Topic: Metroid Prime 4: Beyond

You forgot about Super Metroid.

Semi random, but on topic with 'Super' Metroid. Nintendo did a stellar job with their updated CRT Filter(After slightly bumping up the sharpness on my TV & increasing my TV's Back light brightness to compensate for the CRT scanline darkening,) for NSO NES(I also recommend jacking up your TV's color beyond the norm and using Native color gamut to compensate for the darker emulated nes color) & SNES, but I still can't stand how they don't allow you to reduce the size of the default 4:3 CRT mode screen. I'm currently gaming on a 55"(Which translates to an almost 45" '4:3' picture...) Sure, you can opt for pixel perfect mode which shrinks down the screen size on NSO, but then there's no CRT filter(Which is a must if you're like me) and the aspect ratio ends up looking unaturally narrow.

For 8-16 bit games, along with Saturn, PS1 & N64, a 27" 4:3 CRT is my preffered size, or max 32". 32" is a must for Dreamcast, GameCube & Wii though. But nearly 45" for NES & SNES? Can't do it. If Nintendo released the same screen size adjusting option like in Arcade Archives I could easily get the screen size to my liking. Retro Sprite based graphics don't look good on large screens. But at least those that prefer handheld mode can get a bite sized image on either their NS OLED or NS2. Too small for my liking though. Back to the real thing on a CRT! lol

Although, I'll admit. The nostalgia, just that magic isn't what it used to be. it's fading. I find myself jumping into some of my most beloved & cherrished retro titles, only to turn the game off within 10 minutes. it's never the same! That first time experience you had with said game, when these games were cutting edge and in the now is what it's all about, and you can't recreate that. it's impossible. I always think back to the people that were once in my life that aren't here anymore, my youth, pop culture in general etc, and ya. Once you've done it, you've done it. I think many video game experiences for a lot of us are probably best left in the memory banks or past, and instead to be remembered fondly.

Best way to reintroduce the classics, imo, is to your kids & nieces if you have them, on original hardware & software with a CRT. I'm all over the map here, but i was hoping to play through Super Metroid on NSO, but i can't deal with the near 45" 4:3 screen size. I can deal with a bit of latency, and there is latency. But it's not game breaking or anything. it's doable.

And it's funny, So many Ninendo fans consider Super Mario World, LOZ: ALTTP & Super Metroid as the SNES holy trinity, which I almost agree with. Except...Super Metroid hasn't aged all that well(Soundtrack & visuals are still top notch mind you), but Samus's controls are too stiff & clunky, and you get locked into crouching once you press down. Boss battles can feel sloppy too. Where as SMWorld & LOZ: ALTTP have both aged wonderfully, like a fine Wario Wine.

Dread has the ultimate 2D Metroid Controls. That game controls like a dream, with so much finesse, precision & diversitiy. They practically feel flawless. Even though I'm not entirely sold on it's art direction and almost clinical set pieces & generic enemy design. Prime 4 by comparison is in a completly different league entirely and class of it's own. But yes, I need to finish Super Metroid. I remember being blown away by it's first 20 minutes back in 94', especially mode 7 Samus's Ship effect during the opening cutscene. But that was it for me. As is, it's essentially going to feel new for this dooder! It's been on my back log for centuries, same thing applies to Mega Man 7, Demon's Crest & Yoshi's Island. I still haven't come close to finishing ALTTP Either!

My (hopefully) quick review after finishing the game yesterday that I'll try to keep as spoiler free as possible:

Things I liked:
The presentation: This is kind of the most obvious area, but the game is fantastic visually and runs very well. Additionally, I thought the soundtrack was stellar and set the mood really well, and I'm very much looking forward to listening through the whole thing soon. The overall sound design is also pretty solid.

The bosses: Fairly surprised about this, but I actually really enjoyed the boss fights in this game. It felt like they balanced the difficulty really well, and put a lot of the focus on actually learning and dodging the attacks, which I appreciated. The final two fights are especially large standouts.

Lack of dumb "Metroid Moments": This might seem like a dumb one, but it was pretty refreshing to have a Metroid game where every new puzzle and path feels solvable and logical, and the solution isn't just "bomb the floor randomly".

Things I'm mixed on:
The structure: As mentioned above, I like that the next place you need to go almost always makes sense. But sometimes I feel it's just a little too easy to figure out. And despite the huge open desert, this game might be even more linear than Fusion honestly, which is slightly disappointing to me. Also, the upgrade path feels really predictable and uninteresting. Very few upgrades really excited me in any way. It was mainly just "oh cool, I can open new doors now". Which isn't too abnormal, but it just felt like way too many upgrades were just that

The characters: I actually like the idea of having some characters in the game, but for the most part they were just sort of boring. I will stand by the take that they could've been fun, if they actually had whacky or fun personalities instead of being the most boring characters ever written (exaggeration, but you get what I mean). I will come to the defense of Myles though. He is really not that annoying, I honestly don't get the hate.

Sol Valley: I like some parts for sure. Having little puzzles to solve or smaller areas to explore is pretty cool, but it's mostly too big and too empty, and could've desperately used some fast travel options.

Things that didn't land for me:
The green energy crystal grind: This is just blatant padding and shouldn't be in the game. There is no challenge or fun to finding green energy crystals. You just see them and drive into them.

Lack of enemy variety: This is definitely one of the biggest letdowns for me, as the game starts out strong in this regard, but by the end it's pretty much the same enemies spammed over and over. Kind of a bummer.

The backtracking: A staple of the Prime series, and pretty monotonous here. Especially the FOUR times you have to backtrack to the same place for the same reason (IYKYK).

So yeah, in conclusion, a lot of stuff in this game kinda missed for me, which is unfortunate. I feel like this game definitely shows some signs of development hell, which is certainly unsurprising considering how long it took to come out. But that's not to say it's terrible, or even bad by any means. I think it still scratched that Metroid Prime itch for me, even if it wasn't perfect. And I really think this team at Retro could definitely do a lot better if they get a second attempt with the experience they have now. To grade it in baseball terms, it went one for four on the day with a single and a walk. Or to use normal terms, I'd give it a 6/10. Certainly not bad, but also not spectacular imo.

Unfortunately, this did not end up being short. Also my hand is going numb after typing this whole thing out on a phone lmao.