Super Metroid's Greatest Moment
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ก.ค. 2024
- Or maybe it's the worst moment.
Super Metroid is much more than its structure. Its maze-like map is filled with memorable moments that make the player question what else is possible. My favorite moment in the game is only a few seconds long but it encapsulates the spirit of this genre-defining classic.
Game Discussed:
Super Metroid (1994) / Platform: Super Nintendo (SNES), Nintendo Wii (Virtual Console), Nintendo Wii U (Virtual Console), Nintendo Switch (Nintendo Switch Online) / Developed by Nintendo R&D1 / Published by Nintendo / Directed by Yoshio Sakamoto / Genre: Metroidvania, Action-Adventure, Puzzle, Side-Scroller, Platformer, Science-Fiction, Horror, Retro
Games Referenced:
Doom (1993) / Platform: Literally Everything / Developed & Published by id Software / Genre: First-Person Shooter, Action, Retro
Grand Theft Auto III (2001) / Platforms: Playstation 2, Xbox, PC / Developed by DMA Design / Published by Rockstar Games / Genre: Open-World, Action, Driving, Third-Person Shooter, Simulation, Retro
Dark Souls (2011) / Platforms: Playstation 3, Playstation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch / Developed by FromSoftware / Pubslihed by Namco Bandai / Directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki / Genre: Soulslike, RPG, Action RPG, Character Action Game, Action Adventure
Mega Man X (1993) / Platform: Super Nintendo (SNES) / Developed & Published by Capcom / Genre: Platformer, Side-Scroller, Action, Science-Fiction, Retro
Contra III: The Alien Wars (1992) / Platform: Super Nintendo (SNES) / Developed & Published by Konami / Genre: Action, Side-Scroller, Platformer, Retro
God of War: Ragnarok (2022) / Platforms: Playstation 4, Playstation 5 / Developed by Santa Monica Studio / Published by Sony Computer Entertainment / Genre: Action, Action-Adventure, Combat-Heavy, Story-Driven, Mythology
The Legend of Zelda (1986) / Platforms: Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), Nintendo Wii (Virtual Console), Game Boy Advance, Nintendo GameCube (Zelda Collector's Edition), Nintendo Wii U (Virtual Console), Nintendo Switch (Nintendo Switch Online), Developed & Published by Nintendo / Directed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka / Genre: Action-Adventure, Open-World, Exploration, Retro
Hollow Knight (2017) / Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch, Playstaion 4, Xbox One / Developed & Published by Team Cherry / Genre: Metroidvania, Side-Scroller, Action-Adventure, Puzzle, Combat-Heavy, Soulslike
Blasphemous (2019) / Platforms: PC, Nintendo Switch, Playstaion 4, Xbox One / Developed The Game Kitchen / Published by Team17 / Genre: Metroidvania, Side-Scroller, Action-Adventure, Puzzle, Combat-Heavy, Soulslike
Ori and the Blind Forest (2015) / Platforms: PC, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch / Developed by Moon Studios / Published by Microsoft Game Studios / Genre: Metroidvania, Side-Scroller, Action-Adventure, Platfromer, Puzzle
Topics Discussed:
Puzzle design, open world game design, puzzles, Metroidvanias, science fiction, concept art, horror, glass, glass tube puzzle, Super Metroid Glass Tube, Super Metroid map, walkthrough, invisible walls, game analysis, video essay, boss strategy, speedrunning, speedrun, opening title scene, graphic design, motion graphics, lock and key, original soundtrack, ost, Metroid Prime, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, Hollow Knight Silksong, game reveal, trailer, genre, genre-defining, review, video game review, retro game review, positive game review, positive vibes, happy, anything is possible, inspiration, inspiring, hot take, drama, unpopular opinion, unpopular gaming opinion, classic game, 1994, 90s nostalgia, 1990s, 90s, classic Nintendo, Super Smash Bros, Samus, Samus Aran, Zero Suit Samus, Samus character design, Ridley, Kraid, Crocomire, Mother Brain, Draygon, Phantoon, Space Pirates, Planet Zebes, Crateria, Norfair, Brinstar, Maridia, Chozo, Boss fights, Samus' Ship, Metroid Dread, Metroid Samus Returns, Metroid Other M, best game, best game ever made, best video games of all time, greatest video game moment, classic video games - เกม
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“This is a glass tube.”
“Dear god.”
“There’s more.”
_“No.”_
"It contains a passage to Maridia"
@@Roiadas "Impossible."
“You teleport as much bread as you want, soldier.”
