User Reviews (1 - 11 of 32)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

brilliant 20 years ago, brilliant now, and probably brilliant forever

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 28, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I don't understand why some people have a problem with the original Metroid. There's really only ONE minor flaw- on more than one occasion, you'll find yourself inside a room that appears to be exactly the same as a room you've been to before, but with very minor changes separating the two, such as enemies in one room, and nothing in the other room. That's it. Some occasional *minor* confusion understanding the difference between a few of the rooms.

That's the only problem with the game. Even then, the game is pretty small so you shouldn't have THAT much of a hard time with it. You shouldn't be spending THAT much time confused and scratching your head where to go and what to do.

There's nothing else to complain about. The original NES Metroid *is* a classic. The excellent theme music in EVERY SINGLE AREA OF THE GAME, the constant arcade-style shooting action (and need I remind you that NO other Metroid game gives you *this* much shooting action) the creepy atmosphere of being stuck inside a dark planet with enemies that seem to crawl, fly, or zig zag all OVER the place, constantly. It's a lot of fun shooting or avoiding these enemies, and the game is so much fun words can't even describe how GREAT the experience is. Replay value indeed.

I was a child in the 80's and remember playing this game over and over as I found new areas and felt the excitement when I finally figured out what I was supposed to do. Remember the first time we reached that part near the beginning where we had to work our way UP that lengthy blue-colored area with spikey creatures crawling around and rippers flying back and forth? Remember when we said to ourselves "Man, is this thing ever going to END or am I supposed to keep climbing forever?" And remember when we finally found a door after all that climbing and breathed a sigh of relief? Didn't you realize this game was something much different from the other NES games at the time? THAT'S what makes a game a classic.

There was nothing else like this game back in the day. A space shooter that was ALSO an action game with fantastic gameplay, and even a platformer for that matter. The game requires lots of climbing and exploring. The music in the more maze-like areas fit *extremely* well with the confusion of trying to find your way out of each area. Absolutely a great game.

Sure, it's short by todays standards, but the two hours it takes for me to blow through the game is time well spent. The password system was also really cool because you had to write down extremely long passwords. This is a good thing because there's a mysterious feeling to the dead quiet sound of a password appearing on screen after you were killed.

People who dismiss this game are spoiled by either Super Metroid's superior graphics and gameplay, or even worse, spoiled by the drastically different Metroid Prime games. Remember, I was AROUND in the 80's and got to experience this classic game when it was brand new. That's why I can appreciate it for the masterpiece it is. Atmosphere, gameplay, music, memories, that dreaded feeling of hopelessness and fear when you believed you were stuck in certain areas, you name it. This game has it all, baby.

Don't be afraid of a challenge (though I've never believed the game was as difficult as most people) and don't be afraid of a game that's old. EVERYTHING will be old one day.

A Metroid review from a guy whose played it for 20 years...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: April 16, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Okay let me first say that when i first saw this game when I was 7 years old I was intrigued. The year was 1987. The power-ups hidden in the game were a thrill to find. Learning all the maps proved most difficult and beating Kraid, the boss of the underground was as far as I got for years. Why? Cause I always ended up copying the stupid complicated password down wrong and could not continue. (Its crazy if you didn't already know.)
I finally beat the game in my sophmore year of highschool (without any outside help) after exploring every crany nook with my bombs and having the map of the entire game practically memorized. That my friends is key to metroid, memorizing where you have gone which proved most difficult to do when I was a child. Yes I killed Kraid, went to the statues and blasted Motherbrain to oblivion, and finally beat the hardest game in my youth - next to Kid Icarus- still haven't beaten it and probly never will...
This game my friends is old school, no hand holding like in Super Metroid with the maps that tell you in what land you are in, the map is in your head, (of course now you can always look up the map on the internet, something old school gamers never had), and you should stay away from this game unless you are a gamer gamer if you know what I mean. The only thing that bogs my mind is that they sell this game for around $5 while the more recent Metroid Prime also sells for around $5. Trippy!!!

