While I was watching the direct I already had 1 Metroid game under my belt; Metroid Zero Mission.  Being a remake of the original Metroid for the NES I had a blast playing it.  Only real annoyance for me was trying to get the speed boosts and shinesparks right to snag some tricky missile tanks.  Aside from that I loved playing it and was already in the middle of Samus Returns for the 3DS.  When the Direct came out and the announcement was made I knew I had a ticking clock to finish the rest of the series.  Which meant I needed to not only beat Samus Returns, but Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion as well.  So in essence I had to beat 2 and a half games until October 8th to be fully prepared and up to speed for Dread.  With the clock ticking, I knew I was going to need some help to get through these games quickly.

I don’t claim to be a speed runner.  I like to play games at my own pace and I don’t try to beat them as fast as possible.  I’m willing to give it a shot since the Metroid games have different ending screens depending on your completion time.  Yet these are my first play throughs and even though I had time before October, I still wanted to get these games finished.   I was in the middle of Samus Returns when the Direct hit and I was already over 13 hours into the game.  Mostly because I was going in as blind as possible and trying to figure out the puzzles and how to get missile tanks that were just out of reach.  Some had me scratching my head eventually giving up until I found a new ability I needed to get it.  Eventually I caved and looked up some walkthroughs because I had other things that needed doing and 2 more games to play.  Eventually I did beat it, and vowed one day I would come back to it and beat it with a much better time.

After Samus Returns, I had the most famous of all the games next.  Super Metroid.  A game that many have praised as one of if not THE best SNES game of all time.  This game was nothing but hype, and I was both excited and scared to play it.  Excited to play a masterpiece of a game that I missed out on as a kid, but scared that the game was overhyped for me and I wouldn’t enjoy it like so many others have.  Thankfully my fears of this game being overhyped were quelled the second I started playing.  Going through the space station where Ridley takes the baby Metroid scared me, but motivated me because I wanted to save it.  Full disclosure I did use a guide to help me on where to go.  Zero Mission and Samus Returns help with pointing you in a direction, but Super doesn’t tell you at all.  I was playing this on my SNES Classic and while I could read the manual via a QR code on my phone, I skipped the middle man and looked where to go once things started rolling.  My old fears from getting stuck in Fusion were getting to me, especially with Super Metroid.  I was afraid that if I took one wrong turn or go down the wrong path I would be stuck with no way out.  One area where if I wasn’t using a guide I don’t think I would’ve figured it out would be the glass tube you go through early in the game.  Using a power bomb would break the glass and open up a whole new area to explore.  I don’t think I would’ve figured that out had I not been using a guide.  Now even though I was using a guide, there were multiple times where I solved the puzzles for certain missile tanks before the walkthrough got to them.

If there was one thing I have to critique this game on, it’s the wall jump.  The wall jump was the absolute worst part of this game.  People have mastered this technique flawlessly, there are YouTube videos of gamers doing an infinite wall jump and sequence breaking the game like no tomorrow.  The one part where you are required to do the wall jump took me well over 20 minutes to get out.  It didn’t help that there was a missile tank hidden away in the corner at the very top.  When I finally did nail the wall jump I knew nothing could stand in my way of getting through the rest of the game, and what a game.

Now I had the game I was looking forward to the most, Metroid Fusion.  This was more than just beating the game to catch up, this was a redemption.  My first experience with the game you can read here but after FINALLY beating it I can say for certain that Fusion is my favorite Metroid game.  Replaying it it became very clear to me that as a 12 year old I was VERY impatient when playing Fusion.  Sure having the game be linear with the computer AI Adam telling you where to go has gotten some criticism, but I was thankful for it.  When I was 12 I was just blowing through the text and not reading a single thing other than the manual.  Not reading the text definitely was part of the reason on how I got stuck, also not shooting every square inch of a room to find that one block that would become an exit.

So why is Fusion my favorite?  Yes it was my intro into the Metroid universe, but the game just worked for me.  Super was dark and while I liked it, I loved how Fusion used the GBA’s colors to the fullest.  Playing this on a 101 model GBA made those colors pop like no other game did, only comparison would be Zero Mission since it’s on the same system.  Samus controlled very well and doing the wall jump didn’t drive me up a wall.  Even with a clear mission there was still tons to explore in the game.  Your objective wasn’t always a straight line and along the way you would find little secrets and other ways around an obstacle.  I can definitely say that playing the other games helps with the story threads in this one.  One minor spoiler, I took pause when I saw Ridley’s frozen body in the middle of the game, and then a you discover something later on that definitely boosted the story for me.

So now I’ve beaten all the 2D games, what do I think about them?  Easily one of the best franchises in all of gaming and now one of my top favorites.  I won’t however shy away from the fact that these games are difficult (but fair) and may not be for everybody.  There are aspects of all the games that require you to think outside of the box and perform some tricky maneuvers to snag the harder to get ammo upgrades.  As a kid I was definitely confused on where to go first and even though that was my own fault since I didn’t read the dialogue.  Zero Mission and Samus Returns give some hints on where to go, but Super doesn’t.  You’re truly alone in that game and while for fans that’s the best part of the game, I can see it being frustrating for more casual gamers.  Of course games are subjective and maybe a more casual gamer would love the feeling of isolation and exploration.  There is no shame in playing these games with a guide to help you on where to go but I do encourage shying away from the guide and exploring a bit on your own.  Finding a hidden missile tank out of the blue always put a smile on my face.

