Metroid II Now Available on Virtual Console

2011-11-24 10:56:13 pm

Wow, only $4? That's a steal for this game.

If I had a 3DS I'd probably consider it despite owning the original GB version. Never know how long the battery is going to last on a 20 year old game or how long older GB systems will work for you.

For anyone who doesn't have it already I'd highly recommend getting this one.

2011-11-25 02:45:14 am

my umbrella goes directly to Bankai

finally. the last metroid is in my captivity.

the 3DS VC is so good for me because i missed a lot of the early GB due to the GBPocket being my first portable system in 1998 (i got a GBC in 1999).

now, to play the game. i'll try to be very open to get past the limitations of the system it was made on and enjoy the game for what it is.

Behemoth

2011-11-25 06:24:35 am

Nice !. This has raised my interest slightly for purchasing a 3DS. (Good marketing strategy Nintendo for not making gameboy games available on the Wii)

It also coincides with the 20th anniversary of the release of the game in North America on this very month according to Wikipedia.

rekameohs

2011-11-28 01:48:30 am

Anywhere, everywhere

I love the hell out of this game, so I'd recommend it to anyone.

2011-11-28 11:07:32 am

Why is it in B&W ?

arkarian

2011-11-28 11:09:50 am

red chamber dream

it's a game boy game ... ?

2011-11-28 11:15:49 am

Well I know that, but it wasn't long after the game came out that you could play it in color, and I have played it in color ever since. I have not played it in b&w since the game was brand new. I'm just curious why the emu that they sold it with doesn't play it in color.

TheGreenManalishi

2011-11-28 11:28:58 am

The 3ds plays classic gb games in b&w? That's dumb. They're much better with that extra hint of colour that most of them had in a gbc.

2011-11-28 12:12:20 pm

I don't know for sure because I haven't downloaded it, but all of the screenshots of the game are in b&w, so I just assumed it came that way.
http://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/ZJIPw1j3cMBl2wJie6zl65OMeIjZd6aA

Edit history:

UchihaSasuke: 2011-11-28 05:18:19 pm

2011-11-28 05:18:02 pm

my umbrella goes directly to Bankai

i think that happens because they're emulating original GB hardware and the color changes were part of GBC hardware.

sucks but it is the simplest way to make the game work without extra testing.

2011-11-28 07:38:47 pm

double sucks because the original GB rom plays in color on a GBC because of the way they coded the shades of b&w.

TheGreenManalishi

2011-11-28 08:08:14 pm

If the 3ds is emulating gbc and gba games, no excuse for it not being emulated as it would play on gbc/gba hardware.

2011-12-02 01:07:28 pm

my umbrella goes directly to Bankai

they need to use the correct emulator since VC games come with the emulator inside them and don't use a "general" emulator stored in the system.
Wii VC games work the same way.

(not that it excuses their laziness for using the simplest emulator but at least one can see why they did it)

Edit history:

Opium: 2011-12-02 06:54:14 pm

2011-12-02 06:54:03 pm

I still don't understand why they didn't package it with the GBC emulator instead of the GB one.

Loudclaw

2011-12-12 04:00:17 pm

Don't cross me, or I will kill you!

I've played it almost constantly the past few days and so can join. I think it's in Black and white because the thing uses the original emulator. As the original was a GB, they made the emulator a GB one. Nintendo simply ported the game, the full package, into the VC. Actually, I think the B&W adds to the classic feel of the game. I play it in my room, at night, with the lights off, and the black and white makes it feel right. They couldn't add a hint of color because if they had, they'd have had to test it more. It may have been lazy, buy it still gives that classic feel of the original game. Play it in color, then in B&W. Which one adds to the feel of the game? B&W!

Behemoth

2011-12-12 04:17:34 pm

It being the original emulator has already been established...

As for black and white vs color: nah not really both versions are pretty equal for me. Atmosphere is still there in color.

