Metroid: Samus Returns (A Review)

(Hi, kids! I got a copy of that new Metroid game and played it and liked it a lot, so I did a review of it which is right down below this paragraph. It's not as esoteric as my other Metroid posts, being a more mainline review for GameFAQs, but I'm sure you'll like it. Anyway, here's my words on it.)

OH GOD THE BABY GREW UP IN SEVEN YEARS

Metroid. Where do we even begin? It's a pillar of an action/adventure series from Nintendo that's been around for over three decades, but it's the last of those decades that have proven turbulent. The 2010s have been somewhat unkind to the series; 2010's Metroid Other M sought to bring coherent story and narrative to the series and fell flat on its face in doing so. Six years later gave us a spinoff, Federation Force, which further alienated the die-hard Metroid fanbase. The only shining light for them last year was the release of a fan game, Another Metroid 2 Remake (AM2R). As the name suggested, it was a remake of the second game in the series and radically reinvented it, updating its play style to feel more like later 2D games in the series. Nintendo did not take kindly to this and issued takedown notices for AM2R... and yet, here we are. A year after that unkind business, Nintendo and developer MercurySteam have taken their own crack at reinventing and reimagining Metroid II into a bolder, more expansive form. Did they treat their own creation with more love and care than the fandom that's kept the candle burning for Metroid these long seven years? Here, then, is Metroid: Samus Returns.

It's worth noting, before diving in, just what the original object being revised and reimagined in Samus Returns is. Originally released in 1991 on the Game Boy, Metroid II: Return Of Samus was an honest full-fledged sequel to the NES original. As galactic bounty hunter Samus Aran, your mission was to infiltrate the deep dark caverns of the planet SR388 and eliminate the titular Metroids before they could be used as threats to the galaxy. A smaller screen and large character sprite made Metroid II a claustrophobic closed-in game, its visuals dark and murky on the Game Boy's green screen. This helped set an atmosphere, but many fans cite Metroid II as a black sheep for the Metroid franchise and an entry that needed "fixing". That was the design philosophy of the aforementioned AM2R, being that it was a fan project to begin with. Samus Returns, being an official Nintendo product, has to take a different tact. Rather than throw its original under the bus, Samus Returns is a celebration of all the elements that make the series great. The basic structure and story are unchanged from the original, but it's the way they're presented that makes it new and exciting. Rather than relegate the backstory to the manual, there's now room for a lavish opening recounting the events of the original Metroid and the mission to exterminate the Metroids on SR388. Other than that, story is hardly an issue. You're mostly left to your own devices to explore the planet, your main goal being to hunt down and defeat the 40 remaining Metroids over several sprawling, interconnected areas. How does one do that, then?


Samus Aran is quite the capable exterminator, and she starts off with several unique abilities to help you blast away your foes, Metroid and non-Metroid alike. New to Samus Returns is an aiming reticule activated by holding L, for more precise aim control with your blaster. Eventually there will be places that you can't reach with your current skill set, but that's the beauty of Metroid. Exploring diligently will eventually lead you to gaining new powerups and items, and these will let you access new areas to either progress or find more hidden goodies. Everything is laid out for you on a bottom screen map that auto fills as you move through the planet, so finding things is no issue for those with a keen eye. Another new feature is the ability to place color-coded markers on the map, a reminder to one's self to check out closed areas once the right power is gained later in the game. All of the core abilities from the original Metroid II are present, and the expansion of Samus Returns has allowed for newer ones as well. Items like the Grapple Beam, Super Missiles, and Power Bombs that were introduced in later Metroid games have been implimented into Samus Returns, as well as an entirely new set of powerups called Aeion. Aeion powers have their own power meter which refills as you defeat enemies, and they're all useful in their own way. They're not only helpful, but a breath of fresh innovation that deviates from simply shoving a bunch of legacy Metroid powers into the game and calling it a day.


