The galaxy is not at peace: Let's Play Metroid II!

The galaxy is not at peace: Let's Play Metroid II!



It's Metroid II: The Return of Samus! After Samus defeated Mother Brain and the space pirates on planet Zebes (and stopped phanphictionzon from taking over the universe if you choose to accept the Prime series as canon), the Galactic Federation hired Samus Aran to go to the Metroid homeworld SR388 and commit genocide on all Metroids before someone uses them to destroy all of civilization. (Aliens? What's that?) How many species have you slaughtered to extinction before breakfast?

Admittedly, this isn't the ideal Let's Play candidate. I don't finish it with a spectacular time (and methodical picture taking doesn't help that), and there's no need for user input. But the reason I'm Let's Playing this is because I care. Metroid II gets treated like the black sheep of the family, despite introducing most of the modern Metroid items and controls that made Super Metroid so great. While it doesn't have the classic Metroidvania non-linear level design, the linear path it has is still interesting. It's ultimately the creepiest Metroid too, and still manages to stay somewhat challenging towards the end, whereas in later games, Samus becomes a tank and pretty much doesn't have to worry about anything.

So, I may not have dazzling speed runs or branching paths to keep people interested, I do have... FREESTYLE RAPS:

i've got determination
for this extermination
no time for rumination
to save the federation

(I was all set to post this, with images straight from the emulator, but then I found out about the 10 image per post limit! When I had 67 images! So I had to take the time to combine them. Grah.)

Phase 1: Did somebody call pest control?



So we start on the surface of SR388, after Samus has landed her ship. This time, Samus starts off with a few suit upgrades, including a whopping 30 missile battery for taking out Metroids, and the morph ball. In the lower left is Samus's Metroid Detector, which counts how many Metroids are left on the planet to take out. Only 39? This extermination will be a piece of cake! Samus killed 20 of these suckers in Tourian in five minutes!


When you pause, the Metroid Detector displays the number of Metroids left in the current area. Why's that important? Well, we'll get to that.


Samus's ship includes both energy and missile rechargers. It's nice to know they're there, but I never actually bother to trudge back this far. Off to the left of the ship, a tall cliff wall. To the right!


Our first creature encounters! The Yumbo flitters back and forth in the air, while the Hornoad actually tries to stomp on your head.


Because every planet in the galaxy is supposed to have creatures that stick to walls like a Geemer, SR388 has Tsumuri. It's the nature of the universe!


After going up and down the caverns, Samus falls into this chamber. Let's head right.


It's a save point! Technological advances never cease to amaze.


If we keep going right, the next cavern is filled with acid/lava/mountain dew, and Samus can't go any further. To the left!

Blah blah caves caverns grottos tunnels blah blah!


Lookie here, it's a little metroid! And it's sleeping! This will be simp--


--what the holy crap! It's coming to get me get it away get it away!
It's not that bad, of course. The first mutation, the Alpha Metroid, is easy to take out with a few missiles. But the shock factor was pretty impressive for a game boy game back in 1991! So, we've vanquished all (of one) metroids in this area, what next? Well, the game makes it pretty obvious that something's happening.




After the dust settles, we can check out the rest of this room. There are a couple of missile and energy recharging stations, far more convenient than trekking back to the ship.

So, back to the save point. Oh, and a check of the detector now shows 4 left in the area.

Back in this cavern, we see that the dew's gone! The earthquake conveniently drained it away! What lays beyond? What crazy colors will I pick for the next area? Stay tuned!

Next time: Phase 2: We built this city on rock and roll!

This was my first, and I remember those metroids coming out of their eggs and freaking me out. Don't they morph if you shoot them with Samus' regular beam?

Anyway, I never actually finished this game, so I'm looking forward to this LP.

This should be good. But why is Samus so very yellow?

Is she...scared?

I got down to I think 21 metroids left before quitting and then forgetting about this game... and then selling every sort of device that might be able to play it...

sigh!

Should be good!

I got as far as the final boss, but was never able to beat it.

THough, I only actually tried once or twice.

I usually only got as far as the Spider Ball before I got distracted and started playing something else. Still, this and the first game are the only two Metroid games I've played but never finished, so needless to say I'll be following this LP very closely.

I'm not familiar with any Metroid games other than Super Metroid so this is kinda interesting for me. I really like the way you're doing the screenshots. I always thought an action game ought to be done this way.

