Metroid Samus Returns | The Completionist

for years fans have been clamoring for a new proper Metroid 2d platformer it's been seven years since our most recent outing with Samus who last appeared in Metroid Other M while I actually liked and defended it other m didn't hit all the notes that old-school Metroid fans had come to expect from the series so you can imagine my surprise at this year's e3 when Nintendo not only announced Metroid Prime 4 but dropped some gameplay footage of Metroid Samus returns after their press conference for a reveal and a new entry in one of Nintendo's premiere franchises and the announcement was shockingly low-key but it's out today and in our collectible hungry hands hey everyone and welcome back to another brand new episode of the completionist this week we're tackling Metroid Samus Returns which comes out today for your information I did receive this game for free from Nintendo hashtag free product however my views are mine and mine alone hashtag not an ad I can say whatever I want whenever I want I also did get this game early similarly to those gaming news outlets like polygon Kotaku and IGN now Super Metroid is legitimately one of my favourite games of all time you may have seen me recently streaming the game in a 100% randomized run on my twitch channel where every item in the game is completely randomized at any given playthrough I have always loved Super Metroid it's tough it's fun but it teaches you a lot of how to play the game without giving you any kind of crazy tutorial to go into it Metroid 2 was a game that I always wanted to play but growing up I never really had a chance because during the Game Boy era I was too young to have money to buy things ironically enough I have been working on a Metroid to return of Samus video when all of a sudden Nintendo announced Metroid Samus Returns after spending a little time with it I'm stoked to find out if Metroid Samus Returns is indeed a great return to what makes those old Metroidvania 2d platformer games so awesome let's begin yes [Music] interestingly despite being developed by a Japanese company the 2d Metroid games were never really huge hits in Japan however they did find their audience in the West selling huge in North America as a result as the years went on we saw fewer and fewer 2d Metroid games coming out of Japan while fellow first party in Tendo series like Mario and Zelda saw regular development but that doesn't mean that the fans of Metroid haven't been demanding new 2d Metroid games for years one particularly dedicated fan going by dr. M 64 even went so far as to create a m2r a remake of metroid 2 drawing inspiration from the visuals of Super Metroid and the gameplay of Metroid's fusion and zero mission it was even released on the 30th anniversary of Metroid last year unfortunately Nintendo DMCA the project but with good reason that reason being Metroid Samus returns on that note shoutouts to dr. M 64 and the whole team that worked on an incredible fan game see this is where mercury steam comes into the picture with the release of Metroid Samus returns the Spain based developer is now the first Western studio to release an official side-scrolling Metroid game welcome to the scene boys so who is mercury steam interestingly Samus Returns isn't the developers first foray into the world of Metroidvania style games after working on the criminally underrated and fight me on this you [ __ ] Clive Barker's Jericho in 2007 mercury steam got their hands on the Castlevania series dropping Lords of shadows one and two two games that while somewhat divisive amongst Castlevania fans I thought were pretty solid entries their reputation shows that they've got a touch for underappreciated gems making mercury steam the perfect fit for a Metroid 2 remake this project was never actually supposed to happen at least like this in a recent interview with Game Informer Yoshio Sakamoto the game director behind Super Metroid Metroid Fusion and metroid zero mission revealed that mercury steam had originally pitched it as a remake of metroid fusion but nintendo ultimately turned it down however Sakamoto still believed in the team and wanted to work with them on a different measure to make for the Nintendo 3ds a parent based settled on rejuvenating Metroid to Metroid 2 was the perfect candidate for a remake barely anyone played it when it first came out on the original Gameboy especially compared to other Nintendo titles like Super Mario Land but it's still a core entry in the series the NES Metroid already got its very own remake in metroid zero mission plus nobody should be touching super metrid with a ten-foot pole it's already perfect seriously stay away from Super Metroid you're already getting close to ruining you a secret of mana leave us alone because Metroid 2 was released on the comparable eWEEK system in the Game Boy it's just too simple to be given a graphics update and released back into the open it needed a lot more work than just that thankfully mercury steam was up to the challenge Metroid Samus Returns is a fully reworked game taking influence from all corners of the Metroid universe and combining them with the originals locale to create something inspired by but not directly copying the 1991 release ultimately I am so excited at the opportunity to play Metroid Samus Returns especially with all the 26 years of gaming inspiration that it can now draw from however on that same note looking back I'm also terrified of all 26 of those years when it comes to completing this game it's not even the collectables or the narrative aspect of this completionist run that I'm stressing out about but if this game has learned anything from Super Metroid there's a good chance that there's going to be a massive speedrunning element at the game that I'm going to have to reckon with at some point I also know that there will likely be a hard mode which will unlock either by beating the game or tapping into the amiibo on my 3ds in other words I have got a long Metroid road ahead of me boys my plan is to beat the game 1 through unnormal to get a good idea of the collectables and their locations before I dive right back in to get my ass handed to