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Bismack Billabongo
Oct 9, 2012

Wet
Hello and welcome to the latest installment of science fiction game threads. Today I would Like to discuss the Metroid series. But what is Metroid really?



According to a publicly edited Wikipedia article, “Metroid is a Japanese action-adventure game franchise created by Nintendo. The player controls bounty hunter Samus Aran, who protects the galaxy from the Space Pirates and their attempts to harness the power of the parasitic Metroid creatures.

The first Metroid was developed by Nintendo R&D1 and released on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986; series protagonist Samus Aran is widely regarded as one of the first prominent female video game characters. It was followed by Metroid II: Return of Samus (1991) for the handheld Game Boy and Super Metroid (1994) for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The first 3D Metroid game, Metroid Prime (2002), was developed by Retro Studios for the GameCube, and was followed by two sequels. Developer Mercury Steam helmed the return of Metroid with Metroid: Samus Returns in 2017, while Metroid Dread is scheduled for release in October 2021.”

Ok! But what is Metroid REALLY?? It’s an exploration based action game in both third and first person perspectives where you play as stoic badass Samus Aran, shooting many aliens with lasers and missiles, using flying spin tackles and bombs and all kinds of wild poo poo. These games rule. Let’s do an overview.

Metroid (1986) & Metroid: Zero Mission (2004)



The first game and its remake. The original is pretty antiquated obviously but was awesome for its time. Zero Mission is an excellent remake that tacks on some stupid poo poo at the end but overall it is definitely my favorite of the 2D games. Can I Kill Ridley In This One? Hell yeah brother.

Metroid II: Return Of Samus (1991) & Metroid: Samus Returns (2017)



This is the second one and I never played it! People say it was really good and had important visual and audio innovations to work around the limitations of being on the original GameBoy. The remake is the most recent game in the series and was pretty good albeit with some new mechanics that were a little clunky as well as a few controversial changes. The last boss fight is loving badass though. Can I Kill Ridley In This One? Only in the remake! A point in its favor.

Super Metroid (1994)



Super Metroid is probably the most universally acclaimed game in the series. Beautiful visuals that took advantage of the more powerful SNES hardware, an actual plot, and gameplay that would be perfect if it weren’t for the God drat wall jump. A game to really sink your teeth into. Sequence breaks! Kickass laser upgrades! The Baby! This game has it all. I still like Zero Mission better though. Can I Kill Ridley In This One? The entire game is about killing Ridley. The act of killing Ridley is so crucial that they put it on the box.

And then nothing for 8 years…..UNTIL:

Metroid Prime & Metroid Fusion (2002)



Probably the two most controversial entries in the series. Metroid Prime was anticipated to be a huge sellout piece of poo poo First Person Shooter Halo rip-off. Turns out it was an absolutely incredible modern update of the series that absolutely nailed it, maintaining the lifeblood of the original trio while updating it for a modern day and modern hardware. Meanwhile Metroid Fusion ended up being a lot more linear than the series had been to date and it pissed a lot of people off. It still had great gameplay mechanics, great visuals and a more in depth story that wasn’t too overbearing yet. Can I Kill Ridley In This One? Definitely.

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2004)



A more difficult and uglier followup to Prime, this game has some very serious low points as well as some amazing high points. Also has the best boss fights in the series. Managed to integrate the screw attack into the 3D games without it being completely clunky and bad. The Spider Ball is the best Metroid powerup and I will brook no disagreements. Oh, these games introduced ammo for your beam weapons. It sucked. Can I Kill Ridley In This One? A truly concerning lack of Ridley in this one.

Metroid Prime Pinball (2005) & Metroid Prime Hunters: Demo (2006)



These were some spin-offs. Nintendo allegedly released a full game version of Hunters at some point! Sure! The pinball game was supposed to be pretty good. Sure! Whatever! Can I Kill Ridley In This One? Probably?

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (2007)



The last non-remake Metroid in the series to date. More story driven than the previous entries. Bad voice acting and predictable plot points galore! Was probably the best integration of motion controls in Nintendo’s big series. Cool usage of Samus’s spaceship. You got to go to different planets which was cool too. Sort of brought back Mother Brain, which was awesome. More great boss fights. Overall probably the worst one of the trilogy but still very good. Can I Kill Ridley In This One? TWICE

And then nothing. UNTIL the aforementioned 2017 Metroid 2 remake. Which leads us to….

Metroid Dread (2021)

https://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica/status/1431225369072488448?s=20

This poo poo comes out in October and it’s looking sick. Supposedly more survival horror leaning with stealth and hidey bits. Based on trailers, seems to have integrated some of the gameplay changes from Samus Returns more smoothly! Costs sixty American dollars! Can I Kill Ridley In This One? Unclear. But Hopefully. gently caress That Guy.