What, then, of the Metroids themselves? The original Metroid II had many of them, with varied terrain, but the fights all boiled down to just unleashing a never-ending stream of missiles into their faces. AM2R made things a bit more tactical and difficult, with specific weak points and little stable ground with which to fight them on. Samus Returns feels like it came to the same conclusions as AM2R, but implemented them a bit more fairly. You still have to nail the weak points on the various Metroids, but with the reticule aiming it's far more precise. In addition, there's another mechanic not yet discussed; the melee counter. Both regular enemies and Metroids can charge at you, a flash appearing around them as they do so. Press X at the right time, and Samus bats them back with her arm cannon. This leaves regular enemies wide open for a shot that will kill them instantly. Against Metroids it plays out a little cutscene where Samus jumps onto the Metroid, and allows you to fire multiple missiles into its weak point for loads of damage. In the early game, the melee counter is all but essential for defeating your foes; you do too little damage to consistently stop them before they flash and charge into you. This is fixed by the late game once you get more powerful beams and missiles, but early on it will make you wonder why you even have a gun. The Metroids evolve and change as you progress through the game, and each new form is more challenging than the last. Eventually you get the hang of it and know every tell for every attack, but it can be a bit touchy at the beginning.


"Touchy" may be putting it mildly. Samus Returns can get downright vicious at points. The early to mid game is deceptively brutal, and it comes from the damage ratios. You take quite a lot of damage from enemy contact, especially from the Metroids. Early on you won't quite know how to dodge them, or won't have better mobility powerups to dodge them easily. The damage ratio reminds me of Metroid Fusion, another title notorious for being a bit on the trickier side. Thankfully, the game is quite generous with save stations and checkpoints and whatnot, so you never lose too much progress over an unlucky series of whiffed dodges. The only real sore point is one of the new and original non-Metroid bosses you fight. It's a long and complicated battle with several phases, and while the first two aren't so hard to figure out, the final phase can be obtuse in regards on damaging it. Worse yet, this final phase offers no chance on health refill unlike the prior two; die, and you go back to the beginning of the long and drawn out fight in order to try some other tactic against it until you find the specific one that is its weakness. It's the one moment that fell flat for me, fighting this thing over and over to die on the last part and try it all again. (A helpful tip from me to you: Use your bombs.) The final battles of the game are tame in comparison, save for one weakness carried over from the original Metroid II that isn't telegraphed entirely; if you're unaware of that then things might take a while. Really, though, these are the only sticking points in the game.


Aesthetically, Samus Returns nails it. When the original Metroid was remade for the GBA in 2004 as Metroid zero Mission, it traded out its murky 8-bit atmosphere for a bright and peppy comic book style. This lost a little something in translation, but Samus Returns is competent enough at keeping things in check. What was once a tight tiny screen view has been expanded, but you still run through deadly caves. The redone 3D graphics are quite nice, and the 3D effect makes them pop out and show all of their depth and detail should you have the option to flip that on. A new indicator on the bottom screen flashes and beeps when you're close to a Metroid, which both doubles as a helpful hint that you're near a target and a way for the game to scare you with the proximity beeping. Metroid II's soundtrack was a harsh and shrill one, adding to its horror; Samus Returns goes for a more ambiant soundtrack and it works. There are lots of remixes of both Metroid II tracks and ones from later games which work quite well, and little leitmotifs from the series pop up in the composition. Then we have the amiibo support; the two Samus amiibos from Smash Bros as well as the two new ones made specifically for this title all interact with Samus Returns, unlocking short-term extras like more energy or Aeion as well as art and a new Super Hard Mode. Much has been made about content being gated behind amiibo, but I feel the ordinary game offers enough of a challenge. It even unlocks its own Hard Mode upon completion, for the diehard veteran. Even without the amiibo, you get plenty in the base game and the game makes no malicious effort to leave you feeling wanting without the fun Metroid toys.



In the end, this is a spectacular tribute; not just to Metroid II, but to the series in general. Several familiar and beloved elements are on play, with plenty of new twists and tools and tricks that keep things innovative. There's a real joy in getting to play through this, and it's clear that the developers have a lot of love; again, not just for the series in general but for Metroid II. It's not a game that's hard to love, but it has to be said that certain sects of Metroid fandom have been known to dismiss it. That's not the case here. Samus Returns is not intended to replace Metroid II and make us all throw our old Game Boy cartridges in the trash in favor of "Metroid II: Good Edition". It is a reimagining that can stand side by side with both its immediate original influence, and the very best the Metroid series has crafted in the past 30 years. If you've a spark of love for the Metroid series within you, Samus Returns is well worth your time. If you're a newcomer looking to get into Metroid, this would make a fine entry point; just be aware that it can be difficult in the early to mid game, and in certain spots after that. After a somewhat difficult decade, Metroid appears to be on good footing again. What innovations might come next, one cannot say... but the innovations of the present are a mighty fine tribute to a pillar of action/adventure gaming.