Story Time: Super Metroid is the first game I ever experienced "true horror" in a video game. I had seen horror adjacent kiddy films like "Ernest Scared Stupid" or "Gremlins" and while those would get a jump out of little 8-year-old me, the fact it was on the TV meant I could simply look away at any scenes that were a bit too much for me. However, after descending into the depths of the strangely quiet Planet Zebes, there's a moment that breaks how video games are "supposed" to work in a way I had never experienced before.
After collecting the morph ball and missiles, you make your way back towards the surface and crawl into a small crevice. After going a couple screens over you find the Morph Bombs.
I turn to leave... and the door closes. "Strange... It's locked? Did I take too long? How am I supposed to get out?" I run back and forth shooting the door and the ceiling to no effect. Randomly I mash inputs for a few seconds in confusion before suddenly-
The Choso Statue comes to life and begins attacking me?! I panic. I fire my remaining missiles but miss. I realize I'm gripping the controller so hard I'm accidentally pressing the R button and launching my shots diagonally. I try and fail to avoid it's attacks, I don't know when to jump. I'm taking hit after hit. The game starts to beep the low health warning at me! I don't know what to do! But... BUT I CAN'T LOOK AWAY because I need to see what's happening to react! WHY DID THE STATUE COME TO LIFE?! THIS WASN'T SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!"
I take that final fatal hit and I see the death animation for the first time. I turn off the game and decide I want to play something else. I have nightmares later that night of the statue coming to life and chasing me.
The emersion of the original Super Metroid is the first time I felt that barrier of the screen between me and the character in the game melt away. That wasn't Samus trapped in that room with the Choso Statue come to life: That was me in there fighting for survival.
Years later, obviously I now recognize how silly that seems as the statue is barely a challenge. I've long since gone back and beaten Super Metroid several times over, even achieving the Sub-3 hour 100% completion run. But that moment lives rent free in my head as the most impactful moment of the game and is probably the reason I love horror games so much now as a means to try and recapture that feeling.
Damn, hearing that made me remember the first time I got to that part in SM as well, scared crapless; I could barely fall asleep that night, and the music haunted me for weeks.
At some point (years later iirc) I got back to the game having completely forgotten about it and had a blast exploring through the world, and I've been a giant fan of metroidvanias ever since.
I never got far in the first game that scared me as a kid. Jurassic Park on the SNES. Specifically, the first-person sections when you're inside buildings. There's no power at first and you got raptors and other things lunging at you.
Mega Man 4 in particular, but all of the Mega Man games have a few very tight jumps, both in distance and hazards. Adult me, veteran of videogaming, has no trouble marching out to the very last pixel needed to make a jump. Who cares if 80% of Megaman's body is floating over instant death like a Looney Tunes character?
Child me, that's who cares. Hands sweating, heart pounding, eyes held wide open as I try to make a long jump off the _rounded_ corner of a bone platform long before I learned that the game doesn't necessarily care what the ledge looks like and calculates footing as if it were a square corner. "I don't want to walk off the edge!" **jumps too early and falls in the pit** (This particular jump is in the top half of the screen, so I got to watch Megaman fall all the way down every time.)
Not horror in my case, but terror all the same.
Did you play metroid dread btw ? The emmi really make us feel dread
@@PrintThem Yup. It was my GOTY and may be my favorite Metroid even over Super. My one complaint is the OST.
What's also kinda funny is that there's another moment like this in Metroid Prime, where you have to powerbomb a glass tube in Magmoor to get to an optional power up, and the exact moment I saw it I thought back to Super Metroid and knew exactly what I needed to be on the lookout for
The one beam upgrade that I missed 😓
@@Commander-peepers The Ice Spreader.
It's kind of become a stock puzzle in Metroid games. Metroid Fusion and Zero Mission also had a power bombable tube as well, and I'm pretty sure Dread had one as well. In most of the post-SM examples part of the tube is made out of power bomb blocks (or is scannable in the case of Prime) so it's not as obtuse of a puzzle.
@@anthonysorrentino4441 ye that one
@NomicFin there's a similar one in Prime 2 in Sanctuary Fortress
I think "invisible locks" are the secret sauce that make this game so good. compared to contemporary metroidvanias, there's a lot of moments in this game where you kind of have to stumble around and discover what to do, even though you already have all the tools needed. makes the world truly feel mysterious and alive.
...
Isn't that _literally_ what the entire genre is built on though?????
@@Sing_LoveWRS There's a lot of metroidvania out there (and a lot of games across genres) that don't really take enough advantage of the *invisible* lock. Even Metroid Dread introduces a ton of new visible lock types with all the new doors (homin missile, wide beam, wave, etc.). Visible locks are super easy to use in a metroidvania cuz all they ask of you is to recognize which key you need, but actually designing an obstacle that makes you use your keys in creative and unexpected ways takes a lot more consideration.
