Post Other M: Value of Zero Mission and Fusion?

[Animerican_Redeemed]

Hey all! As alluded to in my forum introduction, my first completed Metroid games were borrowed copies of the first two primes on the cube, and my third one was Other M. Honestly, I am a bit of sucker for character backstory or story overall, so the game's narrative kept me plenty engaged. In light of this, how valuable, both gameplay wise and story-wise, of an experience is Metroid: Fusion? I only have the vague understanding that (a) it is a 2d side scroller not unlike Super Metroid (which I'm actually really stuck on now, and haven't come back to in 2 months...) (b) it's a bit linear (which I shouldn't mind) and (c) it's a post-OM Metroid whose setting is a space station and the computer is Adam 2.0. Is there enough intrigue, as conveyed through story, gameplay or environments, to keep the player moving along?

It's a similar thing with Zero Mission, which expands on the story of the first Metroid and adds the Zero Suit section. Does it live up to the Metroid's famous sense of "intrigue," enough so for me to ignore the classic NES Metroid on the VC? And will it somehow matter all the more in the aftermath of playing OM? I'm kinda debating which ebay purchase possibility I ought to prioritize more...

Also, and this may sound pretty silly: is there a whole lot of movement in all directions of the D-Pad (not just the left and right directions)? Because admittedly, the "newest" handheld I have is the GBA Platinum that was released right ahead of the SP. The last game I played for it was FFVI, and the responsiveness d-pad presses have become a bit... lacking as of late. Having tolerated the limits already inherent within the old GBA model, does anyone think I would be okay playing either of those Metroids? Or are these games worth it to shell out the cash for a used SP or DS Lite to better appreciate them?

[Apothem]

Metroid: Zero Mission and Fusion are great games in their own right, especially if you like Super Metroid as they each play virtually the same way.

Zero Mission is superior to the original Metroid in many ways: You can save your progress rather than having to write down passwords, the game plays better, looks better and sounds better, it's been updated to Super Metroids standards of gameplay, including most of the equipment and weapons from SM, and there's more "game" to play. It doesn't present much in the way of a storyline and NOT playing won't leave you in the dark about anything, but it's still a fun game to play. It's also not terribly hard.

Fusion has most of the same merits that Zero Mission does; great presentaion, sound and gameplay, but it is indeed much more linear than previous games, which isn't inherently bad. You'll be forced, for the most part, to progress through the game one sector at a time, but having played through M:OM I can say they progress similarly, so it'd be nothing new. It's doesn't expand on any of M:OM's storyline, Fusion was released before M:OM and neither was developed to have much in common with the other, outside of Samus, Adam and what would now be considered a few "Easter Eggs" but the game has a much more solid story of it's own which is fun to play through. Fusion can prove to be just as tough as Super and in some cases much more so, it'll likely put your skills to the test.

As for control, both games'll but your GBA/DS through the ringer, especially if you find yourself interested in sequence breaking, but in my own experiance I always wore out my buttons, especially my shoulder buttons, more so than my D-Pad. Depending on your financial situation, I'd recommend picking up a used DS, as I've always had an easier time playing GBA games on the DS, particularly the original DS, than the GBA itself.

Of course you could always emulate them. The game ROMs are easy enough to find and the VBA (Virtual Boy Advance) is a great GBA/GBC/GB emulator. It doesn't require much PC power to operate and it'd let you "try before you buy" which in this case could potentially save you quite a bit of money. Though playing them, or any other emulated game, without a PC compatible gamepad isn't advised. Keyboard controls suck for most console and handheld games.

Over all I, and I'd expect most members of the MDb, whole heartedly recommend both games, regardless of how you come about them.

[Emperor Ing]

I could churlishly say that post Other M, the value of Zero Mission and Fusion have skyrocketed as far as being good games go.




I bought them new from amazon years after both were released, and while I'd recommend the same (or rather, just getting them used is fine too), they are some of the best games in the series. Heck, I'd go as far as to say that after Super and Prime, Fusion is third best.

[Archaic]

Indeed, fusion is an excellent buy.

Gameplay: Both ZM and Fusion have tighter, more practical controls than Super that are none the less easy to pick up.

