Metroid is one of my favorite franchises of all time, and I haven't given nearly enough love to the 2D entries. We're changing that.
0:00 Intro
1:43 Metroid (NES)
10:14 Metroid II (GB)
17:38 Super Metroid (SNES)
28:02 Metroid Fusion (GBA)
40:35 Metroid: Zero Mission (GBA)
50:53 AM2R (PC)
58:41 Metroid: Samus Returns (3DS)
1:11:57 Conclusion
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/ whaddupnico
Script: docs.google.com/document/d/1L...
Patreon: / kingdomklannad
Twitter: / kingklonoa
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Last Life: last-life.net/
Website: puma-gopher-ks8z.squarespace.com
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#KingK #Metroid
2D Metroid Retrospective Review Critique KingK
Supposedly, they tell you the Grapple Beam is context-sensitive. I'll own that one. Bound to get at least one thing wrong in a video this massive. Also, cutscenes are skippable, but you need to press the button twice, and some cutscenes actually ARE NOT skippable, sending me mixed messages. I guess I either missed the prompt on the touch screen that tells you to do it, or only tried to skip the non-skippable scenes. Kinda dumb, but I'll own that as well. As for the people who think I'm too harsh on the game, this is a video about the evolution of 2D Metroid. It's about how the games have evolved over time, so if a game in this evolution is unusually regressive, I'm going to focus on its weaknesses, just as I would focus on the strengths of something like Metroid II or Super Metroid. Was hoping that would be clear, but I suppose not.
A lot of people will instinctively have an offended gut reaction if you say anything negative or critical about a thing they like. In my experience no matter how many disclaimers or how reasonable you are about it, some people are going to nevertheless take it personally. Not justifying it, just unfortunately how it is sometimes. Excellent video, thanks for it!
"unusually regressive"... Huh.
You are just negative for the sake of it. I know that’s your brand but just sit this one out lil boy
Idk man, to me I don't think you need to justify so much, they are your opinions in your video, own it. People are gonna nitpick when dealing with beloved franchises. Great video, cheers.
@@james441 I don't use the word cringe very often but man, is this comment cringe.
The thing I admire the most about Metroid is that, while it is a series that not everyone gets, it's a series that everyone respects. One of the few in the industry to garner this sort of consensus.
what does this mean
@@Konarcoffee It’s this basically. I’ve tried play Super Metroid many times but I could never truly get into it. But, I’ll always respect it because of its atmosphere, gameplay and story. It’s an amazing game, and I but I simply can’t like it because it fundamentally contradicts why I find fun in video games.
@@averytubestudios SM is hard to get into even for Metroid fans tho, due to the complicated and weird controls mainly.
@@Konarcoffee it means while it hasn't sold well itself it helped spawn an entire genre: "Metroidvania".
@@legrandliseurtri7495 yeah he should try fusion or zero mission
Being able to get Varia Suit early in Zero Mission IS intentional. Normally when you enter Norfair for the first time it shows a cutscene of Mother Brain watching Samus going down that elevator, in her power suit. But if you get the Varia Suit early it actually shows Samus with the Varia Suit in the cutscene!
Nice
Now that's absolutely insane attention to detail there.
That’s awesome! I love when devs put detail like that in their gamed
fun fact: the Ridley fight in fusion is actually incredibly easy if you use the charge beam on him, but literally nobody ever thinks to do that because missiles have ALWAYS been the go-to high damage output weapon.
He also takes more damage if fired diagonally towards him as opposed to under or to his side.
In Super too, he dies to 20 charged shots with the Ice/Wave/Plasma equipped.
hah theres a fight near the end of dread thats like this and it took me forever to notice
You know? On every game, yeah, missiles deal the highest damage, but I found out, for myself, at least, that the only one in which that is no exactly true is Fusion. The beam is OP in that game. It has a bigger range than most Metroid games (especially with the Wave Beam WOW), it charges relatively fast, it is infinite, unlike missiles and it is not restrained by gravity. It may not be as fast as shooting a missile still, but it is way more practical than missiles.
@@Monke80s well actually now that Dread is out, for bosses that are vulnerable to it, Beam spamming has a higher damage output than missiles
Fusion has really stuck with me over the past decade. It is such a standout and I feel will age incredibly well in the future, just like Super has but in different ways.
I will say that Fusion has the best first playthrough, while Super has the best re-playthrough. It really makes me wish that Fusion had a mode where Adam was disabled, all areas was available at all times, and you could wall-jump and infinite-bomb-jump properly. Giving the best of both worlds.
I love Fusion so much. I didn't know it was a more divisive entry because you couldn't explore freely like in most of the franchise up to that point, but I agree with King on why this game had to be linear to really be what it was.
I feel exactly the opposite. Fusion is bar far the weakest entry in the series, abandoning all the core design elements that made Metroid a unique franchise in the first place. It will age very poorly, as it abandoned what made the series unique in favor of a more traditional, arguably cliche game structure, which guides the player by the nose through a series of predetermined sequences.
@@JD-xz1mx I couldn’t disagree more. What it lacked in the open exploration, it made up for in devious puzzles and *gripping* tension that a only possible with more linear narrative. It has fewer optional exploration areas and upgrades teases throughout the admittedly linear adventure, but it also has so many *holy shit* moments compared to any other Metroid game.
The Metroid Dread reveal convinced me to get into the Metroid Series. So after playing through Zero Mission, Samus Returns, and Super Metroid I just played Fusion for the first time this week. I knew going in that it was a far more linear game and that the SA-X was an X parasite copy of Samus hunting her. What I wasn't expecting was the strong sense of mystery as the story progresses. I loved it
So far Dread feels like a perfect balance of Fusion’s linear horror and Super’s more open progression (though it takes a while for the game to open itself up) so I’m curious what you’ll have to say about it. It also fixes pretty much all of Samus Returns’ issues!
Couldn't have said it any better myself man
I was kinda hoping for them to let us use the right stick to aim. Gba Samus still feels more agile with her run and shoot stuff.
@@truegamer_007 Yeah. They should have made the Grapple Beam context sensitive with free aim so ZR could be a second fire button and the right stick could let you aim while moving.
Just started. It has a lot of functions and aiming. Interactive play. I don’t like it but let’s see if I do some hours in. The Intro was great.
@@totalradlad Isn't that what Samus Returns did? I remember it causing occasional issues. But it's been a while.
One thing about super Metroid is it’s still gorgeous to look at today
Hell yeah. Pixel art is easy, good pixel art is not. The art for super doesn’t look like it’s limited by its time, it looks like that’s how it was supposed to look. I know it was a product of its time, but that’s what a good style does
I understand the critiques of Zero Mission, but it’s still possibly my favorite in the series. I feel like it blends linearity and exploration really well. I also feel its lack of difficulty largely comes from how well Samus controls, which isn’t exactly a bad thing. The shinespark puzzles are insane and extremely satisfying and the zero suit segment at the end is one of coolest moments in the entire series. Fusion does a really great job with suspense and horror, but the tension felt in that single section of Zero Mission accomplishes so much without over staying its welcome. Having to gain your powers back makes the victory lap at the end all the more triumphant and exciting. I absolutely love Zero Mission and it remains my favorite Metroid game to revisit.
Zero Mission wasn't for me, but it is fun and it served its purpose of being an intro game to the series very well.
One thing I'd say in defense of Zero Mission's difficulty is that I remember there being this huge shock-factor when Metroids appeared for the first time that just I don't think would have been effective if Samus hadn't previously felt so untouchable. The way Samus progresses and is portrayed isn't as straightforward as other titles, you go from being somewhat vulnerable but ultimately capable of self defense, to being unstoppable, to sort of having that feeling tested upon entering Mother Brain's lair, and then from there Samus becomes literally defenseless before eventually becoming the strongest she's ever been throughout the play-through. That to me feels like a more engaging experience than the more linear power-creep seen in the original, even if it does stray a bit from the DNA of the original Metroid trilogy.
Zero Mission has a really low skill floor but the skill ceiling it hits to be able to 100% is one of the highest in the series. Some of the toughest and most hidden shinespark puzzles ever seen in the series. Even discovering a way to backtrack after arriving at Chozodia proper. I felt is was designed to ultimately satisfy absolute newcomers and hardcore fans of the series as well.
@@dr_ubo Yeah, having just replayed much of the series in anticipation of Dread, I was really impressed with how Zero Mission seems built to accommodate and actively reward such a range of skill level and play style. Not easy to do in this genre.
Zero Mission feels like Samus herself is retelling the original Metroid and embellishing past certain progression details and specific hardships. And given the small bit of dialogue from Samus in the very beginning of the game, that's probably the intent. She focuses less on the challenges and more on the personal side of it, her connections with the Chozo and the planet Zebes itself. That does little to excuse the arbitrary placement of late-game upgrades though. That will always be the worst thing about ZM.
Yea OP kinda underestimates how hard Metroid is to newcomers. Zero mission kicked my ass in every way as my first Metroid game. They just aren’t that easy if you don’t play them.
I'd argue getting the best ending is one of the hardest achievements in the series. You need to beat Hard mode with UNDER 15% of the items... not easy. Also the Mecha-Ridley fight on Hard with 100% of items collected is a pretty tough little battle. You die fast.
I was pretty sure that the game DOES tell you that the Grapple Beam in Samus Returns is contact sensitive, so I checked the item description on the Wiki. Yes, the tutorial specifically says: "Fire at a grapple point in Free Aim mode to auto-activate this beam." Not trying to sound condescending or anything, but why does everyone miss this? Edit: I am also pretty sure that you can skip the Diggernaut cutscene after the first time as well
Yeah you can. I just finished the game like yesterday and I was able to skip it only after seeing it once
You can skip all the cutscenes while retrying yeah
nobody's perfect i guess
It's what I like to call the Arin Hanson method of gameplay; Ignoring the tutorial prompts aside from what button you use for an ability, and figuring things out as you go, thereby losing highly valuable information. EDIT: figuring, not figuing
@@IrvingIV It could be an example of "tutorial fatigue" (from "alarm fatigue") where getting too many useless tutorial pop-ups will make you more likely to not pay attention to the few that actually matter. Plus, I'd expect a large portion of people that have already played Super Metroid to not pay close attention to a pop-up regarding a grapple beam.
