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StarTopic Metroid |ST| Praise The Process

Metroid Prime 4 in the June 2024 Nintendo Direct?

  • Total voters
    58
  • Poll closed .
Reader mode
Damn, now I'm itching for a Metroid Dread replay between Pikmin 4 and Starfield...despite there being no ending in sight for Pikmin 4. Why am I like this lol
 
xaszatm said:
...to be honest the sheer amount of bile AM2R fans will spit out at the 3DS remake has always made me shy away from AM2R. It was way fucking worse pre launch too. The amount of "Samus Returns was made in 6 months to kill AM2R and AM2R should have been made official, how dare Sakamoto!" was too fucking much. Especially since the creator of AM2R has gone of record for liking Samus Returns and those same "fans" of AM2R responded by attacking the creator for "not getting his place".
Click to expand...
It's not that I'm doubting this happened (I was only following the whole AM2R vs. Samus Returns fuss back then at a surface level), but this sounds unpleasant and extreme enough to where if these folks are still around, they're thankfully part of a hyper minority that I'd say don't make it worth holding lingering animosity toward the game itself over. Certainly none of these folks are on Fami, and thank goodness for that.

DoctorM64 poured a ton of effort into his game. So did MercurySteam into theirs. Both remakes are great, and should each be enjoyed by fans on their own respective merits. I only played AM2R for the first time last year, and ymmv of course, but in my case, it lived up to the years of Metroid fans hyping it up. I hope people continue to be open to giving it a shot, because it's still such a clear labor of love by an independent dev, despite a few obnoxious people weaponizing it against the official equivalent.
 
Aurc said:
It's not that I'm doubting this happened (I was only following the whole AM2R vs. Samus Returns fuss back then at a surface level), but this sounds unpleasant and extreme enough to where if these folks are still around, they're thankfully part of a hyper minority that I'd say don't make it worth holding lingering animosity toward the game itself over. Certainly none of these folks are on Fami, and thank goodness for that.

DoctorM64 poured a ton of effort into his game. So did MercurySteam into theirs. Both remakes are great, and should each be enjoyed by fans on their own respective merits. I only played AM2R for the first time last year, and ymmv of course, but in my case, it lived up to the years of Metroid fans hyping it up. I hope people continue to be open to giving it a shot, because it's still such a clear labor of love by an independent dev, despite a few obnoxious people weaponizing it against the official equivalent.
Click to expand...
I'm sure it is. Most fangame creators do it because they love the franchise. It's why I do plan on trying AM2R after going back to Super Metroid.

I also wanted to try NES Metroid and GB Metroid II and Super Metroid first and...uh...I started this retrospective back before Samus Returns released so it shows how fast I am at this lol.
 
xaszatm said:
Eh, Samus Returns kind of feels like a needed test run for Mercury Steam. As much as people love to rag on it and make unkind statements, it's status as the stepping stone that brings us to Dread makes it hard for me to hate the game.

...to be honest the sheer amount of bile AM2R fans will spit out at the 3DS remake has always made me shy away from AM2R. It was way fucking worse pre launch too. The amount of "Samus Returns was made in 6 months to kill AM2R and AM2R should have been made official, how dare Sakamoto!" was too fucking much. Especially since the creator of AM2R has gone of record for liking Samus Returns and those same "fans" of AM2R responded by attacking the creator for "not getting his place".
Click to expand...

People should be thankful Nintendo allowed AM2R to be released and out in the wild before shutting it down. The game was in development for like 8 years and they could have put the kibosh on that ages ago, especially with their own M2 releasing.

I can see preferring AM2R, as it really does feel like Zero Mission 2 while Samus Returns is something completely different. But of course, people just can't be happy that three different versions of M2 exist.
 
Heron said:
Man, Metroid 2 was one of the formative games of my early youth, and my first Metroid. I remember playing it in my Gran's house in Ireland in the dead of winter, no heating on, shivering under the blankets with that Game Boy light / magnifier thing, and being completely terrified the whole time I was playing it. Such an insane atmosphere that game created with so little to work with. And just such an incredible game by game boy standards. Like, easily a top 5 game boy game for me. Does it hold up nowadays? Absolutely not. But the core idea of the map design, the spider ball, hunting and exterminating a defined number of progressively more dangerous - it's all just an incredible concept.

