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Earlier this month, Nintendo and MercurySteam released Metroid: Samus Returns, on Nintendo 3DS.

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The game is a complete remake of the Game[br]Boy game Metroid 2.

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Coincidentally, Samus Returns comes almost[br]exactly one year after the release of AM2R,

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or Another Metroid 2 Remake. That one was[br]made by fans, and was the target of a legal

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takedown request by Nintendo.

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Now it’s not surprising that Metroid 2 has[br]seen multiple remakes. This game is an important

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part of the Metroid story, after all, because[br]the plot - which sees Samus on a mission to

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wipe out the entire Metroid species - reverberates[br]into Super Metroid, Metroid Fusion, and even

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Metroid Other M.

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But it’s also a, let’s say, challenging[br]game to play in 2017.

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For one, it’s different to pretty much every[br]other Metroid game. Instead of zigzagging

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back and forth across an interconnected, maze-like[br]map, the game opens up, more linearly, in

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great big chunks. In each area, you find and[br]kill a certain number of Metroids before the

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lava retracts and you go to the next area[br]- with no real reason to ever return.

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This is probably due to the handheld nature[br]of the game. There’s no real need to make

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your own map, as with Metroid 1, and you can[br]explore a single area of the game in one sitting

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and then safely turn the Game Boy off, without[br]being hopelessly lost the next time you boot

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up the game.

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But Metroid 2 generally feels subservient[br]to the technical limitations of the Game Boy.

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The tiny screen reduces your visibility, the[br]black and white palette is drab and confusing,

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and the game’s got limited controls - though,[br]Samus does have more moves than she did in

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Metroid 1.

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So there’s plenty of stuff here for these[br]remakes to tackle. And it’s interesting

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to see the different, and sometimes similar[br]ways that Samus Returns and AM2R chose to

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address Metroid 2’s shortcomings.

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Look at Samus’s movement. Both games dramatically[br]improve her agility, they both give her the

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ledge grab move introduced in Metroid Fusion,[br]and they both have a dedicated button for

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rolling up into a morph ball. But Samus Returns[br]drastically increases Samus’s combat abilities,

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and adds a melee counter and drops the diagonal[br]aiming from classic Metroid in favour of full

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360 degree aiming.

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The bosses are also an aspect that both games[br]sought to change. In Metroid 2 you’ll fight

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the same simple bosses over and over again,[br]with the only change being the layout of the

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place where you fight them. AM2R makes the[br]bosses a bit more interesting to fight with

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new patterns, smaller weakpoints, and by giving[br]the Metroids additional attacks in later fights.

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Samus Returns does the same, actually, but[br]the fights are even more elaborate and have

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more traditional boss-like patterns to learn.

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And if the repetition gets to you, both games[br]also have extra bosses - like a Torizo from

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Super Metroid, a door guardian, and a bullet[br]hell weapons trainer in AM2R, and a very difficult

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mining robot in Samus Returns.

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Other new additions include new power-ups.[br]Samus had quite a formidable set of tools

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in Metroid 2 but both games add the Charge[br]Shot, Super Bomb, Super Missile, and Gravity

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Suit, and AM2R adds the speedboost, with all[br]the shinesparking goodness that comes with

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it, while Samus Returns instead goes for the[br]grapple beam.

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Oh, and that game also has four entirely new[br]Aeion powers, which come with their own energy

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meter. These are powers that increase your[br]attack and defence, one that slows down time,

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and another that reveals the map around your[br]current location. Which makes secrets and

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hidden rooms pretty easy to find.

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In general, Samus Returns is just less interested[br]in letting you get lost. The Metroid indicator

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flashes red as you get closer to the bosses,[br]the map screen is very detailed, and these

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teleporters let you zip around within individual[br]areas.

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In terms of level design, both games capture[br]the map of Metroid 2 in the broad strokes.

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One area from Metroid 2 will look largely[br]the same in both remakes. But they have

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different ways of filling in the details.

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AM2R’s philosophy is to generally keep what’s[br]already there, right down to placement of

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the item pick-ups and the layout of most of[br]the rooms. But, the fans added new stuff on

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top - like an all new section where you control[br]a robot, and a tense escape sequence from

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a weapons labs.

