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spinningbuster98 · 7 months

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Let's talk about Sequence Breaking

Sequence Breaking has got to be one of the most satisfying things I've ever seen in a videogame

And I'm talking about intentional breaks. Yeah yeah sure, stuff involving glitches and exploits is also impressive, hell even more so, you might even argue that it's not a "true" sequence break unless it's 100% unintended

But I love the idea of a game giving you the means to obtain items earlier than intended and telling you "are you skilled enough to do it?"

This is why I will forever defend Super's Wall Jump

"But it's too finicky and the timing is weird it sucks!"

Yeah sorry to sound like an elitist but, you don't get it

Yoy really don't

This isn't Mega Man X or Hollow Knight, where wall jumping is an integral part of the platforming that you have to perform on the regular, here wall jumping is akin to a cheat code: something you're not supposed to use (though you actually are in reality) and that is only required to break the game. If wall jumping were as easy as in those games then sequence breaking wouldn't be nearly as satisfying since even a baby could pull it off. Wall Jumping in this game is SUPPOSED to require skill, it is MEANT to be somewhat finicky to an extent. Not that I won't have some negatives to talk about concerning this game's controls, though manybe next time...

I personally find it weird how this game's sequence breaking continues to be my favorite. since both Zero Mission and Dread handle it better in some areas

Zero Mission just flat out has more of it: Super kinda stops having any more real sequence breaking instances (again: excluding glitches) after Norfair. There's that early Energy Tank in that water room in the Wrecked Ship I guess? But after that pretty much everything can be obtained on your first run through an area with the skills that you already have. You can't even get the Screw Attack early to my understanding

Dread doesn't have as much sequence breaking as the other 2, and some of it is pretty stupidly implemented (why should I bother with the early Super Missiles and the Kraid Bomb insta kill when those require MORE backtracking that just doing things by the book?), but others not only result in less backtracking but also in some actual gameplay advantages: getting the Grapple Beam early allows you to skip two slow water sections in Burenia a little later and getting the early Gravity Suit (and the early Screw Attack that's pretty much connected to it) allows you to absolutely rip Ferenia open like a tin can, especially if you also get the Space Jump before the Storm Missiles, allowing you to go wherever you want, destroy the boss with no effort and make a joke out of its EMMI Zone. By contrast sequence breaking in Super only really results in cutting back on backtracking: what do you get from early Power Bombs? Eh I guess you regain access to Crateria and Brinstar earlier.... it's kinda useless though. Early Spazer and Wave Beams? Kinda useful but it's not like enemies are super tough here and they don't really open new areas or shortcuts. Ever Zero Mission's sequence breaking gives you more practical advantages sometimes: early Varia Suit? More defense earlier on and you can use it to explore some extra rooms in Norfair earlier. Early Screw Attack and Super Missiles? Those speak for themselves

However I can't help but find Super's more fun to pull off

Every instance of sequence breaking in Super is a matter of pure skill and imagination: YOU have to pull off those wall jumps and shinesparks, YOU have to make those long jumps after running certain distances

By contrast sequence breaking in ZM and Dread tends to be more dependent on finding secret passages. You want to fight Ridley first in ZM? Find the secret shaft in Norfair. Early Screw Attack? You gotta know there are some secret missile blocks in the room right below it. Wanna skip the Long Beam? You gotta know that there are a few secret breakable blocks

Dread is a bit of both worlds in a way: getting the Grapple Beam early requires you to find a secret passage yes, but you must also be able to use your slide jump really well to go through said passage. Getting the Gravity Suit as early as possible also requires you to be skilled with the shinespark both to reach the Green Teleportal early and to clear the Shinespark puzzle required to access the secret route

This isn't a bad way to go about things by any means, hell it's appropriate for adventure games! But I also find it inherently less interesting and intuitive than Super's

In this game it's all about "Hmm... this looks like I can wall jump here and access this door earlier!" It's all about intuitively approaching the level design once you have a good unserstanding of your abilities and have some good creativity with your movements. It's not even just about sequence breaking per se though that's for another time

In those other two you mostly just gotta know that at X spot you can shoot thus revealing a secret passage, which is satisfying the first time but then that's it

Anyway Maridia is actually pretty good.