"... Some of Nintendo's best creations" Shows AM2R footage. 🤔
Yeah I bet Nintendo was real proud of that DMCA notice
I was thinking the same thing. Wonder if the irony was intended?
I'm guessing thats totally intended, as one of the main creators of AM2R went on to work on Ori.
Power move
Let's be honest, they were extremely nice given the situation. They let him finish, AND distribute it for like a week before pulling the plug. All the while their own sequel nearly finished and ready to go. I wouldn't have let him distribute that thing, because it's still brought up as the better of the two!
Samus Returns was actually my first Metroid game, and I went into the series pretty much blind outside of vague general knowledge and stuff from Smash. I loved it, and I still do, but I suppose looking back, I can acknowledge its flaws, even if I don't agree with everything you said here.
I understand beams not stacking being a point of contention But also... they're right there, next to your thumb... They're placed in such a way that you can just treat them like another button. Just like Prime flicking the C-Stick to switch beams.
@@RayShadow278 Exactly!! I genuinely don't get how people complain so much about the touchscreen, it's about as far from the rest of the buttons as the L stick would be on a regular controller, whats the big deal??
@@MaximumAddition They're probably playing on emulator with only one screen. (you can make a 2 screen setup with a phone)
Yeah, but if there’s one game that was really not meant to play in a emulator, it’s Samus Returns. You should really play that game on the 3DS, specifically on the “New” model 3DSs. Just thinking of switching missles and beams on the 3DS vs emulator brings me Dread (see what I did there)
@@RayShadow278 You cannot treat a touch screen like "another button". There is a very BIG, no, HUGE difference which involves looking away from one screen to another while split-second dependent action is taking place. King K's complaint is 1000% valid and true. No button that matters in a combat situation should be relegated to a touchscreen. PERIOD. Ask anybody about the Touch Bar on the newer MacBook pros. Those Touch Bars are fantastic in theory but SUCK in practice because the tactile sensation is gone and the user not only has to change a setting but they have to break their view in the middle of trying to type or do something productive and refocus on a Touch Bar. I get that you guys think it makes sense but that's part of the disconnect. It might "sound like" it's cool and dandy but it's a massive headache in practice.
"Samus Returns" would bring the ending in better lights if the Ridley Encounter appens, only if you go back with the metroid to get all the items to 100% the game. While if you go straight for your ship after the Queen encounter, it could emulate the OG quiet and fightless walk.
Or even a secret hard mode boss
Or not exist at all
@David Cornejo No, it needed to exist. It was easily the best final boss in 2d metroid.
@@moesabally1502raven beak was better. No Ridley doesn’t have to exist, it disrupts the flow of what was a really good ending. I do like the 100% idea though i dislike the idea of needing the baby for that victory lap. My preferences being: 1. No Ridley 2. Ridley as hard mode boss 3. Ridley only at 100% 4. Ridley at 100 + baby required for 100 5. Ridley outright
@@paul2958 ridley didn't have to exist, but it was still a really sick boss, and definitely the best fight in the series UNTIL ravenbeak, which we had to wait 5 years for
I never had any problems with controls or touch screen in Samus Returns. First time hearing about this.
Totally agree, the wepon buttons are large and right next to the face buttons (where you thumb is). I knew where all 3 types where and could easily move my thumb over to change wepon type. On a side note I never had an issue with visors/beam types in the Wii Prime Games either.
I like physical buttons to push. I still cry over losing a physical keyboard on my smartphones. That said, the touchscreen buttons for swapping weapons is easy, because the touchscreen's corners act as physical cues. Feel the top corner of the touchscreen? Normal beams. Bottom corner? Grapple Beam. No corner (or, frankly, the touchscreen next to the Y button)? Ice beam. Holding down R gives me missiles, touching the screen next to the Y button gives me Super Missiles. The super shooty Aeion ability and the entire right side of the touchscreen. Using the touchscreen to swap weapons is absolutely touch sensetive and can be burned into your muscle memory. I've never had any problems with it, unless I'm emulating it... but at that point, the fact that one would need to use a mouse to activate something in-game while emulating it is not the game's fault.
The ice beam problem is dumb imo, but I can agree with the Grapple beam, that has no reason not to be tied to a button press
I think this is because maybe the guy in this video played Samus Returns in a emulator, so to people that play in emulators the touch screen is a problem, but for people that play in the real hardware, is so natural.
@@lucaspereirahmj Even then you can apply an extremely easy to set up Steam configuration that binds touch controls to your analog stick and right trigger.
Starting off strong with the best track in the series: Torvus Bog Beautiful
Is weird that Mercury Steam has been the only studio making Metroid and Castlevania games in the last decade.
Given Nintendo being very selective and controlling of any outsourcing it isn't that surprising. Capcom could learn a thing or two from them given what happened to RE3.
Technically Retro is working on Metroid Prime 4, and another studio had been previously
Wow. Good observation.
They locked down Metroidvania - but neither was quite metroidvania.
@@Infinity-fj2li originally Nintendo was developing it in house as opposed to sourcing it out.
Just what I needed to listen to today! Happy Dread Day, everyone!
:)
I did disagree with some of the Samus Returns stuff, but other than that, it was a really solid video.
Who knew that Dread could bring such joy?
I love Metroid, it's always been that series that gave me that sense of dread while exploring. Like it know it's obvious but IM ON AN ALIEN PLANET AND EVERYTHING WANTS TO KILL ME. I love those vibes, it really reinforces how much of a sentinel Samus is and while plenty can kill her, the progress of becoming a hunter that can handle enemies with ease is what i freakin' love about these games.
Agreed. And thats also why Super Metroid will always be my favorite. They just nailed the feeling, the atmosphere, the overall vibe perfectly. The lack of dialogue and guidance just enhances all of that. And its not even nostalgia, i played Super Metroid for the first time in 2017. God i wish i had this game as a kid.
Saw you talk about the "lack of rebuttals to your core arguments" regarding the SR segment, so here I am trying my hand at it: "It's a shame that Free Aim takes away the capability of aiming up and down with a button": I don't necessarily find it as much "taking away", moreso "evolving". You can stand still and aim precisely (which you used to do with the button) or run around while aiming up and down (which can be achieved by angling the stick). Don't really see the issue here, specially not the "2 steps back" part. "Don't worry though, if you touch the touch screen you can instantly turn into Morph Ball mode!": Yeah? What's wrong with having an option? You can still double tap down if you hate it that much, just like in the previous games. "Samus Returns has an obsession with the touch screen that screams I'm a 2017 3DS game": Oh BOY this is a big one. *"You pause the game on the touchscreen": You have the Start button, what's the issue? *"Switch beams on the touchscreen": Just like if you had the toggle on the R stick on a regular controller, it's right next to the buttons. Why is it an issue that the beam buttons are on the touch screen? *"Control the map on the touchscreen": If you'd rather move it around with the circle pad, fine, but sliding the map around on the touchscreen is super intuitive, I don't get what's the big deal here. *"Basic menu navigation sometimes feels clunkier than Super Metroid": How? The menus are super intuitive, I genuinely don't know what you could even be referring to. *"You can't actually pause during combat unless it's through the touchscreen": Do you mean the Start button? I'm playing the game right now and paused it mid-encounter. *"Can't really seamlessly switch between weapons.": Just because you can't get the hang of the way the touchscreen swapping works doesn't mean it isn't seamless. That part is subjective, but so would be me finding the weapon switching in Super not seamless, due to needing to cycle through them with select. Sure it may be seamless to you, but to me it isn't. I might keep typing out personal counterpoints to some of your core arguments later. I don't want to be a prude but I just really, REALLY disagree with a whole lot of the points you make about Samus Returns and want to express why.
