Playing The Original Metroid in 2023 SUCKS

This game is brutal. What do you think of the original Metroid? Let me know below! Remember to LIKE and SUBSCRIBE if you're cool!

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[DoorsInTheLabyrinth]

as an old person who played this back in the day, the way we played was a combination of discussing with friends and mapping with a notebook. most NES games were played with pen and paper on hand, not just for the passwords. It was definitely a different style of gaming, and I sort of get thrown for a loop whenever I need to do that in a modern game! But a lot of playground talk back then was about where to find things in games, this and Zelda being particularly memorable for me!

[T-Rex-Ohio]

Everyone struggled with Metroid due to lack of a map. Most folks didn't know this at the the time but there was an official map available. When purchasing the system, there were a few bundle options. One bundle came with Mario and Duck hunt, another came with Rob the Robot. But for those on a budget like my brother and I who had to combine our allowance and paper rout money, we bought the cheapest bundle which included 0 games. We were made fun of by all our friends for having a system with no games.

HOWEVER, this budget bundle did come with a strategy book that contained many tips and tricks for several games. We were like, oh great a book, whoop-de-doo. But this book held the complete map to Metroid and all it's items and power ups. We struck gold with that book as It was a God send for anyone trying to play Metroid at that time. All those people who made fun of us was begging to borrow our book. Turns out my brother and I had the last laugh.

[bradj]

Would have to say Super Metroid is the best Metroid game in the franchise.

[cntnuumdth]

Is this how arguements settled nowadays? If I disagree with your opinion, I m a war criminal? I get that Metroid NES is not for everyone but the gaslight is so hot that you can blow a house up!!

This was my first game I had when I was a kid and running around blind is what made me what I am today. I appreciate what I got and I make do with what I have!

[hellman]

Now you understand the term ‘NES hard’ which we actually called regular Nintendo when Super Nintendo came out. Me and my cousin would play this around 1990/91 and never considered how brutal it truly is. Love seeing you on Spawncast , awesome channel! Cheers !

[vembrace]

The original Metroid was meant as a challenge for the hardcore gamer from the 1980s (like what Dark Souls is for modern gamers). It was designed in such a way that not only did you have to devote a great amount of dedication to it, not only given its difficulty but also due to the maze-like layout of the planet. Back then, if you played the game without reading the manual first, there was good chance you would not get far, as you would not be aware of the game's objectives, power-up, nor map layout.
As the series progressed, for whatever reason (most likely to increase sales), Nintendo decided to make the exploration the real challenge of Metroid games (i.e. Metroid II, Super Metroid, Metroid Prime). Metroid Prime 2 is the only modern metroid that attempts to recreat the high difficulty of the original, as the game takes no mercy on the player, especially in the Ing World.

[uffevonlauterbach]

The purpose of Metroid is to get lost and explore. You can mention Metroid Fusion and Metroid Dread, and that's fine. But Metroid Fusion is very linear, and Metroid Dread is linear as well, while giving you some freedom to explore a location. Both guide you in the proper path. Dread just does it better to make it seem as though you're exploring all on your own. Both of those games made it more accessible to new players. Metroid II is also linear, but it still provides you with no map. Super Metroid is a better balance of linear and non-linear, but again, that game also guides you, even if you don't think it is. Metroid isn't an awful game. But I'm glad that people these days didn't start with it, because then people will hate how difficult the game is and say it's bad when it's just a skill issue.

[oblivieon]

Josie, you're right games were different back then and it was a different time. This is how we did this. You would be playing the game and I would be next to you with graph paper mapping the game. We would have notes on where items were and boss patterns. It could take a month or more in summer. Collectively we had maps of Castlevania, Zelda, Metroid and many more. We'd share them along with tips and tricks with each other so all of us would have an opportunity to "Flip" the game (Beat it). Keep in mind there weren't that many games out, they were expensive, and none of us had many. We maybe had under 10 each? Most of the time we would rent a game and have everyone over to see if it was worth buying or not. Then one of us would get it for a Birthday or Christmas and work together / pass is around. BTW none of us used the tip line, Nintendo charged by the minute and it was EXPENSIVE! Plus our parents would kill us when they got the phone bill.

[whiltoecardhonian]

Super Metroid is my first Metroid one I’ve played and beat ✊ I’m playing this one right now and it’s incredible but Super Metroid is probably the greatest game ever made.