So when Samus Returns came out I was excited. And I liked it! Because it was the first decent Metroid game in a decade, and made real improvements to Metroid gamefeel. But was it in any way the Metroid 2 I remembered? It was not. Only reminded me of Metroid 2 once or twice in the whole thing, and the level design was distinctly unmemorable. But a decent game none the less.

So then after being harrassed to try it for YEARS, I finally tried AM2R. Took that long because I typically hate fan games. Boy was I wrong. Not only does it feel like Metroid 2 incarnate from start to finish, it's one of the best remakes of anything I've ever played. I loved, loved, loved it. Part of my enjoyment, though, was playing it on a hacked Switch. I tried on PC and I just can't enjoy playing games - any games - on a computer screen. Playing in portable mode on Switch it really felt like an official Nintendo release, and made me wish Nintendo still made old-school sprite games.

So yeah, I can understand if anyone is hesitant but if you've got a hacked Switch you have to try it. It's just fantastic. I think I prefer it to Zero Mission and possibly Fusion too.
Click to expand...

I don't think AM2R (or SR) captures what M2 was about in the same way I don't feel Zero Mission captures the essence of M1. To me they're more of reimaginings than remakes. I know terminology for these kinds of things get confusing, but they're so distinct to the point of being alllllmost brand new games. It's great that we can experience and appreciate them all.
 
Tangerine_Cookie said:
I happened upon this post when doing my rounds around tumblr today and thought I had to share it here. Apologies if it has been posted before I haven't kept up with the entire thread aaaa

Click to expand...

Metroid is actually about the love for Round Things
FDAXXWlVQAU_R0W
FDAXY1dUcAUQo9B

FDAXaDrUYAAwpVN


I too relate to the feeling of hiding in a corner and curling up in a ball!
 
Just got past the Quiet Robe scene in Dread, that was really cool, and especially Samus speaking Chozo! Also I was lucky that I beat the robot boss with only one missile remaining.

While I enjoyed the game to begin with, I'm definitely feeling myself really liking it now. The addition of the Flash Shift is an incredible movement option (to the point where I sometimes forget it because I'm not used to it) and I love how the Speed Boost is used in this game - it's the only game that really lets you tear up pathways with it like you can in Super, and the new Shinespark both feels good to control and has a super cool animation.

I was working on FFX and having a blast with it, but I think at this point I'm putting it on hold temporarily to focus all my energies on Dread. Feel like I'm in the zone now so hopefully I can wrap it up over the next couple of days.
 
Mekanos said:
Just got past the Quiet Robe scene in Dread, that was really cool, and especially Samus speaking Chozo! Also I was lucky that I beat the robot boss with only one missile remaining.

While I enjoyed the game to begin with, I'm definitely feeling myself really liking it now. The addition of the Flash Shift is an incredible movement option (to the point where I sometimes forget it because I'm not used to it) and I love how the Speed Boost is used in this game - it's the only game that really lets you tear up pathways with it like you can in Super, and the new Shinespark both feels good to control and has a super cool animation.

I was working on FFX and having a blast with it, but I think at this point I'm putting it on hold temporarily to focus all my energies on Dread. Feel like I'm in the zone now so hopefully I can wrap it up over the next couple of days.
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My only criticism of the Quiet Robe scene is that the brainy bird bloke gets a bullet in the back after a single cutscene in which he spews off exposition. Feels like they could've kept him around at least a little bit longer, considering he's the first living, non-hostile Chozo Samus has ever encountered within the games themselves. They didn't have to have him be a "Chozo bozo" and get killed in such a silly way.

Flash Shift rules, and the fact that you're allowed to chain three of them before cooldown is super generous. I'd always wanted Samus to be given a dash, and she finally got one. It just adds a lot to how good the game feels to play, and Speed Booster / Shinespark feel awesome too. Dread is just straight-up dope in the game feel department.
 