First off, for the "Muh Maridia tube" crowd: did you know that there's another entrance to Maridia accessible from the Wrecked Ship? It'll take you to a damp region in Crateria full of dead ends but using the X Ray Scope on one of them reveals a breakable wall, and boom: entrance to Maridia!

Second: The area is certainly much bigger than the others and the game has pretty much stopped nudging you in any particular direction....but honestly it's really not so bad once you notice that you'll be mostly just moving from left to right to reach Draygon and that you'll have to avoid the bottom half of the map

However if we wanna talk about problems then yeah the sand pits and sandfalls are really awkward and not in a fun way. The room just before Draygon's where it's full of sand and the game wants you to use the Grapple Beam in very precise manners is kinda bad. Yeah I used the wall jump to get through it much quicker and easier....but as I said this is an ability that's secret, you shouldn't be depending on it to not have an awkward time with level design

Then there's the process of 100%ing this place which requires you to go through half of it twice just for those items hidden in those two secret sand pit rooms.

This is dumb. Very dumb. People complain about the "final victory laps" in the next games, and we'll get to those, but this is honestly just stupid and nonsensical as it adds nothing to the experience, it's not challenging, it doesn't require any real routing as there are only 2 possible routes you can go about this to my knowledge. It's just a big time waster

(also I've always thought that they gave you the Spring Ball this late as a joke. Why is it here?)

You wanna know an issue that I have with this game? The fact that the goddamn full item jingle plays when you get every single item expansion. EVERY.SINGLE.ONE.

In the last two games and those afterwards either the item jingle is really short or there's a much shorter jingle that plays out with minor items.

Here it's the full thing every single time. Not only is this aggravating as fuck when you're going for 100%, as it stops the action for approximately 5 seconds every 5 minutes, but it also resets the fucking stage music!

Super Metroid has some of my favorite tracks in the series, yet I barely get to listen to them fully because it feels like every 3 rooms I'm getting a round of NANANANANANANANANANANANANAAAAAAAAAAA

No I don't care that Dread only gives you a couple of beeps when you get an item expansion it keeps things moving goddamnit!

#metroid #super metroid #my gameplay #Youtube

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listieshadows · 5 months

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After having it save-stated at the final area for, like, a month now, I've finally gotten around to beating Metroid.

Honestly, not as tough an experience as I thought id' be going in. Like, yes, I did follow a map and guide that told me where to guy, but like any kid who had Nintendo Power didn't do that. Besides, even knowing where to go, that doesn't mean getting there would be a breeze—and while it never got easy, necessairly, once I got the hang of what I was doing I was fine.

Hell, I didn't even find the Metroid to be a problem. Of couese they got me a few times, but all I had to do was blast 'em with a freeze ray once I saw 'em, and then it was just a matter of gettin' 'em with five missles and chooglin' on.

Really, my big problem was the energy rings in the final area. Those messed me up, especially right before Mother Brain. Now that's a hard part right there. You're jus' tryna break down these barriers with your missiles, and these rings and lasers won't stop comin' and bouncin' you all over the place... in the rest of the game, I never dropped below maybe one e-tank, but in this area I got down to having only one in reserve. It was madness.

Other than that, the only other part that really made me go "Well, that's kind of a problem" was the order the guide I followed had me go in. Now, the guide made it clear that I didn't have to do it this order, but it's what it was recommending, so I did it anyway. In short, it all me go all the way to Norfair to fight Kraid... Then all the way back to a hidden base to fight Ridley... And then back to Norfair to grab a power-up I couldn't before... And then I had to backtrack all the way to Brinstar to get to Mother Brain's area. I don't know if I could've gotten the full bikini Samus if I'd taken out Ridley first (probably not), but I'm sure I would've gotten way closer if I hadn't had to make two seperate trips Norfair. My fault for not realizing how deep I'd hafta go in the second time around, I guess.

