Beating Metroid How Nintendo Intended 

You must be a liberal. They cry about hard games

Good job “fulfiling” your mission! Yeah when I was a kid you wrote a letter to Nintendo asking for help, and they’d send you tons of content. They mailed me a great 2-page map of Metroid and, once armed with that, I was beating Metroid without a sweat. Without that…. Good luck.

I just beat it for the first time today and I agree, the ' mother brain ' boss is the most frustrating boss I have ever beaten. One thing that makes it a little easier to predict is there will never be more than 3 rings on screen at once......so when ya see a ring disappearing off screen, ya know another is just about to be spawned.

That Kraid/Toad bit nearly made spit up my cereal from laughing!

The round ball blockage at the opening has a purpose. Games that scrolled both left _and_ right were still an amnomally. It forces the player to go left early and see that screen scrolls that way as well.

I played this when it originally came out. Being "stuck" was part of the fun. This is where we learned how to grind and farm and it's carried us all the way through our gaming today. Who cares is we knew what to do. We learned to bomb everywhere and shoot each wall. We returned to the same spots over and over again. We knew it wasn't E.T. on Atari and appreciated that it was a difficult experience. Plus, playing late at night, finding new scary areas was just a great feeling. We felt like pioneers and adventurers in the safety of our own homes. It was fantastic!

I choked in my drink when I heard you say you were only at 50 subz. That's surprising considering the amazing quality of content.

Great stuff, it’s good to see new players actually giving the OG Metroid a shot. The series really is more compelling when you get to experience the games chronologically. Can’t wait to see you tackle 2 and 3.

The RU-vid algorithm blessed me with finding this budding channel which is making Metroid content, so I'm eager to see your growth and wish you luck! Always glad to see a new entry to the metroid club, and just in time for Dread!

I’m sure it was mentioned before but Ridley’s pattern is determined randomly when you enter the room, and sometimes his attacks will overshoot your safe space in front of him, other times, his attacks will land in front of him and block your missiles making his fight more aggravating

I first played this game in my copy of Zero Mission. I was ecstatic that my time in Zero Mission gave me a sense of direction in the game.

Even as a kid in the 80s, I still needed a simple Nintendo Power magazine map to help me beat this game. But even with all of the issues, I still loved this game.

I had such a good time watching this, recalling every ounce of your frustration from when I played this back in the 80's. I must say, this really is "the best way" to play it. Unlike modern guides, which tell you EVERYTHING, this classic guide is only that: a guide. You still have to figure things out on your own; you still have to experiment and guess and strive to get good. And quite frankly, that's what makes this game fun and rewarding. Beating it is a genuine accomplishment, and the more someone holds your hand, the less you accomplish. I get that this formula doesn't work with today's audiences, and not everyone is going to want to play this game "the right way." But I commend you for doing so!

I have to say, thank you very much for giving this game a fair shake! I've seen so many reviews of Metroid from people under 30 who outright refuse to even try to understand this game for what it is, and what its place and significance was in the annals of video game history. I was very pleased to see that you played all the way through (twice!) and that you were honest about what's good, what's bad, and what's ugly about this game. I don't expect people to like the original Metroid (compared to the original Zelda, Mario, Kid Icarus, etc., it doesn't hold up nearly as well), but I expect a fair and honest review, and that's what you've done here. Good job!

This was a great video! It brought back a lot of memories and I had a good laugh at the struggles I also encountered, including dying a lot, back in the day. What I can proudly say about Metroid on the NES is that I beat it without any guides or cheats. As I previously mentioned, it involved dying a lot and a lot of exploration and memorization. It was the first game I ever beat on the NES and it will always hold a special place in my childhood memories for that reason. I fittingly make homage to it in my home game room with a Metroid display.

After warching your zero mission video, I like your narration style and I've now watched almost every video you've ever done. You, sir, have earned another subscriber! Keep up the great work and i look forward to a video featuring metroid dread.

oh, I love this. you had such a classic experience with the game! and going through it a second time, faster, better than before, is really the spice of the older metroids... I grew up reading my brother's nintendo powers and the really awkward way they spelled out how to play was such a special thing, I'm glad that resonates with others, too.

Just pulled out my Wii and started playing this a few days ago. God it brings me back when I was a kid loving this game and metroid 2.

I took a few weeks to beat this game in elementary school and loved it. A few years later my pal Justin Bailey gave me a few pointers.

Hey, the RU-vid algorithm just pushed this to me today, and I wanted to add to the comments here letting you know what a great job you’ve done and to keep it up! Your personality and humor really shines through. You really have a path forward in making these kinds of videos. I’ve subscribed and am looking forward to seeing more!

