Metroid II: Return of Samus is a pioneering handheld adventure that sends Samus to the Metroid homeworld, SR388. While the Game Boy's limitations cause some graphical monotony and control stiffness, the core Metroid experience of exploration, power-up acquisition, and battling monstrous creatures remains intact. Hunting down and exterminating the various Metroid forms offers a satisfying challenge, even if the lack of a map and some repetitive environments can lead to frustration.
"Two steps forward, one step back" is how I would describe Metroid II: Return of Samus. for every genuine improvement made to the original game, and there are a lot, there's an unfortunate compromise made due to the inherent limitations of the GameBoy.
let's start with the improvements. for one, Metroid II is a lot less frustrating than its predecessor for multiple reasons. firstly, Samus is a lot less slipery, and so she no longer slips after landing. controlling her is snappy and responsive, and the floaty jump means it's very easy to land where you want to. the newly added abilities to crouch before entering the morph ball as well as shooting downwards are a god send and singlehandedly make the controls a lot smoother.
secondly, the level design is a lot less dickish. there's no massive dead ends, platforms are wider so they're easier to land on, no beginner's trap, as well as a lot more landmarks and unique rooms, meaning navigation is easier and you're less likely to get truly lost. Metroid II, unlike the first game, never purposefully wastes your time, which is greatly appreciated. this, coupled with the addition of save stations and energy/missile recharges, while few and far between and the latter being hidden, means the game overall is way easier.
additionally, enemies deal less damage, and due to the capacity of the GameBoy, creatures can't fill the screen without setting the poor console on fire, so there's less enemies and you're never overwhelmed. this allows creature design to also be more detailed ironically enough, as sprites are generally a lot bigger due to the reduced screen size. this means there's no slowdowns which is also appreciated, the game runs at a crisp 59.7 FPS and never dropped once. the only true challenge comes from the titular Metroids who can be pretty difficult to fight especially when they surprise you, though they're never unfair. I also appreciate the added enemy variety. the wildlife of SR388 all look and act distinct from one and another, a lucky side effect of the GameBoy not having color.
while in the first game, Samus started as weak and grew powerful, here Samus starts powerful and eventually becomes unstoppable thanks to the reduced damage and new abilities like the space jump, spider ball and spring ball which all make exploration a breeze. there's also the fact that enemies outside of Metroids never really attack you, they just kind of exist and accidentally are in your way, which I really like as a story detail: the only hostile entities on SR388 are the Metroids and Samus herself. the rest are merely living. smarter people have already analyzed the story which you can read if you're interested in, but I like how Samus rescues the one baby Metroid. it humanizes her in an unexpected way.
now, there are a few elements that are transferred over from the first Metroid, mainly the lack of a map, which while not as detrimental this time around due to the improved level design, still means it's easy to get lost. the final boss is also a frustrating damage sponge and an unnecessary difficulty spike, tho it doesn't throw a billion projectiles at you which is a definitive upgrade. you also can't have more than one beam type, meaning I was just using the ice beam for 95% of the game and renders all other beams functionally useless, which is a shame. there's also more energy tanks and beam stations that you can collect which is just a strange move that I don't fully understand.
now for the downgrades. notably, I don't think the screen crunch is too much of a problem here, since the game designers were smart and built the game around it. you're never unfairly attacked by enemies you couldn't see coming, and it's not disorienting. it replicates the feeling of exploring a dark, uncharted planet. I would've liked a bit more screen space but it's not the end of the world.
no, my biggest problem with Metroid II is that for 90% of the game, there's no music, and I don't know why! the music that is present is very good, and I know they could've made oppressing ambiant tracks because the original game had songs like that. here however, you're accompanied by silence most of the time which is a shame.
there's also no color at all, which just makes the environment feel very repetitive and more confusing than necessary. the game is also shorter and more linear, which means you don't really get to use your abilities to their full extent, rendering them kind of superfluous which is never something you want. the game is also very repetitive, since it follows the exact same formula with no real surprise.
