What Makes Metroid II Return of Samus Remain Unique

[@marcievania]

i dont like having to admit that some of the best metroid analysis ive seen is from a guy called pipi dafeces who sporadically burps throughout the videos

[@alicevioleta3184]

YEP

[@barelyhere7200]

Dudes made it his lifes mission to talk about every Metroid game

[@MidanMagistrate]

People rag on the music, but, the Metroid 2 Title theme is just... Magical. The way it starts with this weird breath like pulsing noise and beeps and chirps before slowly easing into a soothing melody, as if rewarding you for waiting 20 seconds. It's up there with Fusion's Title Theme, for me. And it kinda fits, they're both the linear Black Sheep of the series.

[@AaronJLong]

I probably didn't discover the melodic portion of the title screen theme until like 20 years after I got the game, on that same cartride, and I hadn't been told about it before. The game still had one last surprise for me, even after I had beaten it many times and used the select trick liberally to explore the game's glitched "secret worlds" accessed by going out of bounds and entering areas with the wrong tilesets loaded leading to freaky and interesting results.

[@CLSharpman5000]

It's about time this game got the recognition it deserves. When your 6 years old, and you've *never* played a Metroid game before... this game is absolutely horrifying. I didn't know games could be scary, I only played Mega Man and Mario up till that point. This game is a defining part of my being. What a cool game that punches far above its weight.

[@milesaway1980]

Agreed! I distinctly remember as a kid, actually shutting Metroid off on the NES when I got into Kraid's lair because I got too scared to continue. I think Metroid II was even more intense.

[@mark6302]

metroid on NES absolutely spooked the hell out of me when I was a kid, it was the atmosphere and music.

[@NERDmNERDf]

It's time this guy gets the recognition he deserves. His channel has only 300~ subs, which is CRIMINAL. Dude is getting in early before prime 4's re-reveal and the next popularity spike for the series. KZbin, start recommending this man, pronto. Also, weird coincidence, I myself started going through the series and only came across this dude out of pure luck while looking for a map during my Metroid FDS playthrough.

[@the_musicalfreakshow]

Oh my god, I didn’t realize how few subs this guy has. Definitely deserves more, since these videos are awesomely composed!

[@RakoonCD]

I don't know why people hate the music, it is really great and exemplifies the power of the Game Boy's sound chip.

[@headman82]

Not all the music is bad. Just the weird noise in some the areas. I really like area 1 and Metroid’s lair

[@magnawaves]

When it's actual music, yes. When it's random beeps and boops, it doesn't really seem like music yet. The surface theme is as iconic as any other of the popular songs in the series.

[@mark6302]

I still get the main song stuck in my head

[@Shrieqer]

I loved it. I'm not gonna lie, this game scared the hell out of me as a kid. A large chunk of that is due to the sound design setting the mood perfectly.

[@OuroborosChoked]

I love the soundtrack for Metroid II. It's probably my favorite in the entire series. Choosing to not use traditional music was a bold risk that, I think, paid off fully. The ambient sounds define their environments: alien, desolate, sometimes threatening. You can't help but think about the various areas of the game when you hear them, and I _do_ find myself thinking of the various... songs? Tunes?... throughout my days. Not the themes, but the more bleepy-bloopy ones. One of the many, many missteps MercurySteam made in remaking this game was not trying to replicate the soundtrack.

[@goldenphonautogram6141]

LETS GOOOOOO finally finally someone who understands how awesome this game is. Literally my favorite game ever made. I like it even more than the remakes. I played through it twice this week.

[@nivaldowesley666]

i love this game, this version! i think the remakes are cool, but this version aways click deep for me!

[@hashtagwoke8506]

Having these come out the same time as the geek critique videos is wonderful.

[@Astrovite]

This game was the only Metroid game I had as a kid. I remember looking at the cartridge and being enamored by the artwork every single time. I can't remember if I ever beat it as a kid but I know I played tf out of it. I'm honestly so glad that I somehow wound up with Metroid 2 when I was a kid though because Metroid is easily one of my most favorite franchises. It also instilled the love of Metroidvanias in me before I even understood what it was I love about them. MV's are without question, my favorite video game genre. Unrelated but I think the thing I love most about MV's is the sense of progression. It's just so satisfying to start off feeling so powerless, and then build to basically being the god of that world.

[@AmbassadorFox]

You being able to enjoy a Gameboy game that was made long before you were born, says a lot about you. You are a true gamer and I salute you. Keep up the good work. 🦊🐾

[@Lxzz222]

what an amazing video, 11/10

[@ValakTurtle]

I just found your Metroid NES video and absolutely loved it, so I was ecstatic to see that you've already uploaded again! Keep up the great work

[@pylotstyle]

I remember playing it on the GBA in high school as well. Way back in 2005 I really liked it back then even started playing it on emulation few days ago. Big metroid fan even Other M 💯

[@YaGirlJuniper]

Those strategically placed burps come completely out of nowhere, are never acknowledged, and never cease to make me laugh for several minutes just from the sheer "WTF???" it makes me feel. As someone who burps a lot uncontrollably, that's so relatable.

