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The Most Horrifying Gameboy Game by: Paris "Awesmazing" Dunst |
I can safely say that the sequel to the NES title is the first successful horror game ever made. This game is terrifying. Bosses lurk around every corner, evil music taunts you from the start screen to the end, and an eerie imposing doom noise plays as your health gets low. God forbid you actually die and share a momentary disintegration of life with Samus.
Bosses are the worst. You're running along, probably just found an upgrade. The enemies and environment on the way, however, took out the vast majority of your energy and the whomp, whomp, whomp of the low health indicator is making your heart race. As you desperately seek for an easy enemy to farm some energy from, a glowing egg suddenly freezes your screen and a demonic Metroid hatchling comes darting toward you with the intent to kill. Granted, a better player defeats this enemy without getting hit, but not later on. No sir, the Metroids in this game like to evolve as you venture deeper through the lava ridden caves. They become larger, more powerful, and much more resistant to your missiles. Encountering one of these Metroids on the brink of death is not fun for even the most seasoned players.
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| Bosses are around many corners in Metroid II |
Surprisingly, the game overall IS easier than its predecessor. This is all because of better coding allowing for tighter controls and better accuracy of hit boxes. With these improvements more skill is required than luck, and a good player can go a long way without taking damage. Of course, it wouldn't quite be Metroid without secrets galore. Sadly, there are no secrets in this game. Oh, except for that one, and that one, ah and I can't forget this one, and this one! The game's loaded with secrets. Hidden wall tunnels, cool weapons, suit upgrades and more. Secrets easily make up 50% of the total map area and provide hours of exploration for first time players and completionists alike. There's even a secret boss.
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| Before the lava flow changes |
Like the original, Metroid II lacks any sort of map or direction function, but unlike the original, screens are much less repetitive and players can always tell when they are entering a new unexplored area. Also, a small persistent counter on the bottom right of the screen displays how many bosses remain. Another interesting part of the game is the control of the lava flows. Early on you discover tunnels filled with lava. It's not until you defeat all nearby bosses that the lava will drain and allow you to proceed further. This helps a lot with continuity without giving off the “go here, go there” directions some games give.
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| After the lava flow changes |
Graphically, the game is beautiful. Compared to even the nicest looking Gameboy games, (and even some SNES games) the graphics are very appealing. I've played through the game many times and only noticed maybe 5 graphical errors or gameplay glitches. Enemies are well detailed and hold a variety of attack patterns and disposal methods. The environments are very unique as well and give a nice aspect of discovery to the game. The sounds of the game are also very fitting. The theme music changes between regions and either exemplifies moods of adventure, mystery, or good ol' horror. The sound effects are accurate and well varied between all of your, as well as enemy's, attacks and animations.
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| 5/5 D-Pads: You'd be a fool to call yourself a Metroid fan and not play this game. Second only to Super Metroid, this game is easily the best, most unique 2D game in the franchise. My favorite aspect of this game is how on your first play through, it could take you 30+ hours to find absolutely every item in the game. Then, after many playing through many times, the game can be beaten with all items far under two, or even one hour! Faster times lead to slightly different endings. Even though the game doesn't change each time you play, it is lengthy. The length and ability to better your time provide enough replay value to keep a Metroid fan (Like me) hooked for years. I've honestly played through the game at least 200 times with my first completion in 1995 and my last maybe a month ago. The game still provides a lot of fun mainly because it is the first Gameboy game that allows a skilled player to have hours of fun running through and fighting enemies while avoiding all sources of damage. I could see how some people might not find the game as replay worthy as I (being that it's my all time favorite game) but I dare you to resist a second play through within a week of your first. |
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