The Metroid 2 Effect - Is this real or am I insane

[Colloid]

I played Metroid 2 a few times and enjoyed it for what it was as the first portable Metroid in the series. I played it alongside the then newly released Metroid Fusion at the time as my first two Metroid games ever and had a blast with both of them. I also really enjoyed seeing the Metroid evolutions in real time. I think a big part of the original 2’s problem with reception was that it was succeeded by Super Metroid and largely forgotten about afterwards until the remakes came along.

I think both AM2R and SR do a great job of expanding and incorporating modern mechanics into 2 and I loved both of them (though I did like AM2R slightly more I’ll admit). It was especially interesting seeing how both games handled the problem of ice beam normally being a detrimental beam upgrade in two completely different ways. AM2R opted to buff the ice beam to the point that it was an upgrade to the plasma beam that could one shot weak enemies by having the freeze effect be an instant kill instead of a puzzle mechanic. SR meanwhile makes the ice beam into its own separate beam that you swap to from the usual charge, wave, spazzer, plasma beam, and made it able to significantly weaken all forms of the Metroids if you froze their nucleus with enough shots and also doubling as a backup weapon if you ran out of missiles.

 

[Neet Tokusatsu]

exception to the rule, tell me how many remasters were good and actually improved the original, and how many were fucked up (be it gameplay, graphics or simply atmosphere).

When it comes to good remakes, there is stuff like Resident Evil Deadly Silence, Wind Waker HD, Ocarina of Time 3D, Castlevania Rebirth etc. of course, there's also shitty remasters like Silent Hill HD collection, or very lazy ones, like Mario All Stars on Switch, the thing is, Zero Mission, AM2R and Samus Returns are pretty much in the same vein as Resident Evil REmake, when it comes to remakes/remasters, Metroid has had it a lot better than many other franchises.

As for how they want Samus to be portrayed out of the suit? While yes, she should be more fit than what she was like in Other M, they take it way too far in the other direction. No sexualization at all, and the Zero Suit has got to go.

They'd much rather have her look like this.
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They're pretty much trying to replace a fetish with another.

 

[Xarpho]

The one I remember being hit the hardest with the effect you speak of is Majora's Mask, for years it was this black sheep of the Zelda family, with its confusing time travel mechanic and mired in its weird sidequests. It was not like Wind Waker, or Ocarina of Time, or Twilight Princess, which were more traditional.

I don't know when it was, probably the late 2000s, when it started becoming better viewed, and now we've got people proclaiming it to be actually better than Ocarina of Time.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

I don't know when it was, probably the late 2000s, when it started becoming better viewed, and now we've got people proclaiming it to be actually better than Ocarina of Time.

There's always a few people that held that stance on some game from the very beginning, maybe most of us here is that guy in some capacity. It is a bit annoying when the horde of johnny-come-latelies show up but all in all it's not bad, other people are enjoying the game... what's bad is when they hype the game too much and create unrealistic expectations of what the game is like, maybe even manage to influence a developer to make a sequel that won't live up to the hype.

There's a thread about Planescape: Torment on the first page and that is good example of a game that didn't sell that well but have massive hype behind it now which creates massive expectations. It is a good game but it is also an Infinity Engine game, warts and all, so someone that goes in expecting all the story, cool setting and great writing will have to find all of that using a somewhat clunky engine and interface from the 90's. No one mentioned that.

That pitfall can be found with Majora's Mask and many other games as well. What the game plays like is forgotten or overlooked when talking about what the game is and what's so cool about it. Games can become victims of hype and that's how you get No Mutants Allowed, we don't want that.

 

[whatever I feel like]

It's the Majora's Mask effect to me.

 

[The handsome tard]

Man this thread devolved into super metroid elitism really darn quick.

And I'm honestly not surprised, that shit annoys the fuck out of me and prevents me from enjoying it 100%.
Its like the Jojo fanbase, I would enjoy the anime better if its fans weren't such annoying elitist fags about it

 

[BrunoMattei]

I always thought Super Metroid was massively overrated. The two GBA games are way better. Not to mention AM2R.

 

[MysticMisty]

I'm sorry, which Metroid is the one where Samus is not sexy? Because I can't think of one, and it's certainly not the first Metroid Prime either.

Spoiler: It's because she's not "anime" Samus isn't it?

Unless what he really meant was the one from Metroid Prime 2, because yeah they fucked up the face there.

Spoiler: Awful

Spoiler: Thank god they got it right again in Prime 3

 

[LightDragonman1]

I'm sorry, which Metroid is the one where Samus is not sexy? Because I can't think of one, and it's certainly not the first Metroid Prime either.

Spoiler: It's because she's not "anime" Samus isn't it?

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Unless what he really meant was the one from Metroid Prime 2, because yeah they fucked up the face there.

Spoiler: Awful

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Spoiler: Thank god they got it right again in Prime 3

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That is the truth. Heck, her Prime 3 appearance is probably my favorite of those three.

Thing is though, the fanbase hates anything that shows Samus as remotely sexualized, or at the very least, stylized in a way that isn't some macho emotionless killing machine with zero sex appeal. Basically, they are overcompensating for Other M.

 

[X Pac Heat]

Man this thread devolved into super metroid elitism really darn quick.

And I'm honestly not surprised, that shit annoys the fuck out of me and prevents me from enjoying it 100%.
Its like the Jojo fanbase, I would enjoy the anime better if its fans weren't such annoying elitist fags about it

The lesson you should be learning is to stop interacting with fans if they are the reason you can't enjoy something. I guarantee there is nothing worthwhile interacting with a fanbase will add to any piece of entertainment or media.