Fusion is definitely the more difficult of the two games, including the item hunt (the most ive ever gotten is 99%, i just cant break my thumbs fast enough to get that last powerbomb tank)

Story: of all the 2D metroids, fusion has the most story. its engaging, with multiple enjoyable plot twists. a spoiler thats not really a spoiler if you've seen the trailer: [spoiler]Samus' most deadly enemy is herself. duh-duh-dunn[/spoiler]

Score: Fusion 9/10 ZM 9/10

i recommend you play these however you can

[Animerican_Redeemed]

Alright, so I was able to find a MacBook-compatible VBA emulator, and after a lot more searching, I was finally able to locate MacBook compatible versions of both games. (*defensive justification* It's not like any money towards a used/like new hardcopy would've gone towards Nintendo anymore *defensive justification*). The keyboard worked pretty fine, for the most part-- more comfortable than the almost-blister-giving mushy buttons of my GBA now. However, it is pretty awkward to both jump, hold the missile key and the shoot key at the same time, as demonstrated in my recently completed fight against Kraid in ZM. Still, running smoothly overall.

You know, just curious-- now that Other M has come out and Metroid's story is probably more so upfront than it ever has before, has anyone here at MDmb yet tried to complete the games in chronological order? I'm kinda doing it now... planning to actually finish Zero Metroid first; might try finding an emulation of Return of Samus (that or wait some years to play a 3DS remake); hope to complete the Prime Trilogy (though it's "separate" from the overall story arc); actually finish Super Metroid; play Other M again, and then Fusion.

Now it won't be marathoning, nor am I going to play nothing but Metroid for the next few months (still have Okami, Muramasa, Machinarium, HL2:Ep2, etc. to finish in the near future). Still, it's something that I think would be cool to do for the one Nintendo franchise that actually has a consistently told and linear storyline (looking at you, Zelda!).

[Archaic]

http://www.virtualgbx.com/

web based gb/gbc emulator with save feature, RoS is there.

also, other m kinda breaks the story

[Apothem]

http://www.virtualgbx.com/

web based gb/gbc emulator with save feature, RoS is there.

also, other m kinda breaks the story

Agreed. If you go from Super Metroid to Fusion, M:OM feels somewhat forced inbetween. It doesn't help that M:OM plays like little more than a lesser, 3D version of Fusion. There's ultimately not much of a story to be gleaned from the series. Nintendo didn't bother to include much of one untill Fusion came along, and M:OM plays as more of a prequel to Fusion than anything else.

I hate playing ROMs on a keyboard, which is why I bought a gamepad. It's a cheap and worthwhile investment, at least if you're into emulation. It's especially bad with a wireless keyboard with a 3 press limit. If you have VBA than a RoS ROM'll work with it. I'd suggest you check out Emuparadise.com, it's where I get all my ROMs. Nice clean site, a little slow, but it has a MASSIVE collection.

[Animerican_Redeemed]

http://www.virtualgbx.com/

web based gb/gbc emulator with save feature, RoS is there.

also, other m kinda breaks the story

Agreed. If you go from Super Metroid to Fusion, M:OM feels somewhat forced inbetween. It doesn't help that M:OM plays like little more than a lesser, 3D version of Fusion. There's ultimately not much of a story to be gleaned from the series. Nintendo didn't bother to include much of one untill Fusion came along, and M:OM plays as more of a prequel to Fusion than anything else.

Aren't all interquels made after the fact somewhat forced in storylines to begin with? Again, I haven't played through Fusion and have only a general awareness of its scenario, so I don't so much mind Sakamoto's decision to put it in b/w his two other games. Besides, I appreciated the presence of Adam Malkovich and Anthony Higgs, who (as far as I understand) provide the basis for the former's AI persona and the latter's being name-dropped. Plus, I found the role of infant Metroid in OM (as overplayed as it may have been) a nice direct nod to the end of Super. So no, I doubt I'll see the Metroid story be "broken" for me when I go through Other M and then go into Fusion. (Yes, I'm aware of the presence of Ridley, Nightmare and other creatures in Fusion that were supposedly destroyed in OM, but that could possibly be inferred from their corpses' mysterious disappearance in the epilogue of OM.)

So yeah, maybe a chronolgical order isn't important, considering how relatively low key Meroid has been in the story department for much of its history. Still, think it'd be interesting/cool, nonetheless

I hate playing ROMs on a keyboard, which is why I bought a gamepad. It's a cheap and worthwhile investment, at least if you're into emulation. It's especially bad with a wireless keyboard with a 3 press limit. If you have VBA than a RoS ROM'll work with it. I'd suggest you check out Emuparadise.com, it's where I get all my ROMs. Nice clean site, a little slow, but it has a MASSIVE collection.

Yeeeeaaaaahhh not planning too much to get into emulation. I somehow feel that'll leave me in a world where the value of games is substantially decreased, being as obsessive a person I can be. Even so, I didn't know for sure until now that wirelesss keyboards have a 3 press limit; so thats why I couldn't aim downward diagonally and shoot a missile...