I love this series to a degree that is concerning. This new game looks awesome and It would be Good to have a dedicated thread to talk about all the games in this series, all of which I covered in this post.

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Bismack Billabongo
Oct 9, 2012

Wet
Other Stuff Goes Here

As an old video game series that millennials grew up playing, Metroid has lots of fan games on the internet. Some of them are probably very good and I would love to have anything of that nature that people want in this post. Links. Write ups. Fan art. Whatever!

TaurusOxford posted:

A section on Metroid 2 and you forgot to mention the best version:



Can you kill Ridley in this one? No, but it's still the better remake.
This one was in development for a loooooong time and only got hit with a C&D when Samus Returns got announced. I’m sure you can find it if you dig hard enough.

https://youtu.be/K42EmnICD6E - the best music
https://youtu.be/oLOkc9MwFHs - also pretty good
https://youtu.be/5vYsVk23oxA - amazing. Vangelis still waiting on those royalties tho
https://youtu.be/-OW61fzym8M - smash bros remixes are fun.
https://youtu.be/ZbbUv1hz6mE - aww poo poo.

Bismack Billabongo fucked around with this message at 14:22 on Aug 28, 2021

Regy Rusty
Apr 26, 2010

Metroid

Mega64
May 23, 2008

I took the octopath less travelered,

And it made one-eighth the difference.
I can’t wait to kill Ridley.

LuckyCat
Jul 26, 2007

Grimey Drawer
I am Metroid-sexual.

Bleck
Jan 7, 2014

No matter how one loves, there are always different aims. Love can take a great many forms, whatever the era.

I cannot stress this enough,

Muscle Tracer
Feb 23, 2007

Medals only weigh one down.

Metroid is the one that's actually a girl, right?

I'm really hyped for Dread, although I've only played Super and Prime 1. Going to try out Zero Mission, AM2R, and Fusion over the next month! Can't wait to fail those shinesparks by like 2 pixels over and over!

TaurusOxford
Feb 10, 2009

Dad of the Year 2021
A section on Metroid 2 and you forgot to mention the best version:



Can you kill Ridley in this one? No, but it's still the better remake.

Goatse James Bond
Mar 28, 2010


I've made a huge mistake.

Mega64 posted:

I can’t wait to kill Ridley.

I'm here to kill Ridley!

Mega64
May 23, 2008

I took the octopath less travelered,

And it made one-eighth the difference.
Super, Fusion, Zero Mission, and the Prime Trilogy are all fantastic games worth playing. Metroid 1 and 2 are rough, but interesting experiences if you don’t mind how janky they are. Can’t speak on either 2 remake.

Can’t believe there was such a big gap between Prime 3 and Samus Returns with no real releases, but it is what it is.

Bismack Billabongo
Oct 9, 2012

Wet

TaurusOxford posted:

A section on Metroid 2 and you forgot to mention the best version:



Can you kill Ridley in this one? No, but it's still the better remake.

This is why I reserved the second post. I will be working that up and filling it with whatever fan hacks or mods or whatever else people want. Let me know!

chumbler
Mar 28, 2010

The presumably gravity suit in the new trailers looks rad, though honestly the white and blue is still probably the best suit they've shown so far. Really looking forward to Dread and Samus gaining superpowers, and I wish Returns would get a switch release. Also all the other ones.

LuckyCat
Jul 26, 2007

Grimey Drawer
I’d love a write up or a link to a video/article review on why Other M is so hated.

TaurusOxford
Feb 10, 2009

Dad of the Year 2021

LuckyCat posted:

I’d love a write up or a link to a video/article review on why Other M is so hated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqMUogq-6Yc

My favorite "why Other M sucks" video. The creator is a literary professor and goes pretty in depth on why the story is so terrible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fkj1AbDt95I

A video that goes more into where Other M fails in gameplay.

ROJO
Jan 14, 2006

Oven Wrangler


I too enjoy Metroid-ing from time to time.

Why yes, Other M is still in the shrink wrap, why do you ask?

Blackbelt Bobman
Jul 17, 2004

I don't need friends! I've been
manipulatin' you since the start!
All so I can something,
something X-Blade!


Other M is a horrible travesty but it still deserves a spot in the OP. Also you should mention that the original version of Metroid Prime 2 had a multiplayer mode that was trying to be like Halo but was extremely bad.

Metroid Prime Pinball was pretty cool and I think you could kill Ridley in it. You could go to different areas from the game and fight bosses and stuff. Notable for coming with the DS rumble pack that you plugged into the GBA slot!

