Metroid series discussion

@Mikey
 
Mind sending me a link to the latest version through a PM?

I finished AM2R~ Amazing game, and I unlocked Fusion difficulty, also I love how the ending foreshadowed Metroid Fusion.

So, we all know that the story and characterization in Other M was crap, but was the gameplay really that bad?

@Jarkes  
It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t good either. It was mediocre and boring. The combat is extremely railroaded, no exploration, no player agency, constant handholding. It’s not bad but it is not Metroid.

@Jarkes  
Gameplay was mostly fine imo but pretty linear(and the restrictions on weapon usage was extremely bullshit)

@Mikey
 
Not to mention the awkward controls and how there’s no health or ammo pick-ups and the only way to restore those outside of save stations is the “Concentration” mechanic, which you can only use when you’re almost dead, doesn’t recover all your health even when you upgrade it, and requires you to be completely still and if you get attacked when using it, it gets canceled.

@Prowl  
The linearity made Fusion look non-linear.
 
@Jarkes  
Yeah it’s definitely not worth going back to like ZM, Fusion, and Super.

Like, I’d give the story a 1/10. The gameplay a 4 or 5. Visuals an 8/10. Replayability a 3.  
Overall the game is at best a 6/10.

@Mikey
 
Music’s still pretty great though.

@Jarkes  
Ehhhhhh, I disagree. I mean, there’s only like 3 actual music tracks. The rest is just cinematic ambience that doesn’t even fit Metroid.

@Mikey
 
I’m pretty sure there were more music tracks than that, but most of them were the boss battle music tracks.
 
But then again, I only ever rented it once and didn’t get very far into it, and most of what I know about it is hearsay.

@Jarkes  
I literally only remember Ridley’s boss theme and Phantoon. Everything else was forgettable.

@Mikey
 
Wasn’t Phantoon’s boss theme also used for the Queen Metroid boss fight?

@Jarkes  
Yep.

@Mikey
 
So apart from Other M, which game would you say is the hardest in the series? Prime 2?

@Jarkes  
For the GameCube version yeah. Other than that, maybe Super. Also Other M isn’t hard.

@Mikey  
“Super” was challenging, yes, but being my first Metroid game, I actually beat it in two weeks.  
My relative whom I borrowed it from when I was a kid was shocked, because he never beat it, yet he’s owned the game cartridge sense it first came out, and he never beat it.  
Though, being a huge Zelda & Castlevania fan, I’m very used to “Where the hell do I go?” games.
 
Funny thing is, my first playthrough I missed the charge beam, (which is odd in hindsight, as it wasn’t very well hidden with those suspictious bombable blocks leading downward) so I had to use missles to beat Crocomire, and Kraid, so they were a li’l harder the first time.

@Beau Skunky  
Super is challenging but not as hard as Fusion your first time or Prime 2.

@Mikey  
I thought Fusion wasn’t that hard, except some of the bosses, getting some of thebitems, and some of the stealth bits.
 
The hardest Metroid for my money, is the original NES one, or at least when you first play it, if you don’t use a map, or anything, as some rooms look the same, and such so it’s easier to get lost sometimes on your first playthrough. (Plus, everytime you restart with a password, all your energy tanks are empty. So it’s better to use the Virtual Console, or Classic mini NES version, as the save slates can help.)
 
Interestingly, the Japanese Famicom Disc System version used save files.

@Beau Skunky  
The thing about Fusion is that you’re incredibly until you get the varia suit, everything does a lot of damage.

@Mikey
 
You still take pretty heavy damage even after that. Not to mention the “reactor core shut down” segment of the game, which is the only time where you can’t avoid the SA-X.

@Jarkes  
Yeah, first time I did that I died many times. Now I can beat Fusion without a single death and lowish items.

@Mikey
 
It is SO satisfying how after you get the Plasma Beam from Nettori, the very next room has a bunch of Kihunters that just beforehand were giving you a lot of trouble, and the Plasma Beam just tears through them.

@Jarkes  
I love the plasma beam. Getting it in Super though is amazing. It’s literally the best beam in the game, and ironically the ice beam is more of a hinderance because enemies freez before the last hit, whereas ZM it kills them outright, it doesn’t count as a separate hit.

@Mikey
 
Though Samus Returns is the first time that the Spazer and Plasma beams are usable together (they couldn’t stack in Super because of memory limitations).