me in hard mode but I am ready for that challenge this is my time to shine this is the moment that my randomized Super Metroid runs have been leading up to for years my mind is sharp my eyes are able to spot missile upgrades from a mile away and my thumb's are buffer than they've ever been let's go Metroid I'm ready to take you down [Music] without a doubt Nintendo is all about the nostalgia and legacy of all of their franchises and Metroid is no different but Metroid Samus Returns isn't just a remake it's a full-on reimagining of an older game that has clearly influenced by the games that came after it ask someone who's never played Metroid 2 I don't really have a horse in this race but with my knowledge of the Metroid Prime series Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion I can already tell that Metroid Samus Returns is heavily and wonderfully inspired by the entirety of the Metro and franchise while remembering it's got a job to do in sticking to its original Metroid 2 roots just for some backstory Metroid Samus Returns picks up directly after the events of the original Metroid game Samus just defeated Mother Brain on Planet zebus zaebis you guys can argue in the comments how to pronounce it bringing down the evil space pirates plan to use the life absorbing Metroid's to take over the galaxy now mind you the Galactic Federation sent Samus in alone to complete this particular mission they had literally just an entire squadron of dudes taken out by the space pirates and what was their plan to send in Samus a bounty hunter by herself to wipe out an entire army of space pirates not a great look here guys just maybe consider getting a better backup plan next time you're supposed to be the leaders of the free galaxy here and these are the decisions you're making come on immediately after Samus a success the Federation discovers that the Metroid's home planet is sr388 and rather than dealing with their apparent space pirate problem they sent in a squad to clean up sr388 that squad got bodied so hard by the Metroid's they decided to send in Samus on yet another solo mission to wipe out every last one of them really guys you couldn't come up with a better idea than hey that Iran lady did a kick-ass job last time let's have her commit genocide against an alien species on the off chance that some disorganized pirate fashion figures out where they're breeding and decides to use them for evil again that was actual real unanimous decision here Federation come on at least give Samus some backup just a little bit as aggravating as the Federation's quite frankly terrible planning maybe it's nice to see that mercury steam didn't mess up the plot of Metroid too it's not that the plot is particularly any good it's more that Samus returns is a love letter to the original version of the game and changing the plot seems a bit blasphemous even if there wasn't much of one to begin with but when it comes to graphics I expect that things would be vastly improved particularly because the original game came out on the gray brick Gameboy more than 25 years ago and things have changed a lot since then thankfully Samus Returns was up to my expectations thus far the remake looks absolutely gorgeous from the superb updates to enemy designs to the coolest hell particle effects coming out of samus's arm cannon to the massive bosses in the games three major fights as nothing to the previous games pixelated style the look of Samus returns both harkens back to the first two titles while bringing them into the 3d future and does so near flawlessly granted it still has the same flaws that any polygonal 3ds game is going to have the edges of characters are still Jaggi and uneven making it look like a game from a previous console generation but just imagine how stunning this would look if it had come out on the switch give me that big screen Nintendo please here's an interesting choice that mercury steam made they barely used any sound or music from the original Metroid 2 instead they went to head and pulled music from other Metroid games with most of the inspiration coming from Super Metroid updated for the 3ds that's why you'll hear the lower norfair theme whenever you wander into a fiery area despite being nowhere near even upper nor fair it's a little bit of a bummer because the original Metroid 2 music is haunting bizarre and sometimes downright terrifying I'd like to have seen a bit more love paid to those Gameboy bits and boots than we got but to be fair there wasn't that many soundtracks in the original Metroid 2 so I get it by far the biggest change from return of Samus to samus's return is the addition of a map of course the game by only had a single screen making it impossible to display both samus's and and the map at the same time but it didn't even have a map in the pause menu to show off what you had already explored the addition of a map in this game is a godsend for those trying to figure out where the hell they're going to go during their time in the caverns of sr388 the fact that all of the info in the game including your energy and a on bars missile and bomb counts and weapon selections are on the lower screen frees the upper screen to show off the gameplay itself giving the game a cleaning gameplay focused look and with how great everything looks in the main game that's a welcomed addition if you get a chance though take a second to look around at some of the backgrounds and samus returns it's rare to see a 3ds game show that much attention to detail but the backgrounds here are absolutely gorgeous there's just so much going on back there it's almost hard to believe this thing is a remake and not an original game the bottom screen however is definitely a little bit clustered but considering the amount of information it's displaying and the amount of utility it provides I can't get too mad about that overall through a presentation standpoint I couldn't have imagined a better love letter to a series I've been a fan off for years this is what Metroid looks and sounds like in my head so either it looks stunning or I have something seriously wrong with me anyone help me out seriously I'm seeing 3d polygonal things either