NES Metroid is boring

[SilverSurfer | 11]

Not a troll post. If I try really hard, I guess I can see why some people enjoy this game. I just don’t like it at all. I spent countless hours as a kid wandering around aimlessly and never accomplished a damn thing. Recently picked it up again, and nope, still can’t get into it. 

what am I missing? I want to give another chance. Should I play it with a guide? Wouldn’t that be cheating? I must be doing something wrong with all the praise this game gets. Help me please.

Edited April 28, 2023 by SilverSurfer

[mbd39 | 2,025]

I think a big part of the fun of Metroid is the sense of being lost in a hostile alien world and the exploration. The lack of any hand holding really adds to that feeling that you're alone and struggling in an alien environment. It's a great game in terms of atmosphere especially for the time. But there's nothing wrong with using a guide if you feel that you need it. It might help your enjoyment.

It does have issues such as having to farm to replenish health/ammo when you die. One of the great things about Super Metroid is that it makes refilling them so much easier. But I guess it's part of the challenge of the original.

 

Edited April 27, 2023 by mbd39

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

5 minutes ago, mbd39 said:

I think a big part of the fun of Metroid is the sense of being lost in a hostile alien world and the exploration. The lack of any hand holding really adds to that feeling that you're alone and struggling in an alien environment. It's a great game in terms of atmosphere especially for the time. 

Basically this, but if you think the game is boring, you could try using a map instead of a guide and see if that helps.

[Link | 2,714]

I have never gotten far in it but I too like the wandering around and exploring and grinding. I do see how it can be frustrating, though. 

Nothing wrong with using a guide contemporary to the NES era. (Or any guide you want, but there's a line that some of us like to appreciate.) I intend to sit down and give it a serious go when I have time and I'll probably bring out the Nintendo Power. There really is no way to play it blind except by drawing your own map, and that's difficult in itself, keeping things in proportion. 

EDIT: Map, guide, whatever. 

Edited April 27, 2023 by Link

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

10 minutes ago, Link said:

I have never gotten far in it but I too like the wandering around and exploring and grinding. I do see how it can be frustrating, though. 

Nothing wrong with using a guide contemporary to the NES era. (Or any guide you want, but there's a line that some of us like to appreciate.) I intend to sit down and give it a serious go when I have time and I'll probably bring out the Nintendo Power. There really is no way to play it blind except by drawing your own map, and that's difficult in itself, keeping things in proportion. 

EDIT: Map, guide, whatever. 

Good point. Getting some graph paper and making your own map '80s style might be fun if you want the true retro experience.

[mbd39 | 2,025]

I never mapped anything as a kid.  I was too lazy.

If I couldn't beat it without mapping, I gave up!

 

[phart010 | 1,707]

The frustration is what eventually makes it rewarding. No pain, no gain.

I get it though. People don’t have time like they used to.

We used to play as a group when I was a kid. Always at least two people watching while one person was playing. So we always gave the person playing ideas and suggestions. I guess when you playing by yourself, you can lose motivation 

Edited April 27, 2023 by phart010

[docile tapeworm | 4,203]

I Never have enjoyed Metroid.

[nesmaster14 | 436]

Don't forget NES games were often cryptic and many times guides/maps were made/sold to help beat the games back then.  You're still playing the game, and it's a good challenge if you're up to it.

  I too wondered aimlessly when I played it many years ago, despite really liking the game's concept.   Having figured out what to do, my enjoyment of the game increased significantly, and I was able to finally beat it earlier this year.  I'll say, even with the help of a guide, you'll still feel immersed/lost in a vast, deep alien world.  It's a great NES game.

Edited April 28, 2023 by nesmaster14

[Link | 2,714]

On 4/27/2023 at 6:43 PM, mbd39 said:

I never mapped anything as a kid.  I was too lazy.

If I couldn't beat it without mapping, I gave up!

Like I said, it's hard. So I don't blame you. I tried back then but I was bad at it and I didn't have Nintendo Power. And that's why I never got anywhere in Metroid. 

This means it's a terrible game, like Super Mario 3 without a battery enabled save! 

Edited May 3, 2023 by Link

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

Super metroid > metroid

[RH | 4,918]

34 minutes ago, Link said:

I have never gotten far in it but I too like the wandering around and exploring and grinding. I do see how it can be frustrating, though. 

