Topic: Radio Free Nintendo: Episode 142

[GoldenPhoenix]

Yeah TJ, Zero Mission is very similar to Super Metroid, so if you like one, you will probably like the other.  Eight bucks is a pretty small investment for a game that you will almost certainly love!

Not to mention that Super Metroid seems to hold up REALLY well, because as heard in that podcast discussion you can be a first timer to Super Metroid long after its release and still enjoy it. That is something I don't think you can say about Metroid 1. Also you guys inspired me to go back and play Zero Mission, it has been so long since I played it!

[TJ Spyke]

Cool. Next time I have some points (right now I have 300 and no money to buy more) I will consider getting Super Metroid.

[Sundoulos]

I finally got to listen to this yesterday while doing some yardwork.  This podcast makes manual labor much, much more enjoyable.   I don't normally do this, but I'll probably archive this one so that I can listen again in the future.

Great job on the editing, Greg! I for one, enjoyed the musical interludes between the discussion.  It was very retronauts.    As I said with the Zelda: Ocarina of Time episode, I look forward to future installments to episodes like these as the oppotunities present themselves.

Anyway, I loved this episode as it featured one of my favorite games of all time, Super Metroid.  I rented this game at launch, but I probably didn't own it until a few years later when I could actually work and save up the money to pay for it.  Anyway, I have great memories of playing this in marathon sessions with one of my best friends over a summer break from college; it was one of our last hurrahs before he moved to a different part of the country.   

I bought this on Virtual Console soon after it appeared.  Like Jon, I actually got stuck somewhere and temporarily put it aside, largely because as a dad I have little time to set aside for gaming these days.

To some now, the original Metroid might seem like an unplayable mess, but to a 12 year-old in 89 kid who had grown up on the Atari system games, games with the apparent depth and complexity of Metroid and Zelda were just mind-blowing when they arrived.  Yeah, games like Metroid were difficult, but it didn't have the frustrating, controller-tossing, difficulty of some other early NES-era games.  I had a much harder time handling games like say, the original Castlevania or Double Dragon.

And, yes... the Metroids in the original game were completely nightmare-worthy.  It was one of the earliest memories I have of a video game evoking any sense of fear. 

[Jonnyboy117]

Oh, the original Metroid was definitely impressive in its day.  I just think it's very, very difficult to return to it now, as its flaws are more pronounced in light of more modern offerings.  The existence of highly refined sequels like Super Metroid and Zero Mission probably make the original game look worse than if it could be played "in a vacuum".

[Armak88]

I actually found that the original metroid played better the further into it you got. Once you get the high jump and the ledge grab and a half decent gun the game isn't nearly as unforgiving. But all the same, zero mission and super metroid are far and away superior.

[TofuFury]

Just wanted to say that I loved the Super Metroid Retrospective. When the RFN crew is really passionate about a subject, the discussion gets very interesting. The episode was really on the same level as Retronauts.

Super Metroid is one of my all time favorite games. A friend of mine either had it or rented it when I was eleven or twelve, because I remember playing it briefly. After that, I never touched it and forgot about it as system generations shifted. In 2002, I got the 150th issue of EGM that ranked Super Metroid as the best game of all time. Since I was getting back into SNES games, I decided that I would track the game down and play it. That summer I finally received a copy of it from a friend and couldn't wait to try it out.

I had a hard time getting started. I never played a lot of shooters, so I found myself dying quite a bit. I think I faced the Chozo Statue five embarrassing times before I got the hang of it. One of the first things I noticed was how creepy Super Metroid was. The feeling of isolation is so strong, and certain areas definitely play to that, such as Maridia and the Wrecked Ship. Other touches such as the dead hunter outside of Kraid's lair add to the overall effect. I'm pretty sure I jumped a few times, like when I fought Kraid for the first time.

One problem I had in the game was with wall jumping. It can be a hard technique to master. I fell down the trap door in Brinstar that's before one of the energy tanks, and there's no way out without wall jumping. I thought my poor SNES controller was going to break from the noises it made as I tried to make it up the shaft. I finally made it to the top and went back for the energy tank, only to fall back down again.

The last thought about the game that comes to my mind is how stressful the end of the game can be. It's not the fight with Mother Brain, but the escape afterward. You're in such a hurry, that it's easy to miss a jump up the shaft and fall a few screens down. Then it was a pain to deal with the room with the corridors that led to dead ends. Every time you mess up, that counter will throw you off if you let it.

It was such a great experience playing through it that summer. I ended up playing through probably three or four times. I think I'll probably end up doing another run through it this summer.