[@3ftninja132]

That story at the beginning was honestly beautiful. That Donkey Kong mousemat afterwards though was tonal whiplash. 😂😂

[@meezobeef]

very in depth and nostalgic already and i just started watching it! keep up the good content

[@SubIndy]

clicked for the thumbnail. Stayed for the quality video.

[@XD4Lifeington]

The most compelling part of the video for me was when you were giving sweet, compelling personal anecdotes about your history with the game and the friendship you developed around it as well as when you plainly say how you intended to talk about the game removed from the context of the broader cultural narrative and more address it on an emotional level. There are plenty of extremely talented essayists analyzing game design on this platform, many of whose content I love, but it's rare to hear an overtly, deliberately subjective experience for a piece of media coming from a place of passion. Unfortunately, I don't think the rest of the video comes through on that promise. You quickly started listing extremely simple game mechanics in a more robotic way, like ticking talking points off a list, and your own personal relationship with those mechanics rarely gets expounded on with more than one sentence or a short comment. Even if you were to have analyzed the mechanics as deeply as possible from a more broad perspective in the context of what is considered "correct" game design, I think M2 is so simple and its elements so ubiquitous through other metroidvanias that it would be hard to find something new to say on that front, though definitely not impossible. You also start mentioning how the community criticizes certain elements, and only either challenge them briefly or validate them entirely, again with only one off comments about whether you do or don't prefer having those elements present. The introduction of the video made it seem like that wouldn't be a point of mention. I hope this doesn't come off as overly critical. I was just struck by how your introduction showed me a style of content I didn't even know I was craving until just then, only for the rest of the video to starve me of it. If you find a way to deliver on that initial promise, to start with and work backwards from a place of emotion to try and analyze what it was about the game that captivated you as a child, I think you could easily fill a niche that not many fill.

[@FlatulentFetus]

You make a good point. I prefer to take a more technical approach with my writing, and I think the introduction of this video certainly contradicts that. I saw the introduction as the one place for me to gush about my own emotions about the game rather than the actual game itself. My idea was that my fondness of the linearity servicing the narrative was some version of the game appealing to me on an emotional level rather than a mechanical one. I chose not to further embrace that writing style that you’re describing, but I think I failed to communicate that in the introduction. I’ll have to think this over as I continue writing for these videos, but I can say that I’m far more interested in examining the games themselves. Sorry, but I don’t think I’m the guy to fill that niche. Don’t worry about being too harsh. It’s genuine, concise, constructive criticism. I welcome and appreciate that someone would take their time to make a genuine effort to help my writing be the best that it can be.

[@4ktrash4lyf]

@@FlatulentFetusI woke up with a severe panic attack and went thru a lot of KZbin videos that didn’t help until your video. The introduction was a warm heavy blanket. I loved it. Brought me back to a time with simple concerns. I miss it.

[@ArtUndertheArch]

I recently replayed the GB version of Metroid II for the first time in 15+ years and I honestly found a whole-new respect for the game. It controls great, is well-designed, and holds up excellently. I haven't watched the video yet but I'm excited to hear all of your thoughts on this gem!

[@frank9966]

17:39 I’m amazed you did not mention the fact the game actually has a form of adaptive music, it’s (mind bogglingly somehow) one of the few Metorid games to have adaptive music. Like when you go from a room with ambient music to a room with the main theme: there’s a special jingle that transitions you into the new music and it really helps make the track be even more triumphant. And then the spike room before the final boss has a special track that is a prelude to the intro of the final boss theme: giving this really cool and foreboding build up to the final boss through the music. It deserves more credit

[@TheOtherOTHERERER]

I really enjoy metroid as a whole and one of those things that I like about them is that no matter how close to the formula a game holds to, there's always some way for it to stick out. Can't even say there's a few "black sheep" within the franchise cause something like half of the games would fall under that moniker

[@xario2007]

7:23 Okaay, you left that in the video...that is a choice

[@usenkey]

lmao that burp around the 7:24 mark made me jump

[@crysknife007]

Finally someone appreciates the music of this game. That is my favorite part!

[@fattypros82]

My first Metroid I beat, borrowing my friend’s original game boy (this is 1992) with light boy to play, scared the heck out of me! I’d slowly scroll the screen and when a Metroid would show up at the edge, I’d get my missile ready, jump towards the Metroid, and fire! And usually miss. But another banger!