And if my comment about gamers after 1999 needing their hand held was taken as being elitist, it wasn't my intention. It's not something that could be helped normally. That's just the way game development went as we entered the new millennium. It's something that is even happening today with people being more focused on stream appeal and aesthetics than actual gameplay or story.

 

[Racist Trash]

Fusion was my first and it remains my favourite I love the whole science experiment gone wrong space station, when I played zero mission I found it way too easy.

 

[Dom Cruise]

The lesson you should be learning is to stop interacting with fans if they are the reason you can't enjoy something. I guarantee there is nothing worthwhile interacting with a fanbase will add to any piece of entertainment or media.

And if my comment about gamers after 1999 needing their hand held was taken as being elitist, it wasn't my intention. It's not something that could be helped normally. That's just the way game development went as we entered the new millennium. It's something that is even happening today with people being more focused on stream appeal and aesthetics than actual gameplay or story.

Stream appeal is where I'm starting to feel like I'm losing the plot on video games, whatever happened to just sitting your ass down to play a game just for the hell of it? The increasingly performative culture surrounding games now has little appeal to me.

Fusion was my first and it remains my favourite I love the whole science experiment gone wrong space station, when I played zero mission I found it way too easy.

I think there's a "you never forget your first" factor to games like these, Aria of Sorrow was my first Metroidvania Castlevania and it's still my favorite one.

 

[Berrakh]

I notice you mention /v/ @Chin of Campbell ...they don't know what's good or what they want. Just what they don't want. They're hipsters even if they're terrified to admit it. Anonymous formats make it easier to criticize and deconstruct than laud or uphold so it's what they do.
Like if I said Metroid sucks (an opinion I do not hold) you could look at my posting history and make an argument from my own tastes because I'd have to stand by them. Not so if we were anonymous. If we were I could take pot shots at Metroid forever.

In the case of Metroid they wanna be salty about the new games and to be unhappy because the narrative now is that Metroid is this poor benighted franchise.

I've noticed this phenomena of games getting reevaluated too.

Metal Gear Solid 2 is another example, most gamers treated it as an embarrassing disappointment until now it's hailed as a masterpiece because it predicted the future.

Wind Waker is another example too, people didn't like toon Link, now it's considered a classic, it's the same deal with Super Mario Sunshine, it was seen as just a souped up Mario 64, now it's considered a classic, unless it was Metroid Prime or Smash Bros Melee the entire GameCube lineup did not get the respect it deserved at the time.

All true but I dislike the term "reevaluated" though because I think OP is implying that this is all kneejerk at the end of the day

And if my comment about gamers after 1999 needing their hand held was taken as being elitist, it wasn't my intention. It's not something that could be helped normally. That's just the way game development went as we entered the new millennium. It's something that is even happening today with people being more focused on stream appeal and aesthetics than actual gameplay or story.

Games are no longer consumed in the same way they were in the early 90s where you had like 5 worthwhile ones at most available to you to buy at a time on your monthly allowance. So you could master games which are objectively cheap like Ninja Gaiden. Now? You'd buy a new game a week later.
So they're more tailored toward a pleasant experience and also put more of their stats into spectacle, or leaden storytelling.

 

[Back me up!]

That is the truth. Heck, her Prime 3 appearance is probably my favorite of those three.

Thing is though, the fanbase hates anything that shows Samus as remotely sexualized, or at the very least, stylized in a way that isn't some macho emotionless killing machine with zero sex appeal. Basically, they are overcompensating for Other M.

Lol which is funny because Samus is just blond buff Ellen Ripley from Aliens. The Nintendo Power Metroid Comics actually had a pretty good balance between the two but christ that is 20+ years ago at this point.

 

[Dark Edea]

Samus gets back from a mission and crashes on the sofa with a bag of cheese doodles and watches K-dramas like a normal person.

 

[Berrakh]

Samus gets back from a mission and crashes on the sofa with a bag of cheese doodles and watches K-dramas like a normal person.

my lamest friend likes k-dramas

 

[LightDragonman1]

Lol which is funny because Samus is just blond buff Ellen Ripley from Aliens. The Nintendo Power Metroid Comics actually had a pretty good balance between the two but christ that is 20+ years ago at this point.

That's the only depiction of Samus that is remotely attractive that the fanbase seems to accept. Seriously, even though it is from a non-canon Nintendo Power comic that is over two decades old, the fans will not let go of it, and still hold it up as how she should be drawn, regardless of how much Nintendo has more or less locked down her current appearance.

Again, I cannot stress how insufferable the Metroid fanbase is.

 

[Dark Edea]

my lamest friend likes k-dramas

Samus Aran was too busy blowing up underground laboratories and icing parasitic aliens to develop a personality. She likes K-dramas.

 

[Friendly Primarina]

Samus gets back from a mission and crashes on the sofa with a bag of cheese doodles and watches K-dramas like a normal person.

After emptying a bag of kibble for the Etecoons and Dachoras, of course.

 

[XYZpdq]

iirc a lot of game-centric Metroid stuff, like ads for games, leaned more towards amecomi and direct-to-video live action scifi?

Samus Aran was too busy blowing up underground laboratories and icing parasitic aliens to develop a personality. She likes K-dramas.

yeah Samus is probably pretty trashy
like she'd lean towards non-wwe pro wrestling, but not understand that they're all different companies, and wonder when Roman Reigns will show up in CMLL