What is V I T A L I T Y? (Romhack Retrospective)

Deep Dive into Digital Mantra's 2020 romhack masterpiece.. V I T A L I T Y

[@mccad00]

Certainly one of the weirdest projects I’ve ever worked on, but one of the most rewarding by far. It’s true that DMan was pushy about getting exactly what he wanted for art and assets, but I actually have a lot of respect for that, he had a very clear and strict vision for the hack and it’s a very important trait to be able to maintain that. I see a lot of projects fall flat because they lack that same sort of consistent quality. Great video

[@STUNT_MK]

Amazing work on your end as well McCad! He mentioned you a lot when I was talking to him about the assets. Insanely well done, sir! Thank you for watching :)

[@stellarkym]

You're so talented McCad thanks for a new Metroid experience for us

[@mccad00]

@@stellarkym that credit goes to digital mantra, I was just an artist for the project

[@STUNT_MK]

I don’t think he pushed his team to a point to where it was inappropriate or disrespectful by any means, I just think he was very strict on his vision and wanted everything to be right so he just wanted them to tweak things over and over until it was just right so 🤷‍♂️

[@neuronoc.7343]

@@mccad00 You wouldn't still happen to have the number zero skeleton sprite on hand, would you?

[@RogelioV1985]

the dark creepy moment is when you discover the room that contains the samus clones in glass tubes, being tested, turned into blood baths and one being turned and converted into energy tanks

[@STUNT_MK]

1000% agreed

[@uhohtannerly]

When this hack came out, I ended up no lifeing it for 2 days straight just playing it. It's still to this day the best SM hack I've ever played.

[@STUNT_MK]

That’s awesome!

[@DMantra]

Appreciate the retrospective review dude, loved it! It was great how you presented the lore for everyone. Another great SM romhack review from Stunt

[@STUNT_MK]

😮 I’m so glad you enjoyed it man! It was an honor to represent your hack dude! ❤

[@igodreamer7096]

Great hack, man. But, why is it so dark? Hahaha

[@angryretailbanker5103]

Two questions from someone who never heard of this romhack until today: First, when you say the Federation outsourced the Space Pirates to the planet, do you mean the corporation? From the intro scenes I saw, it seems the corporation hired Samus and was planning to clone her, so it would make sense to me that the Galactic Federation doesn't know about any of this. In fact, the intro even states that they don't know she's even there on the planet taking that bounty. Second, are the bosses SUPPOSED to be identical the four Space Pirate generals, or is it just the nature of romhacking and we're supposed to just ignore it? Because those are obviously Ridley, Kraid, Draygon, and Phantoon. Is this how they appear to Samus because of the in-universe lore of the hack, or is this just a "Don't think about it too much" scenario like many other romhacks.

[@STUNT_MK]

1. Corporation makes sense, yea. I might have misspoke. 2. The enemies just happen to function like normal SM bosses so it’s more of a “don’t think about it too much” because the bosses are supposed to represent failed Samus Clone experiments

[@STUNT_MK]

Samus in the end is inevitably being duped

[@angryretailbanker5103]

@@STUNT_MK Oh, so the bosses are like “Ridley, infused with Samus’s DNA” and “Kraid, infused with Samus’s DNA”? That’s pretty cool. I’m definitely gonna play this.

[@STUNT_MK]

@@angryretailbanker5103 yep! You’ll enjoy it! It’s amazing

[@niclaswa5408]

Definitely one of the best SM hacks out there! The lighting in the beginning area was really good to look at, the log entry you get at the tree top area (I don’t remember the names) when getting the map was a nice touch. It also made me wish you could get more log entries, but that just shows I was invested in what was going on. I’m not a big fan of body horror, so the gore parts was little too spicy for my tastes, but it didn’t ruin my experience. Basically any smart gameplay changes Hyper added can also be said for VITALITY, but for story and atmosphere instead. They both shine in their own unique way.

[@STUNT_MK]

Definitely agreed. The lore behind each area was what sold it for me. I felt like I could actually get invested in the locations I was traveling through.

[@adamantoutcast0]

When I saw the trailer for this, I was looking forward to the retrospective. You did not disappoint, I always love your Rom Hack retrospectives! :D Kudos to the original author of the hack and all his support as well, you are all awesome!!

[@STUNT_MK]

Thank you so much 🙏 I’m really glad you enjoyed it! Worked really hard on this one!

[@eltipobigotudo2162]

This is INCREDIBLY high quality, awesome video man! :D

[@STUNT_MK]

🙏 thank you so much

[@eltipobigotudo2162]

@@STUNT_MK :D

[@dripnx6381]

i really like how this hack dives into the more horror aspect of super metroid

[@STUNT_MK]

What’s even cooler is it has basically 95% of all of Super Metroids original assets and palettes so it truly showcases, when used correctly, SM can be truly creepy 👍🏻

[@dripnx6381]

@@STUNT_MK the other 5% is disgusting giant samus lump

[@StrikerTheHedgefox]

It's a cool romhack, but I kind of groaned when the corporation responsible was Weyland Yutani. I get it that it was inspired by Alien Resurrection, but that's a little too on the nose. I think it would have been nicer to give it a unique name without making it seem like a crossover fanfic. Other than that, it was a good time.

[@STUNT_MK]

I can kinda see that

[@Chad_Thundercock]

But... Samus already had Chozo DNA. That's been known since, I think, original Super? Otherwise, I really dig the H.R. Geiger feel of the whole thing.