Frustration and Fun

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 02, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is definitely no walk in the park. First of all its very unintuitive. When I rented this game as a kid, I had no freaking idea how to get past a red door. In fact, I never even found any missles to blast the door down with, because the game's just so darn big, and many of the rooms you go through look exactly the same. Its tough to find your way around. I wouldn't even attempt to play this game without a map of some sort now.

If you have any intention of progressing through certain points in the game, you absolutely have to go through secret passageways using bombs. This is another thing that makes the game very unintuitive. And for this reason, I wouldn't attempt to play the game without a walkthrough in addition to a map.

And what's worse, even if you have your walkthrough and your map, there are areas in the game where you can get stuck indefinitely. I tried to access a secret room by doing a bomb jump over a statue, and sure enough, I got stuck in a nook behind the statue and couldn't get out. No matter what I did, I was stuck. Talk about frustrating. I shouldn't have to reset the game when I make a mistake like that. At least give me a suicide option or something.

Then there was another time I got an energy pack in a secret room, and when I tried to roll and explode my way back out of the secret room, I couldn't get out. The last rock in my way refused to explode, and freaking bees kept flying at me while I was trying to escape. Dog gone, why have a secret room at all if I can't get out of the darn thing?

But despite all this, Metroid is a pretty good game. Sure, there are times when you're swarmed by enemies that'll beat on you until you're forced to run away, but you've got to take the bad with the good sometimes. Its fun to just run around, get all the special items, and shoot stuff. When you have that jumping attack and the wave beam, man, you can plow through enemies like you're the Terminator. Nothing can stand in your way. Except those jelly fish things. You can't screw around with those guys.

I'm glad I gave this game another shot 20 years later. It was a lot of fun. It still seems so futuristic even though it's a blast from the past. I'm just glad modern games for the most part don't let you get yourself into situations where you can't escape without hitting the reset button.

love this game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: March 09, 2007
Author: Amazon User

love playing this game, i had it years ago.. thanks amazon for having it

Overall!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: September 21, 2005
Author: Amazon User

A great game for all hardcore gamers out there! Most people would not reconize this game unless you are actually older than the age of lets say 18. A must have for anyone and everyone!

Don't get me wrong, this is a great game!!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: July 17, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Ok, this is a great game, but, it can be very frustrating. You die too quickly. Some enimies are very frustrating, like the purple flying robot, if he finds you, he will get to the bottom, so you can't attack him, unless you're lucky enough to have the ability to
place bombs while rolling. The first most frustrating ememy in the game is the flys that come out of the pipes. They're extremely annoying!! They're are not stupid, if you jump, they will go higher on the next attack. It is just so annoying!!! I reccommend this game, but, be aware that this game is frustrating. The other thing is that the password system is frustrating, because, it is easy to confuse different characters with others.
Overall, I reccommend it, but, watch out for the flys!!!

4.5 stars - Definitely the first game of its kind

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 12 / 13
Date: June 13, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Metroid(1986). The first Metroid game and only one to appear on the NES.

Imagine that it is the year 1986. Nintendo had finally managed to break through the market with Super Mario Brothers the previous year, and it looked to be an uphill climb in greatness for the system. The NES was becoming a household name, and Nintendo was sure to release many more classics which would define the system. Metroid was one of these.

Of all the spectacular 2D platform adventure games to be released throughout the last 20 years or so, such as the masterpieces Super Metroid, Castlevania Symphony Of The Night, Rygar, the GBA Castlevanias, Clash At Demonhead, and others, all of them owe their design to the popular original Metroid. While Super Mario Brothers technically invented the 2D action platform genre, and Zelda was a milestone for adventure gaming, up until Metroid there were no games that merged the two genres together. To put it simply, Metroid showed us a large sidescrolling environment with no "levels" so to speak, and combined it with items to collect and upgrade your character. For its day this was unheard of.

Now I will go through the Positives, the Negatives, and the other Negatives that I consider to be overblown about Metroid...

