Metroid II: Return of Samus - IMPLANTgames 

The most fair review of this game ever. Thank you.

I always look forward to your videos, your breakdowns of the story, gameplay, visuals, sound, etc are very well put together

0:34 whoops. When you're named Ridley and your lead character is Ripley and one of Metroid's bosses is Ridley, there's bound to be a slip-up once in a while.

There are two amazing remakes of this game with one being official (Samus Returns) and the other being fanmade (AM2R).

Love this game as a kid. Never understood Metroid 1, but 2 spoke to me. The music was great and I got addicted to watching that Metroid counter go down. Recently beat the color hack, very fun.

Me: Who uploads a video at 5AM? Inplantgames: oh boy 5AM!

For an early Game Boy game it's pretty impressive.

I'm not going to go into detail like I did last comment, but this game really improved over the first game in almost every way. Definitely not my favorite though... Also, I personally prefer the GBC palette over the SGB one but both palettes are pretty fitting.

I really love the sound design and music in this game. The music in particular is amazing. The main tunnel theme has probably the most catchy melody in the entire Metroid franchise, and is an increasingly welcome stress-reliever and mood-boster as you go deeper into the planet. Also, both the beginning and ending titles have beautiful themes as well--again, arguably the best in the franchise. The rest of the soundtrack is underappreciated and misunderstood. I personally find it to be a tour de force of capturing different moods. There are four variants of the ruins ambiance, each one progressively more substantive, albeit very minimalistic when considered as "music"; their quietness really lends a lot to the eeriness of SR388. These themes do a LOT of the heavy lifting of making this game scary, given the graphical limitations of the GameBoy. The Chozo theme (which also plays in the ruins) is a minor tension-reliever, because simply to hear any kind of coherent music at all, even if it's not uplifting, is something that's welcome and familiar and makes you feel less alone. The Metroid battle theme is chaotic and frightening, just like the battles themselves, and it starts suddenly, increasing the shock of surprise when you come upon a Metroid unawares. The utterly empty final area has a horrifying, dreadful theme that conveys a sense of active danger despite no creatures being around--very different from the eerie but peaceful ruins ambiance. The gauntlet themes are both variants on the final area theme, each more terrifying than the last, and, together with that Metroid Counter, really drive home that you're about to get to the final confrontation. And the Metroid hatchling theme releases all the tension of the game with its beautiful, ethereal sounds that make it one of my favorite pieces of video game music to this day. This hatchling music is itself your reward for surviving the cold sweat of such a scary game (especially when you play it as a kid, like I did). It's also a subtle variation of the main tunnel theme, bringing you back full circle to how the game started. And it's a very rare example of a piece of video game music where the different sound channels have different lengths, leading to a constantly re-combining theme that lasts for several minutes before finally repeating. (You won't be able to hear this if you listen to RU-vid videos, because none of them play the piece for long enough. You have to either play the game, or emulate the game music in a program capable of playing GameBoy audio data.) Anyhow, I love love love the sound in this game!

When I was a kid, it took me forever to beat this game. But when I did, it was the most satisfying experience

I hope this channel also takes a look at AM2R.

So wait, is Metroid holding his gun? Or is he a cyborg like Data from Star Wars?

Great video, as always! Can't wait to see your analysis on Super Metroid. In my opinion, it is the game where Metroid finally realized its full potential.

This is one of the best Metroid II videos I've watched, good job! Just a small thing I want to point out, the default Game Boy colour scheme pairs up with the music, and sometimes lack thereof, in a way it reinforces the eerie feeling of getting lost in an alien planet (in some areas it's much more noticeable than in others), at least in my experience.

I'm so glad your back to regular videos

Great video, had many hours of fun beating this when it was new. Definitely one of my most favorite soundtracks on Game Boy!

I'm glad my RU-vid recommendation feed recommended me this video

I finally played through this like 6 ears ago. I liked it a lot and was impressed at the adventure and experience they crammed into a game for the GB. But many of the Metroid fights were easy since they would freeze at the edge of the screen and this can be exploited. Others were frustratingly chaotic, like you said. Looking forward to the Super Metroid review. What a masterpiece of the genre that was.

