amphibious_ReViews

I was first turned on to Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown when I heard it described as the spiritual successor to Metroid Dread . Knowing it would probably be ages before I got another mainline Metroid game, I was pretty excited by the prospect of having a similar game so soon. I felt a bit burnt-out on the Metroidvania genre for a while, so I let this one sit on my shelf while I allowed my interest to start simmering again. Picking it up now, I don't know why I ever walked away! The exploration and growth that defines search-action games is so addictive, and the team behind The Lost Crown must be experts. Shaking up the series in more ways than one, this Prince of Persia entry follows Sargon, a member of an elite fighting team known as The Immortals. Instead of being the titular prince himself, Sargon is tasked with rescuing the prince from a cursed mountain following his abduction from the palace. Mount Qaf itself, the setting for most of the game, also acts as the vehicle for ju...

Before I get started, I want to make it clear that this is a review of Infidelity's SNES port of Metroid, not the NES original. As part of his long-running porting project, this version of the game takes advantage of the SNES's increased power to eliminate all slowdown and sprite flickering found in the original. In addition, thanks to the MSU-1 virtual coprocessor, you can select one of four soundtracks to play behind the game (I chose the Japanese Famicom Disk System version). However, my biggest reason for choosing Infidelity's port wasn't the smoother gameplay or the improved music. During the porting process, Infidelity will occasionally add optional quality-of-life improvements to his releases. These upgrades modernized the NES original Metroid just enough to make it fun to play without betraying its spirit. The save system from the Famicon Disk System release was re-implemented here, so you don't have to copy down passwords anymore. A new pause menu accessed ...

With Metroidvanias stand tall amongst my favorite game genres, I'm always excited to stumble upon a new one, especially if it has a unique twist. Gato Roboto is an excellent bite-sized example of that, giving you a mech suit that facilitates the formula-standard upgrades but occasionally requiring you to step out of it to run around as an agile, yet powerless, housecat! That gimmick, along with the smooth controls, excellent pacing, short playtime, and small price tag make Gato Roboto a wonderful introduction to the genre. The game begins with an astronaut crash-landing at an abandoned research facility on a small remote planet. He's trapped in his ship and facing fatal injuries, so he sends his surprisingly intelligent pet cat to explore the base and find some means of rescue. After a little exploring, you'll discover the mech suit and the game will really pick up. Most of the map will be closed to you until you discover the item or ability you need to open up a new pathwa...

As a mid-2000s handheld sequel to a legendary console game, I expected Metroid Prime Hunters to be a neutered imitation of the game that inspired it. In regards to its formula, that's exactly what happened, but I was actually quite surprised by how much I still enjoyed myself while playing it. There are a lot of spin-off games that claim to be canon in their respective series but can easily be passed up. While it takes place between the first two numbered Metroid Prime games, I still expected to feel that way about Hunters before I played it. Now that I've finished it, I think it's important enough that I actually find myself wishing for a port to the Nintendo Switch so other people can play it before Metroid Prime 4 debuts. Whether it was because of hardware constraints or a genuine consideration for the short play sessions that are typical of handheld gamers, Metroid Prime Hunters makes a few big concessions from the usual Metroid formula. Other than a set of special weap...

One could paraphrase my review of Ori and the Blind Forest by saying that, while I enjoyed it, it just didn't have the same magic that other Metroidvanias have had for me in the past. Ori and the Will of the Wisps, on the other hand, absolutely has that magic. Building off of the narrative and gameplay foundations of the previous game while taking everything up a few notches, this ended up being one of the most gripping experiences I've had with the genre yet! While the first game had a particular few design choices that really stood out to me, Ori and the Will of the Wisps went a different direction with pretty much all of them. I was skeptical of these changes at first, but I think they were ultimately the right move for this game. Instead of being able to manually save anywhere with one of Ori's spells, the game relies on generous auto-saves and save stations. I was worried about trusting my fate to auto-saves, but there were far fewer instant-death traps than there wer...

When I first learned about Ori, I was thoroughly impressed by its art style, but was actively disinterested in playing it for a couple of reasons. First, it was only on Xbox, a platform I had no access to at the time. Second, I knew it was a Metroidvania and my only experience with the genre thus far was a frustrating DNF of the NES original Metroid. Neither of those original roadblocks persist today, and I suddenly found myself very excited to give this series a try. After talking about it with my brother, he scrounged up a copy of the two-game collection for me to borrow, and I ended up buying both games within the next few days. While I wasn't head over heels for it like I was with other big-name Metroidvanias, I had a lot of fun with Ori and the Blind Forest and I was a big fan of its unique approach to genre staples like upgrading your character. Starting with a semi-interactive cinematic, Ori and the Blind Forest puts you in control of a little light spirit named Ori as he gr...

I bought Hollow Knight shortly after it was released on Switch because I had heard good things about it, and the screenshots all looked beautiful. I don't think I actually knew it was a Metroidvania at the time, and I never got around to playing it anyway. I'm glad I waited though, because my experience with the Metroid series helped me to appreciate it way more than I would have back in 2018. I've developed a patience for difficult boss fights and backtracking that I didn't have seven years ago, and now I'm excitedly exploring a vast and rewarding array of Metroidvania games. I would consider Hollow Knight the hardest I've played yet, further convincing me that I wouldn't have liked it very much when I bought it, but the payoff for my dedication to mastering its combat and traversal mechanics is enormous. Hollow Knight starts by dropping you on the very edge of its world, controlling a little bug warrior known only as "the knight." Like any good s...