[@STUNT_MK]

Yeah definitely! The enemies had Samus DNA put into them is what’s going on

[@SRUFUS3D]

Honestly a Masterpiece. Incredible coverage.

[@STUNT_MK]

Why thank you so much 🙏 that’s much appreciated!

[@IllmatikRebelTV]

Wow. I seen this rom a few times while using Batocera. It's in the Metroid collection. Now I'm actually gonna play it after watching this video. Great video.

[@theimperfectgod7140]

This is my favorite Super Metroid rom hack next to Hyper Metroid and Ancient Chozo Honorable mention to Project Base too

[@STUNT_MK]

Haha that’s funny, I’ve done videos on all those too! All great hacks!

[@eltipobigotudo2162]

14:38 Love the massive brains in the tanks.

[@STUNT_MK]

Creepy right? So good

[@eltipobigotudo2162]

@@STUNT_MK Great video for a great hack!

[@benox50]

Great video Stunt, not much content of this type for Metroid modding scene, so seeing it with this level of quality is simply amazing !!

[@benox50]

Nice that you got also info from the author here, it adds !!

[@STUNT_MK]

Thank you so much man! I really appreciate all the support I’ve been getting from these videos :) wanted to make sure I was giving it my best with them moving forward!

[@eltipobigotudo2162]

The memes at the beginning are so good

[@ezecskornfan]

The existence of this project juxtaposes how I see Nintendo and Metroid. Nintendo sticks with the safe rated E stuff and creatively they suffer from it in my opinion. Metroid 3 was the omega form of this saga and it showed potential to tackle that problem with its atmospehre and creative use of few, minimal but very well executed cutscenes. We all can tell fans want more of it since they created art content in many ways, shapes or genres with more adult oriented themes. This game can be such a fine example (there is also bad and supbar examples, like ghei Cpt Falcon). This rom hack is something that Metroid could have been, but Nintendo wouldn't even allow. And they still created something superb and timeless that is Super Metroid, and it was up to fans to give existence to this. Imagine the day Nintendo tries its hand like this just like D Man did. Thanks to everyone, you, nintendo and D Man (last but not less important).

[@platinumdynamite]

Interesting, naming the areas after Autechre songs.

[@DjDeadpig]

You could make the argument that Vitality could serve as an alternate timeline version of either other M or Fusion, as the game can take place in either of those points or even plug up both, and besides the opening of Dread, it could serve well as a bridging point. Personally though, I’d argue it could possibly be a replacement for Other M.

[@matthewfitts]

Excellent video, StuntCoyote. 😊😊😊

[@STUNT_MK]

Thank you so much!

[@matthewfitts]

@@STUNT_MK You're so welcome. 🤩🤩🤩

[@awsomeDualshock]

Where did all that story background come from? Did DMan make a write up of every area's backstory?

[@STUNT_MK]

He definitely did. He has so much lore tied around his game that it’s crazy

[@heavyc4450]

Federation? Thought it was some random megacorpo that made Samus take a job with an NDA?

[@igodreamer7096]

Great review, for a great romhack 👍

[@unjusthustla]

This is a 🔥 review!

[@STUNT_MK]

Yooo thanks Will!

[@AlbertV97]

Will you make one Retrospective for Temple of the Winds?

[@STUNT_MK]

Definitely could! That’s a very interesting hack

[@FukuritaMariko]

So the Galatic Federation try to use Samus dna and infused it with other creatures to create a idel super soldier oddly enough I think the perfect super soldier was technically accomplished thanks to raven beak wanting to have samus Metroid dna fully trigger and created the idel soldier to clone and all would have gone to plan if Samus didn't wake up and slam her hand on Raven Beak 😂

[@matthewfitts]

Hey StuntCoyote, I'm looking forward to making a 100% speed run of your Super Metroid Vitality, please, StuntCoyote? 😊😊😊

[@STUNT_MK]

That would be awesome!! Probably in the future!

[@matthewfitts]

@@STUNT_MK Great. I'm looking forward to it and please don't stop making 100% Speedrun videos, please, StuntCoyote? 🤩🤩🤩

[@STUNT_MK]

@@matthewfitts I’ll keep making them!

[@matthewfitts]

@@STUNT_MK Thanks!

[@homebrewmemes9928]

Where did you learn of all the extra lore you mentioned in this video?

[@STUNT_MK]

I had some long discussions with the creator on Discord and asked so many questions 😂😂

[@sleepyren_]

if you get 0 game overs... are you still a clone in the end?

[@STUNT_MK]

@@sleepyren_ good question 😂 but yes

[@eltipobigotudo2162]

12:08 Prime...hehehe

[@xenxander]

Samus is already spliced with Chozo DNA so.. that makes no sense in the story.

[@user-uw9sn6xl3d]

Vitality has the shittiest level design in metroids i've ever seen. The author puts the same textures on the background as he puts blocks on levels. it's just lame. Not mentioning miles length rooms that are filled with literally nothing. Yku are just wondering there helplessly without ANY hint what to do. SM HAD hints

[@jikissgamer]

Really enjoyed watching this, such a well written review. I played this hack last year and it was one of the coolest SM hacks I've seen. I wish there were more ROMhack reviews on KZbin like this one.

[@STUNT_MK]

Thank you so much! That means a lot