Now, I've only played this up to Spore Spawn, so take this with a grain of salt.
New level design? Seems pretty solid, packed with obscure secrets (thusfar). A little too obscure for my taste, but I haven't gotten stuck for too long in any part. Then again, I have 4% items collected.
New physics? Well I have to give credit to the authors for making such radical changes, as it's very not-standard-hack-procedure. But that's about where the praise ends for me. This game seems to take physics ideas from other Metroid games - the jumping power of Metroid Prime, the walljumping of Zero Mission / Fusion, the jumping precision of, well, Castlevania. Realistic? Yes. Fun? No. I don't play video games to do realistic things.
New difficulty? Yes. This can be a good or bad thing, depending on how it's implemented. In this game, it's a bad thing. Enemies so far take an average of 10-15 shots to kill. You can shoot faster, but that doesn't help the boring / repetitive factor. Metroid Prime was annoying because in my exploring and re-exploring and re-exploring, I had to keep fighting these not-trivial battles every time I entered the room. In that game, you can sometimes run around the enemies, but in this game, that is simply not happening.
So then I'm supposed to use my Missiles on enemies? I'm stopping at the respawn spots several times a room to re-fill my shit, as several enemies so far don't respond to normal shots at all. So now I'm dividing my maximum of seven Missiles between doors that take five, and enemies that take 1 or 2 (and usually give me health (which, by the way, is not missiles) since every hit I take is 20+ damage), and that's if I can hit them on the first try.
If this is how you turn a half-hour adventure into a two-hour one, I don't see myself spending much more time on it - no matter how much better it's supposed to get.
<Swordless> Go hug a tree, you vegetarian (I bet you really are one)
JXQ: Trust me this hack is awesome! It definitely won't continue the way you described it. Do yourself a favour and get surprised over and over while playing further. The best and most amazing hack I have ever played so far which brings back memories of playing Super Metroid the first time again. Its a great feeling I missed so long! :-)
PS: I just have a dinner break from work, will be back in about 5 hours to continue this awesomeness!
sounds easy ;) is it even possible with 3 energy tanks? In one direction I could only find a map station (nice death trap) and an unpassable wall, in the other direction I just run for a while until the heat gets me.
And I can't trace back to pick up any energy tanks I could have missed because I lack the ice beam and the wall is too slippery for wall jumps..
do I have to restart now?
JXQ, the main reason I disliked this hack at first was its difficulty. Without abusing savestates and slowdowns, this hack is tough even for an experienced player. Moreover, with every new item found, I started to wonder where to go next.
But soon, the tickling excitement of exploration eventually came over me, and I started to enjoy the challenge.
First of all, you need to find some more missiles. There is a bunch of them in Brinstar and Crateria (I've got 63 now, 30 of which came from the hidden packs). Then, roughly the same goes for the energy: you need at least 3 tanks to feel yourself good.
After you get Charge beam, you could use the pseudo screw attack pretty much on every enemy you meet (as it kills most of them with one hit).
My present exploration speed is almost unconstrained now (the only things that still can hold me down are the speed blocks, lava, water and dead ends). For the reference, the items I've got are: Morphing Ball, Wall Jump boots, Bombs, Charge beam, Ice beam, Varia suit (also 4 Supers and 6 Power bombs).
Saturn wrote:
The best and most amazing hack I have ever played so far which brings back memories of playing Super Metroid the first time again. Its a great feeling I missed so long!
Ditto.
Tub wrote:
do I have to restart now?
No, three energy tanks are enough. Note the possible refills on your way, and just keep running.
Warp wrote:
Edit: I think I understand now: It's my avatar, isn't it? It makes me look angry.
oh well, it is possible with 3 energy tanks. I don't think it's possible without abusing savestates though (at least not for me). I saved at each new room and after several attempts, I reached the first safe point with 4 health left, the second with 7 health left. Gah. There goes my decision to play unassissted.
despite the horrible difficulty I still like the hack.
After getting over my initial starstruck reaction to the hack and playing it objectivly for awhile, I'm torn.
I can see that a lot of work went into this, the map design is great, and I like that it really feels like a NEW game, not just new-ish areas connected differently over the same basic map 'backbone' of the original game (Metroid Legacy had this feeling). Putting in new physics must have been difficult, and I applaud the author for being able to pull it off.
But, some of the changes don't sit well with me, after thinking about it. Making the enemies take SO many shots to defeat seems like he's merely inflating the difficulty artificially (as a friend of mine said). Maybe having them take two, maybe three more shots to defeat wouldn't have been so bad, but the sheer amount of firepower needed (sans missiles) to take them out seems like a superfluous change.
I'm still getting used to the new physics, as it seems to throw off the timing of the wall jumps, so my progression is halted for the moment until I get used to it.
Though, the rest of the hack is superb. I look forward to the attempts to TAS it, I get the feeling that I'll see the game played through that way first before I get to finish it myself. :)
Ah, so you need an upgrade for walljumping. Maybe he could, I dunno, TELL YOU about that?
Also the solution was to run through an unmarked wall. Clever. Expect the user to guess what you had on your mind and give him clues that he's supposed to do something completely different.
Not that I'm going to continue, I hate walljumps in Metroid games so I'm not going to play a hack that requires them regularly.