TheSpaceBetween said:
I don't think AM2R (or SR) captures what M2 was about in the same way I don't feel Zero Mission captures the essence of M1. To me they're more of reimaginings than remakes. I know terminology for these kinds of things get confusing, but they're so distinct to the point of being alllllmost brand new games. It's great that we can experience and appreciate them all.
Click to expand...

Recapturing the essence of M1 and 2 just wouldn't be commercially viable today, it's part of why these games are beautiful, they're very unique experiences that will never be replicated again, aside from maybe some obscure indie game.
 
Mekanos said:
Just got past the Quiet Robe scene in Dread, that was really cool, and especially Samus speaking Chozo! Also I was lucky that I beat the robot boss with only one missile remaining.

While I enjoyed the game to begin with, I'm definitely feeling myself really liking it now. The addition of the Flash Shift is an incredible movement option (to the point where I sometimes forget it because I'm not used to it) and I love how the Speed Boost is used in this game - it's the only game that really lets you tear up pathways with it like you can in Super, and the new Shinespark both feels good to control and has a super cool animation.

I was working on FFX and having a blast with it, but I think at this point I'm putting it on hold temporarily to focus all my energies on Dread. Feel like I'm in the zone now so hopefully I can wrap it up over the next couple of days.
Click to expand...

Flash Shift is my favorite dodge mechanic of all time in any game. It just feels so incredible to use, and it doubles as a nifty traversal tool as well.
 
Dragoncaine said:
Metroid Dread is the greatest-feeling 2D game ever made.
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It's honestly hard to argue against this. It's just so mechanically sound, and every action you perform works great in conjunction with the level design and enemy encounters. If the music and art direction were stronger to match the magnificence of it's game design it would honestly make a case for best 2D game ever for me. But even as it is it's really high up there.
 
TheSpaceBetween said:
It's honestly hard to argue against this. It's just so mechanically sound, and every action you perform works great in conjunction with the level design and enemy encounters. If the music and art direction were stronger to match the magnificence of it's game design it would honestly make a case for best 2D game ever for me. But even as it is it's really high up there.
Click to expand...
I think Dread is a really nice looking game, but I'm excited to see what MS does with (presumably) a bigger budget for Metroid 6. Obviously 100% agreed on the OST front, it's mid at best lol but I do love the Burenia track
 
Dread is incredible and yeah, definitely the best 2D game ever in terms of controls. It plays like heaven. Also a strong contender in the boss design department, I think only Yoshi's Island can rival it.

Its only weakness imo is I wish its environments had a better mix between tight fast paced areas and bigger, more expansive areas that encourage slower exploration like previous games. It's narrow and funneled all the time and ends up feeling a bit claustrophobic and hindering the audio experience (I think the quality of the compositions isn't really the problem, the Artaria theme for example is one of the best in the franchise, it's more that the game wasn't designed in a way that they could shine).

In the end, it was a design choice and I see it as the focus of this particular entry, but I hope we get more variety in the future games.
 
Not a fan of that underwater boss. Trying to navigate in water and firing the grappling rod in time to get to the other side to hit the button is a pain, especially when if you are too late you have to repeat the whole section. Once you figure out that timing though it is pretty easy, but before then it's frustrating and you're kinda left unsure how to handle it. But I won so on we go.

I like this jungle-ish environment. If I had one criticism for Dread is its environments can be a bit drab and overly artificial, but it's great when it goes to a more natural feeling biome.
 
Mekanos said:
Not a fan of that underwater boss. Trying to navigate in water and firing the grappling rod in time to get to the other side to hit the button is a pain, especially when if you are too late you have to repeat the whole section. Once you figure out that timing though it is pretty easy, but before then it's frustrating and you're kinda left unsure how to handle it. But I won so on we go.

I like this jungle-ish environment. If I had one criticism for Dread is its environments can be a bit drab and overly artificial, but it's great when it goes to a more natural feeling biome.
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That boss is a Jim Bob. I vaguely remember hearing it was gonna be Draygon instead, but I'm not sure whether that was misinformation or not.