Alrighty, to keep going: *"There are 2 beam types, normal damage beam and ice beam": I personally like this division as it makes the game more dynamic. I never liked the damage output of the Ice Beam taking over my other upgrades, so having it be a toggle for when you wanna freeze enemies into platforms makes perfect sense to me, while still getting just the normal beam to kill them faster. It falls off in the late game, sure, but for the time you get it, it makes perfect sense. *"Didn't know there was a context sensitive way to switch to grapple beam": The game does tell you that but you already corrected yourself on that so fair enough. *"Why can't it just be like the Aeion abilities, bound to the d-pad?":... how? With diagonals? How do you suggest implementing that change? *"You can see me just awkwardly standing there, taking a hit, because I wanted to switch": That's a you problem, just like me awkwardly standing in Super due to cycling through weapons. Not necessarily an issue with the design. "Structured the world in such a way that it feels extremely forgettable, can't place where everything is from memory without remembering AM2R or the original": I disagree. The room designs I found quite spacious and varied, making the game feel like a more organic location where I could remember locations due to their architecture (for example, the waterfalls or the entrances to the Acid Chambers). I experienced SR before Metroid 2 and fell off hard from AM2R and found my way around just fine. "New linear areas padding the length of the game several hours": It felt like a more expanded gameplay which indulged me a lot with the exploration urge I have in Metroidvanias, not as much "padding" as "bang for your buck" to me. "What I remember is a long as fuck boss fight where you dodge attacks until a weakpoint is shown": Diggernaut? Dude's badass, he makes you think of the abilities you've gotten across the game and makes you use them cleverly against him, like sticking yourself to the ground with the spider ball while he sucks up your bombs, it's a very nice exam on what you've learnt. "What is the purpose of these random lava rooms?": Might be some pavlovian conditioning on me but Lava Rooms always felt like harder sections than regular rooms, so it retroactively makes the areas between them feel like break time. "Remember the quiet and reflective moment after saving the Baby Metroid, escaping the planet together? SR chucks that iconic moment in favor of turning the Baby Metroid into a powerup that sparks an end game victory lap": OK so this one is very contentious BUT, while I can appreciate the feeling of the original (and AM2R) with the somber tone and ending, I much more appreciate the SR route takes when taking into account the lore established AFTER the release of Metroid 2. It makes for a moment where Samus and the Baby Metroid bond, explaining the bond she felt for it besides sparing its life (and its eventual regret about attacking her in Super feels much more justified with that). In the end I think that's what SR wanted to achieve and it did so well. I do not believe that SR missed the point, but rather CHANGED the point to match the lore that'd be established after the original released. (I'll keep typing in a bit)
"All to milk a precious few more hours into the game": Why do you keep saying the game felt padded? It isn't. As far as I've played in the games, the backtrack item hunt is always a thing in Metroid and Metroidvanias. All the areas are there to serve a purpose with OPTIONAL rewards, the victory lap is something you can just overlook if you hate it that much. "At the worst possible moment": Like I said above, not necessarily, the moment fits considering SR is a reimagining tailored to make the game match more with latter lore. It may not fit the original Metroid 2's ending, which is a good thing, because SR's ending ISN'T that. "Samus Returns really is AM2R but 3x as longer for no good reason": I get that you're trying to compare the 2 and all but that comes across as disingenuous. "For no good reason" like expanding on the game to not be that close to the original (unlike AM2R, which I disliked, and yes I do have my own gripes with that remake) to make it more in-depth fitting for its goals isn't a good reason. I just fundamentally disagree with that point. "The new boss fights are a big part of that": So here goes this one, let's see... *"One of M2's biggest issues was the overarching objective of hunting down the Metroids, it's hard to make this task exciting and fresh throughout the game": I agree with that, it was a design decision made with the GameBoy in mind to provide for short-term objectives to aim towards each gameplay session ("I'll try getting 2 Metroids down in while mom drives me to school" for example). I appreciate that SR instead gave each fight more depth. *"I think AM2R did the best job it possibly could by making the fights more involved but ultimately still fast paced": I don't think this approach works that well because it only makes them feel like senseless damage sponges that drag on game time, SPECIALLY considering that AM2R is outside that "portable game with short missions" context. *"Samus Returns takes the opposite approach, turning every single Metroid fight into a huge spectacle, and it destroys the game pacing": Yeah, it turns them into a spectacle (for the better), and if anything it adds to the pacing, I'll explain as best as I can across your other points about this. *"Instead of a back and forth between fighters where their weakpoints are always exposed and you simply have to reach it": What you call that "back and forth" always felt closer to button mashing until the Metroid died to me with one or 2 jumps to mix stuff up. It's not engaging, it's just another enemy you need to shoot down with the missiles you have on hand. I do not like this approach and it's exacerbated in AM2R for me, specially with the Gamma Metroids. *"Samus Returns opts to have moments of invulnerability for them where you're forced to dodge and wait for an opening": Ok, more often than not they still have an exposed weakpoint you can hunt down if that's the approach you wanna get *"You also get designated segments where you can perform the exact same flashy maneuver over and over again with the right timing": ...On top of them constantly having a spot you can damage throughout the fight, adding more dynamism between your dodging and shooting with the 3rd option of waiting for a counter time. They're the "back and forth" but with more dynamic options that make the fights more engaging, AND a great stopgap for feeling like you reached that portable goal of completing 1 smaller mission, it's not "I got that Metroid", it's "I beat that Metroid".
KingK already committed to no longer reading the comments after the amount of pusback he got on this video so I wouldn't bet on him seeing any of this :/. I can definitely admire the amount of effort you put into countering most of his points though (no sarcasm).
@@J05KZhead Thanks, I'm trying to be genuine with him since that "So many people are taking my one or two factual inaccuracies as proof that my opinion is wrong, even though those points took up maybe 5% of that entire section. They have no rebuttal to my core arguments." tweet genuinely upset me after I saw a lot of people call him out on reasonable terms. I get that you can not like the game, but claiming that people explaining why some of your core complaints are wrong just "don't have a rebuttal to your core arguments" felt very douchey to me.
*"But the evolved Metroids are absolutely worse": I'll concede that the later evolutions have more involved fights, but I don't think it's such a bad thing to make them "absolutely worse" necessarily. *"The first evolution will run away to different rooms at random points, forcing you to slowly bomb through small tunnels to start fighting it again, and a single death means starting the whole tedious process all over again": The prey that has the strength to dig out escape paths does so, adding to the immersion and involvement with the fight, having it go beyond just "another Gamma Metroid", by having different paths you need to carve out since you can traverse the material the Metroids go through. For what you say about breaking immersion, the fact the Gammas run away, at least to me, felt like it ADDED to said immersion, making it so your more competent prey thinks of when its outmatched and tries to escape you, bolstering the fact you're HUNTING the Metroids down. And well, shame you find it tedious, but the punishment of repeating a boss fight if you die at it is just standard fare. Sure it'd be nice if it had a checkpoint at the "Metroid ran away" point, but the way it is isn't the big tedious climb you make it out to be. *"This wouldn't be so bad if you weren't fighting several of these in a row": I can concede on that having more variety would make the game more entertaining, by maybe throwing you off guard with a surprise Omega, but as-is? I think the variety between each Gamma encounter does more than enough to make the segment where you mostly fight them not become stale. *"The next 2 evolved forms are actually kinda fun, they don't hide their weakpoint nearly as much and it's a more kinetic fight, where you avoid their attacks and sneak in damage whenever possible": Yeah, the other 2 evolutions are more fun than the Gammas or Alphas, but the reasons you mention are... Also traits that both the Gammas and Alphas possess. The later evolutions make them even MORE engaged, but even then, you can STILL hit the Gammas and Alphas basically whenever their belly or mouth is facing your way at all, hell you can down the Gammas using a Charge Ice Shot and force them to open up when they're grounded with you. *"It's classic Metroid": As are both the Alphas and Gammas. *"But because they're more involved, they're much longer than the original or AM2R": The bigger involvement makes the Omegas truly come across as the massive threat they're supposed to be, something that I'll give credit to AM2R for also pulling off, but I prefer SR's approach to them in this ocassion. *"And because SR is one of the most difficult games in the series, you're not only fighting this copypaste long, difficult boss fight several times in a row, you're also going to have to do the whole thing all over again when you die": Game's hard, what can I say about it? It's not like it's unfair, you get SEVERAL chances for easy shots with the counter opportunities, the attacks are perfectly dodgeable if challenging. It's just the difficulty of the game, sorry if it dragged on you.
did you play the 3ds remake on the console itself or emulated? i played on the 3ds when it came out and i never had issues with the touch screen controls, it just feel like extra buttons. when i tried playing it on citra recently it was nearly impossible for me to play it because the game was designed with the ergonomics of the 3ds in mind.
I was thinking the same thing when he first said it, but then he started complaining about how annoying it was to switch missiles and standing in the same place taking hits trying to switch and it brought up memories I'd forgotten. It's definitely better on 3ds than emulated without mapping touchscreen to buttons, but these were absolutely problems, I just got over them easier than KingK
@@alaharon1233 oh i don't disagree, the game was definitely a lot clunkier than metroid games usually are
You should also consider that, being on an handheld console, playing differs between people based on their hands: if you have big hands, playing can be uncomfortable and if you have smaller ones you need to stretch your fingers more to reach the touchscreen. Even beyond simple size differences, the hand flexibility matters a lot. For example, my favorite 3ds game is "Kid Icarus: Uprising" and I played quite a lot of its competitive multiplayer mode: never had any issues playing it. But, for many other people, the peculiar controls were instead very painful and Nintendo itself acknowledged this by bundling the game with a stand for playing with the console on a surface. I suspect it is the same with Samus Returns: if your fingers are not flexible/long enough, switching beams becomes slow and cumbersome.
Yeah tbh I was confused about this as well. It's by no means more frustrating than cycling through 5 items like in Super and not being able to use them simultaneously. You'd think that treating them as separate toggles with a dedicated button each makes them better, not worse.
Yeah. I was really scratching my head when he said how awkward it was. I had no problems with the controls, except for using the analog stick to control her movement.
The point of having the Ice beam separated is so you can still have a beam that can turn your enemies into platform without killing them in one-shot, while still allowing your kill Beam to insta-kill your enemies. Do you want platforming, or insta-kill? The choice is yours. Except for the Metroids, where the Iec Beam is more effective. (also, larva Metroids actually remain frozen for a longer period of time if you charge-shot them with the Ice Beam)
Okay but what if (and get this) the enemies you use for platforming can only be killed by missiles? Or get rid of platforming on enemies entirely. Why defend unfun game design?
@@jackson633 nah g
@@jackson633 Idk man, what you describe sounds more unfun to me than the way SR does it.
@@jackson633 Giving the choice to use both seems more fun tbh. I can insta-kill when I want, and I can freeze when I want. Super gave you that option, and Fusion did as well, so I don't see any problems here
@@jackson633 Because I don't *want* to freeze literally every enemy in the game and have them get in my way when I just wanna run or jump by them. The fact that you say having to kill enemies in MORE shots than the Plasma Beam is "unfun" really says a lot about what you think is fun.
The endgame item hunts in Fusion and Zero Mission really aren't that bad with all the shortcuts they provide between and within the major areas, there's fun to be had planning out a route to get everything you've missed, with the shinespark becoming an absolute force of nature in terms of how it can hell launch you through all the rooms in seconds. The only hiccup that sticks out to me is in Zero Mission, where there's like a single missile tank in Kraid's Lair that you can't get until you have the Gravity Suit, that one item makes the route deviate so heavily and waste so much time going in and out for a single item. Also I'm not sure if someone has pointed this out yet but you need to charge the Ice Beam to fully freeze the Larval Metroids like with the other metroid forms
I actually find myself LESS frustrated with Samus Returns because of AM2R. Sure, it does some stuff I'm not fond of, but when there's an alternative way to play the game, it's hard for me to complain *too* much.