[@deadpoinsettia]

I’ve always loved the soundtrack...for the most part. I got this game when it came out. My first Metroid game. Loved it from the start. Great vid, nice work. Subbed

[@jastiksk8crw]

Good work sir, 2 weeks later and already a second metroid video. Subscribed

[@RoseSailor]

I love this game so much.. Such wonderful childhood memories having this game on long road trips; Truly feeling as if I was delving deeper and deeper into the bowels of SR388.. I’m like plenty of players who will hold up METROID 3 as the “technical” best title in the series.. But it’s this and the original that I revisit the most :) But because it’s often treated as defunct, I never talk about it. My friends think I’m “subjecting” myself to the game while the opposite is true.. Players most often don’t (but can if they care to delve enough) realize how amazing this title was in the context of “early” Game Boy especially.. I can’t tell you how significant it felt with this being “METROID 2”.. Especially with the setting and story.. Traveling to the Metroid homeworld along with the reveal that they evolve! The Queen alone! I enjoyed the remake alright and that was very cool in its own right, but I by far prefer the original. Thank you for this love letter :) P.S. I personally love the title screen theme; As a kid, METROID was as much a horror game as an action title.. With the title encapsulating “the horror.. THE HORROR..!” Lol, love it!

[@dis_inferno9173]

Metroid Return of Samus was released in 1991. There's begins plotline with Samus and Baby Metroid. Metroid Dread was released in 2021. It's released after 30 years after Return of Samus and it's concludes story arc about relationships of Samus and Metroids.

[@The_Borisaurus]

I must say, well done on not only this video, but on the quality standards that you uphold with each upload. Your opening about your personal connections to this game did a great job of pulling me into why you care so much about this game, and made me want to know more! I think your point about the design philosophy of Metroid was very strong, considering the fact that a percentage of the fan base tends to shy away from the releases that act differently from other games in the series(Fed Force, Metroid Other M). The point of the game is to experience all of it, both good and bad. Im glad that there are people so passionate about this game that they are willing to build upon it, whether its creating great games like AM2R, or making a synopsis of the game that allows others to have a taste of the Metroid II experience. Congrats on your recent success with this channel! Keep up the good work.

[@mrtesticlease4638]

played the game for the first time at the start of 2021, immediately dropped the game i was working on and started work on a spiritual successor to it, and it released last year and got picked up by limited run :>

[@tonyroth1111]

The Metroid Man is back

[@swampert564]

I remember buying this game with the money I earned mowing my neighbors law back in 1999 from Funcoland (now Gamestop, was way better as Funcoland but I digress. I was already familiar with most of the cast from Smash Bros but hadn't played a Metroid yet. I was immediately pretty intrigued and played it a bunch over spring break. It's not my favorite Metroid game by any means but it holds a special place in my heart. It's a solid title that honestly deserves more credit than it tends to receive. The post-final boss sequence is for my money one of the most beautiful parts of the series.

[@theshadowdirector]

I also have a pretty personal connection with this game. It was literally one of the first video games I ever owned. My first ever gaming system was a clear Game Boy pocket that was bundled with Metroid II and Save Race. I still have the former's cartridge.

[@marx4538]

Something cool about Return of Samus that I don't see mentioned much is how unique it's environmental and enemy design is. Despite still having some things like Chozo Statues, not only did the game introduce a lot of things that would become mainstay (different enemy types you mentioned that would later become basis for enemies in Super, Fusion and onward, along with things like the surprise Arachnus encounter), it also stands out as one of the more unique games still. The architecture and design of temples is unique and differentiated from what is associated with the other Chozo, the mechanical enemies adding to that, and things like the last area or lack of escape sequence, which you mentioned. I feel like that's something that both remakes, despite being well done in their own right, at least partially don't have, with AM2R instead being more Zero Mission/Prime-esque in a lot of the temples, areas and even storytelling, and Samus Returns taking from Super and also doing it's own thing entirely (like how the finale got completely changed, or the SR-388 Chozo story being completely told rather than being left as a mystery) Great video!

[@SuperTrainStationH]

Finally a Metroid II review that isn't just "waah this game is outdated cause black and white graphics".

[@theartshow1476]

It’s funny that so many people trash on this game because it’s “a product of its time.” In reality, this game was way ahead of its time for a gameboy game. Also, there is a dx patch/rom hack that adds custom colorization and background textures, and when applied, makes this game unreal for a gameboy game. I applied the patch to my rom on my everdrive and play it on my back lit gbc. You wouldn’t even know it’s a gameboy game honestly.

[@Controllerhead]

Hi! SRC mod of Metroid II, SummoningSalt guy of Metroid I here, love this beautiful tribute to Metroid II. It's a wonderful and underappreciated game that was way ahead of it's time, chock full of atmosphere, a technological tour de force, and one that i deeply love and beat on a big gray brick under whatever lamp was around when i was very young. Thank you for giving it the attention it truly deserves!!! PS- i'm kinda inspired to make a map hack for this, as this is the biggest complaint about it, and yes i have released hacks on RHDN and can write Gameboy Z80ish ASM... we'll see...