@@Sing_LoveWRS a lot of modern metroidvanias are mostly just "visible locks", and very little "invisible"
I imagine it's much easier to design a game that way, which is why so many indie developers choose that path.
edit: but in a weird way yes, you're kind of right, considering this is the game that all metroidvanias are built off of.
@@1gnore_me. A recent metroidvania/metroidbrainia that actually does invisible locks well is probably Animal Well and another older one is Tunic, but these are currently few and far between.
Love ur vids!!
Footnote: A truly bizarre commercial for Super Metroid featured a quick shot of Samus Power Bombing the glass tube. I decided against including it in the video because that would have been a separate marketing team that made the commercial and not the original developers.
Also: Some people claim that breaking the tube is featured in the eye-catch mode on the title screen but I couldn’t get it to play. Maybe it is and it just didn’t trigger for me; after 20 minutes I called it quits. The clip could still be in there, though. Watching from the shadows. Laughing.
It is, I've seen it with my own eyes playing on my Switch before it got stolen.
i was waiting for you to talk about how almost all of us actually figured it out. Was that eye catch mode. It shows her power bombing that room among other interesting things.
Interesting, because that is how I found out about shinesparks, in Zero Mission, long after I beat it.
Crystal flash and beam combos, too. SM doesn’t care if you find all its secrets.
It's true! I heard it was in the demo play mode, but my original SNES cartridge was broken. Lucky for me, someone who lived near me had it on Switch so I broke in and stole it.
And interesting one to add where super metroid breaks it's own rules is the bosses, pretty much every one the normal rules/damage values don't apply. The Ridley fight in particular is interesting though. On top of super missiles actually doing double damage to him, Ridley doesn't die when you damage him enough to deplete his HP, he can actually keep attacking indefinitely at 0 hp if you dodge his swoops with the intent being for him to die while about to either kill or severely damage the player (and you CAN die when he's technically already dead). It makes the fight a bit more "dramatic" and tense as it's not just a clearcut "ok, i did 18k damage and he blew up". Other fights like golden torizo with his missile catching, the the croc/draygon ones mentioned in the video just kept the bosses all feeling fresh in the game, something you don't often see, they basically all had SOME gimmick.
Golden Torizo plucking your Super Missiles out of flight is one of my favorite boss moves, in part because you don't appreciate until/unless you actually notice WHAT he's throwing back at you. (He also just sidesteps normal Missiles whenever possible; your Charge Beam is the only reliable method to hit him)
Back in the day, my friend used to tell me about Ridley : "there's no strategy to kill him."
About the Golden Torizo, hitting him relentlessly with the charged Plasma Beam will do the job nicely.
Ridley only tries to grab you 10 times after you deplete his HP, if he's unsuccessful he'll die alone in the middle.of the screen.
Hold on, the key to breaking the Maridia tube is using a power bomb, _and then standing up?_ Because, that would explain a lot. I vividly remember, as a kid, seeing the already broken tube up above and thinking, "I wonder if the other tube is breakable," and then trying to break that tube. This included using a power bomb, but I think there's a good chance that, after using said bomb and waiting, I left the room _while still in ball form._ Because of that, I "knew" that power bombs did NOT break the tube, so I didn't try using power bombs again. Despite this, I still had an inkling that tube was important somehow. Eventually, on Christmas Eve 2001, the day before we got our Gamecube, my brother power bombed the tube, and then apparently stood up, because he broke the tube. We finished the game that night in a lengthy session. To this day, on Christmas Eve, as a tradition, I'd boot up a save file and complete the last leg of the game, just doing Lower Norfair and Tourian. Can someone confirm that power bombing the tube and then NOT standing up does nothing? Because I could never understand why the tube didn't break all those years ago when I'm sure I power bombed it, but then it did break on that one Christmas Eve.
You don't have to stand up to break the tube, that room is just part of maridia and not brinstar and I'm pretty sure leaving the room before the bomb exploded just unloaded maridia and thus never played the sequence for the tube to explode.
no, you just need to move at all after the bomb animation is over and it will break the tube.
leaving either left or right before the bomb animation is over will not break the glass, and touching /NOTHING/ after the bomb will delay the glass break, which looks a bit silly
Yep based on my experience with the game you just have to not leave too early. I could imagine doing that as a kid and getting lost in the same way.
