GameLog Page

Please sign in or sign up!

...blogs for gamers

Find a GameLog

... by game	... by platform

[ advanced search ]

HOME	GAMES	LOGS	MEMBERS			ABOUT	HELP

ejt73's Super Metroid (SNES)

[March 21, 2016 03:59:28 PM]

Super Metroid is one of the best, if not the best, games released for the Super Nintendo, and one the best and most influential games ever released period. I’m going to attempt to look at Super Metroid and determine where and why it succeeds on such a high level.

First I’m going to look at the mechanics and systems of Super Metroid. Super Metroid plays very much like a typical platformer, a type of game that was very prevalent on the Super Nintendo. Thus the controls of Super Metroid are pretty typical, you can move, shoot, jump, and run. You can land on platforms, and touching enemies causes damage but you can shoot enemies to damage and eventually kill them and some enemies are only afected by certian weapons. Super Metroid is a bit more unique than most platformers in that it allows you to shoot in 8 direction at all times. Aiming diagonally is mapped to the shoulder buttons, and you can hold them both at the same time to aim down. I’m going to point out that mapping diagonal aiming to the shoulder buttons was a really good idea, it lets the player move and shoot diagonally comfortably and it allows them to aim diagonally while standing still. The one complaint I have about the game's controls is the face button mapping though. The face buttons are what you press to run, jump, and shoot and the game allows you to adjust which of the buttons do what in the main menu. While doing any two of these at the same time is easy enough, there isn’t a comfortable position to put your hand in where you can reliably do all three actions at the same time. If you want to switch from running and shooting to jumping and shooting you have to reposition your hand. In fairness though there never really is a situation in the game where you are required to run, jump, and shoot all at the same time, you only ever really need to do two of them to get past most situations. Another minor complaint I have with the controls is that some of the more advanced moves (specifically wall jumping and horizontal shine sparking) can be difficult to pull off especially considering that the game never explicity tells you how to perform these move, it only makes you aware that you can perform them. Again though it’s a minor complaint, mostly because these are intended to be advanced moves so the difficulty in pulling them off is understandable.

Where Super Metroid differs from many of its platformer colleagues is its overall game structure. Most platformers are structured by the level, the player is constantly given a clear objective and the game is usually played out in several brief segments that make up the games levels. Super Metroid is different. The only objective the player is given at the start of the game is that that baby Metroid has been stolen and they have to get it back. The game doesn’t directly tell them where to go, what to do, or what tools they need. It drops them off in an unfamiliar environment and expects them to figure it out as they go. There’s also a lack of traditional levels, rather the game is one large map and the player has to physically move from place to place. The areas of the game all have different names and themes, but they are all interconnected through one larger world. This leads to a general shift in focus to that of exploration rather than that of instant action or combat. The player is encouraged to poke around this large world and discover how the different areas connect. These shifts in focus have come to define a sub-genre of platformers called Metroid-Vania, named after the two franchises best known for this style Metroid and Castlevania (at least all of the Castlevania games in the vein of Symphony of the Night). This sub-genre is characterized by its focus on exploration, and progression through collecting items that give you more movement and offensive options as well as give you more health and ammunition, and this describes Super Metroid to a T which is appropriate given the genre’s name sake.

So in a game with virtually no direction, and with progression locked behind hidden items, how does Super Metroid not become frustrating and confusing? The answer is that Super Metroid is expertly designed. The game subtly teaches its players where to look and how to move in order to progress. To illustrate this I’m going to look at the first few moments of the game after landing on the planet. Once the player lands on the planet typical platformer conventions tell them to move right, but upon moving right they are met with a wall that they can’t get around so they have to move left into a cave that goes downward. At the bottom of this cave is an area called old brinstar, named so because it’s a recreation of the beginning and end of the first Metroid. Once in old Brinstar the player will again think to go right, and again they’re met with a wall they can’t get past, this time because they can’t open the door. The player then discovers that the floor in this room looks different from the other floors and shortly there after they discover that it is destructible so they move downwards and get the missile launcher needed to open the door, but after that is another wall they can’t get past, this time because they are too big. Then they move back and just to the left of the entrance to old Brinstar is the morph ball which they can use to shrink their size and move under the wall, but beyond that is yet another wall this time with no way to progress. Thus the player is forced to exit old Brinstar the way they came, but they can use the upgrades they just acquired to open up new areas in the first cave located next to the start, eventually leading them to the bombs which they can use to progress.

In the first few moments of the game Super Metroid has already subtly taught the player several key things without them even knowing about it. For one by repeatedly shattering the notion to move right they’ve enforced that the game is not about reaching a goal but exploring the environment around you. At the same time they enforce that obstacles can be overcome by using upgrades like the missile launcher to open doors and the morph ball to get through small spaces. Finally it teaches the player about backtracking. By forcing the player back into an area they just left they teach the idea that if you are stuck in one location move into an old one and use your new abilities to explore that area further. It also points out the ways the game likes to hide it’s collectibles, by giving the player certain visual cues in the environment. It teaches the player these things without interrupting the game play so it doesn’t feel like they were told what to do, it feels like they discovered what to do and that makes the experience more fulfilling. The players feels like they are succeeding despite the system, when in reality they are succeeding because of the system and the system makes them feel like they accomplished it on their own.

Super Metroid can get away with this form of teaching and progression because the level design compliments it. One of the more divisive aspects of Super Metroid’s gameplay, and the gameplay of many other Metroid-Vania style games, is backtracking, traveling through a previously explored area to try and find an upgrade needed for progression. Super Metroid mitigates this normally boring endeavor through its level design. When backtracking is required for progression often the game will place you near the area you need to backtrack to. For example n the first visit to Norfair the player will have to leave after getting the jump boots because it’s too hot to continue meaning they have to backtrack to find the varia suit in order to progress. Right next to the elevator into Norfair is an area only accessible with the jump boots that contains the varia suit the player is placed near the area they need to backtrack too minimizing the time it takes. Even during long stints of backtracking Super Metroid chooses to use this time to help the player find collectibles and get stronger, or by teaching them new techniques. An example of teaching the player new techniques happens when the player moves through brinstar on their way to the grapple beam. The player can discover areas with their new abilities that teach them about the wall jumping and shine sparking techniques which the player can use to find several items nearby. Even though the game features a lot of backtracking, because the level design is so well done, and because the game uses this time effectively, it always feels like the player is progressing even when going through previously explored areas.

Overall Super Metroid is a great game because it is incredibly well designed. Everything is placed with purpose, and even though there isn’t a typical linear progression the players route through the world is carefully planned out and the design of the level points the player in the right direction. Super Metroid also does a fantastic job of teaching the player about mechanics and where it hides its collectibles through subtleties in the environment and the level design, and It does all of this without interrupting game play. It also has a lot of replay value, players are encouraged to play through the game from the begining with their knowledge from finishing the game. This is furthered with the games completion percentage and completion time being displayed at the end of game. Super Metroid is just a good game, not because of its narrative or it’s art direction, though those are good enough in their own right, but because it has a solid and sensible design.