When it comes to Nintendo games I guess you can say I’ve given most series a shot, but didn’t really get that far in them.
- Metroid:
I don’t know much @Hardscope has talked about me on here but if he’s said anything about my vidya interests he must have brought up Metroid. On this series I’m mostly a 2Dfag but I have also beaten prime and Prime 2: Echoes. Out of those two Echoes is probably my favorite, and it’s the only prime I have beat 100%.
Metroid will forever be my favorite nintendo game series. As a matter of fact, I am a romhacker for Metroid: Zero Mission, and race ZM often! (I did a 0% race of fusion but it got so bad at the end I gave up and went the savestate route when fighting the Omega Metroid. Never. Again. Or at least not for a long time.)
I started with Metroid Fusion in 2005 (on the same copy and gba my dad played on) but, for some reason, it disappeared. As I did the growing-up thing, I started to emulate Super Metroid (PAL rom until recently for some terrible reason) and would often stay up until 2AM exploring Zebes. I got fusion back when I was 11. Fusion was pretty grand aside from worst boss in the game (Yakuza), and I had lodes of fun with super, but when I got Metroid: Zero Mission later in my preteen years I knew I had discovered a gem.
The music was exquisite, and gameplay much better than previous 2d titles IMO. I would beat that game on the daily throughout my 4th grade year (it took me a really long time to discover that super missiles and power bombs existed in that game ) After beating ZM and unlocking NEStroid, I did some NARPassword runs and eventually took the game seriously enough to play it start to finish without any cheat passwords. When I wasn’t playing one of those games, I was playing my dad’s copy of Metroid II: Return of samus or emulating it.
For the longest time Metroid II had me stuck in area III (arguably the most confusing area in the game without a map) but then a couple years back I picked it up again and beat the game using a map. It’s got improved gameplay to NES but NEStroid was better if you asked me.
Then came AM2R, the unofficial metroid II remake. Oh boy AM2R. I played the demos, I played metroid confrontation, and once AM2R finally released I couldn’t put it down for days until I finished it 100%. AM2R is probably the greatest fan creation and homage that will ever reach the metroid fanbase. We all know what happened with AM2R but it’s still getting community updates I’m hesitant to try until they’re completely finished, so that’s cool.
And now, Samus Returns, the official remake of metroid II. If you are a metroid fan, or haven’t given metroid a chance yet, this is the perfect game to go with nowadays. Its more linear nature makes it moderately boring at times in comparison to the other games, but this is to prevent extreme cases of feeling lost like in SM or metroid II. MSR is the best official metroid remake I have ever played. The OST was glorious. Gameplay was hella nice particularly due to minimap and weapons no longer being cramped into the main window. It gave the player an opportunity to stand back and take in the atmosphere. The areas were massive, and some metroid fights were pretty tense. And the Chozo memories. MMM CHOZO MEMORIES. If this is the future of unlocks for 100% items I am completely on board. The only complaints I have with this game would be the melee counter and the inability to really divert from intended path. I feel like the melee counter would have been less OP if it was an ability you obtained, like the power grip in zero mission. Overall, samus returns just was so much different from M2 it feels like a totally different game and that is a good thing.
- MegaMan
I know that MegaMan is a CapCom series but the ones I played were Nintendo exclusives. I have actually played and beat a good deal of these games so for that I’m putting this series above TLOZ. II haven’t done much with the original blue bomber but I’ve done a lot more of the weeb games like MegaMan Zero collection, Megaman ZX (I need ZX Advent ), Megaman X, Megaman Xtreme, and the MegaMan Battle Network Series. Overall my favorites are MegaMan Zero, MegaMan ZX, Megaman Battle Network, and MegaMan X. MegaMan Zero is a game for masochists (sorry i forgot how hard it was @Hardscope) but I enjoyed how open the world was (unlike the other games where you teleported to zones) Megaman ZX improved on this formula but made the area map really fucking confusing which is why it’s my second favorite. Battle Network is also high up there in my favorites because it is definitely one of my favorite RPG games. I like how instead of relying on RNG the player’s moves must be strategic because your methods can have a profound effect on how a battle goes, whether it’s attack evasion, pulling off the right combo of battle chips at the right time, or in general holding out until you can get your chip attacks back. I also just really like the overall sci-fi utopian cyber feeling that lies within that series. That’s about it.
- The Legend of Zelda
I am not going to be able to go on a multi-paragraph tangent about TLOZ saying as I have not beat any of the games but from what I have played TLOZ is my third favorite ninty series. The games I have played are NES and LTTP. They feel like a top-down medieval-style metroid game and it’s pretty great! I love how much there is to explore, especially with equipment you obtain to move through obstacles. (like the boots or gloves in LTTP that let you get through rocks) LTTP and NES have made me love dungeons in video games because IMO they do it very well particularly LTTP. Now I know that the more fan favorite games are things like MM or OOT or WW but I have not played those games really.
- PKMN
I have spent a lot of time playing pokemon. Not nearly as much as most people but my hours shouldn’t be discounted. I have played classic Red, Gold, Sapphire, Firered and Leafgreen. I haven’t beaten any of these games either but the one I got farthest in was classic red (to the elite four) and to this day I’m probably really partial to that game over the rest. (Yeah, I’m a gen1 fag deal with it. ) Maybe one day I will do more things related to the pokey mans.