[@Zeithri]

More love for the best Metroid game \o/ I adore the title screen music. It tells a story within itself if you just listen to it and pay attention. The creation of the first Metroid, and the other Metroids that followed. The first one evolved, became bigger, stronger, became a Queen. Eggs followed, the Metroids started killing the Chozo's, alarm started blaring and the Metroids were free. It's amazing, stunningly good. On par with the title music for John Carpenter's The Thing that makes you think of a Heartbeat - in the vastness of the empty cold, *something* still lives. *Who* _goes there?_ I agree with the jankiness of the Spiderball but it's not a game breaker. It's just something to deal with. I find the tightness of Space Jump more frustrating to deal with, often resorting to having a pleasant spider-ball stroll instead. Not to say that I don't Space jump but, that one can be more annoying to deal with. I love how the music grows darker, more oppressive the deeper you get. The ambience is incredible. And let's not forget that Dread re-used the SR-388 Ambience Noise Bipbopbepblepbop when it crawls around. Metroid Battle Music is terrifying. Hard to forget the first time playing through the game and suddenly when you thought it was a spot where there'd be no Metroids, a freaking Gamma sheds it's skin and becomes a Zeta. Or an Alpha hides in the sand becomming a Gamma. Heart racing from 0 to 100. 19:20 - Hilariously my first playthrough as a kid, I... backtracked a lot. 26:35 - I belong to that category I believe. I have excellent sense of head-mapping. 34:54 - Actually that's in the story. Metroids can ONLY be damaged by freezing them and then using missiles. So that makes sense. Except you don't need Ice against the evolved forms but.. 35:35 - Don't agree. It adds to the incredible tension. Do you push on, knowing you could die or do you backtrack to safer places to heal up? 39:55 - Might? The whole area from a little before Omega Nest is almost _entirely_ devoid of life. The only thing living are things that know how to hide. Metroids are an ecological disaster, an ultra predator.

[@ThePoltergust5000]

Oh man, I LOVE the Chozo Temple music LOL- I love how awkward and limping the rhythm is, speeding up and slowing down just enough to be noticeable at seemingly random times, pausing a _bit_ too long between melodies... and I love songs that have a lot of parts where they _sound_ like they're about to _stop_ on a strong, final note, but then the very next beat they go into another part of the song. It's so weird in a way that feels distinctly _geeky_ to me for some reason, like it makes me imagine the Chozo nerds that lived in those ruins and all the science they used to do, creating the original metroids and nerding out about it to each other

[@examiningdata7952]

" it followed me like a confused child "

[@salpingite]

Man these burps get me reeling everytime. 😂

[@j0s3p45]

it was so unexpected and the way he kept going like nothing happened

[@jowilson5581]

I really appreciate your take here. Metroid 2 was similarly nostalgic for me, it being my first GameBoy game and my first Metroid game, when I was a kid. I remember poring over the manual in the back seat on the car ride home after buying it, spending just about every waking hour exploring every nook and cranny of SR388 until my parents would basically yank the GameBoy out of my hands and kick me outside lol. But it's also a game I still play through every few months to this day, and I'm 40 now. The game's design still holds up, in my opinion. It's an incredibly ambitious sequel to the NES game. I love the detailed sprites, the experimental music, the feeling of dread and claustrophobia it cultivates. I love the knock-down drag-out wrestling match that is every metroid fight, desperately scrambling for position to get off one more shot. The sense of escalation, the frequent powerups that are relatively easy to find, the choice of beams (all of which have their merits and flaws) instead of the stacking beams of the newer titles. I love that final quiet stretch as you close in on the queen, seeing the absolute devastation of all flora and fauna in the core where metroids thrive. The terror of seeing that counter climb again and realizing the urgency of finishing the fight. And if we take the Metroid manga as canon, Samus is herself doing to the metroids what Ridley did to her homeworld. Maybe Samus sees something of herself in the Baby Metroid. I also appreciate that it's the only game in the series with a quiet, contemplative, hopeful end run, rather than a desperate timed sprint. Not to mention the many groundbreaking innovations like the varia suit shoulder pads, the spider ball, etc. that 2 introduces and the rest of the series builds on. Thanks for taking this game on its own merits and seeing the good in it. It's a really special little title. I do want to speak to your critique of the metroid fights themselves. Playing through the two well-known remakes, AM2R and Samus Returns, we can see attempts to make the fights themselves more involved and interesting, and I do think those games do a pretty good job of that. However, in both instances (and especially in AM2R, sadly), I personally feel that these more involved fights kind of detract from the pace of the game. I do enjoy tracking and fighting the Gammas in SR, since the multi-room fights with exploration mixed in kind of recapture the feeling of the original to me. But overall, the effect of more involved and mechanically-focused metroid fights in a game with nearly 40 of those fights kind of drags, in my opinion. AM2R in particular makes even the early metroid forms kind of a nightmare to fight, with them dodging missiles on RNG and such. So I still prefer the original's take on it. Spam missiles, try not to get hit too much, mind your position. It's chaotic, which I think is a good thing here.