If you’ve never played these games I highly recommend giving them a try.  Best part is that you don’t have to play all 4 games like I did, the stories do intertwine a bit, but if all you have access to is Super you won’t be confused as to what is going on.  However I would highly recommend playing Zero Mission and Samus Returns instead of the original NES version of Metroid and Metroid II: Return of Samus for the Game Boy.  Reason being is that these games are far less forgiving and rely more on the player to make a map of the game.  If you want to collect all of them be warned that the physical versions are getting pricey.  Price Charting has a few of the games loose for over $100, mostly the GBA games.  If you have a Wii U you can download almost all of the games digitally for far cheaper.  Only one you would be missing would be Samus Returns for the 3DS if you go the Wii U digital route.  A great game that isn’t too expensive at the moment.  As a whole I am so happy I played all these games and feel more prepared than ever for Metroid Dread.  At the time of this writing I’m currently playing Dread and all of the tricks I’ve learned from the previous games have helped me tremendously.  Even if Dread is your first entry into the series, it’s an amazing series of games that I’m sure you’re going to love.  True there hasn’t been much, and we’re still waiting on Metroid Prime 4, but hopefully Nintendo will get the hint.  Gamers love Metroid, and want to see more.  I know I sure do.

The post Preparing for Dread appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

At the time of this writing I’m currently playing Metroid Fusion for the GBA.  I’ve written about this game before years ago and why it haunted me (you can check that out right here).  Now that I own the game again I’ve discovered something.  I do not remember this game well at all.  What I mean by that is my memory about this game is messed up that when I started playing, it was like playing a brand new game.  I remember getting lost, getting stuck and not being able to progress, which lead to me eventually giving the game away.  Of course these thoughts were in my head when I booted up the game, and then I saw it.  The mission briefings in the navigation rooms.  Instructions on where to go once you’ve completed an objective.  As a 12 year old playing games I skipped text based cutscenes like this.  Was this the reason I got stuck?  Did I not read where I was supposed to go?  Was I so impatient that I just wondered blindly?  Yes, yes, and definitely yes.

Twenty minutes into the game I realized I messed up big time as a kid.  My not paying attention to the cut scenes caused my downfall but now as an adult, I was having a blast.  Fusion was quickly becoming my favorite of the Metroid games and even though I played it as a kid, it was like a whole new game to me.  Granted I’ve played and beaten all the previous 2D Metroid games so I knew what I was getting into.  However with that knowledge and understanding of Metroid games the game just clicked like it never did before for me.  I go into a room with nothing of note and set off a super bomb to find the hidden missile tank.  Game tells me to go left and I go right to find a hidden energy tank.  Constantly finding hidden secrets and following the storyline makes me keep playing and not wanting to stop.  It’s while playing again for the first time in close to 18 years I realize something.  Something that I think all retro gamers should try and do.

I know I’m not the only gamer with a game on their list that they couldn’t beat when they were younger.  Playing Metroid Fusion got me thinking that I should go back and play games I couldn’t beat as a youngster.  Now that I have a broader aspect and deeper understanding of games, I might be able to find a new found love for a game I may not have liked as a kid.  As I keep saying our tastes change as we grow older, even when it comes to games we played as kids.  So I implore gamers everywhere to give games they stopped playing way back when another chance.  True you may still have your original feelings about a game, but there’s a good chance you’ll find something new that’ll make you love a game even more.  It may even become one of your new favorites.

The post What’s Old Is New Again. appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

Now before I get people with torches and pitchforks in the comments let me make something clear.  I DO think this game is a masterpiece.  When it came out it truly revolutionized how 3D games are made and set a near impossible standard for games after it to overcome.  However there are some issues with this game that I have and mentioned when I first wrote about me being a first time player over a year ago (you can read that article right here if you need a refresher).  The camera controls are a far cry from being decent, the flight controls are not fun, and I can’t tell you how many times I died because I missed an easy jump.  No, that’s not why I’m writing about Mario 64 today, but merely it’s the catalyst for a train of thought I was having while I was finishing up the game.  I started playing Mario 64 when I got 3D All-Stars over a year ago and at some point I just put the game down.  I was having problems with a certain star so I decided to take a break and play something else.  That ‘break’ lasted over 5 months.  I played and beaten so many other games before I went back to Mario 64, so it got me thinking.  If the game I’m playing is good, and I’m having a great time with it, why am I not playing it?

Mario 64 isn’t the first game where this sort of thing has happened to me, most recently, the victim in question has been NieR: Automata where I’ve been playing that game on and off for well over a year and a half.  Yet why do things like this happen?  For me it’s because I’m either really frustrated on a level, or I just get sucked into a different game.  With Mario 64 however, I’ve noticed there were multiple parts of the game that I was glad I would never have to do again.  Such as getting 100 coins on Tick-Tock Clock or Rainbow Ridge.  Those courses got me so mad when I would miss a jump or a coin that I almost immediately turn the game off.  On both courses I was less than 10 coins away from getting the star when I missed a jump and would have to start all over again.  It was annoying to say the least and when I would boot up the game, I would be reminded of my previous downfall.  There were times it was hard for me to play the game, but once I got the star, I would want to continue.

