Metroid was the 4th cartridge my brother and I got after getting our NES. We used to look at the Official Player's Guide in the store to figure out where to go next. It was so innovative at the time with interesting power-ups, a compelling design, and a super cool main character. We loved the Sci-fi theme. What stories do you have about your early experiences with Metroid?
When you do the walldoor/secret world stuff most of it's jumbled mess. Well there's an old picture of a room that has the morph ball with 2 pillars on either side of it. No one has ever been able to explain why this is. If it's a depiction of an earlier build or what. If you Google it you'll see what I mean. Maybe something to look into.
When my parents went grocery shopping, my brother and I would sit in the magazine isle and look through Nintendo Power. Our parents would rarely buy them for us, so we committed a lot to memory back then.
My family rented metroid and kept it almost two months until we beat it. It took me and my parents working together, drawing maps...it was the absolute best!
When my local video store started renting out NES games, Metroid was my favorite of the dozen or so that they originally had. Passwords actually worked really well for game rentals since you could pick up where you left off next time no matter who else had the game in between.
@@CLSharpman5000 People who rented later games often had their own memory cards to save progress. This was a good solution to that issue that was more convenient than PWs
@@Cyril29a right, lol, this feels like one of those generational differences. Gen X had passwords, Gen Y used memory cards, now Gen Z gets on-board hard drives. Too bad game rentals aren't nearly as much of a thing nowadays....
Top 5 NES game for me. The music and atmosphere was so good for the time and hits that nostalgic button for me. Spawned a whole genre! Well done NES Complex!
Speaking for just playing the NES version? If you can and if you have the switch. Create a new profile, set region for Japan, and download the Famicom and Super Famicom. Dude....... extra sounds makes a great game better. What........ wait how? Just do it.
@@jacksawack6724 as long as one of your profiles has NSO then if you create a second profile then no. I had a NSO for my main profile and created a second one with the region for Japan.
@@jacksawack6724 oh yeah please do so. I enjoyed playing the American version of Metroid and Zelda. *However* playing the Famicom Disc version of Metroud and Zelda. I had a "Dude extra sound effects? *THAT IS SO COOL!*"
In the early 90's, I found this game when I was young and living in a motel when we waiting to move into a new home. The game completely changed my life and held my interest because of the lore. Super Metroid solidified this interest into the series.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: the care and love with which you make your videos really comes through and that, in my opinion, is what makes your channel one of the best in all of TH-cam. Every time you put out a new video, I'm always sure it'll be another masterpiece. And it always is. Thank you for caring for your subscribers and for making these gems, Chris!
Dude! Your content is outstanding! For years, Gaming Historian was the gold standard for NES history. You’ve gone above and beyond with your research to present some surprising and truly new information. Bravo!
I remember playing this game on my old NES and finishing it with the help of the Club Nintendo magazine (México) , it was a game ahead of its time , rough and difficult , but the foundations of this series and the genre were stablished here. One of the things that I liked the most was the music , very different from the usual style used in other nes games, you can feel the mystery of exploring an alien planet through the music , and many of the iconic themes of the series are also here. Thank you for your content NESComplex.
Metroid took the side scrolling platforming from Mario and the non linear exploration from Zelda and gave us a game that completed the trio. While I think other Metroid games improve on the original, there's no doubt this one is a classic and laid the foundation for the many many non linear games of today.
Sure did, It was a unique game you had to have patience for and backtrack to explore more. It wasn't a cupcake either that last section is hard. Breaking through the barriers to get to mother brain. Just found out recently you could break all 4 barriers then just exit the room to kill the Metroid's to harvest missiles and health and go right back to the brain. Why didn't I think of that when I was 11 or 12. Note to younger self.
My favorite title screen music, the intro is so mysterious, and the bleak bass chords at the end always get me. It amazes me how these games had such awesome music with so little memory.
You really deserve much more subs! Your content is so good! I remember finding you about 2 to 3 years back and have watched all of your videos! Keep doing good job my man!
Metroid like Legend of Zelda back in the day, I'd tape together graph paper and go screen to screen making a map. Really wish they had some kind of a map feature. And I really liked the music in Metroid, it sounded very otherworldly.
This was a fantastic look at a game series that is talked about to death!! I'm shocked you were able to pull together so much info into 25 minutes! Thank you!!
This is such a fantastic series, I love the detail of restraints the programmers had. What a task to creatively turn restraints and squeeze the most bits into a incredible experience! ✌️
Love this series! I thoroughly enjoyed every minute and look forward to your uploads. Thank you for your content and all the nostalgic entertainment… and they say time travel is impossible.
I've been watching content like this for almost ten years... Basically every video it's "Yeah I knew this." But this channel, it's amazing; I know whenever there's an upload there's gonna be at-least one tid-bit I hadn't even fathomed. Thanks for all your hard work.
