I agree, NES Metroid can be hard and demands dedication from players, but I can't deny it has this indelible charm that synthesizes everything I love on the platform. I finished it when I was a teenager and it was a very satisfying experience.
Nowadays, when I revisit the original, I go straight to the Metroid mOTHER hack. Nothing against playing the NES version again, but having a save system and a map helps a ton in terms of accessibility.
Its accessibility is probably the biggest barrier; it's not hard to find or expensive, even on old hardware but the act of actually playing Metroid can be a bit daunting.
I'd say the same but for the Metroid Planets port, which might have the same awful map design and irritating mechanics but at least runs at a consistent framerate
Couldn't agree more. Metroid: Zero Mission, while very polished, doesn't compare to the original's mood and atmosphere. I played Zero Mission once and promptly forgot about it.
There's something about playing these NES games late at night in front of a CRT, it's not my favourite console or era of gaming by any means but that's an atmosphere and sense of fun that generations since with their better graphics and more complex design have been unable to replicate
I appreciated reading this article from the perspective of someone who is younger than I am, yet appreciates NEStroid for the same reasons I do.
I also appreciate that you honestly addressed the glaring issues with the game while also making a solid argument for why it's still worth playing. Well done sir 👍🏾
I get really tired of seeing the same opinions regurgitated about this game without any praise or acknowledgment of its place in history. The majority of people have likely played 5 minutes at the most.
Thank you :) It's not a perfect game and it's no Super Metroid but I think it deserves a little respect
You know what? I'm convinced - your bold claim of 'Metroid 1 is better than Zero Mission because its worse but that's a good thing' is stunning and inarguable.
Hey, hang on, let's take a closer look at that infamous 'quicksand pit' you mention above. That is a genuinely clever bit of design, the presence of a passage hinted at by the enemy movement, encouraging you to experiment with your new Bomb item and revealing that there's sometimes more to a screen than first meets the eye. Oh, except, I don't know why you call it quicksand, because on top of it slowing you down, it also constantly drains your health, and every screen around it is busily teaching players to avoid falling in it at all costs, besides which it's clearly lower than you would be able to jump out of [even knowing about the hidden block inside the 'fake' acid, you still can't jump out without high jump or a damage boost from the bomb block respawning] if there were a secret path down. But let's also ignore the fact that THERES AN IDENTICAL ROOM TWO SCREENS OVER THAT DUMPS YOU IN A TOTALLY NOTHING TRAP PIT THAT IS MISERABLE TO ESCAPE.
Don't get me wrong, Metroid is a spectacular achievement, and a real innovation in combining action platforming with exploration, but I suspect PART of the reason that Zelda 1 is universally beloved while Metroid 1 is barely tolerated is that in Zelda you're not fighting the goddamn controls, physics, AND FRAMERATE the entire time you're exploring Hyrule. Also there's way less shit like the cluster of rooms in Kraid's lair that's just copy pasted multiple times over with no items and no point to visiting them or even passing through.
I'm not saying it's BETTER than Zero Mission, I'm saying I PREFER it to Zero Mission and that a lot of people on the internet who slag off Metroid have never bothered to give it more than 20 minutes of time or have done the basic due-diligence before playing any NES game such as reading the manual; most have probably never touched it and are happy to parrot the opinions of others.
I can't defend every single design decision in Metroid, it is an obtuse, difficult and cryptic game but nobody ever discusses it's best qualities with anything more than lip-service. My argument is that the good outweighs the bad and for every example like the one you brought up, I can point out other areas where the game does a great job.
I agree that Zelda is the better game and those are solid reasons for it having the more favourable position in popular memory but it annoys me when people slag the ever loving shit out of Metroid when every dungeon in that game is a series of different coloured rooms, some of them have a block you're supposed to push, a wall you're meant to bomb or spam enemies at you that you must kill for a key. The Legend of Zelda is great... but Metroid is not, in the eyes of popular memory but the gulf between the two in terms of both their merits and mistakes is extremely narrow.
Interesting opinions here Scanlines. I have played Zero Mission (which felt like a huge step up from Fusion in my opinion), but never went back to the original. Given it's difficulty and obtuseness, I doubt I will - my lifespan has now become less than yours! Perhaps I'll watch a playthrough though, since I can imagine the atmosphere of the original feels a lot closer to the design reference, Alien.
Like you said though, the series had to start somewhere. And the idea of plotting your own map does sound really cool. It's just that in a modern day setting, such things are slow and do not provide the immediate gratification that many are trained for now.