My biggest complaint with Samus Returns is that it just fails to grasp the tone and atmosphere of Metroid II, whereas AM2R largely captures/interprets it with artistic genius. From the melee counter and goofy Aeion powers to the level themes/artwork and lack of proper portrayal of how dangerous Metroids truly are (loads of normal enemies in the final hallways), SR just butchers the original's thematic tone. Oh, and the f**king Ridley fight makes me want to rip my hair out every time. It makes no sense.
@@conorreedR2C That ending... I mean, Ridley just flat out fucks it up and everything it was originally going for.
@@conorreedR2C the Ridley fight I feel was done because a lot of people got mad when Sakamoto implied he considered the Prime series non canon. This was basically his apology to the fans for those comments and the Ridley scene in Other M
@@skibot9974 if anything, Metroid: Other M should be considered non canon.
@@drunkenbuttons606 I enjoyed the gameplay of Other M, but at the end of the day it's the 3D bargain bin version of Fusion.
On ZM's ending, it must be said though that the game creates a very convenient cleanup route for anyone who's been collecting as they go.
ZM probably has the most harmless end-game cleanup, there's convenient shortcuts that basically let you do a quick loop around the map to grab everything and then re-enter chozodia fusion end-game feels like a "ah you're a metroid vet and you wanna see our hardest puzzles" sort of deal. I have no defense for SR's cleanup lol.
@@xanious3759I have to agree. I feel like I 100% the game because mecha Ridley was tough, but I honestly can’t remember because it felt fun. It didn’t feel tedious to hunt down the last secrets. It was a well paced final cleanup in my opinion
I am honestly mixed in a lot of ways on Samus Returns. Like when I first played the game in 2017 I reacted much like you did. Many of the criticisms I still do share. I think Samus Returns is a defiant remake of Metroid 2 that prey much missed the point of it. But.... Man I have too much fun with the combat to care. Legit while there really is no way to quickly beat this game, there is a different kind of satisfaction I get from mastering the Metroid fights that might be more akin to DMC or something. I love how you are given free control to switch missiles during the flashy counters. The Ice beam is made different but it also is a good thing imo because I find the ice beam freezing enemies annoying in most Metroid games when I actually try to kill anything. Heck I found out an easy way to kill enemies is to freeze them and then do the counter attack and it kills enemies so much faster than shooting. Aeon powers added a bit too, well...two of them did lol. It definitely does use the touch screen too much, but it was also par for the course for the console for better or worse. I hate that they included Ridley at all, but man it is my favorite Ridley fight in the whole series. I will say I still prefer AM2R, and OG Metroid II is a huge guilty pleasure of mine. But I think in hindsight I've come around to appreciating this game's approach to remaking it. Purely because it doesn't invalidate AM2R. AM2R and Samus Returns are incredibly different games despite sharing the source material, and for that I can go to them for different things. If they remade Metroid 2 as faithfully as AM2R than everything DocM64 would have worked on would have been pointless because people would play the official one with absolutely no remorse. This allows AM2R to stand on it's own two feet. If I want a faithful remake of Metroid II, I can play AM2R. If I want to play a triumphant (if not clumsy) attempt at modernizing 2D Metroid I can play Samus Returns.
the way i like to look at it is AM2R is a metroid 2 remake, SR is mercury steam's bumpy but fun first run with the series that happens to have metroid 2's story.
I do love those Metroid fights and Ridley makes no sense but damn is that fight fun and memorable. Too bad Kraid didn't get that in Dread but fighting a glorified wall is never particularly fun.
So far dread takes fusions atmosphere with zero mission's swiftness and i love it
1:03:15 I personally think adding enemies to the final area was intentional, but not to make the game more exciting. Rather it was done to account for changes to series’ storyline. When Metroid II was created the Metroids were depicted as a Plauge on the Galaxy that had to be exterminated. Fusion Retconned them into the protectors of SR388 who instead feast on the X-parasite in order to keep the Ecosystem balanced. So if the Metroids aren’t feeding off of the denizens of the planet than of course the planet would be filled with life.
Huh that’s actually an interesting point. Never have thought of it that way
That's a neat hypothesis but I don't see a reason why the Metroids, which have been shown to feast upon just about everything they come across, would all of a sudden not attack other animals. It's also hard to believe Metroids wouldn't continue on with eating other creatures once they so swiftly took care of the X infestation. Metroids were created by the Chozo to keep SR-388 alive, not the creatures on it. Even if it was intentional to have creatures exist in the Metroid lair (which would mean (a) they aren't afraid of Metroids and (b) Metroids aren't territorial- both of which are clearly not true), the logic has no throughline to the rest of the series. It was a clear misstep and hurts the tone and story.
@@conorreedR2C It's not really a hypothosis though. The lore specifically says that metroids feed on the X, and if you get a 100% ending in samus returns it literally shows a cut scene of the X infecting local wildlife. This is because samus killed off all the good guys. the metroids
@@phili58 lol, I know about the cutscene and how the whole situation plays out. I'm just saying there's no reason for them to, all of a sudden, start portraying Metroids as good or humane in any way. They're literally "ultimate warriors," created only to kill. Metroids were originally doers of good, not agents of it. Where portraying Metroid as "good" (instead of "used for good") becomes an issue is when you examine them in M1 & Super. Based on new "evidence" in Samus Returns, Metroids should all of a sudden lose their fearsome reputation among non-X species, thus never being targeted for weaponization by either the Space Pirates or the Federation. If Mother Brain knows Metroids are really only efficient at killing the X, she wouldn't inform the Space Pirates of their deadly capabilities (because they'd be considered non-deadly). Of course, that's all bogus. They are basically perfect killing machines, just as they were created to be. Painting them in any other, lesser light (as Samus Returns does) marginalizes the entire "Metroid Threat" story arc. Saying Metroids feed only on X is objectively wrong, unless SR wants to try to go against one of the most pivotal moments in the whole franchise. The baby (which is implied to have grown by feasting on Space Pirates and wildlife) nearly kills Samus because it's an indiscriminate hunter. It's a fundamental problem with SR's portrayal and invalidates its interpretation of the Metroid II story.
@@conorreedR2C bruh, painting them as more than just killing machines was shown I literally Metroid 2 with the baby Metroid, and then expanded upon in super metroid
I literally just finished Metroid Samus returns on the 3ds with a run time of 10 hours or so. And in the battles I died (yes I died a lot) I was able to skip the cutscenes with Queen Metroid and Ridley. Was the skip option an update maybe? If not then I'm calling you out KingK
Nah. A lot of what he says about Samus Returns is just not true or nitpicky. He very much comes across as more upset about what the game isn't than what it is.
@@Kermomancer Nitpicking and biased
@@Simianking2 Someone saw Dunkey’s video
I think the skip option has been in the base game since launch
@@Kermomancer I agree with some of what he says. During my battle against the metroid, specifically the queen and alpha metroids, everytime I tried changing from ice beam to plasma beam I always had to stop for a moment to change to the correct one due to it being a touch screen and all. It always left me open for an attack. This is not a huge complaint, but it is there for sure
So much of dread feels like lessons learned from samus returns. So even if samus returns has tons of issues, it also helped mercury steam make the changes we need to make dread so damn great.
I've called Dread "Super Samus Returns" in the same way Metroid 3 is "Super Metroid" relative to, well, regular Metroid. There's so much about Dread which was clearly built upon Samus Returns, both in terms of infrastructure (e.g. same yellow doors, same charge beam doors, etc) and lessons learned (e.g. less emphasis on melee counters and easier kills using beam weapons relative to MSR)... just like how Super Metroid was built upon the everything that came from the original Metroid.
@@BlueAizu_ Actually, once you've activated all of them, you can teleport from any one Teleportal to any other, regardless of color!
Yeah
Thanks for standing up for fusion. I LOVE the horror that emerges from its linearity. I also like the story more, it forces you to ask who is in the right in the setting
Fusion is my favorite game in the franchise. The atmosphere was so tense and the narrative was the best it's ever been. It was also harder than Super Metroid without being frustrating.
I loved Fusion. The story and atmosphere super creepy. And this is where the series finally started to control like butter. Controls were perfected in Dread.