My first video game ever 😍😍I remember turning up the volume on my gameboy and listening to the main menu music I think that's what messed up my left ear .....

I got this game at launch and beat it on that original green Game Boy screen, if you can imagine! I've loved Metroid II since it came out and it has been tough to see it mostly derided by the majority of the fan community. I appreciate that you found so many positive aspects to speak to in this overview. Looking forward to Super Metroid!

It would be cool if an examination and comparison of the two remakes could be done. The first was the unofficial AM2R project, which resulted in a finished game in the style of Metroid Fusion. Samus Returns was a later and official product. AM2R is still getting updates, and the final release in the form of v1.5 is coming relatively soon. The interesting thing here is that after Doc64 got a cease and desist from Nintendo, other folks picked up the project and continued refining it beyond v1.1. By reverse engineering the source code. People are very dedicated to AM2R.

Fantastic video! I played Metroid II for the first time a few years back and i loved the Isolation and the atmosphere! Such an impressing game for the Gameboy!

Great video, Kris. It was very spot on, especially with how Metroid 2 streamlines its progression. Looking forward to the inevitable Super Metroid video.

This was a really good review. I will definitely be picking up this game on your recommendations and critiques

I genuinely never thought of it like this... Thanks😊

I'm currently playing through Super Metroid! You picked a great time to tall about the other games!

I just like to say this is your best review yet (in my opinion) as well as one of the best reviews of Metroid 2 I've watched. The level of detail whilst at the same time bringing a few new things to the table made this video very refreshing. Definitely a video I'm giving a like. As for my thoughts on Metroid 2? From my subjective point of view, it's my favourite game in the series. It's not the best by any means but it is the one that I have the most fun with. I usually prefer a more linear structure in my games which does indicate that Metroid is a franchise that's not 100% for me but I'm kind of happy there are several games in the series that aren't afraid to go for a more linear approach including this one. This is easily the first game in the series that I can say is genuinely fun. Unlike Metroid 1 which is very hard for me to go back to especially after playing Zero Mission, Metroid 2 is still a blast for me even after playing the remakes. Come to think of it, the original is still my favourite of the three versions. As much as I appreciate the remakes for the changes they made to make the experience more accessible, I feel like some of the changes ruin a bit of what made the game so endearing to me in the first place. I love the sense of being all alone in a barren yet memorable and horrifying planet, I love the atmosphere and the overall intimidating ambience found in the soundtrack, the control is so much more responsive than its predecessor and the amount of jump scares from the metroids added to the overall experience. One of my favourite Game Boy games and one of my favourite games in general. Interested to hear your thoughts on Super Metroid. While Metroid 2 is my favourite, Super Metroid is the better game from an objective point of view (the inclusion of a map does make quite a difference).

I remember loving this game as a kid. I should play it again to see how I feel.

When Samus Returns was released I was hyped as I never played a Metroid game before and felt now was a good time. I figured it was best to play the original to compare. I was 25 at the time and was still unsettled by the atmosphere Metroid 2 presented. A very enjoyable game that improved upon what the first game gave us.

I'm so glad you are back, these videos are so good! I really loved this game when I played through it. It does have problems but a lot of those are due to the limitations of the hardware. I thought it was REALLY strange that they decided to make a main part of the story on the gameboy though. I prefer this game to number one. Have you played the fan game AM2R? It is so gooooooood or have you played Return of Samus? I haven't yet but I hear good things.

Another great essay, Kris.

I've been looking forward to this.

Metroid II was the first Metroid game I played. I enjoyed it! The NES edition was nice, but I was just to reliant on strategy guide to complete. The game just isn’t fun to me if I have to keep eyeballing toward a strategy guide to complete it. The Goonies II was like that, too.

I’m gunna watch all of these

I might have to get the remake on 3DS.