[@therant3837]

Dude... I remember waaaaaay back when I was 9 years old and Nintendo Power had an Art contest to draw the best "Metroid" pictures, and the crazy thing was that the people who won the artist renderings pictured Samus as a man. It occurs to me that they obviously didn't finish the game, but still you know.... Nintendo had really freaking cool ways of promoting their material back then. Man it was the 80's. Back then promotional ads and contests to add to the hype were just frickin' awesome especially when it came to toys.

[@Jikkuryuu]

I am right there with you on the Chozo Temple theme. Game, I am already bombing every single tile of this massive temple zone, I do not need to be reminded how repetitive the task is. It would be fine enough in any other context, but hearing the music and your own description brought me right back to carefully bombing ceilings as a kid :D It felt nice to hear from someone with a similar Metroid II experience to mine, lots of childhood hours touring SR-388. Thanks for the video!

[@4ktrash4lyf]

Reminds me of how I feel about castlevania 2. Makes me think of my cousin and the special time we spent together.

[@valterink8997]

Listened to all of your videos while working awesome work!

[@michaelkreitzer1369]

_Finally_ someone who gets the music! Playing this game late in the evening with only a small desk lamp lighting the gameboys backlight-less screen, creepy feckin' noises, lifeless caverns, terrified of every zeta metroid I encounter, palms covered in sweat trying to not drop the gameboy... That ambient soundtrack worked wonders just jacking up the creep factor.

[@FlatulentFetus]

Many players seem to value memorability in their game soundtracks. I think that’s fine, but I also think that memorability is not the end-all-be-all goal of game music. In the case of something like Metroid 2, I do not think the music itself is memorable. But the feeling I get from that music absolutely is. Atmospheric music, especially in the case of games like RoS, Hunters, and Dread, is excellent for enhancing the mood in its own way.

[@sanctumsys]

Great follow-up to the Metroid NES video. As a big recent fan of M2 I'm enjoying seeing the general review opinion turn around on it since a lot of people seemed to hate it before, some even more than M1. The commentary on the atmosphere and emotions of the game are on point. I do feel like treating 100% completion as a main objective is a little unfair, since none of the 2D games really place much emphasis on that as an end goal - the changes to the ending are only achieved through speed, with the percentage completion gaining more emphasis specifically in Metroid Prime. In the 2D series the optional, out of the way items feel mostly there to lower the difficulty proportionally with the amount of time the player is willing to explore, more so than provide the player with a secondary goal. 100%ing a game is a purely self-imposed challenge unless the game itself encourages it and I don't feel a game balanced around a time challenge is obligated to design around the 100% experience as well. As a fan of drawing maps on paper I went back to your NES Metroid video to quickly check whether paper came up there, and unless I missed it I don't think it did - I really do think it's worth taking these first two games as "intended to be played with some grid paper nearby" because the overall experience of mastering the environments is greatly enhanced by drawing maps manually rather than an automap feature. It'd be hard to have that experience of discovery after many years of replaying a game, but as someone who only got into these kinds of games in the past year drawing paper maps is an underrated way to play them. Thank you for giving Metroid II more of the attention that it's long deserved. I look forward to your thoughts on the series going forward.

[@HDQuakelive]

ARE WE ALL GOING TO IGNORE THAT MOUSEPAD AT 1:53 ???????? LOL

[@jaggedbrace1263]

The ambience makes segments of this game feel almost like horror, which is very interesting for a game boy game.

[@Cryonus2435]

Gargoyles Quest is such an amazing game and I'm glad he decided to show it at 5:56

[@milesaway1980]

As a big fan of Metroid, I remember playing Metroid II when it first came out on the GameBoy and loved it. It's always been one of my favorites. It wasn't until recently that I learned how many people look down on it.

[@retrofraction]

Like as progression goes for the series it was very smooth going from 1 to 2. I do think fans do get up at arms as to which Metroid is the best which causes them to throw shade at 1&2. But I like how pure the gameplay is in the first 2 as you don’t have cut scenes that interrupt gameplay. So most of the focus is on the game itself 😊

[@soulblazerz]

The music and sound in this are great.

[@cloudedarctrooper]

AM2R enjoyers, myself included, approve of this message.

