Anyone else here think Metroid II is really underrated? It's

>>4207550
I picked up a physical copy a few years ago and tried playing it last year. I was enjoying it but i eventually got stuck/lost and gave up.

Not a bad game, but not amazing.

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What >>4207561 said, it's not bad and did some innovative things, like introducing saving stations, the spider ball and the current Varia suit design, but it really suffered from the systems limitations (or rather, being an early title, the inexperience of developers in working with those limitations).

Biggest drawbacks (in my opinion) are the way they utilized screen space, the repetitive gameplay and environments (M1 suffered from this too, but at least you could see the entire width/height of the room and they were in different colors) and the music. The tunnel main theme is great and I know some people go out of their way to defend the cacophonous rest of the soundtrack, but to me it's just really unappealing.

I agree. I never understood the way some people bash Metroid II. I thought it was really compelling, I loved the creepy atmosphere they were able to create, I got lost a lot, but that's also kinda the Metroid experience. I eventually found my way out without resorting to guides, and it felt great.
I love the little glitch sound effects on the soundtrack, it actually manages to be atmospheric, at least for me.
I also love the spider ball powerup, I know some people say it's useless once you get the anti gravity jump, but I had a lot of fun exploring unknown places with the spider-ball before getting the late-game updates.

I reccommend playing it with the Super Game Boy.

>>4207584
I think it's people who expected a lot more from a gameboy game or who played Super first. To this day it's one of my favorite gameboy games. Considering the time and hardware I think its awesome.

>>4207550
Was my first Metroid game, and I think it's aged better than NES Metroid.

I still haven't played the remake simply because I think the GB version plays great as is, unlike the controls of NEStroid. I agree the graphics and audio are some of its weakest points, but I don't think the ZM overhaul in the remake are what it needed. I wish Nintendo went through with the DX version they scrapped.

>>4207550
its a good game, i would even say it's a marked step up from the original. i think the main limiting factor for it is the game boy as its a long ass game that's going to eat batteries alive and that tiny screen doesn't do it any favors.

then there is the poor music, lack of a map, and the massive slow moving sprite that makes it damn near impossible to avoid things like the laser projectiles or fast flying enemies. the extremely esoteric map puzzles that need things like the spider ball and the wall spikes.

i do like that they gave you more weapons and enemies that are fun to kill. the expansive map is fun to explore and work your way through. and the story is kept simple yes cohesive much like the early doom games.

overall i like the game and with a few tweaks it could be an undisputed masterpiece

>Anyone else here think Metroid II is really underrated?
>It's basically considered the black sheep of the Metroid series
No and no. It was indeed popular back when it was released, and I've rarely heard anyone speak ill of the game despite its departure from the first Metroid's open world.

>and now that there was an impressive fan remake
lol

>(and an official remake coming next month)
It's every bit as linear, and there's a bunch of shitty mechanics from Other M shoehorned into it. Don't waste your time.

>I see a lot of people say it's not worth playing at all now
Literally who?

>>4207576
>repetitive ... environments

Go back and play it again. Nearly every phase shifts to a different tileset and has bizarre architecture we never saw in the first game. There's also simultaneous horizontal and vertical scrolling support to allow for massive chambers and pitfalls. The Chozo ruins are remarkably similar, but there's only three sets of them in the game.

I don't agree with the critics who call the lack of map a flaw. To me it indicates a lack of appreciation for the exploration genre. Also IMO the later metroid games are worse off for having maps built in, they make the exploring a bit too brainless imo

>>4207550
Great game as a Metroid fan, good game overall. It has some cons already mentioned (screen space, lack of proper soundtrack, repetitive enviorenments as Metroid 1 but without colors). Others dont like the "linearity" of the game, but I like the concept of hunting down metroids, it gives a more focused experience (better for a handheld game which by the way sucked the life of the batteries really fast back then). Overall is a good game, aged better than the first one, even while lacking map like the previous one, its a lot easier to navigate.

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>>4207707
>I don't agree with the critics who call the lack of map a flaw.

Not the game needed one. SR388 is fucking tiny, and every phase is just a linear set of corridors.

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>>4207707
or i just don't like wandering around for 4 fucking hours trying to find what item i missed only to find its in a hidden chamber on the ceiling, or wear the the last metroid is to set off the next earthquake

>>4207707
I dont mind the lack of map in Metroid II, but I wouldnt play any of the following games if they didnt have a map. They are bigger and with less limitations, and I dont have the patience to draw my own maps. Metroid II is the easiest one to play without a map, in fact is the only one where I didnt feel the need of a map.

>>4207689
I guess some color would have helped. Also, the music. I liked the lack of music during the first segment, but when I found out most of the game is played this way was kind of a let down.

>>4207715
>repetitive enviorenments as Metroid 1

See >>4207689

Metroid II absolutely does not have repetitive environments. There were numerous tilesets used between phases, likely due to the game lacking colorful NES palettes to distinguish one area from another. A similar design choice was made with Samus' varia suit upgrade - the suit completely changes her appearance because a simple palette swap wouldn't provide necessary distinction.

>>4207734
>>4207689

Everything was a grey pile of garbage. Those huge caverns you cite are a fatal flaw considering the tiny viewing distance. They are very easy to lose orientation and get lost in.

>>4207794
>Everything was a gray pile of garbage.
You might try being a little more elaborate than that.

>Those huge caverns you cite are a fatal flaw considering the tiny viewing distance.
Your view distance is not that tiny, and the caverns are designed around the player's limited POV. There's usually always a landmark structure to either side of Samus.

AM2R sucks and completely missed the point of Metroid II.

There, I said it.

>>4207818
see >>4207576

The caverns are large enough to allow for drops into the void where you fall without seeing any referential surrounding object, completely stripping you of any way how far you've fallen or how much you've moved to either side. Try figuring out where you landed.

