Super Metroid Video Game Review (About In Description)
2One of the greatest games of all time.
The last Metroid is in captivity. The galaxy is at peace. Samus Aran, having successfully completed her latest mission, sets off to find a new bounty to hunt – but she doesn't get far. A distress call, an exploration of an abandoned research facility and an encounter with an old and unexpected enemy draw her back into the saga of the Metroids, and back to the site of her first ever encounter with them. Super Metroid is the third installment of the Metroid series, a legendary SNES action/adventure title that puts players once again into the role of bounty hunter Samus Aran, and once again into the mazelike corridors of Planet Zebes – but it feels like it's for the first time. The original Metroid established the setting and feel. Metroid II, from the Game Boy, elaborated on the story. But it was this game, Super Metroid, that pulled together all of the series' previously established elements, embellished them, and polished the experience of exploration, retraversal and power-up acquisition into a true masterpiece of game design. Super Metroid is not to be missed. After playing through the game's prologue battle and flight from a self-destructing space station, you'll find yourself landing in the rain on the surface of Zebes. And you're alone. There are no enemies. It's just you, your ship, and a vacant set of rooms and shafts. Soon enough, of course, Zebes comes to life with alien foes, traps and interactive environments – but the scene has been set. You're isolated in this world, with no outside assistance, and no help but what you find hidden in the halls.
Samus' exploration begins with revisiting abandoned areas at first familiar from the original NES adventure, like the site of her final battle with Mother Brain and the corridor where she first claimed the Morph Ball. And it's there again – the first power-up in a chain of collectibles you'll acquire, each of which opens more and more area to explore, and each of which gives Samus some new ability. It's the design formula that Super Metroid perfected, and so many other games have since copied – giving you a fully interconnected, explorable world to experience, but letting you only access it a bit at a time. Getting the Morph Ball lets you fit Samus through tight spaces in the form of a rolled-up ball. Then getting the Missiles allows you to open red doors. Then getting the Ice Beam lets you freeze foes and use them as platforms ... but the first Metroid did all that before. What sets Super apart is that, after introducing all the established staples, it just keeps going. You'll further collect Super-powered missiles and megaton-exploding Power Bombs, the velocity-fueling Speed Booster, the Mega Man-esque Charge Beam and more – by the end of the adventure, Samus' Power Suit will be overflowing with upgrades and new armaments, and that's a great boost to the satisfaction factor of the Metroid experience. At the time of Super Metroid's release, the majority of video games still offered heroes whose powers were set in Stage 1 and didn't change all the way through the ending credits. That you get to slowly build up Aran's abilities over time, here, makes you feel much more engaged. And, even better, you don't have to. There are six different regions of Zebes to discover, most of them requiring you to collect some new beam or method of mobility to access – but many of Samus' power-ups are optional. Super Metroid's enjoyed over 13 years of replayability now because you can challenge yourself to try to complete the game without collecting all of the optional upgrades, or to complete the game as quickly as possible, or both at the same time. The gaming sub-culture of speedrunning was birthed around Super Metroid's flexible design that allowed players to create their own unique routes through the game, exploiting secret passages and their own battle-hardened skills to find the fastest path of blasting through Brinstar, Norfair, Maridia and the Wrecked Ship. It's still a blast to try to beat your own personal best time. Playing Super Metroid as a Virtual Console title makes the experience even more smooth than ever before, as the addition of the VC save state feature can help you keep your time down – no more running to an out-of-the-way save room when the real world calls you away from your game. And, played with the Wii Classic Controller, the game feels like a perfect fit – but both Classic and Cube pads work well, thanks to the foresight of Nintendo's developers in the early '90s, who included a custom button configuration menu screen that will allow you to reassign Samus' shooting, jumping and dashing to whichever pattern of triggers you'd personally prefer.