that or the game game looks nice I don't know what's going on anymore please help please please help [Music] Metroid Samus Returns is a metroid ass Metroid game it's simultaneously your dad's Metroid game and not your dad's Metroid game it takes everything that's great about the classic titles and updates them for a modern audience everything you'd expect from a 2d Metroid game is here you're gonna be running around climbing walls blowing up walls to create new paths collecting power-ups and new abilities and generally just doing the stuff that Samus has always done but it's important to note that things have changed in the last 25 plus years thanks to the 3ds and it's circle path Samus can now shoot in full 360 degrees she's got a bunch of new abilities that weren't present to the original titles and it's all just a matter of how you use them to complete your mission of demolishing every single Metroid you come across some of the franchise returning abilities include exactly what you'd expect the morph ball can roll you into tight spaces the grab a beam can point you around and swing you across gaps missiles and super missiles blow up destructible walls and the screw attack lets you fly around the whole game in the sky blowing up enemies that dare cross your path however Metroid 2 was the first game to introduce a slew of new abilities including the wall climbing spider ball the infinite space jump and the enemy and wall piercing plasma beam of course all those abilities make their way into same as returns along with a whole bunch of new ones chief among those is the Aeon abilities which give you four new features in your suit first and perhaps most importantly is the scan ability which reveals the map in an area around Samus even showing off where hidden items are fear all buddy the completionist here this was an outright revelation I can find every last thing without having to shoot missiles randomly at every wall in the game make my life easy mercury steam I love you so much plus if you think that makes the game way too easy and want a little more of an old-school hardcore experience you know you can just not use it you will power you can use the other a own abilities to stave off some damage with lightning armor increase your firepower with beam blasts or slowdown time with the phase drift ability each and every one of the an own abilities are used to help you solve puzzles and Colet power-ups just like you'd expect in a Metroid game but nothing is used in combat as often as the brand-new melee counter-attack almost every enemy in the game at some point will dive at you to deal some damage if you time hitting X perfectly Samus will counter-attack freeing up a few precious seconds to blow away whoever gained come at the Queen not Queen Metroid or a Yas Queen but you know Samus she's my queen the move can't take a while to get the hang of it and sometimes it feels a bit clunky but once you get the hang of it you'll feel like a total and utter badass while it is fun that almost every enemy in the game has this mechanic it's a bit frustrating that every single combat encounter utilizes it typically in Metroid games if you spend the time to get good you can figure out new creative ways to take out enemies and bosses but by making one albeit basic ability so prevalent in Samus returns it can feel like you're being forced down a singular combat path hey remember that super basic thing you learn at the very beginning of the goddamn game yeah it ain't going away and really isn't that what Metroid games are supposed to be all about you learn its core simple mechanics get good enough with them to move on to the next area and are rewarded with the powerup to make you feel even more powerful than before it's a deeply satisfying rhythm of gameplay that never felt tired in any Metroid game and it definitely doesn't feel tired here despite some combat repetitiveness but it can get a little stale the term Metroidvania comes from combining the names Metroid and Castlevania to create this particular beloved genre and with that title comes you guessed it backtracking with every new ability you can get to new areas freeing up any unlocks that may lay within your main mission in every run of Metroid Samus Returns is to bring down exactly 40 Metroid's that are strewn throughout the map apparently these little buggy dudes are extremely endangered to the point where a lone bounty hunter can wipe out their entire species for the sake of the Federation yay when I first encountered some of the more difficult types of Metroid's I got destroyed but as time went on I figured out their patterns and became a Metroid slamming machine they can get a little repetitive as time goes on but thankfully men troit aren't the only bosses in the game I won't spoil them here but rest assured the others are very very challenging visually impressive and are a nice change of pace the course most of my time in Samus Returns was spent finding literally every single upgrade in the game and man there are a lot of them by the time I finished the game I had gone from a mere 20 missiles in my suit to 264 all by collecting three at a time I had gone from 99 energy to 1099 at a time I had gone from you know what just rest assured it was a lot but there is a problem here at a certain point in the game I felt like I had gone from a puny squeamish Samus to an outright God almost a single powerup I'll let you figure that one out for yourselves it would have been nice to have a smoother difficulty progression as it made the last few sections of the game just a tad too easy for my tastes and that's not even with me going after every item that's just natural game progression you kicked my ass throughout 70% of the game mercury steam so what's up with that difficulty drop punish me daddy and continue to punish me now that's just all my first playthrough though by the end of it I sounded like an old-timey stand-up comedian saying I collected my way all the way here from zaebis and boy are my hands tired that was really stupid can we just cut that from the video please that's just really embarrassing for you nitendo enthusiasts there are four amiibo unlocks for you to