>>4207725
To me that's just a Metroid game

I beat this when I was around 10 with no troubles at all.

>>4207876
Not him but that never gave me any real problems.

>>4207861
How so? I only played the original.

>>4207876
>The caverns are large enough to allow for drops into the void where you fall without seeing any referential surrounding object
The only cavern without any referential objects is the cup-shaped cavern leading to the queen's lair at the very end of the game. Any others contain small platforms or walls to either side.

It's evidently been a long time since you've played this game. Check out this anon's map for reference of cavern size and platform distribution >>4207725

>>4207907
Replaced the isolated, creepy atmosphere with a bright Zero Mission style. Added some weird fanfictiony shit like a Torizo that flies around the room with metal wings, a bullet hell boss that is totally out of place for Metroid, and an escape sequence in the middle of the game that is scripted to make you run out of time no matter what (but you still survive anyway).

Also, compare these two music tracks, both from the same area:

Metroid II:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9IbS0PiLXc

AM2R:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUwI_rYJ-TU

The AM2R version is obviously much more palatable and easier to listen to, but it completely misses the atmosphere of the original. There's a lot of that in AM2R; what were dark, ambient caverns before are now bustling technological areas like this one security tower with maintenance droids flying around and fixing the place.

>>4207920
Huh. None of that sounds terrible but also doesn't make me want to go out and play it either.

>>4207941
This is a really good essay about how AM2R failed as a remake, if you have time to check it out:

http://www.acriticalhit.com/am2r-depth-critical-review/

>>4207723
Do you have one that shows the areas flooded with lava that changes? My first time playing this I did a sequence break of some sort.

Lost and unsure what to do there was a point where I went through a bunch of lava and just barely made it to the other side. There I fought a metroid which caused an earthquake and drain the section and I kept going with the game.

For a long time I thought that's how the game was supposed to be. But on my second playthrough a number of years later I never had that happen and now don't even know how to redo it if I wanted to.

>>4207576
This image is exactly my problem with all the zoomed in GB games like Mega Man but then on the other hand miniaturized games like Mario Land and Castlevania Adventure have alien feeling physics. The GB should have just had a higher screen resolution.

>>4207952
Honestly I don't really care. If I ever replay m2 I'll probably play it just out of curiosity but remakes in my experience are almist never as good.

>>4207952
I love this bit:

>Imagine a choked, half-flooded tunnel that suddenly opens into a vast dome-shaped cavern, hundreds of meters tall and hundreds across. In the center of this cathedral-like cavern, a windowless tower of black stone rises from a lake of slowly dying magma. Past the millennia-sealed blast doors of the tower, ancient weapons of terrible power are locked away. The outer walls of the black tower are honeycombed with the burrows of horrific creatures, and a sickly, alien growth has crept from the many side-tunnels of the cavern and covered parts of the walls with barbed and twisted organic blades.

>Okay, now light it up with fluorescent lighting and monitor screens, fill the tower with cheerful-looking maintenance robots hovering about their business, and play an upbeat techno song over it. From At the Mountains of Madness to Revenge of the Sith, just like that.

>>4207959
>Do you have one that shows the areas flooded with lava that changes?

I don't think any such map exists.

There's one area that you can bypass simply by having enough energy tanks to brute force your way past the lava. But you have to return to the previous phase at some point and clear out all the metroids there, otherwise you won't be able to advance. So it's really not a sequence break. Every phase has to be cleared one way or another.

>>4208723
Interesting thanks. I was only 12 when I first played it so must have remembered wrong what happened.

The problem is metroid 1 is overrated, thus making 2 seem to look worse in the inflated comparison.

>>4207920
Those all sound terrible and makes me not want to try it. Misses the point of the original if this is the case

>>4209240
Two is an uglier version of 1. I never understood making a sequel for inferior hardware.
They keep doing this even today.

>>4207576

Exactly. i want to like it so bad, it was so money when it came out, and has such a nice aesthetic..but described in another thread that might be gone, the viewable area is just so small and shitty.

Suffers from the bad sprite to screen ratio that so many Gameboy games fall prey to. So many 'gems' that could be great in the library, but you can't see what the fuck is going on.

I think it's better on either Super Gameboy or 3DS Virtual Console so you have a bigger screen.

>>4208679
>From At the Mountains of Madness to Revenge of the Sith, just like that.

That's some off the charts hyperbole there.

I'm looking forward to the 3DS remake. fyte me.

>>4207920
I do agree about the atmosphere. I was hesitant to try it because of the gameplays and music I saw on the Internet, but the craving for anything fresh metroid was too strong and I finally did.
I honestly enjoyed it a lot. It was just a different experience, but it was still my beloved metroid, platforming, exploring, shooting and playing as fucking Samus Aran. And after all I ended up downloading the soundtrack.
It's genuinely a good game.

>>4209834
I am too.

I think my cartridge has a glitch. For some reason, health and missile pick-ups rarely ever are dropped by enemies. The 3DS version doesn't have this problem.

>>4210146
>health and missile pick-ups rarely ever are dropped by enemies

They aren't supposed to be dropped that often. There are energy charges and missile batteries littered all over the game world. (If you're not sure what I'm talking about, it's the recharge stations that you can freely use over and over again to restore all your energy and missiles)

>>4209834
>>4209985

Same here. Played AM2R, beat it, loved it. Pre-ordered this one the day it was announced.

>>4209797
the problem is less the physical size of the screen and more the small field of view

>>4211407
Maybe because I played this before Metroid that never bothered me. It just makes it feel like the game is dark to me and Samus could only ever see a few feet around her. The whole thing is in a cabe afterall.