Super Metroid - Reception

Reception

Super Metroid was released by Nintendo in Japan on March 19, 1994, in North America on April 18, 1994, and in Europe on July 28, 1994. The game was later released as a Virtual Console for the Wii in North America on August 20, 2007, in Japan on September 20, 2007, and in Europe on October 12, 2007. It was given near-universal acclaim, receiving an aggregated score of 96.72% percent from Game Rankings, making it the website's 7th highest-rated game. When the game launched in Japan, GamesRadar's Andy Robinson noted that it was released "at the wrong place, at the wrong time". Struggling against more commercially popular games, such as Donkey Kong Country in 1994, along with the launch of the PlayStation and Sega Saturn video game consoles, Super Metroid sold poorly in Japan. With the help of strong marketing from Nintendo, Super Metroid sold better in North America and Europe, and a year after its release, Nintendo placed it on their Player's Choice marketing label due to its critical success. However, since none of the games in the Metroid series up to that point had enjoyed the level of success that Mario and The Legend of Zelda had, Nintendo did not make another Metroid game until eight years later, with the release of Metroid Prime (GameCube) and Metroid Fusion (Game Boy Advance) in 2002.

Super Metroid received several awards and honors. Electronic Gaming Monthly named it Game of the Month for May 1994, gave it an Editors' Choice award, awarded it as the Best Action Game of 1994, and named it the Best Game of All Time in 2003. In IGN's yearly Top 100 Games of All Time lists, Super Metroid was ranked 3rd (2003), 10th (2005), 4th (2006), and 7th (2007). GamePro listed Super Metroid as one of the 15 Retro Games for the Wii You Must Play. Super Metroid has had a lasting effect on the video game industry. Starting with 1997's Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, the Castlevania series of video games borrows the backtracking and weapon upgrading elements from Super Metroid, leading to the term "Metroidvania". Because Super Metroid gave players awards based on how long it took them to complete the game, it has become a popular choice for speedruns, a style of play in which the player intends to complete the game as quickly as possible for the purpose of competition.

The former British video game publication Super Play, which had three editors review the game, also enjoyed it. The magazine's Zy Nicholson noted that the game was better than his favorite game, Mega Man X, describing Super Metroid as "more of an experience than a game". Comparing the game to the 1986 film Aliens, Nicholson felt that the game was best experienced when played in the dark with the volume turned up. He found the game so compulsive that he was tempted to play "without eating or sleeping". The publication's Tony Mott named the game's atmosphere its best aspect, calling the game a mix of Turrican (1990), Aliens, Exile (1989), and Nodes of Yesod (1985). Appreciating the game's controls, Mott applauded Nintendo's ability to create a refined gameplay. He concluded his review by calling Super Metroid "undoubtedly the best game I've played this year so far", predicting that anyone who plays the game would be "playing a game destined for classic status". The third reviewer, James Leach, agreed with Nicholson and Mott that Super Metroid was what Mega Man X should have been. Concluding his review, Leach wrote that Super Metroid contained everything he looked for in a video game: "playability, hidden tricks, powerful weapons and steamingly evil baddies". After summarizing the reviews, the magazine's verdict was, "We all love this game. Super Metroid is absolutely marvelous and you should own it."

Chris Slate of the Game Players video game magazine thoroughly enjoyed Super Metroid, claiming that it "easily lives up to everyone's high expectations". He was satisfied with how Nintendo mixed complex gameplay with "state-of-the-art" graphics and sound. Slate found the newly added auto-mapping feature, which charts the player's progress through the game, something that players really needed, noting that it was the only feature in Super Metroid that the original Metroid should have had. Concluding his review, Slate stated, "Action fans can't afford to miss Super Metroid. You'll want to play through again and again even after you've beaten it." Nintendo Power mentioned that the game "may well be the best action adventure game ever", calling it the "wave of the future". They praised the game's graphics, sound, and controls, while their only negative comment was, "Even 100 megabits of Metroid wouldn't be enough." In Electronic Gaming Monthly's review, they praised Super Metroid's graphics and dramatic plot, complimenting the "crisp and clear" controls, and applauding the many weapons available. Lauding the game's length, Electronic Gaming Monthly noted that the game "certainly does justice". Their only criticism was that the game's size felt smaller, and the magazine concluded its review by claiming, "Overall, no one should be disappointed with this incredible game." GamesRadar was pleased with the game's "phenomenal" soundtrack, complimenting it as "one of the best videogame scores of all time".

IGN called Super Metroid's Virtual Console version a "must-own", commenting that although the game was released nine months after the Wii launched, they felt that it was worth the wait. For players who have never played Super Metroid, IGN claims that they owe themselves as gamers to "finally find out about what you've been missing all these years". In his review for GameSpot, Frank Provo found it "absolutely astonishing that Nintendo let 13 years go by before making Super Metroid readily available again", but considered the most important thing was that players "can now play this masterpiece without having to track down the original Super Nintendo Entertainment System cartridge or fumble with legally questionable emulators". Despite admitting that the Virtual Console version was essentially "nothing more than a no-frills, emulated version of a 13-year-old SNES game" that was no longer cutting-edge, he was still pleased with it and reiterated his belief that Super Metroid is "one of the best 2D action adventure games ever produced".