Me as well, but I never got to see the original instruction manuals for these games or the silly commercials. Just don't remember them, also his videos are well laid out and still interesting.
Dude, you've done it again, this an absolute excellent little doc and retrospect. Again, just incredible that after 35 years the things I still didn't know about this game. Cheers buddy.
I'm not a Nintendo kid, I grew up on Sega in Europe, but your content is just fantastic. One of the best gaming channels on TH-cam. Your enthusiasm and passion for gaming shines through!
Thanks G Man! I grew up with Nintendo but have come to really appreciate Sega over the years! I wish I’d had Sega systems as a kid too so I could make videos with that same nostalgic passion
Note on 11:30, Space Hunter is actually more accurate as it later came out that Nintendo had ZERO idea what a Bounty Hunter actually was. This came out many years later when a western company was developing a Metroid game and when brought to show Nintendo the progress, they were very upset by the "Bounty" system that they had designed the game around and had them scrap the entire system. They said that wasn't "In character" for Samus causing the entire US team to basically go, "WHUT??? But she is a bounty hunter???"
This game still holds its awesomeness to this very day. My only disappointment is that the game was too short. You had 2 mini-bosses, 1 fake mini-boss, and 1 final boss. Great content by the way. I don't own any fancy equipment, but that is definitely going to be one of the 1st two games I will be covering when I start making gaming videos regularly.
My mind is just blown. There are so many things I've learned from your videos about my favorite childhood video games and I'm thankful that I've found your channel. After seeing this Metroid and the Zelda videos, I'm hooked and I just had to subscribe. Exceptionally well done, and please keep making these videos, they bring immense joy to gamers everywhere like me. Again, thank you so much for creating and sharing these videos, they're amazing.
One of my favorite NES games. First one I beat, all the way in 1989. Been playing it on and off ever since, and it has yet to get tiring for me. One of these days, I need to check out the FDS version. As to your question at the end, I think you covered it all. I've heard each of those points you covered, and having opened my own NES copy of Metroid out of curiosity, I can confirm there is indeed a slot on the board reserved for that battery which never got used. Another great video! Hope to see more from you in the future.
Thanks Loren! Metroid was interesting because there weren’t as many deep dive interviews from the time as there were for Mario or Zelda. I tried to compensate by using interesting images and editing techniques.
As a kid I absolutely loved this game. The focus on exploration and open-world design combined with the forboding music really captivated me. I borrowed it many times from the kid across the street and just wandered around the map, never getting anywhere or coming remotely close to beating the game.
@@NESComplex Always worth it! I'd rather leave a video feeling moved and happy, something that touches me and reminds me of my childhood that took a year, instead of being bombarded with..."youtube"
I’m 34. I’m honestly a SNES kid. I got it on Xmas with Batman. My lord what a Xmas that was. I just got an original NES to ply the games I never got to , and a SNES to replay the games I always played religiously. What a time to be alive.
I am loving this series. There is so much about the NES games you have covered so far that I had no idea about. Hope you continue with this series because it's quickly becoming on of my favourite on the whole of TH-cam.
Metroid was special, everything was so different. The atmosphere was top notch, especially for an earlier title. The whole idea of exploring this alien planet so was cool. The soundtrack and look of the areas and enemies definitely hit the mark for being alien and weird and exploring these areas came naturally. I just wish the sub boss fights were a lil more epic. Yes, without an in-game map it was a lil obtuse but back in the day you almost always had to make a map. And I do understand most people will skip this game and just go with Super Metroid, but the original still has value.
I enjoyed the hell out of this, but your quality always keeps me engaged. Love this game and loved learning the new quirks I didn't know about. Thank you for doing what you do.
Excellent video! One other thing of note is that while she didn't appear in Captain N's animated series, Samus Aran does make a recurring appearance in the comic book produced by Valiant Comics, and is portrayed faithfully to her NES incarnation.
Since my first experience with the series was Super Metroid, it took me a long time to come to appreciate the original NES game. I actually only played it to completion in 2020, and despite its flaws I enjoyed it a lot and found it less disorienting and frustrating than I thought. I didn't find many of the optional upgrades but beat the game with no map. As you said, the world isn't really that big. By the way, I love your videos. They are both relaxing and informative.
I can definitely understand how starting with Super would make appreciating the first more difficult. Especially since I consider Super Metroid the BEST game of all time. It’s interesting though… every time I make one of these videos my appreciation for what they created only seems to grow! So I many clever ideas and shortcuts combined to make a foundational game.