The question remains as to what I did when I gave myself a break from these games.  I either caught up on some reading or I played other games.  While in my Mario 64 run I beat Metroid: Zero Mission, got to Champions Road in Mario 3D World, and played some games online with friends.  Metroid I played because I want to go through all the Metroid titles, I was playing Mario 3D World co-op with my girlfriend, and I would just have some fun with my friends on various multiplayer games.  Just because we put down good games doesn’t mean we don’t like them.  Sometimes life just gets in the way and you don’t feel like playing it.  That is perfectly normal and totally fine.  Gaming shouldn’t feel like a chore but something you WANT to do.  You may forget about the game or just get hyper fixated on a different one.  That’s life, your tastes and interests change and the same can be said with video games. Playing something else doesn’t make you any less of a video gamer than you already are .

The post When You Stop Playing A Good Game appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

First off lets start with one of the biggest reveals Nintendo had during their E3 Direct: the announcement of Metroid Dread.  When the Direct started everyone was betting on news of Metroid Prime 4.  Since it had been over four years with no news of the game, fans were frothing at the mouth for any sort of update.  While we did get confirmation that Prime 4 was being worked on, I’d say we got something that we needed and didn’t know we wanted: a brand new sequel to the Metroid franchise.  Not a remake, but a full-on sequel that continues the classic Metroid story from Metroid Fusion.  A game that has been 19 years in the making.

Mercury Steam, the same studio that helped make the Metroid II remake for the 3DS, is behind this game.  Even though this is a brand new game, I had lost all hope for Nintendo to revive the old 2D Metroid style of games and I couldn’t be more happy with this.  Granted it wasn’t exactly what I wanted during this E3 but it easily is the one game I am most excited for.  During the Nintendo Treehouse right after the Direct gameplay was shown.  Many breathed a sigh of relief as classic Metroid gameplay was shown with some abilities from the Samus Returns remake making a comeback along with some new ones, like Samus going invisible.  Already this game looks amazing and the fact that it’s coming out in October makes me wonder how long Nintendo had this up their sleeve.  Regardless this is a true to form Metroid game and if the game can not only get critical praise but sells well, we could be seeing more 2D Metroid games in the future.  So far the game has become the highest selling pre-order since E3 ended and those special editions are now nowhere to be found.

The other game that was a surprise was the announcement of Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp.  Advance Wars is a classic GBA game developed by Intelligent Systems, the same developer as the Fire Emblem series.  This was an announcement I wasn’t expecting but am so happy to see.  The original Advance Wars games are highly sought after and true gems of the GBA.  To see these games get a remaster with  great visuals makes me excited that I now no longer have to hunt down Advance Wars 2.  This gives me hope because the last Advance Wars game that came out in North America was Advance Wars: Days of Ruin for the Nintendo DS back in 2008.  This is still speculation but if Advance Wars 1+2 does well and sells we could see a new Advance Wars akin to Fire Emblem: Three Houses on the Switch but that is still very much a pipe dream at this point.

The point I am making is that Nintendo revived a franchise fans thought to be long dead and gave it a fresh new coat of paint.  Not just any franchise but a GBA exclusive.  If this game does well then Nintendo can possibly persuade other 2nd party developers (like Camelot) to revive older franchises and bring them to the Switch.  I bring up Camelot because of their highly beloved Golden Sun RPG’s.  The first two games are GBA titles that can easily go with the format that Advance Wars is doing.  Put the first 2 games in one package and if things go well, figure out how to remaster/remake the DS games.  Also since the original Advance Wars games are getting more and more difficult to find, Intelligent Systems can use the same style for Re-Boot Camp and apply it to the original GBA Fire Emblem games.  Yes the original Famicom version finally came over to North America last year, but the GBA version of the game was how many gamers in North America fell in love with the series and those games are hard to find.  Even though Fire Emblem is already a popular franchise, it would still be nice to see those games readily available.

While speculation is fun and exciting, we do need to take a step back.  Yes, 2 franchises are coming back into the spotlight, 3 if you include the Wario Ware announcement.  While Metroid fans are getting another game eventually, the Advance Wars game is a HD remake.  We still don’t know what will or won’t be added in terms of quality of life improvements or if they upped the production value by adding voice acting.  We do know the game will support online play but as of now that’s the only other feature mentioned on Nintendo’s website.  However, just the sheer fact that these games are even coming out gives me hope that Nintendo will go deep into their own archives and pull out games that fans want to see again.  It may take a good long while, but as they say patience is a virtue, and my patience has paid off.

The post Why Fans Of Old Nintendo Franchises Shouldn’t Lose Hope. appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

Now if you’re thinking, “But Ben, backwards compatibility on the Game Boy isn’t anything new.  Why does that make the GBA the best?”  Well let me explain.  Myself and possibly a few others may fancy ourselves retro video game collectors but have a bit of an issue with our bank accounts.  We may not be able to go out and buy older Game Boys like the original 1989 ‘brick’ or the classic teal GBC.  As much as we want these old systems for collecting sakes we need to pick and choose what to get.  Even if we were to get a modded Game Boy that IS backlit it’s still an original Game Boy only with a few bells and whistles.  It will take 4 double A batteries to use and good luck if you happen to snag a GBC only game because those aren’t going to work on that modded Game Boy.  You’ll need the GBC for certain games to work properly.  Luckily those games can be pointed out thanks to the shape of the carts but if you only have the one Game Boy, you’re going to need the other one which may drain more money out of your wallet.  That’s where the GBA comes in because it can play every single Game Boy and GBC game that’s out there.  Doesn’t matter if it’s the original version or the SP, a GBA will play any Game Boy game.  For those like me who want to grow their game libraries and not worry about if it can play on my system the GBA is the way to go.  Sure the older carts will be sticking out quite a bit if you have the GBA or the SP version, but that little eyesore is a small price to pay when being able to play your copy of Link’s Awakening DX or Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins.

