Current Events > Playing Super Metroid for the first time

(+) Yeah! (+)

Also Finding Paradise, but I doubt anyone cares about that.

Ive played most of the Castlevanias but this is only my 2nd Metroid game after Zero Mission.

Just beat Kraid. Ran out of missiles/super missiles and had to rely on charge shots and the odd missile drop from his projectiles. Much harder than his Zero Mission incarnation. The Chozo robot statue at the beginning was scary too.

the path forward is much more obscure than Zero Mission. The elevator room where you need to super missile the blocks to the right seemed so secret that I thought I found a secret collectible or something. The one leading to the blue room with the demonic face, towards Kraid.

The crack/fissure you need to bomb to create a path downwards towards Kraig also took me a while, despite the fissure being pretty unique-looking for the area. Didnt really scream bombable 4x4 pixel square so I thought it was just set dressing. This tells me Ill have to inspect the environment more thoroughly than just looking for inconspicuous tiles.

I do know the Kraid area is hinted at by the map. When you download the map it will include a few tiles past that wall. If youre observant of the environment and other things you can find quite a few secrets. But some are more of a sixth sense gut feeling thing while others are totally random.

Yeah I'd assume zero mission would be easier. It's a remake and in my experience remakes tend to be easier than the og.

discodancer77 posted...

Also Finding Paradise, but I doubt anyone cares about that.

To the Moon >>>>>>>>>>> Impostor Factory >>> Finding Paradise, but Wish My Life Away is a fantastic song

Got the Speed Boots, Phazer, Wave Beam, and Ice Beam. I believe now my time in Norfair is done, and I use the ice beam to create some platforms to go back up that giant pit I fell down (I actually spent some time wall jumping to climb out, but I hit a dead end that required the Ice Beam anyway)

Im gonna see it through obviously, but Super Metroid Redux seems really appealing for future playthroughs. Same game but it adds auto run without needing to hold a button, as well as GBA-style controls for aiming and missiles, and the heavier GBA-style physics.

MartavisBryant posted...

To the Moon >>>>>>>>>>> Impostor Factory >>> Finding Paradise, but Wish My Life Away is a fantastic song

To the Moon was so good, I wondered why Finding Paradise didn't hit me as hard. Haven't played Impostor Factory but I want to at some point.

. When loading up a save the game really just allows you to begin from anywhere huh? Is that a bug? No way thats intended.

Fiddled around with it and it literally allows me to get dropped off in the wrecked ship I havent accessed yet, a giant water body in Maridia I havent come across, and even smack in the middle of the action in Tourian, with those evil rings on the way to the Mother Brain fight. Is this how it is for everyone? I havent even fought Ridley or Phantoon or Crocomire yet and Im allowed to load up a save right in front of the final boss?

No that definitely doesn't sound right.

__aCEr__ posted...

No that definitely doesn't sound right.

Im playing via emulator on 3DS but there are no cheats enabled and it was a fresh save https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/6754e3b9.jpghttps://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/6533906b.jpg

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/6533906b.jpg

Yeah, sounds like it might be a bug, probably caused by the emulator. That's new to me though. I know when booting up a save it first shows the map to show where you last saved but IIRC it won't let you choose where to start from. It's either a bug or a feature of the rom/emulator.

Yeah my other question was that it doesnt really let me load from the save room I used last. Each area of the game seems to start me in the most basic save room. Samus ship for Crateria, the first save room for Brinstar, etc

not that its really an issue, I just use savestates to pick up where I left off

I plan to intersperse some of the Prime games in there, but yes, Fusion will be my next 2D Metroid. And I plan to play AM2R BEFORE getting around to Samus Returns and Dread

Samus returns was good. Too much reliance on parrys (but they ain't hard just not normal for Samus to use melee attacks) but it was still good

I'm still not sure how I feel on the final boss though.

Im at the famous-for-good-game-design-reasons room with the lone missile tank that is juuuussssst out of reach until getting the grapple beam. Stopped there for now. I also found an Energy Tank power up when exploring Crateria and the left/west side of Brinstar. What do they do? It sounds to me like its just another E Tank that only kicks in when I die.

As for Finding Paradise, Im beginning to think Faye is an imaginary friend, and Colin simply has an overactive imagination that mixes with his real memories

Yeah, reserve tanks? Basically what fairies are to Link.

HudGard posted...

Yeah, reserve tanks? Basically what fairies are to Link.

Felt more like a extended health bar without it making the actual health bar longer. Samus doesn't go through the death animation iirc.

But I guess that's semantics

Does it give me one red life bar square thingy or all of them? Would be cool if it instantly refilled missiles and superbombs once depleted

This game is quite a bit more convoluted than most Metroid games until you start playing it enough to know it better. Bosses can also be more challenging in general, and some have a few weird ways to beat them. There is a reason this game is considered one of the GOAT's of the genre.

