Super Metroid is an old game that shows its age not in the gameplay but in the overall level and world design.
As I continue my time checking out classic games I've always wanted to play, my reviews are getting a bit repetitive - this old game probably played way better when it came out than it does in 2023. Honestly the gameplay isn't all that bad - the shooting feels great, sprinting or rolling around to get through the level is fun, and platforming is mostly OK, though I do wish the jumping was a little less finicky. No, all that generally dated gameplay stuff I can handle. The most frustrating part of the game, for me, was the exploration and what it expects from the player.
Coming off of Symphony of the Night and the Advance Castlevania games, I appreciate how they handle their world design, their map design, and overall progression. While Castlevania likes to hide fun secrets behind hidden walls, Super Metroid locks mandatory progression and necessary items behind hidden walls throughout the entire game. I had to look up guides online to progress several times along my journey and the advice was always - when in doubt, just bomb everything. And that advice should be taken quite literally. The game expects you to shoot, bomb, or just attempt to run through every wall, floor, and ceiling in the game if you want to progress. It was absurd in Metroid and it's only marginally better in this game as helped by the clunky X-Ray Scope item that I never wanted to use due to the cumbersome weapon-cycling.
As a fan of the Metroidvania genre, I'm still loving going through and checking out the classic games that defined one of my favorite genres, but I honestly only recommend Super Metroid to enthusiasts of classic games or folks wanting to check out a game that defined generations of games to come.
+ Very cool seeing the origins of a genre
+ Great visuals with fun cutscenes
+ Good shooting feel
- Progression locked behind hidden walls
- Some occasionally frustrating platforming controls
- Can only see the map one zone at a time making it difficult to keep track of where you need to go next
- Cumbersome weapon swapping
- No fast travel makes for long backtracking
As I continue my time checking out classic games I've always wanted to play, my reviews are getting a bit repetitive - this old game probably played way better when it came out than it does in 2023. Honestly the gameplay isn't all that bad - the shooting feels great, sprinting or rolling around to get through the level is fun, and platforming is mostly OK, though I do wish the jumping was a little less finicky. No, all that generally dated gameplay stuff I can handle. The most frustrating part of the game, for me, was the exploration and what it expects from the player.
Coming off of Symphony of the Night and the Advance Castlevania games, I appreciate how they handle their world design, their map design, and overall progression. While Castlevania likes to hide fun secrets behind hidden walls, Super Metroid locks mandatory progression and necessary items behind hidden walls throughout the entire game. I had to look up guides online to progress several times along my journey and the advice was always - when in doubt, just bomb everything. And that advice should be taken quite literally. The game expects you to shoot, bomb, or just attempt to run through every wall, floor, and ceiling in the game if you want to progress. It was absurd in Metroid and it's only marginally better in this game as helped by the clunky X-Ray Scope item that I never wanted to use due to the cumbersome weapon-cycling.
As a fan of the Metroidvania genre, I'm still loving going through and checking out the classic games that defined one of my favorite genres, but I honestly only recommend Super Metroid to enthusiasts of classic games or folks wanting to check out a game that defined generations of games to come.
+ Very cool seeing the origins of a genre
+ Great visuals with fun cutscenes
+ Good shooting feel
- Progression locked behind hidden walls
- Some occasionally frustrating platforming controls
- Can only see the map one zone at a time making it difficult to keep track of where you need to go next
- Cumbersome weapon swapping
- No fast travel makes for long backtracking