But, yeah, with that I've finally completed what I think to be the big Nintendo NES games—all the Super Mario games, The Legend Of Zelda, Metroid, Kirby's Adventure... There's still a couple of things I could do over here on the NES, like EarthBound Beginnings, Kid Icarus or any of the third-party games, but otherwise, I think I'm gonna return to focusing on the SNES like I have been.

Or I'm gonna pour even more hours into Dr. Mario, either way.

#now that i've beaten this game i've finally got a right to say that samus is hot #text #video games #games i've beaten #metroid #metroid nes #nintendo entertainment system #nes #nintendo switch #nintendo switch online

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sodapaladin · 4 years

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I actually beat a game! Hooray! Due to all my friends’ insistence, I played through Super Metroid for the first time. I must admit, it was a lot cooler than I thought it’d be. I actually knew very little about it going in, so here are my thoughts on a decades-old classic with fresh eyes.

I haven’t had such a sense of wonder and amazement playing a game in a while. Each time I discovered a secret was a delight. Like it wasn’t until near the end of the game when I realize I could go into a morph ball while charging my beam to drop a bunch of bombs. How neat! And I love being rewarded for exploring everywhere.

The wrecked ship was my favorite part of the game. Such a cool dungeon! It had too distinct moods which were both fascinating. While the power was out, I was surprised to find a haunted ship in such a sci-fi setting. It was legitimately creepy finding an out-of-commission save room and the like. And then after the power went on, it was so cool seeing the ruins of an old ship, filled with technology such as old-school sci-fi robots.

I did have to consult a guide a few times, because sometimes the way forward was unclear and I wasted too much time trying to find it. But for the most part, I played through on my own and discovered most of the secrets myself. Maridia was by far the worst part of the game, especially the ridiculously convoluted method of entering via exploding that one pipe. I don’t know how on earth anyone would figure that out on their own.

I’m impressed by how (mostly) well the gameplay holds up. Exploring is definitely the highlight. The grappling beam was so cool! Navigating through the regular rooms and hallways was fun. The boss fights, not so much. Instead of pulling though using my wit and reflexes, every battle seemed to boil down to taking hits while spamming missiles, hoping that the enemy would die before I did. And boy do the bosses tank hits in this game. Every fight dragged on for what felt like an eternity, especially Ridley. I didn’t expect to exhaust all 140 missiles fighting him. Ah well.

Special mention to the space jump for being the absolute worst skill of the game. I had to stop playing for a while because I got so angry at not being able to make a stupid jump. It’s funny how easy it is to get the timing right when I’m using it to cheese through the platforming, bypassing everything. And yet in rooms with no danger, it takes me over five minutes to make a stupid vertical jump. I kind of got the hang of it by the end, but I still think it should be far more forgiving with its input.

The soundtrack was another thing that disappointed me. I know, blasphemous. I did not hate it, mind you. I think it’s good. The atmospheric sounds certainly fit the mood well. They’re just so forgettable. I cannot for the life of me remember half of the songs in the game now, and I just beat it. Since the original Metroid had such iconic tunes, such as Kraid’s Lair’s incredible theme, I expected to love this more.

There were some highlights, of course. The opening song is incredible, and set my expectations very high. Green Brinstar was a bop, too. The boss theme, elevator/item room song, and deep Norfair were pretty good. I also love how the heroic music plays on Crateria once you return, since it’s not as scary anymore now that you have better weapons and experience. Regular Norfair’s song, on the other hand, got annoying so soon. I’m sick of it and never want to hear it again. But besides that one, most of the other songs are forgettable but fitting, so okay soundtrack overall.

