The video game medium is one of two mediums where I feel there is a definitive masterpiece. The other one is television with The Wire. For video games, it's Super Metroid. This is about as flawless as a game can possibly get and it's a blast to play EVERYTIME! So, what makes it so damn good? Well let's dive into this classic piece of greatness and find out.
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| The masterpiece of a medium! |
STORY
The Metroid series is one of the more story-driven franchises in Nintendo's arsenal. It has a defined story unlike Mario and it lacks the continuity problems of The Legend of Zelda. Super Metroid may not seem like it's story is all that deep and you would be right, it's not. But it's conveyed PERFECTLY in the gameplay that gives some awesome moments both gameplay and storywise (particularly the final boss fight, but we'll get to that later).
The game picks up right after Metroid II but before Other M and Fusion. At the end of Metroid II, Samus spared a baby metroid after wiping out the rest of its species which led the baby metroid believing Samus was its mother. She then brought it to a science lab for study. The science lab was attacked by Ridley, Samus' archenemy and the intelligent dragon who cold-bloodly murdered her parents when she was three years old. She follows Ridley to Zebes, the setting of the original Metroid, to stop his plans and the plans of the Space Pirates.
The story is given without ANY dialogue (except for a text-introduction) and it thrives for this reason. Samus is further established as the absolute badass she is without dialogue. For this game's story, less was more and it succeeds for that reason. From the moment you enter the science facility to answer the distress call, to the awesome boss fights and second fight with Ridley and Mother Brain it's just a remarkable example of succeeding with little material.
GAMEPLAY AND DESIGN
Samus returns to Zebes from the original Metroid and it's just as complex and twisting as it was before and I wouldn't have it any other way. There are so many hidden doors and secrets it can boggle the mind. Sticking to the style established by the first game (the second was a bit more linear given hardware limitations of the Gameboy), Super Metroid uses the style of progression. Find a door you can't get through? Find the right tool (i.e. missile, super missile, etc) to get through and delve further in.
Each of the worlds: Brinstar, Crateria, Norfair, Maridia, and Tourian all are expertly designed with each having their own obstacles that you'll need to acquire the tools to bypass and each also having their own unique and equally well-designed puzzles and secrets.
Of course Samus still sticks with her iconic arm cannon. This time the beam types combine rather than just leveling up but losing past abilities like in the original. If you've played Metroid Prime 3, it kind of works like that. You've got the Ice Beam (which works against Metroids), Spazer Beam, Wave Beam, Plasma Beam, and the introduction of the Charge Beam. And you also get one final beam near the end which destroys all. But I won't get into it anymore than that.
Old power-ups and abilities returned and new ones were added. For the suits, the heat-resistant Varia suit returns and the Gravity suit is introduced making it easier to move through water. Missiles, Energy Tanks and morph-ball bombs return but there are also the Super Missiles, Power Bombs, Grappling Beam to get across large gaps, the Spring Ball to jump in morph-ball form, and a few others. They all serve their purpose in a great way.
If there is ONE flaw with the game, it's wall-jumping. It is ridiculously frustrating and will definitely annoy first-time players. However this only flaw is reduced by the fact that you don't have to do it often and because of the awesomeness of the Space Jump and Screw Attack. The Space Jump allows you to jump continuously if you time your button-presses correctly and the Screw Attack is essentially the Space Jump only it kills everything in its way.
You will be hard-pressed to find a game that gives you a greater feeling of satisfaction through progression than this game. As you go through, you'll feel less impeded and more badass with every new power-up. This definitely helps during the universally awesome boss fights.
Super Metroid has some of the greatest boss fights ever put into a game. Some are intense, some are huge, some require strategic thinking and well placed shots and they're all just a blast. The fight against one boss, Kraid, takes up 3-4 entire TV screens. That was HUGE at the time and I'm amazed they pulled it off.
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| About two or three screens down and you'll reach the floor. |
Then there's Ridley. The fights against Ridley are always awesome especially when you know his past with Samus (which I do). This might not have the same level of epicness as fighting him in freefall but the second fight against him in this game propelled him to being one of the more popular of Nintendo's villains. He sets the stage of the game and the second fight with him is a sign that you're nearing the end.
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| Against Samus' most hated enemy, you can always expect an awesome fight. |
But the most classic boss fight in this game (and heavy contender for the greatest boss fight of all time along with the Boss in MGS3) is the final confrontation with Mother Brain. The first phase of the fight is ripped straight from the original. Then when you think you have her beat, she reveals her full form and it's what nightmares are made of. The fight is actually really easy but the epicness of it mixed with the AMAZING story moment make it one of the most memorable moments in gaming history. It's a perfect example that you don't need incredible difficulty for awesome satisfaction (though it helps).
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| Just...classic. |
Super Metroid is a game so brilliantly and creatively designed and with such impeccable gameplay and epic boss fights that it's faultless in nearly every category. The only flaw I can think of is the wall-jumping which isn't that significant of one. If you want a game based on progression via exploration, this is as good as you're going to get.
GRAPHICS AND SOUND
For 1994, Super Metroid looked beautiful and it still does. Sure, it may not pack the polygons of today's games but the art design is fantastic. The look of the worlds, Samus' design, the boss designs all look great. The game is very colorful and it's just pleasing to the eye at every possible turn.
Soundwise, the game is also nearly faultless. The weapons and different beams all sound great and when you're firing that final beam that pwns all at Mother Brain you'll feel a satisfaction unlike almost any other. The soundtrack is, simply put, one of the greatest soundtracks in video game history. Every world has its own track, the boss fights have amazing tracks and they all fit perfectly. Maridia, a water section, for example has a very oceanic feel to it and I couldn't imagine any other kind of music in its place. The final boss fight against Mother Brain, Ridley's theme, and Lower Brinstar's theme are probably my favorites.
CONCLUSION
When I said this was the greatest game I've ever played, I meant it as you can probably tell from this review. Super Metroid came out nearly a decade after the original, was delayed many times and was not a huge success having to play second fiddle to Donkey Kong Country due to the latter's graphics. However, Super Metroid's legend is now set.
I can't think of another game that has so few flaws and where those flaws are so insignificant in the grand scheme of things. It is such an incredible triumph of game design that ANYONE who calls themselves a gamer should at least try it out. There are moments in this game that will never leave your memory whether it be the atmospheric opening, the moment you land on Zebes, the boss fight with Kraid, seeing Crocmire melt into a skeleton, the second fight with Ridley, the utterly amazing final confrontation with Mother Brain, and the final frantic escape.
Please, get a copy of this game. Either get a Super Nintendo and find a cartridge for it or get a Wii and download it off the Virtual Console and experience the greatest adventure that Samus Aran has to offer.
You don't have to tell me to play this game, though it's not one of my top favorite video games of all time. I have no idea why simply because it is nearly flawless and I love exploration games. I haven't played it a long time, I should probably put that on my to do list and maybe I'll discover something new about it.
ReplyDeleteMother Brain is definitely nightmarish. Despite the 2D graphics she's pretty freaky. After facing her for the first time I needed to apply brain bleach directly to my cortex to prevent me from having bad dreams. Pardon the pun.
Sometimes replaying a game can give a whole new perspective. I remember when I first played Splinter Cell: Conviction and was not impressed. Gave it another try about 8 months later with a different frame of mind and thought it was great.
ReplyDeleteMother Brain was truly awesome, though the nightmare part was brought down a little after the awesome asskicking Samus served to her.