Besides the GBA being the retro collector’s best friend, the games that came out on the system are quite good and highly sought after.  Sure Nintendo’s personal line of Mario games were all ports of older games, but for someone who didn’t own a SNES until much later in his life the Super Mario Advance series was a great way to play classic games.  Until my brother got Super Mario World (Mario Advance 2) we haven’t played this classic game in over 10 plus years.  Besides Mario you had the gems like Metroid Fusion, Golden Sun, Advance Wars, Zelda: The Minish Cap and Fire Emblem.  It was because of the GBA that North Americans were finally able to experience Fire Emblem and Advance Wars.  These titles stayed over in Japan until Nintendo finally brought them over and now these titles are adored all over the world.  Third party titles also made a splash on the system.  Konami made an amazing Castlevania game while Capcom had a slew of different Mega Man titles to choose from.  Square Enix revived the  Final Fantasy Tactics series on the system as well as re-released classic Final Fantasy games.  Granted they went up to VI while skipping III but they updated the graphics for I and II and put both games on a single cart.  THQ developed some of the best Sonic games at the time with Sonic Advance 1-3 whereas all SEGA really did for Sonic on the GBA was help make a really bad port of Sonic 1.  The GBA did have a ton of ports of older NES and SNES games but I can look past that since now classics like A Link To The Past and Super Mario World were now portable and in some cases made better.  Metroid Zero Mission and Kirby Nightmare In Dreamland are remakes of the original Metroid and Kirby’s Adventure which were on the NES.  Both games were remade from the ground up and are now considered the definitive way to play these classics.  Nintendo did release original versions of NES games for the GBA but made them cheap and easy to get.  The games for the system are top notch and I find myself hunting down GBA games more than I do any other system I own.

Now as much as I love the GBA, that doesn’t mean I don’t like the versions that came before it.  I still have my original Game Boy Pocket and would LOVE a modded brick Game Boy and a modded teal GBC in my collection, however I just don’t have the money for those right now.  The GBA takes out the need to get the older systems at all so if you want a Game Boy system I would shoot for the GBA first and save up for the other versions later.  Modded versions of the GBA do exist so if the original model feels the best in your hands but you really want a backlit screen you can find one.  It may be a bit more expensive but they are out there and are completely worth it.  The Game Boys are truly a testament to handheld and portable gaming, and the GBA perfected it with style and substance.  Sure the handhelds Nintendo put out after are great and the Switch is a phenomenal machine, but the GBA got it right the second you opened the box.

The post Game Boy Advance: Handheld Gaming Perfected. appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

I first got Metroid Fusion Christmas of 2002.  I kept seeing the ads for the game, I liked the trailer and thought, “Hey, I should probably give this game a shot.”  It was also my intro into the Metroid universe.  The only thing I knew of Samus Aran was that she was a character in Smash Bros.  Heck I didn’t even know she was a woman until I was reading the instruction manual for Fusion.  At first I wasn’t sure about the game, but the more I played it and the more I explored I was loving it.  It took a while, but eventually I figured out what I needed to do to progress through the game.  Also for a 12 year old, the game was spooky.  Not hard core Resident Evil scary, but scary where I wouldn’t be expecting a monster in the next screen and all of a sudden jumping when said monster attacks me.  Also the infected suit chasing you throughout the whole station you’re in is just nerve-racking.

So what happened that drove me to not beat it?  Well I got stuck.  It wasn’t like Mega Man where I couldn’t make a certain jump but I beat this boss and couldn’t, for the life of me, figure out where I needed to go next.  I kept exploring, kept searching, and got somewhere where I think I destroyed a thing I wasn’t supposed to destroy and I couldn’t get past a certain obstacle.  After that frustrating moment I would put the game away and play something else for a while, then try again, but eventually I just stopped entirely.  The internet was in its infancy back then so I didn’t know I could look up strategy guides or walkthroughs online yet.  The final nail in the coffin came when I was in high school.  A buddy of mine wanted to get a GBA and since I already had a GBA SP, I didn’t need my original Arctic White one anymore.  So I sold the system and gave him a game to play with it.  Of course the game I gave him was Metroid Fusion and ever since I’ve been wanting to play that game again.

So where am I going to go from here?  Well luckily I can find a copy of Metroid Fusion for a decent price at my local collectible show yet when I do I don’t have the money for it.  I will eventually get the game again and beat it in earnest, it’s one of those things where I’ve been bummed out at my younger self because I gave up after a while.  Thankfully the game went to a good home where I hope it was beaten, but soon I will go back and beat it.