The fake wall at the end of Lower Norfair that doesn't appear on the X-Ray visor is probably my favourite prank in the game. It deliberately punishes players who rely on the X-Ray visor to find secrets. If you rely on vibes, it's clear there is a secret in that room and there has to be because there's no other way out of Lower Norfair, but if you stubbornly follow the rigid logic of whether the visor can see it you will get tripped up. I love the irony that a less completionistic player who never got or used the visor is more likely to sus out the fake wall.
Xray doesn't work in that room at all. It has something to do with the firefleas that will cause the room to gradually get darker the more of them you kill. So there's a technical reason why it won't work. Why Nintendo decided to still keep TWO false walls in that room? Beats me.
There was a 4chan thread long time ago about this same glass tube. One half talked about how obvious it was.
The other half talked about how was anybody supposed to know by themselves without a guide.
Yes, i got stuck in that part because if you bomb or missile the glass, it doesn't show to be a breakable tile, which is an inconsistency with previously established rules.
The people who have problems with SM's game design being obtuse are playing it in the context of being a gamer in 2024 not 1994. In 1994 that game was your only piece of media / entertainment for at the very minimum, the week, and more than likely a month or two. You didn't have a million different things competing for your attention plus access to every game thats ever been made for the past 40 years at your fingertips - which means you sat down with this game and exhausted every possibility for days and weeks, and came back to it again and again if you hit a dead end. People nowadays tend to reach the conclusion "this is stupid, f**k this" after about 5 minutes even knowing what they are playing is supposed to be one of those "where the hell do I go" type of exploration games. The Maridia tube doesn't become your obvious progression step until you've already looped back around from the other side of Wrecked Ship across the limited parts you can access of Maridia pre-tube-break possibly several loops of the entire accessible world.
You do also get the hint on your mini-map of being in a map square that is open on the top and bottom.
Yes today has a huge problem with offering too much entertainment, and slower paced games get shafted now easily because people want to play the game not be put to sleep. I try to give games a few deaths of a chance when playing it, even older games but there's so many good games that putting up with mediocre games is not worth it for most people or games that don't mesh with the style you enjoy. @@douglasmurphy3266
@@douglasmurphy3266this is answer I always give people when then I say Zelda 1 is too cryptic and you can’t beat it without a book. You exhausted every possibility and also discussed things on the playground and traded secrets.
The glass tube is the exact moment I was thinking of. A shattering of convention
I think this is a difference in the language of how games communicate things between then and now.
when I first played the game back when it came out, the very first thing I did when I got the power bombs was bee line straight to that tube to try and blow it up.
It was 1 part intuitive and 1 part rule of cool.
My younger brother also had the same reaction.
In fact, of several friends who played through the game at that time, I think only one of them had to
have it explained to them.
I don't think any of us were particularly good at games. It's a fundimental change in the way people expect games to communicate with them.
there tended to be a lot more obtuse puzzles in games that you just had to figure out. I think that's part of it. But the other part is that similar games these days are expected to have proper signage to TELL you what power to use and to break the rules like that could be considered frustrating and possibly even bad game design.
A certain level of detatchment is expected. viewing it as a game instead of an adventure. Looking at it as a game, it doesn't make sense. it's a set piece. nothing like it in the game is distructable. it's just part of the background.
But if you let yourself be absorbed into the game, it's a giant glass tube! *Of COURSE* you're going to try blowing it up with the giant explosives you just got? Why would you not?! It's gonna be sooo cool!
I'm gonna be 100% real, as someone who played this game on the SNES in the 90s without internet or nintendo power, my 5 year old mind found this Tube Puzzle to be intuitive to try Power bombing the tube. it was probably one of the first things i did after obtaining power bombs. i know i blew it up before getting the Gravity Suit cuz i saved down below and it was difficult to get back up as a kid lol.
years later, i hear everyone says this is a cryptic puzzle, but idk, the invisible left wall at the very end of Lower Norfair was the one that got me as a kid. i always walked backwards out of norfair because of it. its the only wall that didnt go invisible when you use the X-Ray Scope.
Yeah, the invisible exit from Lower Norfair (assuming you didn't want to brave that HUGE cavern now-filled with acid) is probably one of the "worst" puzzles in the game. Part of it is because your X-Ray visor doesn't work in any rooms with the light bugs, and by this point you _probably_ have the Wave Beam meaning you can't just shoot the wall (with your beam) to test if it's real.
I had to look up a walkthrough when I played cause I had no idea how to progress at that point. Walked away from it thinking it was dumb that it's not telegraphed at all.
Enjoyed the rest of the game, though!
That’s fair, it’s a really cool moment.
