Having now just about reached a point where I'm no longer utterly sick of the sight of Powerdirector, I've decided to open a new semi-grand project in the form of an extended Stumbling Through of Super Metroid.

This was inspired by the game suddenly landing in the hands of a large number of stupid people via its release on the Virtual Console, which led to a load of posts on Twitter by idiots who can't get past the first obstacles. Or so it seemed - to prove or disprove this, I decided to play through the game myself to see if I could do any better. Wish me luck.

In this first episode, I learn the backstory, bumble around finding my feet, and then get eaten by a fishbeast.

http://youtu.be/bYskLMl1jS8
To disclose fully: I have played this game before, but it was in fifteen-minute bursts on a train on the way in and back from work, and consequently I could never remember what I was supposed to be doing or where I had been or where to go next at any time. Just about everything that I see this time around honestly seems new to me.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

kjorteo

As a veteran who's played through this game a million times and all, watching you do a semi-blind stumbling through on it:

Was looking forward to your reaction to the Ceres station boss. Was not disappointed.

(Fantastic reaction to the Bomb statue boss, too!)

Edited Date: 2013-05-19 09:47 pm (UTC)

From:

davidn

Subjecting a rabbit to these frightening things feels just sick sometimes ;) I think I jumped towards it because I thought it was a pickup appearing! They timed that perfectly, just enough to notice it before it fades in... and then later on, with the statue that sort of makes you uncomfortable but doesn't move, letting you calm down before you reach the one that does.

It must be so strange looking at something that you know inside-out, being played by someone with absolutely no knowledge of where to go or what's coming next... the world is pretty large even just a few items into the game, so it's always possible that I'm miles off track at any time.

From:

kjorteo

I expect to take some rather strong disagreement for saying this from people who got stuck in the infamous point-of-no-return chasm or the parts with the Shinespark/wall jump-teaching critters (hi Dos, hi Raven) but I'll stand by it: I firmly believe that Super Metroid by and large has excellent level/world design, in that it does have an overall progression and it gently guides you toward it, but it feels open enough along the way to avoid Final Fantasy XIII syndrome. (The series has erred on the side of plot-locking every single door in the game except the one in the one direction that the game quite literally, in the form of a mission briefing, tells you to go. It was called Metroid Fusion and I hated it.) The game has rooms everywhere that you just can't quite get through with your current abilities (in part 1 alone, there was that room that you had to Morph Ball into a tunnel to even start, and then you had to stop again when you encountered obstructions in said tunnel with no means of clearing them) such that you can freely explore everywhere you want, but the paths that actually work tend to give you the abilities and send you through all the bosses in roughly the "correct" order.

In other words, there is a sequence (in part 1, you got the Morph Ball, then Missiles, then Bombs, just like you're supposed to) but you can sequence break for a few minor side-derails if you're clever enough. (I always like to get the weapon upgrade right outside a certain boss' lair that you're not supposed to be able to reach without something you get later; it makes that fight a lot easier if you upgrade early.)

Just like every time you stumble through a game I've played before, my biggest concern is always the fear that you'll get stuck on something I know how to do, and depending on how obvious it seems to me, it may devolve into something not unlike watching the Crystal Maze or the Shrine of the Silver Monkey in Legends of the Hidden Temple (THERE ARE THREE PIECES, THEY ONLY FIT ONE WAY, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU) You ... had me worried for a bit there in the room with the statue and the Missiles, when you bumped against the offering to no effect and almost left without shooting it to reveal the Missiles, but then you got it! Minor scares like that aside, you seem to be doing just fine so far. :) (Caveat: I have not watched part 2 yet.)

Edited Date: 2013-05-20 01:12 am (UTC)

From:

dr-dos.livejournal.com

Honestly in retrospect I'm unsure how the point of no return became a point of no return. There are very few places you can go from there. I'm wondering if it was just the 2 day rentals since that's the only way I played it as a kid.

Watching a blind play is interesting as you do get to see everything you've been taking for granted. It's been years now since I've played this game without doing a "speedrun" of it, with plenty of sequence breaks. Then getting frustrated at the horizontal shinespark to get to the wrecked ship without the grapple beam that is annoying as usually where I end up quitting.

From:

kjorteo

So far, I'm finding this fascinating and impressive at the same time; it's interesting to watch what happens when someone plays this game without the mechanics knowledge I've been taking for granted for ages, but so far David has been outstanding at figuring it out. There are people who got stuck on how to use bombs to get out of the pit in Crateria where you find the Bombs, and meanwhile David has worked out the color coding on Missile doors, Super Missile doors, and doors that require something else he hasn't acquired yet, without even being able to visually distinguish the latter two without a phone app! He even bomb jumped to get through a narrow passage that was off the ground! I'm so proud :'D

Which reminds me, I have no idea how far David intends to go with this, but I really hope he sticks with it all the way through and finishes the game. The story is incredibly minimal ("Find the Metroid Larva!" is pretty much it, really) but still manages to have one of the better and more memorable resolutions in video gaming history, and the first/opening/intro/whatever you want to call the not deeper part of Maridia is one of my favorite songs of the SNES era.