THE POSITIVES:

-WELL DESIGNED GAME LAYOUT. Each area that you traverse is filled with lots of pathways, secrets, enemies, and powerups for you to collect. One thing I'm very impressed with for the game back in its day is that it's designed to prevent you from accessing certain areas without the aid of another ability/weapon. It also leaves you to think of ways to bypass some of these obstacles before you have these abilities. Very clever, Nintendo.
-VERY DIVERSE ARRAY OF WEAPONS AND ABILITIES. For weapons, you've got the long beam, ice beam, and wave beam, which isn't a whole lot compared to other games, but enough to suit you for this adventure. Your abilities range from a hi jump, to a morph ball, to a protection suit, and to a damaging screw jump attack. Good enough for exploring the inner sanctums of Planet Zebes.
-GOOD RANGE OF ENEMIES. While they tend to repeat themselves in different areas of the game, they do come in a variety of types. Most of them are very challenging, some are enough to make you pull your hair out, and others can be avoided altogether.
-GREAT DIFFICULTY. This game is not an easy one, and its steep uphill learning curve will be loved and hated by many.

THE NEGATIVES

-THE ICEBEAM ACQUIRING LATER ON BECOMES FLAWED. What I mean is that every weapon you acquire replaces the one before it, and because of that, once you have your most powerful weapon, the wave beam, you'll be in trouble when you reach the final lair. You need the icebeam again when approaching the end of the game. Some may get frustrated with this aspect.
-YOU CAN'T DUCK AND SHOOT! It becomes really annoying early in the game when you don't have the bomb yet and you need to shoot those spikey creatures on the ground and you can't.
-THE BOSSES ARE TOO EASY. Well, Mother Brain is a bit tough because of all the stuff shooting at you, but Kraid and Ridley are both a bit disappointing because all you have to do is come close to both of them and just let loose with the missles.

Now I'll address the Negatives that people have about the game that I think are just hot air:

-THE GRAPHICS ARE OLD. People often say this about the game, but honestly, can you expect anything more from a game that came out in 1986? It works for the time. Though some of the environments can get a little bland in places, it's not that bad.
-NO SAVE GAME FEATURE. Again, keep in mind that the year is 1986, and the only game that would've already had this feature is Zelda, which may or may not have come out before this game. The passwords can be tedious, but they save everything.
-VERY LITTLE STORY. Once again, 1986. See a common theme here? If you think about it, the original Zelda really didn't have any bigger of a story to it either but nobody complained there. Same thing with Super Metroid. Plus, let's not forget how adding an in-depth story into the gameplay killed the freedom and pacing of Metroid Fusion.
-NO MAP FEATURE. While having a map would help, the game isn't really all that intricate compared to Super Metroid, so by not having the map, the challenge factor bumps up and makes the game FEEL larger.

Overall, Metroid is a flawed masterpiece, but a masterpiece nonetheless. If you feel like divulging in a historical yet essential classic of the NES, then Metroid should fill the gap nicely. This game already comes as a bonus to both Metroid Prime and Zero Mission, so you might as well save money and play those. While Zero Mission may be a better rendition of the original game, no one can deny the classic sensibilities of this NES shooter. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Other recommendations:
-Any other sidescrolling Metroid title (Fusion, Super Metroid, Zero Mission, Metroid 2)
-Any NES Mega Man game
-Castlevania Symphony of the Night (PS1) and any of its GBA contemporaries (Circle, Harmony, Aria)
-Rygar (NES)
-Clash At Demonhead (NES)

