Random: One Metroid Fan Has Fixed Other M For All Time

Main memory of Other M's story was Samus repeatedly saying, "the baby", that getting on my nerves and wondering how the script writer couldn't come up with other ways of saying it.

Incredible speedrun!

Never played it, is the only "problem" with the game the storyline and portrayal of Samus? Is the gameplay still good?

Game isn't fixed unless he fixes the gameplay as well. Story was fine for me, gameplay was not.

@kepsux This site proudly gave it a 9/10 at release, if that helps. That was long before it became popular to hate on it, when NintendoLife was a lot more independent of a website than it is now.

Still haven't played it. It's just been sitting there on my shelf for the longest time. Biggest obstacle is setting up the Wii sensor bar and all, my current tv setup just isn't kind to it at all.

I really enjoyed the game play but I do wish Samus could have been a stronger Ripley-type heroine which would have fit better with her other silent protagonist games.

Loved Other M. So did many others. Think Edge and Gamestm both gave it a 9 if memory serves. I didnt mind the narrative at all and found the gameplay to be great. Just wish it was nunchuk compatible. . . then it would be possible to move and go into 1st person mode at same time, although that might make it too easy.

@kepsux Narrative was a bit cheesy, but not as bad as people make it out to be. Gameplay-wise it's good. It's not first person Prime what people want, but it's more like the 2D games. Think Mario 3D World, but with Metroid. But people seem to hate 3D World as well, because it wasn't ''3D'' enough, instead of judging the game on its own merits.

Hell ya, Samus. Tell him to stfu. You been blasting enemies forever. Who needs this idiot in the background telling you anything. So corny.

I don't care what anyone says. This game was good. Reviews from Ign, Nintendolife and even gamespot were mostly positive. It's the fans that tore it apart with their blah blah samus was ruined, her character was butchered and so forth. No actually it made her human instead of a boring character with no personality.

Perfect example of don't let the opinions of others decide what games are good or not. make up your own mind. I did and i enjoyed it so hah!

Honestly, Other M was just over the top.
I didn't really have much of a problem with it.

I personally love Other M, gets a rough deal from the Metroid hard core but that’s there problem. Yes it had its faults but certainly would like to see a lot of elements from this in Metroid 4 when it’s properly shown.

Can't fix what isn't broken.

This was freaking awesome. Thanks for sharing, NL!

Wow so nice to see so many positive opinions on the game! Did all the trolls take a day off or what?

@kepsux no. It’s very linear, it has these forced first person segments requiring you to use motion controls for missiles and you use the d pad to run around 3D environments.

There’s some fan service with bosses but that’s it.

Well at least we have prime 4 to hopefully look forward to in the next few years. If it's half as awesome as the original trilogy we should be alright. Then maybe the other m haters can finally have a new game to tear down and criticise.

I personally loved Other M. I feel like this game was 1 of the first to get review bombed. The action was so fast paced and I loved the switch from 2d to 3d. I would love to see it rereleased on switch prehaps as a eshop exclusive and maybe with out the pointer controls.

It was a great game but that might be the last time we see Samus speak if the haters have anything to say about it. The gameplay was a lot of fun and the cinematics added some background story in ways other Metroid games did not dare. Unfortunately she came across as a bit of a weakling at times which killed her image, but the game itself was very solid.

I first played through Other M a few months ago. I didn't find the story to be bad at all minus a couple of moments; Samus's characterization seemed a little off in said moments, but it also wasn't a complete trainwreck IMO. What I wish they HAD done was flesh out more of the characters who did appear in the story outside of Samus and Adam. I particularly would have liked to know more about Anthony.

I found the gameplay to be an enjoyable 2.5D Metroid game, and some of the bosses were quite memorable. It really does, at its core, still feel like Metroid.

I did still find this animation amusing.

That's brilliant. The game was actually pretty good, its biggest problem was coming off the back of the Prime Trilogy which are all vastly superior games and going back to 2D felt like a big backwards step

I hated this. Had to quit the game because I kept GETTING KILLED IN A CUTSCENE. Way lame. Not recommended.

I didn’t like the gameplay, the movement just felt a bit odd, really not a fan of 2.5D though. The story.... happened, I guess.

