Metroid Dread : A Fitting End To The Metroid Saga?

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

I’ve already reviewed Metroid Dread¸ but during that review I attempted to stay away from spoilers. But after ruminating on the game for a week or so after finishing it, I feel I have to talk about Metroid Dread with spoilers aplenty. Metroid Dread is supposed to wrap up the story that began with the original Metroid on the NES, 36 years ago. And its 19 years since the last game in that particular story. The pre-release hype not only centred around the EMMIs, but it centred around the game being the end of the Metroid storyline. So you can’t really talk about Metroid Dread without discussing its story. And you also need to examine whether or not it is s fitting end to the Metroid saga.

(Click here for my review of Metroid Dread)

Review: Metroid Dread

            After a nineteen year wait, the sequel to Metroid Fusion has arrived. Metroid 5, or Metroid Dread, arrived on the 8^th October. I, like many others, bought it one Day One, the first time I’ve done that for a very, very long time. Super Metroid (or Metroid 3), remains one of my favourite video games. I’ve played every single Metroid game (yes, even the loathed Metroid: The Other M…which I played once and returned). Inside my head (and outside, as Nintendo put on a publicity blitz for the new Metroid arrival), the hype grew and grew, and I couldn’t help but venture to the shop and make my first full-price video game purchase in quite some time. Could it live up to the hype? Could it justify a nineteen year wait? Could it wrap the Metroid story up in a nice little bow? Well, not quite…

Quick Review : Metroid Fusion (Game Boy Advance)

It had been eight years since an entry in the Metroid franchise…but then, lo and behold, in 2002, we were gifted not one, but two, Metroid titles! Metroid Prime is the more popular/critically acclaimed, and for good reason…but Metroid Fusion for the Game Boy Advance is just as worthy of attention as the sublime Metroid Prime. Metroid Fusion is a direct sequel to Super Metroid, and also returns Samus (for the opening act) to SR-388, the world she explored in Metroid II.

Quick Review : Metroid – Zero Mission (Game Boy Advance)

The original Metroid is almost impossible to play in the modern era. It’s interesting to explore as a relic of a bygone era. But that’s all it is: a relic. The remake for the Game Boy Advance, Metroid – Zero Mission, has all but made the original obsolete. Apart from a few niggles, this is how a game developer should approach a video game remake. Don’t simply upgrade the graphics and add a few bonus modes. Rebuild it from the ground up, modernize it to today’s standards (if it’s an older game, of course!), and add to the original experience whilst staying faithful to the spirit of the original.

Quick Review : Metroid – Other M (Wii)

I had to come to this sometime…this is undoubtedly the worst entry in the Metroid franchise (disregarding the spin-offs, of course). Who thought this was a good idea? Right from the beginning, it’s clear the direction that Team Ninja (the team behind Ninja Gaiden) want to take Metroid: a story-driven, character-developing action game. We begin with a stunning recreation cut scene of the end of Super Metroid: Mother Brain, the Metroid, and Samus all in stunning 3D. The question that Samus asks, walking in the rain, stays with her throughout the latest adventure: Why am I still alive? She should be asking: “why am I in this game?”

Quick Review : Metroid (NES)

It took me nearly fifteen years to get past the first few screens of Metroid. I first attempted to play it when it came bundled as an extra with Metroid Fusion (if you linked the GBA up to the Gamecube and Metroid Prime. I gave up after ten minutes. Next, when the remake of Metroid came along, Metroid – Zero Mission, I attempted to play Metroid again (it came as an extra). Half an hour into it, I gave up. Subsequent attempts ended in quick failure until I purchased a NES Classic! Here, I used the save system to carefully progress through the game. It was still as frustrating as ever…but I managed to get through it (without a guide!).

Quick Review : Super Metroid (SNES)

There’s not much I can say about Super Metroid, apart from that it’s a goddamn masterpiece. Few games evoke such an atmosphere of isolation, few games offer such a diverse range of areas whilst forming a cohesive whole. Still, to this day, game developers are trying to ape the perfection of Super Metroid’s game design (from Hollow Knight to Guacamelee, the indies seem to thrive on Metroidvanias…to varying degrees of success).

HAMMY’S TOP 10…SNES GAMES!!!

I missed out on the NES Mini…and it looks like I’ll miss out on the SNES Mini as well! It was only announced yesterday, but you’ll search far and wide to pre-order one today. I suppose I I can console myself that my SNES is still in working condition. Well, I hope so, haven’t played it for a while. But the SNES Mini contains more than a few games that I haven’t played, such as Secret of Mana and Final Fantasy III. For £80, I’d call it value for money. But it got me to thinking…what are my favourite SNES games? I thought long and hard. Although I played my NES to death, I never really appreciated what a video game was all about until the SNES. I reached a semblance of maturity as the SNES came into my life. It taught me so much! So here is my Top 10 SNES Games!