You can hold your sigh in right now (I know you’re doing it!), because MercurySteam did not turn this into a hack and slash, far from it. Oh, you can still morph into a ball, stick to walls, shoot missiles, jump really high (with an upgrade), take teleporters around, replenish your ammo and health with the appropriate station - all of that Metroid stuff.Įxcept this time it’s coupled with a handy free aim feature (using the L button), and a melee system. All of these but the scanner can be useful in combat, and all four funnel back into exploration. Scan Pulse (which shows off hidden areas) is the first, followed by a shield, more powerful bullets, and a time-slower. I’ve put in a lot of hours on 3DS games, including some tough ones, and Samus Returns ranks up there with Kid Icarus: Uprising as a top hand-cramper.To beat off the Metroid menace you’ll be using the newly acquired Aeion powers, which bring a form of magic (complete with an MP meter) in the fray. After a few tries at a tough boss, I had to put the 3DS down to rest. Samus’s complicated weapon options have you working the 3DS shoulder buttons, slider, and face buttons in a downright painful way. The bosses get really hard – which I loved – but my long, repeated battles with some bosses raised a problem with Samus Returns’ controls. You won’t only fight Metroids, either: One miniboss is cleverly hidden, and later on some of those beasts in the background come forward to cause trouble. However, later on the bosses not only get much bigger, but they also get varied behavior. You fight the same boss a dozen times, and then a slightly bigger version a dozen more. You’ll see the same ugly bug faces a lot, because your ultimate goal is to kill 40 Metroid minibosses to unlock all the areas. Like Metroid Prime, Samus Returns cleverly places equal focus on exploration and combat, though combat does tend to get a little repetitive. For example, an area filled with twisty little passages you navigate with careful bomb jumps early in the campaign can be utterly obliterated by a new weapon later, allowing you to just waltz through it. Shots are more precise when augmented by a new laser sight, she turns instantly in the air, and she can dash quickly through the levels, which are brilliantly designed to minimize time spent retreading old ground and maximize exploration. Thanks to a few more subtle tweaks, Samus’ returning moves feel better than ever, as well. One particularly large boss only offered the chance at a counter after a complicated series of dodges and attacks, making the fight almost Punch-Out!!-like in its complexity. That’s where I learned to love the new move. In boss fights it becomes even more useful, and a desperate counter can often mean the difference between life and death. Luckily, deeper in the campaign your weapon upgrades allow you to slice through enemies quickly, leaving counter attacks as an optional way to grind for more Aeion (which recharges special abilities). It’s an acquired taste, because you have to come to a full stop to perform a counter the beginning of Samus Returns has you do this a lot, slowing down the otherwise-blazing pace of the action. “In gameplay, Samus Returns distinguishes itself from the old-school Metroid games it pays homage to by adding some new moves, the coolest of which is a timed counter attack. There’s no Prime-style scanning of hieroglyphs, let alone wildlife, and I miss the world-building detail of those prior Metroid adventures. Within the game, however, there’s little to absorb lore-wise. You can also unlock 3D scenes of Chozo history, accessible in the main menu. I especially appreciated the glimpse into the ruins of the Chozo civilization, the bird people who raised Samus and who were instrumental in unleashing Metroids into the galaxy, sealing their civilization’s fate. The beauty of these backgrounds often encouraged me to turn on the 3D slider to get the full effect. Crystal caverns and rushing waterfalls glisten in the background, a large cavern opens to reveal a vast subterranean Chozo ruin, and creepy aliens laze about in the backgrounds of levels. Second, each 2D space you move around in serves as a little window into a lush background that greatly adds to the atmosphere. First of all, Samus looks awesome, and 3D allows for much more detail in her movements: She bends to fire down the barrel of her arm cannon and shoots over her shoulder like a badass. “While 3D will never be as pretty as SNES-style sprites for me, I really came around on the 3D presentation.
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