"The Second in a great line of games, can it live up to it's title?"

The first Metroid as one of the first games on a major system. It was also widely known and loved at that time. It is now a classically loved game. Of course, during the forgotten age of Metroid (the decade of 1990) There was only one game REALLY early on. Super Metroid, the third installment, was made in 1991. Then, in 2002, over a decade later, Metroid Prime and Metroid Fusion were released. And lo, another, bigger wave of newbs came. "Wow, that's one cool robot!" "Look at him go! Go Samus! He's soooo cool!" "I'm playing metroid! That guy? That's metroid!" "Why is Master Chief orange?" This displays a true array of wannabe gamers. However, between Metroid and Super Metroid came the second installment of the game. This was known as "Metroid II: Return of Samus"

Gameplay - The gameplay is this game is stunningly good. The controls are simple, and it gets slowly more challenging. It's almost impossible to get lost, and the challenge is ever-growing. This game hooks you and refuses to let go. If you don't enjoy this game, you're part of a minority group that doesn't. Congrats. This game has excellent puzzles and items. The enemies are challenging at times,but everything is easy once you develop a strategy. 9/10

Story - The story is simple. Plain and simple. Basically, Samus comes to the Metroid homeworld, SR388, to vanquish them. She destroys everything in her way. She has to gather items and powerups to accomplish this. Normally, this storyline is over-used. But this is only a second, so I'll still give it high. If you played the first one, it's that without the motherbrain. See? Simple. Maybe a little TOO simple. 8/10.

Graphics - The graphics for our time are really bad, but back then, were at the top of their game. Truly, excellent. Nice movement, nice graphics. 9/10

Sound - The sound can be crappy at times. Even for back then, it could be repetitive at times. But still , it is still fits the game. I enjoyed it for the most part. Also, as the beams changed, so does the sounds they make. It can be enjoyable at times, and the beams are also fun to combine. 8/10

Items - There are some interesting items in this game. For example, the spider ball is introduced. This item allows you to roll up the sides of the walls in morphball mode. The spazer beam, allows you to shoot a beam as it splits into three separate ones. Spring ball, jump while in Morph ball mode. All of these are new concepts of the game, and were use in later game as well. 9/10

Enemies - The enemies aren't just metroids. They are also native fauna to the SR388. As you get lower, you get a bigger challenge. They can be...difficult to defeat at times, but that doesn't eliminate from fun. Also, the main types of enemies are metroids. And those are constantly evolving. Which just ADDS to the fun! 9/10

Play Time/Replayability - You can beat this game in about 2 hours if your are fast. It generally takes about 4 or 5, though. The replayability is relatively low to other metroid games. There's not many secrets, no unlockables, not much to do after you've beat the game at all.. This really drags down the game, as it is as important as gameplay. 7/10

OVERALL - 8/10. This game is really good. If you're a metroid fan, you'll definitely enjoy it. If you're not, then there's a 95% that you'll enjoy it. There's very few people who want like this game. I recommend it to everybody.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/18/05