That's why I decided to play Zero Mission instead. Battery-backed saving, no restarting with empty tanks, restoring your health and ammo at save points and the map room tells you where you need to go. Great job beating the OG version!!

Your video randomly appeared in my recommended and I must say, I'm very impressed! You articulate your thoughts very well and in turn makes for a very interesting video! Will be subbing!

There's two ways I've seen that you can deal with Kraid. With the Wave Beam, you can somewhat keep your distance and fire at him, the wave pattern is likely to hit Kraid's head if you're slightly above his level. This works especially if Kraid is using his shorter throwing distance, but it takes some time. With the Ice Beam, if you can freeze the center spike in such a way that you have a clean shot at Kraid's stomach, you can spam your weapon at point blank and he'll struggle to retaliate. Of course, this is a bit tricky. As for Ridley, if he's using the farther throwing distance you can cheap him out. If he's using the shorter distance, the Ice Beam can freeze the entire volley, at which point his fire is merely a platform for you to pelt his face with missiles. Alternatively, I believe the Varia suit lets you get behind him and cheap him out with the Wave Beam. And Mother Brain, yeah you pretty much summed it up. There's a trick you can use throughout the game to reach some secrets or avoid damage. When you're in ball form while in mid-air, and press up to unroll, Samus can jump in mid-air as long as she's not moving left or right. Hire me, 80's Nintendo guide people

I remember playing it for the first time back in 1987 when I was only 7. It took me months to beat the game. There was a Nintendo guide back then, but I didn't know about it. So I had to grind my way to beat the game. Good times 😅

I beat Metroid as a child, and I’m talking when I was 9. I wouldn’t have thought anyone would need a guide.

Amazing editing for 2023 standards. Very inspiring for people who feel like they’re late af to the gaming content party

I never beat this game without a password as a kid. A lot of the play time probably is taken up by just bombing/shooting random floors and walls and then just getting lost in the samey looking areas. The fact that the official players guide, guides you into a pit you can't leave unless you bug your way out (you should have the high jump) or luring the flying enemy into the top area is a speedrunners exploit too. People say this game didn't "age well", but I'd say it wasn't that great at the start... it had potential kind of like Street Fighter 1. They would perfect clueing the player in better in Super Metroid. The crunch and inexperience of the dev team really shows in Metroid 1.

Ok, it is a normal day, I, a Chinese 25 years old man just purchased Metroid Prime. He felt guilty for his incomplete of Metroid Dread. So he wanna we some videos as his expiation. And he find this great content. Really Great content! You should have 10 times more subs!

My dad beat this game without a guide (we didn't even know about guides at the time) when I was a kid. He painstakingly mapped out most of the game with detailed notes (which he couldn't actually read, but the map was still good). He and a friend would tag team it, but he would get frustrated with the friend who would pick up every energy ball and missile reload even if he was full. Years later, I beat it myself (again, without a guide). It was very... well, let's just say I spent many stressful hours playing it that could have been better spent. I'm proud of beating it, but I have no desire to ever play it again. I greatly preferred the SNES sequel. Save features, a built in map, little tutorials scattered around (enacted by cute little aliens). Definitely a better game overall. Thanks for the nostalgia though!

Great content, keep it up. I'm looking forward to watch your other Metroid videos. :)

Another great video Luker. Been enjoying them a lot!

It was a neighborhood event when I was a kid when Jason, the kid who owned the game, FINALLY got to Mother Brain. We packed his living room and all watched with abated breath when he finally beat the game. Cheers and high-fives all around!

keep grinding💪🏻 these videos are great man!

Last year I was finally forced to sell all my childhood Nintendo Power Player’s Guides mostly from SNES, N64, and GameCube era and at least one of them from the 2000s was also a guide for the original Metroid. Not sure if it was Metroid Prime, Metroid Fusion, or Metroid Zero Mission, but they included the original Metroid in the guide since it was unlockable with those later games.

My friends used to draw naps in the diet of the baseball field during recess when we’d discuss this game back in the day. I don’t think any of us ever came close to actually beating it back then though. I’ve beaten it a few times now, but I definitely don’t play through it without referencing a map from now on.

