November Retro Community Playthrough - Super Metroid

[techwizard]

Finished!

I couldn't take the picture in time, but my clear time was 1:27. 

I'm still working on my 100% run....I'm up to 93%.  I have no clue where the last few items are and I refuse to use a walkthrough to find them

wow! congrats!

[JerryGreenwood]

Sequence breaking in SOTN, for one. Here are a few well-known ones:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/b...ony-of-the-night/52519205

Ahh, yes. I knew about those. I thought you meant more like the secret moves you can pull off in SM.

I couldn't take the picture in time, but my clear time was 1:27. 

I'm still working on my 100% run....I'm up to 93%.  I have no clue where the last few items are and I refuse to use a walkthrough to find them

Wow, very fast! I think 97% was the highest I've ever gotten. When I was trying to hunt everything down, all of the stuff I missed was in Maridia and in the depths of Norfair. The other areas are pretty easy. There's one Super Missile in Maridia that is a pain in the ass to get.

[singlebanana]

Finished!

I couldn't take the picture in time, but my clear time was 1:27. 

And.................. I hate you.

[techwizard]

so who else has started this yet? we have 4 who've played out of 9 so far, but the month is still young

[RetroRage]

Wow, very fast! I think 97% was the highest I've ever gotten. When I was trying to hunt everything down, all of the stuff I missed was in Maridia and in the depths of Norfair. The other areas are pretty easy. There's one Super Missile in Maridia that is a pain in the ass to get.

Yeah there's an area in Maridia that I always having trouble hunting down, but I think I know where it is now

Spoiler (hover to show)

 There are a few hidden rooms you can only access by sinking into the quicksand.  I'm gonna run through the game again later this week to get a better 100% time.  I finished at 93% at just under 5:00, I know I can do better than that.

[MaterialHandlerMike]

Played yesterday for almost an hour of game time, and achieved the first checkpoint.

[singlebanana]

Played yesterday for almost an hour of game time, and achieved the first checkpoint.

Nice! How are you enjoying it so far Mike?

[MaterialHandlerMike]

I dig the heck out of 2D Metroidvania. This is a shining example of one of the SNES' greatest exploration platformers. I loved this game back in '94, and was happy to reacquire it for my collection in 2014. It's always fun to play, and I don't mind coming back to it every few years.

[singlebanana]

You know, a big part of the reason I shied away from SM for so long is because I had always heard about how difficult it was. I have come to discover that this critique of the game is total bulls#%t! For the life of me, I can never understand why people go on and on about how difficult a game is when pretty much all of the tools are right there in front of them. Sure, you can explore a little more for additional missiles, bombs, and energy tanks, but to me, that's half the fun. Sure, I died a few times fighting some of the bosses/mini-bosses, but that's part of the game; I never felt that any of those fights were impossible, just that I needed to think about the fight a little and come in with a different strategy.   

I have been discussing the game with one of our newer members, MetalFRO, in PM (yes, he is playing this month too and I have pointed him to this thread) and he was touting how SM had a better "instant gratification" system as opposed to the NES original. I agree and think that SM is much more "linear??" (not the right word of course, but you get what I'm saying) than its predecessor. It's not hand-holding at all, it just lends itself more to pushing you in the right direction so that you never feel totally lost, like you sometimes do in the original. The maps are great and help you discover empty areas that may still need exploring and I like this new discoverable feature. These empty cells can often be the deciding factor as to where to go next and searching them usually turns up good results, whether it be access to a new area or supplemental items you may not have seen or been able to access earlier. The 5 usable menu items are also well-implemented into the game's structure and work in a very linear fashion to increase exploration.

[RetroRage]

Ran through it again.  I knew for sure I'd get a way better time than 1:27....well I got a better time...

[img width=700 height=933]http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/w365/adsanislo/20141104_211023_zps3xrsiux1.jpg[/img]

:/

[RetroRage]

@Nanners the fact that the game doesn't hold your hand at all is probably why most people are turned off to the game.  We live in the ADD age of tutorials with long winded dialogue, so new and younger gamers are going to be more lost than theyve ever been.  The atmosphere of SM is inteded to be desolate.  No communication, no friends, no tips or clues.  It's up to your critical thinking and ingenuity to get you through the game, and unfortunately a lot of people don't have patience for that.  Oddly enough the bosses arent really difficult at all, even with moderate supplies.  The exploration is whats killer.

Having said that though, I was very frustrated with the lack of direction the first time I ran through this game 20 years ago.  You feel like a rat in a maze.  But there's nothing more satisfying than figuring out a puzzle on your own, only to get stuck a few minutes later with an even more confusing puzzle.  And I think thats what makes the game so great.  At the time there was nothing like it.

[singlebanana]

@Nanners the fact that the game doesn't hold your hand at all is probably why most people are turned off to the game.  We live in the ADD age of tutorials with long winded dialogue, so new and younger gamers are going to be more lost than theyve ever been.  The atmosphere of SM is inteded to be desolate.  No communication, no friends, no tips or clues.  It's up to your critical thinking and ingenuity to get you through the game, and unfortunately a lot of people don't have patience for that.  Oddly enough the bosses arent really difficult at all, even with moderate supplies.  The exploration is whats killer.

Having said that though, I was very frustrated with the lack of direction the first time I ran through this game 20 years ago.  You feel like a rat in a maze.  But there's nothing more satisfying than figuring out a puzzle on your own, only to get stuck a few minutes later with an even more confusing puzzle.  And I think thats what makes the game so great.  At the time there was nothing like it.

+1 - completely agree with the age of the ADD gamer bit. I was honestly never frustrated with any part of this game and basically just went to areas that appeared unexplored on the map and used my x-ray scope quite often. Sure, there were times where I was stumped for a few minutes, but it didn't take much longer to get back on track. I'm just a little disappointed in myself for buying into comments that this game is TOO difficult.

[RetroRage]

I was 10 when I played the game for the first time in 1994.  It was very difficult for my young brain.  Or maybe I'm just a big dummy heh

[Shadow Kisuragi]

http://kotaku.com/the-kid...with-super-metr-507848662

[MetalFRO]

I have been discussing the game with one of our newer members, MetalFRO, in PM (yes, he is playing this month too and I have pointed him to this thread) and he was touting how SM had a better "instant gratification" system as opposed to the NES original. I agree and think that SM is much more "linear??" (not the right word of course, but you get what I'm saying) than its predecessor. It's not hand-holding at all, it just lends itself more to pushing you in the right direction so that you never feel totally lost, like you sometimes do in the original. The maps are great and help you discover empty areas that may still need exploring and I like this new discoverable feature. These empty cells can often be the deciding factor as to where to go next and searching them usually turns up good results, whether it be access to a new area or supplemental items you may not have seen or been able to access earlier. The 5 usable menu items are also well-implemented into the game's structure and work in a very linear fashion to increase exploration.

Thanks for the mention - I'm just getting started with this game, and have about 3 1/2 hours of playtime thus far.  My current save is in Maridia, and I've reached the big lizard/slug boss that spits out stuff at you.  I haven't beat  him yet, but I know now what I need to do, I think:

Spoiler (hover to show)

Shoot him in the eye to prompt him to open his mouth so I can pelt his mouth with missiles?

Earlier in the game, I found the charge cannon, but I must have died before continuing onto the next area, so I don't have that weapon at this point.  Should I restart so I can go back and get it, or will I be okay without it?  Or is there a possibility I'll be able to backtrack later to snag it at some point?  In any event, I'm having fun, and can FINALLY say I'm playing through this game.