[dm]

Metroid is a fantastic game. Challenging but never too difficult because the game controls are really good (and the power-ups like the ice beam and the screw attack really helps). Since there were no maps for the game you really HAD to explore on your own. And there were tons of stuff to explore. No one held your hand. To be honest the manuals didn't reveal much either, but it was very rewarding when you discovered something and finally beat the game.

[otakukj]

It's so refreshing to watch the younger crowd be brave enough to at least attempt nes hard

[neilbottles]

Yeah, I grew up with this game. I could never get far in it when I was young but used to enjoy exploring around.I finally beat it 6 years ago. It felt like a great accomplishment.

[Jesse]

I played it legit and I had to write a map on a paper. You got it easy in 2023 you can pop up a map on your phone.

[ianhowe]

You should give Zero Mission a chance. It’s the same story, but it’s a lot more accessible.
Meanwhile, I’m a crusty 41 year old, so I acknowledge that I can’t take my nostalgia glasses off. Or nostalgia bifocals. I still remember leaving Metroid on pause while I went off to kindergarten. Admittedly, I didn’t beat the original Metroid until I was in high school.
Regardless, I appreciate your perspective. It’s interesting to hear the POV of younger people that don’t put these games on a pedestal and can look at them with fresh eyes. For example, I was born just a few years too late to be an Atari kid, so I look at some of the people that are passionate about Atari 2600 games like they’re space aliens. I generally can’t get into those games. Yet, I still have trouble putting myself in the mind of someone that feels the same way about NES games or Genesis games that I love. Perspective is wacky like that.
Films are actually made up of 24 still images played in rapid succession every second. Our brains do some of the work, filling in the gaps. I think those of us who grew up before real time photorealistic graphics had to use our imaginations to do some of the heavy lifting while playing games. I think my memories of certain games are a weird blend of what I actually saw and what I pictured in my head. That’s sort of why I love the hD-2D games like octopath, live a live, triangle strategy, etc. They sort of capture that. They look the way I remember those great SNES RPGs looking, rather than the way they actually looked. That doesn’t really make sense. It’s hard to explain.
Anyway, keep up the good work!

[koobsmooth]

I remember all of the frustrations, the rage quitting, and thinking I was done. But that just made beating it that much sweeter. The game isn’t bad, just hard.

[MennoniteAbe]

Hilarious - I can beat this game with my eyes closed to this day. Today's gamers have no patience, it's painful to watch them play older games as they do not have near the patience, reflexes and gaming fortitude it takes to beat these old games. No one I knew ever called a hotline and the manual told you nothing.

[Lanman]

This game is absolutely BRUTAL without a guide or map at the least. The only reason I can beat this game today is because I have a lot of it memorized. The fact that every time you die you reset to 30 health is also unnecessarily cruel. I still think this game is more replayable than Metroid 2 though. While that game is more linear, I think having full color to distinguish better between areas, more space on the screen for Samus' sprite to breathe, it just feels better to me personally.

[paulh]

I loved Metroid as a kid but I totally get all the frustrating things.

[samuraicupcake]

To be completely fair, as a 33 yr old that played this when I was a little kid, I also found it frustrating and not particularly fun. I had more fun with Metroid 2 on my Gameboy (thanks mostly to portability). Zelda was definitely more enjoyable. To be perfectly honest, I don't remember *enjoying* games on NES all that much, it was mostly just an introduction to video games in my life. I have fond memories of playing it with my dad. However, I clearly remember being blown away by the Super NES playing at friends & family. Specifically Super Mario World, Zelda LttP, Yoshi's Island and Mario All-Stars. Definitely had oodles of fun with the N64 with my friends, especially with Goldeneye, though sadly the 3D graphics aged like milk, whereas pixelart never gets old.

[MidnitePhantom]

If you draw a map and take it slow, you can EVENTUALLY reach the end. I don't feel enemies are that difficult, except for Mother Brain. I feel the hardest part of the game is how unforgiving starting from a password or from a death is. All the way in Brinstar with no energy or missiles? Punishing lol but to be the worst game ever? I don't think so. Zelda is just as hard or maybe even harder. Metroid isn't horrible, it just requires a little more interaction with the game by getting a map together