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REVIEW: Metroid II: Return of Samus
13 years ago
METROID II: RETURN OF SAMUS (GB, 3DS VC)
Genre: Action/Adventure
Developer: Nintendo R&D1 (Metroid, Balloon Fight, Metroid Fusion...)
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1
Played for: around 6 hours
hello everyone and welcome to my new review! Today I'm gonna analyze for you another Nintendo classic, wich came out on the first Gameboy: Metroid II: Return of Samus! The second chapter of Samus Aran's adventures is similar to its first outing, as it still features a huge maze to explore bit by bit, but the point of the game is slightly different, as Samus has to hunt down every single Metroid on their original planet, SR388. Let's dive deeper into the game, now, so that I can explain things a bit better!
GRAPHICS
Despite being on a black and white system, Metroid II is a step up, compared to the predecessor...Samus' sprite is way more detailed and depicts the image of our fave bounty hunter quite better than the first title and the same goes for both enemies and environments, wich are more detailed and various overall.
This is the title that started to give to the Metroid enemies their distinct creepy alien-like design, looking less toony and more like actual evil creatures that'd rip you in two at the first chance, as a good job has been done especially on the Metroid evolutions, wich all look quite nice to the eye, a couple of them even tributing the Alien movies, with their appearance.
The only real critic I can move to the graphics is that the environments aren't really that varied and many rooms kinda look all the same, even if this kinda increases the feeling of being lost in a huge maze...without a map...that's either a good or bad point, depending by what kind of gamer you are :P
GAMEPLAY
Like I mentioned before, the point of the game is slightly different. While the game still features a big maze-like world to explore finding abilities wich will let Samus be able to access to more areas, the target is to wipe out the 40 Metroids scattered on the set of mazey caves, to wipe out the race completely and assure they aren't used by space pirates anymore.
Aside from the final fight, there aren't boss fights...it's a hunt, with minor enemies getting in your way, while you look around everywhere, in every crevice, to find rooms where the Metroids are hiding...don't expect to face the usual Metroids though as Samus will have to slowly face every single incarnation of their evolution and growth, each fiercer than the previous one.
This makes the gameplay split between the exploration and survival through the tunnels, wich really set a mood of isolation, also thanks to the creepy tracks, really making you feel totally alone in an alien world, and the actual encounters with the Metroids, wich suddenly turn the game into a very tense battle in wich the Metroid will come at you with fierce and reckless attacks, making you waste precious missiles while desperately trying to avoid their lounges at you. The battles are always very tense and you never expect the next time you'll have to draw out your missile cannon to defend yourself.
The game doesn't use an in-game map, wich for some may be frustrating as the world really is maze-like, so some player may prefer to resort to maps found online, unless they enjoy to get lost and found their way around such kinds of worlds. The feeling of survival is also high as recovery and save points are scarse and sometime hidden through the game...thankfully the game has a "save stat" ability on the 3DS virtual console, wich may ease things a little for the gamers who may prefer a less cruel experience.
The lack of real boss fights until the very end is a bit of a bad side though, as the battle against the metroids can become repetitive after a while, at least until you get to encounter the next step of their growth.
Despite that, the gameplay is very well done, an improvement over the previous title and still focusing on the sense of loss and isolation in the set of caves and tunnels in wich everything is trying to kill you and eat at your life and missile ammo.
STORYLINE
Well, no real story here, as the only real plot-lined surprise is right at the end, after the final boss, even though it's quite an important twist as every Metroid fan should know...the game won't have real plot stuff at least until Metroid Prime, with its subtly way to tell the events, or Metroid Other M, wich is more focused on the story itself.......no, don't waste your time bashing the game, I loved it, deal with it :P
SOUNDTRACK
Metroid II doesn't have a lot of tracks and only a couple really stick in your head being more melodic than the others, but the rest of the tracks is really creepy and alien-like, sounding more like little alien noises of creatures lurking in the darkness, wich in my opinion really contributes to the feeling of the game...For you here's the main theme of the game though!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U86uWiIMmug
FINAL RATING
Metroid II slightly changes formula for its first portable adventure, going for a lil game that focuses on isolation and the taste of the hunt and exploration, rather than feeling more like a climb toward the next boss...this may be liked or hated, but the first handheld adventure of the space bounty hunter is quite the well-crafted specimen with unique game design ideas, with a quite high difficulty, good 8-bit graphics and nice pace between action and exploration, only falling short in the variety of situations, with repetitive environments and the first two metroid forms being repeated a few too many times.
This is why I give the game a...
8.5/10
give it a go if you're a fan, the cheap price on the 3DS VC will probably be encouraging :D be careful though, beginner gamers, the game has no in-game map! ;)
Genre: Action/Adventure
Developer: Nintendo R&D1 (Metroid, Balloon Fight, Metroid Fusion...)