overall though, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by Metroid II! I consider it an improvement over the first game, with most of its flaws coming from the inherent limitations of it being a GameBoy game. this makes me very excited to see what Super Metroid is capable of, especially considering everything I've heard about it.
let's start with the improvements. for one, Metroid II is a lot less frustrating than its predecessor for multiple reasons. firstly, Samus is a lot less slipery, and so she no longer slips after landing. controlling her is snappy and responsive, and the floaty jump means it's very easy to land where you want to. the newly added abilities to crouch before entering the morph ball as well as shooting downwards are a god send and singlehandedly make the controls a lot smoother.
secondly, the level design is a lot less dickish. there's no massive dead ends, platforms are wider so they're easier to land on, no beginner's trap, as well as a lot more landmarks and unique rooms, meaning navigation is easier and you're less likely to get truly lost. Metroid II, unlike the first game, never purposefully wastes your time, which is greatly appreciated. this, coupled with the addition of save stations and energy/missile recharges, while few and far between and the latter being hidden, means the game overall is way easier.
additionally, enemies deal less damage, and due to the capacity of the GameBoy, creatures can't fill the screen without setting the poor console on fire, so there's less enemies and you're never overwhelmed. this allows creature design to also be more detailed ironically enough, as sprites are generally a lot bigger due to the reduced screen size. this means there's no slowdowns which is also appreciated, the game runs at a crisp 59.7 FPS and never dropped once. the only true challenge comes from the titular Metroids who can be pretty difficult to fight especially when they surprise you, though they're never unfair. I also appreciate the added enemy variety. the wildlife of SR388 all look and act distinct from one and another, a lucky side effect of the GameBoy not having color.
while in the first game, Samus started as weak and grew powerful, here Samus starts powerful and eventually becomes unstoppable thanks to the reduced damage and new abilities like the space jump, spider ball and spring ball which all make exploration a breeze. there's also the fact that enemies outside of Metroids never really attack you, they just kind of exist and accidentally are in your way, which I really like as a story detail: the only hostile entities on SR388 are the Metroids and Samus herself. the rest are merely living. smarter people have already analyzed the story which you can read if you're interested in, but I like how Samus rescues the one baby Metroid. it humanizes her in an unexpected way.
now, there are a few elements that are transferred over from the first Metroid, mainly the lack of a map, which while not as detrimental this time around due to the improved level design, still means it's easy to get lost. the final boss is also a frustrating damage sponge and an unnecessary difficulty spike, tho it doesn't throw a billion projectiles at you which is a definitive upgrade. you also can't have more than one beam type, meaning I was just using the ice beam for 95% of the game and renders all other beams functionally useless, which is a shame. there's also more energy tanks and beam stations that you can collect which is just a strange move that I don't fully understand.
now for the downgrades. notably, I don't think the screen crunch is too much of a problem here, since the game designers were smart and built the game around it. you're never unfairly attacked by enemies you couldn't see coming, and it's not disorienting. it replicates the feeling of exploring a dark, uncharted planet. I would've liked a bit more screen space but it's not the end of the world.
no, my biggest problem with Metroid II is that for 90% of the game, there's no music, and I don't know why! the music that is present is very good, and I know they could've made oppressing ambiant tracks because the original game had songs like that. here however, you're accompanied by silence most of the time which is a shame.
there's also no color at all, which just makes the environment feel very repetitive and more confusing than necessary. the game is also shorter and more linear, which means you don't really get to use your abilities to their full extent, rendering them kind of superfluous which is never something you want. the game is also very repetitive, since it follows the exact same formula with no real surprise.
overall though, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by Metroid II! I consider it an improvement over the first game, with most of its flaws coming from the inherent limitations of it being a GameBoy game. this makes me very excited to see what Super Metroid is capable of, especially considering everything I've heard about it.