@kepsux
Team Ninja were the lead development house. As such it has a great combat system that is all about dodging and reacting. You use the wii-mote on its side for main game play as it is supposed to be a 2D game at its heart. If you want to pinpoint missiles, your flip the remote around and hold it normally. This causes the game to go into slow motion as it switches to a first person view. Here anow aiming reticle comes up. If you are about to get attacked in this mode green will flash on the sides of the screen telling you to quickly flick the remote. This will cause you to dodge out of the way. I love games that use a system's controller in innovative ways. This game scratched that itch very well. My biggest complaint is that it is way too short for a Metroid game.

@PoorGeno You rage quit because of a QTE?

This was actually my first Metroid game that I ever played. I quite enjoyed the game and story for the most part so I was surprised when I found out that most people hated it. I have since played Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion, Metroid Prime 3, most of Metroid Prime 1, and some of Metroid Prime 2 and Metroid: Samus Returns.

I feel like half the problem with the narrative is that since Samus was a silent protagonist for so long, everyone had sculpted their own impression of Samus which Other M Samus clashed with. Regarding gameplay, whilst I think other Metroid games did the gameplay better after trying out other games in the series (Super Metroid is my personal favourite of the series), I found that it was still satisfying to play although the movement was a bit jarring at times as I don't think it was full 360 movement which is awkward for a 3D game.

Whilst I don't think it is the best in the series, I am glad to see that I am not the only who liked it. The video was pretty funny to see in contrast however.

@kepsux yep, it's great.

Love this game, didn't get offended by the story or character portrayal, just enjoyed it for the game and it is really fun. one of my favourites.

Other M is the definition of cringe.

@kepsux the gameplay was a major step back from what was in the Prime games.

@kepsux I hated one particular game mechanic. To fire a missile you have to point the Wiimote at the screen (normally you hold it horizontal, like a NES controller), wait a second for the game to switch to first person, aim and fire. That's OK for most of the game, but there are one or two boss fights where you have to use missiles. Those were very frustrating for me. The game was also a lot more linear than previous games (comparable to Metroid Fusion). Aside from that, the game play was great.

The story was like watching a bad, overly melodramatic anime from the 90s and Samus' characterisation sucked. But it had some interesting elements, too. I especially liked the antagonist.

It is one of the best looking Wii games and still holds up today. I was impressed by how it moved from pretendered cutscenes to In-game graphics seamlessly.

@countzero This.
I really quite liked Other M. I though they made some brave choices in going for the "cinematic" story style and unique gameplay approach. I found it refreshingly different.

Other M is like bad pizza. At the end of the day, it's still pizza. Other M is the "worst" Metroid, but it's still Metroid.

My biggest issue was how things were unlocked. Instead of finding missiles, Adam goes "okay I guess I'll allow you to use your missiles now" for this specific new development that has occurred, like coming across a tougher enemy (boss). But when that enemy is defeated, he doesn't put his restrictions back into place like how it would happen in real life. Basically, by trying to be realistic they made it completely unrealistic.

And no offense, but who tf does Adam think he is, and why would Samus ever listen to his garbage.

@kepsux If it’s worth anything I absolutely loved the gameplay! It had a really cool dodge mechanic which made you feel like a beast. I also loved the story, it had a really cool mystery.

Other M is my favorite Metroid game. I’ve also played Metroid, Super Metroid, Return of Samus, Samus Returns, Fusion, and Prime.

I don’t think it’s the best one, just my favorite... not a huge fan of the usual formula.

@kepsux the gameplay is fun!
I beat it 2 times on Wii (Normal and Hard modes) and 1 time on WiiU and it still looked great!
It is worth trying - kind of 3D Metroid Fusion in regard of the map design (with less secrets to find though)

I was going to come into this thread and tout my unpopular opinion by saying that I enjoyed Other M, apart from a few specific story elements. The game was enjoyable through and through, even if it wasn’t exactly a traditional Metroid and had some questionable story beats. But then I saw that several other people here admitting to liking the game, too, instead of jumping on the bandwagon of criticism. Sure, it’s not the best Metroid game, but I found it entertaining.

(returns after liking the video)

Samus speaking in of itself isn't bad, (we liked it in Smash bros brawl) just wish she wasn't stating the obvious and isn't monotone.
Expanding Samus's origin also isn't bad by itself, just wished that stuff is better explained, a few less character assasionation moments and needed a better payoff especially with a certain encounter, you guys know which one.
The search segments pop in with no explanation/hint of what you need to search for. The authorization mechanic isn't bad by itself, just when you go to certain sections of the game, you would be like why cant i go there and have a better excuse to have the majority of your gear which is fully on hand be locked out.
The nes controller style is novel but why isn't there an option for nunchuk style. The wiimote isnt suited for long sessions.