The post Games That Haunt Me: Metroid Fusion appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

The buzz for this console had become deafening since it’s test launch in the fall of 1985 and now it was time for Nintendo to eradicate the competition by releasing some of what would become the most iconic games in the console’s lifespan. On top of that, they had several memorable games from third party developers, such as Rygar, Mighty Bomb Jack, Arkanoid and Section-Z ready to go as well.

Nintendo threw down the gauntlet that summer (no, not the actual arcade port of Gauntlet) when they released three games from their Adventure series, The Legend of Zelda, Kid Icarus and Metroid. The Adventure series was a designation that Nintendo stamped on cartridges that had deeper and more complex gameplay, and basically re-wrote the rules of what could be done in a home video game.

Since these games were lengthier and deeper than most contemporaries, Nintendo chose to provide various means to save gameplay, allowing a player to pick up where they left off the very next day, or even months later. This was accomplished either through the use of a complicated and lengthy password system or in the case of The Legend of Zelda, the inclusion of the home video game’s very first battery save option in the cartridge itself! Both options did the trick but the battery save was the most user- friendly and would become the norm until the 32-bit/CD generation. Thankfully, Nintendo’s level of ambition for these titles did not exceed the final quality of the gameplay. All three games should be considered Hall of Fame titles despite what some modern gamers consider serious flaws when looking back at them today.

Kid Icarus is the least heralded of the three, but release this game on the Sega Master System or the Atari 7800 (two consoles I love by the way) and it’s instantly one of the top 10 if not top 5 games available for those systems. Kid Icarus is essentially a Greek mythology fable where you play as the angel Pit, climbing high into the clouds to take on the villainous, stone-gazed, snake-haired Medusa in order to bring peace and harmony back to Angel Land. This is one of those “Nintendo-hard” titles where the level of difficulty exceeds what many gamers consider to be “fair”. At least with “Kid Icarus”, the password system allows for continuing at the beginning of troublesome levels, but most gamers will remember, fondly or not so fondly, the end of world fortresses.

Theses fortresses were super challenging, super complex mazes of rooms that Pit had to traverse in order to find and defeat the end of world bosses and reclaim a stolen piece of Sacred Treasure. It’s in these fortresses that Pit encounters one of the most infuriating aspects of any Nintendo game: the Eggplant Wizard. If Pit enters a room with an Eggplant Wizard present, it begins tossing eggplants into the air and if one touches Pit, the poor angel immediately becomes a helpless, defenseless, walking eggplant himself.

The only cure is to find the one room in the entire labyrinth that can reverse this spell, which will mean doing some serious back-tracking. Needless to say, the Eggplant Wizard’s curse has caused more than one player to rage quit Kid Icarus. Veggie transformation shenanigans aside, the game is filled with action, traditional platforming elements, RPG-like aspects that enable Pit to become stronger and more powerful, strategy elements and even a level where Pit finally gets off the ground and is allowed to use his angel wings to fly! The amount of gameplay variety, the massive scope and sense of adventure, the interesting enemies (Grim Reapers with Grim Reaper Babies, Medusa, Eggplant Wizard) and the Greek mythology theme all make Kid Icarus worth remembering.

If gamers thought that the fortress mazes in Kid Icarus were confusing and complex, they were in for a treat (or a nightmare) when Nintendo released both Metroid and The Legend of Zelda a month later. Both of these titles are well known for their non-linearity, as well as cryptic clues and ambiguous objectives. Making progress in either of these games required quite a bit of luck, the sharing of information among friends on the playground, and the all important Nintendo Power magazine, which didn’t come out until a year after these games had already hit shelves. Its precursor, the Nintendo Fun Club News, a free giveaway to any NES owner that returned their warranty card, had filled in the gap with tips and tricks in the meantime.

As most fans of retro video games know, Metroid and The Legend of Zelda are the original titles in these long running and hugely influential franchises. The genesis of what these games brought to the table in terms of exploration, puzzle solving, item and power-up finding, coupled with compelling stories, characters and superlative gameplay, could all be found in their most basic forms with these 1987 debuts.

While Metroid was a huge hit and personal favorite of mine (the music, the atmosphere, being able to “accidentally” come across one of the mini-bosses, Kraid and Ridley, when you were nowhere near powerful enough to defeat them), the game has somewhat fallen out of favor with modern gamers. I attribute part of this to the release of Super Metroid for the Super Nintendo in 1994, which was such a stellar game it was inevitable that it would make it’s predecessor look flimsy in comparison. However, what I most attribute this revisionist history to, is Metroid‘s high level of difficulty and the need to do a lot of back-tracking and what is now considered “farming”.

Not long after these games were released, in the 16-bit era, it wasn’t uncommon for games to have built-in maps that allowed a player to see where they were relative to the entire world that a game had created. Metroid offers no such relief for gamers, who then must either memorize the layout of the game, which is how I played it, or draw their own maps to identify where items, weapons, bosses, and elevators that took Samus to other sections of the game were located.

The farming gripe, however, is a legitimate one as there are no missile, bomb, or health refill stations like there are in other Metroid games. Gamers soon figured out the most effective areas to camp out and kill re-spawning enemies until Samus’ powers were at full strength. This was especially important for the last section of the game that required multiple Metroids to be frozen then missile blasted to death before facing off with Mother Brain. Regardless, Nintendo owners were treated to a deep and well-designed game and Metroid still holds up in my opinion.

