LogFAQs > #952260825

#1. Super Metroid (SNES, 1994)





Here we are, the best game ever. Which also happens to be my favorite game. Because it's the best.

When Super Metroid first came out, it was easily my most anticipated game. Metroid 2 had been kind of fun, but I wasn't a super fan of Metroid or anything. Every magazine preview and review just made Super Metroid look more and more exciting. I'm not even sure why this seemed so much better than everything else, but it did. And somehow, it completely lived up to the experience, even surpassing it.

Super Metroid is a fantastic game for what it opts to not tell you, but show you. Story-wise, you get the initial bits of text, but otherwise, it's a lot of atmospheric visuals and music that lead the story. You see places awaken, like Crateria after you start taking items, or the Wrecked Ship when that path is opened. Ridley's actions are clearly told. And then you get the final scenes, some very impactful story-telling that fits in with the gameplay and plays out events with these weird non-human creatures in very understandable behavior.

As far as the design of the game, and how the game conveys so much to you, even when it doesn't seem so... I don't even know how I can do this justice without going through each and every room. The game leads left and vertically early on, to show that paths go in any direction. The early bombable blocks are clearly different, and lead to new areas, and encourage the exploration. There are barriers presented way before you have a way to break through, often with enticing items on the other side, or marked on your map downloads, to encourage you to loop back later. There are friendly creatures that teach you weird mechanics that you otherwise don't even need to use. The glass tube through Maridia is such an iconic room. The way the map has you dip your toes in some areas, just to get a feel, like Norfair, before sending you back.

I also want to point out the overall map design. This is before warp points were really a big thing in non-linear games. Zebes is a pretty huge world to explore, and it could take a while to get anywhere. As the game goes on, and more paths are opened or accessible, the map is full of a lot of loops you can take. Sure, you could go from Crateria, and through Brinstar, and into Norfair, then the lower Norfair loop, and back up, into Maridia, through the upper part, across the Wrecked Ship, and back into Crateria, and you would hit most of the map. But there is the red Brinstar shaft and the room from Maridia that connects back to the top of it; Maridia has the tubes and sandpits back toward the bottom; Brinstar connects back to the early Crateria areas; Lower Norfair connects back to upper through a hidden path on the top right. It's not perfect in how you get around, but Super Metroid had so much care put into the design that there are all these paths around the planet. You don't have to return to the same boring hub area over and over. Even when not collecting items, there is just exploration to be found all over. I probably get more worked up about how fantastic this is than most people would care to even consider, but it's just so amazing how the layout of this game all came together; how perfectly it all flows.



Super Metroid is also a game with low challenge or high challenge or whatever you want to make of it. You can take your time and search areas, shine the X-Ray Scope around. You can collect everything to have loads of health and hopefully blast away at everything. But it can also be a challenge to find all the secrets. Some people would rather move on with 50% items, and that's okay! And there's the timer. 3 hours seemed like a tough requirement back in the day, and is still a big challenge for some people. But then others, they push some crazy times. Or people fight for low item percentages. Or bosses out of order. Super Metroid has been busted open by players over the years as they find the most ridiculous skips and tricks and challenges... and yet, it all still holds together, with each challenge just being another chapter in the crazy list of ways to enjoy the game. There are so many movement options too, with running and speedboosting and wall-jumping and bomb jumping and horizontal bomb jumping and grapple hooking and morph ball rolling and mock balling and ice beam freezing and shinesparking, it just feels good to move around in this game. Speed runs at GDQ events are always huge for Super Metroid, and they can go with so many variants on what type of run they do. For a game I've played a bunch, it also feels at times like I haven't played Super Metroid enough, because I don't have so much experience with a lot of the challenges.

It seems like I could say a lot more, but it's also hard to continue to put into words the way this game makes me feel. There's no boring stretch to play, there's no boring way to play. I'm just happy and excited inside whenever play Super Metroid, whenever I see it. If I have to point out one flaw, it's maybe that the game offers too many control options for the SNES controller, and some kind of claw grip has to come in to play. But like, that's it. There have been a couple moments where games near the top of my list hit number 1, but it's pretty much always been Super Metroid in the number 1 spot since the mid-'90s. And I don't know what it will take for a game to ever move into that top spot over it. It could just be the best game forever, and you know what? That's great.





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