Basically the majority of the game's ideas isn't bad by itself. It just needed a hecka better execution and
be less restrictive.

@kepsux is not as bad as people make it out to be, but is not groundbreaking either, yes the narrative is not really great but is passable.
The thing with Other M is that the director wanted for Samus to show feelings and be just another person with feelings, behind that indestructible armor. He said it before the game lunch that's what I was expecting when I play it, and that's kind what I got

I tried multiple times to get through the game, but the cutscenes were too much for me.. I've played some cringey games, but this is the only game that have had me insulting my tv and turning of my console..

I managed to get through it after getting a jp version, made it possible for me to ignore most of the dialogue or improved it to a point where it was bearable..
Gameplay was, and still is, beyond solid.

This new cutscene: 👍

(also running in 4k on my pc it's absolutely gorgeous)

I couldn't get past the fact that the game was restricted to the Wii Remote alone for no good reason. It was just a stupid design decision, even if the game was otherwise fine, I didn't see the logic in it, and it incensed me so much I didn't even go through the game.

Other M is an underrated classic. I always found it amusing when fans insisted that the game "ruined" Samus' character considering there was little if any character development in the previous games.

I'd love a sequel. The hybrid 2D/3D action was awesome.

@Panopticon
"My biggest issue was how things were unlocked. Instead of finding missiles, Adam goes "okay I guess I'll allow you to use your missiles now" for this specific new development that has occurred, like coming across a tougher enemy (boss)."

That really bothered me as well. With the missles it at least made a little bit of sense, but why would she need permission to use the Varia Suit? And why would Adam give her permission only AFTER she climbed through an active vulcano?

The only game I can think of that gives a good explanation is Metroid Fusion.

Super Metroid: No explanation
Metroid Prime: Explosion that didn't look strong at all destroyed her stuff
Metroid Prime 2: No explanation
Metroid Prime 3: She had to give the suit from Prime 2 back I guess?

The difference is, that in all those games I think "That doesn't make sense" at the beginning of the game and then I shrug it off. But Other M constantly reminds me how stupid it is.

They didn't fix the obnoxious Authorization System?

@kepsux For context, Metroid is my favorite series and both SM and MP rank among my top 5 favorite games ever. Other M is a very good game with a bad story and some strange design choices that hurt but don't ruin the experience.

@countzero I completely agree. We inherently understand that a game like Metroid needs collectibles for it to be fun, so obviously Samus will probably lose her stuff in the sequel so you can find more stuff. I don't really need an explanation as to why all the stuff is lost. And I really, really don't need Other M reminding me over and over that I already have all the stuff, I just don't have daddy's permission to use it yet.

@Shiryu Oh hi, Shiryu.

How is your gaming life?

Liked the story, graphics and some gameplay elements of Other M.

Disliked the audio, the setting (pure space station, yuck) and some gameplay elements.

So yep, divisive I would say. Still a fantastic game all around, just not quite up to the best the franchise has done.

I loved Other M and always have a good laugh when people say they hate it.

other M's story line was an insult to both samus & adam.
especially the part with him restricting her, it's something out of character for him.
you can tell as much just from this from the manga

and samus would of never let him push her around like that either

I quite enjoyed Other M apart from the minor scanning bits. I quite liked some of the moves they added in like the dodge mechanic.
It always made me ponder what a platinum games Metroid would be like....

@Forgotten_Arctic My backlog is reaching epic proportions.

What great clickbait.

I hate it. This is worse than any of the sins if Other M.

And then everybody died since Samus just figured she should just murder everything in sight like she normally does.

(If you actually played and beat the game you'd know why she'd have failed the mission.)

@kepsux I really enjoyed it. The biggest flaws being its a bit too easy and you can’t skip the long annoying cutscenes.

While this video is 2 years old, I'm glad to see Chaofanatic get some love here. He did an amazing animation based on The Wonderful 101 that nails the animation style from the game itself.
[youtube:MyJgdcigms4]

Haven't played Other M yet but I do plan on getting around to it sometime. Will play with an open mind.

I love Other M.

