Game Debate #125: Super Metroid

[Webhead123 | 687]

One of my all-time favorites of any genre on any platform. I played it when it was new and I still play it to this day. I try to play through it about every other year. Beaten it countless times and know virtually all the secrets and items locations by heart at this point. I even attempted a semi-speedrun at one point (and speedrunning is not something I do or generally enjoy).

There are a select few games that have had the level of impact on me that Super Metroid has.

Unquestionably a 10/10.

Edited October 28, 2022 by Webhead123

[wongojack | 220]

3 hours ago, Tanooki said:

 it wasn't a dumpster fire of indecision that Metroid 1 was. 

To the guy who nitpicked the text in the poll - this statement invalidated your whole post for me.

[Redmond | 152]

20 hours ago, Gloves said:

A really beautiful looking game (and series) that I can't seem to enjoy no matter how hard I try. 

Same.  I need to try to play through it again though.  I just find SOTN, Hollow Knight, and the other games it inspired a lot more interesting/enjoyable due to the inclusion of unique items and whatnot which actually add some variety or change the gameplay up versus finding missile expansion #50.

[Tanooki | 4,950]

@RH Well I just ended up frustrated going in circles more than I liked to, eventually quit on it, came back sometime (months?) later and knocked the game off using printed partial guides at the time.  I never would have seen where to go next due to the limitations of the hardware.  @phart010 Well yeah that helps...

@wongojack Ehhh...no.  Nintendo Power, the Original Players Guide, and I think NES Atlas all had the full maps to this game, vital to really exploring as a kid.  We're looking at this with decades of knowledge, that comment was rooted in the mid later 80s and I stand by it.  Even Nintendo realized it was trouble then, and still did 15 years later with Zero Mission righting those little issues with a nice boost using SM3 mechanics.

[fcgamer | 4,753]

The only Metroid game I didn't have growing up, grabbed it from Walmart from a sales bin as a teen.

I grew up with the original Metroid, my brother and I spent countless hours exploring that game, not even necessarily with the mindset of beating it, rather just exploration. It occupied so much time, yet it was fun, and still is. 

Then when I was in about third or fourth grade, my brother and my mum went to England and France with his high school class on a ten day trip. It was a bit late when we signed up, furthermore we had pets and we weren't rich financially, so my father and I stayed to man the fort back home. 

One night my dad allowed me to pick out and bought me a Game Boy game, I chose Metroid II. For some odd reason most of the games I ever sold are GB games, and I regret selling my copy of this, but whatever, life's too short for regrets.

Anyways, over the next year I put tons of time into this game, whilst my folks were driving us on trips to see the grandparents, the mall, grocery shopping, etc. I loved it, and loved how it gave you bite-sized nuggets of exploration to work with. Do a NES conversion of this one, I reckon it'd be my favourite.

Then there was the SNES Super Metroid. Bought it on clearance, played through it. I enjoyed it, but it just felt all flash bling bling. I mean, Metroid and Metroid II did so much with such machine limitations, and here comes Super Metroid offering little new aside from fancy graphics and splash. Ultimately it became nothing more than the game I picked up on clearance and played one boring weekend when I had nothing better to do. Therefore I rated it a 4, being fair to the rating descriptions.

Then there are the Metroid games after that, no desire for FPS games, and any Metroidvania titles are just going to try to parrot the earlier games, so not gonna be getting it right. Talk about a series that plunged.

[Andy_Bogomil | 815]

10

[Nintegageo | 582]

10. It remains the best in the genre.

[Sumez | 2,989]

Masterpiece

[G-type | 2,520]

I have played this one, but didn't get far... but since there's no option "I need to play more to have an opinion" I had to default to "never played but interested"

[twiztor | 855]

On 10/28/2022 at 7:49 AM, RH said:

This got a 9 from me but I 100% see why this deserves a 10.

As one who skipped the SNES/Genesis generation in his home (yeah, I was stuck playing my NES, Game Boy and Game Gear until I got an N64)  SNES games always amazed me and looked amazing but I only rarely got to play them on kiosks or rarely when I went to a friends house for a party or something like that.

^all of this.

i thought Super Metroid was pretty awesome, but when i finished it a couple years back, i just wanted to replay the original Metroid. Also, i much prefer Symphony of the Night to Super Metroid. No hate, great game, but not quite a 10 from me. 

[Nintegageo | 582]

The people who vote 3 and 4 with a game like Super Metroid.. just don't vote. You're wrong. You know you're wrong. Just don't do it.

[Lynda Monica | 350]

9 minutes ago, Nintegageo said:

The people who vote 3 and 4 with a game like Super Metroid.. just don't vote. You're wrong. You know you're wrong. Just don't do it.

Never speak your opinion on a piece of entertainment if it isn't the popular opinion? That's the way of the internet I guess. In the real world, media is subjective and people react to things however they react to them.

[Gloves | 11,827]

1 hour ago, Nintegageo said:

The people who vote 3 and 4 with a game like Super Metroid.. just don't vote. You're wrong. You know you're wrong. Just don't do it.

The poll is personal preference, pretty explicitly. 

[Nintegageo | 582]

I'm glad 2 people saw the humour.

[Sumez | 2,989]

I'll agree, screw popular opinions. Play games, form your own opinions! It's the way to go. The internet has way too many second-hand opinions out there.  