But damn is she orange!

The only time I played through this entire game (and the only time that I ever played it as an adult) was back in 2001, when I played through all three Metroids to get ready for Fusion and Prime. It'll be interesting to see the game again, since I've had no desire to replay it since then.

I like the color scheme in this game! (The Black and White scheme isn't so bad either)

I haven't played it in a long time, but I did think it was a pretty great game, with a lot of cool aspects. Not least the ending picture, which I think is still the best in the series.

Orange you glad we have the original space marine on our side?

Just so you know, I actually imagined Samus climbing out of her ship while singing this in her helmet. Complete with pshaw-psh-psh-pshaw sounds.

This is a definite read for me since Ive never seen anything about this game. I like the very detailed picture scheme too.

I got at least as far as the spider ball, but I got horribly lost and eventually quit. Them caves are confusing.

Also, I was pretty terrible at this game as a kid. I still have it though, maybe I'll give it another shot after this LP.

Beams just annoy them.

This is roughly what the GBC color scheme for Metroid II is. Orange sprites over blue backgrounds. This one's lighter and more purple though. I can do black and white! The color schemes are for your benefit! Of course, if you ever play it in the future, you'll wonder why it's all blue or black and white and not GREEN or FUSCHIA.



That was my intention!

I think the color gives it a little more flavor over the plain black and white.

I'm not complaining that there's color. The GBC and GBA automatically augment the game with shades of blue for backgrounds and red and yellow for sprites, which is great. What you've got here is almost the same, except instead of red and yellow, you have orange and yellow. Makes Samus look like some kind of cheese monster.

I think Mountain Dew is the last substance on Earth that I'd want to fall into.

I finished this one twice on the original game boy back in middle school... the second time to get the best ending. I also know I didn't have a subscription to Nintendo Power yet at that point that they covered this, so it's one of those rare early games I can safely say I finished entirely on my own.

Not quite as good as the original game, but given the original gameboy hardware it's still a rather good game.

Diet Mountain Dew? Mountain Dew: Baja Blast (which, now that I think about it, may not be available in your frozen socialist paradise. Not that you are missing out on much, because it tastes like melted gummi bears.)

*sniffs* My first Metroid game. Make me proud!

PS - First time we ever saw Samus's gunship too. Cool

WISE FWOM YOUR GWAVE, THREAD

Okay, my excuses for letting this fall by the wayside are lame -- family visiting, Mega Man interrupting Metroid Replay Month (I haven't even gotten to Super Metroid!), and my computer sucking (the lamest of all, since Game Boy emulators don't take that much!). But now I have more RAM in this thing so I can run more than one intensive thing at a time (like say, Photoshop AND Firefox), and get crackin' on this baby!

So, expect things here again soon!

Hooray!

Nothing makes me happier than seeing a Let's Play come to fruition. It's never too late for a second chance!

Woop!

Phase 2: I'm stuck on you

And we're back! When we left off, Samus had arrived on SR388 to eradicate the metroid menace at the request of the Galactic Federation and faced her first evolved metroid. That last conveniently timed earthquake drained off the MTN DEW preventing her from progressing further, so let's see what's down there.

More MTN DEW. We meet some new local fauna along the way here. The Yumbo-class creature flying back and forth is a Seerook. In classic Metroid tradition, the enemy types are the same, they just get a pallete swap. The punk rocker is a Moheek, clinging to the ground like a Tsumuri. The drilling bat is... not listed in the manual. Well, crap. The Metroid Wikia calls it "ULF 2", with the nickname Hell Fish. Well, that's not very interesting! It's like a Skree, so how about "Skreek"? That's... an entirely different thing in Metroid II? Fine. I dub thee: Skreet Ulrich!

A little further in we've got Chute Leech, which lives in MTN DEW and if that's not scary I don't know what is. Above the leech hovers a Mumbo, acting just like a Yumbo. MUMBO YUMBO, IT'S JUMBO, CHUMBAWUMBA.

...Yeah. Up we go, past the fugu-esque Needlers. Animal? Vegetable? Mineral?

We come to a fork in the road. Let's try going down first. Metroid sign! But no way to get past the rubble. Up we go.