[@monsieurliquorice]

I feel like I'm the only person ever to like the chozo temple song :( I honestly like the droning nature of the song, Idk what it is it just clicks. Also I love the Metroid Theme too.... the steady rythmn makes me bop!

[@mercster]

When I was a kid at the local pool, I would dip below the water and have imaginary battles as Wolverine or some other superhero, swinging at imaginary enemies. This was in the late 80s/early 90s.

[@franwex]

Wow. I’m actually surprised how well you guys connected with Metroid 2 with the Gameboy Advance being out by then. Metroid 2 was already pretty ancient by then (even if it was only 10 years from original release).

[@itsnouse-yourswillbeastill2562]

I got hooked on metroid thanks to my cousin showing me super Metroid when it was quite freshly released. I had a nes so I got Metroid 1 for xmas. It really shaped me in many ways. I always wanted to beat Return of Samus on real hardware so it got delayed. beat all advance titles beforehand and finally got a gb cart of Return of Samus and you know what? The gal still got it. Everyone owe it to themselves to at least give the original a honest chance despite what the lazy naysayers claims like how the 3ds remake replaces it (total bs to have such mindset even )

[@FlatulentFetus]

What’s even more surprising is that it was actually around 2009/2010 when I played Metroid 2 for the first time.

[@FullaEels]

Came here right after beating the OG metroid 2 for the first time. 3rd time through the game, once on each version, but i wanted to experience arguably the most important game, in terms of the rest of the 2d games, in its original pixel glory. I respect this game heaps, since i love fusion so much

[@rezterralico4369]

Oh. So like I need to play that Capcom game that kinda plays like metroid 2 where the acid goes down but instead your underwater and you get increased breathing tube length. On cell phones and the switch. Shinsekai: into the depths Now goes on sale for 50 percent off I think.

[@TehSenate]

Nice seeing someone acknowledge the First Hunt demo

[@thew00dsman79]

Some-odd 10 or so years ago I played Metroid and Metroid 2 on the 3DS for the first time, no real guides I just kinda explored; I really enjoyed Metroid 2, though my first time fighting the Queen I didn’t know you could morph ball inside of her mouth and bomb her stomach, so I just kept doing missiles, it eventually worked, and I still found it a very good game

[@Nishida523]

I am really enjoying his retrospectives keep up the good work!! 👍

[@user-a5Bw9de]

IMO Metroid II RoS IS a horror game, albeit being able to destroy the horrific creatures immediately. Maybe SR388 itself is the nondestructive terror in the game that keeps up the tension. (you can say that entire Metroid franchise fits in a horror genre, so in that case RoS is one that has the most classical horror/eeriness trope in the series afaik. While Fusion has more newer horror tropes implemented, the setting and atmosphere over there is a bit 'cleaner' than this game.)

[@kennyonsmogon]

hope ur channel blows up its pretty awesome

[@thorehaus2659]

When I was in 3rd grade I had that game too. It is a game which actually has an immense emotional value to me and I still enjoy playing it to this very day. One day I wrote the whole Metroid story in the manual onto a piece of paper, showing it to my teacher while pretending I would have created it. It was… kinda cringe

[@SkyfoxDartner]

I always viewed the area themes as the metroid tracker sound effect, as that’s what a friend of mine had told me years back.

[@AaronJLong]

Funny you should mention that Metroid 1 has the best ending theme of any game, and Metroid Prime has the best ending theme of any game, but for all the love you show 2's rather divisive soundtrack you don't even mention the ending theme, only having it appear as background music as the video ends. This game scared me as a kid, but I always pressed on. I made liberal use of the nope tunnel in the terrifying queen fight and actually backtracked through the whole planet on that first playthrough looking for more missiles or energy tanks I may have missed to allow me to survive that battle of attrition, and even found an area I missed with the High Jump boots as well as the intended first encounters with the spazer and wave beams. Better equipped, I eventually won that battle of attrition and even having the hatchling scene spoiled for me by Super, it felt great to experience it for myself. Everything about the ending is just perfect, and as remakes have shown it doesn't suffer one bit from its limited hardware. But that credits theme, I love it, and kept me replaying that final boss just to hear it again (a few years later I accidentally figured out the trick of getting vored and bombing the queen from inside on a later replay, and got to see Samus running on the credits screen, jumping and landing in a pose rather than just standing, and on later replays would consistently get the ending where she lands from that jump without the power suit. But yeah, love the credits music, and like in Metroid 1 (made much easier in Zero Mission) getting to hear it was a reward worth booting up the game and replaying at least the end on several occasions and I think it deserves a place alongside the most credits music of all time. I remember showing this game to my little brother on the Super Gameboy, and he was extremely uncomfortable with the whole premise. Not the freaky metroids, but that he was playing as the alien invader there to exterminate an entire species and any other creature between you and them. He was pretty young, and really recontextualized how I viewed the adventure as I was just happy to play another Metroid game after Super made me an instant fan, and thus already was primed to think of blowing up an entire planet as acceptable collateral damage when going up against the threats Samus is deployed against. Also, I dig the much maligned ambient tracks, and Don care for the chozo ruin theme as well. It's nice to see a retrospective that doesn't just crap on the audio that was so effective at what it was going for when I would play the game late at night illuminated by a lamp or TV screen, uneasy, but courageously pressing on, and knowing that retreating and regrouping is not cowardice, but occasionally necessary if I wanted to complete my mission alive and felt immersive in a way as I scouted ahead, encountered new threats, and came back better prepared in this alien world.