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Samus Returns doesn’t add much new, but[br]makes huge changes to the current layouts

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- with so much added density of pathways and[br]obstacles, that many

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locations are practically unrecognisable.

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Both games choose to add more obstacles[br]and locks that can’t be opened until you

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find a new ability somewhere else in the current[br]area - making the games feel more like the

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other Metroid titles. Though, it’s much[br]more pronounced in Samus Returns, which has

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all sorts of weird obstacles that force you[br]to get specific items and even beams.

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AM2R, on the other hand, is fine with you[br]missing a fair few items, and is more open

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to sequence breaking.

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Oh, and while neither game messes with the[br]overarching structure of the game - you’re

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still killing a number of Metroids to open[br]up new areas after all. Unlike the original, both remakes

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provide a method and a reason to return to[br]previous areas.

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Samus Returns is dotted with teleport stations[br]that can ping you around the entire planet,

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while AM2R reveals a distribution centre,[br]later into the game, with pipes that send

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you back to previous places. Once there, you[br]can use your new powers and abilities to get

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goodies you couldn’t access earlier.

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We can also look at the two games’s interpretation[br]of what Metroid 2 was originally going for.

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For a clear example, the unnamed and uncoloured[br]liquid that fills the chambers in Metroid

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2, was seen as lava by the creators of AM2R,[br]and as purple acid by those behind Samus Returns.

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And we can look at the backgrounds, too. AM2R[br]looked for interesting tiles in the original

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game, and went from there. In the second area,[br]these pipes inspired the developers to turn

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the zone into a water treatment plant. And[br]in an area with loads of beam pick ups, they

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dressed it up as a weapons testing facility.[br]Samus Returns is a lot less interesting in

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this regard. Everything’s just various types[br]and colours of crumbling ruins. AM2R is

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more interested in telling a coherent background[br]story about the Chozo - which is the ancient

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race that built everything on SR388.

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And finally, another big change is to how[br]health, ammo, and saving works.

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In Metroid 2, you recharge your health and[br]ammo at different stations, and save points

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are just save points.

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In AM2R recharge stations are gone, because[br]save stations now replenish ammo and health.

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Plus, Metroids drop lots of goodies upon death.

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And in Samus Returns, we’re back to recharge[br]stations and save points, but Metroids now

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drop pick-ups and there are also invisible[br]checkpoints before and after every boss battle.

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Now, it’s easy enough to talk about how[br]these decisions have changed how Metroid 2

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works. Both remakes sought to make Metroid[br]2 work more like the other Metroid games,

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they both made the boss fights more involving,[br]and they both filled in the blanks left by

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the original game’s monochrome palette.

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But it’s just as important to talk about[br]how they change how Metroid 2 feels.

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Take that last thing about health, ammo, and[br]saving. In Metroid 2, you can find yourself

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battered and bruised by a Metroid fight, and[br]then staggering back to a save station with

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a small amount of health. It feels tense,[br]and distressing.

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AM2R makes life a bit easier with the post-fight[br]pick-ups, and it neatly streamlines things

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by rolling recharge stations and save points[br]into one - but the same anxious sensation

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is just about there.

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But in providing checkpoints immediately after[br]every Metroid fight, Samus Returns completely

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removes that feeling. That stressful journey[br]back up through the level and to a save point

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is just gone.

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So when judging these remakes, it’s important[br]to consider the actual experience of playing

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Metroid 2. Not just what the different mechanics and design decisions were in that game, but

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how they contributed to a specific feeling within the player.

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And for me, playing Metroid 2 invoked feelings[br]of dread and unease. It was darker and scarier

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than most other Metroid games. It gave me[br]the feeling of invading someone else’s space.

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Where the other Metroid games almost feel[br]like a big puzzle for the player to solve,

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Metroid 2 felt invasive and alien.

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And you can point to a lot of reasons for[br]this. The lack of backtracking made you feel

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like you were always descending deeper and[br]deeper into the Metroid’s lair. And unlike

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Super Metroid, you won’t return to the safety[br]of your ship until the very end of the adventure.