This is tangentially related, but I’d like to share what I think is the best moment in metroid zero mission (spoilers for endgame). After you beat mother brain and crash land the game really drives home how powerless you are in the situation, having to hide from all the zebesians and only being able to stun them is a lovely stealth section. But killing the ruins test and gaining your power suit feels so good, the music turns from dreadful to bombastic and the once deadly zebesians are pathetic. It’s great.
Didn't that game come out like 20 years ago?
i’m a simple man, i see an im a dot video on my favorite game of all time and i click it
There would be no metroid-like games if Super Metroid did not exist.
This is, by far, my favorite of the entire genre!
i love these long-ish form video essays about video games. nice work on this one!
shoutouts for saving the animals at 14:33🙏
let out a sigh of relief
This was a great video, I usually listen to video essays but this one I’ve really enjoyed watching just for the nice visuals alone!
I was recommended this video. And the quality of editing is immaculate. Great job.
The Paper Mario video came up in my suggestions today and I’m just now discovering these video essays. Wow, they really capture my favorite video game design in my favorite games. Can’t wait to binge these. Keep it up!
Great breakdown. Love the distinction between visible and invisible locks.
This video explains my thoughts on the game in a way I could not have found a way to say. These are some of my fondest memories from a videogame, the eureka moments there left a mark. Good video, good editing, good structure.
I love how this game came out when I was in high school and it’s still being analyzed today to such a degree. There’s just so much that can be said about this work. It speaks volumes and tells us just how it has stood the test of time. Great video!
This was really good, I love the storytelling and the reading into the themes behind the game mechanics of such an iconic game
I've seen a lot of Super Metroid videos. This is an excellent break-down. 👍
I've played Super Metroid maybe two to three times so far, so I immediately knew all of the things you mentioned, but it was still a fantastic video with great editing, pacing, and a good story to tell :) Hoping to see more from you in the future!
Holy crap. Dude. You have some of the best, most well-made videos I've ever watched. Its crazy how much effort you put in, its awesome to watch your channel!
This is the most wonderful video I have watched this year.
As a kid i figured this out because the power bombs made that cool noise so my logic was loud noises can break glass so I'll try that.
dude that's genius, and makes the most sense!
The map of Maridia provides one more clue that there's something beyond its glass tube. I remember backtracking to see if I missed anything else in Maridia such as another path in the previous room to go around the tube; a hint from GameFAQs confirmed my other idea that breaking the tube was the way forward.
I always refer to breaking the glass tube as being this game's greatest "OHHHHHHH" moment!
nice video straight to the point. bravo :)
this video was truly amazing.. I forgot all about this part of the game its been 20 years since I have played it. memories of fighting dragon will forever be in my head
Also, thank you for making this. I enjoyed the ride.
I love this moment too just because of how much the world opens up to you once you actually figure it out, the devs clearly picture is a big reveal on the entire underwater the section of the game really feels like a oh s*** just got real moment. The fact that it's possible to clear the entire underwater section without the gravity suit too makes it all the more cool to me, like you're exploring uncharted dangerous territory early by choice on repeat playthroughs. What I love about this game all the little things, the little bugs that's got her away from you, the beautiful music, and a real sense of atmosphere, I think this one moment is the things that take out to me the most about this game, it really establishes the fact that this game tells a beautiful and personal narrative without even a single line of dialogue that's always stuck with me
Super Metroid is one of my favorite video games of all time. and this video blew my fkn mind. I think you've encapsulated exactly what I've loved about it for so long without quite being able to put my finger on it. SM is only willing to hold your hand for so long. and the first time things seem to go off-script, it just makes you wonder what other secrets the manual isn't telling you about. Shinesparking might be as known now as the Ice Beam, but unless you found the Dachora in that tunnel in Brinstar you simply didn't know it was a thing. (although, I'm pretty sure the attract mode on the title screen spoils this, along with Crystal Flashing)
anyway, well done. you get a sub.
This video is like listening to a deep dive of the album that has been your favourite since your formative years. Listening to someone describe every nook and crany that you know so well hits the exact spot, and it's clear that they obviously just get it - exactly the way you've gotten it. Every coveted, personal gem. Listening to the sounds and descriptions is pure validation where none needed exist before. Thank you for bringing this unexpected moment of absolute joy to this old gamer's ears, and young gamer's heart.
Super Metroid is the greatest video game of all time, if ya ask me. I've played it literally hundreds of times. Just did 2 map randos, and finished up playing a SM hack over the weekend. I always get excited when I see a new video about it, and this one was really fun to watch! Thanks
"Influential pieces of software." I don't think I've ever heard a magnum opus described that way.