From:

davidn

When I started on this plan I wasn't sure where I was going to stop either, but it's going so well(!) that I think I plan to play it all the way through, yes :)

I found out the bomb jumps by accident, which was sort of nice.

From:

dr-dos.livejournal.com

To hell with that wall jump tutorial though. Mechanics are supposed to be introduced gradually. You'll see lots of games with special platforms that drop you where the first few are over solid ground so you can understand. Super Metroid is like "Ok we've been hiding a walljump mechanic from you this whole time. Here's some little guys doing it, now just do it 10 times in a row.

From:

kjorteo

I freely admit that the wall jump (and Shinespark, though the wall jump was worse) could have been handled better, and even I got hopelessly stuck trying to find the entrance to Kraid's Lair and the exit to Maridia the first time I played. I said that overall it was well-designed, not that it was 100% free of any design issues anywhere at all ever. The game does a great job giving you freedom and exploration while still gently guiding you toward where you're supposed to be, and there are one or two stupid rooms in the ... however many zillion non-stupid ones everywhere else.

From:

ravenworks.livejournal.com

To be fair, only the first three jumps are necessary to get out, the rest just get you some upgrade ;)

Though yeah, that might not be a bad thing to mention... MESSAGE TO DAVID: If you're going to get an energy tank, and then you fall through the floor with no warning, DO NOT SAVE! You can get out of there but it's a pain. You have to learn a skill that you will NEVER NEED AGAIN, so you can safely skip it. ;) (Though, of course go ahead and try for our sadistic enjoyment ;p And maybe it's not as bad as I remember. But, it'd be nice to not be stuck at the save point that you can't leave without learning that useless skill. :/)

From:

kjorteo

THAT SKILL GETS YOU THE SPAZER BEFORE KRAID OKAY

From:

ravenworks.livejournal.com

I have the Spazer before Kraid and I haven't done it once o_o

From:

kjorteo

...I have done some research, and it turns out you are right and I am a huge idiot. ^o.o^

I always thought the sequence was that Kraid gives you the Varia, which you need to go to Norfair and get the High Jump Boots, which you need to go back and get the Spazer since that platform is just out of reach of a normal non-augmented jump. Of course, it's easy to just wall jump once and get up there, so you can have the Spazer before Kraid. I just went and saw some videos and stuff, though, and ... apparently the High Jump Boots are just, like, sitting right there, and you don't need the Varia at all? So you can just go get them, then come back for the Spazer, then Kraid? And it's really obvious now that I'm seeing it, too! HOW DID MISS THAT? Was I just so busy feeling smug that I can just wall jump up there that I never even tried to do it the legitimate way? D:

Well, um, doing it my way still saves you like one hallway's worth backtracking, okay :c

From:

davidn

Hmm. Thank you, I will try to remember!

From:

davidn

It's so amazing to me that there are these games that everyone has played and learned and committed to memory, and that I've... never seen them at all. I'm sort of grateful for the route I took if it gives me the opportunity to do these, though.

I will always get stuck on things that you know how to do :) But I would like to think that a willingness to experiment and an ability to read the cues the game is giving me (along with a lot of judicious cutting) will see me through.

From:

kjorteo

Right, I have now watched part 2, and there is ... a little of that, though I honestly can't fault you for not knowing the trick, since that one isn't quite as obvious.

Tell you what, I'll leave you what I at least am trying to make into an progressing series of hints from general to flat-out telling you the answer. Highlight to reveal spoilers, and I'll just leave it up to you to decide how deep to go and when to reveal each step. There's a line between entertaining stumbling and Frog Fractions all over again, after all, and I'll leave the position of said line in your hands. :)

Hint 1: The solution involves an area you mistakenly believed you couldn't complete yet, even though you can. You have been there already in a previous video.
Hint 2: It involves a basic ability you probably weren't aware that you can already do (it's a lot like how you got stuck in DuckTales in that regard.)
Hint 3: 13:00 in video 2
Hint 4: Those collapsing blocks are quick. You just have to be quicker.
Hint 5: Were you aware that you can run?
~~Hint 6~~ "I give up, what's the answer": I don't know what the button mapping is on your end, but running is done by holding whatever button while moving, so just try holding buttons until you notice yourself suddenly going faster. Once you figure that out, run across that chasm of collapsing blocks. Just ... run across them. They collapse quickly enough that you'll fall through if you're not running, but if you are, you should just be able to run across with no trouble.

