Metroid: Samus Returns for Nintendo 3DS

Samus Returns was an excellent game, and it holds up very well to the older 2D entries in the series. I say this as a life-long fan of the series, having played through every mainline entry Super Metroid and forward many times. Compared to the others, I would personally rank this game above Fusion, but slightly below Zero Mission and Super. My runthrough of the game with 100% items took exactly 20 hours according to the 3DS timer, and ~15 hours according to the in-game timer. That makes this the longest 2D Metroid game by quite a lot, and arguably the lengthiest game in the whole series. The gameplay is extremely smooth and natural-feeling, and once you get used to it you almost wonder how you ever got by without free aiming. All of the abilities are well implemented and the maps are very well thought out and beautiful to look at. I also loved the new Aeon abilities you get in this game, which adds a whole new dimension to the existing gameplay formula. If I have one complaint, it's that the maps don't interconnect in quite the same way as they do in Super or Zero Mission, but that's mostly to stay true to the original Metroid 2 which was laid out differently from those games as well. Also, while I personally enjoyed it, many people aren't fond of the new Melee mechanic, which is essential to progressing through the game. In terms of difficulty, this is certainly the most difficult Metroid game. I feel pretty safe in saying that. The saving grace, however, is that the game is *very* generous with checkpoints. That's right, new to the series, this game has a checkpoint system, and the game gives you these checkpoints a *lot*. As far as I could tell, checkpoints occur after every elevator and teleporter ride, before and after every boss/Metroid fight, and of course whenever you use a save station. So, while you will probably die way more in this game than past Metroid games, you will never lose more than just a minute or two of gameplay. Nonetheless, this game is *not* easy - many enemies take out an entire energy tank or more, and bosses can take out several just with one hit - and that's on Normal difficulty. I haven't started Hard or Fusion (very hard) mode yet, but I can't even imagine how difficult those must be. - And finally, as a second part to this review, I want to compare this to AM2R. For those who don't know, AM2R (Another Metroid 2 Remake) is a fan remake of Metroid 2. It took the sole developer an entire decade to complete, and it quickly spread across the internet and got great reviews once it was finished. It is very possibly the most in-depth and intricate fan game ever created. Some would argue that it is actually just as good as a real 2D Metroid game. The game can be found freely many places in the internet for those who may want to play it. (Hint: googling "Reddit AM2R" isn't a bad start to finding it.) AM2R was finished and released about a year before Samus Returns was even announced. I myself did play AM2R, and I was very fond of it. At the time I would have called it the definitive Metroid 2 experience. So how does AM2R compare to Samus Returns? Personally, I liked Samus Returns more. AM2R was great, and I would argue that it, too, holds up well to the older Metroid games. But Samus Returns was still better, to me. The core gameplay was smoother, the boss fights were more polished, and I enjoyed the new gameplay additions in Samus Returns quite a lot. And not to spoil anything, but the climax segment of Samus Returns was also significantly better than in AM2R. The one thing that AM2R *did* do really well, though, was that it did a much better job interconnecting the different areas. AM2R made an effort to interconnect the different areas with a more advanced overworld/system than Samus Returns has. For whatever it's worth, that one aspect of AM2R is better than Samus Returns. (Also, I personally like AM2R's soundtrack better, but that's really very subjective, and the soundtrack in SR is good too.) That being said, Samus Returns is still my preference. After you play and finish Samus Returns, AM2R is a very interesting case study of a remake of Metroid 2 that comes from a completely different angle, and in my opinion it shouldn't be skipped over if you're a fan of the series. But if you are unfamiliar with Metroid 2 or what happens in the game, Samus Returns is the one to play first.

I have played the original Metroid 2, and while it was fun, going to this is a huge difference for anyone who may be interested. The modern feel and extra features added to Samus Returns creates a more unique experience (oh, and... there's actual color this time). I do not think playing the original is required, but even just watching some gameplay of it would allow one to appreciate the changes showcased in this remake. With its good mix of old and new (i.e. Aeion abilities), I was really curious to see how it would work out. The premise is roughly the same. Eliminate the Metroid threat by journeying further into the depths of SR388, all while having fun enjoying the same familiar aspects the Metroid series has to offer -- exploration, hidden paths, doors that cannot be opened early on until an item is found that will do so, suddenly allowing way more access to areas you couldn't explore before. It's a good thing. One of the differences I was surprised to see was how an Aeion ability has to be used to help expand the map of any area you explore, rather than finding one map room and syncing with it. It's not even a bad thing, just different. I had to get used to it at first, but decided it was easy enough to do as long as I conserved the energy for it (and found expansions that increased said energy for other abilities). The rapid beam ability is pretty awesome, and has numerous spots in the game where it is actually useful, rather than a gimmick (which is good when you're trying to introduce something new). Overall, I liked the addition of all the new Aeion abilities, and how they could be used. The counter ability is also an interesting aspect in some ways. At first, it was redundant to use as it was basically always used to counter little bat creatures (I guess more for practice). Yet, even that gameplay aspect was used for other scenarios later on that ended up being really helpful. While searching for Metroids, it was good to see that regular enemies throughout the game would at times pose a good challenge depending on how long I had explored between save points. I would sometimes wander where I'd risk losing a lot of energy without expecting it, so I'd have to sometimes backtrack throughout lots of enemies and/or dangerous environments to try and not die before getting back to a save location or energy replenish thing. I was at times very relieved to remember that now entrances to Metroid rooms and recent elevator uses created a little checkpoint. That helped me out more than once, especially when Metroids now have many more ways of attacking Samus to make the fights interesting, and at times dangerous depending on how many energy tanks one may have early on. I didn't really try and pick a favorite Metroid form to fight. They were all fun in their own way without spoiling anything. I recommend "Samus Returns" for anyone familiar with Metroid, or for those who want to try something new.

Hace cuatro años me hice de la new 3DS solo por este juego. Es muy bueno, el efecto de 3D se logra muy bien; hay buena música, buen control, guardado fácil. La historia es sencilla y al punto, además de que al avanzar en el juego vas desbloqueando una galería que te da una idea más profunda de los eventos que pasaron en el planeta mucho tiempo antes de tu llegada. Varios comentarios lo manejan como un juego repetitivo y pues en ese caso lo es porque así es la historia: la misión es destruir a todos los metroids que estaban sellados en las diferentes áreas del planeta; en ese sentido, los escenarios donde los enfrentas cambian, así como el tipo de ataque (electricidad o fuego), además de que no todos los metroids que enfrentas están en la misma etapa de crecimiento y conforme avanzas es más difícil derrotarlos. Hay disponibles dos dificultades: la difícil la verdad es muy difícil y es hasta la mitad del juego cuando se pone un poco menos terrible si obtienes las mejoras del equipo de Samus; como no tengo los amiibo, no sé qué diferencias haya al usarlos o si son substanciales. Yo lo recomiendo ampliamente. Como nota aparte, son notables las similitudes en el modo de juego en los promocionales que han salido de Metroid 5-Dread, por lo que parece que ese nuevo título será bastante similar a este.

Excelente.

Another great game for the series. Now a must for collectors

Bonne qualité!

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