I should also mention that the story was pretty cool, especially how it was conveyed without much dialog at all. The prologue with the dead scientists was chilling, and pretty much every pre-boss cutscene made me go “there’s nothing here... oh shit!” The room where everything was drained of its energy was so disturbing, and I was freaked out when the now-massive metroid burst in and killed that one creature.

Pretty cool game. I don’t think I loved it as much as everyone else seems to, but I did enjoy it a lot. Glad I can finally check that off the list.

#metroid #super metroid

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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The Metroid Timeline Explained: What You Need to Know Before Playing Metroid Dread

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In addition to being one of the most underserved first-party Nintendo franchises, Metroid is also one of the few Nintendo franchises to have a strong, consistent, and cohesive narrative canon. The adventures of intergalactic bounty hunter Samus Aran are actually connected and impact one another in ways that you just don’t see in even Nintendo’s most celebrated series.

You’d be forgiven for not knowing all of that, though. After all, by the time Metroid Dread launches for Nintendo Switch on October 8, it will have been a staggering 19 years since Samus was asked to save the galaxy in 2002’s Metroid Fusion. Don’t know where the Metroid timeline begins and ends? You’ve come to the right place.

In this article we’ll break down every mainline Metroid installment in chronological order, covering their basic plot elements and explaining in detail how each game leads into the next. So in case you haven’t had the chance to experience this entire series for yourself (or if you just need a refresher), this is the Metroid timeline so far…

Metroid/Metroid: Zero Mission

The Metroid story begins with Samus Aran touching down on the atmospheric planet Zebes in the year 205X. Sent there by the Galactic Federation after several other failed attempts, her mission is to help prevent an evil faction of “Space Pirates” from creating dangerous biological weapons by harnessing the unique energy of Metroids: an alien species with origins dating back thousands of years (more on that later).

As the enemy’s chief stronghold, Samus is forced to traverse through Zebes’ many maze-like passageways and structures as she gains new skills, power-ups, and suit upgrades along the way. Areas such as Brinstar, Norfair, and Tourian slowly open up to her until she must eventually fend off two of the most dangerous Space Pirate commanders: Kraid and Ridley. With them out of the way, Samus faces up against their leader, Mother Brain: a mysterious mixture of both a real brain and artificial intelligence.

Defeating Mother Brain in her final form sets off Planet Zebes’ explosive self-destruct sequence. Cut to Samus racing back through debris and back to the surface in an attempt to escape. She makes it back to her gunship, where, in the original 1986 version of Metroid, she flies off after seemingly foiling the Space Pirates’ plans. However, the story continues in 2004’s Zero Mission for Game Boy Advance (an expanded remake of the original game) where Samus is unceremoniously shot down before crashing onto another part of Zebes.

With her power suit now destroyed and only a simple blaster in hand, Samus must take a stealthier approach in her “Zero” suit guise while exploring the nearby Space Pirate mothership in search of a way off-world. Eventually, she stumbles onto temple ruins belonging to an ancient race of aliens called the Chozo. There, while exploring what’s left of Chozodia, Samus uncovers a more robust power suit and learns that she was actually raised here as a child. Soon after, she encounters a mech version of Ridley. A few missile shots later she leaves the Mother Ship to blow up, finally fleeing Zebes using an available escape shuttle and destroying the Space Pirates’ Metroid research in the process.

The Metroid Prime Trilogy, Metroid Prime: Hunters, and Metroid Prime: Federation Force

The events depicted in the Metroid Prime trilogy are mostly inconsequential to that of the main series and exist in a kind of parallel but different timeline from the “Metroid” storyline. Even still, here’s a brief explainer:

Taking place between the original Metroid and Metroid II: Return of Samus, all three Prime games center on the exploits of a substance called Phazon, and Samus’ interactions with it as she does battle with a mutated version of the titular menace (the Metroid Prime). She eventually finds and defeats that menace following her exploration of the planet Talon VI, but the Metroid Prime managed to survive the battle. Harnessing DNA gathered from Samus’ Suit, the Metroid Prime uses that information to transform into Dark Samus: a mirror version of the famed bounty hunter herself.

