Topic: Metroid: Zero Mission - Review Mini

[the_dan_x]

A decade later, 2D Metroid rises from the ashes on Wii U.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/reviewmini/38474/metroid-zero-mission-review-mini

2D Metroid has been absent from the gaming landscape for the past ten years. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the style of gameplay has been absent, as we can see tons of Metroid-inspired games littered across a variety of different platforms. Metroid: Zero Mission stands the test of time in all the right ways, even among all of the titles that pay homage to the series as a whole. Thanks to the Game Boy Advance Virtual Console on Wii U, the original experience along with some welcome additions can be had again in this current generation of gaming.

Gameplay is immediately familiar to fans of the series. The overall speed increase to Samus’s movement allows players to blaze through areas faster than they ever could in previous games in the series. The name of the game is still exploration, and there are a ton of power-ups to find and bosses to topple. Going hand-in-hand with exploration, the level design is incredible as it strikes a good balance between being challenging and yet rewarding enough to make you want to continue playing.

In terms of presentation, Zero Mission looks better than ever on the Wii U. Although the game’s default starts with the screen stretched, you can easily change to the original resolution and even opt to use the GBA screen smoothing on the big screen. With these two options combined, the visual presentation for the game is arguably the best it has ever been, offering an incredibly crisp and smooth look. The game also looks great on the GamePad because of the smaller screen, so Off-TV Play is a viable option if you can’t have Zero Mission blown up on the big screen.

Metroid: Zero Mission is the definitive game in the 2D Metroid series. With the addition of screen smoothing, save states for cautious gamers, the ability to play on the big and small screen, on top of the already stellar controls and awesome level design, Zero Mission is a must-have. Playing through the game on normal difficulty might be undemanding for experienced players, but this is a very small caveat. As soon as Zero Mission is available on the Wii U in your region, download it immediately.

[chilenozo]

Man how anxious I am to get this game on my WiiU VC.

I never owned a handheld so I missed most of Nintendo portable games all these past decades. I also dislike the NES graphics (aged pretty bad....and I'm a child of the NES era...the SNES games have aged way better) so I have no intentions to buy the original Metroid (which is the template of Zero mission).

Having said that, I can't praise Nintendo (and subsidiaries) enough with their GBA ports. Out of all the VC games, the GBA are highly rated games with enhanced quality on the WiiU. I am not a purist so I welcome the screen smoothing, a very nice option to have, and so easy to turn on/off. And the scanned manuals...don't get me started how much fan service they are doing with them!

I'm still disappointed with how slow is the porting process. Early after launch, I gave the WiiU the benefit of the doubt in terms of time to finish the ports, but now I feel is too much. The ports have existed for years in the PC community, Nintendo could hire the people who did it, or hire a couple of recent graduates to do the ports. I don't think it takes that much time and money. It's just seems Nintendo doesn't want my money. Specially during the summer drought of WiiU titles, it would have been perfect to have a VC action plan to keep us busy/happy.

As you "ordered" us...I will get this game as soon it gets released in NA.

[TurdFurgy]

I really hope we get it here in Oosa. I've been trying to get this for a decent price for a looong time. I just don't like playing the original, but I want to play that part of the story.

[Razorkid]

I'm disappointed that this is not on the 3DS VC.  I am disappointed that Nintendo does not put it's GBA VC on the 3DS.  I can only imagine it's a hardware limitation that they find it difficult to emulate the GBA on VC with any kind of consistency. If that's the case, then I hope the new 3DS will allow them to do that.  Zero mission is the only metroid game I haven't played in the series that I want to, and I wanna do it on the go.

[the_dan_x]

The VC porting process is fricken ridiculous outside of Japan. I've said it before and I'll say it again - there is no real GOOD reason I can think of why that is, either.


Razor, I'm with you. GBA VC titles should be on the 3DS (available to everyone, not just the ambassador program people). It has to be some kind of hardware limitation (I guess?), but like you said, perhaps with the New 3DS, VC support in Japan will start to pick up again, and this time with things outside of GB/C, NES, Game Gear and PC Engine. That added power could pave the way for SNES and GBA games. It would also kind of make sense considering that the 3DS hasn't seen any Virtual Console releases since early May in Japan. Maybe M2 is working on updated Virtual Console stuff. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping for that!

[peacefulwar]

Check out my review of MZM:


Still good?


It's still good.