NOTE: For those who don't know, enter the password:
JUSTIN BAILEY
------ ------

Unique, inspiring, a masterpiece...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: April 26, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I first played Metroid when I was about 4 or 5, very young. I saw my parents playing it, and I had to play it of course. I think the thing that took my breath away the most was the idea of being able to play in one huge world and gain abilites by finding items. The difficulty was very high, so I had plenty reason to come back for more, as well. The GBA version of Metroid is much easier, in my opinion, due to the fact that you don't need to imput the passwords over and over again. That is the only flaw in this game: the passwords are confusing as heck. It uses lower and upper case letters, as well as a plethora of numbers and punctuation marks, so it is easy to write down something and get confused later on ( zeros look like o's...). Anyway, next to Super Metroid this is probably the greatest video game ever made, and expresses what a good video game is all about: Using your brain power to achieve something that is not only complicated, but fun. This is an open-ended game which is one huge level. Unlike Contra, Adventure Island and all those classic NES games, Metroid was one huge level which was intertwined and allowed the player to interract with the environment (ex: shooting a creature with the ice beam, then blowing a few blocks away above your head to reveal a hidden passage). It's hard to express how fun this game was, and still is.

Graphics- 10/10 When it cam out, the graphics were top of the line and the environments look pretty awesome, especially the Norfair, Ridley, and Kraid environments. The backrounds are in many different textures and colors. Some environemts are downright creepy (the purple orbs in Norfair, and the purple drooping rock-esque things on the ceiling for example, or the big structures of the alien heads on the walls before you enter Kraids and Ridleys lairs, also the creepy structure before you fight Kraid and Ridley.), while others just fit in perfectly with the enemies and music themes. Each of the enemies has an interesting designs, and for its time the bosses were pretty cool.

Music- 10/10 The Brinstar theme has got to be the catchiest and most memorable music theme out of any video game...ever. The other themes are great as well, especially the Kraid, Norfair, and Ridley themes. The music is quite atmospheric and sets the tone for the exploration quite perfectly, making it not only fun to explore, but pleasing to the ears as well. Music plays a big role in this game.

Controls- 10/10 For its time, Metroid played extremely smooth, and Samus controlled great. It was one of, if not the first game to allow you to aim upward, making it a lot better. Sure you can duck down or aim diagnolly.. but this was NES, not Playstation 2, remember?

Gameplay- 100/10 One hundred out of ten. This game took the idea of gameplay which was created by titles such as Super Mario Bros and just blew it away. There are countless items and powerups to collect, each uniquely hidden and well worth it. Metroid was the first game to really utilize exploration, unlike other games which were purely level-to-level. Sure, sometimes things are hidden in a ridiculous manor compared to games these days (having to blow away some random block to unveal the next room), but I think this only made the game more unique and durable. I mean, having to search for new rooms was not only thrilling, but it really made it feel like you were Samus embarking on a bounty hunter mission against the aliens of Zebes. Gameplay is absolutely flawless.

Overall-10/10 This is probably the greatest NES game ever made, and I think everyone (kids or adults) should play this game, for it is not only brain-teasing, but is also quite fun. If you can look past its dated graphics and what-not, you will see that for its time everything was great, and to me it still looks as good as it did before. I cannot recommend this any more.

Liked it.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 1 / 4
Date: August 31, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I was at my cousins house. It was her 9th birthday and she had nintendo. I stumbbled upon a came salled Metroid. I asked my cousin about this game and she told me she didn't like it and said it was hard. So I played it and couldn't get past the first level! Yes it is hard and I never got to beat it. But still a good game and I liked the sounds.

The game that defined open-ended exploration; a true classic

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: June 02, 2004
Author: Amazon User

In 1986, METROID forever changed the face of video gaming. A richly atmospheric title, METROID offered a darker, grainier side to the bright images and sunshine gaming that were at that time populating Nintendo. (To this day Nintendo still specialises in that `sunshine gaming,' with more titles for little kids than adults, but that's rather beside the point). SUPER MARIO BROTHERS, the 8-Bit's flagship title, was colourful, woefully short, and a fun jaunt to rescue Princess Toadstool from the evil Bowser. SUPER MARIO BROTHERS displayed a mastery of excellent level design, but it did not take long to beat. The rest of the video games at that time, san ZELDA and KID ICARUS, were also of a relative simple nature.

