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Metroid (NES) artwork

Metroid (NES) review


"Metroid has rather rapidly become a videogame legacy. However before the truth came out that Samus Aran's and before the famous sequel, led by Super Metroid, there was the original Metroid for the NES. This game is what spurred on the series, and in truth I really don't know how. I got this game early on in my NES's life in a bundle of about 10 games. At first this game was fun, but then the difficulty set in. You have to search every little corridor a million times, just to try and figure out w..."

Metroid has rather rapidly become a videogame legacy. However before the truth came out that Samus Aran's and before the famous sequel, led by Super Metroid, there was the original Metroid for the NES. This game is what spurred on the series, and in truth I really don't know how. I got this game early on in my NES's life in a bundle of about 10 games. At first this game was fun, but then the difficulty set in. You have to search every little corridor a million times, just to try and figure out where to go next. I really do not know how a legacy came from this game.

STORY (4/5): Now you really have to search to understand that there is a story behind this game. However when you find it, it isn't that bad. You are Bounty Hunter Samus Aran, and you are a hunter of Space Pirates. However you come across these little things called Metroids, and you go out and try and kill them all.

GRAPHICS (13/15): For the Nintendo the graphics are very smooth. Samus looks cool in her suit, while the enemies have rough edges and while don't shoot off much personality they do look evil. Also some of the enemies shine as the sparkle. Truly, this game shows off what the NES could do lighting wise, and color wise. The formations are a little grainy, but they will do.

SOUND (7/10): Classic Metroid music. You know the music you here in Super Smash Brothers Melee in the Metroid stage. It came from this game in the first place. I like the music although there is very few of it. Sound Effect wise there is the shooting of the gun, and the noise that comes when you roll up.

GAMEPLAY (33/55): This is a game where you go around searching for powerups so you can tackle the next part of the underground lair. You get these powers by defeating Metroid, these strange fighting things. You can only hurt a Metroid with your missiles. Now before going into the fighting details, you need to know you have regular bullets, missiles, and then other power ups. There is an unlimited amount of regular bullets, missiles are more powerful and they can hurt some creatures and open some doors regular bullets can't. Finally there are the powerups that affect the ray, such as the Icebeam which will freeze your opponents. Trust me on this, you will have to freeze enemies to move on in the game.

Now really the entire game is connected together by a series of passageways. Some passage ways will connect to like 5 or so different rooms, and some of these will be a dead end at certain times. That means you will have to backtrack there later when you have the needed powerup. This gets annoying cause you have to remember the whole stage in your head, or draw out a map of your own (which I expect, many of you did that have won it). So you will circle around a long time and easily get lost. The enemies are easy to kill using sufficient weapons.

The controls are very similiar to Conta. It is a sidescroller shooter, which emphasises thought process. You will shoot down your enemies using one button, and the other will jump. Select will change your weapon at hand. The controls easy to learn, and are fairly easy to control.

REPLAYABILITY (4/10): I have no clue how any sane person has actually beaten this game. I have probably only reached about 5% of this game done, and have probably played at least 30 hours total on this game (although you always start from the beggining). So this game is long and it will take many times through to actually go somewhere, and like a million tries to actually beat the game. Maybe you will come back to it once you beat it, cause it is a classic game you can just pick up. However it will spur many headaches.

DIFFICULTY (2/5): Insanely confusing. Sure, there are puzzle games and exploring games but this takes those to extremes. If there was a map like Super Metroid, that you could use to figure out where you are trying to go you would be fine off. However there is no map in Metroid, and all the ruotes look alike, and you will have to backtrack all over the place. The enemies are easy, it's just the stages themselves. Plus you would never know if you missed an important power, so you can trap yourself fairly easily.

VINTAGE VALUE (+5): Sure, even if I am not that fond of the game, heck I am not that fond of the series either, this game has become a cult favorite. With Metroid Prime coming out on Gamecube, it will be an instant seller because of the love society has for Samus Aran. This game started a famous a series, and therefor it is a good place to start before tackling the other Metroid games.

OVERALL (68/100): I do not love Metroid at all. I believe it was overated, and it gets alot more credit than it deserves. Sure, it is one of the classics made for the Nintendo, but really why is it. Why do people love backtracking long distances, and getting a headache every two minutes. Nowaday's you could go online and getting a guide, which would make it a million times easier, but then the game loses it's edge completely. Really, Metroid is a good game for some, but for others it really is just another game in the collection. I will keep my Metroid because it is a classic, not because of my feelings for it.



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Community review by ratking (August 01, 2002)

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