Loudclaw

2011-12-12 04:27:59 pm

Don't cross me, or I will kill you!

I was summing it up. Besides, press R L and Y simultaneously. Green and black!

2011-12-13 08:46:47 pm

my umbrella goes directly to Bankai

i played the game finally today (finally put down MK7 after so many days)

so far i'm liking it. the game doesn't feel limited like the original thanks to the ability to crouch (THANK GOD LOL) and better agility overall. being B&W takes time to get used to (especially if you have barely played original GB games before) but it still manages to deliver a good atmosphere and looking around for stuff feels good (i do miss a map but the place isn't too hard to remember, unlike NES metroid)
the game does feel like a step in between the original and Super since there's a lot of improvements over the first and there's still the obvious missing stuff that later shows up in super but, for the system this was made on, it is pretty good.

i've killed like 5 metroids so far and got an energy tank and some missiles. the save stations are nice to have but the restore points make them somewhat pointless (you can just make one in front of a metroid and try crazy stuff freely and reload after dying). the best moment so far has been finding the spider ball and climbing the wall as far as i could go. funny how it is just there without any fanfare and stuff (it looked like some energy replenish point)

i played the game finally today (finally put down MK7 after so many days)

so far i'm liking it. the game doesn't feel limited like the original thanks to the ability to crouch (THANK GOD LOL) and better agility overall. being B&W takes time to get used to (especially if you have barely played original GB games before) but it still manages to deliver a good atmosphere and looking around for stuff feels good (i do miss a map but the place isn't too hard to remember, unlike NES metroid)
the game does feel like a step in between the original and Super since there's a lot of improvements over the first and there's still the obvious missing stuff that later shows up in super but, for the system this was made on, it is pretty good.

i've killed like 5 metroids so far and got an energy tank and some missiles. the save stations are nice to have but the restore points make them somewhat pointless (you can just make one in front of a metroid and try crazy stuff freely and reload after dying). the best moment so far has been finding the spider ball and climbing the wall as far as i could go. funny how it is just there without any fanfare and stuff (it looked like some energy replenish point)

Edit history:

Prime Hunter: 2011-12-13 11:46:56 pm

2011-12-13 11:46:06 pm

Now that you mention it, yeah, Spider Ball is just kinda there with no lead up. Still one of my favorite abilities in all of Metroid alongside the Grapple Beam, Boost Ball, and obviously the Morph Ball itself. (Notice a pattern in my favorites?) Makes that spot where you find it for the first time in the series memorable for me because of that.

It's kinda interesting to listen to someone describe their experience with the game so long after it has impacted the rest of the series. I'm wondering now what your reaction is going to be to some of the later surprises and challenges the game throws at you, even though some of them won't have anywhere near the same effect since the evolutions have been seen ever since and are common knowledge nowadays.

2011-12-14 07:16:51 pm

my umbrella goes directly to Bankai

i played more today and got a lot of stuff.

discovering secret passages is pretty nice, especially using the spider ball to check all the fake blocks and then encountering metroid shells that hide a hole to go in. i noticed the missile tanks resemble the ones of other m the most compared to the classic missile tanks in M1, SM and Fusion.
i encountered zeta metroids already and used a strat against the last few where i got below a block that the metroid gets kinda stuck on and i shoot him from below. feels a bit cheesy but fighting them in front is pretty risky, especially when the missiles fail to hit.
currently, i think i'm near the final 1/3 of the game since there's only 16 metroids remaining.

it is refreshing to play a game where looking for the enemies is the focus and you kinda stumble on the upgrades. in the other metroid games, it feels like you're looking for the items and stumble on the enemies, unless it is a boss (this game is lacking in bosses though. understandable since major boss battles were introduced in SM). i've got space jump, plasma beam, jumpball, spazer and wave beam (the beams get combined or replaced? i couldn't tell)

the highlight of the day was meeting Arachnus (that's his name, right? the morph ball boss from Fusion). when i got to teh statue, and it morphed, it surprised me since it didn't look different (also reminded me of the chozo statue in Fusion that becomes a core-x). then, i was like "i've fought this guy in fusion. time to missile his ass" and he proceeds to dodge all of them and almost kill me. i tried the morph ball bombs next and they worked to my surprise. even though he was already known, the method to kill him is totally different.