I'm so happy that you highlighted the shear joy that is figuring out the glass tube for the first time. When I saw this video's thumbnail I literally thought to myself "I hope it's the tube in Maridia, that's an awesome moment." Watching people organically figure it out is one of the most satisfying things this game can bring. Great job on this video, looking forward to more from you!
love that. the delay before it starts cracking is cool as hell
It is actuallly impossible for i_am_a_dot to not make a banger video
Great vid. TY
Very good video, you deserve more subs.
Just finished the video, absolutely amazing analysis of the best SNES game
This fucking glass tube..
It's really the only time I got completely stuck in Super Metroid. In Metroid Prime Remaster, the first time I saw myself running through a tube-like struckture I'm like "I'm gonna bomb that thing to shreds as soon as I can".. and it worked.
Absolute banger of a video
Great Vid! 👍
Just wanted to let you know that your production value is fantastic. Great way to cover "the tube" and one of the very greatest games of all time.
This is one of the best Super Metroid videos
I whish i could like your video a thousand time ! You expressed loud what my child heart thinks in his inner self !
Awesome video metroid is one of my favorite series ever. I found it as a kid but was never that good until I got a bit older but I always thought super metroid was so cool and would just run around
Thank you for making this video. I highly enjoyed this. I have been playing this game since Christmas 1995. Nothing about the game is new to me. As such, I have taken to highly enjoying the perspective of others.
I have no idea how I ever figured this out. I would have been six years old when we got our SNES that christmas day. At the time, I was still scared of the bosses. I would have my dad come beat them. I'm positive it wouldn't have been until weeks later where I would have gotten to this point. But I always, ALWAYS tried to explore everything. I want to believe that I simply tried all the tools at my disposal. What if a power bomb blows the tunnel open? A silly thought... but then it works.
Great analysis.
Other than the already broken tube, the biggest clue for me was the two platforms outside of the glass
I really appreciate the thorough and thoughtful discussion of this tube. I don't remember how I first figured out the tube but it has always stuck in my head as "unfair". The tube has always bothered me as the only inexcusable flaw in an otherwise perfect game.
this is really funny because my experience with the glass tube was just “huh, there are platforms there. i wonder if the power bomb cracks anything? oh. cool.”
That was the moment for me. I played this back in the era before walkthroughs. I was wandering aimlessly for hours and hours. Eventually figured it out by accident. It blew my mind.
I unironically was thinking sarcastically the glass tube in meridia being the special moment, come to find out it is. Im not even upset youre just right
Watching the video at first I thought it was very similar to Game Maker's Toolkit's Super Metroid Boss Keys video, but after finishing it I think this video highlights something that really should have been mentioned more in his video on the game. I now think this and his video are required viewing when understanding Super Metroid's Game and World Design.
7:44 "We are the Knights Who Say Ni! You will bring us a shrubbery!"
When I saw the title of the video, this was quite literally the moment I expected you to talk about. To this day, I still feel extremely ashamed of myself for getting stuck by that glad tube as a kid. I had to wait until thy next time my mom went to Walmart so o could go find the super Metroid strategy guide in the electronics department and read what I was supposed to do next. Then when I found out about the tube being shattered by power bombs, I swear that I tried that and it didn't work. But clearly I hadn't. I still get really upset with myself to this day for needing to read a guide. I was stuck for days on that tube.
Man, this part stumped me in the 90's to the point of absolute exhaustion and frustration. I'm not sure how I eventually figured it out, it was either a friend who told me, or eventually an online guide, but I couldn't for the life of me figure this out for myself as a kid.
Oh my fucking god it IS the tube. I was thinking there's no way it's the glass tube to Meridia but that's literally my favorite moment and so memorable.
I honestly figured this out right away from seeing the commercial for the game a bunch of times before getting the game. In the commercial it shows Samus using the power bomb on the glass tube, and although it doesn't show it shattering, it did make me try the same thing the very first time I entered the glass tube with powerbomb equipped. I was very surprised when I saw it break.
The Maridia tube is a great moment, but my favourite moment, since I experienced it on my first ever playthrough of Super Metroid, is the elevator ride to lower Norfair. Chills every time.
I remember the first time I did this way back in the 90s! You end up dropping a bomb there because "I wonder..." Lo and Behold, you now have limited access to a place you don't need to be. It was awesome, and really let you explore a wonderfully alien place with mostly new mechanics relative to what you've experienced so far in the game.