[Apothem]

Aye, emulating with a keyboard sux, royal. I love emulation, it hasn't depriciated the value of anything to me. It's a great way to play all sorts of games you may otherwise not be able to. Without emulators and ROMs, or ISOs in certain cases, I wouldn't of been able to play a number of games, either because I lackd the finances to buy'em or the hardware to play'em. I wouldn't be so quick to discount eumlation just yet, you can have quite a bit of fun with it. Remember: Save States are your friend!

[Opium]

I totally have to giggle when someone says that they won't play via emulator because they don't want to use a keyboard. There are a few people who do use keyboards and like using them, but most people use controllers just like they would for a console. I also have to laugh when people say they would be cheating by using an emulator. There are features in the program which allow you to do TAS-style play, but if you don't want to use them then you simply just DON'T use them. You can also display the video on your TV instead of your PC monitor. To me, my PC and all of the emulators on it are just like another console. I have it set up right next to my TV and all of my other gaming consoles, and I really don't think of it any differently than if it were an SNES sitting there.

PS- Emulators are way better because of the graphic filters you can apply to make the old games look so much better.

[Animerican_Redeemed]

Aye, emulating with a keyboard sux, royal. I love emulation, it hasn't depriciated the value of anything to me. It's a great way to play all sorts of games you may otherwise not be able to. Without emulators and ROMs, or ISOs in certain cases, I wouldn't of been able to play a number of games, either because I lackd the finances to buy'em or the hardware to play'em. I wouldn't be so quick to discount eumlation just yet, you can have quite a bit of fun with it. Remember: Save States are your friend!

I definitely understand the part about playing games I'd not be able to otherwise, being one that has never bought anything before a Gameboy Color, and am not discounting emulation in terms of playability (the keyboard's fine enough for me). I guess my "not planning too much to get into emulation" is partly due to a guilt that I feel deserving of; I have probably played or dabbled in more games in the past two years than all those years before. There are also plenty other modern games that I plan to get with legal means, and other games that I own that I haven't yet completed. Already, I kinda feel that so much of the gaming I'm getting sucked into lately is making me appreciate them less as well as leaves less time for solid friendships and get-togethers. Too much of a good thing you know? I remember the sheer joy and excitement when I played through Pokemon or any of my first rpgs overall; it was like enjoying a whole new world. And while I still get a sense of that, the excitement sometimes seems surface level... don't want to turn gaming into empty busywork, which I feel I could if I decide to make common usage of emulation.

And besides, the only other free emulation I could think of possibly getting is Link's Awakening DX, as my used and finished copy was made unplayable with bugs.

[CapCom]

MZM and MF will likely be re-released for download service. Nintendo announced a virtual console service for the 3DS (why not also for DSi and Wii is beyond me...) and though they have yet to confirm GBA, it looks like a shoe-in. In any case, the games are still fairly easy to find for cheap and IMO much more enjoyable on the original hardware.

Besides, if you're going to emulate anyway, doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of asking whether the game is worth playing? There is absolutely no monetary investment on your part and it's just a question of what you should spend your time doing. Otherwise, emulation is off-topic and violating forum rules.

[Opium]

I think if one already owns legitimate copies of the games (including the Japanese versions) which they paid their hard earned money for, then their conscience can rest easy if they choose to play on an emulator. How many times can we buy these games, anyways? Once they come out for download, I'll just buy them yet again - making it three times. Oh boy.

[CapCom]

Nobody is forcing you to buy them. If you don't want to buy something again, then don't. But if somebody is looking for a legal copy to support a company they like, or is new to the series and just can't find them, it's really hard to do that. That's why I don't like how games are treated as a disposable commodity that suddenly gains value because it's scarce rather than like books or movies that are constantly reprinted to meet demand.

I also find it really strange that American_Redeemed is asking whether or not the games are worth playing (which they absolutely are) and then says he's going to just emulate them. If he wants to, that's his business, but again, I don't see why there's a point in asking whether they're worth playing if you're just going to download something for free. I could see you wondering if you're going to spend money.

To answer that question, if you're going to play GBA games, it's best to get either an SP or a DS/Lite. The backlit screen is 100x better, and you'll NEVER go back. Trust me, you'll enjoy your games a lot better, especially if your D-Pad is starting to crap out.

Further, both games you can get for about $15 or less (MZM is a little more, but the price will probably go down the further away from Christmas we get). It's certainly worth every cent, but still it's a damn shame Nintendo doesn't make them more easily available. I'd love to see a Game Boy channel on the Wii that lets you transfer GB/GBA games with your DS or use the Wii as a 'Game Boy Player'. But there is no way in hell Nintendo would do that.

[Smoking Spoon]

^.I wonder if one day ( probably) , classic games will be borrowable at our local library .