@PogueSquadron

Super Metroid did it too, though I'm not positive if it was used with lava or something else (maybe both).

I suppose it's kinda cheap for someone unfamiliar with Metroid laws, but I have no such excuse. I even spotted the other fake lava area easily. I either forgot to investigate it further after I found it, or thought it was real lava because there was real lava in rooms right beside it.

Once you've learned to shoot random blocks and bomb stuff though, it shouldn't be too tough to figure out.

I hope/expect a return to some more cryptic hidden paths and destructible blocks in the next Metroid.

About 2 weeks ago I got sick on a snow day, and used that as an excuse to try this game. I had $10 in my eShop account and a list of about 15 games I want to download between the 3DS and Wii U, but for some reason I had the odd compulsion to buy Metroid: Zero Mission. This made no sense, as I'd already tried to get into the series multiple times before declaring that it's just not my thing. But for whatever reason, I went acted on that odd urge and made my 4th attempt to get into the Metroid series.

And I loved it.

After years, I've finally seen the appeal of Metroid. I've reached a point where I ignore my Banjo Kazooie-inspired urge to collect everything and can simply enjoy the exploration Metroid has to offer. The sense of discovery and growth is rewarding, and exploring areas it feels like you shouldn't be able to access yet makes you feel so clever. I go off to explore some hidden path, only to find that it contains a neat power up that makes traversing the rest of the game smoother. I was so enthralled that I beat Mother Brain the same day I got the game. The next day I finished the Zero Suit section and was temped to start up another playthrough.

This is all probably pretty obvious stuff to people who already enjoy Metroid, but it was a breakthrough for me. It feels so good to finally enjoy such a beloved series that you just couldn't bring yourself to like. The same thing happened with me Metal Gear a few years ago, and that has become one of my favorite game series.

I'm very excited to revisit Metroid Prime and Fusion. The only question is which to do first.

@Hero_Of_Hyrule

I'd go with Prime. Super Metroid is likely to be a disappointment after the sublime Zero Mission.


Yeah I said it. Come at me Metroid goons.

@Shadowlink

I love Zero Mission, I've played through it over ten times...but Super Metroid stomps it, mate! The design is superlative on a completely different level. HERE COMES THE METROID GOON!

Also, he was debating between Prime and Fusion, rather than Super. Fusion is a good follow-up to Zero Mission since the abilities and controls are similar. Prime is kind of a wildly different type of game and is more rewarding the better you know 2-D Metroid. It's very impressively done.

Can't go wrong with most of the series, honestly.

TriforceBun said:

Also, he was debating between Prime and Fusion, rather than Super.

Oh so he was. Why did I say Super? I'm the goon.

Haha.

Yeah maybe go with Fusion for a continuation of the 2D series. But Prime is super sweet too. Fusion was the game that got me into the series and quickly followed up with Prime.


And I can't agree with the design sensibilities for Super. Everything about Zero Mission just screams attention to detail. I know you can sequence break in Super Mission, but man, look at the work that went into Zero Mission's sequence breaking runs. To the point that they specifically designed two whole endings around a 15% run. That's so far beyond what Super Metroid did.

Also unlike Super Metroid, Zero Mission doesn't lock you out from going back to 100% the game once you get past a certain point . That stinks.

Super is alright, and a classic for it's time. But Zero Mission destroys it.

I think I want to play all 3 games equally. I just named Prime and Fusion because I already have them. I also want to play Metroid 2 even though people say it's one of the lesser titles...

It's all pretty exciting, actually.

I'd say Prime so that you can do the trilogy all at once and it'll be epic. I loved all three games in the series. Then go back to Fusion to get an incredible game as the finisher.

Welcome the a Metroid Fanclub!

@Shadowlink

Super Metroid's point of no return is a little weird, but it is pretty much right at the end of the game.

Otherwise, I gotta disagree. SM was ridiculously forward-thinking (both at its time and even from a modern perspective) with how it designed its areas to gently guide the player forward while still maintaining the veneer of nonlinearity. This set of articles by Jeremy Parish is really good for breaking down exactly why SM works so much better than games trying to emulate it, and a big reason is because it blends learning the game mechanics into the level design in remarkably clever ways.

I'll say this about Zero Mission--it's probably the best Metroid-style 2-D game that ISN'T Super Metroid. But even comparing them side-by-side, SM delivers more variety, a good selection of very large rooms (something I really missed in ZM), a longer/bigger game in general, better visuals and sound design, and more memorable/spookier bosses, plus a stronger narrative told almost entirely through visuals.

