"A good game that paved the way for future Metroid games."

I'll admit, I might be a little biased.

This was my first Metroid game. I never played the original until years later. I never owned a full-blown home gaming console (except the Atari 2600) until just a couple years ago. All I had back in the early '90s was the Game Boy, Nintendo's foray into portable gaming systems. I had a few simple titles (Tetris, Super Mario Land, etc.), but I didn't really find many of them that impressed me.

And then came Metroid II. I'd seen a few TV advertisements for it, and wondered, was this game any good? Not too long after, I eventually got the game.

The answer to that question turned out to be a resounding YES!

I was impressed with the graphics, the quality of which I had never before seen in a Game Boy game. I was impressed with the puzzle aspect—my first try at this game took me over 10 gameplay hours to beat, much of it because of one small section. And most of all, I was impressed with the challenge—difficult enough to not get too boring, but not so difficult as to get frustrating.

Over ten years later, it's still one of my favorite games. Not my favorite game ever, not even my favorite Metroid game ever…but still *one* of my favorite games.

Story: (Paraphrased from the instruction manual.) The original story takes place after Samus destroyed the Metroids that had been captured by Space Pirates, killed the Mother Brain, and destroyed their fortress on Zebes. Soon after, the Galactic Federation became concerned with the possibility that there might still be Metroids on SR388. So, they sent a research team to the planet to investigate. Soon after the researchers landed, the GF lost contact with them.

A search and rescue team was sent to the planet; the GF lost contact with them as well. Frantic, the Galactic Federation sent a special combat unit to the planet—one which vanished just like the first two teams!

With panic seizing the worlds of the Galactic Federation, it was decided that only one person could possibly stop this threat: Samus Aran, the one who had singlehandedly destroyed the Space Pirate fortress on Zebes. She is sent in, alone as before, in the hopes that she will be able to deal with the Metroid threat.

With the advent of the Metroid Prime games (which take place between the original Metroid and this game), it's possible that the incidents on Tallon IV, Aether, and future Metroid games also influenced the decision to find the Metroids and destroy them. The game Metroid Fusion also ties heavily into this story, but I won't spoil things for Fusion.

Overall, a fairly strong story for a video game made back in 1991, and one that hasn't been extensively rewritten as the series has continued. The fact that future games tie into this story is a plus. 8.0.

Controls: I've heard complaints on how the controls are sluggish and difficult to control. If you want my honest opinion, the controls for the original Metroid were harder to master!

Let me explain. In the original Metroid, it was impossible to hit ground enemies without curling up into a ball and laying a bomb, even with techniques like Screw Attack, unless you had the Wave Beam. This made enemies like Rios quite annoying (and Zoomers slightly less so), especially in the early part of the game. Metroid II fixes this shortcoming by allowing Samus to duck without morphing. This simple feature, along with several others, have popped up in every 2D Metroid game since. If it hadn't been for some of the things done in this game, I dare say that Super Metroid wouldn't have been as great as it is.

The controls for devices like the Spider Ball and (especially) the Space Jump can be hard to get used to at first. The Space Jump is especially hard, because it requires better timing than in any of the future games. Considering this was its first appearance, however, they did a pretty good job of implementing it (even a control klutz like myself can Space Jump without too much trouble now). 8.0.

Graphics: I won't lie; the graphics aren't the greatest ever. But Samus is well-detailed, the detail on the enemies is adequate, and there's very little flicker or slowdown. Some of the better graphics you'll ever see from the original Game Boy games. 7.5.

Music: Ryoji Yoshitomi's music won't be remembered as well as Hiro Tanaka's, or the combined efforts of Kenji Yamamoto and Minako Hamano. A lot of people have put down some parts of the music for being a bunch of blips and beeps. Well, my guess is that the composer was going for a creepy, alien ambience for the Chozo ruin sites, and he succeeded at that. While there are a few pieces you might remember (the main tunnel theme, for example), the music isn't meant to be for listening; it's meant for effect. The sudden change in music when you're fighting a Metroid ought to be proof enough of that. 7.5.

Sound: Functional. Some of the sounds (such as Samus's footsteps, the beam firing, and other things you hear a lot of) might get annoying after a while, but generally they're not too bad. Actually, the sound of an enemy being destroyed is better than that of Super Metroid's, in my opinion. 7.0.

Gameplay: And now, the meat of my review. Yes, this game is rather linear, but I found it less confining than the door-sealing tin can of Metroid Fusion. Part of it was that there was plenty to explore in each area, and several secrets to be found. Another part of it was, there were plenty of areas where you can't see any walls around Samus as she was falling or space jumping.

Part of the reason for the game's linearity, however, comes from one of the most fun powerups you can get: the Spider Ball. Now your morph ball can make like a Zoomer (or Tusurmi in this game) and climb along the walls, only losing grip when you choose to (or when Samus takes damage)! However, it allows for so much exploring of each area that it's really no surprise that it hasn't shown up in any other 2D Metroids. (And that it's shown up only in a very limited capacity in the Metroid Prime games.)

Because some of the walls are littered with spikes, even something like the Spider Ball can't go everywhere. For these places, your best bet is the Space Jump, something that players of other 2D Metroids (except Metroid itself) will be familiar with. The Space Jump here requires more precise timing than in other games, but gamers with any skill should figure it out with a bit of practice. (Heck, even my mother figured it out.)

Players of the new-school Metroids, be warned: There is no map system in this game. Most of you will get stuck sometime on your first playthough, and don't be surprised if you get lost in the course of exploring once or twice (despite the acid blocking off passage until you clear an area). However, you will be pleased to know that this game features save points, unlike the original Metroid.

Boss battles can get intense, since you'll be fighting some of the Metroids on imperfect battlefields. Fighting one optional boss requires a bit of cunning. And the final boss requires perseverance (the “normal” way can take as long as 20 minutes), though the fight can be shortened significantly if you're smart enough to figure out a way. Plus, the ending leads straight into the next game, Super Metroid.

This game requires some skill in control, timing, aiming, problem solving, and some plain old-fashioned perseverance to beat alone. All in all, it's a pretty fun experience, and I still take it out and play it over from time to time. 8.5.

Overall: This was my first exposure to the Metroid series, and I found it to be one of the better experiences I had with the original Game Boy. This game encouraged me to eventually grab Metroid Fusion and Zero Mission. Since then, I've also grabbed the two Metroid Prime games. If even the (arguably) “worst” game in the series can be this good, what does that say about the series as a whole?

Final Score: 8.1 (not an average).

Recommendation: If you can, get your hands on the original cartridge and put it in your version of the Game Boy (pre-DS)—it's the best way to play this game, if you ask me. Make sure the battery backup still works, though—the cartridges are starting to get old by now.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/24/05