The original Metroid was incredibly vague in what you had to do and expected you to explore and pay attention. Over time you’re allowed to run all over looking for the next new gadget or boss. To help you not hate the giant maps they gave you a ridiculously long password to keep track of all your progress anytime you were defeated.

I keep trying to enjoy this game but I feel as it got more high tech the license became the more funneled the experience became. It is not that games should not be hard but this game has significantly reduced my game play options as my character gained more abilities and weapons.

At the spot where I am the enemies has even strict beam/weakness requirements, they live in linear corridors and their ai is less than creative when it comes to combat. As a player the only thing I can get better is at memorizing where they are and what they are weak against rather than coming up with new strategies to attack.

The first time I thought it was fun. The second time I thought it was tedious but I kept going hoping to get a break on the next save spot (which I never got to). I looked up a walk through and sure enough I got right up close. Surprisingly even the enemy type spawning is not random.

It will take a long time before I pick this up again. Right now it feels like work and something that may be more fun to watch in youtube.

A few years ago, I replayed the original CastleVania which I enjoyed as a kid on the Nintendo; I never could get very far, but this time I played it in an emulator so I could quick save at any time. No surprise, the game was significantly easier! But I also enjoyed being able to focus on the new challenges. So much of the old game’s ‘challenge’ was in endurance / replaying the old challenges.