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nanostylex7's Super Metroid (SNES)
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| [January 13, 2008 10:53:45 PM]
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Gamelog Entry #1 (pt. 2)
Gameplay
My second session only increased my desire to explore planet Zebes. As I moved from sector to sector, easy enemies became increasingly more difficult. Plus, the boss fights got much more exciting, as I battled creatures more than 10 times my size. Coming out victorious after overcoming insurmountable odds made me feel like a champion. Of course, that feeling lasted only a short while as I plunged back into the world of exploration.
As I moved on from the Norfair (the lava sector) with my brand new weapons, I temporarily became stuck. Because there is so much emphasis on exploration, the game doesn't really tell you where to go. This adds to the challenge, as you must forge a pass through the sectors with your upgraded rockets and morph ball bombs.
It was quite a shock when I discovered where the next area was. Right away, I had moved from the fires of Norfair, to the depths of the Madrina (the water sector). To take note, Norfair was a sector so hot that it burnt through the battle armor and required a special suit upgrade. But in the Madrina, I was completely submerged in water and it affected Samus' movement as now she was very slow which required expert shooting to defeat the enemies who moved swiftly through the waters. It is a challenge that I am facing to this day.
Design
As a whole, Super Metroid is a great platforming game. Excellent in many ways yet its main objective (exploration) is a double-edged sword. For starters, the game has excellent level design. I loved seeing the change in background for every sector from the outer caves of Crateria to the lush vegetation of Brinstar to the firey pits of Norfair to the watery depths of Madiria, I really felt like an explorer when I was done. The change in scenery also came with a change in music with each piece going beautifully with it's accompanying sector. And as stated before, as the sectors changed, the enemies inhabiting each became increasingly to difficult to beat. To make things even more challenging, every time you leave any given room and return, the enemies respawn! This makes it so that there is never a dull moment. To add to the empahsis on exploration, you can not access certain areas without the proper equipment whether it be weapon upgrades or suit upgrades. Of course, the game allows it so that you do not have do that much exploration, though the reward for your extra effort is paid off greatly, as you may locate special weapon upgrades that are not necessary to beat the game but help you greatly.
All this aside, I address the few problems I had with this game. To start off, my biggest problem with this game is also its main emphasis: exploration. Don't get me wrong, I mean I loved having to find all the energy tanks and missle tanks off the beaten track, but the trouble occured when I tried to go back to the main quest. Because the game puts so much emphasis on exploration, it never really points you in the direction you need to go to, so you must find out where to go on your own. Which pretty much led me on a 30 minute hunt to find out where I was supposed to go, which also led to much frustration. My second problem in this game comes from the controls. The actual controls take some getting used to and simple actions are easy to perform as well. But to fully explore the planet Zebes, you must learn advance moves, which take a lot of time to nail down. These problems aside, Super Metroid is one of the top games out there, in design and gameplay, and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves adventure/exploration games.
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| [January 13, 2008 09:56:22 PM]
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Gamelog Entry #1 (pt.1)
Summary
In Super Metroid (a 2-D platformer), players control Samus, an intergalatic bounty hunter clad an battle armor. The main focus of the game is the exploration of the planet Zebes in search of the last Metroid (a space parasite) that was stolen from the space station it was kept in. During your quest you must also find power-ups and upgrades to ehance your suits abilities and allow you further access into the different sectors of Zebes.
Gameplay
Right off the bat when your turn on the system, the games creepy music and partial images give you an ominous feeling of what's to come. Even better, if you have not played the two previous installments, the game fills you in on the story in the form of a journal entry by Samus. Also the journal entry gives players some insight of who Samus is and what her motives are, but you still can't help but feel a little distant.
As soon as your start, the ominous feeling kicks in. As you enter the desolate space colony and view the bodies, you already know something bad is about to happen. And after you face-off against the first boss, everything changes for a brief amount of time. Faced with the self-destruction of the space station, the omnious feeling swiftly changes to that of panic as the background glows red and the timer appears.
So far, the controls are hard, and take some getting used to, but still very fun to play. It is alsoe very challenging because the physics of the game are very realistc. Examples of this are present in the gravity of the planet allowing Samus to make very large jumps and if you happen to end up in water, your movement are slowed and that jumping height diminishes greatly. As I progressed further, I became even more enticed by the games different sectors and felt that I myself was on this distant planet, which pushes players to explore the enviroment even more. And they are rewarded for the exploration in the form of energy tanks and missle tanks, both which increase the amount that you can carry.
On another note, social interaction is non-existent here. Since Super Metroid is a single player game and because it is best played while alone in a dark room, don't expect to be talking with friends or anybody else for that matter. It just throws of the games atmosphere and ruins the feeling of truly being on your own.
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nanostylex7's Super Metroid (SNES)
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Current Status: Finished playing
GameLog started on: Sunday 13 January, 2008
GameLog closed on: Friday 8 February, 2008 |
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