Nintendo’s coup de grâce to their competition would ultimately come wrapped in an awe-inducing gold box and cartridge. The Legend of Zelda was something of a mystery to many gamers when it was first released. Its gold colored cart implied that something special, something…royal, could be found inside. Unfortunately, the bizarre early television commercials that aired in the U.S. featured very little gameplay and only served to confuse gamers (myself included) as to who or what Zelda was. A puzzle game? An action game? An adventure game? A role playing game? The correct answer was all of the above and more.

The Legend of Zelda was the equivalent of a water cooler pop-culture phenomenon for those of us in elementary or middle school back in 1987-1988. Metroid was far from linear and was at times confusing to traverse, but The Legend of Zelda took the award for most vague and unhelpful hints provided by the random old men living in caves and dungeons. “Secret is in the tree at the dead end.” “Eastmost peninsula is the secret.” And the most famous old man line of all time would be “It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this.” If you don’t know what that’s referring to, then I suggest you find a copy of The Legend of Zelda and play it. Without a map. Without tips or tricks. Maybe use an old Nintendo Power that has been scanned onto the internet if you’re really desperate. Complete game walkthroughs detract from the game’s charm, and, most importantly, make the game seem less impressive than it is.

The Legend of Zelda was a benchmark as to what video games could and should be at the time. It inspired numerous clones, not to mention the direct sequels. It did so by drawing players in through word of mouth, not through advertising hype. Amongst us kids, we spoke of Zelda as if it were the holy grail of video gaming. Each day at school brought with it the chance to learn something new about Zelda from an experienced gamer or receive a hand-drawn map from someone willing to share once they finished it themselves. Recess discussions of bush burning and rock bombing in order to find heart containers, bombs, or rupees wasn’t met with exhaustion and disdain but instead excitement and anticipation for what might be underneath that burned-out tree stump no one had ever burned before (or so we thought). What did Gannon actually look like? Had anyone ever made it that far?

Kid Icarus, Metroid, and The Legend of Zelda quickly established Nintendo as the console to buy and set the stage for innovative, fun and wildly popular games to be released for the system throughout the 80s and early 90s. These were the perfect games released at the perfect time that would cement Nintendo’s legacy amongst burgeoning gamers of my generation.

The post Retro Gaming Archives – Nintendo Edition: July/August 1987 appeared first on Old School Gamer Magazine.

My original copy from 1994.

Today, Super Metroid is not only considered one of the best games for the Super Nintendo but one of the best games ever made. However, when I bought my copy back in 1994, I really didn’t know what to expect. I was no longer a subscriber to Nintendo Power so I didn’t have the luxury of Pak-Watch (I know that probably didn’t exist anymore in 1994) to tell me it was coming. All I can recall is that I was browsing the SNES game section of my local Best Buy when I noticed there was a new Metroid game available. I loved Metroid on the NES as it held such a special place in the nostalgic part of my brain due to its open world concept and dark, eerie music and graphics. It would still be several years before I would play the proper Metroid sequel on the Gameboy so this new SNES Metroid game was the first time I had suited up as galactic bounty hunter Samus Aran, in probably 5-6 years. I had no idea if this new adventure would simply be a re-hash of past glories or if Nintendo would put the necessary time and care into keeping the franchise relevant on 16 bit hardware.

After bringing the game home and devouring it from start to finish, to me there was no question Super Metroid did so many things right and so very few things wrong. First and foremost, the story behind Super Metroid really draws a player in. The events of Super Metroid take place immediately after the conclusion of Metroid 2 on the Gameboy. Thankfully, the game catches players up by providing a synopsis of the previous entry’s ending just in case they hadn’t played it (i.e. me). Samus heads home but as she is leaving, a distress signal has been sent out from the space colony Ceres, where she had left the last Metroid larva with the scientists. She turns back only to find the Metroid larva gone and all the scientists dead. After some investigating, Samus finds that space pirate Ridley has stolen the larva and now she must escape before the station self-destructs, harkening back to the original Metroid’s ending, and follow Ridley to Zebes.

The planet Zebes is bigger and more intimidating than ever. Samus must now battle 4 space pirate bosses, including Kraid and Ridley, and make her way towards the heart of the pirate base, Tourian. It’s here that Samus will meet up with the “all grown up” Metroid larva as well as a rematch with Mother Brain. But I’ve just skipped past so much amazing and addictive gameplay going from the opening sequence on Ceres until the final sequence in Tourian. Super Metroid is a huge game in both size and scope but I never felt overwhelmed. The basic Metroid moves and weapons are still there for anyone familiar with the first two games in the series. As you’d expect from a game this epic, there are enhanced moves, weapons and items such as the super bomb, grapple beam, x-ray, wall jump and speed booster available to Samus with exploration. Utilizing these new techniques is critical to success as areas of Zebes only become available to Samus once they’ve been acquired and mastered. These additions are all very cool and make Super Metroid that much more “super” but from a practical standpoint, nothing improves on the original NES title more than the inclusion of the map system. The maps allow you to see where you’ve been and where you have yet to explore. Super Metroid’s map system (as well as save points) served as the template for other action adventure style games created after it (see Castlevania Symphony of the Night) due to the perfect way it shows you what you need to know without handing everything to you on a platter.