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes picks up from there as Samus searches in the Dasha region of space for a troupe of missing Galactic Federation Marines. This leads her to the planet Aether, which happens to be home to an infected dark substance called Phazon. We eventually learn that both Dark Samus and the Space Pirates are mining the planet for that resource and that the marines Samus was originally sent to save actually died long before she got there. All that’s left to do is repel the Space Pirates and stop them from using Phazon to experiment on a Metroid type native to Talon IV. She does just that by teaming up with the natives to collapse the quickly emerging ‘Dark Aether’ alternate dimension.

Fast forward to the events of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. The Galactic Federation has started weaponizing Phazon to the point that the element’s effects are infused into Samus by way of her new PED (Phazon Enhancement Device) suit. The one drawback, though, is that Samus will continue to be corrupted the longer she wears it. In the end, Phazon’s origin is revealed to be a sentient planet known as Phaaze. Little does Samus know that this is also where her Dark counterpart and a sect of Space Pirates are holed up, intending to spread its infection to three innocent Federation worlds. Luckily, this outcome is avoided when Samus travels to Phaaze’s core and causes it to explode. Mission accomplished�� at least until Metroid Prime 4 arrives.

Metroid Prime: Hunters and Metroid Prime: Federation Force also (obviously) exist within the Metroid Prime timeline with Hunters occurring between Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime 2 and Federation Force taking place after Metroid Prime 3. Ultimately, though, both tell largely standalone stories that touch upon previous games but are wrapped up pretty cleanly within those adventures.

In case, you’re wondering, though, Hunters deals with six rival bounty hunters trying to secure an “ultimate power” and ultimately doing battle with a creature known as Gorea, while Federation Force tells the story of a group of Galactic Federation-created mechs trying to eradicate the remaining Space Pirates.

Metroid II: Return of Samus/Metroid Samus Returns

Following her battle with the Space Pirates back on Zebes, Metroid II sees Samus venture to the Metroid homeworld of SR388 to fight the dangerous creatures in their home turf. Her goal this time around is to commit genocide, scrubbing the planet of all Metroids so their power can never be used to threaten the wider worlds in the galaxy. Beginning on the planet’s surface before exploring deeper underground, Samus encounters her targets at various stages of their parasitic evolution, ranging from familiar blobs to more lizard-like threats. It seems that the Federation’s fears weren’t unfounded.

Samus blasts her way through about 50 different Metroid threats, all of which eventually lead her to destroy the Queen Metroid. It’s only afterward that Samus notices a Metroid egg begin to hatch. Not knowing where else to look or go, the baby Metroid chooses Samus as its mother. She then decides to spare this innocent version of the creatures she was tasked to destroy, fleeing what remains of SR388 after a long battle with Meta-Ridley.

That’s about where the original Game Boy version of Metroid II ended, but the 2017 remake (Samus Returns) for Nintendo 3DS offers a slightly expanded ending. In a post-credits scene, a humble Hornoad is found gnawing away on Ridley’s remains before a virus known as the X Parasite swoops in and infects it (a hint at what was to come in Metroid Fusion). Reach 100% completion in Samus Returns and it’s also revealed via unlocks that SR388 was actually home to a sect of Chozo who created the Metroids before having to vacate the planet when the X Parasite threat grew too strong.

Super Metroid

The legendary Super Metroid begins with Samus bringing the last baby Metroid to the space colony of Ceres for study and testing. She attempts to leave before almost immediately being beckoned back by a distress call, where she finds all the scientists dead and the little Metroid larva stolen. Turns out that the Space Pirates hold a grudge. Samus learns that Ridley is to blame for the massacre and that he has taken the last Metroid back to its base on Zebes: the planet where Samus first learned of the Metroid race’s existence in the first game.

