Sitara
Log Status
Abandoned
Playing
Backlog
Wishlist
Rating
Time Played
--
Days in Journal
1 day
Last played
October 1, 2023
Platforms Played
Where it Shines:
Remaster Quality - 9/10
Music - 9/10
The Good:
The quality of this remaster is just really great. A shining example of how to do one properly.
As for the game itself, the music is just top notch, on par with, or better than Super which is saying a lot.
I never played the 3D metroids when they came out but I love the 2D ones and the genre as a whole. Although I think this is a quality remaster, I don't think 3D metroids really are for me and I don't have much else good to say about it.
The Bad:
- 3D maps. Can we just stop with these? I don't want to rotate a fucking map in 3 dimensional space and try to figure out where I am. Many other 3D games use 2D maps just fine. Just create topography if you need to. In a genre that RELIES on maps as a core gameplay function, this was a real swing and a miss.
- The combat, though serviceable, becomes incredibly repetitive. There aren't really enough small minions to kill in the game. Most sections are treated as having little micro bosses or mini bosses, and it gets so tedious when you're backtracking having to kill those enemies over and over and not being able to just pew pew past them.
- The visors are a real pain, particularly the night vision stuff. That entire area was such a chore that having to walk through it again made me decide to finally abandon the game for good. It's so dark you can't see without it, but if you turn your visor on you're in some crazy inverted color neon nightmare.
- Backtracking never felt fun. Maybe this is due to 3D platforming, I'm not sure, but in 2D metroids traversal can feel rewarding even when challenging. Here it takes way too long to get fun items like the grapple and you're stuck just jumping awkwardly in first person trying to land on platforms with no shadows to gauge where you are.
Summary:
I know fans love the 3D metroids. But they just honestly weren't for me. YMMV, but overall I think 2D just works better for this genre, and if you are going to make a 3D metroidvania, you really need to make things like maps/waypointing, platforming, and avoiding repetitiveness in enemies a top priority. It's an old game that's been remastered so I'll give it some leeway, but I'd rather play any 2D metroidvania than this series. Don't regret trying it, but didn't live up to the hype at all for me.
Note on my ratings:
Treat my stars like Michelin Stars - just having one means the game is worth playing in some way.
half ⭐: hot trash garbage, since you can't do zero stars here
⭐: below average, needs work
⭐⭐: average
⭐⭐⭐: pretty good
⭐⭐⭐⭐: excellent
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: all time favourite
Remaster Quality - 9/10
Music - 9/10
The Good:
The quality of this remaster is just really great. A shining example of how to do one properly.
As for the game itself, the music is just top notch, on par with, or better than Super which is saying a lot.
I never played the 3D metroids when they came out but I love the 2D ones and the genre as a whole. Although I think this is a quality remaster, I don't think 3D metroids really are for me and I don't have much else good to say about it.
The Bad:
- 3D maps. Can we just stop with these? I don't want to rotate a fucking map in 3 dimensional space and try to figure out where I am. Many other 3D games use 2D maps just fine. Just create topography if you need to. In a genre that RELIES on maps as a core gameplay function, this was a real swing and a miss.
- The combat, though serviceable, becomes incredibly repetitive. There aren't really enough small minions to kill in the game. Most sections are treated as having little micro bosses or mini bosses, and it gets so tedious when you're backtracking having to kill those enemies over and over and not being able to just pew pew past them.
- The visors are a real pain, particularly the night vision stuff. That entire area was such a chore that having to walk through it again made me decide to finally abandon the game for good. It's so dark you can't see without it, but if you turn your visor on you're in some crazy inverted color neon nightmare.
- Backtracking never felt fun. Maybe this is due to 3D platforming, I'm not sure, but in 2D metroids traversal can feel rewarding even when challenging. Here it takes way too long to get fun items like the grapple and you're stuck just jumping awkwardly in first person trying to land on platforms with no shadows to gauge where you are.
Summary:
I know fans love the 3D metroids. But they just honestly weren't for me. YMMV, but overall I think 2D just works better for this genre, and if you are going to make a 3D metroidvania, you really need to make things like maps/waypointing, platforming, and avoiding repetitiveness in enemies a top priority. It's an old game that's been remastered so I'll give it some leeway, but I'd rather play any 2D metroidvania than this series. Don't regret trying it, but didn't live up to the hype at all for me.
Note on my ratings:
Treat my stars like Michelin Stars - just having one means the game is worth playing in some way.
half ⭐: hot trash garbage, since you can't do zero stars here
⭐: below average, needs work
⭐⭐: average
⭐⭐⭐: pretty good
⭐⭐⭐⭐: excellent
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐: all time favourite