I really appreciate all the engagement on this video! There have been a few comments of a similar nature that I thought I'd make a mention about. But before I elaborate, I want everyone to know that I am taking your feedback on my presentation style, the types of points made, and so on into consideration for my next video. I do appreciate the constructive criticism and I am listening.

Firstly, I get that the jungle scene transitioned into a fungus area of some sort for most people. As a kid, my brain always saw that as snow and I haven't been able to undo that interpretation. I get that it's a me problem, but that's how I interpreted it so that's how I presented it to you in the video. It's always been a weird moment for me, and I was just being honest about that.

Secondly, a lot of people seem to be bothered that I dismissed Fusion so easily. I think people are particularly bothered by the word "misunderstands" so I'll try to explain what I meant. By misunderstands, I don't mean that the developers didn't know what they were doing or that they didn't know what the formula for Super Metroid was. What I meant was that the game was so different (deliberately or otherwise) that comparing it in the context of this video would've been a waste of time. Fusion wants to be a different kind of experience altogether and that's fine, but the kind of experience it offered isn't very similar to Super; and were I to add it to the comparison in the video, the end point would have been that it completely fails to implement the metroid formula. And if it fails to implement it, it is much the same to say that it misunderstood the assignment. It's irrelevant how good or bad the game actually is, or how much it adds to the larger Metroid canon because the comparison is about whether or not it is faithful to a particular type of experience. We've all agreed that Fusion is a very different kind of game, so to force it into the dialogue at length would've been to pick on it for no reason. The video wasn't about Fusion so it wasn't important enough to warrant a longer, more nuanced explanation.

And lastly, I don't hate Dread. I said that it would rank in my Top 5 favorite Metroid Titles and that it was one of the best games I experienced out of the entire Nintendo Switch life span. That's pretty high praise for a game I supposedly hate. I also think some people are putting too much stock in the idea of one of the two games being better than the other. That wasn't my goal for the video. The question I wanted to interrogate was how well Dread does or does not execute the formula of Super Metroid. Dread is very clearly trying to be a combination of Super and Fusion, with Super being the blueprint for most of its design and Fusion for the horror and story continuity aspects.

Dread doesn't really strike me as an ambitious title. It's very concerned with having a "modern" iteration of the Metroid formula, but has things about it that are questionable, with the most contentious point being that you really don't feel like you can sequence break or get into trouble like you can in Super. It's a sentiment that is hard to prove on an objective level, but I didn't want to post a video hating on Dread for no good reason. So instead, I took a fine toothed comb to the game to see if I could pinpoint some reasons as to why I don't like it as much as some other Metroid games. Some of those reasons are better than others, and some of them I was largely saying in case it resonated with other people (many of which seem to). I did not keep a running tally of points to see who was "winning" because it was less about being a contest and more about trying to put words to the power of the best kind of metroidvania experience, and the ways Dread did or did not measure up to the game that was its predecessor, who, in my view, mastered it.

I said I consider Super Metroid to be the greatest game ever so obviously that's an impossible standard, but I also said that Dread was a good game that did what it needed to do. It's just that what it did wasn't really revolutionary, and unfortunately, the way it went about it removed a lot of the player agency that makes Super an important title in the history of gaming. I still liked it, but it wasn't as good as Super for me. You are free to agree or disagree with that position.


Let me know if this long winded attempt at clarification works for you, or if you'd rather I try a different approach in the future.

My biggest problem with this video is that anything that's done differently from Super Metroid is immediately dismissed as a mistake, rather than taking these creative choices as they are and weigh their strengths and weaknesses. Fusion goes for an entirely different atmosphere and feel from Super, and so the game design reflects that. Dread may ditch high quality 2D sprites which affects its presentation, but in doing so it becomes infinitely more expressive and better communicates how capable Samus has become.

These choices shouldn't immediately be seen as worse just for being different from Super.

I never saw brinstar as "snowy" I always saw it more as a biohazard area with dead matter from all the plants floating around

While I do agree that Fusion feels like being a rat in a cage I do not think it’s a knock against the game, as it is very much intentional for you to feel cramped and helpless, because you are literally trapped, you are stuck with the X and SX parasites, which makes those frustrating game design decisions not something taking away from the story, but rather supports it entirely

42:46 they call it wide beam because that what it is, and also because fusion called it that, it isn’t a laser and it doesn’t split, yes that is where the name comes from I think

2:49 Disclaimers: I haven’t seen the whole video and I am a huge fan of Fusion. I was attracted to that game like a moth to a flame ever since I learned about Metroid’s greater narrative.