That said, honestly, if your personal preference is that Super Metroid, a game that's continuously heralded as one of the biggest masterpieces in video game history, is a 3/10 or 4/10 game, then could there maybe be a decent chance that you failed to approach the game with the correct mindset to fully enjoy it, and maybe just need to sit down and try to "get it" before you pass judgment?
I know there are definitely a few games I had to do a couple of takes on.

Honestly I understand why it's easy to approach Super Metroid in a way that makes it hard to appreciate, not even due to your own mindset, but simply due to bad luck, given how much the game relies on players discovering somewhat abstract paths through the map on a blind playthrough. But we're maybe talking "it's just okay" territory here, not the 3/10 dung pile, lol 

Edited November 1, 2022 by Sumez

[fcgamer | 4,753]

1 hour ago, Sumez said:

I'll agree, screw popular opinions. Play games, form your own opinions! It's the way to go. The internet has way too many second-hand opinions out there.  

That said, honestly, if your personal preference is that Super Metroid, a game that's continuously heralded as one of the biggest masterpieces in video game history, is a 3/10 or 4/10 game, then could there maybe be a decent chance that you failed to approach the game with the correct mindset to fully enjoy it, and maybe just need to sit down and try to "get it" before you pass judgment?
I know there are definitely a few games I had to do a couple of takes on.

Honestly I understand why it's easy to approach Super Metroid in a way that makes it hard to appreciate, not even due to your own mindset, but simply due to bad luck, given how much the game relies on players discovering somewhat abstract paths through the map on a blind playthrough. But we're maybe talking "it's just okay" territory here, not the 3/10 dung pile, lol 

From the 4/10 description: Meh. There's plenty of better alternatives 

That's not sitting on the dung pile in any way, from the description. 

As for looking at games and forming one's own opinions, maybe we should be doing this but with the Sachen library. I'd love to see people try to approach the set without bias. I did it, and was shocked by the results.

[Sumez | 2,989]

Never change

[CodysGameRoom | 2,008]

14 hours ago, Gloves said:

The poll is personal preference, pretty explicitly. 

Many people prefer to be wrong.  

 

As for Super Metroid, I'm in the .... need to give it another go camp. I too prefer linear games, so I think maybe with some kind of guide or walkthrough I could enjoy this one a lot. 

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

Its almost like some people choose to be contrarians because slightly annoying people on the internet is more fun than their real life. 
 

9/10

[Gloves | 11,827]

1 hour ago, CodysGameRoom said:

Many people prefer to be wrong.  

 

As for Super Metroid, I'm in the .... need to give it another go camp. I too prefer linear games, so I think maybe with some kind of guide or walkthrough I could enjoy this one a lot. 

I've solidly attempted to enjoy the series, personally.

I've played Metroid, Metroid 2 (GB), Super Metroid, and Prime. All of them I've tried multiple times at different times in life, and multiple of which (Prime and Super especially) I've actively worked on ensuring I had plenty of time to play so I can enjoy the exploration aspects without a guide, working to find the correct paths etc.. 

Every single time I find the games really visually appealing - they look great, the atmosphere is excellent. Stunning.

But they are mostly empty, there's really not a lot going on when you're not actively making progress and it gets boring pretty fast. Pair that with that every 2D game (Prime was the exception) I ended up getting just completely stuck at some point in the games and I didn't have a good time. And I'm not some shit at video games loser - I've written my fair share (over 100) of guides for games over the years, detailing hundreds of collectibles, how to complete games 100%, etc. across multiple genres; I can find shit. But the silly things you have to do in Super Metroid explicitly to progress in the game, not to find some obscure hidden collectible but to literally progress at all, are a bit too obscure for me to enjoy it. I don't want to spend my time rolling around as a ball blowing up every square of every room hoping that one of those squares opens up the path forward, that's ridiculous.

 

That all said, I didn't rate it a 3 or 4 personally, I'm just advocating for those who did and their ability to choose. They're not even saying "this game is shit", they're just saying it's (to them) "Not a very good game" or that there are "plenty of better alternatives" and while I wouldn't say the former, I could definitely see saying the latter - Symphony of the Night is a prime example of the formula done right. If Super Metroid is a 10 then SotN is a 12. I voted Super Metroid an 9, despite my personal misgivings, as I DO recognize that it IS an awesome game that everyone should at least try. But I'm not gonna shit on people for trying and disliking it.

[TDIRunner | 2,771]

It's pretty pointless to complain about someone who doesn't rate something as highly as you would like.  It's not like we are getting bombarded with a bunch of troll votes.  No matter how good something is, it will never be enjoyed by 100% of the population.  I haven't done the math, but I'm pretty sure that even with the small number of low votes, Super Metroid is going to sit on the top of the Game Debate leaderboard when this is done, which means the game is getting the recognition it deserves.   

Edited November 1, 2022 by TDIRunner

[Sumez | 2,989]

I care less about the game getting low ratings than I care about people missing out on what could potentially be a very enjoyable experience

[CodysGameRoom | 2,008]

@Gloves I'm just joking around, lol

[Gloves | 11,827]

3 minutes ago, CodysGameRoom said:

@Gloves I'm just joking around, lol

[Reed Rothchild | 9,577]

58 minutes ago, Sumez said:

I care less about the game getting low ratings than I care about people missing out on what could potentially be a very enjoyable experience

Get him!