Enter Samus Aran. This was a game that offered unprecedented depth of play, was dark and grisly, and had great, mood setting music, and long, twisting corridors that led you deep into the Space Pirates' lair. An incredibly large game for the time, comparable only to THE LEGEND OF ZELDA and KID ICARUS of the first generation Nintendo titles, you could wander around for hours, exploring and gaining access to new areas with new items. I tend to think of KID ICARUS (why didn't this become a franchise???) and METROID as brothers, and ZELDA and METROID as first cousins. While ZELDA offers a very innovative, opened-ended (for the time) overworld experience with fantasy elements, METROID does the same type of innovation for side-scrollers, with a map just as expansive (though in a different format) as ZELDA. Which brings me to the actual game play of METROID.

Metroid operates as one long map broke off into sections. There is no level progressions like Mario. But the game does contain you too certain areas that only opens up after you had receive new items. These items are cleverly hidden throughout the game's map, and just when you think you've come to a dead end, suddenly you bomb the floor and a whole new area opens before you. And the game isn't too kind when it set you down in that opening area of Brinstar. Equipped with only 30 energy units, Samus has to be tough to survive. Energy is scarce and can be time-consuming to collect. (Compare obtaining life in METROID to SUPER METROID; in SUPER METROID there's all sorts of energy). The energy being so hard to collect, and the ungodly complex password system, do flaw the game, but we have to remember this is a first gen NES title, so you have to cut it some slack.

Now would be a good time to talk about METROID's glitch. Much like the negative world in SUPER MARIO BROTHERS, METROID has one of the most famous glitches in the video gaming world. Called the Secret Worlds, you use a wall jumping technique that enables you to get to "new areas" of the game that are otherwise unreachable. Thought to be a secret, an intentional programming easter egg, these Secret Worlds, while still fun to search for, are not intentional. They are glitches. Search the Internet to find out all about these secret areas.

After transversing Brinstar and Norfair, getting new items, then Samus has to fight through the two bosses' hideouts and put them down before the final confrontation: Mother Brain. My favorite old school enemy, Mother Brain is a proven nemesis, much harder to beat than the laughably pathetic Bowser or even the more challenging Gannon. On top of that, once you beat her you have to get out of Tourian within a certain time limit (admittedly, it's more than enough time to get out). Even though Mother Brain's tough, we video gamers led Samus to victory countless times because of the stupendous game play and the compelling story. Once Mother Brain is dead and we get Samus out of Tourian, then the real payoff is unleashed. Samus is a WOMAN! And if you beat the game under certain time limits, you get different endings. During the days of rescuing damsels in distresses with a Brooklyn plumber or a green-clad boy, Samus's gender is very revolutionary, which brings me to the story aspect of METROID, which is currently under attack by ZERO MISSION.

METROID's best features are successfully combines rich story-telling (for the NES) with innovative gameplay. This isn't a kid's game like Mario. This is a classic science fiction story, heavily influenced by Ridley Scott's ALIEN. Metroid is a story of a Space Federation fighting for its very survival against the fearsome Mother Brain and its two subordinates, Ridley and Kraid, who had stolen the Metroids and had their own devious designs for them. I have a sneaking suspicion that the boss Ridley was named after Sigourney Weaver's character and Ridley Scott. Gunpei Yokoi, executive produce of METROID (and also one of the chief developers of the original Game Boy), said that while ALIEN was never specifically discussed during Metroid's development, it cast a heavy shadow over METROID. That same dark terror, about never knowing what was around the next corner and how you were hoping, against all odds, that Ridley in ALIEN and Samus in the game would come out on top, forever cemented both tales in the imaginations of their prospective audiences.

Because of the gameplay and atmospheric story, Samus Aran has become a classic video game icon. Thankfully, after many long years the METROID franchise has become alive again with new releases. But for those who want to relive the Samus's first glory, then this game would hold you enthralled. This is truly a classic game.

P. S. Unfortunately, do to the realitive simplicity of the NES version of events, Nintendo has saw fit to introduce a radical remake of the game on METROID: ZERO MISSION, enlarging it and changing around events. While I enjoyed ZM, I felt it much to linear and went against what made the original so great to begin with: open-ended exploration. See my METROID: ZERO MISSION review for more details.

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 Next 

Actions