Almost 20 years after its release,Super Metroid still is one of the best 2D action adventure games ever, and a must play
GRAPHICS:
Super Metroid was release on the middle of the SNES lifetime, and the graphics were very advanced by that point, and it shows. Rooms now have backgrounds, compared to previous games black background, and the detail on them is amazing. Samus herself looks awesome, and all her abilities animate convincingly. Also, everything in this game is fluent. Just one of the best looking SNES games ever. 5/5
SOUND:
Another aspect the game excels is its sound departament. Sound effects of beams and missles are higly apropriate and satisfying to listen to, and just about everything, from explosions to enemy sounds are like they should sound like. The music doesn't take a back seat, delivering some unforgettable tunes like the main theme from Createria, and the opening theme, which all add to an amazing atmosphere of loneliness and a "what is behind that wall" feeling?". Just all around a fantastic soundtrack. 5/5
GAMEPLAY AND STORY:
The game is a 2D action adventure game. You play as the bounty hunter Samus Aran, who goes back to the location of the first game, planet Zebes, to retrive the baby metroid from the previous game. When you get there, you see that Ridley (a boss from the previous game) is back, and steal the baby metroid. Your ultimate mission is to retrive it. Besides cutscenes in the begining, there is almost no mention of the story, and it feels right that way, as the premise is strong enough to compel you to do that.
The gameplay is mostly similar to the previous instalments, with a great focus on exploration. Samus can shoot and jump in the begining, and aquires new power ups as she goes deeper in Zebes. The power ups range from the previous seen missles and morph ball (which enables you to roll into a ball form) to new ones like the devastating speed booster, which destroys everything, to the space jump, which enables you to summersalt infinitely. The power up selection is incredibly strong, and they are all a lot of fun to use. Some, like the grapple beam, are incredibly situational, and the x-ray scope will mostly be used by newcomers, but they are mostly great to use.
Samus herself has been doing some aerobics in between games, as she can now shoot diagonaly, a god send against bosses and flying enemies. Talking about bosses, they are another highlight of the game. There are 5 main bosses in the game plus a few sub ones, and they all have a unique pattern and weakness that you have to exploit, but it can be tricky to figure out, but when you beat one of the harder ones like Ridley you get an imense sense of satisfaction.
As the previous games, exploration is very important, as it rewards you with more missles, super missles, power bombs of energy tanks, which all make the game easier. Some can be qutie easy to get, while other you have to really go out of your way to get. On your first playthough, you will probably get about 40-70 of the items, and it is a big incentive to go back and play it again to get more items.
Non-linearity is also something this game is very known for, and it really works with it. You have the mission to get the baby metroid, but you are not told how to do that, or how to get to it, so it is up to you. You can go in any area you want any time, but you will need some specific power ups to traverse the areas more easily of necessarily to beat the area. You can keep roaming around for a bunch of time not knowing where to go, but figuring out is really satisfying. To help traversing the planet, in this game you have a map, which is another god send to keep track of where you have been. A first timer will take about 5 hours to beat, and it is another incentive to go back and play is as fast as you can.
5/5
OVERALL:
All in all, the shooting, the exploration, the music, the graphics, the power ups, everything adds to an amazing adventure. Couple that up with incredibly tight controls and you have one of the best action adventures ever. Play it now.
The good:
-Smooth gameplay with tight controls
-The shooting is a lot fo fun
-Many hidden things in it incentives exploration
-Music is awesome and sound effects are apropriate
-Graphics are top notch
-Addition of a map system really helps the game
The bad:
-At time it is easy to get lost