kozaihod

Really unique game. Pretty engrossing and interesting story and atmosphere. The puzzles are non-existent though and the backtracking is kinda unbearable. The controls are also pretty bad. A cool game to check, it's good that it's short because it would get old really quick.

The game has got many, many flaws, but as I was getting deeper and deeper into SR388's caves i found myself loving it more and more. The most glaring issue is the linearity, which is admittedly not as bad as it could be, since the players have the illusion of dealing with the metroids in whichever order within the area they currently are in. The game takes the player on a rollercoaster ride with faux set pieces which kinda detracts from the experience. Another thing that I didn't really like is the lack of memorable stuff. Don't get me wrong, the "real" bosses are great, but a lot of earlier encounters kinda blend together. There aren't also many memorable places on the map, like some rooms in Prime or Fusion that you would know by heart even after one playthrough (Phendrana Shorelines, Hall of the Elders). The music also **** - I get the ambience is essential for the atmosphere, but again, Prime and Fusion tackled that much better. The few real tracks that are there - remixes of Lower Brinstar, Lower Norfair and the new Chozo Research Laboratory only accentuate this, as they seem really out of place. There is also a problem with the enemy variety - you get like half a dozen regular enemies and their recolours. It is also not a Metroid games for the first-timers to the series - you have to know a lot of series' tropes, like which coloured doors correspond to which weapons or bombing all suspicious terrain. The ending also kinda undermines Super Metroid, but literally gets your blood pumping. There are a lot more good parts, though - the exploration is better than ever, the progression is really cool with Samus in the endgame feeling like a badass, ripping and tearing through foes that gave you trouble a few hours earlier. The new abilities, maybe other than the gatling gun are really welcome, and the Scan Pulse arguably is the thing that the series needed for some time now. Later metroid encounters and the three real bosses are really great (Diggernaught being a Quadraxis-lite). The new mechanics, namely the 360 aiming and melee counters sound like they wouldn't work but they are really great and fit organically in the game. It's also unexpectedly hard. And it really gets better and better the more you play.

This is probably the best Dragon Ball game I played since Budokai 3. The battle mechanics are surprisingly deep with character placement and attacks pushing characters around the arena. Very funny writing keeping with the tone of the first DB series. A lot, lot of content, big number of side quests and many characters to collect and fuse. My only gripe is probably the awful handling of learning new skills and transferring those when fusing/defusing. If we ever get a sequel, I'd love to see that fixed.

Good game, but boy, does it like to drag in places. Definitely not one to complete in one sitting. The worst part is that the best and truly challenging levels are post-game, so you can miss them altogether. It is charming, but really rather simplistic.