| mZuzek said: I think before playing Dread, I could rank the Metroid games in tiers, something like tier 1: Super, Prime I was hoping, if not expecting, Dread to make it at least somewhere in between tiers 2 and 3 on that. After playing it, I'm not sure whether it falls between tier 1 and 2, or within tier 1 entirely. It blew me away. |
My take is extremely similar. I played through the game over the launch weekend (you know I cleared my schedule). After letting it sit with me for several days, I've reached the conclusion that this is my official ranking of the Metroids:
1) Super Metroid
2) Metroid Prime
3) Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
4) Metroid Dread
5) Metroid Fusion
6) Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
7) Metroid: Samus Returns
8) Metroid: Zero Mission
Those are what I consider the good entries in this franchise; the ones I'm known to still replay. The original versions of the first two Metroid games I don't really go back to anymore now that we have superior remakes and I just never liked Other M or Federation Force. Metroid Prime Hunters is okay, but I really dislike using the touch screen for everything.
Anyway, concerning Dread, I agree with essentially everything said in the OP. More than any other game in the franchise, Dread makes me feel just plain awesome with its fluid, high-speed, and heavily stylized movement, cinematic camera, breadth of moves and upgrades, and a level of challenge that makes one feel genuinely accomplished quite often. The boss fights were more complex than we're used to from this franchise and that was a particular highlight of my experience, as was the game's mind-blowing ending! The EMMI made for a pretty fun hook too overall, I thought. The soundtrack has highlights for sure, but overall is far from my favorite in the series. All in all, Dread really does feel like the grand finale that it's intended to be and I loved it! I think that's the best way to design games; with the expectation that each entry will be the last. If you're planning on sequels from the outset, you'll probably try and "save the best for last", but if you assume each entry is the last, you'll make each one special. Not unlike Super Metroid before it, I believe that's the place this game comes from. It was meant to be something special and it is.
Still, at the end of the day, Dread didn't really tug at my heart strings quite as much as Super Metroid and that's the deciding factor in that contest for me. It's super close between this and the first couple Prime games, but after trying out Prime 1 again this week, I must say music makes the difference.
Corruption fares slightly worse than the first two Prime games in my book because it reverts essentially to being a straightforward shooter rather than an adventure-shooter, which I consider to be a somewhat conservative change of direction intended to bring the Prime games in line with the more mainstream FPS's of its time rather than retaining the full Metroid identity. Fusion ranks in slightly higher for being innovative in ways I'd consider a bit more clever and fresh, and which ultimately made Dread possible, moreover. But yeah, for my taste it's just tough to beat the regular, more heavily exploration-driven classics like Super Metroid and Metroid Prime. They've struck such a perfect balance between player freedom, style, heart, and motivating subtle tension that I almost feel like any deviation is bound to be at least a little inferior.
Last edited by Jaicee - on 16 October 2021