toy around with and they're actually helpful the Super Smash Brothers Samus amiibo unlocks concept art and a reserve missile supply which your punishes your total missile cap when you run out the Super Smash Brothers zero suit samus unlocks even more concept art and music tracks as well as a reserve energy tank for up to two bars of energy the brand-new Samus returns Samus amiibo unlocks even more art and in reserve Aeon tank and finally the Metroid amiibo will show you the location of any Metroid you haven't hunted yet it's all a bit overkill but useful nonetheless my main complaint over just anything else in this game is the way the controls feel because you can do so much in Samus returns the control scheme has to be a little bit complicated something that the 3ds isn't all that great at the buttons are small somewhat close together and definitely led my hands to cramping up at times plus you have to use the circle pad for movement which doesn't feel great in a relatively difficult to e platformer I would have loved to have had the ability to change up the control scheme platforming and doing basic moves like changing into the morph ball would have been a million times easier had I been able to switch over to the d-pad in the option screen I'd gladly give up 360-degree aiming for a little bit just to have an easier time in some of the tougher platforming sections even if I just have the ability to toggle between my beams and missiles via a button rather than using the touchscreen that would have been a massive help in my gameplay patch update Nintendo please please huh wait the thing I love most about Metroid Samus Returns is the fact that it's an amalgamation of everything I love about Metroid games it takes influence from Metroid to obviously Super Metroid the Metroid Prime series and well just about all of the Metroid games I could think of it's like one crazy Metroid sandwich so let's make a sandwich [Music] hello everyone and welcome back to video game show today my name is Jared your host and we're gonna be making a sandwich based off the great video game franchise metroid welcome to making metroid sandwich returns let's begin first we're going over the ingredients that you need to make this sandwich first up you need aconite to cut everything second you need your Metroid 2 return of Samus bread you can get this at Trader Joe's you get everything I say today at Trader Joe's sponsor us second you can get your Metroid Prime series BBQ sauce for a little drizzle and more importantly our Super Metroid mystery meat but we're not eating that we're not revealing that till the end of the show so stick around for that first shooters cooked bread just give it a good cut give it a good cut get all the innards of that Metroid out yeah there we go perfect hello there you go after you've cut your bread you don't wanna take your Metroid Prime sauce and just glue bit just glue bit ladies if you're trying to impress your man try real hard to just a little little drizzle just leave prism last but not least you're gonna need your mystery meat in this case it's our Super Metroid mystery meat which is [Music] bacon yes bacon Super Metroid bacon just take a couple of strips and you are eh eh okay you know we're having a Super Metroid in this sandwich we're going to keep putting a lot more Super Metroid just really get all the Super Metroid in on the sandwich very important stuff you know I'm really happy with the sandwich I think it's missing something it's missing a little more Super Metroid so we're gonna go ahead and just put a little bit more just on the top really important stuff it reminds me of this sandwiches on the 3ds so we're gonna have to just kind of cut it in half as best we can just to kind of try it and just remember it that you can only enjoy this sandwich when you are on the go and not in your own home so you could be moving somewhere when you eat it very important stuff and there you have it the Metroid sandwich return sandwich I hope you guys enjoyed today's lesson be sure to get your hungry dosing of nostalgia every day at this website we don't have website whatever this is this is a joke I've been Jarrod in this is the video game show [Music] the fascinating thing about Metroid Samus Returns is that while it looks breeds and feels like a 3ds game it ultimately ends up being more like the original Super Metroid than I once thought it brings the heat for completionists and speedrunners Super Metroid lives and breathes and the ideas of collectibles and it's an institution that has been established since then and sans returns does not mess around if you backtrack your way throughout your entire journey and got every single item in the game you'll get access to a gallery called the chozo memories there are 10 chozo memories all together as you complete the game bit by bit they will unlock but if you get all of them the game will glitch out and show you a special eleventh secret one will beans man upon beating the game after seeing the ending you'll be shown an end screen featuring Samus and you're clear time going in completely blind I honestly felt very ashamed in my first to 100% playthrough but honestly I didn't try to do with that fast at first I just wanted to enjoy the game when I see you Metroid I know your tricks beating the game will in fact unlock hard mode within hard mode you take double the damage so you're going to be dying a lot there's no real indicator that you're playing it on hard mode other than the file itself in the safe screen I can confirm that getting 100% does nothing extra on hard mode especially because the game keeps all the content unlocked as you progress and hard mode is only accessible in the same files as the one you did before I recommend backing up a save just in case in terms of reaching the end however my final n screen time was just as bad as my normal run because I kept dying a lot but I did notice that Samus was doing a different pose which only got my nerves going even more especially because if you buy the Metroid amiibo and use it after you've beaten the game you will unlock fusion mode fusion mode isn't just the fusion suit from Metroid Fusion oh no it's actually