3/5 ★ – MegaBlastoise's review of Metroid II: Return of Samus.

Platform Played: GameBoy Date Reviewed: Jan. 21, 2022 Rating: 5.5/10 While the Metroid series wasn't as popular as Mario or Zelda back when it debuted in 1986, it was still successful enough to warrant a sequel. But instead of getting another NES game, it would be on the new hot commodity at the time, the GameBoy. Plenty of franchises had a smooth transition to the handheld market. But, is Metroid 2: Return of Samus still worth playing, or will it suffer the same fate as its predecessor? Graphically speaking, Metroid 2 looks pretty good. Samus's sprite doesn't look as wonky as before, although her sprite is too big for my liking. One of the major problems I have with this game is that every area looks the same, and considering that there's no map function, you'll be wandering around for HOURS trying to find upgrades and metroids to kill. The music is okay, but not as good as the first game. Most of it is forgettable at best and irritating at worst. The control is a lot better this time around and Samus is now able to crouch. But because Samus's sprite is too big, this leads to screen crunch. Thankfully, you can get away from enemies much faster and fighting, while still not worth it, is easier. And unlike the last game, there are actual save points and health/missile restoration spots placed in slightly convenient places. I say slightly convenient because some of them can be very far from one another, leading to backtracking. Metroid 2 is also pretty linear, but not to the extent of Fusion. So, what's the story? Samus Aran has been called for another assignment: kill every metroid on their home planet SR388. That's it. Look, I get that this was a GameBoy game from 1991, but I guess my standards were set too high after the lack of storytelling in the first game. But then again, the Metroid series isn't really known for telling you a story, as most of the lore comes from other media such as comic books. The metroids are the only bosses in the game, and for some reason that I will never comprehend, they suffer massive knockback when hit, making them extremely annoying to fight, especially with the later forms. Overall, Metroid 2 is in some aspects better than the first game, I would still not recommend going back to it. Thankfully, this game got a remake with Metroid: Samus Returns on the 3DS. If you have a 3DS, I highly recommend picking that game up, although the original is also on the 3DS virtual console.