I think the script was the biggest issue - it wasn't written to be acted. In print, it's a lot easier to "take on" this characterization as an addition of complexity to Samus and her realtionship to her past and the Federation - especially in light of Fusion, which is really where the fan-percieved damage took place.

As is, I think a simple mute voices or language option would go along way to make the decent enough story (has anyone actually played Fusion???) palatable.

The only thing Other M truly needs is just a Mario Galaxy style nunchuck control scheme. It's the reason I never finished it. Switching from third to first person is incredibly frustrating (specially in boss fights), a major chore that is completely unnecessary and at least for me made the game unplayable.

@Expa0 tape is your friend.

Seriously, other M is ok. I hated the story but the gameplay was decent. I wouldn't buy it if an HD version was released on the Switch however so take that for what you will.

I love Other M, it's my favorite Metroid game.
I'm not such a big fan of FPS games, so I was excited from the beginning when Other M was announced.
In fact I would gladly take "Other M 2" over Prime 4. Nintendo just have to "fix Samus" to end complaints and they're golden.

There wasn't a problem to begin with. They took her in an earlier stage of her life, gave her actual emotions, dealing with consequences of her actions, and a return to her previous commanding officer. It was handled well, and anyone who goes back to their CO in such a situation (if left on good terms) will respectfully and instinctively behave accordingly. Most fools made an issue out of nothing, the game was fun.

It is one of my favorite Metroid games. I am not a fan of FPS games so it beats the Prime games for me. There are some clunky controls at times and on three occasions in the whole game you have to wave the cursor over a specific spot on the screen to progress. People reacted negatively to characterization in cut-scenes and to the fact it wasn't Prime 4. I really liked the use of the D-pad because that's how I played Metroid on the snes. Some people didn't like the-pad too. I hope it comes out on Switch. New story may appease some fans but I don't care about the story that much, would love to play another 2.5D Metroid game after Samus Returns.

@kepsux

Did you like Fusion? How about Prime 3: Corruption?

Other M is like Fusion and Corruption, and unlike Super and Prime 1.

@Shiryu I noticed. I can't spend 5 minutes on YouTube without you uploading a video.

Not that it's a BAD thing. It's great that you're doing it! Not only are you preserving games for history, but you're providing other YouTubers with game footage to use. It's so weird watching a video and seeing your name as being credited with the footage.

@Forgotten_Arctic Also try to provide the most honest gameplay experience for people on the fence if they want to buy a game (or at least that's what they tell me).

@Octane The narrative is as bad as people say it is, though. Other M wanted to show us why Samus admired and spoke highly of Adam in Fusion, but when we see how he interacts with her on-screen, it just made people further question why Samus would harbor such a favorable opinion of him in the first place.

People can like Other M as much as they want, and they can like the story, too, but every negative criticism towards its story is fair and well-deserved because of how sloppy it all is.

I'm not sure how many people hated 3D World because "it wasn't 3D enough", but I don't see how that relates to Other M not playing similarly to the Prime games. People bashed Other M's gameplay because Sakamoto's insistence on incorporating an NES-styled control scheme on a 3D third-person game. It's also linear and leaves little to full exploration, and the combat is often regarded as repetitive because most enemy engagements involve the same "charge, dodge, and release" gimmick.

The story and atmosphere was great, the gameplay was almost perfect but melee combat was too simple. My biggest gripes with the game are that it's all on a ship and not on a planet, and the soundtrack often felt more like background ambience, but that's still fine.

Why do people think Samus must be some kind of badass or a movie clone? She was never anything like that. That's all just people projecting something into her. I can't see her character contradict anything from her past games. In Super Metroid the iconic intro has this part where you get a bit of Samus' thoughts and Other M just builds upon that.

Anyway, Samus saw her parents killed by Ridley when she was a child. She grew up with weird Chozo aliens in her youngest years. When she was picked up by Adam, he was the first human she ever had close contact to. Adam was not only a military instructor but also a father figure. All makes perfect sense, if more people would just pay attention to the story.

The last time Samus disrespect a small guy like this she got a nice little punch in the rear. Better learn not to do that ever again Samus.

Here's a good one hour explanation of what makes Other M a bad (and in some respects good) game. It's mostly not about the story:

https://youtu.be/Fkj1AbDt95I

What the hell? Where did all these positive hopefuls come from?
I had thought I was the only one who liked Other M?