It also has the most convoluted wall jumping that takes a lot of practice to even be able to do it a bit.

100 health per reserve tank.

You can activate them manually in the menu if you want.

I found wall jumping easier here than in ZM. Maybe its just cuz its not a brand new concept to me anymore. But I also find one-wall jumps easier than jumping back-and-forth between two jumps lol. Anyways just beat Crocomire and got the grapple beam via that always cool running jump. That reminds me, I got really good at shinesparking and ball sparking in all directions when getting 100% completion in Zero Mission, but its so much more finicky in Super. So I havent bothered with it much.

As of right now, Super Metroid clears SotN pretty confidently imo. Although Im weird cuz I think Aria of Sorrow might be better than SotN too; it stands on the shoulders of a giant so credit must be given, but it trims a ton of the fat. Super Metroid is fat-free to begin with.

SotN plays so fluidly and has so much style that people (myself included) give it a pass for a lot of the legitimate game balance issues it has.

Super Metroid is probably just a better game. Even if I can't wall jump worth a fuck in it.

discodancer77 posted...

I found wall jumping easier here than in ZM. Maybe its just cuz its not a brand new concept to me anymore. But I also find one-wall jumps easier than jumping back-and-forth between two jumps lol. Anyways just beat Crocomire and got the grapple beam via that always cool running jump. That reminds me, I got really good at shinesparking and ball sparking in all directions when getting 100% completion in Zero Mission, but its so much more finicky in Super. So I havent bothered with it much.

As of right now, Super Metroid clears SotN pretty confidently imo. Although Im weird cuz I think Aria of Sorrow might be better than SotN too; it stands on the shoulders of a giant so credit must be given, but it trims a ton of the fat. Super Metroid is fat-free to begin with.

SotN is better if you ask me but I prefer those RPG mechanics quite a bit, sure if you want a more cut and dry experience that trims a lot of the random shit SotN has then Super Metroid does that. Crap Metroid games in general would do that a lot better you probably would love most of the rest of the series.

discodancer77 posted...

Also Finding Paradise, but I doubt anyone cares about that.

I like both Super Metroid AND Finding Paradise (though To the Moon is definitely the apex of the trilogy).

discodancer77 posted...

And I plan to play AM2R BEFORE getting around to Samus Returns and Dread

AM2R is one of the best fan games I think I have ever played. It captures the feel and playstyle of GBA-era Metroid perfectly. I actually significantly prefer it to Samus Returns - I didn't care for the parry mechanic that SR loves, and the game lacks that light horror element that the good Metroid games capture so well. Metroid Fusion, the first two Prime games, and even Super Metroid at points had me feeling on-edge; I didn't get that from SR or Dread.

Sufferedphoenix posted...

I'm still not sure how I feel on the final boss though.

The thing that really annoys me about SR's final boss is that they could have done something really, really, really cool with it instead.

Like, imagine this: if you complete the game on easy, the game ends as the original does. You head back to the surface, see the peaceful, starry sky, fly away, roll credits. Finish the game on normal and you get an additional cutscene of Samus delivering the baby Metroid to Ceres Station. However, if you beat the game on hard mode, you get the stormy skies and the Crateria-remix BGM from the new version. You still fly off, you get the same cutscene as the normal ending, but just as the credits are about to roll, an alarm sounds in Samus's ship and you get a message: "Ceres Station is under attack!". You then get to play through a redone version of Super Metroid's intro stage, culminating in the boss fight with Ridley at the end, but now instead of the ho-hum hopeless boss fight it was in Super, it's actually a challenge like Returns made it. Beat him and you have to escape the station before it explodes and the credits roll over a shot of Samus's gunship flying out of the station, warping out of the area, and then a final shot of it bearing down on Zebes.

I think that would have been a phenomenal wrap-up and wouldn't really require much of a change over what they wound up doing. You could use it to build up hype for a potential Super Metroid remake, while not tying yourself to doing so if Samus Returns and/or Dread wind up flopping; it adds in an escape sequence, a series staple that Returns lacked; and it doesn't feel tacked on the way the Ridley fight did in Returns, since it's more of a bonus boss instead. And if you really want to keep the tie-in to the Prime games, you could have the discarded remnants of Meta-Ridley lying in a corner of Ceres Station during your pass through or something.

I dunno, the devs came so close to greatness on that one...

darkknight109 posted...

I like both Super Metroid AND Finding Paradise (though To the Moon is definitely the apex of the trilogy).

AM2R is one of the best fan games I think I have ever played. It captures the feel and playstyle of GBA-era Metroid perfectly. I actually significantly prefer it to Samus Returns - I didn't care for the parry mechanic that SR loves, and the game lacks that light horror element that the good Metroid games capture so well. Metroid Fusion, the first two Prime games, and even Super Metroid at points had me feeling on-edge; I didn't get that from SR or Dread.