But yeah, Drogyga is one of the more mid bosses in Dread. The game has plenty of standout bosses, it's just this one that's sadly pretty forgettable.
 
Dark Cloud said:
Wow. That’s something I’d have to think about considering the quality 2D games that exist.
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Dread is also near the top of my 2D games ranking in general, but for me, it's just hard to think of a 2D title with better game feel. Ori and the Will of the Wisps got close and had some fantastic mechanics, and of course stuff like SMB3, World, and Celeste control like a dream, but the minute-to-minute traversal of Dread is crazy - especially when going for a 100% run like I did during my first two playthroughs.
 
Dragoncaine said:
Metroid Dread is the greatest-feeling 2D game ever made.
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I think the control scheme is too cumbersome and complicated for me to give it this. It was a struggle to get used to even as a veteran Metroid player, I didn't feel like I truly knew what I was doing until I had put like ten hours into it. Though I suppose something similar plagues most of the more expressive platformers out there, now that I think about it. Celeste is easy to grasp, but only because all the advanced stuff is treated more like the hidden techniques in Super Metroid, I feel like as a result most people will come away with the impression that the game is actually very rigid about your movement due to its difficulty. But that's better than fumbling with it the whole way through.

Dread's not the hardest to learn though, that'd be Dustforce, a game where the tutorial made me feel like the Cuphead guy. But it's one of the starker examples in a genre that is usually very easy to pick up and play. Probably because the vast majority of platformers only really use three buttons, especially 2D ones.
 
finally got the gravity suit, this game loves to force the player into agonizingly slow water sections

this sounds like a complaint but the sense of catharsis when you can finally move freely underwater is palpable
 
Stilt Village said:
I think the control scheme is too cumbersome and complicated for me to give it this. It was a struggle to get used to even as a veteran Metroid player, I didn't feel like I truly knew what I was doing until I had put like ten hours into it. Though I suppose something similar plagues most of the more expressive platformers out there, now that I think about it. Celeste is easy to grasp, but only because all the advanced stuff is treated more like the hidden techniques in Super Metroid, I feel like as a result most people will come away with the impression that the game is actually very rigid about your movement due to its difficulty. But that's better than fumbling with it the whole way through.

Dread's not the hardest to learn though, that'd be Dustforce, a game where the tutorial made me feel like the Cuphead guy. But it's one of the starker examples in a genre that is usually very easy to pick up and play. Probably because the vast majority of platformers only really use three buttons, especially 2D ones.
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Yeah I'd kind of agree on Dread. It's an awkward middle point because Zero Mission has very fluid movement and simplistic controls that are better for combat and aiming, while Super has much better potential for skill level play thanks to Wall jumps.

Tho I'm surprised by the Celeste mention. I know it's a popular speed run game, but I didn't realize it had much more complex controls? Then again I always drop it a few hours in so eh.
 
That Z-57 boss fight... I don't mind a tough boss, but I really dislike how they starve you for missiles until you get to the counter stages, there were multiple times when I was out of missiles and just had to keep dodging until I could get a refueling, not helped by him having a ton of health.

Maybe I'm low on missiles but I feel like I've gotten them as I've been playing and wouldn't even know where to start looking to get more.
 
Think I'm getting close to the end... looks like the only item I'm missing is the Power Bomb.

Quick question, this area in Ferrenia, anyone know how to get to these blocks? Is it a Power Bomb thing?

F3ywua6bQAA1t_P.png
 
0
well I didn't figure out what's in those blocks but I beat the game

will give my thoughts tomorrow, but overall I really liked it despite some issues

having beat all of Metroid 1-5 in some capacity, now I feel like a true* Metroid fan

*maybe I will try Prime one more time on Switch but not for a while
 
AngryAlchemist said:
Tho I'm surprised by the Celeste mention. I know it's a popular speed run game, but I didn't realize it had much more complex controls? Then again I always drop it a few hours in so eh.
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I wouldn't say Celeste actually has complex controls, is the thing. It's a three button game the same as Super Mario World or any number of other platformers, which is part of what makes it so surprising how expressive the movement is. Super Metroid really is the best comparison, because it's only when you become aware of the advanced techniques that you realize there are actually a lot of different options for moving through a room.

