Metroid II: Return of Samus

Metroid II: Return of Samus

Game Boy - USA - 1st edition.

Developer Nintendo R&D1 Publisher Nintendo Published 1991-11-?? Platforms Game Boy Genres Action-adventure, Exploration, Metroidvania, Platformer, Platform shooter, Shooter Themes Adventure, Science fiction, Suspense Series Metroid Distribution Commercial

Metroid II: Return of Samus is a platformer Metroidvania with a science fiction theme developed by Nintendo R&D1 and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy in November 1991 as the second game in the Metroid series.

You again play the bounty hunter Samus Aran who is now trying to wipe out the last of the remaining metroids, which have begun to mutate and spread. Despite being designed long before the Super Game Boy was released, the developers added code into the game under the assumption it would be made, so it takes advantage of attractive custom palettes, but not bezels.

This is the first Metroid game to feature Samus wearing a unique Varia suit. Although the Varia exists in the first game, all it does is change your suit colors, it doesn't alter the appearance. In this game, when Samus obtains the Varia, her suit becomes more armored. In particular, the armor on her shoulders in increased. In the game, it looks pretty cool, but on the box art, the bulbous shoulders look pretty silly. Samus would already have poor peripheral vision because of her helmet, those giant balls on her shoulders would probably prevent her from even being able to turn her head! It's disappointing to me that her character designers kept that impractical look throughout the rest of the series.

Personal

Own?	Yes. Loose US Game Boy cartridge.
Won?	Yes. Time of 6:20.
Finished	2006-02-12.

Since I didn't have a Game Boy growing up, I never played Metroid II when it was popular, and I didn't even see it beyond a TV commercial until the late 1990s when a friend let me play his nearly completed save game. I didn't want to ruin the game, so I only played for a few seconds, but noticed the oddity of ducking, the tiny display window, and the interesting spider ball. It wasn't until 2006 that I decided to play it and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Review

6	7	4	6	6

Best Version: Game Boy

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

• Having energy and missile refill locations is so much better than having to farm enemies like in the first game.
• The new power-ups, Spider Ball, Spazer, Spring Ball, Plasma Beam, and Space Jump are really cool additions.
• The evolving Metroids which become more complex and terrifying looking as the game progresses is a great idea, and the horrifying end boss is fantastic.
• The Metroid count is a nice way of letting you know how far into the game you are.
• Anticipating the upcoming Super Game Boy and Game Boy Color, the developers coded color palettes into the game even before they could be used.

Bad

• The scale of the graphics is quite large compared to the Game Boy's small resolution. It feels like you're looking at Brinstar through a hole in the wall.
• Like with the first game, large portions of the map use the same layout, which gives an overall sameness feeling to the game, and makes it easy to get lost.
• Without an in-game map or guide, you spend a lot of your time wandering around trying to find what to do next.
• There is a lot of backtracking in the game to get items you were too under-powered to get when you first encountered them. A little is okay, but this one has a lot.

Ugly

• Nothing.

Media

Box Art

• 

  USA.

• 

  ROM board.

Documentation

• 

  Manual - USA.

• 

  Manual - UK.

Maps

• 

  Pixel-perfect map.

• 

  A smaller map.

• 

  A basic map.

Graphics

• 

  Sprite sheet - Samus.

• Font.

Videos

Review - How Metroid II creates a feeling of dread.

Review.

Commercial - USA.

Commercial - Japan.

Longplay - 100% items, best ending.

Endings - GBC.

Play Online

Game Boy

Representation

Strong female character?	Pass	Samus is a powerful playable character.
Bechdel test?	Fail	There is no dialogue.
Strong person of color character?	Fail	The only human is white.
Queer character?	Fail	There are no queer characters.

Credits

Role	Staff
Producer	Gunpei Yokoi
Directors	Hiroji Kiyotake, Hiroyuki Kimura
Main Programmer	Takahiro Harada
Programmers	Masaru Yamanaka, Masao Yamamoto, Isao Hirano
Graphic Designers	Hiroji Kiyotake, Hiroyuki Kimura
Program Assistants	Yuzuru Ogawa, Nobuhiro Ozake
Sound Programmer, Composer, Sound Effects	Ryohji Yoshitomi
Designers	Makoto Kanoh, Masafumi Sakashita, Tomoyoshi Yanane, Takehiko Hosokawa, Yasuo Inoue
Debuggers	Kohta Fukui, Yuji Hori, Hirofumi Matsuoka, Kenji Nishizawa, Toru Osawa, Masaru Okada, Kenichi Sugino, Keisuke Terasaki, Hitoshi Yamagami, Katsuya Yamaoe
Special Thanks To	Dylan Cuthbert, Sachie Inoke, Takehiro Izushi, Yuka Nakata, Daniel Owsen, Phil Sandhop, Tony Stanczyk, Hiroyuki Yamada

Titles

Language	Native	Transliteration	Translation
English	Metroid II: Return of Samus
Japanese	メトロイド II	Metoroido II	Metroid II

Links