What the hell happened to the 2d metroid series?

[punkonjunk1024]

Now, don't get me wrong, I liked the prime series, but god damnit I want a 2d metroid game. It seems like since the GBA is dead now, they apparently think the DS doesn't deserve a potentially awesome platformer. Clearly people still like the style, even on the DS - Both castlevania games did well on it.

You guys think we'll never see a new one again, or what?

[phattonez]

Wasn't Metroid Fusion immensely popular? I'm sure that they'll make some more.

[Warlock]

They released Metroid: Zero Mission like four years ago. It hasn't been that long. They always take friggin' forever to release Metroid games because they are not popular in Japan.

[punkonjunk1024]

Japs don't like metroid? Fuck that country. I guess ZM wasn't that long ago, but still, I was really hoping we'd see on early on in the DS's life. Yeah we had hunters, but uh, FPS.

[Warlock]

Yeah, the Japanese absolutely hate the series. This is why:

-No Metroid game for EIGHT YEARS between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion
-No Metroid game on the N64
-Metroid Fusion and ZM were released in America first, Japan later (lolz)
-Metroid Prime was given to a 2nd party, American developer

I don't know why they hate it. I think the Japanese tend to really hate non-linear titles though, which is amusingly sort of the opposite of American gamers. I also sometimes wonder if they dislike the idea of a female protagonist. I'm not actually sure about this, but I do know there are a lot of cultures out there that place women lower in status to men, and it wouldn't surprise me if Japan was one of them (not as bad as, say, the middle east, but I do think it's mostly a male-centered country). I certainly can't think of any major titles other than Metroid featuring a female protagonist to come out of Japan (that is, one that isn't cutesy or something). I'm sure there are some but they don't seem common.

But yeah, this sort of thing (games that appeal to Americans) is really starting to become a big factor too - you are seeing stuff like Dead Rising, Mass Effect, Bionic Commando, etc. that are being targeted towards American gamers. They stick this stuff on the 360 because "that's the American console." But I do think at least Japanese developers (or at least Capcom) are starting to realize Japan is not the friggin' center of the universe and maybe they aught to start making games that appeal to more than their tiny country ;) (there are certainly more gamers in America than there are in Japan)

[vegeta1215]

Yeah, the Japanese absolutely hate the series. This is why:

-No Metroid game for EIGHT YEARS between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion
-No Metroid game on the N64
-Metroid Fusion and ZM were released in America first, Japan later (lolz)
-Metroid Prime was given to a 2nd party, American developer

I don't know why they hate it. I think the Japanese tend to really hate non-linear titles though, which is amusingly sort of the opposite of American gamers.

I don't think the Japanese have ever been big on Metroid, which is probably why there was such a big gap between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion. The Prime series didn't catch on either cause FPS games aren't popular in Japan, or so I've heard. (I know I know, Metroid Prime is a First Person Adventure, bite me)

I'd like to see more 2D Metroids. Super Metroid was the pinnacle of the series, but Metroid Fusion and Metroid: Zero Mission were terrific.

[Yoshiman]

God, I remember beating Super Metroid and waiting what seemed like forever for the next game. That "See you next mission" thing didn't help, either.


Now, I'm probably looking through rose-colored glasses here, but I personally think Super Metroid is the best of the series. Metroid Fusion was alright, but it definitely could've been better. The Metroid Prime series, again, are decent titles (I have yet to play Corruption), but they don't entirely feel like a true Metroid game. Especially with those annoying Chozo Artifacts/Sky Temple keys.

And I'm pretty sure the Japanese fanbase for Metroid isn't that big, as others already said. If you notice, many big Japanese games rarely feature sci-fi themes and guns. They seem to like more fantasy and magic, and the occasional rhythm game. I also remember reading a post on the Bungie.net (Halo) forums that they tend to find FPS games "too difficult."

But yeah, I really wouldn't mind a 2-D Metroid on DS. I would like to see the games continue from Metroid Fusion, if it were possible storyline-wise (no more Zebes or SR-388). But they really should drop the secondary characters, at least for the majority of the game. Having someone give Samus instructions not only looses that lonely feeling, but it really makes the game linear.

