I am totally amazed that this game was overlooked the first time I saw it. Taking advantage of the fact that we will not have Metroid until God knows how long, I will review for the first time in my life a video game, and the one chosen for the review is the second game in this franchise to go out to table consoles.
Super Metroid is one of the greatest resources that Nintendo obtained in its war against Sega, its great rival at the time. Despite the huge and vast catalog of the Super Nintendo, Super Metroid knew how to stand out, and also compete against others of its kind such as The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past or Megaman X. Why? That is what we will find out in today's review.
To start we will name one of its best sections, the sound. The music is perfect with the atmosphere and surroundings, not to mention that it is suitable for each stage.
Before fighting a boss, the sounding sound in the moment can even scare off that boss, as easy as it may be. Or when appearing in a new area, the music tells you what kind of place it will be, either with tunes of mystery for quiet places with great exploration or epics that indicate if you are near the end. All this is thanks to a great sound direction that knows when and how to locate the melodies.
The sound section has its errors, however: The sound that some aliens produce can be made repetitive, just like the sound. The amount of sounds Samus produces is very limited. And finally the limited number of melodies, some are even better than others and are hardly used.
Even with all this, the music is incredible, more than anything thanks to a great sound direction.
The graphic section is not far behind, see the sprites and animations of Samus, whether running, walking, jumping or even using the Morphing Ball and the multiple weapons of the game are a delicacy, more than anything to the good movement that these commands have. The backgrounds are very good, detailed and tell you a lot about the environment in which our bounty hunter is located. The design of the bosses is very varied, colorful and just by seeing them one knows what their weak point is (something that helps a lot of gameplay.). The colors are beautiful, in addition to this add that the variety of aliens is much more diverse, helping the game not feel monotonous.
As for the gameplay, it is quite enjoyable to see Samus shoot in the 8 directions offered by the Super Nintendo. To this add resources such as equipment. The number of Suits that Samus will use are fair and necessary, the Beams are quite varied, comfortable and each with its respective differences (This helps the game feel much less heavy and the enemies lighten up a bit.), The The options they offer us when using the Morphin Ball are incredible considering that it is just a ball spinning in the middle of the screen, something in which I roundly applaud the game. Another great addition to the gameplay is the fact that you can assign the buttons to the action you want, making the course of the cartridge much more refreshing.
Is the gameplay perfect? No, it is not. To start the jump against the wall is quite uncomfortable and annoying, and the Screw Attack is quite unpredictable, sometimes the jumps are not performed because they are not fast enough and sometimes because they are not more patient, with no way of knowing how to do it with accuracy, and let's not even talk when you have to make a change of direction in the air, that could easily cost you the game. I could forgive him if this weapon was optional or was given at intermediate moments of the adventure, but no, it is achieved almost at the end, mandatory and it is also the most powerful weapon before the final battle (Although I have to admit that I enjoy watching the golden zebecians using it: p). Although as I have already shown it is not a perfect section, it is a very good one, surpassing some such as Megaman X (And that is not a bad thing to say).
The game is very extensive and it is quite normal to get lost, but once you know the locations the game becomes almost impossible to replay due to the few secrets it has to offer if you do it a second time. Most of the hidden things are missiles, super missiles and super bombs, which makes it not so worthwhile to go looking for them when in 2/3 of the final battle they are useless. However, this does not take away the breadth of the world and the enjoyment and joy when you discover these mini artifacts by accident, or by trying several times.
The difficulty curve could say that it is almost perfect if it were not for a small detail, the bosses. Yes, the bosses are great, each one has a unique characteristic and a quite creative way of defeating them (In addition to their designs being great, imposing and intimidating), but that doesn't take away from the fact that you hinder it with these is a roller coaster You can die countless times against a boss even more powerful than the final boss just to make the next one a joke, or vice versa. Although if I am honest this is not a detail that significantly affects the note, it is quite annoying at the time of climax. Another thing to add to the enjoyment that the game provides you is the joy of killing enemies using the different weapons of Samus, many times you have to go back the way you came and there is nothing more enjoyable than seeing those aliens that were so difficult to cause. his death being crushed by the new equipment of our favorite bounty hunter.
Total: 8.5/10 (Excellent)
Rounded note: 8 (To be a 9 it must be greater than 8.5, not equal or less).
Super Metroid is a game that knew how to stand out on a console full of similar titles in style, but in substance it was something unique. With a beautiful visual and great work with the soundtrack, added to the exploration and gameplay make it one of the most memorable titles on the console and the Metroid franchise. My name is Santiago Aguilar (Guileion) and this was my review, I hope you like it. :)