Dragoncaine said:
I only ever played Super Metroid for the first time in 2021 and despite loving the game, the controls were probably my biggest issue 😬
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The original version of Super Metroid is cumbersome in a different way because the way they handled item switching is terrible. Luckily Redux fixes all of that, to the point where I'd say it's the overall better way to play the game, and I'm generally leery of hacks like this that package so many little alterations together. The control scheme improvements and not having to sit locked in place through the whole item jingle and restart the music every time you get a missile tank are just too good to go back.
 
F31lTfUaYAE8JKl


Dread is definitely one of the Metroid games of all time.

I think decades later, Super is still the barometer of 2D Metroid. Every game since then, for better or worse, has lived in its shadow. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Dread comes the closest to Super IMO, but there is still a noticeable gap. It's the kind of game that just makes such a strong impression it's hard for me to imagine a game following in its footsteps surpassing it unless they took a radically different approach. All that said, it's still a really good game with a lot to enjoy. Samus' movement options are amazing, and more than any other Metroid title, by endgame you really do feel like a superhero. Level design is solid, and the story was interesting. Raven Beak was a fun villain and I'd be cool with seeing him again. And speaking as someone who found Samus Returns 3D bloated and tedious to the point of stopping halfway through, Dread is a massive improvement in just about every regard. Pacing and combat are sooooo much better. MS gets a Most Improved award there. Overall I had a really fun time with this game and consider it a worthy addition to my Switch collection.

That said, in terms of gameplay, I can think of two major issues here, both related to boss battles. I'm not against a good challenge in a game by any means, even though tough-as-nails battles are not usually what I look for in Metroid. Some boss battles in Dread I really enjoyed, some were a frustrating test of endurance. For me it basically comes down to this: you can give me a tanky boss with tons of health that takes forever to die, or you can give me a boss battle that has extended periods of invulnerability where you have to keep dodging until you can hit them again. Raven Beak's first and third phases are actually fantastic in this regard; you can hit him at almost any point in the boss battle and he doesn't take too much to go down. In that regard it reminds me of a classic Mega Man battle. The second phase... not only is he super tanky, but he has that attack where he shoots his beam in a 360 degree angle that just wastes time as you jump around. I felt similar with the boss with all the tentacles, towards the end I was dodging constantly until I could get a counter due to running out of missiles.

The second issue is how often the game reuses boss encounters, both the Chozo soldiers and the EMMI. The concept of the EMMI is interesting (there was more of Fusion's DNA in this game than I anticipated), but the general formula remaining the same with some tweaks means as the game goes on those sections are more likely to be a drag than tense or interesting. I think both of these issues though are tied to the developers desperately not wanting this game to be less than 10 hours as to justify its retail price while also reusing assets; I don't think these reused boss battles were bad in a vacuum, but it definitely spoke to a game that was perhaps stretched a bit thin in terms of development.

A third minor gameplay issue is you have so many moves, in the heat of battle it can be difficult to remember which button does which. The option to remap these would have been nice.

Moving on, there are two aesthetic issues that probably everyone knows about, the environments and the music. While the game's environments did get more varied as they went on (I especially love the frozen over sections), at the start you're in a lot of drab metallic areas. I still think Super Metroid's biodiversity is unmatched as far as 2D Metroid goes. And as for the music... everyone knows the problems there, but I never thought the music was bad, just not particularly memorable. I did like Artaria III, and there's probably other tracks I'd enjoy if I pulled them up, but yeah, definitely one of the weaker soundtracks in the series. Hopefully they take this criticism to heart. I'd like to see Kenji Yamamoto come back but I dunno what he's doing these days.