Metroid 2 one of if not the most underrated game in the series. I first played this and got bored cause of the lack of map when i was like 11 (10 year ago). The Metroid fights reeeeeally suck they're just missile sponges. I adore the first area theme really pumps me up to go and kill some Metroids. Oh the spider ball was my biggest Nightmare when i played AM2R and here is as bad if not worse. Yeah the Space jump is my biggest road block cause of that strange timing it has. The ruins music is really forgettable and even annoying at some point for me. The graphic overhaul is really good but yeah when you play this on a GB good luck i wonder why they didn't released that DX version that could've helped with some of the set pieces. I need to replay this game someday although the backtracking it's my worst Nightmare without a map. Well Kris great review as always men keep the good job and remember Be New

1:57 that brown background looks great

I've always loved this game since I got it when I was 11 or 12. :)

I first played the game as a kid, completely blind. I thought the metroid hatching sequence was epic, but I did predict that I would be fighting some classic metroids at some point since I figured they were just too iconic to leave out.

Any plans to review the fangame AM2R (Another Metroid 2 Remake)?

I really need to try this out when I get a Super Game Boy again. It looks fun!

It was May of this year where I played Metroid 2 and the game that introduced to the rest of the franchise. For that I love Metroid 2

I heard on /v/ that you were more fair and better at reviewing retro games then KingK and looks like it's true, well done sir.

I only played this game for about 15 minutes, saw that it had hidden blocks, and NOPE'd right out, but this review seriously makes me reconsider trying it again. Will you be reviewing Samus Returns or, God forbid, AM2R?

I was surprised at how playable this game was since I never owned a Gameboy and generally don't like games that look and feel archaic. I needed the map, to be sure, but I beat the game 100% without much issue otherwise and I enjoyed pretty much everything.

Classic Game Boy games and classic Game Boy Color games are best played on a GBA, GBA SP or a Game Boy Player because the games will look great.

I never noticed that the metroid count changes on the pause screen!

As interesting as the fact that this game was used to advertise the Super Game Boy, the best color pallet experience for this game really is on the GameBoy Color/Gameboy Advance, since the team that worked on the GBC was R&D1, which made the Metroid series for a long time.

Ah good old Metroid 2! I think this is a great little Gameboy title. The scale of it is impressive for such a small cartridge. I think Nintendo really perfected the formula with Super Metroid. Does anyone else agree? Great video. I love your stuff

I would love it if you ever did a Shovel Knight video

You really have to think in line with the time this game came out in to really enjoy it. And when you do, it's a stellar gameboy title.

After Metroid you should do a different genre than usual. Like fighters, 3PS, shum'ups, etc. 😇

How is it possible to get this quality ? :-)

Which is your favourite? Mine is FUSION on the GBA.

I agree that Metroid 2 is a vast improvement over the first Metroid. I was born in 1988 and I really started gaming with the SNES and Sega Genesis and of course the Game Boy. I did play some NES a little later though. I just remember when I tried playing the original Metroid see where it all began since I loved Super Metroid so much and I recalled also enjoying Metroid 2 I just was so disappointed with the original Metroid. It just wasn't good. it was too hard to know where to go and so many rooms looked exactly the same. However on Metroid 2 they definitely made some improvements in that regard as well as the look of it for sure. I think I remember somebody saying that Samus on the original Metroid look like a fetus when she did her spin jump. Samus just look so stupid in that game. considering the Game Boy is eight bit and then made Samus looks so much better in Metroid 2, it tells me that they could have made Sam has look better in the original Metroid but they didn't. I do admit the bosses are very repetitive in Metroid 2 at and as for the lack of music in some areas, I don't think very many people have noticed that that lack of music adds more beats the further you get in the game entering such ruin areas culminating in the very last one at the bottom having the full song.

I recommend to you taking a look on a Full COlor hack for this game, so you can actually still play it ok-well nowadays.

I have this game. Even though I also have the super gameboy cartridge adapter I haven't played with it much. I should have bought Super Mario Land instead.

I would love some day if you returned to the Metroid Saga and finished it or the Zelda saga, because I find them to be Nintendo's best intellectual properties

Can you look at the first mario RPG game🍄🐢

how is he playing the game in color? i thought it was on the original GB

The "screen crunch" and somewhat confusingly similar areas exist to the same effect - Uncomfortability. This game plays up the limitations of the Game Boy and makes the adventure feel more cramped and uncomfortable. Samus is on an unfamiliar alien planet, and with the deafening silence aside from her own footsteps, laser blasts, and the screams of dying fauna, Samus feels alone. The tightness of the screen size, wspecially when compared to the size of Samus, makes navigating small corridors more claustrophobic and fighting large enemies who are half-off-screen most of the time feel more frightening, without actually increasing the difficulty in any way.

