These are getting tougher by the day. And I was distracted today as well.
Review:
-Day 16: Super Mario Bros. 3
-Day 17: Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Day 18:
Super Metroid
-Super Nintendo (April 14, 1994)
Before I begin, I look at the amount of time between the two games from today and yesterday. TWO YEARS. One of the many reasons I hate the current game industry, IF a game company goes TWO MONTHS without releasing major franchises, they get raked over the coals. This just shows you the difference between the industry of yesteryear and now. It just irks the shit out of me.
Ahem, back to the point.
There are often times where I will refer to this game as "the best game of all time" the zenith or pinnacle of intelligent game design. This is the third in my personal holy trinity of Nintendo, where they took a great game was taken and made BETTER.
This game created a formula that has been copied and used over the years. Heck, there MAY be an example of this later on this week HINT HINT. It is simply an adventure that has not been ACTUALLY replicated ever. I have prayed for another 2D side scrolling Metroid ever since we had Metroid Fusion on the Game Boy Advance. I had Metroid: Other M from the Wii on my list earlier BECAUSE it evoked feelings of THIS game. You do not understand how this game has influenced my game taste over time.
Again, another game I was not able to play until I was older, but it was that age over time that allowed me to appreciate what it did. It was an action game that broke from the standard conventions like its predecessor, but gave you a level of control and precision that the older system could not produce. Hell, it was basically a remake of the previous Metroid, with more advancement of the plot.
I was first exposed to the original Metroid as a game rental when I was young and I did not have the skill to enjoy that game or even beat said game. I just downloaded the damn game on my 3DS for free and it is STILL just plain difficult. If you had the skill to conquer this game, you sir or madam I bow before your superiority.
Later on I had gotten a copy of Metroid 2: the Return of Samus on my old brick Game Boy through a Kool-Aid promotion where you save up Kool-Aid points and redeem them for prizes, one of the major one of them being Metroid 2. Thankfully my family back then blew through the GIANT Kool-Aid canisters from Price Club (today Costco) very easily and quickly, so obtaining the necessary points for a free game was inevitable.
Like any game I had the fortune of getting in my youth, I played the hell out of it. part 2 fixed many of the control issues of the original that caused my previous issues and had established some plot points that were key to the eventual third game: Super Metroid.
Super Metroid was a symphony of awesome, quick insane action, giant fast bosses that required more reaction than thinking, a myriad of hidden passages and items that required something close to OCD to search out, and something that was still evolving back then the power upgrades. The different beams that you could finally switch between and COMBINE. The more powerful and awesome suits that Samus gained. Special abilities like the Space Jump, Screw Attack and my favorite the Speed Booster.
Last year, after I had finished Metroid: Other M on the Wii, I dug out the SNES and played through Super Metroid that night. I still remembered everything as if it were yesterday. Its that type of timeless game design and gameplay that places this game in the pantheon of my all-time favorites.
Tomorrow we visit the following year (1995) for more awesome from this generation of gaming.
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