After following Ridley back to Zebes and touching down on familiar ground, Samus yet again battles the Space Pirates who are starting to rebuild Mother Brain. This time she’s forced to battle four mid-tier bosses instead of two, as she finds that areas such as Norfair and Tourian have been rebuilt to be more vigorous and enemy-filled than ever before. Super Metroid culminates in Samus doing battle with a giant-sized Metroid, which almost takes her out until it suddenly stops attacking. It turns out the Metroid boss is none other than the little larva that was stolen during the game’s opening.

Shortly after, Samus must go toe-to-toe with a bigger, badder incarnation of Mother Brain. A rigorous battle follows until she is eventually saved by the now not-so-baby Metroid, which sadly falls victim to the hybrid AI’s destruction. This valiant sacrifice wasn’t in vain, however, as its death grants Samus access to the Hyper Beam. This enables her to kill Mother Brain and then flee the cursed planet of Zebes for good.

Metroid Fusion

2002’s Metroid Fusion picks up right where Super Metroid left off, with Samus returning to SR388 to obtain the last traces of Metroids with an accompanying survey crew. Unfortunately, as teased at the end of Samus Returns, she’s quickly attacked by the X Parasite and rendered out for the count. After being brought back to the Galactic Federation, Samus learns that her central nervous system has been infected by the deadly virus. Cells from the baby Metroid she once attempted to rescue are used to try and stave off the damage. The process works, and imbues her with all the Metroids’ strengths, but it also makes her weak to cold and changes her DNA.

Seeking more answers, Samus tracks the X Parasite to the Biologic Space Laboratories (BSL) research station situated above SR388. Her new mission is to rescue any remaining survivors and eradicate the X Parasite for good. However, she soon runs into a new threat known as the SA-X: a version of the parasite able to imitate her human form. Samus encounters the SA-X numerous times while exploring, and the powerful foe keeps Samus on her backfoot and forces her to act defensively.

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With help from her former CO-turned-AI companion, Adam, Samus learns that the BSL station is actually a front for another attempt to clone Metroids (this time by the Galactic Federation). Adam then instructs Samus to bring back the SA-X to them alive, intending to use it as a kind of living weapon that is free of human flaws. However, Samus goes directly against those orders and sets the BSL Station on a collision course to crash into planet SR388 below, hopefully killing all remnants of the Metroids and X Parasites in the process. Did it work? That’s one of the lingering questions Metroid Dread will hopefully answer…

What About Metroid: Other M?

Long-time Metroid fans may be wondering about 2010’s controversial Metroid: Other M and where it fits within the series’ timeline. Well…it’s complicated.

Technically, Metroid Other: M occurs between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion and draws more heavily from the “Metroid” storyline than the “Prime” storyline. While that would seemingly make it part of the storyline that Dread intends to conclude, it’s worth noting that Nintendo did not list Other M as part of that storyline during their marketing blitz for Dread. In fact, they seemed to have intentionally left it off this key infographic:

Such as it is, Other M seems to exist in a weird in-between space. Nintendo hasn’t officially removed it from the canon, but they’re also clearly not drawing from it. At the very least, we can tell you that it doesn’t seem like you’ll need to play Other M to get the full Dread experience.

The Complete Metroid Timeline in Chronological Order

Finally, here’s a breakdown of the Metroid franchise timeline that combines the Prime and Metroid storylines and places them in chronological order:

Metroid/Metroid: Zero Mission

Metroid Prime/Metroid Prime Pinball

Metroid Prime Hunters

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption

Metroid Prime: Federation Force

Metroid II: Return of Samus/Metroid: Samus Returns

Super Metroid

Metroid: Other M

Metroid Fusion

Metroid Dread

The post The Metroid Timeline Explained: What You Need to Know Before Playing Metroid Dread appeared first on Den of Geek.

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