Metroid: Samus Returns

Genre: Metroidvania

Players: 1

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Review:

Metroid: Samus Returns, released on Nintendo 3DS in 2017, is at least nominally a remake of the 1991 Game Boy Metroidvania title Metroid II: Return of Samus. I say “nominally”, because Metroid II was clearly just seen as a general inspiration for this game rather than a blueprint to follow. If it weren’t for the similar plot and reappearance of power-ups only seen in Metroid II, this would likely be seen as an entirely new game.

Of course, the closest point of reference I can point to now is the successor to this game on Nintendo Switch, Metroid Dread. That is because both games were developed by MercurySteam (who previously worked on Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Mirror of Fate), and as such both Metroid: Samus Returns and Metroid Dread feature similar gameplay and a similar art style.

That art style has the entire 2D game rendered in 3D, with good detail on Samus and the creatures she fights, and some nice depths in the environments in the background. This is a visually excellent game on the Nintendo 3DS that takes what little we saw in the monochrome Game Boy game and reimagines it to great effect. The soundtrack of that game has also been reimagined, though the memorable tunes of that game have been turned into something more atmospheric here, leading to those songs being nowhere as catchy as the chiptune versions that were in Metroid II.

For the gameplay, virtually everything has changed from Metroid II – the map is wildly different, the abilities you collect are different… as I indicated before, in many ways this is closer to an entirely new Metroid game than a remake. However, as an entirely new Metroid game, it’s one of the better games in the series. Clearly a lot of inspiration has been taken from Super Metroid, the series’ zenith, a wise choice. What’s more, the game makes things a bit more accessible by making one of the newest abilities a radar pulse to scan the area nearby for secrets, reducing the need to “bomb every block” that Metroid games often seem to require.

Somewhat more divisive is the new melee counter ability, which would also be reused in Metroid Dread. It seems many of this game’s enemies have been redesigned to encourage the use of this ability, which means that rather than blasting away enemies, you’ll often be encouraged to wait until they charge you, properly time your use of the counter, and then blast enemies away. This adds a bit of complexity to combat, though it also means that combat is often a bit more tedious and time-consuming. I’m not saying this is a bad addition to the gameplay, only that it has benefits and drawbacks.

Overall, this is a massive improvement over Metroid II, and while it’s not quite on par with Super Metroid, it is nevertheless a truly excellent Metroidvania that’s one of the best entries the genre has ever received, with tons of interesting places to explore and secrets to find. If you’re a fan of Metroidvanias and own a Nintendo 3DS, you should consider this a must-have game. And if you’re a fan of the Metroid series without a 3DS, this game might make it worth buying a 3DS to play.

tl;dr – Metroid: Samus Returns is a Metroidvania that’s technically a remake or re-imagining of Metroid II, but is so wildly different that it’s essentially a completely new game, and an exceptional one at that. Not everyone is going to be a fan of the new melee counter ability, but otherwise this is an outstanding Metroidvania that’s one of the better games in the genre.

Grade: A

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