For the longest time, I had thought Metroid Prime would be the first Metroid game I would beat. The trilogy mocked my empty wallet from its pedestal in the WiiU eShop until I got distracted by the Switch and left it behind. I would still look back on it with longing every once in a while, but one day I felt compelled to try Zero Mission and 2D Metroid consumed me. Now, having beaten at least one iteration of every game in the mainline saga, Metroid Prime once again entered my sights. Easily the definitive version, Metroid Prime Remastered graced the Switch and showed me what I've been missing after all these years. I was honestly a bit worried after having played Dread so recently because I wasn't sure how well the search action formula would translate to 3D. I had heard that the backtracking had turned a lot of people off, which was never much of an issue for me in the mainline games, but I still felt a bit anxious about it. I quickly learned that those fears were entirely u...

I don't think 2D Metroid could be in a better place than it is right now. Thanks to the Switch's massive install base and the excellent work done by the team at MercurySteam, Metroid Dread has sold better than any other game in the series, potentially introducing tens of thousands of new players to the series. While there were a few things that kept it behind Metroid Fusion as my favorite entry, the transition to 2.5D started by Samus Returns has been fully realized here, and it's absolutely glorious. I know this kind of game won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I think Metroid Dread is exactly what we needed to make sure that people who might fall in love with the series actually get a chance to do so. Picking up after the events of Metroid Fusion, Samus, still genetically fused with Metroid DNA, and ADAM, now integrated into the ship's computer, receive a distress signal from an unfamiliar planet. Within the distress call was an image of an x-parasite, prompt...

Oh my goodness. I've really enjoyed all of the Metroid games that I've reviewed thus far, but Metroid Fusion? This one is my favorite. I know that can be a pretty controversial position, especially thanks to some of the formula changes that Fusion introduced, but those changes are actually why I love it! As much as I enjoy the magic of discovery, my general preference with video games is for them to actively direct me to such a degree that I would rarely, if ever, need a walkthrough to maintain my pace. Each of the other three Metroid games that I've reviewed didn't quite achieve that, and many people love them for it. I still really enjoy them anyway, but Metroid Fusion did exactly what I wanted and pivoted away from the "explore to progress" mindset to the "explore for extra goodies" approach that I prefer. In terms of mechanics and its general aesthetic, Fusion feels very similar to its direct predecessor, Super Metroid . Samus still moves with th...

Ever since I was a little kid, I have loved pinball. I loved playing real tables in arcades, Space Pinball on my grandma's computer, the myriad of Gameboy pinball games, and especially the battery-guzzling mini table I got at a garage sale. While I'm not playing pinball in any form as often or as intensely as I used to, I still love it. That, along with my newfound appreciation for Metroidvania games, made Yoku's Island Express very intriguing. Combining search action with pinball mechanics, this ended up being one of the most unique indie experiences I've played recently, and I loved it! Playing as the little dung beetle Yoku, your job is to take over the mail service of a small island whose previous postmaster is retiring. This might be a pretty daunting task for a little beetle, especially one inexplicably chained to a heavy ball, but the island is surprisingly well-equipped with dung-beetle-accessible transportation. While the hills may be steep and the hallways con...

I was almost afraid to start playing Super Metroid. Having truly started my Metroid journey with two more modern remakes of the previous games, I didn't want another A Link to the Past situation on my hands. So many people hold this game in such high regard, but would archaic design tropes or cryptic objectives push me away from the same conclusion? Unfortunately, the answer to that was ultimately yes. My first attempt at Super Metroid was almost entirely walkthrough free, and I made it about halfway through before I just couldn't figure anything out anymore. I took a break for a few months, then came back to a fresh playthrough with a walkthrough this time. While that really detracted from the search action that defines games like this, I'm glad that I got the chance to play all of Super Metroid without losing my mind, or spending hours trying to figure out what to do next, and I generally had a good time doing it. Despite it technically being the oldest game in the serie...

Like its predecessor on the NES , Metroid II on the Gameboy hasn't aged all that well. While a technically impressive feat, the clunky controls and crunched screen just aren't something that most people want to put up with anymore. Despite that, the game's story is an incredibly important chapter in the main Metroid narrative, so it's not something that you would really want to miss. Luckily, Nintendo understood the need to retell this story and offered up the second remake in the series. However, Samus Returns is special in the fact that its gameplay was designed to remodel the standard used for Metroid games going forward, replacing the Super Metroid style used in the past few games. When I first started playing Samus Returns , I was a bit jarred by how much the combat mechanics have changed from Zero Mission . However, it didn't take long for me to be so comfortable with this new style that I never wanted to go back. While countering charging enemies seeme...

I tried to play the original NES Metroid multiple times. Each attempt would start with optimism and end with disappointment and frustration. I wanted so badly to appreciate it the way I had with Super Mario Bros. or The Legend of Zelda , but I just couldn't get past its archaic controls and cryptic structure. Metroid: Zero Mission helped to fill that gap by modernizing every aspect of the original that had previously frustrated me, while still offering the same world and story that I wanted to experience in the first place. That, along with the fantastic new content, made this game as hard to put down as the original was to pick up. Zero Mission has you taking the role of the bounty Hunter Samus Aran as she attempts to defeat the space pirates that have taken over the planet Zebes. When you first start the game, Samus is pitifully weak, with only a short-range beam in the way of firepower and an equally short jump as the sum of her maneuverability. Her relative incompetence se...