[@MicahBuzanANIMATION]

Please stop the burping!! Otherwise, this is an incredibly well made video, and I appreciated the nostalgic memories at the intro. Keep it up.

[@matthewbilous6923]

Finally played this in recent months, easily my 2nd fav after super Metroid , atmosphere is spot on , you get used to the controls. I’m not running off any nostalgia here either btw

[@The_Natalist]

I got stuck and quit this game after i got the.... morph climb? Idk, bringing Metroid 2D into a 4 wall explorer got me sooooo lost 😂 The lack of color, even in the COLOR version really got me too

[@The_Natalist]

I mean, i couldn't even use the internet to figure out where to go

[@jaggedbrace1263]

Great video, and love the Prime hunters music.

[@cantdestroyher7245]

Space jump and backtracking aside, this game is pretty darn good. And after having finished a painstaking playthrough of the first metroid recently, i can confidantly say this game is a huge leap forward

[@kaasiand]

I only first got into the Metroid games like 2 weeks ago and I'm really glad I didn't skip the NES or GB entries. I played ZM, then NES immediately afterward (while Zebes's general layout was still fresh in my head), then Metroid II (as I'd gotten used to mapless navigation after NES), then Super, Fusion, AM2R and Dread. (I tried Samus Returns too but dropped it like 1-2 hrs in because I found it unbearable how the circle pad movement felt, the constant countering and constant lack of space to move when literally everything charges at you-apparently the screen crunch was the one thing they DID keep in the 3DS game and somehow that felt worse on 3DS than it did on GB) Metroid II's final stretches were so tense and the way the ending made you reconsider your actions from the whole rest of the game was just so impressive. The game felt so special and while I loved AM2R too I just find the original irreplaceable Also I care a lot about music in games (I didn't like how absolutely nothing in Dread sounded memorable) and I never even really felt bothered by the music in 2. Being greeted with the main SR388 theme after returning from an area hit really hard at some points, the metroid battles sounded tense and chaotic, and the last areas really made you feel like you shouldn't be there

[@brainypepper1621]

I never knew how good the tilesets look in this game

[@Brice23]

I have always loved all three of the first Metroid games. I consider them all equally as interesting and playable. I havent played any of the series past three.

[@preston_s.]

Something I just heard today in a different video is that just because a game is part of the Metroid series doesn't necessarily make it a metroidvania. That kind of blew my mind. I always assumed I liked metroidvanias because I love Metroid games, but thinking about it now, my favorite Metroid games (Metroid 2 and Fusion, the two I controversially consider the most Metroid-y games) could be considered the least metroidvania-like games in the series.

[@DoomDuckGod]

That's the coolest mousepad ive ever seen.

[@richardalcala4125]

Metroid 2 is my favorite. Replay it once a year.

[@FlatulentFetus]

Hot take it’s also my favorite version of Metroid II. Though I do very much adore both remakes for their own reasons.

[@RedstoNeman0]

15:58: one of the weirdest thing about the score is that there are no credits for a composer, only "sound designer", because some of the music quotes parts of prog rock works much like some of hip tanaka's nestroid stuff, but apparently he didn't compose it?

[@TempoTronica]

A fun little tidbit. Metroids, in metroid prime first hunt make a sound very similar to the abient track for area 3.

[@jaynukem1929]

Gameboy Varia Suit is my favorite version of the Varia Suit.

[@taemien9219]

Just think, the crystals that the metroid larva helps you get through at the end of the game are crystallized dormant X-Parasites.

[@slapbass9125]

The music to Area 3 is such a shock after the first two areas. Its so chaotic, you really feel you've entered somewhere you're not welcome. Bosses themselves are simplistic, but I like that there are a lot of surprise encounters. With very surpising and chaotic music to follow. It makes the bosses feel like a more organic part of the world. Samus Returns (3DS) kind of fails for me in this regard. I like how Metroid 2s boss fights, don't necessarily feel like "boss fights". The game could have used more actual boss fights though. Maybe then, the same-y metroid fights wouldn't be such a big deal. Metroid 2 was the first game I ever beat on my own. I used to just jump into the lava pit and tank the damage at the start of Area 3. I just thought thats how you were supposed to do it. You can get to the other side with almost no health left. And later I learned thats what the speedrun does! Scattered Metroid 2 thoughts haha. Loved the video, still one of my all time favorite games.