@SKTTR Samus being a badass isn't a projection; it's something that's been demonstrated in almost every from of media she's been in. People don't "think" she must be a badass; it's common knowledge, both meta and in-universe (look at how the GF react towards her in Corruption), that she is a badass. Saying that she was "never like that" just... doesn't make sense.

What's this about her being a "movie clone"? She was inspired by Ellen Ripley (Samus had more than just that inspiration), yes, but are you insulating that this is what people mean by a movie clone?

Samus' "inner thoughts" consists of her stating the glaring obvious, things that just happened around her, about Adam, and "the Baby". It's useless expository mumbo-jumbo that doesn't enhance the plot, or her character, in any way. The inner monologuing is something that's built on Fusion because it actually works. We can observed how vulnerable and scared Samus is, and she only monologues when it's needed.

Yeah, those "weird Chozo aliens" who trained Samus to physical and mental peak, gave her their technology and gifts, and infused their DNA onto hers, are the same weird bird aliens who raised her during the eleven years prior to her parents death, and were there when she had her first breakdown from seeing Ridley. While Adam may have been the first human she fully interacted with and was her instructor at some point in her life, he was also a minor character in the manga. Y'know, the one that establishes her backstory? Samus also aimed her freakin' arm cannon at Adam because he refused to let Samus go to Planet Zebes to repel the Space Pirate assault. She disobeyed a direct order from Adam to save the species that she was essentially a part of. The Chozo were her family, not Adam. Fusion introduced him, but it was really only Other M that tried to hammer in the "father figure" archetype into his character, despite, again, not being a major character in the manga.

People have paid attention to the story; you are downplaying the criticisms lashed at the game's story when you claim that they don't.

I blame the Wii ENTIRELY for the state of Other M.

Imagine what the devs could have done on a non watered down system.

@SKTTR An abusive cold psychotic father figure. She was better off sticking with the chozo.

@Nintyfan And what would you say if your higher ups told you to run into the midst of battle or into a burning building with no weapons or protective gear and later shot you in the back? Wouldn't think very highly of them would ya?

@Arena1999 Hear hear! She has always been portrayed as a bamf. That's not to say fleshing out her character is bad. But taking an awesome warrior and turning her into a spineless wimp who follows every order even when they are harmful and nonsensical, suddenly lacks intelligence and common sense and who has less emotion in her tone then a toaster was not the way to do it.

@kepsux even the story oud perfectly fine.

The one scene of her in paralyzed fear of a monster she's slain at least the times before. Is absolutely ridiculous.

But apart from a little waggle moment here and there, this was a perfectly fun game that tried something different. I would definitely recommend digging it out of the discount bin, or buying it on the wiiu eshop (at least I think it's there.) It's not that pricey nowadays anyway!

People need to stop saying Other M was good. It wasn't, it was hated by both Japanese and English fans, it was loaded with problems, and it completely ignored the majority of Metroid canon in addition to trying to destroy Samus' character. I could honestly go on and on about how terrible this game is, but I digress.

Is it a good game? No. It's objectively bad and it doesn't know what it wants to be. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy it though. I can understand why this might be a guilty pleasure or a fun game for a lot of people and it does have a few good qualities, such as an amazing overall Ridley boss fight. To say it's good however is just incorrect and an attempt to try and be as contrarian as possible because hey it's the internet and that's the popular thing to do! Downplaying this game's criticisms does nothing but make its fans look bad, don't do it. Accept these flaws and don't make excuses for them.

TLDR; if anyone feels like giving it a shot, go for it. It's a terrible game but so are games like Golden Axe: Beast Rider and I will be the first to admit I had a bit of fun with that game. There's a lot of cutscenes in Other M that are so bad, they're good. For anyone interested, there's also a patch that attempts to remove some of the game's more annoying features called Maximum Edition or something like that.

Metroid Prime 4 will be hated by the "fans" if it doesn't use the traditional FPS control scheme. Some people want Metroid to feel like CoD. That's what happened to the original Prime; people who didn't play it long enough to get used to the excellent control scheme, hated it because it didn't play like any other FPS on the market. I mean, who would ever want originality? All I can say to those people: Don't expect Nintendo to copy others. Expect others to copy Nintendo.

@Spoony_Tech

Best gameplay combat in the Metroid series hands down. Samus has never been this brutal or agile

@Onion My favorite Metroid game period. No game in the series has better combat. Maybe you sucked at it... I dunno