Here's my thoughts on Another Metroid 2 Remake & Metroid: Samus Returns AM2R - *One of the best remakes for any videogame.* The developers clearly understand what makes metroid work with its open ended exploration points in a game with such linear structuring with it's A-to-B metroid kill frenzy sequence. Speaking from a Low% Hard Mode speedrun experience. I LOVE how incredibly mobile & flexible Samus' movement is in this game. This game has some of the most extreme shinespark time saves i've ever done & much of the game's environmental platforming is so well constructed. I appreciate the game's better use of metroids as actual obstacles & most being gifted with anti-missile spam strategies in mind makes them feel a ton more real & tangible. 2 complaints I have with the Zeta & Omega Metroids is that you can shot them as they're turning around or in the Omega's case, you can camp in the small spaces you need to morph Ball to get to them. & Freezing enemies with the Ice Beam for platforming has been removed. Aside from that, the game is gorgeous & i highly recommend trying it out. Metroid 2: Samus Returns - *A fantastic re-imagining of SR388.* SR388 is a linear experience similar to Fusion (but with slightly more item collection on the main path through the game & more backtracking for the last item clean marathon at the end.) The removal of the speed booster removed a lot of cool movement tech that scaled up in terms of difficulty the further the player got in many other games, but it got replaced with teleporters, which I am not bothered about & let me explain why. This game HAMMERS players with hard-hitting enemies throughout its entirety & these enemies make it a habit of quickly rushing into you & dealing massive damage (speaking from hard mode low% experience here). This sounds awful until you see what standard the game is trying to present to the player, which is seeing how good the player is at deciding between using your melee, ice beam, normal movement, morph ball mode, or ammo to kill them before they become aggressive nuisances. This dynamic is made better when you notice many enemies in the game (especially early game) are positioned in ways to make navigation easier if you can freeze them before they move or shoot them with an uncharged ice beam, then quickly shatter them with a missile to conserve time & health at the cost of higher execution while staying on the move & possilby keeping up with the missile & Aeion usage. This strategy also stays viable even when you begin upgrading your beam because late game enemies still take some level of punishment from a fully upgraded beam without yellos mode to kill, so being able to freeze and shatter enemies with a missle quickly while styaing mobile is very effective. This dynamic also is shown against the game's metroids. Alpha Metroids may have invincibility sometimes when attempting to ram Samus, but you can hug a wall, get them to charge into it with a well timed jump, shoot them with a charged ice beam on their exposed underbelly, then lay into them with missiles. Even the ones that try to float away to regain health can be iced up (which makes alphas VERY slow) & disposed of. Betas are a horrible offender though. When I am forced to stop attacking after their hp gets to a certain threshold to stop them from running after icing them & waiting for them to use the bite attack that gives Samus the cutscene to missile them to death, it's bad design. I have no idea why the devs thought that was a good time. I wish you could freeze the entrances to disable them from running. Zetas are well designed. The ice beam no longer gives Samus an advantage when compared to the lesser evolved forms & the game begins testing your reflexes on how good you are at reacting to such an agile creature briefly revealing its weak spots after attacking relentlessly. Zetas can quickly cause players to miss missile shots often, which wastes time & makes you feel graceless & clumsy. The feeling is dialed up to 11 with the Omega Metroids. These forgo agility for brute force, much bigger reach, & drastically increased durability. Losing missile ammunition against such a powerhouse forces the player to shoot rocks & hope for missile drops, melee its bite attack, or shoot 5 charged ice beams at its belly for weapon, Aeion, and heatlh drops. These serve to help keep the player from being forced to Ice beam these creatures if you're not skilled enough to make your shots count, but it's a passive insult if you ask me because you CAN kill every metroid with your base amount of missiles, super missiles, & Aeion if you have the fortitude to learn the attack patterns. Aeion is a fantastic addition. Green mode gives you more melee range to possibly knock an enemy further away from you while giving players a protective shield that consumes Aeion in place of health. Yellow mode makes your standard beam extremely powerful, giving the player the ability to kill metroids & common enemies very fast while shredding through aeion quickly. Pulse Scan helps newcomers. Purple mode giving the ability to slow time is one of the most creative & expressive abilities in the series. This ability enables Samus to plant power bombs on Diggernaught's exposed core in 1 cycle with all of your Aeion (even if it isn't upgraded), ending the fight in less than 10 minutes if you're experienced. This ability allows Samus to pump more missiles into Metroids for loads of extra damage without needing to overly rely on fishing for melee parrys. Spider Boosting is an interesting replacement for Speed Booster & Morph Ball Boosting. However, it's learned FAR too late in the game for it to really matter that much. The endgame item cleanup is one of the worst in the series imo becuase it doesn't require any complicated puzzle solving compared to Fusion's endgame cleanup. Ridley is already such an amazing fight & he doesn't require that many upgrades to down. Anyway, The game's dynamic between picking what resources will help you platform the best, save more ammo, make enemies less of a pain, & still have enough supplies for dealing with the metroids without constantly backtracking to restock on ammo is what keeps me still playing it. My currect best time on it is 1hour & 54 minutes.
What an excellent analysis on the game design philosophy of SR. I think that this was refined and carried over into dread. And despite the criticisms in the video, I don’t mind that, because Mercury Steam seems to approach their gameplay structure with the goal of seeing how cool they can make Samus look. They seem to have a deep reverence for the character herself in a way that previous games just didn’t convey well at all. We see her badass mannerisms, her ability to physically go toe-to-toe with monstrosities ten times her size. I don’t really care if the parry cutscenes are frequent, they are cool as fuck and grant Metroid fans a special insight into Samus’ character, how she feels about the enemies she’s fighting, her experience, etc. It’s conveyed a lot in this game, so I think that the execution heavy gameplay structure that they went with perfectly aligns with how they wanted to portray Samus as a character for this game: resourceful, acrobatic, brutally efficient during combat.
1:02:52 Gotta be honest, from my experience I didn't have any problems with the beams and controls ( maybe its emulation? Since I played Samus Return on an actual 3DS with LumaCFW installed ) Honest, I had the time of my life just getting it to 100% Haven't played AM2R yet but I want to at some point
He was probably playing on an emulator me too no issues with touch pad
you know: in spite of everything you said about it. samus returns IS still the game we needed to break the hybernation. without it, we wouldn't have gotten dread. and dread is damn near perfect.
Why wouldn't we have dread without it?
@@hubblebublumbubwub5215 I don't know if it's exactly true that we wouldn't have Dread without Samus Returns, but Dread clearly builds upon the foundation of SR. Movement and controls feel almost identical to one another, just with a couple extra moves and a touch more polish in Dread. Nintendo might not have greenlit Dread had Mercury Steam not proved themselves capable with SR.
@@adamx9065 Technically it's true that Dread would be different if SR didn't exist, but I'm not sure if we should praise SR for being a glorified beta test. It's perfectly possible to make a new metroidvania from the ground up, as shown by several indies. The similarities between SR and Dread just makes Dread feel like a less unique experience, while also highlighting SR as the inferior game. I think Samus Returns should've been made for the switch with some extra development time.
@@hubblebublumbubwub5215 They used SR as a test for MercurySteam, the developers of dread who were a small team at the time, and they were happy with the result so they let them make dread
Aw man, everyone's posting a Metroid video this year! It's a good time to be a fan. Just tried Metroid II for the first time, over here, and I'm liking it quite a lot!
Welcome to the fan base, my friend.
@@niclaswa5408 I've played prime as a kid and didn't really get it and I played hunters on ds and loved the multi-player but didn't understand the story progression. It felt like I was constantly fighting bosses to end over and over but the multi-player was amazing for a ds game. Then I tired super metroid and I started to get what the games were going for. But I didn't fully understand metroid until I played dread it is seriously that good. I went back and play zero mission and fusion and finally finished super metroid. I still don't get hunters but maybe I'll try it again and other m just seems like a pile of crap compared to everything else.
My first Metroid was Prime 3. Back then I thought it was a really cool action game, but when I landed on Bryo and the “Metroid part” began, it turned me off because I all of a sudden was all alone with no troops, allies, or fellow bounty hunters. I turned the game of and didn’t give it a new try after a year or two. After accepting the “changes” I realized it was still a fun game. Since then I’ve been a Metroid fan. Btw when I played the other games, I was shocked to learn that there was no other game where your ship didn’t help you throughout the journey. (Besides at the very beginning and at the very end.) That and you didn’t explore multiple planets.
Zero Mission has always been my favorite, I’m 2 hours into dread though so maybe that will change
It's a really fun game isn't it? I beat it a little while ago today. Its up there on my list of nest metroid games.
It’s so replayable as well. Sometimes when I wanna play a GBA game I can’t pick anything and just play through Zero Mission again.
Dread is amazing so far it's a little unfair to compare the two considering that dread is for a mainline console and zero mission is a remake of sorts of the first game on a handheld only console. I prefer fusion over zero mission personally buy dread is the best 2d I think except maybe super metroid.
In Samus returns you are supposed to use the charged ice beam to freeze the last Metroids, since the non-charges version merely stops them for a split second.
It's funny how it seems to be impossible to appreciate both AM2R and Samus Returns for most people. They clearly are going about the remake in vastly different ways, and both games do things quite well that the other fails pretty miserably at - but both games have some serious strengths and I really don't see why everyone is so down on one or the other, particularly when one of them is free and not all that hard to find despite Nintendo being douchenozzles about the whole thing.
While I think that AM2R is the better remake overall, I will say that I was impressed with how Samus Returns would play with player's expectations of certain mechanics, such as using fans to suck up your bombs to prevent bomb jumps. It makes me cautiously optimistic for how Dread will make its own rules. (I'm loving what I see in Dread so far, but I needed a break!) Still, one thing I still believe the original did best is creating tension before the fight with the Metroid Queen. Something about the 8-bit music creates suspense and fear of the unknown as you press on into the queen's lair and while you fight her.
Michael Brennock that final hallway before the queen is great. A low droning soundtrack and the increasingly louder cries of the queen. And a bunch of spikes. Perfect.
@@megabyte01 Yeah, MercurySteam just took a huge swing and a miss in the entire final area. The whole POINT was that, as you got closer to the Queen and invaded the lair of the Omega Metroids, all other creatures disappear because the Metroids have killed or driven them all away. So what does Samus Returns do? Fill all the pre-Queen areas with tons of bullet-spongy super mobs. *sigh*
Fucking exactly, this. I played both for the first time along with the GB Original this year, and liked them all. 2 is a serious step up from the OG Metroid and, in a vacuum, is a pretty good sequel. AM2R is amazing as a passion project and perfects the Metroid formula in many ways, but SR brings a lot new to the table, and while it fumbles in some areas, is a great step forward for the series. I feel like Vinny Vinesauce summed it up pretty well: "AM2R is the perfect of the Metroid Formula, where as SR is the evolution of it," and I'm inclined to agree.