I grew up with the SMS and NES, Phantasy Star and Metroid were one of my favorites. Years later when i first played Metroid on the GC and unleashed the guns, only to quckly see her face reflected on the games HUD, being the helmets faceplate was anazing. It took me like three tries to make sure i saw what i saw.
I’m 44 and got my first NES in 4th grade about 2 years later than most kids. My only experience with Metroid was in Nintendo Power magazine where I felt so scared to begin. I was used to Zelda and Super Mario and Double Dragon. Very simple games for a new fan of video games. But when I finally finished Metroid in 6th grade I felt super excited like I actually accomplished something difficult that used my brain! It was such a fun hard game. Haha. I even drew out the maps and wrote, Blue room, Gold room, purple. I had enough scribbles and stuff written down it worked! I also loved the bomb bump. I used to do it over and over to see how high I could get. Wow so many memories
You have been missed dude! Was absolutely buzzing when I saw this video dropped and you did not disappoint!! Please keep up the great work that you do as I (not alone) get so much joy from your vids 👍🏻.
I just finished the game on Switch and it was a wonderful experience. I drew my own map (and actually missed two Power Ups that would have made my life so much easier, haha). But the journey is what matters. At the of it, I landed here and absolutely loved the deep dive you made on the game. I was really shocked that Pelé was the inspiration for the name, haha. So cool. Keep up the wonderful work!
Poor Ridley just sits in that room in his hideout all the time. Jumping around. Staring at walls. Trying not to fall in the lava. Poor guy can’t even fit through his back door.
If I had this information as a kid back in the mid 80's, I would have been a gaming god to my friends. lol... I love videos like this that covers the games that I loved.
My cousin and I played and beat this game all the time. One day while we were playing he mentioned the game had a secret world. I couldn't remember how he got this information. This video cleared that up. I remember searching all over for it because it sounded so cool.
Didn't know the H. R. Giger connection! I first learned of his name because of his art in the game Darkseed for PC - then learned he was the Alien artist, and now 30 years later I learned he inspired some of Metroid - this video is definitely time well spent :)
One of the best exploration games for the NES next to Zelda Playing such cutting edge technology, with such immersive gameplay was awe inspiring to a ten year old kid at that time. Turning on the power button was like stepping into a whole new world you became immersed in for a few hours. There's only a dozen or so games that rival this in fun and excitement.
@@NESComplex it will be worth the wait, like always. Honestly, these belong on Netflix or something. That's how great the quality is. You and Strafefox have no equal.
Dropping a like and comment for the algorithm for one of my favorite channels. Thanks for the awesome videos. Even my girlfriend who was born in 1991 and didn’t grow up with the NES/SNES era loves your work.
I absolutely loved Metroid growing up! I know there was flaws in the game but it was amazing! Then super Metroid came out and blew my mind even further!
I'd say the production level on this video is well beyond what gaming historian is doing. Gaming historian will mix clips and news articles with voiceover. This video has the history + voiceover + a ton of production and additional custom animation effects, just the animation in this video alone probably took as long or longer to complete than the script and research combined.
@@Binxalot Now that I think about it, you're right. The filler music does really extend the videos. Still good work but sometimes I think our friend here DOES sneak into their offices! He just needs to jest about to maintain his cover!
My cousin (RIP) and I went out and brought this game the year it was introduced. We didn't purposely look for it, as we had no idea what it was, but it seemed interesting enough from the sticker slapped on the cartridge. We spent that entire Summer trying to pass it. We'd take turns playing and mapping out the entire game. One would play and explore while the other with notebook and pen & markers in hand, would draw out each and ever room. One of the most beautiful memories I have of my childhood. It's a tragedy that he passed away a few days ago.
My favorite! So many great memories 🙏 1986 Metroid Los Angeles California I was 6 years old playing. Thank you for this great information. Hello from Beverly Hills California
I just came across your channel and I must say that you did an amazing job with this video. I was highly entertained and even learned a few things about this game I wish I knew when I was a kid playing it. Well done!
LOVING this series even tho I'm late to the comment section. Something I wanted to add is Metroid was also in the Nintendo Comics System by Valiant. Samus had a couple standalone stories but was also a character in Captain N the Game Master (filling in for Simon Belmont and Megaman who weren't in the comics). She even had a brief love triangle with Kevin and Lana. Sorry if anyone else told you first keep up the great stuff!
Absolutely impressed with the video. Metroid is very near and dear to me and has been for decades. You not only mentioned both ways I found out how to cheat the game as a child, but also taught me new stuff that I did not think was possible. I mostly talk about Super as my favorite game, a love so deep it set a world record, but I cannot overstate that my love for the game started back on NES. Easily one of the best Metroid videos I have ever seen. Thank you very much for sharing this. Kudos good Sir.
Thank you so much Lee. I share your love for Super Metroid… hands down my favorite game. But Metroid is where my fascination began. Great minds think alike!