Metroid Prime: Hunters was unique and actually very cool. There was a one-player story mode that was decent, although there were a lot of jumping puzzles with long drops and for some reason they added fall damage so you’d just die instantly if you fell too far. It took place on a space station and you were going after some target while fending off attacks from other bounty hunters. Samus actually hunting a bounty?!?!? This game was most notable for having online multiplayer that was actually pretty great! You could play as Samus or a handful of other hunters, for better or for worse. They could all do something equivalent to the morph ball and some of them had tiny hit boxes that made them better than others. Also one could turn invisible, I recall. Anyway it was really cool and I wish they would remake it or rerelease it.

Achmed Jones
Oct 16, 2004



I am excited to play metroid dread and also other metroids that may or may not come to the perfect console that is also known as the nintento switch

Control Volume
Dec 31, 2008

Blackbelt Bobman posted:

Other M is a horrible travesty but it still deserves a spot in the OP.

Adam hasnt authorized it

Bismack Billabongo
Oct 9, 2012

Wet

Blackbelt Bobman posted:

Other M is a horrible travesty but it still deserves a spot in the OP.

No

Nucular Carmul
Jan 26, 2005

Melongenidae incantatrix
Can Metroid crawl in this one yet

TaurusOxford
Feb 10, 2009

Dad of the Year 2021

Nucular Carmul posted:

Can Metroid crawl in this one yet

No, but she can jump jump slide slide.

Nucular Carmul
Jan 26, 2005

Melongenidae incantatrix

TaurusOxford posted:

No, but she can jump jump slide slide.

Oh I didn't know she had come out as trans congrats to her

Super Jay Mann
Nov 6, 2008

I think the fact that I read the whole OP and didn't even blink at Other M's exclusion from the list really says it all, doesn't it.

Dread looks super sick though, can't wait.

Cithen
Mar 6, 2002


Pillbug

LuckyCat posted:

I am Metroid-sexual.

Nucular Carmul
Jan 26, 2005

Melongenidae incantatrix

Super Jay Mann posted:

I think the fact that I read the whole OP and didn't even blink at Other M's exclusion from the list really says it all, doesn't it.

Dread looks super sick though, can't wait.

My dumb jokes earlier aside, it's absolutely sick that Nintendo is pushing this game to the stratosphere and distancing themselves from Other M. The Treehouse during E3 seemed like they were trying very hard to make sure we knew that Samus was a cool badass again.

FooF
Mar 26, 2010
Super Metroid = Best Metroid but the Prime Trilogy was phenomenal when it first came out (first is still the best but I like what they tried to do with the sequels).

What I've personally lamented since Super Metroid is turning Samus into a ninja. The actions are so snappy and she's so agile that I miss her being just a drat tank. I mean, once you got a few Energy Tanks under your belt, you tried to avoid damage but you weren't really too scared of getting hit. It was the environmental damage that hurt you more than the enemies. Super Metroid just had more weight behind Samus' actions, beams, etc. You knew a Super Missile hit because it shook the screen.

Dread looks good, though. I was worried from the first trailer than the main antagonist would just be those un-killable Hunter robots. I mean, they're interesting but the game felt very "small." With the 2nd Trailer, holy poo poo. It looks like the spiritual successor to Super Metroid, which is the gold standard in my book. Kraid, what looked like Phantoon, Gravity Suit, Speed Boost/Shinespark, and a lot of Chozo stuff.

Will we get to kill Ridley? Not a doubt in my mind. Hell, we might even kill Mother Brain.

bladeworksmaster
Sep 6, 2010

Ok.

TaurusOxford posted:

A section on Metroid 2 and you forgot to mention the best version:



Can you kill Ridley in this one? No, but it's still the better remake.

Hi, I'm gonna be that guy that is the somewhat negative Nancy about AM2R!

While the sheer amount of effort in AM2R from one dedicated developer is to be applauded, from a game design standpoint and over 10 playthroughs I find AM2R lacking in a few areas:

-The biggest fault that I can name right off the bat is that every single boss fight in this game bar maybe two are just exceedingly awful. Most of them are the boring damage sponge nothing, or exceedingly infuriating in the case of every single Metroid fight and their auto dodge/parry horseshit combined with random flight patterns that made it hard to hit their near microscopic weakpoint that makes me crave the Gamma Metroids from Samus Returns. Exceptions to this for me were the Queen Metroid who's good no matter the version (Though that one actually got way too long in the tooth as well, only to save it with the Power Bomb Kill), and the Tester whose concept I really like.

-The puzzle design is a little too over reliant on the Speed Booster, which to be fair is a fault I levy at Fusion and Zero Mission as well, blame my own personal tastes on that one.

-The controls are just slightly off and a bit too fast, again just a personal problem of mine rather than an objective fault.

There's a lot of smaller things as well, and a lot good that I can name with it, but I can't in good conscience say I enjoyed it more than Samus Returns, which I found an extremely fun and ambitious game by comparison.