I couldn't tell you man. I adore SR and frankly I think I'm partially so harsh when talking about AM2R because I so frequently hear people claiming it's way better than Samus Returns and one of the best Metroid games ever, and I just don't see it. It was fun, but better than Samus Returns? Not to me, nowhere NEAR the best Metroid game either
This was in my recommended, and my first thought was Your voice fits really well for Metroid
My power rankings: 1. Super Metroid 2. Metroid Fusion 3. Metroid: Samus Returns 4. Metroid: Zero Mission 5. Metroid II: Return of Samus 6. Metroid A couple of things I'd like to mention. In Metroid ii gameboy, the spiderball does not get enough love. It feels glorious to play that dated gameboy game and get an upgrade that makes you feel like you are breaking the game. It lets you climb any wall and feels great in a platformer. And I agree with a lot of your points on Samus Returns for 3DS but I think I enjoyed it a lot more because I didn't have an issue with the controls. I actually think it used the 3DS well.
I like it personally and I have not nostalgia I played it for the first time under a year ago
@Craig Adams That alone is not a good reason to declare a game "the most overrated of all time" You can remap all of the buttons anyway. I never understood why people have this issue. Its the same controls as Super Mario, only you have a gun and can customize the button layout.
5. Metroid II: Return of Samus' discarded
@Craig Adams you should play Super Metroid Project Base. It’s hack where the controls has been improved, certain slow parts has been speed up, and a bunch of other things.
1. Hyper Metroid 2. Super Metroid 3. Metroid Fusion 4. AM2R 6. Samus Returns 5. Zero Mission 7. Return of Samus 8. Metroid
Your videos are always awesome man. Often times you’re able to explain things about games that i didn’t like but wasn’t even sure why, bravo sir
Speaking as somebody who hasn’t played any version of Metroid II, it seems to me, a layman, that the ending of Samus Returns adds context to the way Samus behaves throughout the series. It lets Samus go on a whole miniature journey with the Baby before Super Metroid, even fighting Ridley together. They bond a little bit. Samus, throughout the rest of the series (notoriously in some cases-cough, other M, cough) is very remorseful about the fate of the baby. By adding in a larger amount of time spent with the baby, the player starts to feel some level of connection as well. I feel the same way about this (again, having not played any version of the game) as I do about certain fan projects adding in the detail that Samus had a miscarriage at some point in the past. It adds to the pain she must have felt, making it a more potent story beat overall.
Samus having a miscarriage is either some non 2D lore or some head cannon someone has. The problem with AM2R is that even though it lets you have more time with the baby Metroid, Samus in the other games never felt any specific love towards it. She is grateful to it but she never speaks sentimentally or fondly about it. On the other hand, that whole section ruins the point the original Metroid 2 and AM2R make, which is that you have being forcing extinction on a species, the only being of that species left being the baby Metroid. After doing that I would doubt Samus would want to have some bonding time with the little Metroid when she's the one that killed all of the other beings in that species. The ending of Metroid 2 and AM2R makes you reflect on your actions and makes you feel guilty. You're a killer and even then the baby Metroid thinks Samus is her mother and is peaceful towards her, it even saves Samus in Super Metroid and she also gets saved by Metroids during Fusion, which is something she has trouble dealing with emotionally, especially after killing the last few Metroids after destroying the BSL station and SR388 along with it. That is a weird thing since Samus is a soldier, meaning that she barely has any feelings, which is something that gets explored in Fusion. Even further, she probably is conflicted by the fact that Metroids can be peaceful and empathic, so is it really ok to try and make them extinct? Samus Returns instead chooses to add bloat to the endgame and add fanservice because why not. The general take with SR is that even though it's a fun game and all, it doesn't seem to have the same design philosophy the others had about storytelling, athmosphere and making you feel. Instead it's about cool gameplay mechanics, spectacle fights with gimmicks and having more stuff to do. Even at those it kinda fails since the other games are already better at those aspects without having to have cool 3D graphics and badass cutscenes where Samus does flips while shooting.
I actually like ridley as a final boss for samus returns. I don't like to look at samus returns as a remake but a reimagining. This game had to being metroid into the modern world and adding Ridley as the final boss not only connects the prime games, but it's also a good final boss for new players in the series scince I bet they were hoping for a wider audience with it.
I wish Ridley were more of a surprise in Samus Returns. All the upgrades found past the Queen just screams ‘get ready for more!’ That’s my biggest complaint, like your mission is supposed to be complete when you defeat the queen… At least keep letting me think that I’m done.
Connect it to the prime games? What?! Lol, as if every single game in the Metroid Threat arc isn't already connected to the Prime trilogy via many ties. It doesn't need Ridley to do it, especially not when it does a poor job of it. Ridley has no purpose in the Metroid II story. Can you tell me one good reason his fight exists? If you're sacrificing a coherent story for mass appeal, accessibility, and spectacle, you deserve to have your game mocked relentlessly for butchering the most important chapter in the entire Metroid story. Mercury Steam clearly did *not* understand what Metroid II was about; it's not a good Metroid game.
@@conorreedR2C because it’s his best fight in the series and ridley’s cool who cares
@@conorreedR2C "Ridley has no purpose in the Metroid II story", good thing that's not what Samus Returns' story is. The context is different. We have all the lore that was established AFTER the original M2 released to take into account now. The ending has spectacle, WHILE serving the purpose of expanding upon a specific aspect: Samus's bond to the Baby Metroid. It's not just "Oh I spared the baby", it's "Oh I took this baby in and took it on a short adventure with me". "Butchering the most important chapter in the entire Metroid story" gee sure didn't feel that way all those years I saw people just... Completely saying to ignore Metroid 2. "Mercury Steam clearly did not understand what Metroid II was about" Guess you're also pissed about Sakamoto then. He didn't develop the original M2 so maybe that's why he felt so liberal with the changes. Remember that Sakamoto was the Producer and any story changes must've gone through him, so that's the vision he had for that segment of the story. I'm sure it's not that Mercury Steam missed the point, they absolutely know it, they instead CHANGED the point to match the later established Sakamoto lore.
@@MaximumAddition No, it's dumb and makes Samus look like an idiot. Instead of destroying Ridley's body with a Power Bomb or something, she just... walks away.
Super hyped to see this vid in my sub box!! Love the content as always and great to do it for the release of dread
As much as I respect the opinions on Samus Returns, I feel like I'm one of the few people who understands that Samus Returns was made with a different atmosphere in mind. Metroid 2 (and AM2R) is a tragedy of isolation and genocide, with the Baby Metroid as becoming your "companion cube" in the epilogue as you ponder said genocide. Samus Returns, in contrast, is about surviving an oppressive, hostile planet where everything is out to get you. The Baby acts as your only sanctuary against this this cruel world; not only is it not hostile, it even HELPS you in the new epilogue where you escape the planet, and fight Ridley again. The oppressive atmosphere of Samus Returns contrasted with the innocent assistance of the Baby makes you far more attached to it (reminiscent of it role in Super Metroid, while also highlighting it's reimagined atmosphere. I'm not saying it's the better atmosphere (I prefer AM2R's version) but it's something worth considering...
Honestly, that's a good point. Even if the atmosphere is different in Samus Returns, I was WAY more attached to the baby Metroid in that version of the game. It's the only creature on SR-388 that was remotely pleasant to be near, and the increased aesthetic fidelity also gave it more character.
I never truly cared about the baby as a character until the ending of SR. It was a sad brief story from the end of 2 to Super, but SR makes it a real short story of brief attachment.
Super well done I watched it twice since last night. I've found lots of your videos recently when searching for Nintendo related retrospectives from Zelda to Metroid and all the other stuff and when I see KingK I know I'm in for a good video. Thanks for the great content. Keep it up. :)
They don't tell you about the Power Bomb Shinespark type thing because it's never needed for progression. Super Metroid never tells you about the Crystal Flash either
The Samus Returns section really felt like forced bitching, doesn't it?
Or even that specific fake wall in norfair in Super Metroid. You can’t look through it with the x-ray scope, you can’t bomb it you just have to walk through it. What about in fusion where you have to bomb a specific spot on the floor that has no visual cue your supposed to do so, in order to raise a platform. Both of those are needed for progression.
Come on, you don't have to use the Crystal Flash for ANYTHING. You need this power bomb maneuver to get secrets. They track your completion percentage, you know.
@@KingKlonoa But the thing is it’s technically optional. Same goes for the end of game item hunt. The average player might not want to go for 100%
@@KingKlonoa The fact you act like this is the only time the series has ever ever ever done this is really weird. You aren't told about Ballsparking, wanna argue that one? It's really sounding like you have a hate boner for SR.
Am so glad you mentioned the music in Metroid Fusion. The score in that game is absolutely BRILLIANT! It is half of what makes the chilling moments in the game so great & they are just perfectly done. The best example I can think of is the very first time you encounter the X wearing your suit, & the chilling music that plays, along with the light shining in the darkness from the X'es lamp. She's looking for you as you're tucked into a corner literally right above her head, and it's just such a chilling moment. It chilled me to the bone the very first time I went thru the game. It's truly amazing.
I’m playing through the 2D Metroid games in order right now, and it’s been fun to come back to this video and re-watch your reviews every time I finish one. I just finished Super and I just started Fusion! I haven’t watched your Dread video yet as I haven’t played that yet, but I can’t wait to watch it! Keep up the great work 🫶
The Samus Returns section is what happens when you play the game already being biased and petty against it for not being AM2R. The obvious fact that you didn't pay attention to what the game tells you is enough.
That whole section was really shoddy and I expected better from kingk tbh
I'mma just have to disagree with basically everything you said about Samus Returns. Love that game.
Same I personally like Samus Returns more than Dread too Not saying I dislike Dread, but yeah I found that Proteus Ridley fight so cool and really love Area 5, 7 and 8
Samus returns is better than amr2
While I think he went overboard with his critisisim SR has its flaws. It fundamentally misses several key themes of the orignal game, most notably Ridley. While it might be the best Ridley fight in the series it should never of been in the game due to it thematically (and chronologically) making absolutly no sense.