i think i'll beat the game tomorrow. so far i know how the queen can be killed thanks to other m, but i wouldn't be surprised if there's another catch on the way that gets me.

i played more today and got a lot of stuff.

discovering secret passages is pretty nice, especially using the spider ball to check all the fake blocks and then encountering metroid shells that hide a hole to go in. i noticed the missile tanks resemble the ones of other m the most compared to the classic missile tanks in M1, SM and Fusion.
i encountered zeta metroids already and used a strat against the last few where i got below a block that the metroid gets kinda stuck on and i shoot him from below. feels a bit cheesy but fighting them in front is pretty risky, especially when the missiles fail to hit.
currently, i think i'm near the final 1/3 of the game since there's only 16 metroids remaining.

it is refreshing to play a game where looking for the enemies is the focus and you kinda stumble on the upgrades. in the other metroid games, it feels like you're looking for the items and stumble on the enemies, unless it is a boss (this game is lacking in bosses though. understandable since major boss battles were introduced in SM). i've got space jump, plasma beam, jumpball, spazer and wave beam (the beams get combined or replaced? i couldn't tell)

the highlight of the day was meeting Arachnus (that's his name, right? the morph ball boss from Fusion). when i got to teh statue, and it morphed, it surprised me since it didn't look different (also reminded me of the chozo statue in Fusion that becomes a core-x). then, i was like "i've fought this guy in fusion. time to missile his ass" and he proceeds to dodge all of them and almost kill me. i tried the morph ball bombs next and they worked to my surprise. even though he was already known, the method to kill him is totally different.

i think i'll beat the game tomorrow. so far i know how the queen can be killed thanks to other m, but i wouldn't be surprised if there's another catch on the way that gets me.

2011-12-14 11:24:06 pm

Had to laugh at your description of the Arachnus battle. It's that sometimes rare moment where newer information is trumped by an older mechanic and something that shouldn't be too difficult becomes one of the more challenging things you run into in a game. I'm pretty sure I've had that kind of thing happen all the time.

And yeah, beams are like the original where they don't stack, but there's a spot coming up where each of them is available to you so you can choose what you want to go into the final areas with. Just be sure to stock up on energy and missiles once you get down to a handful of metroids left on the counter because it can be a far trip back to the nearest recharging spot if you run out before the last save point when going through the final section of tunnels. Since this is your first time though the game I'd highly recommend that since you'll likely need every last missile you have unless you've found nearly all of the expansions. It's probably quite obvious why you'll need them but I won't say anything more.

Had to laugh at your description of the Arachnus battle. It's that sometimes rare moment where newer information is trumped by an older mechanic and something that shouldn't be too difficult becomes one of the more challenging things you run into in a game. I'm pretty sure I've had that kind of thing happen all the time.

And yeah, beams are like the original where they don't stack, but there's a spot coming up where each of them is available to you so you can choose what you want to go into the final areas with. Just be sure to stock up on energy and missiles once you get down to a handful of metroids left on the counter because it can be a far trip back to the nearest recharging spot if you run out before the last save point when going through the final section of tunnels. Since this is your first time though the game I'd highly recommend that since you'll likely need every last missile you have unless you've found nearly all of the expansions. It's probably quite obvious why you'll need them but I won't say anything more.