Bismack Billabongo
Oct 9, 2012

Wet
I may have alluded to this but in case I didn’t make it clear enough Prime 1 is the best one. Ok bye

Viewtiful Jew
Apr 21, 2007
Mench'n-a-go-go-baby!

Nucular Carmul posted:

My dumb jokes earlier aside, it's absolutely sick that Nintendo is pushing this game to the stratosphere and distancing themselves from Other M. The Treehouse during E3 seemed like they were trying very hard to make sure we knew that Samus was a cool badass again.

It only seems like Other M is fully excommunicated. It'll turn out her best buddy Anthony will have been elected Galactic Federation Space President in the time between Fusion and Dread. It won't have any effect on what happens in-game except her ship has a bumper sticker from the election on the backside.

Mega64
May 23, 2008

I took the octopath less travelered,

And it made one-eighth the difference.
So what was the deal with Federation Force?

TaurusOxford
Feb 10, 2009

Dad of the Year 2021

Bismack Billabongo posted:

I may have alluded to this but in case I didn’t make it clear enough Prime 1 is the best one. Ok bye

It's Prime 2. :colbert:

bladeworksmaster
Sep 6, 2010

Ok.

Actually, to put over another Metroid fan project that is a little closer to the original, shout outs to Metroid Planets, a full remaster of Metroid 1 that adds a lot of QoL features, mechanical tweaks, and multiplayer to the original NES game, without losing the aesthetic and charm. In addition, it has a map maker and a whole new campaign for you to try, and is my preferred way to play the original Metroid 1 if you absolutely must play it to experience how the series started.

Super Jay Mann
Nov 6, 2008

Viewtiful Jew posted:

It only seems like Other M is fully excommunicated. It'll turn out her best buddy Anthony will have been elected Galactic Federation Space President in the time between Fusion and Dread. It won't have any effect on what happens in-game except her ship has a bumper sticker from the election on the backside.

If Anthony shows up out of nowhere in full Presidential regalia to help Samus kick some butt and then turns to her and snidely asks "Remember me?" I will absolve Other M of all of its sins.

Araxxor
Oct 20, 2012

My disdain for you all knows no bounds.
I'm playing through the games and ugh I know Metroid NES is short but it's so anemic and I wish I was replaying Zero Mission instead.

Nucular Carmul posted:

My dumb jokes earlier aside, it's absolutely sick that Nintendo is pushing this game to the stratosphere and distancing themselves from Other M. The Treehouse during E3 seemed like they were trying very hard to make sure we knew that Samus was a cool badass again.

There was doing damage control, and then there was telling everyone on stream once Adam came up and emphasizing that he wouldn't have that big a role in the game and there was nothing to worry about. Goddamn the sheer damage Other M did to the franchise to warrant that was unreal.

FooF posted:

What I've personally lamented since Super Metroid is turning Samus into a ninja. The actions are so snappy and she's so agile that I miss her being just a drat tank. I mean, once you got a few Energy Tanks under your belt, you tried to avoid damage but you weren't really too scared of getting hit. It was the environmental damage that hurt you more than the enemies. Super Metroid just had more weight behind Samus' actions, beams, etc. You knew a Super Missile hit because it shook the screen.

Yeah one of the reasons why Fusion is kind of a bit jarring and why it's one of the more difficult Metroid games is because everything in the game does so much more damage compared to the other Metroid games at the time.

Blackbelt Bobman
Jul 17, 2004

I don't need friends! I've been
manipulatin' you since the start!
All so I can something,
something X-Blade!


Mega64 posted:

So what was the deal with Federation Force?

This is the only one I’ve never touched and I legitimately forget exists. Did anyone play it?

chumbler
Mar 28, 2010

That's something cool about Fusion though, that you have to see stuff as legitimate threats for practically the whole game. It fits with the stalker movie vibe and Adam always talking about how you're super weak right now and desperately need the upgrades.

mandatory lesbian
Dec 18, 2012
Love metroid, love samus, and cant wait to play dread. Ps fusion the best

Geo Fixer
Jan 10, 2012

"Freedom lies in being bold."
-Robert Frost

Blackbelt Bobman posted:

This is the only one I’ve never touched and I legitimately forget exists. Did anyone play it?

Yeah it was pretty fun with friends. Single player loving sucked though. Really should have been released on the WiiU.

Bismack Billabongo
Oct 9, 2012

Wet

Mega64 posted:

So what was the deal with Federation Force?

God drat it. Meant to put that one in the OP and forgot. Sorry!!!

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RBA Starblade
Apr 28, 2008

Going Home.

Games Idiot Court Jester

When will we finally get Metroid Another M

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