Examining Metroid: Samus Returns in a post Dread world
Return of the Queen
2021’s Metroid Dread may well be the pinnacle of the Metroid series. A fun moveset, large area variety, white-knuckle boss fights, and a core game feel that puts nearly all other 2d platformers to shame. Super Metroid may win the nostalgia game, but Dread is a near flawless iteration in the classic series. It didn’t come out of nowhere, however. Hailing from Spain, developer MercurySteam was able to successfully pitch Nintendo on a 2d Metroid project of some type, which would ultimately culminate in the release of Metroid: Samus Returns in 2017.
In a post Metroid Dread world, the context around Metroid: Samus Returns has changed. At the time Samus Returns was somewhat seen as a slight afterthought for Nintendo; coming out on the 3DS months after the company’s latest game system had been on the market and was not even featured in the company’s main E3 showcase for that year. On the other hand, it had been 13 years since a 2D Metroid game had been released. This was cause enough to be excited. In hindsight Samus Returns takes on the unique role as almost a rough draft for the heights MercurySteam would achieve with Dread.
It's a great rough draft though. As a reimagining of Metroid II: Return of Samus, MercurySteam was tasked with bringing a decades old Game Boy game to a modern audience. This would be no easy task for any developer. The end result is something that largely works yet is held back in some key areas in service of being true to the 1991 original.
The positives, first. The game feels great to play. Using the analog stick like circle pad of the 3DS at first feels like sacrilege but the ability to aim in full 360° is a genuine step forward for the series – the eight way aiming of previous games is simply outmoded now. In addition to this Samus’s momentum has been slightly tweaked from her GBA outings. While still largely the same mobile, zippy bounty hunter as before her jump has been reworked to feel more inline with her other movement. She ends up feeling more natural to control than ever before and this essence would be directly brought over to Dread.
In addition to this it’s clear MercurySteam is a fan of making boss fights the star of the show. While their total number may be lacking in Samus Returns, something improved upon in Dread, they are engaging and – most importantly – hard as nails. Requiring a combination of preparation through resource gathering, memorization of patterns, and raw skill, the boss fights make for moments that all players will remember.
While there are other positives to the game, the final standout is MercurySteam’s presentation of the Metroid universe and Samus herself. The world you explore is visually striking. While the color palette could use some variety there are a number of unique background touches that make the areas memorable. The whole thing is enhanced by an impressive use of the 3D effect of the 3DS, something late era games on the system didn’t always take advantage of. Samus is also shown in a great light. She is capable, confident, and – as highlighted in boss fights cutscenes – quite able to be an absolute badass. As a touchy subject for the Metroid fanbase after a less than pleasing depiction in other Metroid games it’s relieving to see a team that gets it handle the character.
This all adds up to a strong game, though it is let down in some areas. As a remake of Metroid II the main thrust of the experience is clearing the planet of the 40 or so Metroids scattered throughout. This is an interesting premise and one that makes sense given the limitations of a Game Boy, where asset variety would have to be limited, but it means 40 or so fights with Metroids taking only a handful of unique forms. You end up repeating the same handful fights often – it gets old quick no matter how strong they are in isolation.
Somewhat related to the original game as well is the reimagined world map you explore. It’s large, very large, far too large. The fact the game gives you teleporters should be proof enough that something went wrong with this world design. In addition to being so large, or perhaps because of it, the world feels mostly made up of video game levels. It doesn’t really feel like you are exploring a world, rather you are just completing levels 1-8 in a platformer. The overarching world framework of descending into the planet to hunt Metroids is a necessity to a Metroid II remake. Making each step in that descent 30% too large is not.
So, Metroid: Samus Returns isn’t perfect. It has strong fundamentals but either because of a team taking their first crack at Metroid – likely with a budget on the smaller end of game development – or because of a desire to stay true to an original experience 26 years old the game falters a touch. It’s certainly worth a playthrough but you’d be forgiven for not sticking to it like Super or Prime.
With the release of Metroid Dread the experience presented by Samus Returns takes on a whole new context. With Dread MecurySteam proves what it can do with a large, wholly original, and lavish game. Boss fights are still a highlight, but they are all distinct with more animations and stages. The world is a proper interconnected space that sees you moving between areas multiple times, each time with new abilities allowing access to new parts of the map. The number of unique details in the background of rooms has been ratcheted up making the game almost always visually fresh.
This is on top of the core game feel that persists from Samus Returns. With the increased horsepower of the Nintendo Switch comes a boost to the framerate, from 30 to 60 frames per second, making the game even more responsive and enjoyable to control. Samus feels like water in how effortlessly she moves throughout the world. She is again presented as a capable, confident character; she quite literally responds to her nemeses with a charged arm cannon shot.
While both improving upon and retaining key aspects of Samus Returns the follow up title Metroid Dread is the ultimate Metroid experience. In this light it might be easy to forget Samus Returns – nearly everything is done better by Dread. This would however be a foolish track to take. Samus Returns is a rare and fascinating look at the work done in a game to build the foundation for an all-time great follow up.
You end up doing this a lot…