Fusion doesn’t misunderstand what makes Metroidvanias great. It knows quite well. It just chooses to subvert the formula for the sake of its story. You are ment to feel like Samus. You have few powers and are under the control of the Galactic Federation. You can’t go anywhere they don’t want you to go. However, part of the game’s narrative is about breaking free from those restrictions and Samus regaining her control of the situation. In the same way, the game opens up into a more traditional Metroidvania. It starts with the Metroid breading sector, but expands from there until even ADAM joins you in defecting from the Federation. Is it a perfect narrative. No, especially if you went into the game looking for another game like Super. But it’s not doing what it does out of ignorance. It does what it does out of a desire to subvert expectations at first and slowly let you take back control. Also something about handheld game design.

I feel the need to preface the feedback I wish to offer with a couple points:

1. It is abundantly clear that you are a knowledgeable and passionate Metroid fan as most of us in this conversation are and that you put a lot of effort into this video which I do not wish to disparage at all. Sections of your analysis I find to be insightful and of very high quality and by actually scripting, recording, editing, and posting the damn thing for all of us to respond to one way or the other, you're already steps ahead of us that would criticize you from the comfort of our anonymity. Props to you for even making this.

2. In my feedback, I don't mean to tear down Super Metroid any more than Im sure you didn't intend to tear down Metroid Dread. If I were to make a list of my 20 favorite games of all time, Super Metroid would most certainly make the cut.

With that said; as a comparative analysis, this video feels very noticably weighted in Super Metroid's favor to an unfair degree. There's a whole second side to this conversation that recognizes Super Metroid's potential shortcomings and ways in which Metroid Dread genuinely iterated and improved that I kept expecting to show up and it just never did.

If Im not mistaken there was never any mention of how the boss fights themselves in Dread felt far more involved and genuinely required you to learn their tough but fair and sometimes elaborate patterns in order to overcome them as compared to how most of the Super Metroid bosses feel chaotic and missle spammy for lack of a better term by comparison. Hell, the final boss against Ravenbeak alone felt like something out of a soulsborne title in the best way. Then there's the level of fluidity on the buttery smooth controls. It's clear that MercurySteam had learned from the other great Metroidvanias made in the many years between these two games (such as Hollow Knight) because the level of seamless control devoid of any clunkiness whatsoever I feel in Dread as compared to Super is day and night.

Additionally, it felt like where the benefit of the doubt was always given to Super Metroid, the opposite was true of Dread. That feeling you get of Super being vastly more open than Dread down to even being able to fight the bosses in reverse order was like 90% an unintended happy accident. Meanwhile, not one but two bosses in Dread have quick kills built in for those that managed INTENTIONAL sequence breaks on top of the slew of unintentional possible ones as well. In my mind, that intentionality displays a supreme understanding of everything that makes Metroidvania level design special in the first place. So much was made of how useless the grapple beam felt in Dread but not a word about how the X-Ray visor in Super is essentially useless on subsequent playthroughs and items like the spazer beam hardly add all too much to the formula either, acting more as vertical progression than the horizontal you favor. A criticism was made that none of the obstacles in certain areas of Dread with a certain environmental theme, Ghavoran for example, HAD to be plants to function but I can't tell you how many times a criticism of a similar nature would apply to Super as well in an impartial and measured comparison.

Another point I wish to make is that, in your praise of the EMMI rooms section, you touch on the importance for a full blown sequel to iterate on the formula with new directions, to not rest on the laurels of the past, but the rest of your analysis seems to contradict this notion. In your refutation of what was gained in Fusion trying a different approach in favor of exclusively focusing on what was lost, it gives the impression that you have a rather narrow perspective of what a Metroidvania game can and should be and that that ideal game should pretty much resemble Super Metroid 1 to 1 which would imply Super Metroid is a perfect game and, as much as I adore it, it is not. There is room for variation and iteration. Games within the same genre are allowed to differ in priorities and taking a different approach or emphasizing different areas doesn't inherently make it worse by comparison, just different. You're of course allowed to have a preference between the two but that's subjective opinion, not objective flaw.  

Lastly, in your conclusion, you give the impression that Super Metroid was always going to come out on top in this conversation simply because of it's iconic legacy which, given the time that it was released and how it contributed to shaping the gaming industry and practically invented the speedrun community, would be practically impossible for any game to replicate in the present day. That hardly seems fair. If the victor was a foregone conclusion based on the premise of legacy alone, why even bother with the analysis?

I understand that you don't hate Dread and largely you did a great job of articulating some truly insightful points, but based on the way you presented this analysis as a comparison between these two games, it's hard to shake the feeling that you didn't really give Dread a fair shake here. Super Metroid, as amazing an iconic as it was, had it's flaws too and, imo, has lower lows than Dread ever has.

It is indeed absolutely you... it FEELS like a 2D game because it IS a 2D game.  Not once was I ever confused about this.  The 3D graphics & detail in the backgrounds only added to the experience for me.  The game uses the background to great effect, showing enemies & bosses lurking in the shadows that you have yet to encounter.  

