooks and crannies and passed them along. The games were hard and obtuse because it meant that kids discussed them.
Would love a Zelda series retrospective! Love your videos!
I still really enjoy this game and always have so much fun with it every time I pick it up. Sometimes I start to question while playing if this game is my favorite 2D Metroid, a thought that is quickly shut down as I remember how great the other Metroid games are, but a thought that comes up nonetheless. The game is imperfect but it’s some nice simplistic, short and sweet Metroid fun that makes the absolute most out of the hardware it’s on. It’s got a good atmosphere as well. I especially love how isolated and uncomfortable the game makes you feel while playing with the unsettling soundscape in the background and the Metroid husks cleverly placed around that serve as a warning for what is to come, and later on, they start to trip you up and have the husks revealed only after you find the Metroid so it catches you by surprise. So many things in this game feels intentional and well crafted. Sure, there’s some blatant filler sometimes that is just meant to pad out the game, but the game is already so short that it doesn’t really bother me. AM2R didn’t really do it for me and Samus Returns left me disappointed, so for me, the original is still on top.
to be honest i've always found m2 a better experience than m1 for newcomers, and considering ive played the whole series till other m before playing m2 and 1, i remember having this feeling of "wow, what a great game. the others are certainly better and more polished in many ways, but this is very impressive considering where they came from and the console its running on". I mean its up there for me with links awakening for my fav games on the classic gameboy, for both being able to make me feel what the devs wanted despite the limitations, and make me believe for a moment that these worlds were real and ive been through all of that, despite it being in a console that's basically a calculator. Heck, m2 can even scare me a bunch of times!
Funny that this came out just a day after my latest AM2R playthrough!
This was also one of my first Metroid games, and despite some of its flaws, I still find it to be a very impressive game for its time and still a good and fun game to this day.
Between these first two Metroid videos, I'm reminded of a similar experience with Shin Megami Tensei If, though I've yet to make an effort to replay it. Basically, SMT If is the third SMT game on the SNES and the precursor to the Persona series, of which I am a big fan. And to say the least, this game was a huge frustration when I first played it. There's literally a dungeon in it that involves you walking back and forth, doing nothing but grinding levels, while you wait for a bunch of other characters to dig tunnels for you- This game gets INCREDIBLY tedious.
And yet, when I look back on it, I do so pretty fondly. It has so many unique and experimental ideas- Dying quickly after a previous death means you'll become weaker, but if you live for a long time, you'll become stronger when you revive. Death isn't necessarily something that is an entirely bad thing in this case, and the idea of death being something other than a "Game Over" was unheard of at the time- It wasn't until Dark Souls that an idea even close to this was popularized. Plus, narratively, each dungeon is based on one of the Seven Deadly Sins- The aforementioned tedious walk-back-and-forth dungeon is known as the World of Sloth. The tedious mechanics I just complained about are the whole point of that dungeon, it's kind of brilliant! And this seven deadly sins-based dungeons idea wouldn't be used again until Persona 5, decades later! This game has so many interesting and cool ideas and I think it's pretty awesome!
I don't think any other game has given me such mixed opinions. On the one hand, it's very clearly a product of its time, a dungeon crawler with a lot of tedious mechanics. On the other hand, it does so many thing that are just revolutionary and integral to what would become my favorite video game series that I have a deep respect for it. I'm not sure if I'd want to replay it, but it's way easier to appreciate this game when you think of it within the context of when it was released, which seems to be true for the early Metroid games as well.
This makes me want to play Metroid 2 again good thing I have it on switch and 3DS
Incredible description, feel very validated as a fan.
New TGC Hype! Not a big Metroid fan but I still enjoy the reviews.
So I just started playing this again on Switch Online.
It's astounding how good it looks and controls for a game boy game. Like it holds up because they understood the limitations of the system. Kind of like Link's awakening.
I've played and replayed this game several times (including for a real-time mapping project) and it's slowly become my favorite in the series specifically for how it weaponizes the repeated boss fights and treks back through the more linear corridors. It's a game about invading an alien planet to kill an entire species, and the first time I played it I couldn't help but really think about what's going on during the walks back.