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And then there’s the tiny screen space which[br]means you can only see a few metres in front

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of you, like you’re pointing a torch into[br]a pitch black room. And where the giant caverns

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are difficult to grasp through the microscopic[br]viewpoint of the Game Boy screen, making you

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feel small and insignificant, the narrow,[br]winding paths make other parts of the game

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feel cramped and claustrophobic.

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But ultimately Metroid 2 was something of[br]a horror game. A frightening journey into

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an uncharted planet. A tense dive into an[br]alien’s nest. And, if you ask me, neither

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remake really captures that because so many[br]of the factors that contributed to Metroid

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2’s feeling were seen as issues to fix.

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So claustrophobic screens get zoomed out and[br]feel less constricting. Colourful backgrounds

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and whirring machines make the planet feel[br]more welcoming and alive. Classic Metroid

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backtracking sends the player up and down[br]the planet’s spine. And the more traditional

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level design can come across as artificial,[br]instead of alien. Which is never more apparent

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than in Samus Returns where you make the acidic[br]liquid go down by plugging Metroid DNA into

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a giant lock mechanism.

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Now, you might say that I’m reading too[br]much into Metroid 2, and that most of these

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things were just due to the unavoidable limitations[br]of the Game Boy. But I want to argue that

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most of this stuff was probably intentional.

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I mean, the game was made by Nintendo R&D1[br]- the same studio and much of the same team

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behind Metroid 1, Super Metroid, and Metroid[br]Fusion. So it wasn’t some weird spin-off.

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And the game’s producer, the late Gunpei[br]Yokoi, was the inventor of the Game Boy and

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so was very aware of the console’s limits.

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I think the team took those limits and made[br]a game that would suit them - something more

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intimate, claustrophobic, and foreboding.

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And I think you can tell that the designers[br]were trying to freak you out. Look at the

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Metroid husks. They don’t just work as a[br]good navigational tool to let you know that

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a boss is near, but they also act like a warning.[br]They can leave you with a pit in your stomach,

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because you know that you’re about to face[br]a Metroid.

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And then Nintendo used these husks to surprise[br]you. After always finding husks before fighting

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Metroids, the game suddenly surprises you[br]with a Metroid midway through a corridor…

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and then reveals the husk in the next room.

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The game’s not afraid to break its own patterns,[br]after all. The repetitive act of killing Metroids

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to drop the lava level is shattered towards[br]the end of the game, where the lava actually

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goes up, forcing Samus to go back and find[br]a new type of Metroid.

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The music is very telling, also. Of course,[br]there’s this hopeful, exciting tune that

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plays through the main column of caves that[br]links back to your ship.

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But it gives way to quiet, spooky, and discordant[br]tunes when you descend into the different

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lairs. Where most retro games are filled with[br]catchy, hummable tunes, including a lot of

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great Game Boy games made by R&D1, Metroid[br]2 sometimes just uses silence, some weird

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electronic sound effects, and Samus’s footsteps,[br]to throw you off.

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I should point out that Samus Returns mostly[br]does a good job of this, with surprisingly

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faithful remixes of the original music.

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When it’s not just re-using music from other[br]Metroid games, that is.

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AM2R is also a mixed bag when it comes to[br]music, and a lot of the tracks have been replaced

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with jazzy, upbeat, Prime-style music.

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Metroid 2 also had some quiet, evocative storytelling,[br]used to construct a certain, foreboding mood.

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Like, towards the end of the game, you start[br]to notice that the number of normal enemies

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is going down. Where the early parts of the[br]cave, near the surface, are bristling with

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alien life, the lower bowels of the planet[br]are practically empty. And when you get to

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the area just before the Queen Metroid, there[br]are no normal enemies at all. Just a quiet,

0:11:55.839,0:11:58.259
eery climb up to the final area.

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You’ve either gone deeper than any non-Metroid[br]life form has gone in a very long time, or

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the Metroids have systematically wiped out[br]every other animal, powerfully asserting their

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spot at the top of the food chain.