I agree, NES Metroid can be hard and demands dedication from players, but I can't deny it has this indelible charm that synthesizes everything I love on the platform. I finished it when I was a teenager and it was a very satisfying experience.
Nowadays, when I revisit the original, I go straight to the Metroid mOTHER hack. Nothing against playing the NES version again, but having a save system and a map helps a ton in terms of accessibility.
Its accessibility is probably the biggest barrier; it's not hard to find or expensive, even on old hardware but the act of actually playing Metroid can be a bit daunting.
I'm glad you also see what I see in the game :)
I'd say the same but for the Metroid Planets port, which might have the same awful map design and irritating mechanics but at least runs at a consistent framerate
Couldn't agree more. Metroid: Zero Mission, while very polished, doesn't compare to the original's mood and atmosphere. I played Zero Mission once and promptly forgot about it.
There's something about playing these NES games late at night in front of a CRT, it's not my favourite console or era of gaming by any means but that's an atmosphere and sense of fun that generations since with their better graphics and more complex design have been unable to replicate
The developers accomplished much with little. When your tools are limited, creativity expands - in the right hands, anyway.
I appreciated reading this article from the perspective of someone who is younger than I am, yet appreciates NEStroid for the same reasons I do.
I also appreciate that you honestly addressed the glaring issues with the game while also making a solid argument for why it's still worth playing. Well done sir 👍🏾
I get really tired of seeing the same opinions regurgitated about this game without any praise or acknowledgment of its place in history. The majority of people have likely played 5 minutes at the most.
Thank you :) It's not a perfect game and it's no Super Metroid but I think it deserves a little respect
You know what? I'm convinced - your bold claim of 'Metroid 1 is better than Zero Mission because its worse but that's a good thing' is stunning and inarguable.
Hey, hang on, let's take a closer look at that infamous 'quicksand pit' you mention above. That is a genuinely clever bit of design, the presence of a passage hinted at by the enemy movement, encouraging you to experiment with your new Bomb item and revealing that there's sometimes more to a screen than first meets the eye. Oh, except, I don't know why you call it quicksand, because on top of it slowing you down, it also constantly drains your health, and every screen around it is busily teaching players to avoid falling in it at all costs, besides which it's clearly lower than you would be able to jump out of [even knowing about the hidden block inside the 'fake' acid, you still can't jump out without high jump or a damage boost from the bomb block respawning] if there were a secret path down. But let's also ignore the fact that THERES AN IDENTICAL ROOM TWO SCREENS OVER THAT DUMPS YOU IN A TOTALLY NOTHING TRAP PIT THAT IS MISERABLE TO ESCAPE.
Don't get me wrong, Metroid is a spectacular achievement, and a real innovation in combining action platforming with exploration, but I suspect PART of the reason that Zelda 1 is universally beloved while Metroid 1 is barely tolerated is that in Zelda you're not fighting the goddamn controls, physics, AND FRAMERATE the entire time you're exploring Hyrule. Also there's way less shit like the cluster of rooms in Kraid's lair that's just copy pasted multiple times over with no items and no point to visiting them or even passing through.
I'm not saying it's BETTER than Zero Mission, I'm saying I PREFER it to Zero Mission and that a lot of people on the internet who slag off Metroid have never bothered to give it more than 20 minutes of time or have done the basic due-diligence before playing any NES game such as reading the manual; most have probably never touched it and are happy to parrot the opinions of others.
I can't defend every single design decision in Metroid, it is an obtuse, difficult and cryptic game but nobody ever discusses it's best qualities with anything more than lip-service. My argument is that the good outweighs the bad and for every example like the one you brought up, I can point out other areas where the game does a great job.
I agree that Zelda is the better game and those are solid reasons for it having the more favourable position in popular memory but it annoys me when people slag the ever loving shit out of Metroid when every dungeon in that game is a series of different coloured rooms, some of them have a block you're supposed to push, a wall you're meant to bomb or spam enemies at you that you must kill for a key. The Legend of Zelda is great... but Metroid is not, in the eyes of popular memory but the gulf between the two in terms of both their merits and mistakes is extremely narrow.
Interesting opinions here Scanlines. I have played Zero Mission (which felt like a huge step up from Fusion in my opinion), but never went back to the original. Given it's difficulty and obtuseness, I doubt I will - my lifespan has now become less than yours! Perhaps I'll watch a playthrough though, since I can imagine the atmosphere of the original feels a lot closer to the design reference, Alien.
Like you said though, the series had to start somewhere. And the idea of plotting your own map does sound really cool. It's just that in a modern day setting, such things are slow and do not provide the immediate gratification that many are trained for now.