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A Metroid review from a guy whose played it for 20 years...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: April 16, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Okay let me first say that when i first saw this game when I was 7 years old I was intrigued. The year was 1987. The power-ups hidden in the game were a thrill to find. Learning all the maps proved most difficult and beating Kraid, the boss of the underground was as far as I got for years. Why? Cause I always ended up copying the stupid complicated password down wrong and could not continue. (Its crazy if you didn't already know.)
I finally beat the game in my sophmore year of highschool (without any outside help) after exploring every crany nook with my bombs and having the map of the entire game practically memorized. That my friends is key to metroid, memorizing where you have gone which proved most difficult to do when I was a child. Yes I killed Kraid, went to the statues and blasted Motherbrain to oblivion, and finally beat the hardest game in my youth - next to Kid Icarus- still haven't beaten it and probly never will...
This game my friends is old school, no hand holding like in Super Metroid with the maps that tell you in what land you are in, the map is in your head, (of course now you can always look up the map on the internet, something old school gamers never had), and you should stay away from this game unless you are a gamer gamer if you know what I mean. The only thing that bogs my mind is that they sell this game for around $5 while the more recent Metroid Prime also sells for around $5. Trippy!!!

brilliant 20 years ago, brilliant now, and probably brilliant forever

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 28, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I don't understand why some people have a problem with the original Metroid. There's really only ONE minor flaw- on more than one occasion, you'll find yourself inside a room that appears to be exactly the same as a room you've been to before, but with very minor changes separating the two, such as enemies in one room, and nothing in the other room. That's it. Some occasional *minor* confusion understanding the difference between a few of the rooms.

That's the only problem with the game. Even then, the game is pretty small so you shouldn't have THAT much of a hard time with it. You shouldn't be spending THAT much time confused and scratching your head where to go and what to do.

There's nothing else to complain about. The original NES Metroid *is* a classic. The excellent theme music in EVERY SINGLE AREA OF THE GAME, the constant arcade-style shooting action (and need I remind you that NO other Metroid game gives you *this* much shooting action) the creepy atmosphere of being stuck inside a dark planet with enemies that seem to crawl, fly, or zig zag all OVER the place, constantly. It's a lot of fun shooting or avoiding these enemies, and the game is so much fun words can't even describe how GREAT the experience is. Replay value indeed.

I was a child in the 80's and remember playing this game over and over as I found new areas and felt the excitement when I finally figured out what I was supposed to do. Remember the first time we reached that part near the beginning where we had to work our way UP that lengthy blue-colored area with spikey creatures crawling around and rippers flying back and forth? Remember when we said to ourselves "Man, is this thing ever going to END or am I supposed to keep climbing forever?" And remember when we finally found a door after all that climbing and breathed a sigh of relief? Didn't you realize this game was something much different from the other NES games at the time? THAT'S what makes a game a classic.

There was nothing else like this game back in the day. A space shooter that was ALSO an action game with fantastic gameplay, and even a platformer for that matter. The game requires lots of climbing and exploring. The music in the more maze-like areas fit *extremely* well with the confusion of trying to find your way out of each area. Absolutely a great game.

Sure, it's short by todays standards, but the two hours it takes for me to blow through the game is time well spent. The password system was also really cool because you had to write down extremely long passwords. This is a good thing because there's a mysterious feeling to the dead quiet sound of a password appearing on screen after you were killed.

People who dismiss this game are spoiled by either Super Metroid's superior graphics and gameplay, or even worse, spoiled by the drastically different Metroid Prime games. Remember, I was AROUND in the 80's and got to experience this classic game when it was brand new. That's why I can appreciate it for the masterpiece it is. Atmosphere, gameplay, music, memories, that dreaded feeling of hopelessness and fear when you believed you were stuck in certain areas, you name it. This game has it all, baby.

Don't be afraid of a challenge (though I've never believed the game was as difficult as most people) and don't be afraid of a game that's old. EVERYTHING will be old one day.

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