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And then you get to this room. Where all the[br]other Chozo statues in the game have been

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kept preserved, and sealed away from pesky[br]Metroids behind impenetrable blast doors, this

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one - deep inside the Metroid lair has been[br]smashed to pieces. It’s head is down here,

0:12:24.230,0:12:29.089
it’s body is up there, and its item - the[br]ice beam, the only weapon capable of stopping

0:12:29.089,0:12:33.209
the normal Metroid, has been pushed aside.[br]Yikes.

0:12:33.209,0:12:37.959
AM2R captures this part quite well. There’s[br]sadly no ice beam because you get it much

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earlier, but the statue is still there. And[br]the lower areas are devoid of enemies.

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But it’s Samus Returns that really didn’t[br]get it. I don’t think the final Chozo statue

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is even in the game, I couldn’t find it,[br]and the enemies never let up. Right there,

0:12:51.860,0:12:55.819
in the path leading to the Metroids lair,[br]you’ll be fighting dozens of standard enemies

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In a noisy, messy gauntlet.

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Back to the Game Boy game. After this area[br]and a final boss fight - did you know, by

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the way, that Nintendo suddenly removed the[br]ability to pause during Metroid 2’s final

0:13:07.460,0:13:11.699
boss fight? Friggin’ Dark Souls up in here.[br]Uh, after that fight, Metroid 2 has one of

0:13:11.699,0:13:16.860
the most surprising and low key endings of[br]just about any game from this era.

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After finishing off the boss, Samus comes[br]across this baby Metroid who assumes Samus

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is its mother. Instead of killing this final[br]creature and finishing the mission, Samus

0:13:25.620,0:13:29.529
decides to spare its life and the two leave[br]the planet together.

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One of the most isolating games you can play[br]suddenly gives you a companion. And as you

0:13:34.240,0:13:39.331
leave, the Metroid gobbling up walls that[br]block your path, this strange, calming, and

0:13:39.340,0:13:41.460
evocative music starts to plays.

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Over those last few minutes in the game - there[br]are no enemies or puzzles to deal with - you’re

0:13:51.529,0:13:55.819
given time to reflect on everything that has[br]happened. Maybe consider Samus’s final act

0:13:55.819,0:13:59.779
of mercy and compassion, which will be revisited[br]in Super Metroid.

0:13:59.779,0:14:04.360
Or maybe you’ll reconsider the ethical ramifications[br]of your, frankly, genocidal mission to kill

0:14:04.360,0:14:09.509
a non-space-fairing species that was only[br]used as a biological weapon by the space pirates.

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A genocidal mission which would be brought[br]back up in Metroid Fusion, where it’s revealed

0:14:13.530,0:14:18.370
that by wiping out almost all of the Metroids,[br]Samus wrecked the ecosystem and let an even

0:14:18.370,0:14:21.040
more dangerous species come to bear.

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And maybe this gives a new meaning to the[br]discomforting feeling of the rest of the game?

0:14:25.120,0:14:30.600
It’s a dark and disturbing game for a dark[br]and disturbing chapter in Samus’s life.

0:14:30.600,0:14:36.339
As S.R. Holiwell wrote in the terrific Metroid[br]2 defence piece A Maze of Murderscapes, “Games

0:14:36.339,0:14:40.850
about killing should probably make you uncomfortable.[br]They shouldn’t be carefully crafted to be

0:14:40.850,0:14:47.980
pleasant. Metroid II is openly about killing. It[br]makes me uncomfortable with wordless specificity”.

0:14:47.980,0:14:52.410
Samus Returns on the other hand is very comfortable[br]about killing. The game puts a tremendous

0:14:52.410,0:14:58.120
focus on combat with that 360 aiming, multi-phase[br]boss fights, ridiculous Aeion powers, and

0:14:58.120,0:15:02.970
these goofy cutscenes where Samus does ninja[br]moves on Metroid bosses. Why Nintendo is so

0:15:02.970,0:15:07.420
obsessed with turning Samus into Bayonetta[br]is beyond me, but there we go.

0:15:07.420,0:15:12.230
And, so, that final escape sequence with the[br]baby Metroid contains yet more combat, not to mention

0:15:12.230,0:15:16.759
an unnecessary additional boss fight. So much[br]extra combat, actually, that you can hardly

0:15:16.759,0:15:21.870
hear that the Game Boy game’s final music,[br]which was given a subtle update in AM2R’s

0:15:21.870,0:15:27.040
completely faithful recreation of the ending...[br]has now been given a strange high tempo electronic

0:15:27.040,0:15:28.420
remix in Samus Returns.