[Grasshopper]

Well, I happen to like Super Metroid the best as well, and Zero Mission is right up there with it. It seemed really well done. I also liked Mother Brain, I thought that was a cool character concept when I younger. I think it would be interesting to remake Metroid 2: Return of Samus on the DS.

[MottZilla]

The delay between Super Metroid 3 and Fusion was because the creator of Metroid died in a car accident. Metroid was his creation. Honestly I'm not surprised the japanese don't care much for Metroid. If you look at the first 2 games, they aren't exactly spectacular. I really didn't like the second game, and the first game to a newbie is near impossible since they have no clue where they are or where they are going. Now I think Super Metroid probably did better in Japan and probably Metroid Fusion and Zero Mission.

But just remember, it's not that the japanese don't like women heros or whatever else. It was developed by japanese people afterall. Why the japanese gamers didn't like it that much could have been anything. Non-Linear gameplay is a good bet.

I agree Grasshopper, a Metroid 2 remake would kick ass. =) Definitely needs remaking. The original sucks. It's a shame the GameBoy Color update was canned.

[punkonjunk1024]

Yeah a metroid 2 remake would be amazing. I think I should write nintendo about that, that's a goddamn good idea. I personally liked metroid 2 a lot. A huge expansion with something like 500 to thousands of metroids would be cool, with a few battles spanning like, 200 badass ones at once. Besides in tubes, we've never had to fight evolved metroids in the whole series since metroid 2.
And personally, I liked it a lot as a kid. It captured the gameplay pretty well, was innovative and fun.

[vegeta1215]

Now, I'm probably looking through rose-colored glasses here, but I personally think Super Metroid is the best of the series.

You're not. It IS the best ;)

[Revfan9]

Someone in Nintendo's Marketing department magically started thinking that 2D Metroids wouldn't sell, so they stopped doing them for no reason. Same thing happened to Earthbound.

*ghostly wail*

[rock_nog]

I didn't get a chance to play Super Metroid until recently. It's awesome, to be sure, but I just don't have the same level of attachment to it that most seem to have. Actually, I remember hating the original as a kid (too damn hard), and it wasn't until Fusion that I got hooked. For me, ZM will always be the best, because beating it made me feel like I finally got revenge on that blasted game that drove me nuts as a kid (oh, and recently I went back and finally kicked the original game's ass - damn that felt good).

Anyway, I don't get it. Castlevania's big in Japan, right? And Castlevania games use the exact same style of gameplay. *shrug*

[Mak-X]

Metroid Dread.

Believe.


I think Castlevania is also more popular outside of Japan. Since Symphony of the Night, the series has borrowed Super Metroid's basic style, but usually lacks the level design quality.

I started up Zero Mission again recently, and while I originally thought it was even better than Super, difficulty and number of enemies for example, Super Metroid is still the best in the series. Actually, it also felt weird after recently playing Super Metroid too, because the Zebes in Zero Mission is different. The atmosphere of the graphics, pacing of the action, and exploration in Super Metroid are perfect.

I hope the R&D1 Metroid team will make a Metroid 5 for DS eventually. It may be a matter of them being busy on other projects, and the attention that was given to the 3-D Prime series and spin offs.

[MottZilla]

Castlevania indeed is more popular in the West, supposively most popular in the US.

Again, I just think the big gap between Super Metroid 3 (which is the best Metroid game, end of story) was because of the creator's death. That combined with japan not really being all that big on Metroid did it.

I imagine Metroid Prime Hunters sold poorly compared to Metroid Zero Mission or Fusion so maybe they'll see we want more 2D action. ;) If they don't, the internet is a great place to bitch and be heard.

[vegeta1215]

Hunter's had so much potential - the controls and visuals are great, but the single player is so lackluster and boring. The multiplayer is fun (I thought the multiplayer in MP2: Echoes was fun too, albeit simple), but Metroid is and has always been a single player game.