To close this out on a more positive note... like I said, I think MS had a really tough task here. Not only did they have to make the first brand new 2D Metroid in two decades, it was also a major flagship Switch release (not a late life 3DS remake that could be mostly ignored) as well as the game that would be a lot of people's first Metroid. They had to hit a balance of pleasing both old and new fans, and honestly for the most part I would say they succeeded. In a way it's a game that's both ambitious for Metroid and also plays it kind of safe, but I think that's a good thing. 2D Metroid needed to be re-established not just within its own series, but as a game worthy of being released on Nintendo's mainline consoles (since we only got portable games after the SNES), and with Dread's success I'm very confident we will continue to see more going forward. (I sure hope so as this is how I play Metroid at all!) I'm definitely looking forward to Metroid 6 and am optimistic they can address the issues in Dread.

How I'd rank the 2D Metroid games I've played to completion:

Super: S
Dread: A-
Zero Mission: B+
Fusion: B
Return Of Samus (GB): B-

Also can we get that sick ass Metroid Suit as an alt in Smash please
 
I still often revisit this moment from The Game Awards 2021:



2:08 if the timestamp doesn't work.

Still gives me goosebumps and teary eyes to this day.
 
Tangerine_Cookie said:
I happened upon this post when doing my rounds around tumblr today and thought I had to share it here. Apologies if it has been posted before I haven't kept up with the entire thread aaaa

Click to expand...

That's the most beautiful thing I've ever read/seen. Jesus Christ I fucking love this franchise 🥺🥺🥺🥺
 
Mekanos said:
F31lTfUaYAE8JKl


Dread is definitely one of the Metroid games of all time.

I think decades later, Super is still the barometer of 2D Metroid. Every game since then, for better or worse, has lived in its shadow. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Dread comes the closest to Super IMO, but there is still a noticeable gap. It's the kind of game that just makes such a strong impression it's hard for me to imagine a game following in its footsteps surpassing it unless they took a radically different approach. All that said, it's still a really good game with a lot to enjoy. Samus' movement options are amazing, and more than any other Metroid title, by endgame you really do feel like a superhero. Level design is solid, and the story was interesting. Raven Beak was a fun villain and I'd be cool with seeing him again. And speaking as someone who found Samus Returns 3D bloated and tedious to the point of stopping halfway through, Dread is a massive improvement in just about every regard. Pacing and combat are sooooo much better. MS gets a Most Improved award there. Overall I had a really fun time with this game and consider it a worthy addition to my Switch collection.

That said, in terms of gameplay, I can think of two major issues here, both related to boss battles. I'm not against a good challenge in a game by any means, even though tough-as-nails battles are not usually what I look for in Metroid. Some boss battles in Dread I really enjoyed, some were a frustrating test of endurance. For me it basically comes down to this: you can give me a tanky boss with tons of health that takes forever to die, or you can give me a boss battle that has extended periods of invulnerability where you have to keep dodging until you can hit them again. Raven Beak's first and third phases are actually fantastic in this regard; you can hit him at almost any point in the boss battle and he doesn't take too much to go down. In that regard it reminds me of a classic Mega Man battle. The second phase... not only is he super tanky, but he has that attack where he shoots his beam in a 360 degree angle that just wastes time as you jump around. I felt similar with the boss with all the tentacles, towards the end I was dodging constantly until I could get a counter due to running out of missiles.

The second issue is how often the game reuses boss encounters, both the Chozo soldiers and the EMMI. The concept of the EMMI is interesting (there was more of Fusion's DNA in this game than I anticipated), but the general formula remaining the same with some tweaks means as the game goes on those sections are more likely to be a drag than tense or interesting. I think both of these issues though are tied to the developers desperately not wanting this game to be less than 10 hours as to justify its retail price while also reusing assets; I don't think these reused boss battles were bad in a vacuum, but it definitely spoke to a game that was perhaps stretched a bit thin in terms of development.

A third minor gameplay issue is you have so many moves, in the heat of battle it can be difficult to remember which button does which. The option to remap these would have been nice.