0:15:32.500,0:15:36.430
And if there was any doubt that Samus Returns[br]just didn’t get Metroid 2’s themes, well,

0:15:36.430,0:15:40.610
this is a game about travelling to an alien’s[br]home planet to viciously wipe out the entire

0:15:40.610,0:15:45.319
race, with a primary mechanic, the melee counter,[br]which is about acting in self defence and

0:15:45.319,0:15:47.000
only killing when first provoked.

0:15:47.000,0:15:48.660
I’m half joking with that one.

0:15:48.660,0:15:53.089
But this ending stuff absolutely boggles my[br]mind. Samus Returns doesn’t just accidentally

0:15:53.089,0:15:57.600
fail to capture the feeling of Metroid 2 by[br]updating things, but it specifically undermines

0:15:57.600,0:16:02.460
the original game in boorish, bone headed[br]ways.

0:16:02.460,0:16:07.899
Now. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying[br]to hold up Metroid 2 as some perfect game.

0:16:07.899,0:16:11.910
There’s much more to it than most critics[br]seem to realise, but it does have shortcomings

0:16:11.910,0:16:14.050
that any remake should seek to update.

0:16:14.050,0:16:18.579
So I’m disappointed that these remakes[br]had the opportunity to use modern game design

0:16:18.579,0:16:22.779
to deliver the same experience as Metroid[br]2, but in a different form - not the same

0:16:22.779,0:16:24.970
form but with a different experience.

0:16:24.970,0:16:28.500
Because what does it matter if these games[br]have largely the same level design if not

0:16:28.500,0:16:33.189
the same disorienting feeling of exploring[br]those levels? The same Metroids, if not the

0:16:33.189,0:16:37.550
same dread of facing another one in a dark[br]corridor? And so on.

0:16:37.550,0:16:43.480
Both remakes attempt to retcon Metroid 2 into[br]more familiar Metroid design, so AM2R brings

0:16:43.480,0:16:47.819
the game up to the same standards as Zero[br]Mission and Super Metroid, while Samus Returns

0:16:47.819,0:16:51.110
feels like a mix of classic Metroid games[br]and Other M.

0:16:51.110,0:16:55.680
But maybe those other types of design didn’t[br]fit Metroid 2? Maybe the game’s themes and

0:16:55.680,0:17:00.449
intended experience required a different set[br]of mechanics? The closest analogy I can think

0:17:00.449,0:17:05.470
of is remaking the oppressive Far Cry 2 to[br]be more like the action movie playgrounds

0:17:05.470,0:17:08.060
of Far Cry 3 and 4.

0:17:08.060,0:17:12.560
So, yeah. This doesn’t make these remakes[br]into bad games and I really enjoy both of

0:17:12.560,0:17:17.970
these titles on their own terms. AM2R is a[br]terrific accomplishment for a fan project

0:17:17.970,0:17:21.800
and lots of fun to play, and Samus Returns[br]has plenty to enjoy also.

0:17:21.800,0:17:25.920
But, you know what happens to remakes. One[br]of these games will be become the defacto

0:17:25.920,0:17:31.390
way of playing Metroid 2, and the original[br]- already maligned and misunderstood - will

0:17:31.390,0:17:35.200
become even less popular.

0:17:35.200,0:17:39.340
Well, that was a bit of a bummer to end on.[br]But, hey, there we go. Thanks for watching and

0:17:39.340,0:17:44.340
thank you for your patience in September - I’ve[br]been unable to make stuff for half the month

0:17:44.340,0:17:48.630
due to a nasty cold, which hopefully explains[br]my slightly weird voice in this one.

0:17:48.630,0:17:55.170
But I’m back now! And a special thank you[br]to all my Patrons who keep the lights on at

0:17:55.170,0:18:01.190
GMTK. Subscribe if you want more game design[br]stuff every few weeks, and to get notifications

0:18:01.190,0:18:04.530
whenever I stream new games here on YouTube..