[MrCow]

why were on the subject of old games, why don't they have a good secret of mana sequel or a good chrono trigger sequel. Two of the best RPGs of the snes era and no sequels that met up to par. I personally miss the snes style of gameplay. I feel the new generations never capture the same gameplay as a chrono trigger did.

[MottZilla]

Sword of Mana on GBA couldn't have been that bad. Though that's a remake of the first Seiken Densetsu game which we got as Final Fantasy Adventure I believe. And there's still Seiken Densetsu 3 that never came out here.

I thought Metroid Hunters multiplayer was terrible. Honestly Metroid Prime on GC was cool for a single player experience, same with the sequel, and I guess MP3 was ok too. But it's not suited for multiplayer really.

[Warlock]

Sword of Mana on GBA couldn't have been that bad. Though that's a remake of the first Seiken Densetsu game which we got as Final Fantasy Adventure I believe. And there's still Seiken Densetsu 3 that never came out here.

I thought Metroid Hunters multiplayer was terrible. Honestly Metroid Prime on GC was cool for a single player experience, same with the sequel, and I guess MP3 was ok too. But it's not suited for multiplayer really.

Sword of Mana was not terrible. It could have been better, but it wasn't as bad as people make it out to be.

And yeah, Seiken 3 was a damn masterpeice. WAY better than Secret of Mana.

And also, yeah, I didn't like Metroid Prime: Hunters either. It was basically one long deathmatch vs. the CPU. There wasn't much of a "game" there. The multiplayer was ok but overall I hated how the whole game controlled.

[punkonjunk1024]

Um, Sword of mana was the first mana game I played, and I liked it a lot. I just don't like to tell people that, because they try to kill me. *shrug*

I Loved how MP:H controlled, and the multiplayer was a masterpiece of Nintendo's stupid random matchup idea. At least at the time. Single player was OK, too.

[rock_nog]

Hunters reminded me of the stereotypical id game. An amazing proof-of-concept, but not much substance. I'm actually a little surprised there weren't more DS FPS games after Hunters demonstrated how well an FPS could work (from a technical point of view) on the DS.

[MasterSwordUltima]

Hunters reminded me of the stereotypical id game. An amazing proof-of-concept, but not much substance. I'm actually a little surprised there weren't more DS FPS games after Hunters demonstrated how well an FPS could work (from a technical point of view) on the DS.

I believe the answer to that lies in Resident Evil: Dead Aim.

[Grasshopper]

Deadly Silence?

I sort of though MP:H was rather good. Not from a single-player perspective, but from a multiplayer perspective. I didn't have my hands in it much, but I thought the game has loads of content for multi-playing, and achieved it very well, if you had people to play with. The only issue I had was what I thought was an imbalance in the characters. I played several matches with Spire, and won every match by a big lead. His weapon for instance, seemed so over-powered compared to Samus. But overall, there seemed to be a lot of maps, and several game modes to choose from. Not to mention it had a single-player game added to it. After all, it was meant to be a multiplayer game anyway.

[Kairyu]

All the characters had cheap tricks they could abuse. Samus ball/missile spam, Sylux Tribombs, Trace headshots, that Vho guy's remote freeze glitch... as long as the map wasn't Combat Hall or Oublette and nobody was hacking, it was actually a pretty decent game for multiplayer, especially considering it's portability. Your opponents could pull some crazy stuff, but for the most part you could do tricks that were just as crazy.
Well, everyone except Weavel had tricks. Which sucked cause he was actually really fun to use. It was easy to set up traps with his turret, but it did almost no damage.

[Pineconn]

I honestly never could get into the 2D Metroid series like I could Metroid Prime. :shrug:

3D > 2D.

[DarkDragoonX]

3D > 2D.

Lies. Filthy, disgusting lies.

[Kairyu]

Lies. Filthy, disgusting lies.
It's no more or less a lie than saying 2D > 3D. Each genre has it's place and purposes, and pretending that one is invariably superior to the other for all games is just as deluded whether you're supporting 2D or 3D.

[Darth Marsden]

If you want a 2D Metroid that bad, either make your own (http://metroidr.brpxqzme.net/) or try one of these (http://www.metroidheadquarters.com/games/fangames/) (heh).