Replayed this finally in color
It looks so nice
I didnt beat this the first time I played the game (I dont think I even reached the Zeta Metroids), Queen Metroid is an awesome final boss
It looks so nice
I didnt beat this the first time I played the game (I dont think I even reached the Zeta Metroids), Queen Metroid is an awesome final boss
While more polished in some areas and telling a much more moving story I honestly preferred the original Metroid somehow.
This review contains spoilers
I went into this game with tempered expectations as I was cautious of how the game would hold up. Despite how much I respect its ambition and how ahead of its time it was, I found Metroid 1 to range from mildly enjoyable to moderately frustrating, so I was pretty skeptical on how a successor on the Gameboy would stack up…after playing it, I am glad to have had my concerns proved wrong. Very wrong in fact, as this is a fantastic game, a huge step up from its predecessor and the game that made me a real fan of Metroid.
The first substantial improvement over the first game is the controls. Samus is now able to shoot below herself when in midair and can take a stationary crouched position to shoot knee-high targets, making it so combat is more like fighting enemies and less like fighting the limited controls.
There are ten save stations around the map, though two are very close to each other so functionally there are nine. I think it can be a little bit too hard to come by one, but overall, it works fine, and I much prefer it over Metroid 1’s password system. There are also refueling stations placed about, they come in handy but are too few and far between to be able to lean on.
Metroid wouldn’t be Metroid without upgrades and Metroid II not only keeps the old ones but brings in some new blood with the spider-ball and the space-jump. The spider ball lets Samus cling to surfaces while in morph-ball mode and traverse walls and ceilings which adds some nice verticality to exploration. The space-jump serves as its more mobile late game equivalent, letting Samus be able to jump repeatedly while in midair, infinitely if your timing is good. I don’t think a single other powerup in Metroid’s history feels as satisfying to get as the space-jump, though the screw-attack comes second due to how well it synergizes with the space-jump.
What I believe to be the most important quality of a Metroid game is its exploration and world design…and the Metroid community’s most common complaint about Metroid II is regarding its exploration and world design…specifically, its different approach to entries in the series both preceding and succeeding it. The player has to enter and complete each zone in a specific order with backtracking being largely absent, once you are done with an area you typically never have to set foot in it again and what few revisits there are, are very brief. Though, each zone lets you explore in a non-linear manner within its confines. I think this direction is perfect for the game when accounting for the often-forgotten fact that this was made for the Gameboy, a handheld console most owners would typically use in car rides, on breaks or during recess. Having a giant intertwined world with backtracking large distances like Metroid 1 is a little bit demanding for a system people would typically play for shorter time frames. add the fact that the first Metroid was already difficult to navigate while having the advantage of being on a home console where most people would typically have longer more dedicated play-sessions than a handheld, a more bite-sized approach to the world that still embraces non-linearity works best for the Gameboy, while still keeping what makes Metroid…well, Metroid!
The second most common complaint about Metroid II is how zoomed in the camera is. I view it in a similar vein to Resident Evil’s fixed camera angles, where the game is designed specifically to obscure the players vision. Vision is one of your strongest and most reliable abilities in a game, so to have that limited makes you more vulnerable. The game takes something away from you. This would normally be annoying in something like an action game or a shooter, but with horror it adds to the experience. Metroid II, whether you find it scary or not, is a horror game. It turns what was a limitation of the hardware into a way to build dread. When you find the shed remains of a recently hatched mutant Metroid, you know its near, but not exactly where it is or when it will attack, having to keep begrudgingly inching forward, not knowing when it’s going to pop into view.
Both the story and objective of the game revolve around hunting Metroids. the Metroids, while being a plot point in Metroid 1 and the series namesake, I’d argue this is their first real game in the spotlight. When you first land on SR-388 you enter a cave and explore for a bit, then eventually find a Metroid, but unlike previous encounters with one, this one starts to mutate. It jettisons its old form for one resistant to the ice beam at the cost of a very weak underbelly. As you dive further into the planets depths finding upgrades and progressing, you find more and more Metroids, some being even further along their mutation process, getting more agile and deadly. while fighting the Metroids can be range from an intense, erratic scuffle to a complete mess depending on the arena design, I ultimately enjoy their presence throughout the game and even the worst of the fights are better than any of the bosses in Metroid 1.
