5/5 ★ – MegaBlastoise's review of Super Metroid.

Platform Played: SNES Date Reviewed: Jul. 3, 2022 Rating: 10/10 Hailed by many as one of the greatest games ever made, Super Metroid is easily the most recognizable game in the Metroid series and coined the term "Metroidvania" (alongside Castlevania: Symphony of the Night). I'm not gonna beat around the bush in this review: this is one of my favorite video games of all time (top 5, in fact). But what exactly makes Super Metroid memorable and make gamers go back to it? First, the story. Super Metroid takes place soon after Metroid 2, with Samus delivering the baby metroid to the Galactic Federation for research purposes. But not long after she makes it out of the surrounding asteroid belt, Ridley attacks the research station, steals the baby, and blows up the station. After this, the story takes a back seat and lets the atmosphere of Zebes speak for itself. The various areas are well designed and also take advantage of the late SNES technology. No area looks the same from one another and does a great job of leaving the player with a sense of dread (pun not intended). The music is some of the best in gaming history. There are plenty of atmospheric pieces as well as energetic themes that get your blood pumping. I really couldn't tell you my favorites because the entire soundtrack is amazing. The overall sound design is well done, making you feel a sense of impact from your weapons. The sprite work is also great, although Samus's sprite is a little too big, but I'm just nitpicking at this point. Unlike previous games, Super Metroid has both a mini map in the full HUD and a full map in the pause menu. The controls are also fully mappable. This was also the game to introduce both Super Missiles and Power Bombs, which would later become staples in the series. There are also more bosses than previously, which all have their own forms of challenge. The physics are a little floaty and at times your jumps feel like you're on the moon. But that's not to say that Samus is slow, as this was also the game that introduced a dedicated run button and the Speed Booster. Hell, Samus's moveset as a whole received an upgrade. She can now aim in all 8 directions and can now charge her arm cannon a la Mega Man. If there is one problem I do have, it's that sometimes it's hard to tell on the map which items you've collected. Thankfully, this gets fixed in later games. Overall, there's a reason why many people (including myself) love Super Metroid and go back to it whenever possible. The speedrunning community is also one of the biggest I've personally seen. It's available on Nintendo Switch Online and the SNES Classic, so you don't have an excuse to not play this game.