Kraid’s size was shocking to me the first time I played Super Metroid

Super Metroid is riddled with awe inspiring boss battles but my favorite of the bunch would have to be Kraid. While battling Ridley one more time is satisfying and all and the finale against Mother Brain is something to behold, I have to go with Kraid as my favorite boss battle. Kraid is another holdover from the original Metroid and it’s fought in the first half of the game instead of the second half like Ridley and Mother Brain. The manner in which it exposes its enormous size to Samus, and in turn the player, is something I certainly wasn’t expecting the first time I reached Kraid. I remember Kraid being a relatively small, if stout, beast in the original game but in Super Metroid, it takes up two screens! It’s one of those boss battles that really showed off what the Super Nintendo could do, plus Kraid is no pushover so there’s a good chance you’ll have to fight it more than once if you reach it before you’ve gained sufficient energy tank reserves.

Super Metroid is all about the special items that turn Samus from the shell of her former glory at the beginning of the game to the bad-ass bounty hunter that we know and love by the game’s end. Metroid games are all about gradually building up her strengths and abilities and Super Metroid accomplishes this masterfully. The most unique item in the game from my perspective is the Speed Booster found in Norfair. The Speed Booster allows Samus to plow through weakened walls not only horizontally, but vertically as well. She can also use the Speed Booster to send herself into the stratosphere by simply pressing down while she’s in speed run mode then pressing A to jump while she flashes. She’ll soar high in the air and can either break weakened ceilings above her or simply explore the exterior terrain of Zebes. This is a great trick that is more than just a gimmick. The Speed Booster special moves need a little practice to master but they absolutely have their useful moments and pay off for practicing.

Super Metroid is one of those games that is challenging enough to make it feel like everything you accomplish is earned but you don’t have nearly as many frustrated feelings of unfairness that the original Metroid provides. Not to be overlooked when talking about the game’s plot and flawless mechanics is the fact that Super Metroid looks and sounds amazing. So much attention to detail was paid to the game by Nintendo’s developers that it there are ultimately too many brilliant examples to name. It’s the little things like the scurrying rodents during the opening scenes in the abandoned sections to the rain falling on Zebes’ surface when Samus lands her ship to the air bubbles under the floor as Crocomire’s melted corpse tries to chase after Samus one last time from beneath before it crumbles to the floor in a pile of bones. There are just so many “holy shit!” cool moments in this game that even though it’s been decades since I last played this game through, I remember them all clearly. To top it off, the ending sequence starting with Samus’ battle with the Super Metroid all the way through the final Mother Brain encounter is probably one of the most epic and cinematic events I’ve ever participated in. I won’t spoil the ending just in case someone reading this hasn’t played Super Metroid all the way through because it would be a damn shame to miss out on the surprises as they are meant to be experienced. Is Super Metroid perfect? I have a hard time saying any video game is perfect, but this is as close as I’ve ever seen.

Grade: A+

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About A Robot Named Fight:

Combining the best of the Metroidvania and Roguelike genres, A Robot Named Fight’s monstrous creatures, huge item variety, quirky writing and synthwave soundtrack hit the sweet spot between retro and modern platformers. Also, the game features local co-op. Start a new game, have a friend join in and battle the Megabeast side-by-side ‘90s style.

For More on the Game, Click Here. 

Old School Gamer Magazine: How was this game born?

Matt Bitner: A Robot Named Fight was an idea I attempted some seven or eight years ago when I was first learning to program in ActionScript 3. It was something like “Mega Man meets Diablo” at the time. I left it on the shelf for a long time as I pursued a career making mobile games for a company called Hitcents. In early 2016, my grandmother died of complications with lung cancer and COPD and left me in a position to pursue the game full-time again. The game is dedicated to her. I’d had years to stew on the concept and learned a lot from my love of roguelikes and my hobby as a not-so-great Super Metroid speed runner. The result is the procedurally-generated platformer you see today.



OSGM: What has development been like so far?

Bitner: I’ve been developing the game more or less by myself for just over a year. My wife has done all of the social media marketing and I’ve had friends help with QA and creating trailers. My friend Zack T. Jones did the awesome art you see on the store page and helped me storyboard some of the intro and endings. In the final months, I got in contact with a PR firm, Novy Unlimited – and they’ve been a tremendous help in promoting it as well. Still, I’ve largely made the game in chronic isolation – constantly in crunch mode. It’s been really great to finally put it out there and have a community to interact with on Steam and Discord.

OSGM: What makes this game special?

Bitner: There are very few Metroidvania/roguelike mashups out there right now. I could be wrong, but I believe A Robot Named Fight is the only one out there with item-gated progression, a single overworld map, and permadeath. It’s also the only one I know of that’s more focused on the Metroid as opposed to the vania. The intended item order is randomized at every run. There are potential sequence breaks. It’s been getting really positive feedback from both Metroidvania and roguelike fans.

OSGM: What games influenced this one the most?

Bitner: The biggest influences on this game are definitely Super Metroid and The Binding of Isaac. I intentionally made the controls and player movement feel as close to Super Metroid as possible. I think Super Metroid is arguably the greatest game of all time. Myself and millions of gamers are forever indebted to Makoto Kanō and Deer Force.  The Binding of Isaac is far and away my favorite roguelike, and the nature of A Robot Named Fight’s meta-progression pulls heavily from Edmund McMillen’s modern classic. Still, you can see the influence of a lot of other games in there, too. Megaman, Contra, Doom, Abadox, Splatterhouse. That’s a long list!

