Metroid: Samus Returns Review

There’s more additions than that, of course: the free aim ability allows players to hold down a trigger and aim with 360 degrees of freedom, which is a godsend.

The game also blossoms unexpectedly, spreading out on a much larger, much more satisfying map than the original – I’ve heard it’s the biggest in any 2D Metroid game. There’s new powerups too, including an early game unlock that allows you to scan the area for hidden paths or pickups. This one again will be contentious to long term fans, but as someone who has previously derided the game design of unmarked fake walls I’m all for it. Also, diehards don’t need to use this feature if they don’t want to, and can continue to blast every wall with every weapon in the hope of revealing something they wouldn’t have otherwise known was there. Time is becoming a more precious commodity to me these days, and allowing to streamline features that would previously throw up walls – literally – to block progress is something I won’t lose sleep over.

Presentation:

Samus Returns most instantly recognizable upgrade is of course in the presentation department. Gone are the Gameboy’s bleeps and bloops that made up the original soundtrack, replaced by a fantastic score that feels familiar and new all at once.

The visuals are likewise a huge improvement. Return of Samus didn’t age as gracefully as a lot of 2D games, thanks to its home on the Gameboy, so it deserved a full remake more than most. Samus Returns is a great realization of the original vision that was present in ’92. Its rich colour palette, moody settings and phenomenal use of the 3D really make the Metroid home planet of SR388 pop. The depth of caverns and lava-filled pits stretching off into the background is a brilliant effect, and I urge you to play with the 3D slider way up (especially if you’re on the New 3DS hardware with the super-stable 3D).

Conclusion:

The game’s title, ‘Samus Returns’ isn’t just a twist on the original Return of Samus, it’s a meta acknowledgement, perhaps even an apology, from Nintendo about the absence of one of their best franchises and – hopefully – a statement on its future as well. Metroid deserves international acclaim, and this remake is as good an argument for that as anything else. It’s a brilliant handheld package that showcases all of the series strengths, and streamlines a lot of its annoyances.

If Metroid Prime 4 is as good as Samus Returns, we’re in for a wild homecoming.