Super Metroid
Reviewed by Chas Williams aka Manwe
The Metroid games have been some of the hardest and most fulfilling
games of all time. With their worlds full of danger and their secrets
you feel as if you are really in a world all your own: to explore and
hunt the treaturous beings inhabiting it. What makes this different
is the fact that you go back to previous areas and find an item or a
passage you least expected to be there, and that you are rewarded with
sometimes very powerful items for your precious clocked time spent
searching crevices for anything you can get your hands on. With hidden
missiles and tanks your adventure becomes a little less stressful and
a bit easier (at least until you make it to the next area). How well you
do depends on your strategy and how hard you try to do well against all odds.
Graphics 10 out of 10
The graphics of this game are never disappointing. From the second
you see the introduction before you start the game to the explosive
ending after you beat the infamous Mother Brain, you are so into
the game that the graphics are not really foremost on your mind.
Nothing to take your mind off the awesome gameplay that these graphics
can provide. The character movement for Samus is exquisite. Her moves
are fluid and precise. The kneeling feature is well done, and comes in
handy at times: looking great is secondary to how well they put the
moves together to make some great moves on Samus's part. The
backgrounds are probably my favorite part of the graphics. When I
first played the game, my brightness was turned down low and I
thought all the backgrounds were black. But then we put the SNES on
another TV and wow, what a difference. The backdrop goes well with
the area and moves ever so slightly as you move, creating the illusion
of realness. The thought they put into the graphics of this game is
extraordinary.
Music and Sound 10 out of 10
One word for sound: amazing. The opening theme has a certain mystery
to it, and the ending theme wraps the game up nicely. I love the way
the music always goes with the area. If you're in a room with a
mechanical feel, the music goes right along with your feeling. If the
feeling is dread at what lurks ahead, then the music not put your heart
at ease. My favorite music is the Brinstar music, what I consider the
best of the best, but that's my opinion. Sound effects are great: shots
from you weapon change noise with what you have equipped, again
showing the effort and tediousness they put into this game. I had one
small qualm with the sound: the Torian music. For the last area, its
music is quite small and covered up by the boiling lava sound, but this
wasn't enough to change my mind about the 10 out of 10, the ending
music makes up for anything lacking in the game.
Game Challenge 9.7 out of 10
The game was not made to be challenging in my opinion, it was made
for great game play. Battles were sometimes hard, but not usually. If
you know how to defeat some enemies it gets easier. If you don't know
some techniques for bosses or normal enemies, then it becomes
challenging to kill them, but a few super missiles will kill almost
anything: there are only 2 invincible enemies. I would have given it
the lower score of 7.5 for challenge had it not been for one thing. The
timer that most people forget until they play solely to beat the clock.
Another thing comes to mind: percentage. Most would argue that the
game was very easy to beat, and I admit Mother Brain was made to
be beaten easily, but have you ever tried to beat the game in under 3
hours? Or with 100%? Which is harder? Trying to beat the game in
under 3 hours with 100% is very difficult and if anyone thinks it is easy
they play the game too much, well actually I'm now going for 100% in
under 2 hours, and I almost made it with 100% in 2:02. You can keep
challenging yourself as I have, and the game becomes more difficult
than anyone can beat, because the challenge is always against yourself.
Game Play-Fun 10 out of 10
This game is fun! That's all I can say fun! Play it! Now! Well, maybe
that's not all I can say. The game always has something new for you:
whether underwater exploration or a fun new toy to play with it gives
it to you where it counts: the power area. Trust me, by the time you
are done with this game if you play well you will be so powerful
nothing can stand in your way, and that means more exploration.
Sometimes I just stop and look around the place I'm at killing enemies
for fun and dropping power bombs like crazy: that's how I found a lot
of the items in the game. Play. Have fun. Beat 'em up.
Frustration
Frustration is limited by how lucky you are. If you can't find an item
for a few days, then your likely to get frustrated. But the joy that you
get when you finally find it, in my opinion, lessens you frustration
considerably, and you find a lot of stuff while you are looking for that
one thing you don't even know you need. I did this while looking for the
Gravity Suit and found many an item in my search.
Replayability 10 out of 10
The great fun I get from this game is not the first time through trying
to get 100%, although it was very fun. I love going through trying to
beat my old time, rotating save slots, lowering by a few minutes each
time through and patting myself on the back for the 3 or 4 hours spent
playing to reach a time of 2:30 (it doesn't count when the game is paused
or when going through doors to your time). They really made this game
a jewel when they decided to add the time feature and the percentage
feature: it means more gameplay time, a lot more game play time.
Overall 10 out of 10
As you can guess, this is one of my favorite games and it will remain
there no matter how flashy games get. Eye candy is used a little in it,
but the real joy is not derived from watching gory action cinemas, the
game relies on the player playing the game. That's it, just play it and
you will see why this game got a 10 out of 10.