@@NESComplex Completely agree. I can also attest to when I watch a review of Metroid there is a big differences between those who grew up with it and those who found it later. It was a magical moment in gaming. :)
With reference to NARPASSWORD, there was a third theory that was passed around at least where I was, in that the NAR stood for Not A Real. We theorized it was a spoof password, as it pretty much introduces the game's Debug mode, which developers use to test various features of the game to make sure they're functional before release. Excellent coverage on this video though! I even learned a few things!
I always heard that "Justin Bailey" was the son of someone who worked on the game in some capacity - it was even in a game magazine I read as a kid around when the game came out.
Metroid was the 4th cartridge my brother and I got after getting our NES. We used to look at the Official Player's Guide in the store to figure out where to go next. It was so innovative at the time with interesting power-ups, a compelling design, and a super cool main character. We loved the Sci-fi theme. What stories do you have about your early experiences with Metroid?
What were the first three?
When you do the walldoor/secret world stuff most of it's jumbled mess. Well there's an old picture of a room that has the morph ball with 2 pillars on either side of it. No one has ever been able to explain why this is. If it's a depiction of an earlier build or what. If you Google it you'll see what I mean. Maybe something to look into.
You're the best Legend of all Nintendo Games
Ah ok
When my parents went grocery shopping, my brother and I would sit in the magazine isle and look through Nintendo Power. Our parents would rarely buy them for us, so we committed a lot to memory back then.
Your "Declassified" series is the absolute best docuseries of NES games on youtube!!!
Dude! Wow! Best comment ever!!!
This is alot of great shit for Fans I knew ALIEN was the main inspiration but didnt notice many of the similarities in the artwork till now.
@@NESComplex Do you happen to remember the dog you could play as in the original NES Metroid?
I agree. You need to keep making this series. DK, Mega Man etc…
Yeah high quality
My family rented metroid and kept it almost two months until we beat it. It took me and my parents working together, drawing maps...it was the absolute best!
That was the most fun. Figuring it out with others. My brother and I did the same thing.
It probably would have been cheaper to buy the game!
This has to be one of the most wholesome comments I have ever seen.
That’s what was great about those days - no internet spoilers - you had to find out on your own !!!
This is absolutely wonderful, I would be so happy if I end up being able to enjoy computer games with my kids like this!
When my local video store started renting out NES games, Metroid was my favorite of the dozen or so that they originally had. Passwords actually worked really well for game rentals since you could pick up where you left off next time no matter who else had the game in between.
That’s a really good point. Battery backed games wouldn’t fair nearly as well
That's actually a very interesting observation of the password system. It's wild knowing games will never be like that again.
@@CLSharpman5000 People who rented later games often had their own memory cards to save progress. This was a good solution to that issue that was more convenient than PWs
@@Cyril29a right, lol, this feels like one of those generational differences. Gen X had passwords, Gen Y used memory cards, now Gen Z gets on-board hard drives. Too bad game rentals aren't nearly as much of a thing nowadays....
@@SweetBean92 and Gen Alpha get cloud gaming.
Top 5 NES game for me. The music and atmosphere was so good for the time and hits that nostalgic button for me. Spawned a whole genre! Well done NES Complex!
Speaking for just playing the NES version? If you can and if you have the switch. Create a new profile, set region for Japan, and download the Famicom and Super Famicom. Dude....... extra sounds makes a great game better. What........ wait how? Just do it.
@@TheDarkLink7 Wouldn't you need to make a whole new NSO subscription?
@@jacksawack6724 as long as one of your profiles has NSO then if you create a second profile then no. I had a NSO for my main profile and created a second one with the region for Japan.
@@TheDarkLink7 Oh ok. I'll try it then.
@@jacksawack6724 oh yeah please do so. I enjoyed playing the American version of Metroid and Zelda. *However* playing the Famicom Disc version of Metroud and Zelda. I had a "Dude extra sound effects? *THAT IS SO COOL!*"
The Zebes naming convention actually also explained to me the controversy of Aeris vs Aerith in FFVII.
Yes--profit,
Same with the PSP translation of Final Fantasy Tactics. Lisp or no lisp?
25 minutes just passed by like a second. Hypnotic and masterful as always 👏
Thanks Tyler! Miss ya buddy!!
Definitely miss G3!!!!❤
In the early 90's, I found this game when I was young and living in a motel when we waiting to move into a new home. The game completely changed my life and held my interest because of the lore. Super Metroid solidified this interest into the series.
It never ceases to amaze me how these games changed and shaped our lives.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: the care and love with which you make your videos really comes through and that, in my opinion, is what makes your channel one of the best in all of TH-cam. Every time you put out a new video, I'm always sure it'll be another masterpiece. And it always is. Thank you for caring for your subscribers and for making these gems, Chris!