I loved the original on the NES. I was 12 years old when I played it. I was stoked when I found out there was going to be a Super Metroid. I remember the day I bought it. It was a warm spring day. I remember when I left the store I sat in my car and read the manual before racing home to play it.
classic "try till it works" that many would do XD
That reference to NES Zelda, let's not forget the utter insanity that is the Second Quest, where (starting from Level-2) you have to press yourself against walls to discover invisible secret passages, most of which are one-way AND required to finish the dungeon.
9:20 I played Super Metroid during the summer of '96 when I was 15 years old. I solved the Maridia glass tube puzzle on my own. It took me a while, but the broken glass in the other tube was the tell. To this day, when I play through the game, I'm still pretty proud that I figured it out.
It was exactly the moment I thought of.
Your thumbnail says not the one you are thinking of but it is like this is when videogames gained consciousness.
I've been playing Metroid games for as long as I can remember and I'm today years old when I learned that the "keys" you need have the color of the locks on them....
I actually never thought too much about that glass tube. I found out about breaking it from a gaming magazine, but after the fact, saw the other room with the already broken one and looking at the twisted metal, it was clear something exploded in there. That was when I put two and two together and realized that was the in game hint for it, but I've never been the best at solving those types of puzzles anyway.
Being one of the people that had to look up the solution, and still feeling a bit dumb for it, I loved how all the tension coming from the seemingly glowing praise coming for that was the quick joke at 1:57 !
Also given what I've seen from your videos you might be interested in Void Stranger, don't ask how I know.
A few years ago I heard one of the Retsupurae guys mention the "glass hallway moment." Ever since then I've used that as short hand for ah-ha! moments.
I have no idea how I figured out that I needed to use a super bomb to break that glass, but I remember it being the most awesome "hallelujah" moment.
I vividly remember 8 year old me being totally stumped at the part when you’re supposed to break that tube. I eventually figured it out, but I was stuck on that part for longer than any other part in Super Metroid.
Awesome game man there day 1 I'm so old 😢❤
There is also the standing chozo statue "puzzle" which had even less hint to a first-time player
My brother and I were stuck there for days, even to the point where we wondered off from wreaked ship, stuck at and eventually figured out this glass tube, only to find little progress as we did not have the Gravity Suit
You didn't save the Etecoons and Dachoras!
Funnily enough this was the one thing that stumped me back in 1995 when I first played this game. And I had the Player's Guide (infact I had two copies) but they didn't explain the frickin' tube. I was stumped for years.
I think I agree that this is a cool moment, but I also think it’s inherently flawed. Maybe I’m biased bc I had to look up the answer, but my thoughts are this: I could tell that it was a room that had more to it than we could see, but I figured we’d enter from either the top or bottom, with the tunnel being a foreground piece. I almost like the idea of “things work like we expect in real life” as the solution bc it is clever, but why then would a normal bomb not do the trick? I do think that if you’re paying enough attention to notice the other room having a broken tunnel than it becomes a lot better bc you know (or at least have a guess) that the intact tunnel can also be broken, but idk.
At least it’s not the invisible wall in Ridley’s layer
The invisible wall there is actually a flaw in the games programming. X-Ray scope couldn’t function in rooms that had lighting effects, like the bugs. So the unfortunate technical programming issue had a problematic effect on the progressional path forward.
Interesting, never knew that
Funny enough this was the moment I thought of lol Something about blowing up the tube to get access to a massive area was so cool to me as a kid.
I might be stupid, but I definitely would have never figured out a Power Bomb would break that glass tube without the internet.
Thanks, this was a very cool video to watch about Super Metroid. I usually hear people complaining about the tube in Maridia and I'm going to be honest, I also needed to use a guide when I first played it 20ish years ago. ALSO, I'm gonna be *that* guy: 6:19 *X-Ray Scope 😇
i know this is supposed to be about the glass tube and what not but
WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT THING ABOUT DRAYGON???
i'm in absolute emotional shock??? in all honesty, i've not played super metroid a lot, only or three times and two of those were in a randomizer, but how in the world would anyone thing about shooting those things? like legitimately, the only thing even REMOTELY smiliar i can think of is the wall projectiles in the mother brain fight and the similar control units from dread, and neither of those are destructible
i am in serious emotional distress at how many attempts this damn boss took me
I hated that moment.
It was the only time in a Metroid game where I had to look up what to do, because the game gave no indication at that spot, there was nothing notable about that spot, it was the only time you had to do something like that.
Nah, I'll take falling into and getting trapped in the Brinstar loop, or learning shine spark from the bird thing as much better moments and design, in my opinion.
Shine spark in particular, because it isn't required to beat the game.
It's ok to have obscure things players could only figure out through experimentation, but that glass tunnel was mandatory.
If it were just an optional shortcut I'd be ok with it.