As someone who has only player super metroid, when i clicked on this everything looked so wrong. It doesn’t have to be stated how well that game has been received. After watching this, it really puts into perspective why it was such a massive hit on release, it just broke the mold. Every action was rewarding, all pieces of knowledge you get as you progress count in your mind to help when you backtrack, the mechanics are rewarding to learn and master, plus on too of excellent gameplay its the most immersive 16 bit game (I’ve experienced) of all time. With minimal colors and sounds, super metroid actually creeps you out and makes you feel alone and isolated. Thanks for showing how the franchise started, it’s really cool in retrospect

loved your video! really refreshing to see those appreciate and give a chance to nestroid. gonna subscribe and look forward to see you trying more metroid!

First video I've watched by you, solid stuff. Having played Metroid a few times both as a kid and as an adult, I pretty much agree with everything you said.

Two great points.., was such a hard game and no idea where to go. Wasn’t until Nintendo Power walkthrough. Made so many maps as a kid 😂

really enjoying your videos. cant wait to see you grow and make more great videos

I can't believe that I actually beat this game without a guide. It took me a long time and many instances of retyping passwords but I did do it as a kid. I nowhere near got all the items though.

watched this without even looking at the views or subs on your channel and IMMEDIATELY thought you were one of those top-tier video game reviewers. content is incredible. i hope you grow more homie :3

Bro, your videos are awesome and funny, I'd love to see more of this xD

Awesome production value. Your channel will take off soon, as it should, and I'm here before 1k to see it all! Btw, Super Metroid is my favorite game of all time. I've literally played through it at least 20 times and know every nook and cranny.

omg, when that maridia music kicks in... imagine that somewhere in the original game, that'd.... that'd just dark out, as it does in super metroid. such atmosphere.

10:19 i had the same reaction when I arrived for the first time trying to complete the game in less than an hour and enter without seeing the guide xd

I tried to complete this game by myself recently... Draw the map... Ended up completely stuck and frustrated. When I finally gave up and watched a video using the fucking enemy to reach the upper platform you mention I got convinced this was not meant to be done by an individual on its own. Now that you mention there is a official guide for it (which I was not aware of) it suddenly makes much more sense. Anyway, I completed the game watching a longplay everytime I was stuck again. It removes a part of the fun, but honestly I had lost my patience after this.

Love your video man ! Keep it up !

Amazing content man, I'm definitely staying for more

Great content! Liked and subbed

I know you joke about the round ball tip but I let some kids borrow the game in exchange for Simon's Quest back in the day and they couldn't figure it out. They came to me for help and said they got stuck in this room after they got the "key", which was round ball.

Honestly Metroid on NES is one of my absolute favorite Metroids. No showing you the way or a pseudo linear gameplay like the rest (besides Super and Prime 1), no making it too easy with 100% Items. I like it so much that I'm making a Roguevania on the Gameboy Color more based on the classic Metroid gameplay. Nearly completely open (not many progression locks), only enemies that will at some point become risiculously hard so that one is forced to git gud or find some items.

Options were limited back in this day of gaming. You spent $60 on this game and by God you were going to beat it! I spent a lot of time on this game, writing passwords down and such. Problem solving is what this game is all about, along with the sense of achievement that comes with it. Imagine spending hours trying to get to and beat the final boss and finally feeling the sense of relief that follows, only to discover you have to climb you way to safety before the whole place self destructs. High anxiety! We need more games like this!

Lmao, that last part of the video was perfection. 😂

Rarely have I seen someone make Metroid NES entertaining I will follow your career with great interests

Very good quality video for someone with only 135 subscribers. I've subbed

This is some great quality video, great job mate. Waiting for you to try Super Metroid Blind!

yeah, top game in my book. by far best NES game. The music alone is unprecedented and unmatched in eeriness. It is beatable without the guide but takes the foreknowledge of powerups available and game mechanics such as breaking walls and hidden stuff. it is very much a maze which is kinda what motherbrain would want to keep her lack of ass safe, so I did it with pencil and paper and blockcounting (the latter part very loosely). fortunately, the doors don't warp you, it is topographically nicely organized. but all of your pain, we have as a community collectively shared. : D

Just subscribed really good video and funny too, you deserve more views and subscribers. Look forward to future vids

i cannot believe how good your edit skills are, Good shit man, really good video.

Expert use of the drowning music.

Epic video keep up the good work man

One aspect of Metroid that I think is more forgiving than its contemporaries is that you can't really fall to your death in the game. In an era where landing in lava, on spikes, or just off the bottom of the screen was almost universally an instant death, Metroid allowed you to claw your way back up. There's no fall damage, either. The game arguably makes jumping into a pit rewarding and fun.