I will always give it my all. That’s why they take so long. I try to be like Nintendo and I strive for excellence!
Dude! Your content is outstanding! For years, Gaming Historian was the gold standard for NES history. You’ve gone above and beyond with your research to present some surprising and truly new information. Bravo!
I remember playing this game on my old NES and finishing it with the help of the Club Nintendo magazine (México) , it was a game ahead of its time , rough and difficult , but the foundations of this series and the genre were stablished here. One of the things that I liked the most was the music , very different from the usual style used in other nes games, you can feel the mystery of exploring an alien planet through the music , and many of the iconic themes of the series are also here.
Thank you for your content NESComplex.
Exactly!! You could feel the mystery. I wish I’d used that line 🤔
Metroid took the side scrolling platforming from Mario and the non linear exploration from Zelda and gave us a game that completed the trio. While I think other Metroid games improve on the original, there's no doubt this one is a classic and laid the foundation for the many many non linear games of today.
Sure did, It was a unique game you had to have patience for and backtrack to explore more. It wasn't a cupcake either that last section is hard. Breaking through the barriers to get to mother brain. Just found out recently you could break all 4 barriers then just exit the room to kill the Metroid's to harvest missiles and health and go right back to the brain. Why didn't I think of that when I was 11 or 12. Note to younger self.
My favorite title screen music, the intro is so mysterious, and the bleak bass chords at the end always get me. It amazes me how these games had such awesome music with so little memory.
You really deserve much more subs! Your content is so good! I remember finding you about 2 to 3 years back and have watched all of your videos!
Keep doing good job my man!
Metroid like Legend of Zelda back in the day, I'd tape together graph paper and go screen to screen making a map. Really wish they had some kind of a map feature. And I really liked the music in Metroid, it sounded very otherworldly.
Haha! Those were the days!
I loved drawing maps. I did this with Metroid II.
A map would have made the game much shorter for your first play through
There are ROM hacks that add this exact functionality.
I really think part of the fun is getting lost and absorbing the alien atmosphere. Even in NES Metroid.
This was a fantastic look at a game series that is talked about to death!! I'm shocked you were able to pull together so much info into 25 minutes! Thank you!!
This is such a fantastic series, I love the detail of restraints the programmers had. What a task to creatively turn restraints and squeeze the most bits into a incredible experience! ✌️
This series is so good I feel bad every time each episode ends, I could watch this for hours. Amazing job!
Thank you! More to come!!
Dude the amount of work you put into these vids does not fall on deaf ears or blind eyes. Infinite blessings to you my dude.
Love this series! I thoroughly enjoyed every minute and look forward to your uploads. Thank you for your content and all the nostalgic entertainment… and they say time travel is impossible.
Thank YOU for taking the time to write that awesome comment
So many memories of metroid growing up. Never beat it legit...always used the Justin Bailey code. The rumors of that code were huge on the playground
Same… of course my brother’s name is Justin so it definitely resonated with us too!
@@NESComplex I miss the old Retro Liberty days
I've been watching content like this for almost ten years... Basically every video it's "Yeah I knew this."
But this channel, it's amazing; I know whenever there's an upload there's gonna be at-least one tid-bit I hadn't even fathomed.
Thanks for all your hard work.
Me as well, but I never got to see the original instruction manuals for these games or the silly commercials. Just don't remember them, also his videos are well laid out and still interesting.
Absolutely fantastic job NES Complex!Love the quality and the raw nostalgia, great work!!!
Dude, you've done it again, this an absolute excellent little doc and retrospect. Again, just incredible that after 35 years the things I still didn't know about this game. Cheers buddy.
I wish I could double-like this video! I learned a lot more about a game I spent countless hours with in my childhood.
Chris just morphed into a ball and dropped knowledge bombs on every one of us. We’re better gamers for it. Well done!
“Knowledge bombs” another Plunkism
Amazing video. Incredibly insightful behind the scenes of Metroid and Mario. Great work.
I'm not a Nintendo kid, I grew up on Sega in Europe, but your content is just fantastic. One of the best gaming channels on TH-cam. Your enthusiasm and passion for gaming shines through!
Thanks G Man! I grew up with Nintendo but have come to really appreciate Sega over the years! I wish I’d had Sega systems as a kid too so I could make videos with that same nostalgic passion
This just made our Friday! Eric just picked up Metroid for his new and shiny top loader.
I’m back from the dead! Ahhhh Metroid + toploader = pure fun 🤩
@@NESComplex we are glad to have you back, friend!
