"The "Super" Hunt"

Out of all the games in the series released before, Super Metroid tries the hardest at working a story into the game. The events of the first two games are tied into an opening sequence where you must investigate a space station where the last metroid larva from the planet SR388 (the location of Metroid II [GB, 1991]). After that, you're dumped onto Planet Zebes, and the game gives you very little direction. The only semblance of guidance the game provides is blocking your way and directing you to the next item that will help you overcome those obstacles. However, the world of Planet Zebes is an expansive one, so the game map (a new feature) will come in handy from time to time.
Story: 6/10

That said, it's nice how Super Metroid uses the worlds from the original game but expands on them. Many of the repeated rooms have also been re-designed, providing the right balance of nostalgia and new challenges. A host of new items awaits your discovery, such as power bombs, the grappling beam, reserve energy tanks, and the x-ray scope (which you'll really want to thank the developers for including). As in previous Metroid games, you'll feel a tremendous sense of power with each new power-up you collect, even if you have to wait until the end to get the best ones.
Design: 6/10

The controls for Super Metroid are pretty much basic shooter-platformer fare. You can aim up or down at an angle with the shoulder buttons, which is infinitely better than having do move around doing so with just the control pad. Items such as missiles and the grappling beam are toggled on and off with the Select button, but it can be a little frustrating when you trigger the wrong item by mistake. Also, jumping slows you down, and wall jumps (a new feature) take some practice to pull off well, but for the most part, everything works as intended. The ability to re-map the button configuration is a big help.
Gameplay: 7/10

At 24 megabits, Super Metroid was the largest game of its time, and it looks like all that space was put to good use. The detail is incredible for a Super NES game. Samus is very well-animated, and there are some neat water and heat effects as well. Given all the action, slowdown is rare, but can happen occasionally. Although the music isn't quite as memorable as the tunes from the original, they fit the mood of the levels very well. (I should point out that the sound quality on the Wii version is a little poor. Whether this was a problem in the original game or just an issue with emulating it for the Virtual Console, I'm not sure.)
Audiovisual: 8/10

I know I've been sounding overly critical of the game up to this point, but Super Metroid is really more fun than I've made it sound. This is still excellent shooter gameplay that is challenging but not Contra-hard. The main draw of this game is the anticipation of earning the next ability and using it to conquer that one obstacle you were unable to tackle previously. Of course, getting lost on the way is a frequent occurrence; was it too much to ask of the developers to work in some kind of guidance? I suppose I shouldn't ask for too much; after all, exploration has been the point of the Metroid series, but a little help could have saved a lot of frustration.
Overall: 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 02/04/08

Game Release: Super Metroid (US, 08/20/07)