Regarding the sequence-breaking, there are two schools of thought. I think they both do well at what they do, but some people (like you) feel that designing the game around sequence-breaking is more effective than what SM did. I'm not sure I agree--when I sequence-break in Zero Mission, it sort of feels like solving an in-game puzzle; I don't really feel "outside" of the game's limits, like I'm mischievously breaking the rules so much as playing by them. SM deliberately gives you the tools to sequence break, and then boldly trusts the player to go to town. And remarkably, there's no way to get "stuck" in the game, no matter how you sequence break! So I do think a lot of this was still tested, but it's got sort of a more free spirit about it.

This isn't to disparage ZM--it's definitely one of the best GBA games and an excellent title by any measure. But it's hard for me to forget all the things a 16-bit Metroid got right on its first try; Super Metroid was ridiculously groundbreaking. There's a reason why it's my all-time favorite game, above even the stuff I get crazy obsessive about like EarthBound, Final Fantasy 3, and the original Zelda.

I'm definitely familiar with the 15% run, by the way! (Zero Mission SPOILERS!)

@TriforceBun

Actually you can get stuck in Super Metroid by sequence breaking. Well technically you CAN get out but I think it mainly involves using a rom that lets you play frame by frame to "break" the game to get out of that area. It's really hard to get to but you can beat Draygon without the Gravity Suit. Try getting out after though.

God it took me like 17 pages to find this thread because my asshole phone won't let me use the reply search function!

So! I "finished" the game! I beat Mother Brain after like 3 or 4 tries (like, holy shit is it hard...wasn't expecting that...) and I wonder if the original game's Mother Brain is even that hard!

So what's up with this weird epilogue thingy I'm now playing? How much of the game is left? Very weird to play as ZSS! I wasn't fully aware this was a thing in Zero Mission.

Oh, and I'm stuck. At the first door. Um, what am I supposed to do? There's nowhere to go but this door and it doesn't do anything. There's also some Space Pirates wandering around in a little room above that room with the door. Seriously, what am I supposed to do?

@carlosrox

Shoot the wall and/or crawl to the lower left of where you landed.

@TriforceBun
Uh wait where? I'm here.

Edit: Haha bullshit I didn't check here! I went here like 5 times, no way in fuck did I not shoot in that obvious spot when I shot elsewhere!

Edit 2: God what a lovely game. Fuck it. Fed Force has made me wanna play/replay like all the Metroids now. What an awesome series.

Gonna start Prime again like, now I think. See it with my 30 year old eyes and enjoy it once again! One of my very very very very favorite games of all time!

@carlosrox

lol. This reminds me of all those Super Metroid Miiverse posts when it first went up on WiiU VC.

I've been wanting to sink my teeth into this for ages but my lack of funds is killing me. I think when my extra money comes in from Centrelink in the next few weeks I might nab it. Only 2D Metroid I haven't finished...well I didn't finish the original because I lost my save near the end of the game but let's just count that as a win.

Is this game hard or am I just not used to the same kind of challenge in games anymore? It kinda blows me away that it's so easy to die in Fusion and ZM. This stealth or whatever section is tough!

Ps. The music in Tourian was fucking incredible. Maybe even better than Super's Tourian. And that's saying a lot.

Pss. Do you guys play with Perfect Pixel Mode, Smoothing On/off?

@Shadowlink
There is no way I didn't shoot in that damn spot, especially when it was so obvious!

@carlosrox

I had a pretty tough time during the stealth section. Keep pressing on!

I think I use pixel perfect? Is that the option that puts the game back at its native aspect ratio? And I leave smoothing off.

@Hero_Of_Hyrule
Yes it is. It doesn't look like a huge difference though from what I recall. Smoothing actually looks better in my opinion, but even so I can't bring myself to use it all the time. I wanna retain the original look.

Yeah this bit is definitely a nice little challenge.

@carlosrox

No way you didn't shoot it, yet here we are

Actually I'm trying to remember how Samus's emergency pistol works, doesn't it need to charge? Maybe you hit fire whilst it was still charging or something, so you shot without actually shooting? Shooting blanks, so to speak?


Glad to see you're enjoying the game though, it's my favourite of all the 2D Metroids. I honestly believe the design to be better than Super Metroid.

Question is, do you accept it as a 'real' Metroid game despite it being just a handheld title?

@Shadowlink

It self-charges. When it's empty/low, you can still break blocks. The full charge is necessary to briefly stun Space Pirates.

EDIT: Just noticed the box art. What the heck move is Samus doing there...? Looks cool.

I remember having trouble with the Zero Suit section also, so I think it's a challenging part. For the rest of it, since Zero Mission is a remake of the original, they still kept the challenge level fairly high and I think it's a tougher game than Super and Fusion. It was thankfully made easier than the original however, and I also think it isn't as tough as Metroid II.

carlosrox said:

Very weird to play as ZSS! I wasn't fully aware this was a thing in Zero Mission.

It's called the Zero Suit for a reason. ;)