Along the way, we run into the nest of Klingon High Chancellor Gawron. Unlike other nest dwellers of the Metroid series, these don't stop coming even if you step on their little hovel. However, also unlike the others, the nest will eventually run out, making a pouty little "pfft" sound when there are no more spawn to spawn. Makes it a little harder to refill your energy the old fashioned way, but you can always refill your energy the really old fashioned way, by leaving the screen and coming back.

Now we come to a huge cavern, so huge that a giant building fits inside of with space to spare. And we run into the seemingly innocuous Gullugg, which just flies around in a tight circle, which isn't a problem here, but he can be annoying, as we'll see later.

Civilization also means save point! The wonders of technology.

Heading down the steps, left or right? Right! Dead end? Hey, what's this hole? Okay, now it's a dead end. Left!

This looks familiar.

Five missles are the key to this door, baby!

Deja vu all over again! Guess we know who built this place. How convenient. Samus gets shipped off on a mission to a planet full of Chozo artifacts that she can use. Of course, Metroid Prime retcons that by implying that the Chozo colonized everything in the Galaxy already anyway. Yes, why do peaceful birds need power suits that turn them into walking tanks? CHOZO IMPERIALIST SCUM. But thanks for the explosives!

Now that we can blow things up, let's see what's beyond that blocked up passage. An energy tank! Awesome. Now I'll hear that annoying low energy sound less often. And more missle batteries! Always need more ammo. Hrm, another hidden passage? What's in here?

Close, but no cigar.

Let's back up a bit, and check out another corridor below us. Another door! Same as rest. The Ice Beam! Which tends to be more annoying than anything else, because now everything takes at least two hits to kill. But, you can do fun things, like...

Step on frozen fireballs and climb up to places! This doesn't really buy much time, the area is easy to get to later, it's just fun to do.

It's not like the game allows a lot of sequence breaking, after all! As you can see after I pick up some more missles, I'm on top of the structure. But this is not the way!

Following another road not taken, we get to the other side of the Chozo city, where a metroid has molted.

A pit? Let's see where it goes!

The Spider Ball! My favorite upgrade in the game. Perhaps in any Metroid game!

Let's test this baby out.

By pressing down again while in morph ball mode, Samus goes into STICKY BALL mode! In STICKY BALL mode, Samus can cling to just about any surface. For an obsessive "search every nook and cranny you can get to" type like me, this is a dream come true. The "Spider Ball" makes a "return" in the Prime series, but it's such a pale imitation (RAILS? SAMUS DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' RAILS!!!!) they should've called it the "Magnet Ball" or something so as not to get my hopes up.

Let's play!

Yeah, that was pointless, but it's fun!

So, the Metroid wasn't down there. Where could it be? Let's try out our conveniently placed new upgrade!

Boom! One down, three to go.

Well, let's see what's in this huge cavern, trying to avoid the GULLUGUGUGS as we go.

That ball there in the last shot isn't Samus, it's an energy refill. I mistimed my move and the GULUGU hit me. There's also a missle refill on the ceiling, but there's no need to shimmy up there again right now.

And we're back here! Nothing more to see here though. Of course, hit the save point, and let's get out of here!

And thanks to the Chozo leaving their weapons out in the open, I can break through these rocks and exterminate the rest of these Metroids.

You could technically squeeze through all of these tight spaces right after you get the bombs, but it's just a whole lot simpler with the Spider Ball.

Damn GLUUUGULUGs everywhere! Even in the sand! But I make short work of them, and drop down into this area to find more Metroid shells. SUCH UNTIDY METROIDS.

Right? Right. Right!

WHY HALO THAR. Two down.

Left? Right. LEFT!

I know it looks the same, but I did drop down into an entirely different area with a metroid shell sitting at the bottom! See, the roots are different! And with that, all four metroids in this zone have been blown to bits.

What's that? Because I defeated four creatures a seismic event happens?

Just a coincidence!

Time to blow this joint.

And just like before, the earthquake has drained away the toxic MTN DEW, so we can delve the depths of SR-388 even further! (but not too much further).

Next time: Phase 3: Spring time for Samus in the Galaxy!

Actually, didn't Prime say that the Chozo were experimenting on Metroids, which is why they had all the Chozo crap on SR388?

Well, in Fusion they say that they made the Metroids in the first place to drive off the X-Parasites.

Woo! Welcome back.

Oh man. The Spider Ball is amazingly fun to use - every single one of my (admittedly failed) runs would stall when I got it because I'd be too busy crawling around everywhere and exploring.