[@iamLI3]

100% correct on everything so far , good , goood.... >as far as narrative and gameplay feel are concerned i think metroid 2 is peak metroid absolutely gratifying.....

[@TheKritken]

28:39 I always farm in that spot to avoid backtracking for recharging missiles in the omega metroid territory, and... well it works for me.

[@jaydub7386]

My first and favorite Game Boy game.

[@theycallmejpj]

It was an interesting video but how many times did you say the word linear? Maybe 50? When I think of Metroid 2 I think about fear, anxiety, isolation, creepiness, etc etc

[@FlatulentFetus]

Turns out you’re not far off - the word “linear” appears about 45 times.

[@atmosdwagon4656]

2:31 I think this is a perfectly valid way of doing analysis because it recognizes that human beings are in fact, human, and not Vulcans from Star Trek or robots. Accounting for personal bias is good, because it demonstrates maturity and an understanding of reality, but trying to deny any and all capacity for personal attachment and life experiences with any form of media has proven futile. Better to admit your own biases rather than pretend they don't matter. If nothing else, the notion of using neutral academic methodology in conducting (and publishing) analysis does not in any way keep disingenuous dialogs via charlatans and political grifters out of the broader discussion on anything; quite the contrary. I can think of and name several major "video games/media critics" from the late 1980s to present who all pitched their opinions and conclusions in exactly that way, yet routinely demonstrated profound ignorance of their subjective matter such that when they weren't making obvious blind guesses to fill in the blanks, would stoop to inventing false "facts" that, 'conveniently', always supported their political agenda and pet ideology. Keeping one's biases in check in a way that is healthy and conducive towards discussion is a big step in one's own maturity. Ignoring biases through couched language...is not that. So I think your methodology here is on the right track if you're trying to get people to think and discuss the subject matter rather than just being a typical YT/social media "influencer". There are games that I possess a tremendous amount of nostalgia for that I have criticized down to the smallest detail in examining them; shortcomings and all. This sort of analysis is not some hopeless venture wherein only the most emotionally detached people are capable of genuine analysis of something that is, by its very nature, meant to engage with people in a variety of different ways. I'd say that last bit applies to video games more than any other form of media since the audience's ability to perform tasks and beat intended challenges is just as important as their ability/willingness to engage with the games at an emotional level. (not just at specific points, but holistically, that feeling often described as "immersion")

[@aroccoification]

Fantastic channel name. Your french is excellent

[@ChromeLittleZoid]

I'm sure you've played it. But AM2R is an amazing remake. As someone who also really enjoyed both of these games, I would love to see a video about it :)

[@Paiste2002Fan]

I grew up with Metroid and remember when there was only one Metroid game. Despite Super Metroid being my favorite followed closely by Metroid Dread, the original Metroid 2 on Gameboy is the only that gave me feelings of dread. It’s creepy, lonely and claustrophobic.

[@mark6302]

absolutely one of the best gameboy games

[@DonWeaselYeehawEdition]

14:59 typical JPEGMAFIA beat

[@agenerichuman]

I play through this game almost every year. I feel the remakes lose something in translation (but AM2R is still good). It's one of my favorites. Though I also like Prime 2 most of all, so I'm weird. It feels a lot different both in game play and atmosphere. I wish the series was more willing to experiment. Too many of the games feel like wanna be Super Metroid (even AM2R falls into that trap). It's not even nostalgia for me. I got started on the NES so that should be the one I look on most fondly. Nice seeing it get some love. Also it's has some of my favorite music of the series.

[@justinokraski3796]

I like the cursed DK mousepad

[@MaximumPayine]

What people need to understand is that it is not possible to be objective about a video game unless you are desccribing its attributes. For example, calling Metroid II a side scrolling game or pointing out that the game has music or that it tells a story partially through visuals. The moment you start making claiming that the videogame is fun or not fun from an objective standpoint, what you are essentially doing is measuring a person's joy, which is impossible. There is no way to measure joy in any capacity because everyone enjoy's different things and in different amounts. There is no such thing as a game that is "good" or "bad" because that is relative to the person. Anyone that is making a claim that a game is fun or not, good or bad, is a liar or their comprehension of understanding the media they are "reviewing" is deeply flawed.

[@imsoready1114]

I used to think Metroid 2 was the worst Metroid game, even more than other m, but i’ve warmed up to it more and more over the years. I adore its final act, to me its one of the most memorable segments in any metroid game.

[@Darrell9000]

I had that on Gameboy. It was good.