Hey man. Love your stuff. Well-made videos and some good comedy in there. Congrats on reaching over 1000 subs. You deserve way more man. Keep it up

Gotta remember that Nintendo was just figuring out the idea of a long-form “action-adventure” game at this point. As you note, most games prior to this were just about piling up a bunch of points before you died, not about exploring and gradually making progress. Stuff like the original Metroid and Zelda games have their issues because the designers were truly inventing something new. They’d improve upon the details later, but back then part of the fun was sharing tips and secrets with your friends on the playground. That (and strategy guides) is how everyone really learned how to play. Games like that were a revelation in the 80s.

I tried to wipe the dust off my phone screen like three times before I realized that it was a background of stars lol

8:05 If it helps, this is just a consequence of Metroid's limited cartridge space and how the map layout is programmed. This happens because this item room is a copy of another item room that does use that secret to access a hidden passage.

I first played 'Metroid' on the Virtual Console when I was a pre-teen. I remember it being very hard to get into the first time around; it was brutally hard, there was no map of any kind, and I got confused on where I was supposed to go next. It, however, didn't take long to get a better sense of what the goal is, in addition to gradually handling the high difficulty with ease. Generally speaking, I don't find the experience to be entirely cryptic. A couple of those Brinstar bridges for example generally have enemies that you can't engage with, which makes for curiously designed rooms; why would there be enemies you can't kill? So it soon became easy to figure out I needed to bomb the floor in order to get through, and I quickly discovered both an ice beam and that pointless paranoia-inducing trap. Even during the most cryptic parts, I managed to beat the game without any outside help, though it did take me a long time to beat the game. I'm an adult now, and 'Metroid' looking back is kind of a bad game. Graphics are boring and repetitive a lot of the time, and the poor signifying of critical pathways can quickly result in the player with little patience for such nonsense feeling motivated to look for outside help. The main problem is that the level design, barring the majority of Brinstar, is poor at best and quite frankly terrible at worst. It mostly boils down to haphazardly arranged and constantly recycled rooms with uninteresting platforming and frustrating enemy encounters, not helped by the dodgy play control that isn't responsive a lot of the time. Even Brinstar has its severe design hiccups, such as the aforementioned trap that needlessly punishes exploration, as well as being able to go to Norfair without the bombs which does nothing but create a frustrating roadblock that needlessly adds confusion to the already confusing and tedious exploration. Couple that with the lack of recharge stations for health and ammo, and you have a frustrating endurance test. Probably one of the worst cases of first game syndrome out there.

I beat this when I was a kid, when it first came out. I didn't have a guide. it took me forever to memorize all the areas and find all the hidden power-ups. I didn't even know there were different ending according to your finish time, until years later.

Back in the day, you're not supposed to beat the game in one sitting. You're supposed to take days or even weeks to beat it. Hence, the high difficulty, hence the password system.

"Nintendo strategy GUUUUUUUIIIII..." Pure gold right there 🤣🤣

See, the expectation back then is that you’d make your own map… but _fuuuuuuck_ that! I didn’t use a map when I finally beat this game, but that’s only because Zero Mission has the same layout and I’d just played that enough to memorize where I needed to go. lol

That part about Kraid gave me major "To kill the Cyberdemon, shoot it until it dies" vibes.

Two tidbits about comments you made. The first thing is how easy Ridley is. I remember being really confused as a kid when Super Metroid came out, and Ridley was the big bad guy (and continued to be so throughout the series) since Kraid is a much more difficult and cooler boss in the original NES. Turns out that the difficulty (or lack thereof) is due to being ported from the Famicom disk system to the NES. The Famicom was able to generate random numbers on the fly, whereas the NES cannot. So, on the original, he'd alternate between close up shots and far away shots. You can't camp under his arch of fireballs and just blast away, since he'd easily hit you there. On the NES, it only picks one shot pattern when you enter the room and stays that way. Also, for Mother Brain, for some reason Nintendo of America decided that she wasn't difficult enough on the Japanese version. So, they made her harder by only having a small portion of her glass tank be able to be destroyed. So you have a 1x1 block to shoot through to hit her. On the Japanese version, the whole front of the tank blows off, making her MUCH easier to hit. So, blame NoA for that one.

I beat the game on GBA when it was released as part of the NES classic collection. I mindlessly wandered the game for 1 month before finally beating it. I never found the wave beam but I can without a doubt still beat the game pretty quickly without a map. Wandering the mazes for a month really makes you remember where the key items are.

Metroid was already old when it came here in the states. Try out some of the hacks. They've made it so you can start with full life when you die, have a built in map like all the newer releases, and have multiple weapons stack on each other. It's amazing what the hacking community has done over the decades.