The thing that really annoys me about SR's final boss is that they could have done something really, really, really cool with it instead.

Like, imagine this: if you complete the game on easy, the game ends as the original does. You head back to the surface, see the peaceful, starry sky, fly away, roll credits. Finish the game on normal and you get an additional cutscene of Samus delivering the baby Metroid to Ceres Station. However, if you beat the game on hard mode, you get the stormy skies and the Crateria-remix BGM from the new version. You still fly off, you get the same cutscene as the normal ending, but just as the credits are about to roll, an alarm sounds in Samus's ship and you get a message: "Ceres Station is under attack!". You then get to play through a redone version of Super Metroid's intro stage, culminating in the boss fight with Ridley at the end, but now instead of the ho-hum hopeless boss fight it was in Super, it's actually a challenge like Returns made it. Beat him and you have to escape the station before it explodes and the credits roll over a shot of Samus's gunship flying out of the station, warping out of the area, and then a final shot of it bearing down on Zebes.

I think that would have been a phenomenal wrap-up and wouldn't really require much of a change over what they wound up doing. You could use it to build up hype for a potential Super Metroid remake, while not tying yourself to doing so if Samus Returns and/or Dread wind up flopping; it adds in an escape sequence, a series staple that Returns lacked; and it doesn't feel tacked on the way the Ridley fight did in Returns, since it's more of a bonus boss instead. And if you really want to keep the tie-in to the Prime games, you could have the discarded remnants of Meta-Ridley lying in a corner of Ceres Station during your pass through or something.

I dunno, the devs came so close to greatness on that one...

I don't like locking content behind a difficulty mode. So I disagree with that. At best I could see locking it behind completion rating

But yes the fact he got shoehorned in just because he's popular is what I was unsure how I felt about

Finding Paradise was really good. Really intrigued by whatever is being built towards in the real world. Dr.Watts scenes at the end of To The Moon and FP, as well as the Dr.Eva cliffhanger at the end of the Christmas minisode seem to point towards something sinister. I also like how much levity there is in these games despite the sentimentality, as well as they dont ignore that fact that Sigmund Corp is deeply dystopian

Not sure if Wrecked Ship is supposed to come before Maridia, but thats where I am now. I like how all the doors dont work and I instead need to get around by blasting all the destructible walls, of which there are a lot more in this area, signifying how the ship is old and falling apart

Yeah, Wrecked Ship is just before Maridia.

discodancer77 posted...

As of right now, Super Metroid clears SotN pretty confidently imo. Although Im weird cuz I think Aria of Sorrow might be better than SotN too; it stands on the shoulders of a giant so credit must be given, but it trims a ton of the fat. Super Metroid is fat-free to begin with.

I also enjoyed Aria more than SotN

The game is so good at subtly telling you what is and is not possible, and what to look out for. Theres a pipe with broken wires you MUST roll through to get to the bottom section of the wrecked ship, and theres also the same tile leading to the passage to the boss. The game did this a handful of times already but this was just the most recent.

Also loved that surprise facehugger hidden inside the blocks at the end of the forested Brinstar area and the pit into Norfair. Forces you to use a bomb to kill the facehugger thing and the bomb blows up the ground youre standing under, seamlessly guiding you to the next area.

I asked about the Maridia thing first, cuz I noticed I was able to Power Bomb the pipe any time I wanted to. I used save states because I know Im not supposed to know about that yet. That noob tunnel is the subject of many YouTube analysis videos of this game and I was forced to learn about it as it was the inspiration for escaping the Space Pirate Ship and exploring Zebes postgame in Zero Mission. I also know from zero mission that Ill be able to push these little tin can robots using missiles. Just gotta beat Phantoon now and go from there.

edit:t the exposed pipe leading to phantoon also has those green bugs that scurry off when approached, leading your eye to it even more! This game has a great invisible hand

The reserve tank near the walking chozo statue requiring shinespark having a bottomless pit is a d**k move lol

I like the livelier music in Zero Mission more. And the controls. Holy hell I miss using L to aim and R to fire missiles. I look forward to replays of this game using control hacks like the Redux one I mentioned

Man you're in for a treat! I wish I could play sm for the first time again.

If it's the one I'm thinking of, I will admit to getting stuck in the noob tunnel.

I definitely got a bit stuck on the noob bridge which requires you to sprint.

The noob bridge wasnt an issue cuz Run is one of the remappable controls, so I knew it was a thing. If I didnt already know about the noob pipe idk how long it would take for me to figure out. Did I mention I hate the controls lol. I mapped Run to the R button so my thumb wouldnt cramp while running+jumping+shooting, but the trade-off is that I cant aim downwards while stationary. Zero Mission wouldnt have this problem.