Moving on, there are two aesthetic issues that probably everyone knows about, the environments and the music. While the game's environments did get more varied as they went on (I especially love the frozen over sections), at the start you're in a lot of drab metallic areas. I still think Super Metroid's biodiversity is unmatched as far as 2D Metroid goes. And as for the music... everyone knows the problems there, but I never thought the music was bad, just not particularly memorable. I did like Artaria III, and there's probably other tracks I'd enjoy if I pulled them up, but yeah, definitely one of the weaker soundtracks in the series. Hopefully they take this criticism to heart. I'd like to see Kenji Yamamoto come back but I dunno what he's doing these days.

To close this out on a more positive note... like I said, I think MS had a really tough task here. Not only did they have to make the first brand new 2D Metroid in two decades, it was also a major flagship Switch release (not a late life 3DS remake that could be mostly ignored) as well as the game that would be a lot of people's first Metroid. They had to hit a balance of pleasing both old and new fans, and honestly for the most part I would say they succeeded. In a way it's a game that's both ambitious for Metroid and also plays it kind of safe, but I think that's a good thing. 2D Metroid needed to be re-established not just within its own series, but as a game worthy of being released on Nintendo's mainline consoles (since we only got portable games after the SNES), and with Dread's success I'm very confident we will continue to see more going forward. (I sure hope so as this is how I play Metroid at all!) I'm definitely looking forward to Metroid 6 and am optimistic they can address the issues in Dread.

How I'd rank the 2D Metroid games I've played to completion:

Super: S
Dread: A-
Zero Mission: B+
Fusion: B
Return Of Samus (GB): B-

Also can we get that sick ass Metroid Suit as an alt in Smash please
Click to expand...
Fantastic analysis and ranking, so glad you thoroughly enjoyed it!

To my surprise, I enjoyed the boss fights more in Dread/found them more manageable here than in Fusion and possibly Super. Maybe it's just because my reflexes are better attuned for counters than the older design, but no doubt they're still extremely tough here. Couldn't believe when I 2nd-tried Kraid lol. All of this talk has me itching for a replay, probably when I need a break from Starfield
 
Joe said:
I still often revisit this moment from The Game Awards 2021:



2:08 if the timestamp doesn't work.

Still gives me goosebumps and teary eyes to this day.
Click to expand...

I would pay good money for a Metroid concert
 
Stilt Village said:
I wouldn't say Celeste actually has complex controls, is the thing. It's a three button game the same as Super Mario World or any number of other platformers, which is part of what makes it so surprising how expressive the movement is. Super Metroid really is the best comparison, because it's only when you become aware of the advanced techniques that you realize there are actually a lot of different options for moving through a room.
Click to expand...

Celeste has a bunch of hidden advanced techniques, some of them are never required, some are only required and taught in the extra level they added after the game was released.

Still, as complex as Celeste's physics and controls are, I don't think they're as good as Dread's because they aren't nearly as reliable. They work in Celeste because it's a game based on trial and error and quick repetition, Dread has complex controls but is still precise and 100% responsive to most average players. And I say that as someone who loves Celeste, they're just doing different things.
 
0
Dragoncaine said:
Fantastic analysis and ranking, so glad you thoroughly enjoyed it!

To my surprise, I enjoyed the boss fights more in Dread/found them more manageable here than in Fusion and possibly Super. Maybe it's just because my reflexes are better attuned for counters than the older design, but no doubt they're still extremely tough here. Couldn't believe when I 2nd-tried Kraid lol. All of this talk has me itching for a replay, probably when I need a break from Starfield
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Yeah, I think for me it’s just a personal thing. Like I said, give me a boss that is super tanky, OR give me a boss with extended invulnerable periods. If you give me both it is liable to become tedious.

I did really like the Kraid battle because once I “solved” it he became pretty easy. Biggest trick for me was when he shoots those orbs from his tummy, stand in the corner, shoot, and jump in place so the health and missile refills fly towards you. The final phase of Raven Beak is similar; if you get a Power Bomb off on the big sun attack you’re basically home free because it spawns super chonky item refills.
 
I’ve slept on Dread for far too long. Planned to get it at release, but life happened and it fell off my radar. I’ve got to pick it up soon.
 