It's excellent design.  Nothing is lost with it.  You simply have peculiar taste I must say...

A boss fight that takes place in a dream!? I don't think any Metroid game has ever done that, and certainly not Fusion.

If you're taking about "The Nightmare", that's a nickname for the bio-weapon that manipulates gravity and wasn't meant to be taken literally.

If you're going to critique the differences in execution between Fusion and Super, you need to take into account the way they stem from differences in story and medium.

The GBA was a fundamentally different piece of hardware thean the SNES, not because of a gap in processing power or visual fidelity, but instead because it was portable. Games made for the GBA needed to be designed around short and sporadic play sessions, as players pulled the game out of their pocket whenever they had a few minutes to spare, in contrast to sitting down for a multi-hour play session with a home console. That's why all the portable 2D Metroids, RoS/SR, Fusion and ZM are more linear, feature more guidance or both. They were designed to always give the player an achievable goal every time the game was turned on, rather than lraving them retracing the same lost wanderings a dozen sessions in a row.

Fusion took this design limitation and ran with it, turning those limits into a plot point with Samus visibly chafing under the constraints, and ultimately retaking her autonomy by force. The limitations are the point, a deliberate subversion and an obstacle to be overcome in a cathartic climax. R&D2 didn't misunderstand the genre, they knew exactly what they were doing, and it shows when you view the progression and plot structure as two connected halves of a single creatuve intent.

If you don't like these aspects fair enough, but if you're going to meaningfully critique the game on them you need to engage with their cause and meaning

One thing that I haven't seen anyone mention is your complaint of the "Black Boxes" for platforms. They're not supposed to be ignored, or look like missing scenery, they are a cross section of the ground and platforms you are running on. They may be attached to both the wall in the background and the 4th wall in the foreground. But if the 4th wall was there, you wouldn't be able to see anyting. They've done similar things since Mario 2 and 3.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with using 3D graphics with 2D gameplay.  

This game does so about as well as any game I've ever seen.  It uses the background 3D elements to great effect, making the areas feel rich & alive.  It gives a sense of scope and mystery to each area, making you wonder what mysteries these other areas might hold.

It's probably the best job I've ever seen a game do for a 3D game on a 2D plane.  I truly wish we could get a Switch 2 Upgrade for it!

Getting through the whole 16bit/2D/3D argument is agonizing lmao. Like it really feels like a forced gripe.

"That one boss that takes place in like... a dream?" What are you going on about with that? At no point in Fusion does Samus ever go to sleep so I'm really confused what you're talking about. Maybe you're referring to the gravity shifting boss Nightmare and are confusing those segments with being in a dream?

I like the idea of the environments blending together. It really feels like she's climbing out from the planet core

49:29 Gonna have to disagree with this one, since sequence breaking to get gravity suit early is one of the best things to do in the game. All you need is ice missiles and a well-executed underwater shinespark to get to the Ghavoran-Burenia teleporter early. After that, you do the shinespark puzzle hidden near the teleporter room and you have gravity suit before ever entering Ferenia proper. That means you have gravity suit and screw attack going into Ferenia, with gravity suit making the flooded EMMI zone significantly easier to clear and screw attack making quick work of Escue, the electric bug boss for storm missiles. You frontload the difficulty with the shinespark puzzle followed by the Experiment Z-57 fight without space jump (as well as getting some needed height with infinite bomb jumps), and you are rewarded with an easier Ferenia as a result.

I have to disagree albeit distinctly midly to the X Parasites, them being gelatinous and metaphoric are similar to Lovecraftian Shaggoths. It's the horror of what they can do. That said, being so colorful and floaty probably should be tweaked. A big part of Shoggoth's horror is that they became sentient and revolted. I'd say the Parasites should be erratic and like insects. The fear you'd get around bugs, they move quickly at odd intervals. Otherwise they would have small visual tweaks like the Metroids have gotten. I mean, let's be honest, the namesake of the series has always been kinda cute. But fight if they catch you off gaurd.

12:36 Yeah, sure, if 2d platformers didn’t exist, Dread would probably be something else.

This is excellent content. Hope somebody creates a hack and changes the music, giving them the correct songs. You've already given them an idea of what areas to put what music from other M

At 24:02 you mentioned how the lava has a new tier. See, for many, many years (from kid to adult) I’ve always thought that was a different type of lava as well. However, I learned that the more yellow, transparent and bubbly stuff it’s actually hot acid and ever since that was brought to my attention that actually makes more sense to me. *It’s acid* Especially makes sense when Crocomire falls into it, instead of burning like lava would do, Crocomire’s skin just melts and dissolves off of him.