As for TASability, is there any form of sequence breaking possible?
oh well, it is possible with 3 energy tanks. I don't think it's possible without abusing savestates though (at least not for me). I saved at each new room and after several attempts, I reached the first safe point with 4 health left, the second with 7 health left. Gah. There goes my decision to play unassissted.
despite the horrible difficulty I still like the hack.
I think you need 4 tanks to get through. You can start with 3 though.
I have 2, so unless the third is somewhere in this locked down section I guess I'm screwed.
There is another energy tank down there that's probably not supposed to be gotten at this point, but I successfully retrieved it with 3 tanks (and lots of savestates). It might be possible to grab it with 2 tanks if you abuse everything the emulator has to offer. But unless you know the physics of the game well, restarting (or going back to an old save if you got one) is easier.
The game should really have a check for that.. you shouldn't be allowed to pass the point of no return towards kraid without 3 energy tanks. Was it too difficult to code a door for that? :(
as for my progress, I got the ice beam and am stuck again. One way in norfair that's blocked by a wall (above the map room), one way in norfair that'll kill me too fast (just below ice beam). Both ways in Brinstar leading back are blocked by power bomb blocks, another way blocked by power-bomb-glass.. one way needs either high-jump-boots or a freezable monster (and the only monsters in that room refuse to go there). There's also a passable pipe there, leading me into a spike pit. Another way is hard to reach, has deadly spikes and a pipe that's just a little too high to enter.
So far, zero uses for the ice beam that didn't lead into a dead end.
any pointers where to search for new ways are appreciated..
The game should really have a check for that.. you shouldn't be allowed to pass the point of no return towards kraid without 3 energy tanks. Was it too difficult to code a door for that? :(
I too think this hack has a little problem with that points. Just for the record, there are two bomb mazes near Crocomire. If you go down there without both Power bombs and the Grapple beam, you'll get easily trapped between P-bomb blocks and ungrippable walls. However, you can pass the lower maze, which leads to Crocomire, in two different ways: a) heavily abuse frame advance (I tried to pass that point in real-time, but considered it impossible, at least on the keyboard; note that I use ZSNES 1.36 to play, so no frame advance for me); b) try to IBJ out of the lava (which was much easier for me to do). Then, after you obtain the P-bombs, this maze becomes rather easy to pass, even without using savestates.
Fortunately, that was the only problem of that type that I encountered. And now I have the Speed Booster, yo. :D
Warp wrote:
Edit: I think I understand now: It's my avatar, isn't it? It makes me look angry.
I think you need 4 tanks to get through. You can start with 3 though.
There's an energy tank on the way to the Ice beam? Where?
Also, I'm tired of looking for a way out, where am I supposed to go after I picked up the Ice beam?
And on a third note, I got the Ice beam with 3 energy tanks, without ever having seen the place before, and I don't use savestates. It's not that hard, is it?
Joined: 3/11/2004
Posts: 1058
Location: Reykjavík, Ísland
Is it just me or is it really easy to get stuck in places with no escape? Going left from an elevator, I dropped down a long shaft and assumed I could actually get somewhere, but all there is down there is one missle upgrade, a permanently locked door and an inaccessable ledge (it's too high). And of course I can't go back the same way. >:(
Edit: nevermind, I found it. You have to walk through an apparently solid wall. Bad level designer! Bad!
Going left from an elevator, I dropped down a long shaft and assumed I could actually get somewhere, but all there is down there is one missle upgrade, a permanently locked door and an inaccessable ledge (it's too high).
Upload a screenshot or a savestate somewhere, I'm sure it's accessable.
Game statistics: 112 regs, 07 supers, 13 p-bombs, 5 energy tanks, last item: Hi-Jump boots, in-game time: 08:01.
Eight hours, and I still have about 50% left to discover. >_>
Hi-Jump boots are totally mad! They add amazing mobility to the morphball, and I love it! :D
Warp wrote:
Edit: I think I understand now: It's my avatar, isn't it? It makes me look angry.
I was playing and it seems that I've gotten stuck.
Go through the door on your right. Don't come out until you got a new item (maybe two).
and don't touch the lava, it's hot.
I just did something new: if you ever think you need a freezable enemy to step on, but don't have one where you need it, it's possible to let the wall-suckers drop down and cling to another wall. I tried this for a while but failed.. then accidently figured it out while trying something completely different somewhere else ;)
However, this got me into yet another room that needs a power bomb, so I'm still stuck after getting the ice beam. Help?
edit #2: gaah! thx moozooh. I've climbed that shaft a couple of times, but always overlooked the small thing I needed to see..
Tub, return to Brinstar. There is a dot (more like a blue square to the right of a tall shaft) on the map that awaits you eagerly. ;)
You shouldn't have any problems returning back with the Ice beam. Use the same route that you came in.
Warp wrote:
Edit: I think I understand now: It's my avatar, isn't it? It makes me look angry.
Well, I've been going right in Crateria for a while and I ran into some lava, but I only have 1 energy tank and 7 missiles and no super missiles and no bombs, so I can't seem to do anything. The last thing I did was get the wall jump, but I ran into a dead end that had a pipe at the end after a bunch of spike rooms, so I went back up, past my ship, and jumped off a cliff to get there, and now I can't go back. And I didn't save, but it sure would be convenient to save in that room before the lava if there's no way back or no secret passage somewhere (I've been running into every wall I see, but maybe there's a spot I haven't gotten to).
I wish my controllers would work. . . .
Edit: Image
