Metroid: Samus Returns
Before METROID: DREAD comes out in October, I’ve decided to try and finish METROID: SAMUS RETURNS first.
I beat SUPER METROID back during the spring of 2020, and it was definitely a classic game, the sort that becomes more than the sum of its parts. Difficult, though! If not for many well-documented online guides and walkthroughs, I’d still be dithering around on the Brinstar level trying to figure out how to wall jump or Shinespark.
I’m on Area 3 of 8 of SAMUS RETURNS, and I think it’s another masterpiece – the bones of SUPER METROID with more modern graphics and improvements. The soundtrack is great, and the graphics are excellent as well, given the limitations of the Nintendo 3DS handheld. It bodes well that the same studio that made SAMUS RETRUNS is also making DREAD.
If I get really ambitious, after I finish SAMUS RETURNS I might try the original METROID from 35 years ago. Obviously that would be a more primitive gameplay experience, though it is a significant part of video game history. Fortunately, there are many excellent walkthroughs for it online. š
-JM