I really adore the environmental story telling throughout the game, especially near the end just before the Metroid nest where there are no enemies besides the Metroids to convey how invasive they are to SR-388’s ecosystem. It really sells the sense of urgency in hunting the Metroids before they mutate to a stage too strong for you to stop and eventually take over the planet in its entirety.
Metroid II is extremely ambitious for a horror game on the Gameboy and it’s even more impressive that it manages to achieve what it does. It has an intensely strong sense of identity and stands as both a huge improvement from Metroid 1 on almost every front and as a great game in its own right.
Maybe the most underrated game of its era.
The first substantial improvement over the first game is the controls. Samus is now able to shoot below herself when in midair and can take a stationary crouched position to shoot knee-high targets, making it so combat is more like fighting enemies and less like fighting the limited controls.
There are ten save stations around the map, though two are very close to each other so functionally there are nine. I think it can be a little bit too hard to come by one, but overall, it works fine, and I much prefer it over Metroid 1’s password system. There are also refueling stations placed about, they come in handy but are too few and far between to be able to lean on.
Metroid wouldn’t be Metroid without upgrades and Metroid II not only keeps the old ones but brings in some new blood with the spider-ball and the space-jump. The spider ball lets Samus cling to surfaces while in morph-ball mode and traverse walls and ceilings which adds some nice verticality to exploration. The space-jump serves as its more mobile late game equivalent, letting Samus be able to jump repeatedly while in midair, infinitely if your timing is good. I don’t think a single other powerup in Metroid’s history feels as satisfying to get as the space-jump, though the screw-attack comes second due to how well it synergizes with the space-jump.
What I believe to be the most important quality of a Metroid game is its exploration and world design…and the Metroid community’s most common complaint about Metroid II is regarding its exploration and world design…specifically, its different approach to entries in the series both preceding and succeeding it. The player has to enter and complete each zone in a specific order with backtracking being largely absent, once you are done with an area you typically never have to set foot in it again and what few revisits there are, are very brief. Though, each zone lets you explore in a non-linear manner within its confines. I think this direction is perfect for the game when accounting for the often-forgotten fact that this was made for the Gameboy, a handheld console most owners would typically use in car rides, on breaks or during recess. Having a giant intertwined world with backtracking large distances like Metroid 1 is a little bit demanding for a system people would typically play for shorter time frames. add the fact that the first Metroid was already difficult to navigate while having the advantage of being on a home console where most people would typically have longer more dedicated play-sessions than a handheld, a more bite-sized approach to the world that still embraces non-linearity works best for the Gameboy, while still keeping what makes Metroid…well, Metroid!
The second most common complaint about Metroid II is how zoomed in the camera is. I view it in a similar vein to Resident Evil’s fixed camera angles, where the game is designed specifically to obscure the players vision. Vision is one of your strongest and most reliable abilities in a game, so to have that limited makes you more vulnerable. The game takes something away from you. This would normally be annoying in something like an action game or a shooter, but with horror it adds to the experience. Metroid II, whether you find it scary or not, is a horror game. It turns what was a limitation of the hardware into a way to build dread. When you find the shed remains of a recently hatched mutant Metroid, you know its near, but not exactly where it is or when it will attack, having to keep begrudgingly inching forward, not knowing when it’s going to pop into view.
Both the story and objective of the game revolve around hunting Metroids. the Metroids, while being a plot point in Metroid 1 and the series namesake, I’d argue this is their first real game in the spotlight. When you first land on SR-388 you enter a cave and explore for a bit, then eventually find a Metroid, but unlike previous encounters with one, this one starts to mutate. It jettisons its old form for one resistant to the ice beam at the cost of a very weak underbelly. As you dive further into the planets depths finding upgrades and progressing, you find more and more Metroids, some being even further along their mutation process, getting more agile and deadly. while fighting the Metroids can be range from an intense, erratic scuffle to a complete mess depending on the arena design, I ultimately enjoy their presence throughout the game and even the worst of the fights are better than any of the bosses in Metroid 1.