more like very very hard mode you'll take even more damage and it's so ruthless nonetheless I beat that 100% and sure enough my fears my thoughts my dreams were crushed I knew it to be true and I never wanted to be more wrong in my life in Super Metroid if you beat the game under three hours Samus appears in the bikini type suit back in the day this was kind of the secret for the Metroid franchise but depending on your time determined how much her clothing it changed well strap yourselves in boys and girls because when I shaved off enough time for my fusion run Samus was posing in her fusion suit without her helmet on which means one thing if you beat the game under 8 hours or maybe 10 hours I'm not sure because the game doesn't tell you it just came out you'll get an ending where samus's not have her helmet which means that I'm gonna have to speedrun this game more and more until I get to the point where I find out if Samus does have a different ending pose other than the helmet not being there now here lies the biggest of hurdles I've had in quite some time I'm flying in blind this game is too large to complete with a hundred percent under a certain time so what I theorized is that if I had to beat this game under the benchmark of maybe four hours getting any combination of items in the way will net me these new ending poses but I have no idea if I'll actually get anything so I came up with this ultimate plan just bear with me for a moment first me and Bradley one of the editors here on the show sat down and edited my entire playthrough of normal and hard mode playthroughs to try and find the best routes that I could possibly take second at the same time as that we took photos of each and every map that I could from the bottom screen of the 3ds this was difficult because the bottom screen only shows you so much at a time so we had to gently move the cursor bit by bit and piece these things together frame by frame third we then photoshopped these maps together as one big image knowing the location of each and every item in the game the Metroid's the secrets along the way we then took our let's play footage and compared them to these apps zoned by zone and drew lines for the most optimum of routes that we could and from there I would then realize that I have to beat the game not once not twice but three times on a whim on a freaking rim that maybe I was right to get something or maybe that maybe this thing doesn't exist I have no idea I became a god at Samus returns and what felt like this scary pit in my stomach it scared the living hell out of me that maybe this is the one this is the one game that I cannot complete as the completionist and maybe I up maybe I [ __ ] up but I was right there was something when you beat Samus returns on normal mode under four hours it turns out I was on the money Samus appears in her zero suit outfit and does oppose when I did this again on hard mode Samus was in her Metroid one classic outfit the one from the end of the game and when I did on fusion mode Samus was in what I think is her Super Metroid outfit holy crap I know this may not be a big deal to some but to do what I did in the same time frame and in the manner of this show for the first time in a long while I am genuinely proud of my skill as a gamer in my playthrough of Metroid Samus returns for the 3ds there were three full 100% playthroughs on normal hard and fusion modes seven additional difficult speedrun attempts with three successful runs on normal hard and fusion mode meaning I played this game for a total of ten goddamn times eleven unlockable chozo memories 52 hours of total playtime and one sense of feeling accomplished for doing my job seriously I am beaming with happiness that I got it right without knowing anything but this Metroid Samus Returns is that game that will bring everyone back to the core of Metroid however the controls lack of customization and the difficulties ups and downs in the game are enough to upset some people but that all comes down to a matter of preference I know the pun is dumb and I'm sure there's tons of headlines after that I've already made it Metroid Samus Returns is in fact just that Samus has returned if you love anything about Metroid and the franchise itself this game is the one for you I could not be happier with Metroid Samus Returns Metroid fans rejoice and show your support this game is a wonderful return to form for the franchise that theoretically speaking could lead to more and more 2d Metroid titles now the few problems I did have with the game are problems I know most people won't have issues with but they did resonate with me the entire playthrough my hands are exhausted from the amount of hours that I've been playing that I put into this game and for the first time in a long time here in the show while I went through hell and back beating this game no less than nine times speedrunning in normal hard and fusion mode I gotta say I have got a massive overwhelming sense of accomplishment one that I haven't felt in a long while I'm in a special zone here because I may be one of the first people ever to have seen this special imagery that awaited for me each and every time through completionists out there you're gonna have a great time from start to finish and you're gonna feel even better when you conquer that massive mountain everyone else well that's on the new and how you play games but you will have an awesome time than the less so with that in mind guys I give this game my completionist rating of complete it completers that's all taught me after today guys so please as always let me know through about today's episode somewhere on the internet if you like what you see here you like what we do hit that like button and click the subscribe button in the bubble below all the names you seen the left here are all of our cool folks on patreon they support us each and every week if you want to join them on this list click the link in description box below and if you missed last week's episode on Mario Fool's rabbit's Kingdom battle you can give that a click or tap right here on screen I've been draw the completionist I'm gonna be sleeping for the next week goodbye