Joe said:
I still often revisit this moment from The Game Awards 2021:



2:08 if the timestamp doesn't work.

Still gives me goosebumps and teary eyes to this day.
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Same. I just wanted Prime Remastered to be nominated for GOTY this year to hear Prime's theme performed by TGA orchestra, but obviously it won't happen as this year has too many GOTY contenders. And I also doubt remasters would be considered candidates for that award.
 
SmolSam said:
Same. I just wanted Prime Remastered to be nominated for GOTY this year to hear Prime's theme performed by TGA orchestra, but obviously it won't happen as this year has too many GOTY contenders. And I also doubt remasters would be considered candidates for that award.
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Yeah. Perhaps next year with Prime 4...
 
Joe said:
I sure hope we get the Metroid Prime 4 reveal trailer in the September Direct.

I can't deal with another "maybe we'll see Metroid at The Game Awards". We've heard that like 6 years in a row already.
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Metroid Prime 4 will be directly linked to Nintendo next hardware, the game will be used sort of a visual showcase for Nintendo next hardware
 
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Joe said:
I can't deal with another "maybe we'll see Metroid at The Game Awards". We've heard that like 6 years in a row already.
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It'd be pretty awesome if it actually happened though, just shy of 5 years after the reboot. I wish Reggie would get to do the honors though haha.
 
Stressful weekend in LA with the hurricane panic (and even a little earthquake ffs!), but I sat down with Metroid Dread for a bit to chill out, and decided to just go through Boss Rush real quick.

Takeaway (aside from Flash Shift still being satisfying as all hell): I would be so down for a Metroid version of Cuphead. No exploration, just Samus killing multi-phase bosses the entire way through, with Dread's fast and polished gameplay being the main draw.

I've previously thought about how I wouldn't want Metroid's core strengths to be dispensed with in favor of chasing mainstream appeal, but there are also moments I have where I realize just how open I'd be to them doing all sorts of other things with the franchise. I'd totally be up for the aforementioned boss rush game. Another idea is a point and click adventure, with Samus performing an investigation and piecing clues together. Maybe a roguelike that puts Samus on a massive station like B.S.L., simulating different biomes in various configurations, even including ones from previous games, so there are convenient excuses to bring back Phantoon, Flaahgra, etc.

Sadly, none of these games seem likely to ever come to fruition. I've gotta imagine Nintendo doesn't see the merit in doing further spinoffs. Fun stuff to think about, though.
 
Aurc said:
Stressful weekend in LA with the hurricane panic (and even a little earthquake ffs!), but I sat down with Metroid Dread for a bit to chill out, and decided to just go through Boss Rush real quick.

Takeaway (aside from Flash Shift still being satisfying as all hell): I would be so down for a Metroid version of Cuphead. No exploration, just Samus killing multi-phase bosses the entire way through, with Dread's fast and polished gameplay being the main draw.

I've previously thought about how I wouldn't want Metroid's core strengths to be dispensed with in favor of chasing mainstream appeal, but there are also moments I have where I realize just how open I'd be to them doing all sorts of other things with the franchise. I'd totally be up for the aforementioned boss rush game. Another idea is a point and click adventure, with Samus performing an investigation and piecing clues together. Maybe a roguelike that puts Samus on a massive station like B.S.L., simulating different biomes in various configurations, even including ones from previous games, so there are convenient excuses to bring back Phantoon, Flaahgra, etc.

Sadly, none of these games seem likely to ever come to fruition. I've gotta imagine Nintendo doesn't see the merit in doing further spinoffs. Fun stuff to think about, though.
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1. Since you say down to Dread after the hurriquake stuff, I assume that means you're safe and okay?

2. I'd totally be into something like a chill 3rd-person exploration game if Other M hadn't (probably) burned the image of 3rd person Metroid in Nintendo's eyes. Now that we have Dread and the Metroidrought is over I'm a lot more open to some more experimental games. Especially if Metroid 6 and Prime 5 are in the cards going forward.
 
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