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Friday 25 January, 2008
GAMEPLAY
As I got farther into the game, one thing that stood out was just how many abilities there were. There was everything from missiles to power bombs, to grapple beams and x-ray visors. And the thing was that none of them felt superfluous, they all felt like they were there for a reason. The game is challenging, and I found myself dying a fair amount, however that was never much of a problem as there were save stations every few rooms. You could also find energy tanks that increased how much damage you could take before dying.
I only had one major problem, and that was my own fault rather than the games. I had foregone reading the manual, and so didn't actually know all of the controls. In one place in the game, the only way to progress is to press a button that lets you sprint. However, because I hadn't read the manual, I didn't know there was a sprint button, and so spent 20 minutes trying everything else I could think of before figuring it out.
DESIGN
When it came out, Super Metroid was a pioneer in its field. It took everything that was great about the earlier games, added some new items, made a new storyline, and packed it all into a huge graphical update. Many of Super Metroid's innovations were adapted into other games, such as Castlvania, as well as the newer Metroid sequels. The different areas you go through all have there own look, enemies, and music, making each unique. The rooms inside each area are all unique as well. No room looks exactly like any other, and each room presents its own set of puzzles and challenges.
The Metroid series has its own unique reward system, in that each reward you receive in turn helps you find a new reward. This system, along with having many nonessential but helpful rewards, keeps the player going through the game. The game is also fairly open, allowing the player to backtrack and re-search rooms as often as he wants to. The ability to see a room, realize you can't do anything in it yet, and then come back with the right ability to do something in the room is one of the major draws of Metroid. It also encourages people to "speedrun" through the game, as the faster you complete the game, the better of an ending you get.
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