Nothing wrong with using a guide contemporary to the NES era. (Or any guide you want, but there's a line that some of us like to appreciate.) I intend to sit down and give it a serious go when I have time and I'll probably bring out the Nintendo Power. There really is no way to play it blind except by drawing your own map, and that's difficult in itself, keeping things in proportion. 

EDIT: Map, guide, whatever. 

Wow, I definitely had no guide and beat this one as a kid.  It was tough as nails and was a multi-year process.  I mean, I played more games than just this but I def wrote down my codes and came back to it off and on until I beat it.

I think from my original childhood, this game might be tied as my favorite NES title with SMB3. I loved this game.  It was the best until I got Metroid ][, which is superior.

[Brickman | 3,994]

I find drawing the map a lot of fun but some people don't find that very enjoyable. What I actually find frustrating with Metroid is all the health/ammo farming you have to do which takes the fun out of it for me.

You should give Metroid: Zero Mission on the GBA a go. It resolves the health/farming issue and there is a map. Imo I find the GBA version the better way to play Metroid, and being portable is handy too.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,548]

Definitely not alone.  Super Metroid feels like it finished the proof of concept

 

[fox | 1,668]

2 hours ago, Brickman said:You should give Metroid: Zero Mission on the GBA a go. It resolves the health/farming issue and there is a map. Imo I find the GBA version the better way to play Metroid, and being portable is handy too.

This.  Zero mission is a remake of the original with a lot of quality of life improvements.

[Jynx | 140]

I enjoyed learning and finishing the game years ago, but I've never gone back to it and forget how to play it now. It's a rough game despite its fame. Metroid didn't get really good until Metroid 2 on Game Boy. That one is still my favourite.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,548]

 

Deal with it brosephine!

[fcgamer | 4,729]

Metroid is fun, part of the enjoyment is as others mentioned, just the exploration and getting lost and immersed. We had it as kids, loved it, spent so many hours with it .

Super Metroid I found at Wal Mart for $10, bought it years later probably as a teenager. One of my issues is that it loses the feeling of the original. There's the pretty graphics, sure, but they detract from the feeling of vastness and emptiness, that feeling of being stuck in a mysterious planet alone. It's like the special edition Star Wars, In away some of the magic was lost during the so-called upgrade.

[Tanooki | 4,937]

Metroid is boring as you said, but also it's equally not.  It just depends how you approach it, but also keep in perspective of the limitations of development at the time (year it was made/arrived in Japan.)  The game is good, but it can get both boring and frustrating fast as they didn't have the foresight to put a map in there, stunningly again with the sequel too.

Yet Nintendo knew this, knew those limitations were an issue and wanted to kick out as much help as possible in the pre-internet days.  There were at least 2 full on game guides between official guide books, and much of the game spread over various issues of NP as well to keep you going.  Playing it as a blank slate you'll have problems with boredom and frustration, but as I said, guides were plentiful in the day so no you really wouldn't be cheating.  The game is quite hard, so even if you do use a map, it's not like some invincibility shield or some heads up on much either other than where rooms lead.

I'm reverse dave there, he loves being lost, I most definitely don't, even in the day it got on my nerves.  You only have so much free time, going in circles feeling stupid for it is not time well spent.  That map in the SNES game opened it up just enough to really make the game fun, approachable, the opposite of the first two really.

3 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Definitely not alone.  Super Metroid feels like it finished the proof of concept

This %

 

I see some mentioning graphing/graph paper.  Ugh...no.  I hated that in PC games around 1990 give or take a few years, wouldn't do it then, not going to do that now as it's a real pain and slow grind waste of time and effort.

[Brickman | 3,994]

57 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

 

Deal with it brosephine!

I love getting eyerolls from fcgamer and Tanooki. Sometimes I make it a goal in my posts 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,548]

12 minutes ago, Brickman said:

I love getting eyerolls from fcgamer and Tanooki. Sometimes I make it a goal in my posts 

Oh, I am YEARS ahead of you

[OptOut | 8,889]

56 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Oh, I am YEARS ahead of you

To be fair A LOT of those are mine too... 

[OptOut | 8,889]

For the record, I DON'T think Metroid is boring, it's a good game and fun.

But, grinding for health kills it. I'll never play it past my first death, because I ain't gonna bother with that grinding shit.

[Tyree_Cooper | 757]

metroid prime

[OptOut | 8,889]

2 minutes ago, Tyree_Cooper said:

metroid prime

/thread.