I really adore the environmental story telling throughout the game, especially near the end just before the Metroid nest where there are no enemies besides the Metroids to convey how invasive they are to SR-388’s ecosystem. It really sells the sense of urgency in hunting the Metroids before they mutate to a stage too strong for you to stop and eventually take over the planet in its entirety.
Metroid II is extremely ambitious for a horror game on the Gameboy and it’s even more impressive that it manages to achieve what it does. It has an intensely strong sense of identity and stands as both a huge improvement from Metroid 1 on almost every front and as a great game in its own right.
Maybe the most underrated game of its era.
Somehow both the most non-metroidvania metroid game and also the most confusing. If I didn't have a map pulled up, I never would have finished it. Worst final boss in video game history
I popped this on intending to quickly check it out and see if I could relive some nostalgia. Accidentally played the whole thing, woops.
I really like this game. I absolutely have nostalgia glasses and am blessed to remember all of the nonsensical hidden esoteric bullshit, I can't imagine trying to parse this as a first-timer.
But I'm gonna live my truth, this game is great, it's probably a big stupid idiot move by me that I haven't played the 3DS remake, I should fix that asap.
Also first time finishing the game in under 3 hours and getting bikini Samus at the end, go me I guess?
I really like this game. I absolutely have nostalgia glasses and am blessed to remember all of the nonsensical hidden esoteric bullshit, I can't imagine trying to parse this as a first-timer.
But I'm gonna live my truth, this game is great, it's probably a big stupid idiot move by me that I haven't played the 3DS remake, I should fix that asap.
Also first time finishing the game in under 3 hours and getting bikini Samus at the end, go me I guess?
Holds up better than you would expect, and I got used to the floaty controls and screen crunch pretty early on. Obviously AM2R and Samus Returns improved on quite a lot here, but the aesthetics of hunting metroids (at their scariest imo) through an 8-bit, desolate cavern system is something that was never fully replicated.
It's not as daunting as a you for think for a Metroidvania without a map. The game is split up into sections where you eliminate all of the Metroids in an area and then move on to the next. The game really doesn't ask you to backtrack to the extent that Super Metroid or Dread might. This is probably the Metroidvania where I had to consult the internet the least, although the best method ro defeat the final boss is fairly obtuse. That said you should probably play it within the span of a weekend or so, rather than just pick it up and finish it later, so you'll have a stronger mental map.
To give this game a bit more criticism, I wish there was more than 2 area themes. I implied it's easy to find your way to the end, and it is, but some different tunes would be appreciated . Still this is one of the best Gameboy games in my opinion and definitely has all the Super Metroid vides down( as much as you can given the vastly weaker hardware).
To give this game a bit more criticism, I wish there was more than 2 area themes. I implied it's easy to find your way to the end, and it is, but some different tunes would be appreciated . Still this is one of the best Gameboy games in my opinion and definitely has all the Super Metroid vides down( as much as you can given the vastly weaker hardware).
While a technical leap from its janky predecessor, the removal of the jank kills the game’s personality. The Metroid counter can sometimes go back up, creating a weird ‘blink and you miss it’ progression hint system that can throw players off at key moments.
It's about what I expected, unplayable without following a map but I have a weird soft spot for these old cryptic games so I had fun playing this.
Honestly had a lot more fun with this one than I was expecting. Basically having the entire game be a hunt even with a tracker at the bottom was a neat idea. However, the game has a lot of jank and those old metroidvania flaws. Some of the later forms of Metroids are just annoying and the final boss is a joke once you figure out a secret to it. Really excited for when I get to the remake and see how they (hopefully) fixed my issues with the original.
Final score: 5/10
Final score: 5/10
this aged like your republican aunt who got drunk and grabbed her keys