I agree with the description, I actually hate this about Metroidvanias
this example in particular isn't so bad because as you mention the tube itself stands out and the fact that you can see open areas above and below it are good hints, but the issue with it being broken with a power bomb is that by that point you already tried everything else without success, so it wouldn't be unreasonable to think a normal player would assume that the tube is unbreakable and forget about it, since powerbombs are such a late game items, and even then when you have them, there aren't any other examples of powerbombs interacting with glass, maybe if they had some glass break in the first room you get the powerbomb your brain would make the connection but using it on the tube tends to be a last ditch effort to progress (add to that the fact that power bomb ammo is extremely hard to come by in metroid games)
but what I really hate is when metroidvanias break their own rules, I have no problem going into every new room and try to bomb every inch of walls, floor and ceiling to at least reveal one of the block that tell you "you need X thing to break this", but I don't know why the developers suddenly decided to have rooms where...that doesn't happen and you just have to KNOW to use a powerbomb without indication, because yeah there's also the X ray visor but unless I'm mistaken in order to get it you must first go through some invisible blocks that only after you get the visor you can be like "oooh that's what was blocking me"
For me this is the main issue I have with games like super metroid and dread, if you condition me to look for hints don't just suddenly stop giving hints mid way through, one of the reasons Fusion is my favourite metroid is the fact that its map is marked to let you know that there is SOMETHING in the room to collect, it doesn't say what or how to get it but at least after you get a new powerup you know you have a couple leftover spots you can go directly to try your new gear out, instead of having to do a full runback through all the map
And please god don't do it like metroid prime where the game tells to go to X room, just to have a roadblock there and give you a hint that what you need is actually in another region, so that when you come back to the SAME ROOM you can move 2 feet forward just to find ANOTHER roadbloack and need ANOTHER hint to go halfway through the whole map AGAIN
i shouted "TRUUUUE" out loud several times while watching this video
they did the same for dread
My favorite moment is the early ambush on Zebes. Huh, that eyeball thing didn’t hurt me, guess it’s not too important. *Exit to find the halls you have to backtrack through are now filled with pirates as the music suddenly tosses the quiet ambience out for a tense battle theme.*
I'm watching a La-Mulana 2 playthrough right now, and I could not believe my eyes when the streamer used a bomb to destroy a glass tube very similar to the one in Super Metroid. There was already such a glass tube in La-Mulana 1, and it was obviously meant to be a reference to Super Metroid, but back in that game, you couldn't destroy the tube. But in La-Mulana 2, you can. It's not required, it's only a shortcut, but I love that they did that anyway.
I didn't see this mentioned in the video, but Maridia can also be accessed via the wrecked ship, which leads you to standing on top of the breakable glass tunnel. Using a power bomb naturally breaks it in the same way.
By itself that room would be quite cryptic (ignoring the obvious platform above the glass tube), but everything the game teaches you up until that point makes the puzzle pretty obvious. I love this game and Metroid as a whole, it's a franchise full of insane game design
One of the greatest things i find in Super Metroid is that it teaches you the first playthrough, and warns you the following ones.
-"You are not supposed to be here yet".
Early reach to certain areas makes them extremely hostile, but it doesn't stop you from trying them out. You know you put yourself at risk and if you die, you are the only one to blame. But the game respects your drive to try.
And, being able to reach those areas and survive them feels like true skill. As if power ups were really optional, and it were up to the player to be on par with the power Samus always had from the beginning.
I’m pretty sure I figured this out by copying the commercial for the game: In the commercial they show a bunch of scenes and one of those was her laying a power bomb in that room, but the scene changes before showing you the tunnel breaking.
I remember thinking to try that myself thinking “it’s just like the commercial!” And being surprised when it actually did something and shattered. Either that, or I can’t remember if the attract screen that plays on the title screen shows something like that as well, similar to the crystal flash tease and diagonal shinespark they show you.
Either way that’s how I figured it out without a guide when I was super young
Maridia tube is definitely the defining moment for me as well. You kinda had to have been there at the time, not knowing what to expect -- Static backgrounds just didn't *do* that back then. It would've come as a complete surprise, even shock, to hide an entirely new area there, and one you probably wouldn't even be prepared for yet since players who reached west maridia first wouldn't likely have had the gravity suit yet. It firmly established the tone of the game. There were so many cinematic moments in SM that basically showed what set pieces could be in an exploration platformer, but that one was the best.
The point "glass acts like glass" and its build up seems very at odds with earlier in the video when you present the hypotherical curious player shooting it with beams, missiles, and bombs. I don't think it acts much like glass at all.