Note on 11:30, Space Hunter is actually more accurate as it later came out that Nintendo had ZERO idea what a Bounty Hunter actually was. This came out many years later when a western company was developing a Metroid game and when brought to show Nintendo the progress, they were very upset by the "Bounty" system that they had designed the game around and had them scrap the entire system. They said that wasn't "In character" for Samus causing the entire US team to basically go, "WHUT??? But she is a bounty hunter???"
This game still holds its awesomeness to this very day. My only disappointment is that the game was too short. You had 2 mini-bosses, 1 fake mini-boss, and 1 final boss. Great content by the way. I don't own any fancy equipment, but that is definitely going to be one of the 1st two games I will be covering when I start making gaming videos regularly.
The childhood nostalgia is strong with this one 😃
My mind is just blown. There are so many things I've learned from your videos about my favorite childhood video games and I'm thankful that I've found your channel. After seeing this Metroid and the Zelda videos, I'm hooked and I just had to subscribe. Exceptionally well done, and please keep making these videos, they bring immense joy to gamers everywhere like me. Again, thank you so much for creating and sharing these videos, they're amazing.
This is such a great series you’ve made please keep them coming. I’m looking forward to much more.
One of my favorite NES games. First one I beat, all the way in 1989. Been playing it on and off ever since, and it has yet to get tiring for me. One of these days, I need to check out the FDS version.
As to your question at the end, I think you covered it all. I've heard each of those points you covered, and having opened my own NES copy of Metroid out of curiosity, I can confirm there is indeed a slot on the board reserved for that battery which never got used. Another great video! Hope to see more from you in the future.
Thanks Loren! Metroid was interesting because there weren’t as many deep dive interviews from the time as there were for Mario or Zelda. I tried to compensate by using interesting images and editing techniques.
As a kid I absolutely loved this game. The focus on exploration and open-world design combined with the forboding music really captivated me. I borrowed it many times from the kid across the street and just wandered around the map, never getting anywhere or coming remotely close to beating the game.
You and Splashwave easily make the best game videos.
Heck ya! Thanks 😊
Always so happy to see new videos by you man! Top tier stuff.
Even if it takes foreverrrrrr?
@@NESComplex Always worth it! I'd rather leave a video feeling moved and happy, something that touches me and reminds me of my childhood that took a year, instead of being bombarded with..."youtube"
This Declassified show is fantastic. Thank you for the hard work.
These videos are just SO GOOD! I thoroughly appreciate the crazy amount of work and attention to detail you put in them.
I’m 34. I’m honestly a SNES kid. I got it on Xmas with Batman. My lord what a Xmas that was. I just got an original NES to ply the games I never got to , and a SNES to replay the games I always played religiously. What a time to be alive.
Wow! Well worth the wait! Knocked it out of the park again NESComplex!!
Thanks Erick
These are really really good. I plan to watch them all. This one and the one on Zelda were amazing. Thumbs up!
Thanks! I only have 3 so far. More are on the way though. The retrospectives are basically the same but more emotionally charged.
Thanks for the video. I absolutely loved this game!
I bet I was over the 10 hour mark.
I am loving this series. There is so much about the NES games you have covered so far that I had no idea about. Hope you continue with this series because it's quickly becoming on of my favourite on the whole of TH-cam.
I’m definitely going to continue. Already working on the next one
This video was really neat! Its fun learning about games, their history, the developers, the development cycle, and even the inner workings of a game.
Metroid was special, everything was so different. The atmosphere was top notch, especially for an earlier title. The whole idea of exploring this alien planet so was cool. The soundtrack and look of the areas and enemies definitely hit the mark for being alien and weird and exploring these areas came naturally. I just wish the sub boss fights were a lil more epic. Yes, without an in-game map it was a lil obtuse but back in the day you almost always had to make a map. And I do understand most people will skip this game and just go with Super Metroid, but the original still has value.
Heck yes. NESComplex posted another video. So freaking thorough it's crazy.
Hey Johnny! And yet… I’m finding new stuff already. 😂
I grew up with the NES and I’m absolutely loving these declassified videos!
I enjoyed the hell out of this, but your quality always keeps me engaged. Love this game and loved learning the new quirks I didn't know about. Thank you for doing what you do.
wow memory lane, just seeing the instruction booklet brings back a ton. love this game, me and my brother playing it all night back in 89ish.
Excellent video! One other thing of note is that while she didn't appear in Captain N's animated series, Samus Aran does make a recurring appearance in the comic book produced by Valiant Comics, and is portrayed faithfully to her NES incarnation.
Since my first experience with the series was Super Metroid, it took me a long time to come to appreciate the original NES game. I actually only played it to completion in 2020, and despite its flaws I enjoyed it a lot and found it less disorienting and frustrating than I thought. I didn't find many of the optional upgrades but beat the game with no map. As you said, the world isn't really that big.