I think your reaction to that first Metroid was spot on EVERYONE'S reaction!!! LoL

Good job doing that on like 3 tanks. When you have a full suite of e-tanks, it's still hell but it lasts longer.

Great video!!

as a kid I found Metroid to be easy to finish. I didn't mind taking my time finding all the secret places to get the powerup, it just required patience. After you get enough energy tanks and missiles, plus the varia suit and such, the game became easy. It wasn't really that unforgiving either, since you could always chill for a bit and farm for health and missiles if in a bind. Like I said, the game requires mostly just patience. If you have low patience, you will definitely suffer ... a lot.

Great video. I agree it is way too cryptic. I never would have beaten it without a walkthrough. And had to look up a Strat for motherbrain room outside of the walkthrough. It just seems that was the way things were in that era of gaming. Friends sharing secrets they learned playing together, like where the warp whistles were in Mario 3 or overworks heart containers in Zelda. I didn’t have a guide and never would have guessed how to find them, but some learned it and then shared it with me.

Metroid was the first truly scary game and in some ways it's still among the scariest games. The sound, music, and lack of music is still maybe the best that it's ever been done.

Lol wowwww you got the nice lucky pattern on ridley. That does indeed make it easy! :)

This is why I love NES and SNES games. They are brutal. Taught me to never give up.

When I was 12 years old I managed to beat the game without any guide. Tried to play it 33 years later, I had no chance at beating it and gave up!

8:15 here's an explanation as to why sometimes you shoot a wall or bomb a floor to destroy it, apparently being a new path but it turns out it's still a dead end like the one you show at the timestamp: basically, you'll notice the rooms and tiles look incredibly similar... And that because they are. They reuse a lot of rooms and tiles, that's why in one room bombing the floor here leads to a pickup but in another room with the exact same pattern also lets you bomb the floor but nothing. And so here's a paradox: what came first: the Floors or the Ceilings? You may realize that vertical shaft in Norfair where you found the discrepancy in the floor to continue downwards, if you follow the Ice Beam path you'll reach the top and have to bomb the exact same spot (second to last tile to the right) to descend back to the corridor. Here's an extra fact of this game: all rooms are either horizontal corridors or vertical shafts. Always one screen tall for horizontal rooms or one screen long for vertical ones, and they won't change until you pass through a door.

Oooh, I hope there's more Metroid! Love this

I beat this game as a kid and didn't think it was too hard. Games were just much harder in those days. They didn't coddle you like today. If you want a serious challenge, try Shadow of the Beast or Ghosts and Goblins.

They meant an inspection and coverage of the content, not a critical review. How a teacher might say "Let's review this material." They're not saying let's grade it on a scale for quality.

I saw a post on Reddit with your video and I subscribed.

The strategy guide (and later nintendo power magazine) was the NES version of microtransactions!

I played this as a child back in the 80's. It was difficult, but it was a different era in gaming for a kid. It took MONTHS of learning, memorization, etc. I had no guides, I made some rough "maps", and once I had a passcode from getting nearly every missile and E-tank, confronting Mother Brain was just a "let's hope it works" thing. If I died, it wasn't a big deal except for having to grind for full energy replenishment. THAT definitely sucked, so... I always saved the hidden e-tank near the beginning (ceiling tile near the giant block of purple fuzz tiles). That way, I'd begin the game with my (legitimate) code, grab the tank for a full refill, and head to the Metroid zone with M Brain. Piece of cake.

Great vid!

The playground crowdsourcing that it required to complete a game like Metroid back in the day can simply not be replicated today.

Ridley can send the fireballs in a short or long pattern. If the lava enemies jumping up to the top of the screen heading towards the boss, you will get short range fireballs. I prefer the screw-attack to kill him either way.

"Sh** f*** f*** f*** sh**!" about describes my relationship with the original Metroid perfectly lol

This game still stands the test of time for me. I can still beat it without a guide.

*inaudible swearing* best part, fantastic video as all ways!

This is why I like playthroughs more than speedruns. At least for the games I know.

Beat it when it first came out, on the FAMICOM, which meant every restart puts you at Brinstar. Every time I got stuck, I would shoot and bomb EVERYWHERE until something happened. That was part of the challenge, and part of the discovery. And yes I used the freeze beam on that enemy to get the varia suit. You have to lure it to fly up the column first, which is already hard enough. I don't even know how many hours it took me to beat this game... Games back then were definitely harder than games these days.