Can you look at Yoshi's Safari🐢

This video was released 3 hours ago, but there aren't any dislikes yet. Is this a miracle?

Oh my god, dude, just wait 'til you get to Super Metroid. You're gonna love it!! ;D It's one of the best games ever, no lie.

Still waiting on a original Metroid where the frame rate doesn't drop.

2 HOURS LATE SQUAD WHERE YOU AT?!?!?!?!?!?

Awful colour palette/shader choice, but excellent video as always

Metroid 2 is a game about feeling lost and uncertain, so adding a map would defeat the main purpose, and the metroid fights are a panic, as they should be. The uncertainty crosses over from uncertain about the geography to Samus being increasingly uncertain about her goal of genocide. (and indeed the game abruptly becomes more pleasant when she decides to not kill the newborn metroid at the end) Much like the first Metroid being based around exploration for sake of exploration, and the world is perfectly designed to suit that, making it enough of a challenge to chip away at and offer a fun cartographic experience rarely done elsewhere, but not too challenging. The world feels like an already existing world in both games, but in different ways. The first game makes it feel like it wasn't specifically laid out for you to tackle by not having every corridor lead to a reward, but rather some just exist for their own sake. The second game gives you subtle history and worldbuilding with the different areas. Nothing major, but enough to feel like you're exploring a place where events have happened before you arrived. The first game is designed for you to draw a map as you go. Because all rooms are on a grid, this is easy. The second game is designed to be very difficult to draw, to keep you as in the dark as Samus is, who can only see a few yards in front of her in this dark, dank cave. The layout is not a just a bunch of rectangles, and the areas look similar, so it's easy to feel turned around, as intended. While the first Metroid definitely needs some improvements, some of the things you note as such in Metroid II are complete differences in what the experience is supposed to be. Metroid is a game about exploration. Metroid II is a horror game. Super Metroid is a game about progression.

Why can't Metroid crawl?

based

This game is really held back by not having a map.

The way I look at it, the technology held Metroid 2 back, you can clearly tell. There were things in Metroid 2's design that makes it superior to Metroid 1, but the technology was a huge deterrent to play and enjoy the game. The potential of Metroid 2 on a better system would have created such an amazing game, almost so amazing I wonder if it exists. Oh wait! That's right, we have Metroid 3. lol

While I'm definitely glad that the 30HP thing got scrapped, I will never compliment Nintendo for Fixing such an obvious problem that they themselves created Would be like if they made a game but every time you wanted ti play, Miyamoto would personally show up at your door with a baseball bat to break your legs. Then you'd compliment the sequel for him not coming to do that. In short, there was no reason whatsoever why the original NES game had to work like that beside wasting even more of your time in a game that already made you tediously bomb every wall in hope of progressing. Would have taken so little to make that game stand the test of time but they absolutely crashed the landing, I think and unless you have a map and save states, your enjoyment will be severely limited, I think. And while Metroid II definitely has plenty of faults as well, I still feel it gets most out of it's own framework as it can but still is a fun experience to play through, even if it's really damn easy to get lost.

i dunno why but i could never get into the Metroid franchise. maybe i'll give this one a try on emulation

I don't like any of the Metroid 2 remakes, they don't capture how I felt playing the original years ago.

I can't help but be absolutely disgusted by the graphics but I appreciate the game

Early

You, sir, do the original Metroid a disservice with your lack of context. Of course it's not perfect. Just the most revolutionary, evocative, haunting, engrossing platformer ever made upon the time of its release. Good day.

I would like to add to your reasons on the flawed argument of non linearity making Metroid 1 superior. Here goes nothing. Why would I want to play an outdated video game over its improved sequel just because it has something that superior games like Super Metroid took and refined to its full potential? If I want to play a non linear game, I'm going to play Super Metroid. Metroid 1 showed potential in its level design but as soon as Super Metroid came out and refined the first game's established ideas, potential is no longer its major saving grace.

I loved the review (as always) but gosh that game looks ugly!

This game was a real slog to play through the one time I played and beat it.

I disliked the 3DS remake of this immensely