By the way, I love your videos. They are both relaxing and informative.
I can definitely understand how starting with Super would make appreciating the first more difficult. Especially since I consider Super Metroid the BEST game of all time. It’s interesting though… every time I make one of these videos my appreciation for what they created only seems to grow! So I many clever ideas and shortcuts combined to make a foundational game.
I grew up with the SMS and NES, Phantasy Star and Metroid were one of my favorites. Years later when i first played Metroid on the GC and unleashed the guns, only to quckly see her face reflected on the games HUD, being the helmets faceplate was anazing.
It took me like three tries to make sure i saw what i saw.
Man, great series. Really admire the work you put in.
One of my favorite retro game channels. Deserves way more attention than it gets.
Thank you so much! Spread the love! Tell your friends and random people you meet at random stores
I’m 44 and got my first NES in 4th grade about 2 years later than most kids. My only experience with Metroid was in Nintendo Power magazine where I felt so scared to begin. I was used to Zelda and Super Mario and Double Dragon. Very simple games for a new fan of video games. But when I finally finished Metroid in 6th grade I felt super excited like I actually accomplished something difficult that used my brain! It was such a fun hard game. Haha. I even drew out the maps and wrote, Blue room, Gold room, purple. I had enough scribbles and stuff written down it worked! I also loved the bomb bump. I used to do it over and over to see how high I could get. Wow so many memories
You have been missed dude! Was absolutely buzzing when I saw this video dropped and you did not disappoint!! Please keep up the great work that you do as I (not alone) get so much joy from your vids 👍🏻.
The editing and script writing is top notch in these.
Glad you pointed out the Zebes/Zebeth translation thing. This is what a lot of people don't understand in regards to Aeris/Aerith in FFVII.
You would think one could not appreciate a game anymore than they do; then you watch something like this, and WOW, speechless.
I just finished the game on Switch and it was a wonderful experience. I drew my own map (and actually missed two Power Ups that would have made my life so much easier, haha). But the journey is what matters. At the of it, I landed here and absolutely loved the deep dive you made on the game. I was really shocked that Pelé was the inspiration for the name, haha. So cool. Keep up the wonderful work!
Big thumbs up for correctly calling it "Ridley's hideout". Waaaaaaay too many people say "lower Norfair"
Poor Ridley just sits in that room in his hideout all the time. Jumping around. Staring at walls. Trying not to fall in the lava. Poor guy can’t even fit through his back door.
If I had this information as a kid back in the mid 80's, I would have been a gaming god to my friends. lol... I love videos like this that covers the games that I loved.
Your declassified videos are great! My favorite thing on TH-cam! Thanks for the hard work!
Thanks for including images from the manual; really takes us back.
Stellar work as always! It was a pleasure getting to see the live episode in Greenville.
Great watch! NEStroid, by far one of my all time favorites! Thanks for the fascinating depth and detail!
I think when they talked about removing frames to free up space they meant ram memory so they could have more enemy frames loaded in ram
Now that makes a lot of sense. 👍🏼
Figured nothing new would be learned but that take out in the credits was a completely new thing to me very cool
My cousin and I played and beat this game all the time. One day while we were playing he mentioned the game had a secret world. I couldn't remember how he got this information. This video cleared that up. I remember searching all over for it because it sounded so cool.
Are used to try jumping in all sorts of doors Only to find out later it only works in a few
I love the secrets, codes, and intel series. Please continue making them
dude, this channel is great! Nice work :)
Yes! Love when nescomplex uploads,haven't even started the vid yet but I know I'm gonna enjoy every minute of this ;)
NESComplex. Knocking it out of the park. Thank you so much. Your videos have always been such a joy
I always appreciate your comments. Thanks for the kind words!! On to the next one!
@@NESComplex On to the next! Really appreciate you remembering your loyal fans! Been watching you since day 1. Thanks for being awesome! Can't wait.
Didn't know the H. R. Giger connection! I first learned of his name because of his art in the game Darkseed for PC - then learned he was the Alien artist, and now 30 years later I learned he inspired some of Metroid - this video is definitely time well spent :)
One of the best exploration games for the NES next to Zelda
Playing such cutting edge technology, with such immersive gameplay was awe inspiring to a ten year old kid at that time.
Turning on the power button was like stepping into a whole new world you became immersed in for a few hours.
There's only a dozen or so games that rival this in fun and excitement.
Could you imagine being the kid who typed Justin Bailey the first time and it worked!!!!?!? Holy shit
These are SERIOUSLY amazing. Please consider Punch Out in the future, would love to see your work with that one.
Punch out is NEXT in the series… already started researching it! It’ll be next quarter. Hopefully by Christmas
@@NESComplex That's fantastic! Can't wait. Good work my friend.