Edit history:

UchihaSasuke: 2011-12-15 06:13:10 am

2011-12-15 06:10:09 am

my umbrella goes directly to Bankai

alright, i went for the final stretch and beat the game.

i made a mistake in my previous post. the metroids i had met at that point were betas. the zeta ones came later and they were the most annoying of the lot due to moving erratically and having a small hitbox. i kept going back to restore stations each time i killed 2 of them because my energy didn't hold for long. later i met the omegas but they didn't move as fast and were bigger, so they were easier to land missiles onto. they still did a load of damage and i had to recharge after groups of 2.
good thing there's recharge stations and an ice beam at the start of the last section of the game. it felt a lot like tourian and the usual metroids came back. i got trapped and had to bomb to escape but escaping was easier just because they don't come in groups (i'd be dead if it was M1).

at the end i met the queen in her original form. as expected, i died like 10+ times straight and went and looked for a video since spamming missiles didn't do anything and i couldn't figure how to enter her for the bombing. after seeing the video, it was a matter of spamming missiles while being against the wall and getting lucky to hit her and enter the mouth. this last part was tricky too since samus didn't go all the way in automatically so i tried several stuff and i got to the stomach consistently after holding several directions in the d-pad. after dying 10+ times, i mamaged to kill her and beat the game woooo (3DS's save states were really useful. if not for that, each death would be soo annoying)

and then..., THE BABY! this moment has been ruined by other m since that was the thing i thought at that point. the little thing sure likes eating its own planet. no timer meant this wasn't a real escape but the final timer still made me go fast.

the completion time was 5:01. just over 5 hours. i think my first SM completion time was similar but i don't remember it very clearly. i'm not sure if i got all the items since the game lacks a % counter but i had all the E-tanks and 190 missiles at the end (i bet i missed one tank).

the GBA ambassador games are close to being released so i'm going to play Fusion next. i don't think i'll replay the game right away since i want to beat Mario Land 1 and 2 and have other stuff pending like Time Attack in MK7. overall it felt like getting a brand new game despite being 20 years old and lacking many of the staples of the series that came after it. now i REALLY want to see a remake of it heh.

alright, i went for the final stretch and beat the game.

i made a mistake in my previous post. the metroids i had met at that point were betas. the zeta ones came later and they were the most annoying of the lot due to moving erratically and having a small hitbox. i kept going back to restore stations each time i killed 2 of them because my energy didn't hold for long. later i met the omegas but they didn't move as fast and were bigger, so they were easier to land missiles onto. they still did a load of damage and i had to recharge after groups of 2.
good thing there's recharge stations and an ice beam at the start of the last section of the game. it felt a lot like tourian and the usual metroids came back. i got trapped and had to bomb to escape but escaping was easier just because they don't come in groups (i'd be dead if it was M1).

at the end i met the queen in her original form. as expected, i died like 10+ times straight and went and looked for a video since spamming missiles didn't do anything and i couldn't figure how to enter her for the bombing. after seeing the video, it was a matter of spamming missiles while being against the wall and getting lucky to hit her and enter the mouth. this last part was tricky too since samus didn't go all the way in automatically so i tried several stuff and i got to the stomach consistently after holding several directions in the d-pad. after dying 10+ times, i mamaged to kill her and beat the game woooo (3DS's save states were really useful. if not for that, each death would be soo annoying)

and then..., THE BABY! this moment has been ruined by other m since that was the thing i thought at that point. the little thing sure likes eating its own planet. no timer meant this wasn't a real escape but the final timer still made me go fast.

the completion time was 5:01. just over 5 hours. i think my first SM completion time was similar but i don't remember it very clearly. i'm not sure if i got all the items since the game lacks a % counter but i had all the E-tanks and 190 missiles at the end (i bet i missed one tank).

the GBA ambassador games are close to being released so i'm going to play Fusion next. i don't think i'll replay the game right away since i want to beat Mario Land 1 and 2 and have other stuff pending like Time Attack in MK7. overall it felt like getting a brand new game despite being 20 years old and lacking many of the staples of the series that came after it. now i REALLY want to see a remake of it heh.