Channel: The Completionist

Views: 637,722

Keywords: metroid, samus returns, metroid samus returns, metroid review, samus returns review, metroid samus returns review, 3DS, nintendo, samus, nintendo 3ds, review, gameplay, samus aran, metroid 3ds, video game (Industry), mercurystream, new metroid, new metroid review, IGN, normalboots, gamespot, PBG, projared, peanutbuttergamer, TOVG, completionist, jirard, metroid: samus returns, metroid: samus returns review

Id: FPPOF4d3g_k

Length: 32min 2sec (1922 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 15 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/bisforbenis]

I'm definitely going to have to wait on this one, I'm really excited about the video, but I'm going to want to play it myself first

[u/Lugnutter_19]

I picked up my copy this morning. Wondered if you were gonna have one of these ready for Metroid. Awesome video. Good skit, good script.

[u/MastaAwesome]

Feels pretty fitting to watch The Completionist complete another 2D Metroid game. Nostalgic game, nostalgic episode.

[u/SpikeIkari]

This video was firing on all cylinders, and you could really sense the drive and passion in the team this week.

Video Content Spoiler

[u/byniri_returns]

I loved the last shot of Jirard's bookshelf with all the maps scattered on it.

[u/TheGamingTurret]

Is jirard eventually gonna make a 'metroid samus returns' poster featuring the entire layout of the games map with the optimum route for the 100% speedrun to get that glorious under 4 hour ending? That'd be kinda tight.

[u/kapikottai]

Loved this video. The game looks super rad. Samus rules. I'm excited. :)

[u/DarthSeven777]

Jirard i dont know how often you check the reddit but im a brand new subscriber just to say i have nothing but the highest respect for you. this is one of the hardest games i have played in recent memory and considering you made it your bitch, i comend you.

[u/PonchoMomma]

Great work!