Edited Date: 2013-05-20 02:08 am (UTC)

From:

xaq.livejournal.com

Alternative option to all those hints:

Check the buttons settings at the start of the game, right above the menu you saw in the first video with the moonwalk option. You might notice what a few of your other buttons do.

From:

davidn

That's the route I think I'll take... I have a feeling I'm going to feel stupid :)

From:

xaq.livejournal.com

There is a pretty good chance of that, I'm afraid.

From:

davidn

Yes, cutting the video into just the interesting bits and not having to talk constantly helps a lot with these, it eliminates tons of standing around stuck and keeps things moving (though I'm making an effort to keep the route through the game... understandable, showing every important transition). I have a fair idea of what I'm going to find when I check that controls screen - somehow, I never quite explore my own controller enough!

From:

kjorteo

Also, allow me to give you one simple tip that will spare you thousands of Super Missiles and whatnot in the near future:

BOMB EVERYTHING.

You're pretty much correct in your assertion that this game is all about finding the right manner of explosive to apply to everything, but attempting to apply them at random (shoot a missile, shoot a super missile, lay a bomb, etc.) is the hard way of doing it. Bombs have the special power where even if they're not the right answer, they reveal the right answer. And I don't feel bad in pointing this out because you've already uncovered this yourself in part 2: remember when a bomb turned a block into a picture of a Super Missile, at which point you correctly deduced that you needed to use a Super Missile to blow up said block? And that other part where a series of bombs in Brinstar turned that one passage into a line of pictures of some sort of weapon you don't have yet?

Bombs do that. Bombs always do that. In fact, if a bomb ever doesn't do that, it means that the wall you're bombing is solid and real.

In other words, Bombs are Super Metroid's own lie detectors, and you have an infinite supply of them.

(The one exception: doors, but you've already worked out the color code for them on your own anyway.)

Bomb everything.

Edited Date: 2013-05-20 02:22 am (UTC)

From:

xaq.livejournal.com

BOMB EVERYTHING.

Sorry, but it was important enough to bear maximum emphasis. I've only gotten about 7 minutes into video 2, and things are actually becoming about as painful to watch as they are hilarious. (I have to confess, when you were stuck under the breakaway bridge I literally screamed "USE YOUR BOMBS, FOR GOD'S SAKE" at the screen.

I'll let you know in a few minutes if the neighbors called Homeland Security on me or not, or whether Encephalon flags them on me for the words used in this post.

From:

davidn

Hah :) I'm very aware that people are going to be watching this frustratedly because they've been playing it for a million years and I still haven't worked out the basic techniques... I'll try to make sure that there is always a decent amount of progress rather than frustration per video, unless it turns out really funny ;)

From:

davidn

I was beginning to notice that! I found it a very weird behaviour when it first appeared, and I hadn't realized that it was exclusively tied to bombs. That's going to prove useful...

From:

premchaia_pre4

H'm! Your tone of voice is quite a lot more excited than it was previously.

From:

davidn

I think the Hatoful streams have improved my confidence and ability to talk greatly :)

From:

feralmuse.livejournal.com

Oh, hooray! Super Metroid is one of my all time favorite games. Though, that plot made a lot more sense when I was a kid, heheh.

From:

crassadon.livejournal.com

After reading all these comments, I've pretty much forgotten what I was going to say. .

I was a bit impressed with how well you handled the morph ball bomb guardian. On the console, I would only ever rent this game, so would have to play from the start each time. Sometimes it seemed like I could not even get past that boss at all, and I have always considered it to be the most difficult obstacle in the first three quarters of the game. .. although, looking over the game now, I do think that every other boss except for Kraid is definitely much more challenging than it. It's just because, when you first get the bombs, you only have a single energy tank, and a handful of missiles, that the bomb guardian is an actual challenge.

Also, the music in this game is awesome.

And just for comparison: I failed the wall jump tutorial segment so badly, that I actually bomb jumped to get out of the pit. :P

From:

davidn

I've definitely found myself using up all my health pretty much as soon as I get an extra energy tank - that boss came as a surprise, but at least it only took me two tries!

From:

lupineangel.livejournal.com

I would just like to say that I've never played the Metroid series either, and as such, hearing people toss around words like Spazer and Kraid and know what each other are talking about is faintly bemusing. :P

As an aside, Ceres is an actual (dwarf) planet and everything, floating around in the asteroid belt - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceres_%28dwarf_planet%29 - which means that this is happening in our own solar system! ("I see, I was wrong, it was Earth all along, yes you've finally made a monkey out of meeeeee!" etc.)

D.F.

From:

xaq.livejournal.com

OH! Something I think I might want to point out, which you already discovered in video 2 (around the 18:15 mark) but might not have actually noticed...

Your ship not only serves as a save point, but it also recharges everything. Energy, Missiles, Super Missiles, the lot.

Edited Date: 2013-05-21 05:29 pm (UTC)