Metroid 2: The Return of Samus Game by Nintendo Review by The Avardancer Size: 512KBits Save: Battery, 3 slots Released: 1991 Works with: Any Gameboy version. Opening Snide Remarks: A long time ago; before video game heroines were stacked, wore tight, revealing clothing. Before games with a female lead were not sold by T & A. There was Samus Aran and The Metroid Series. Samus Aran was the greatest and is still in my opinion the greatest Heroine of all Video Games. I mean; when girls like Laura Croft rely on Tight Jeans, lots of guns, over the top cleaveage, and other gimmicks to sell games. Samus hopped into a Space Suit, charged her blaster arm and shot life sucking alien creatures. You have to love that. This series is great and has tons of atmosphere. Let us see how the second of one of the greatest Trilogy games ever made stands up to review. Samus Aran is the original "Grrl". She can kick it down with the best of them. She's the only character that, in my opinion, is cooler than Link. Samus Aran could kick Lara Croft's big fat arse. Gameplay: If there's one fatal flaw in this game; it's the fact that SR388 is TOO freakin' huge! Some gamers could get lost in here! Well, actually; I didn't get lost; but some people may. Other then the slightly hard nature of the game; it is extremely good in the Gameplay department. Samus must hunt down and kill an increasingly hideous race of Aliens. EVERY last slimy, evil, and gritty one of them. You kill the Metroids in each area to proceed to the next area; deeper in to the planet. You must also search for items to get past some of the terrain. You don't have to get all the items; but you should get as many as you can. (Omega Metroids will eat you for an afternoon Tea and Crumpets; if you don't have the Varia.) Search, explore, and kill. That is the nature of the game. Imagine an Aliens Movie; but YOU are the only person left and YOU must beat all 50 or so of these huge alien creatures that have ravanged colonies! (It says in the Manuals that one of these little buggers could destroy an entire Space Colony in minutes. YOU must fight over fifty of these guys.) Kind of scary is it not? That's the Gameplay in ine word: "Scary". The tension you feel in the later battles is unmatched by ANY game on the market. If you want an intense game; this is it. The Gameplay is challenging, frightening; and most likely not the stuff that puts pleasant thoughts in little Timmy's mind. But, I love the gameplay. I thought that Resident Evil was cheesy with it's "suspense induced by gore"; but Metroid 2 is brilliant in it's "suspense induced by worry, frustration, atmosphere, sound, graphics, challenge, and anticipation". This game is very good. It isn't a "Shoot-em-up"; it's more of a think, plan, destroy game. You can see a Metroid before it detects you. So then you can go back and try to power-up a little. But sometimes the huge thing is just sitting in your way; waiting for you to get too close. And you eventually have to kill it. The battles can be long, intense, and difficult sometimes. The battles make you wish that the battle was the last one. It can take up to 15 minutes to down an Omega Metroid! And then you look at the bottom of the screen and go: "Oh, shoot. There's THREE more left in this area." It's cool. Graphics: The Graphics are 100% better than the NES version and a little notch below the SNES and that is a HUGE compliment. The caverns and locations are varied, and sinister in appearence. The Metroids are huge and some are twice the size of Samus Aran. Samus Aran has an enormous amount of detail; and the game's graphics are clear. You MUST try this game on a Gameboy Color or Super Gameboy. Although it is not programmed with special palletes for those color systems; the default palletes picked by those systems are great! The Gameboy Color one is a sight to behold. Sound: You will hear the blood-curling screams of the Metroids in your dreams for many, many days..... (And you will like it.) Music: The Music; isn't intrusive and is just a bit, well, spooky. It adds nicely to the atmosphere of the game. When it speeds up; it adds to the fear of dying that you should have developed by now. (Or you will develop...) Play Control: The Play Control feels like a second skin. It's completely natural and anyone can play this game. The power-ups are also easy to use. The game's only "tricky" thing is using the "Spider Ball"; because it defys gravity. Another tricky thing is that your laser does not hurt Metroids. (The little ones can be frozen; but your beams won't hurt any other Metroid types.) You have to push select to switch to missiles. Push select again to switch back to your beam. Tricky, ain't it? Final Analysis: The game is great. But one word of caution; save at every chance you get. For you never know what is waiting to dine on your brains in the next cavern. Life's short, save often. This is a great game and you can pick it up for about $20. Go ahead and buy it. It's great; but be warned: Wimps may not last long in SR388. Know when to run. Oh, and try and beat it in under three hours for the best ending. The planet is big, and tough. If all you been doing lately is raiding tombs; you are going to get your butt kicked in when you play this game. There's TONS of secrets, false walls, tiny crevices, and hidden items to make you crazy. The planet seems like a maze sometimes as well. You will be lost here. You will be violently attacked by life-sucking aliens, lost for hours in a huge subterreanian maze, and then that guy at the station will yell at you. Oops. That's life in New York. Sorry. The game does all that to you; except for the station guy. This game will kick you when you're down and you will like it. Score Gameplay: ***** (5 out of 5) Graphics: ***** (5 out of 5) Sound: ***** (5 out of 5) Music: ***** (5 out of 5) Play Control: ***** (5 out of 5) Total: (25 X 4 = 100) Final Score = 100% Currently Known Codes. None.