@@SormonAusPol Technically it makes sense as it's the Ridley after the Prime games (takes place between Metroid 1 and 2), shown by his partial prosthetics. And reason for appearing is to get the metroids, but came too late as Samus has already eradicated them all except 1 Yes he appears back at Ceres Station, which can be explained by the unusual healing capabilities (and you can see Ridley removed his metal claw at the final X parasite scene)
@@Proteus_Ridley I know, but to heal off all his cybonetic in like 24 hours is kind of ridiculus. Also apearing in SR makes his suprise return in Super feel less impactful. Either way it doesn't work IMO.
Wow just have to say Thank You!...this is a gift to me and any Metroid fan who loves this series. The way you break it down is very articulate. Impressive. Wish you the best.
It's so nice to hear someone talk this fondly about Fusion. I like Super, but I ADORE Fusion and I'm so freaking glad that Dread follows more in the footsteps of the latter rather than the former!
Yeah. I’m sick and tired of reviewers going “yeah, it’s good, but it’s not Super”.
@@niclaswa5408 Yeah, people forget that the Metroid franchise has so far been ever-evolving. They didn't stop with Super and they didn't stop with Fusion, instead opting to evolve the series even further with Dread. Wanting the new Metroid games to be "more like Super" is, to me, missing the mark completely
Thank you so much for acknowledging AM2R and its updates ^o^
Where can I get this?
@@Mr-ri3ig Best sources would be from the AM2R reddit. There's one big patch that will graphically overhaul it with a new non-zero mission style and from screenshots it's looking really good.
Don’t acknowledge that shitty fangame
@@jakedematteo2172 Which shitty fangame? Can't be AM2R, it's an amazing fangame. :3
@@kgblagden Am2r. It’s a good thing it was taken down
Ah yes. Time to watch another video about my favorite franchise
Never get tired of analysis
Your Metroid vids are the best, glad this one actually shows up on my recommended
Your voice is very calming and great. Amazing job as always. I'm not even a fan of the Metroid series, yet I plan on binging this video 😎
Personally the original Metroid II is my favourite game in the series. It gives a mood and atmosphere and sense of dread that no other game has replicated for me. Plus the EJRTQ colour hack is absolutely stunning. I highly recommend replaying the game with that patch sometime (and also with the patch that fixes the arm cannon sprite, which is compatible with the EJRTQ patch as long as you do the cannon patch first).
While most of your points on Samus Returns are valid I’ve just went through SR in preparation for Dread and there were a couple parts I’ve noticed: you’re able to skip cutscenes after death and the game does mention the contextual use of the Grapple Beam when used with free aim. You can pause the game without the touchscreen The last Metroid type also went by pretty quickly since you can just powerbomb it’s stomachs protective coat away. Granted all of these could have been fixed with an update You’ve got a pretty great point with Ridley and to add on the insult there the endgame item hunt is e s p e c i a l l y useless in that regard. Since only one of the Baby Metroid exclusive upgrades is a Super Missile tank…. which is the only thing besides your beams that can even hurt or do anything to Ridley (Regular missiles do nothing even during a parry sequence and the powerbombs likewise do nothing).
Metroid 2 for the Gameboy absolutely blew my little mind as a young kid. I absolutely fell in love w the franchise at that point.
Really enjoyed watching this! Thoughtful, entertaining, and super chill. Great job!
It's interesting hearing your comments about Ridley in Metroid Fusion being his most challenging incarnation yet. This is...definitely not the case if you've caught on to how Fusion handles damage scaling. Your gameplay footage shows you using missiles to fight Ridley, but by that point, you've had no need for missiles in combat for a while... Once you get Plasma Beam, charge beam shots become dramatically more powerful than missiles, so much so that they easily compensate for the reduced fire rate. And furthermore, because of the way Plasma Beam damage is calculated, it does more damage to bigger sprites, and Ridley has the biggest sprite in the game (aside from Phase 2 SA-X, which if you can get a shot just right you can literally one-shot kill, and the Omega Metroid, of which the vast majority is impervious to harm.) So if you've noticed just how powerful your beam gets, Ridley is literally the easiest boss in the game.
KingK does not know how to play Metroid games
Yeah, this guy is wild. Ridley is a goddamn joke in Fusion... as he should be, considering this is his final appearance in the franchise and he's just a copy of a clone. Went out with a whimper, not a bang.
i never realized how stupidly powerful fusion charge beam was until i got to ridley on a 1% run, Nightmare took me a day and a half to beat on 1%, ridley I beat on my first try, lol.
@@xanious3759 Part of that is just that Ridley isn't that big of a threat regardless - Nightmare is one of the game's most difficult bosses. But yeah...charge/plasma beam in Fusion is bonkers. And Wave just makes it more absurd.
Saw the stuff about your voice on twitter. Your voice is what makes me enjoy these videos in the first place. I dont even play metroid, but listening to your soothing voice for an hour is like such a relaxing experience. Your voice makes the video to a certain extent. Good vid as always 😁✌
Metroid II was the first Metroid game I ever played…Still love it today! Great video!
your voice is really amazing and your videos are top notch. you have become one of my favorite youtubers in the last three years and helped me through some tough times. all hail kingk
I always love when you put out longer videos like this one. The more popcorn I need to make it through a KingK video, the happier I am.
Perfect :) commuting home soon to pick up Dread, this is the perfect way to get hyped
Yes I know I'm super late. Just finished the super metroid section and so far loving your videos but I find it criminal that no one commented or said anything about my favourite part of s.m., the fact that you can swap on and off all your powers and it makes for some weird beams combinations and an added challenge if you wish so. That said great videos! I'm bringing rn your metroid serie and, while I don't agree with many things you said, I compleatly understand where you're coming from and respect it. Glad you enjoyed my favourite game franchise ! Much love
It’s so interesting seeing the context of the series as a whole from a long time fan. I played the original port of Metroid on the GBA when I was a little kid, but never got far, just enjoyed running and shooting. Never played the series again until Samus Returns in 2017. I loved it, but it couldn’t hold my attention when it was competing with the brand new Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey, so I put it down. I finally came back to Samus Returns in 2021, played it all the way through (not 100% with the baby Metroid crystals, I thought that was so stupid), and absolutely LOVED it the entire time! Got me hooked enough to go basically buy the entire series backlog on my Wii U. I haven’t gotten to any of those games yet, but I want to. Interesting to see how Samus Returns can be viewed so differently given one’s history with the series. Thanks for the great video man, I always enjoy these deep dive retrospectives!! 🙏🏼
Man, that thumbnail art is stylish! Reminds me a little of the Metal Gear Solid promotional art style, loose abstract colors and striking minimalist inky lines.
Truth be told, I have only played Metroid Samus Returns on the 3DS. I love the 3DS and I adored this game, and I still do. I plan to play Zero Mission on emulator to get a different feel of the series, and I have a Switch, so maybe I shall play Super Metroid (I see why many people say it’s the best, so I might as well give it a try). Now, I know Samus Returns can be clunky at times, but I’ve become so used to changing misiles and beams on the touch screen, and I’ve also become so used to the always on map that I don’t know how I’ll receive Super Metroid or Zero Mission. Guess I can’t knock it until I try.
This is one of my favorite game series I can’t wait to here you talk about all of them
I really appreciate every video you make KingK! Thank you for all ways bringing me hours of enjoyment.
Fusion was my absolute favorite! I can't even tell you how many times I played through that game
hihi that's a fantastic and horrifying game too. the SA-X chases were so memorable for me.
I chuckled at moments where you were running away from sa-x and stopped to shoot the door thingies upwards. You were clearly playing on a keyboard, I've never seen anyone play like that because everyone just shoots it diagonally while running without stopping at all
but i play on keyboard and don't do that at all though? why is this a keyboard thing lol
@@xanious3759 because the control scheme is so natural on the actual hardware. You can effortlessly use your index finger to press L or R while moving and shooting. On a keyboard it’s committing a whole extra finger to a button you weren’t already pressing. Your fingers don’t naturally rest on the keys to play a game, they rest to type words, so it’s not as intuitive for most people.
How timely, I can't wait to dig into Metroid Dread later tonight. Your content is such a delight K! Keep it going!
43:19 Showing the badass hero outside of their armor (read: in a state of vulnerability) is a good reward regardless of whether the hero is male or female.
I'm playing Super Metroid for the first time to celebrate Dread Day since I won't be getting Dread on release unfortunately. I've only completed Zero Mission previously and I loved that game a lot. Can't wait to see what the rest of the core Metroid series has to offer, and then check out the Prime series once 4 gets closer to release.
Why not though?
@@TROBassGuitar Money. And also I haven't played anything but the first game in the timeline, why would I jump right into the fifth?
All of the 2d Metroid games are fantastic and could put you to the limit if you want to get the perfect endings. Have fun!
@@StormSnake0618 story isn't really important in metroid games. It's not like you need to have played the previous ones to understand Dread. It's all about gameplay, not about story (well except for the environmental storytelling and atmosphere, but that's only relevant in the moment, it doesn't require playing the previous games to understand that a creepy room looks creepy) And like half of the metroid games are just remakes of other metroid games anyway. So playing them in order of release wouldn't even make a whole lotta sense even if they did have a big story going on. But yeah it's an expensive game. Cost is a good enough reason to not buy it yet. It'll still be there when you do have the money. And because the story is irrelevant next to the gameplay, it means it can't even be spoiled for you by accidently reading plot details. I too am gonna wait a bit before I buy it. I've got enough new games to finish first. I still haven't beaten Skyward Sword yet. And the Mario golf game is loads of fun and I keep playing it, and I'm also playing Bayonetta for the first time now too. Problem is, Nintendo pretty much never drops their prices. So even waiting a couple years before buying Dread, it'll end up costing the same amount. Nevermind
Skip 1 and 2. Zero Mission, Fusion, and Super are the only ones worth even booting up, among the retro ones anyways.