@@NESComplex 🥊 💥 wooo!!!
@@NESComplex it will be worth the wait, like always. Honestly, these belong on Netflix or something. That's how great the quality is. You and Strafefox have no equal.
@@NESComplex "Punch out is NEXT in the series":
ok, that got me to subscribe. See you then!
Dropping a like and comment for the algorithm for one of my favorite channels. Thanks for the awesome videos. Even my girlfriend who was born in 1991 and didn’t grow up with the NES/SNES era loves your work.
Thank you! That’s the true test… will a non-nes or non-gamer still enjoy it! That means a lot that she still finds in entertaining.
I absolutely loved Metroid growing up! I know there was flaws in the game but it was amazing! Then super Metroid came out and blew my mind even further!
Excellent video. No one researches to your level besides the gaming historian.
I'd say the production level on this video is well beyond what gaming historian is doing. Gaming historian will mix clips and news articles with voiceover. This video has the history + voiceover + a ton of production and additional custom animation effects, just the animation in this video alone probably took as long or longer to complete than the script and research combined.
@@Binxalot Now that I think about it, you're right. The filler music does really extend the videos. Still good work but sometimes I think our friend here DOES sneak into their offices! He just needs to jest about to maintain his cover!
My cousin (RIP) and I went out and brought this game the year it was introduced. We didn't purposely look for it, as we had no idea what it was, but it seemed interesting enough from the sticker slapped on the cartridge. We spent that entire Summer trying to pass it. We'd take turns playing and mapping out the entire game. One would play and explore while the other with notebook and pen & markers in hand, would draw out each and ever room. One of the most beautiful memories I have of my childhood. It's a tragedy that he passed away a few days ago.
My favorite! So many great memories 🙏 1986 Metroid Los Angeles California I was 6 years old playing. Thank you for this great information.
Hello from Beverly Hills California
I was so happy to see that screen wrapping made it to this video… well done video indeed.
About "nar password".
I immediately thought of an acronym for "nar" : "Not A Random".
My two cents.
Terrific job mate, really.
I just came across your channel and I must say that you did an amazing job with this video. I was highly entertained and even learned a few things about this game I wish I knew when I was a kid playing it. Well done!
Always a blast to watch these - even more amped for Dread now! Great job as always 👊🏼
Friday!!!! Woo hoo
@@NESComplex let’s GOOOOOoOoooOo!!!!!
This video was totally worth the wait. This must have taken an eternity to edit!
LOVING this series even tho I'm late to the comment section. Something I wanted to add is Metroid was also in the Nintendo Comics System by Valiant. Samus had a couple standalone stories but was also a character in Captain N the Game Master (filling in for Simon Belmont and Megaman who weren't in the comics). She even had a brief love triangle with Kevin and Lana. Sorry if anyone else told you first keep up the great stuff!
Hope you come back man. Your videos are the best and most comprehensive retro game retrospectives on youtube.
I haven’t left. These just take a long time to make. I’m almost done with the next one though. A week or so left
Absolutely impressed with the video. Metroid is very near and dear to me and has been for decades. You not only mentioned both ways I found out how to cheat the game as a child, but also taught me new stuff that I did not think was possible. I mostly talk about Super as my favorite game, a love so deep it set a world record, but I cannot overstate that my love for the game started back on NES.
Easily one of the best Metroid videos I have ever seen. Thank you very much for sharing this. Kudos good Sir.
Thank you so much Lee. I share your love for Super Metroid… hands down my favorite game. But Metroid is where my fascination began. Great minds think alike!
@@NESComplex Completely agree. I can also attest to when I watch a review of Metroid there is a big differences between those who grew up with it and those who found it later. It was a magical moment in gaming. :)
With reference to NARPASSWORD, there was a third theory that was passed around at least where I was, in that the NAR stood for Not A Real. We theorized it was a spoof password, as it pretty much introduces the game's Debug mode, which developers use to test various features of the game to make sure they're functional before release. Excellent coverage on this video though! I even learned a few things!
Gunpei said "if you can draw, you can make games". He's right. Doesn't matter how good you are at drawing either, I can definitely attest to that
A great video on a great game! I love the format of your Declassified series! Hands down the best on TH-cam!
Excellent video. I've had Metroid on NES since it was released in the US and never knew about that "engage Ridley" code.
Loved the video! Metroid was the first game of the saga I played and I still find it really fun despite knowing the map like the back of my hand
_Metroid_ was a great "open-world" adventure game, back in the day. I used to win this game before school, from a fresh start. Good memories were had.
I always heard that "Justin Bailey" was the son of someone who worked on the game in some capacity - it was even in a game magazine I read as a kid around when the game came out.
Fantastic episode as always. Love me some Metroid back story