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1
Played for: around 6 hours
hello everyone and welcome to my new review! Today I'm gonna analyze for you another Nintendo classic, wich came out on the first Gameboy: Metroid II: Return of Samus! The second chapter of Samus Aran's adventures is similar to its first outing, as it still features a huge maze to explore bit by bit, but the point of the game is slightly different, as Samus has to hunt down every single Metroid on their original planet, SR388. Let's dive deeper into the game, now, so that I can explain things a bit better!
GRAPHICS
Despite being on a black and white system, Metroid II is a step up, compared to the predecessor...Samus' sprite is way more detailed and depicts the image of our fave bounty hunter quite better than the first title and the same goes for both enemies and environments, wich are more detailed and various overall.
This is the title that started to give to the Metroid enemies their distinct creepy alien-like design, looking less toony and more like actual evil creatures that'd rip you in two at the first chance, as a good job has been done especially on the Metroid evolutions, wich all look quite nice to the eye, a couple of them even tributing the Alien movies, with their appearance.
The only real critic I can move to the graphics is that the environments aren't really that varied and many rooms kinda look all the same, even if this kinda increases the feeling of being lost in a huge maze...without a map...that's either a good or bad point, depending by what kind of gamer you are :P
GAMEPLAY
Like I mentioned before, the point of the game is slightly different. While the game still features a big maze-like world to explore finding abilities wich will let Samus be able to access to more areas, the target is to wipe out the 40 Metroids scattered on the set of mazey caves, to wipe out the race completely and assure they aren't used by space pirates anymore.
Aside from the final fight, there aren't boss fights...it's a hunt, with minor enemies getting in your way, while you look around everywhere, in every crevice, to find rooms where the Metroids are hiding...don't expect to face the usual Metroids though as Samus will have to slowly face every single incarnation of their evolution and growth, each fiercer than the previous one.
This makes the gameplay split between the exploration and survival through the tunnels, wich really set a mood of isolation, also thanks to the creepy tracks, really making you feel totally alone in an alien world, and the actual encounters with the Metroids, wich suddenly turn the game into a very tense battle in wich the Metroid will come at you with fierce and reckless attacks, making you waste precious missiles while desperately trying to avoid their lounges at you. The battles are always very tense and you never expect the next time you'll have to draw out your missile cannon to defend yourself.
The game doesn't use an in-game map, wich for some may be frustrating as the world really is maze-like, so some player may prefer to resort to maps found online, unless they enjoy to get lost and found their way around such kinds of worlds. The feeling of survival is also high as recovery and save points are scarse and sometime hidden through the game...thankfully the game has a "save stat" ability on the 3DS virtual console, wich may ease things a little for the gamers who may prefer a less cruel experience.
The lack of real boss fights until the very end is a bit of a bad side though, as the battle against the metroids can become repetitive after a while, at least until you get to encounter the next step of their growth.
Despite that, the gameplay is very well done, an improvement over the previous title and still focusing on the sense of loss and isolation in the set of caves and tunnels in wich everything is trying to kill you and eat at your life and missile ammo.
STORYLINE
Well, no real story here, as the only real plot-lined surprise is right at the end, after the final boss, even though it's quite an important twist as every Metroid fan should know...the game won't have real plot stuff at least until Metroid Prime, with its subtly way to tell the events, or Metroid Other M, wich is more focused on the story itself.......no, don't waste your time bashing the game, I loved it, deal with it :P
SOUNDTRACK
Metroid II doesn't have a lot of tracks and only a couple really stick in your head being more melodic than the others, but the rest of the tracks is really creepy and alien-like, sounding more like little alien noises of creatures lurking in the darkness, wich in my opinion really contributes to the feeling of the game...For you here's the main theme of the game though!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U86uWiIMmug
FINAL RATING
Metroid II slightly changes formula for its first portable adventure, going for a lil game that focuses on isolation and the taste of the hunt and exploration, rather than feeling more like a climb toward the next boss...this may be liked or hated, but the first handheld adventure of the space bounty hunter is quite the well-crafted specimen with unique game design ideas, with a quite high difficulty, good 8-bit graphics and nice pace between action and exploration, only falling short in the variety of situations, with repetitive environments and the first two metroid forms being repeated a few too many times.
This is why I give the game a...
8.5/10
give it a go if you're a fan, the cheap price on the 3DS VC will probably be encouraging :D be careful though, beginner gamers, the game has no in-game map! ;)
For instance, SAVE, then go to the room you got the jump ball in, go into ball mode, and go back and forth spamming select until a hole appears. Enter it.
Space jump reccomended, and for the love of god don't save in there.
Also, I never played Other M, but I love the story all the same. Nice to see them show Samus's more emotional side instead of making her just a souless bounty hunter.
It's amazing!