OSGM: As an indie studio, what do you think you guys do differently than the big studios?

Bitner: “You guys.”

Making a game with a big studio or even a small team is radically different than making a game by yourself. With a team, you have the benefit of a more diverse skill set and the camaraderie of other people. You can stay focused on a more singular task. Developing the game entirely by myself has been daunting, but it has also enabled me to work quickly – understanding all the moving parts of the game inside and out. I haven’t had to compromise with others’ creative input, which has its pros and cons. It’s scary to self-finance a game and not have a steady income during development. I’ve learned to wear a lot of hats and often argue with myself over feature-creep and sticking to budgets and deadlines. The typical dynamics of a game development team have kind of manifested as personal neurosis.

OSGM: Any fun stories or wild moments during development?

Bitner: To be completely honest, development has been not so fun and wild. It’s been more taxing and arduous, yet fulfilling. Still, toward the end of development, I started streaming on Twitch while working – and a nice little community of several people grew around it. I would stream play tests – and they’d spot bugs for me, keep me company … and every so often encourage me to day drink. (I’m looking at you, Erik.) Since launch, more people have popped up on Discord and in the discussion boards on Steam. The other day, I was talking to a guy who’d found some cool sequence breaks that could potentially let you skip a large chunk of some runs. Stuff like that has been really rewarding.

OSGM: Why do you think preserving old-school game mechanics in new games is important?

Bitner: I think old-school games still have so much to offer the world of gaming. Hidden gems like Infiniminer and classics like Dungeon Keeper inspired the likes of Minecraft. Rogue was made in 1980. Metroid was ’86. Both of these games have inspired some of the most popular indie genres as of late. I imagine that there are a whole lot of genres waiting to be discovered in under-appreciated gems from the past. There’s also a kind of unpolished charm to a lot of old-school game mechanics that you’re not likely to find in too many AAA titles. Things that are strange or not immediately intuitive. To many, permadeath sounds like a terrible idea on paper, but it can be really rewarding.

OSGM: Retro-themed games are thriving on consoles today thanks to games the likes of Kamiko, TowerFall and Super Meat Boy among others. Any thoughts on this making its way to consoles?

Bitner: I would love to get my hands on some dev kits and start porting the game to consoles. It’s made in Unity, so it wouldn’t take very long to port at all. There are no concrete plans yet, but don’t rule it out for the future.

OSGM: What’s your favorite memory as a gamer?

Bitner: My parents got me a Sega Genesis for Christmas one year. I was only four years old when that system came out, so this was a few years later. I remember being through the roof. My reaction at the time would probably be a viral video now. So that’s a big one. Playing Doom on my dad’s 486 when it came out was a defining moment.

OSGM: How does this game disrupt the video game landscape?

Bitner: Metroidvania and Roguelike is a really unintuitive genre combo. Some of the principles behind those genres seem diametrically opposed. I’m really happy to be among the handful of games attempting to crack it. It has a lot of potential for the future. I hope A Robot Named Fight contributes a whole lot to the idea of what a Roguevania / Metroguelike / Roguetroidvanialike is meant to be.

OSGM: Who will enjoy this game the most?

Bitner: This is a really good question. I’ve been noticing that roguelike fans find the game a little too easy, while Metroidvania fans have found it to be too difficult. They each have their own contradictory gripes. I’ve been doing some extra balancing in the days since release to address some of this. It will be a very interesting game for people that enjoy speed running Metroidvanias. But ultimately, I believe the people that are fans of both genres will get the most enjoyment out of it. That includes me.

OSGM: How do you want this game to be remembered?

Bitner: I hope A Robot Named Fight is remembered as a forerunner of a really cool genre combo that hopefully takes on its own personality. I know that sounds lofty, but I guess what I’m really saying is: I hope someone makes an even better Metroidvania / Roguelike in the next few years. That might not be the best thing for me personally, but after almost eight years invested in the idea. I really hope to see it take off.

OSGM: What are your goals for the game? / What’s next?

Bitner: The game is complete in more ways than one, but I really hope to keep supporting it. Working by myself, I wasn’t able to get in every item idea and boss fight and an odd secret that I wanted to. I have a backlog of notes that I hope to slowly trickle in as free updates. Eventually, I might tackle a larger paid DLC. The nature of the game really lends itself to ever-growing content. Games like Terraria and The Binding of Isaac have really inspired me in that regard.

OSGM: Anything else you’d like to add?

Bitner: I hope people bear with me. This is my first solo release, but I’m dedicated to this thing.  I’m sure there will be some missteps along the way, but I really want to keep it alive for a good long while.

—

Patrick Hickey Jr. is the author of the upcoming book, “The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult and Classic Video Game Developers,” from McFarland And Company. Featuring interviews with the creators of 36 popular video games–including Deus Ex, NHLPA 93, Night Trap, Mortal Kombat, Wasteland and NBA Jam–the book gives a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of some of the most influential and iconic (and sometimes forgotten) games of all time. Recounting endless hours of painstaking development, the challenges of working with mega publishers and the uncertainties of public reception, the interviewees reveal the creative processes that produced some of gaming’s classic titles.

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