If you want to go and play Metroid 1 to see where the series started, I recommend these tips to make your playthrough less frustrating: - Missiles are your best friend, every normal enemy dies to just 1 missile. Important to defeat dangerous enemies before taking too much damage. - Don't worry about using your resources, when you kill a lot of enemies using missiles or screw attack, you'll get enough drops to recover said resources. - I recommend exploring Brinstar and Norfair to get missile packs and E tanks, before heading down to Kraid's and Ridley's Lair. - When you don't have many missiles, bombs are your best friends. They do a lot of damage and you can spam them. A safe combo to beat most enemies is to freeze them with the Ice Beam, stand on top of them and spam bombs. Kills most common enemies quick and safe. - Use E-Tanks as a full health refill. There are 8 in the game, but you can only carry 6. Meaning the last 2 you find are just energy refills. Great to save them right before your journey into Tourian. Tips on the powerups of the game: - Ice Beam: it's ok to freeze enemies and leave them behind so they don't bother you. Crucial to get this asap after getting bombs. - High Jump Boots: important in order to get Varia Suit without requiring precise tricks. - Screw Attack: when you're ready, search for this item in Norfair. Makes the journey to Kraid and Ridley very easy. - Wave Beam: strong and useful to destroy hidden blocks on walls or ceilings. Final tip: play Zero Mission first. You'll notice the map coincides a lot with Metroid 1 and so you won't get lost without needing a walkthrough. Rooms in Metroid 1 can only be horizontal corridors or vertical shafts. Always be on the lookout for destructible blocks on the ceiling, walls and floor. Good luck, see you next mission!
also cant you unlock and play metroid 1 in zero mission?
And you can grind higher amounts of health and missiles from the Metroids, which respawn when out of view.
I've been so busy with life, I didn't expect to see this video from you, it's even better because my Metroid hype is higher than it's ever been. Even though I am still so, so busy, I appreciate every minute I can squeeze into watching this video.
I enjoyed the video..Going to replay AM2R tonight because of you!
Regarding you asking "Why is Ridley even here, what is he after?" for Samus Returns - he wants Metroids. I guess the implication is that they caught wind of the Federation's extermination order on the metroids on SR388 and Ridley went there to try and retreive some before Samus was able to finish her job. The Space Pirates have been shown to want to weaponise them since the first game, even. Though I agree that Samus Returns could have been better in a number of ways; since I'm talking about the Ridley fight anyway, him being the last boss does still seem a little awkward, especially given how he so quickly abducts the baby metroid from Ceres Station in Super. Very nice retrospective!
To be fair, felt like it would've been better if the final fight was on Ceres rather than the planet, just for continuity's sake. Could explain how Samus got powered down before Super after a brutal battle where Ridley snatches up the Metroid while barely escaping with his life. Could even have Ridley be the one to contain the Metroid at the last second before escaping since it was compliant with Samus, and theoretically, the Federation. Was actually one of the ones that liked Mercury Steam's take on Castlevania, but felt like their flair for uber-drama was overblown here; It can definitely work for Dread since it's new lore, but feel like they could've slightly muted and tightened up their narrative choices on M2:SR, especially if it's canon
Also from a meta (heh) standpoint it’s basically Sakamoto apologizing for the Ridley scene in Other M and implying the Prime trilogy was non canon
Great Metroid analysis.^^ I really don't exaggerate when I say that your gaming retrospectives and content are some of the best on YT. So thanks again for all the effort you put into it, man.
Well done, sir. It's hard to find reviewers who actually recognize and appreciate what the original Metroid 2 was about and its intentional design. (It's still my favorite and, in my educated opinion, the most Metroid-y of all the games in the series, and certainly the best of all the Metroid 2 iterations, official or unofficial.)
Yes! I'm so happy that dread is doing so well :) It's awesome to see a lot of people who have never played Metroid finally get into the series. Lets go Samus!!!
I believe Ridley in Samus Returns was added to give a story bridging between the Metroid Prime games and the main series, to say that yes, the Prime games are canon and to explain how Ridley managed to go from Meta Ridley/Omega Ridley in the Prime games back to his organic form in Super Metroid if they are canon and take place between Metroid 1 and 2, and from what other people have said in the comments, Ridley is there to try and capture the Baby Metroid after being too late to secure the Metroids before Samus exterminated them all.
Yeah it’s basically Sakamoto’s apology for the Ridley scene in Other M. I feel it could’ve been handled better. Like maybe they made it a post credits boss similar to Phantomb in Other M
Even when looking at just the 2D Metroid games without Prime in mind Ridley does makes sense. He's not necessary, but his presence makes sense. 1. Space Pirates steal the Metroid samples from the Federation 2. Samus defeats most Space Pirates and destroys the Metroids they stole 3. Space Pirates try to track down the source of the samples but arrive essentially a few hours too late 4. Space Pirates track Samus' ship to the research station and steal the Metroids The only illogical thing here would be Ridley being partially mechanical. I actually like that Metroid's wider story works extremely well both with and without the Prime games.
right, you can play the Devil, Metroid NES and Metroid 2 with all the patient that the world have 'cause they are NOT EASY but Samus returns Got you Frutrated?
AM2R also has an online co-op mode and a pvp mode in the Multitroid branch. Freaking crazy.
This is truly a delight and comfort after getting the message that my copy of Metroid Dread will be delayed until the 29th due to miscommunication. Thank you :') Metroid is one of those franchises that I adore, yet I've only really played 2 games in total; Super Metroid and Samus Returns. They set such an iconic presence unlike any other game I've played. The haunting atmosphere, the feeling of being completely left to your own devices, the gradual empowerment. Difficult but not to the point of me loosing interest. The rest of the games I've watched on youtube and I'm pining to play Fusion for myself. Samus Returns have it's issues, but I still love it. It's the first game I've ever 100% as the completion is both accessible and rewarding.
13:00 just a quick correction, metroid 2 has only had one remake: samus returns
As much flack as fusion seems to get. I think it is very close to an equal to super. The environment storytelling and the sense of fear that Fusion tells, I would say, even exceeds Super. I will never forget the set up for Nightmare or how nervous I felt in the water eating a large beast was present. And my god, the footsteps of the SA-X are bone chilling. Was it more linear, yes, but up until this point, had never felt more fluid to pilot. It gave a serious sense that, for the first time, Samus was out of her depth, she was vulnerable.
Bruh, you literally have no fucking clue just how long I have waited for you to make a video like this, thank you
1 hour KingK Metroid video! Heck yes! Thank you!!!
I love Samus Returns way more than AM2R. I adore the work done on AM2R and I think it was a great remake in its own right. But Samus Return does so much more for me. The whole gameplay flow is so much more satisfying. And the touch screen implementations work really great. Most of the ranting doesnt really match my experience with the game and I wonder if the cause is actually a nostalgia and admiration for AM2R and an understandable bitterness towards Nintendo for taking it down which has created a subconscious bias. Yeah I wish the ending captured more of the original vision. But that's a minor flaw. Otherwise the whole game is fantastic and most of the criticism points to normal design choices that were present in all other Metroid games including Super Metroid.
I think they changed the ending to be more in line with fusion so they aren't so much antagonistic to the ecosystem as they are the protectors of it from the x. This is even shown in game with that cutscene of the x taking over after Samus leaves.
As for the visual differences, you really can't tell the difference between the lab where the Metroids were grown (coolest looking level, in my opinion), and what look like old Chozo architecture, the breeding area where the Queen lay her eggs? It stand out the most and look quite different from the Area where the Queen live.
Yo I love your videos man you seem like your always 100 percent honest and never biased can wait for your metroid. Dread vid
Great video as usual! I’m definitely interested in getting the new Metroid
I know that this is usually a matter of personal opinion, but sometimes I get annoyed by all the fact that Samus returns gets. I understand the flaws of it compared to other games, but it has a special place in my heart due to the fact that it was the first 2D Metroid game that I completed, let alone 100% completed. Despite those flaws, I thoroughly enjoy playing the game. I also feel that both endings work in a certain way, the original showing the reflection Samus has as she contemplates what she just did, while Samus returns does a fantastic job of showing the bond between her and the baby Metroid, as they both try their best to protect each other.
1:11:00 the answer is quite simple King K. A few lines of Dialogue in Other M and some comments from Sakamoto implied the Prime series wasn’t canon. This basically Sakamoto saying “IM SORRY IM SORRY IM SORRY”
Yeah that part was weird. Why was he confused about that? The reason Ridley was there is pretty obvious if you've played Prime 1-3 (which he has) and know about the "Prime is not canon" debacle (which I'm sure he does).
Just a small correction, the interview Sakamoto made was taken entirely out of context in the wake of Other M being, well, Other M. He merely called Prime a gaiden story that happened outside the scope of the main 2D entries, a decision made by both him and Retro so they wouldn’t feel obligated to have to overly connect everything.
@@bladeworksmaster true but you can understand how it could be misconstrued espically with Other M saying this was the first time Samus took direct orders from the federation since her Youth completely ignoring Prime 3
@@skibot9974 Yeah I getcha, but I’m tired of that ignorance to the truth to fuel a vendetta that I feel is very misplaced. So I do my best to inform people that Prime was never a black sheep of any sort.
@@bladeworksmaster At the time I think it was still very much appropriate given Other M does its best to shit on Samus as a character. But given Samus Returns (and even Dread now), it feels like Sakamoto regretted the heavy-handedness of that story. ...Which, I'd like to remind people, was not Team Ninja's fault. I get people seeing Other M Samus in Smash is slightly off-putting but Samus never acts like *that* outside of Other M, so being that annoyed by merely seeing that suit is fairly misguided in itself.
Awesome, in depth video. It's tiding me over until Dread comes in the mail today...
Seeing how this series grew and evolved into what it is now is some of the most fascinating progressions I've seen in a video game franchise. I'm so glad that Dread is here and is doing as well as it is. Samus deserves it.