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Sunday 13 January, 2008
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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