Over time I've come to believe that some if not all of the tasks becoming rote and the emptiness in between is intentional - Metroid II is, effectively, a game about alien genocide, regardless of how great the threat the aliens pose is. Samus's thoughts throughout the journey are unclear, leaving it pretty open to interpretation. Removed from the context of future games, did Samus decide at the last second that capturing the infant Metroid would net her a pay bonus, or did she feel bad about killing the Metroids and show it genuine compassion? At what point in the game did she start questioning her orders to eliminate every Metroid? The choice to go with environmental soundscapes rather than traditional music for most of the game really complements that, to me.
A lot of my friends and a lot of retrospectives aren't as forgiving of those aspects as I tend to be, and that's fair, I think. In the end it's still a Game Boy game and it's not unreasonable to go in expecting it to be designed for fun. In terms of pure emotion though, its tone is unmatched. I think that's why I personally get so much out of it.
Thanks for the insightful commentary, as always. Looking forward to the next one.
There is one last recharge before the end of the game, but you do have to make it through the three Omega Metroids before you can access it.
And I think we learned something today.
Sometimes, what seems like bad game design is actually innovation built on constraint, leading to something beautiful that those who never experienced the constraint can experience.
And sometimes, bad game design is just bad game design.
The original Resident Evil's tank controls are, to me, an example of the former. And Metroid II's giant gap between the Omega Metroids and the last missile recharge is the latter.
I still prefer using the Super Gameboy 2 or a clock-modded SGB 1 (mainly cuz that difference in musical pitch urks me a ton after a while), but it's definitely my preferred way to play og Gameboy games. The ability to mess around with palettes, or simply recreate the DMG look on a CRT screen, is pretty entertaining. And let's not forget the Super Gameboy exclusive enhancements for select titles.
Well this was conveniently timed. Just finished watching your Metroid 1 redux episode yesterday lol
In the waning days of 2024, I still have my original cart with the original battery and, wouldn't you know it, it still holds saves. I need to find a pack of the cell batteries that Nintendo used in the early 90's.
I was 7 years old when this came out, having just gotten a Gameboy for my birthday I fell head first into all the marketing hype (they had a contest where you could win a copy from some brand of breakfast cereal, Nintendo Power pushing this hard). I was pretty meh on the original game despite renting it multiple times but the vibe very much pulled me in. I was awful at this but playing on and off finished it when I was about ten and to this day still love it. Over the next few years I went through it probably 7 or 8 times, always having a blast.
Metroid 2 and GTA shareware and FF7 happened for me at approximately the same time, and gamer for life at that point. Now designing a video game.
Metroid II makes me feel like I'm watching microbiology through a microscope. The minimalist score, small enemies and monochrome graphics give it this odd mood and intimacy that I don't feel with any other game.
Learning that you could kill the Metroid Queen with bombs trivializes the final battle. I imagine most people don't realize how to do it. I included.
The lack of enemies in the final area was a deliberate choice. Storytelling through game-mechanics, the Metroids consumed everything in that area.
I first played Metroid 2 a couple years ago, played it on GBA. I didn't miss anything, never really got lost. The only issue was I wanted to beat the game quickly so as to not forget the layout in absence of an in-game map. I started the game at night, beat it the next day. It was a quick breezy game. Though I am pretty obsessive about checking every tile in a Metroid game.
"I accidentally plagiarized myself. How trendy!"
SNERK. Well played.
I finished this episode the same day all that came out, and my wife riffed this line when we watched it for the first time. It was too good not to use!
(So I'm actually plagiarizing her!)
This all sounds right, for better and for worse. I have my quibbles with both remakes in their own ways, and I enjoyed both of them a lot in spite of those, but the big thing holding them down is that they're still fundamentally _Metroid_ _2._ The original game is haunting and beautiful and so much more polished than Metroid 1 in a lot of ways, but it's also one of the last vestiges of the era when the 2 in a series tended to be a bit _weird_ and off kilter. The _idea_ of going on an extermination mission for every last metroid is a cool one, but it's a rigid and repetitive goal that I'm not sure any designer could square away with the core exploratory fun of the genre.
Ah, well. We got a lot of interesting and unique games out of devs experimenting with sequels like that, and if they don't all hold up perfectly well, they're still important entries and contributed a lot to their respective franchises in the long run. Sometimes you just gotta _try_ something to find out why it doesn't quite work, right?
"I accidentally plagiarized myself..? how trendy!" friggin got me 😂😂
I played this a few years ago for the first time on my old Gameboy colour (which has a built-in palette for the game) and enjoyed it a lot, but also played am2r. They are both different experiences for sure but I don't think I ever got lost in the original version. Or perhaps I just didn't notice I got lost. 😅